The Way Plans Go

I am by nature a spontaneous girl. But I am married to a highly structured, plan ahead, kind of guy. While clashes resulted from our first efforts to meld these two views of life, time has softened me to planning. So it is frustrating to me to be caught by unplanned events that crowd into my days. I'm trying to loosen up. You would think it wouldn't be hard for a free spirit like myself but, now, it is. Last weekend the kids decided to move our annual Easter egg hunt to this weekend. Now, after years of turning the hunt over to others, I'm back in charge. So, on Saturday afternoon, the whole family gang gathered for the traditional hunt.

In the pictures above you can see our daytime and night time hunts.

We divided the kids into older and younger groups for the hunt and had two separate events. The younger ones found their eggs in the bright light of afternoon. It was a beautiful, sunny, warm day, so it was perfect! We saved the other hunt, for the older kids, for night. Under a full moon, and with flashlights in hand, our 5 older kids hunted for eggs with reflector strips on them. It was an experiment. They loved it! I feel totally over my struggle with the schedule change, caught instead in the limelight of a successful hunt.

When the family gathers we usually celebrate whatever birthdays come during the month. Son Ben and grandson James were celebrated during our egg hunt day. You can see them in the accompanying picture. When there is a birthday, there must be pie. I made Ben and James each their favorite ones. Families are a lot of work but, in my quiet moments of contemplation, I feel so full of happiness over having so many good people bound to me. Indeed, now that I'm an older woman, I can see the miracles that time works as our children make more children, all caught in the circle of family. There is nothing better than this.

Ben and Jes are settled back in their home after an intense effort at de-molding the house. Things seem back to normal there. I know that because Layne and I babysat the kids on Wednesday, at their house, so Jes could take Ben on a birthday date. It's fun to have the kids to ourselves. They are great little kids. Often things that seem like such an effort when anticipated, actually turn out to be easier than planned. I seems to me that anticipation of things either makes them better or worse than real life. What I thought would be lots of work turned into just fun.

Ben's daughter, Alexis, sits amidst our poppies. I planted a few and now look what time and a little rain has brought us!