Celebration of the Egg, 2013

What started out as throwing raw, free-range eggs off the second story of a house back in 2009 has turned into a major celebration.  I felt that we weren't doing enough to celebrate this most glorious of holidays.  We have aptly named this occasion "Celebration of the Egg", and Easter just wouldn't be Easter in the Kennedy household without it.

This year, we flew Ethan home for the weekend.  He had school through Friday, but he was willing to come home Wednesday night.  He arrived Thursday morning, a bit jet-lagged, but ready to go!  He had some housekeeping to take care of (an orthodontics appointment), but it was just good to have him home, errands or not.  I taught him how to make the most delicious beef stew on the planet (it's super easy too), and we hosted a birthday party for our friend, Katherine Kreiner.  Seeing as the Kreiners always feed us like kings, we could only joke that we were representing the other side, the peasant side, with beef stew and potatoes.  We played a fun birthday game, and there was good conversation all around.  After they left, the REAL games began!  Board games, that is.

First out of the games cabinet?  Qwirkle.  John skunked us all.  I chose Staedte und Ritter, my all-time favorite strategy game.  And guess who won?  MEEEEE!!  That's right, BABY!  I am moving up in pointage in our ongoing tournament.

The next day, we headed out to Altoona for shopping.  Of course, we had to fuel up before with a stop at our favorite Chinese restaurant, Lychee.  What were we shopping for?  Spring clothes!  Despite the fact that we still have snow on the ground and school was canceled last week due to a snowstorm, we were going to look like Easter if it killed me.  The shopping wasn't as good as it is in Michigan (what is, I ask you?), but everybody found some fun things to wear.  I think Ethan was most excited about his green shoes.

Next up?  Buying our Easter ham while Ethan and Glo duked it out at Halo.  We hurried home, dropped off the ham, and headed out to see "The Host", a movie adaptation of a book by Stephanie Meyer.  Let me tell you, this was not my favorite book at all, but there was something fun in knowing that we had all read it (all, except Ethan).  The movie was actually better than the book, and after Ethan had mocked it ad nauseum, he started thinking about the concept and found it fascinating.

What better way to end the day than with a Michigan basketball game?  Michigan was in the Sweet 16, playing Kansas for a spot in the Elite 8.  Craziest game EVER!  Michigan only led by one point in the first minute, and after that it was a Kansas game.  Until the final minutes.  Michigan came back from a 14 point deficit to tie the game, and send it into overtime.  In the end, Michigan won, and we could hardly believe it!

On that high, we certainly weren't going to go to bed.  So, we pulled out our own games.  Board games, that is :-)  Another game of Staedte und Ritter.  Hmmmmm, shall we ask Ethan who won that game?  That's right, MEEEEEEE!   Again!!!!  Oh man, Ethan was sick of losing, so he picked the next game:  Turn und Taxis.  I convinced myself to feel satisfied that I had won the two Staedte games, because I certainly wasn't going to win this one.  NOT!!!!!  I won again!

As I pointed out to Ethan, this is what happens when you go to school with stupider people.  You lose board games.  American University?  We couldn't beat him.  BYU?  Yeah, Ethan didn't win one.  Lick your wounds, Cheese, lick your wounds....

Finally, Saturday arrived.  It even came bright and sunny and warm (in the grand scheme of things).  It was time for Celebration of the Egg.

First, egg dyeing.  It doesn't matter how old our kids get, nor how old John and I are.  We love to dye eggs.

I love seeing all the colors, ready to go.  It's like a world of Easter possibilities :-)

It started with me, drawing me on an egg.

One of my favorite pictures in a long while:  the most EGGcellent Kennedy family.
Can you figure out who is who?

Ethan sent a picture of this cutie egg to a certain girl he left back in Utah...

With all the picture taking, John insisted on taking one of the photographer herself :-)

Second, target practice.  We marked the old trampoline as the bullseye, and we used the dogs' Chuck-It to launch the eggs.  The person who could land the egg closest to the center of the trampoline won a $5 bill from John.  Of course, if there was money on the line, John set up the pre-game ceremony and insisted all participate.  This meant dancing around the fire pit and chanting.  You know, good old Easter fun ;-)

All was going well until Johannah picked up the Chuck-It.  I can now tell you that Johannah never throws the balls for the dogs, judging by her performance (good thing she's a musician and not an athlete!):

This is definitely not the best way to hold the Chuck-It as evidenced in the next photo.

Her egg didn't even leave the fire pit!

No worries--Ethan brought Chief over the fence for one purpose and one purpose alone...

One of the best reasons to own a dog--instant clean up!

This is the picture of where everyone's eggs ended up.  Just remember--the trampoline was the target.
Poor Hannah...

Next?  Egg Ball.  Like football, but with eggs.

I love that my family knows to dress in Easter colors for the celebration :-)

Ethan and Glo were one team....

...and John and Johannah were the other.
Obviously, there were some devious plans being made!

Sometimes the eggball was caught...

and sometimes not!

And the vultures circle....waiting for the broken egg balls...

Finally, an Easter Egg hunt.  John and I had (unbeknownst to the kids) stuffed the plastic eggs with only cash (no candy)--this is what happens when you have all teenagers in the house.  I had hidden all 58 eggs in the morning while they were sleeping.  We described the boundaries, got everyone on the front patio, and said "go"! John was hunting too, and the kid who found the most eggs would score John's eggs also.  Turns out, being the runner he is and motivated poor kid he was, he found the most eggs.  Instead of giving them to just one child, he decided to demonstrate the principle behind ObamaCare--giving the eggs from the rich to the poor, and leaving the rich with nothing :-)

During the hunt, the kids thought that if the eggs made no sound, they must be candy.  Little did they know that no sound meant bills instead of change.  It made me feel so happy when I heard Ethan say half to himself as he opened his cash eggs, "I just love coming home".

Getting ready to RUN!!

When they thought all were found, we headed back to the house and counted them up.  Four eggs missing.  With my help, we found three of them, but one is still out there.  We DID find an egg from many years past, still holding candy (*yuck*).  I guess the deer will be able to buy a diet Coke at the Uni-Mart with the bill in the as-yet-unfound Easter egg....

Man, it was fun.

While John, Ethan and Glo headed up for more Halo, Johannah and I cooked everything we could for Easter dinner the next day.  Let me tell you, I was exhausted!  So, John loaded up a movie for us all to watch, and we headed to bed.

Easter Sunday.  Never a dull moment for the Kennedys on any Sunday holiday, and Easter was no exception.  The kids glanced at their Easter baskets before hopping in the shower and getting out the door.  Thankfully, Johannah checked that Glo had her violin, because she DIDN'T!  I can't even imagine the problems that would have caused 20 minutes later at the church.

It was organ prelude, and then playing for sacrament meeting, while Johannah, Glo and I played an arrangement of "Beautiful Savior" (only played through once with them--they are becoming SUCH pros)!  Then, I was asked to share my testimony of the Savior and his Atonement during the third hour. Words can't describe the sweet, beautiful spirit that was in our meetings.  Ethan was so happy to be in our church (versus the dating panel that was being held in his).

You would think that we would be done, but NO!  Several weeks ago, the choir director from the other ward called me up and asked me if I could accompany their choir.  I agreed, not thinking of what she expected me to do.  Turns out, she had three HUGE organ numbers for me to play.  Now, I can play organ, but I'm certainly no organist.  I ended up calling in the big guns.  Her name is Glo, and she can play a mean foot pedal :-)

Yes, Glo has been learning to play the foot pedals.  She saw Mark doing it during my prelude music, and she wanted to do it too.  I didn't mind, because it's fun having the kids up with me before church, but she didn't read bass clef.  Well, it's no surprise that she does now!  In fact, she was moving her feet all over that pedal board.  We were pretty nervous, hoping we could pull it off with a 40+ person choir, and we practiced several hours.  I think it went pretty well, but we did end up staying at the church almost two hours past when we needed to.

We rushed home, finished setting the table with its Easter finery, got the food heated up and ready to go, and sat down to one of my favorite meals of the year:  Easter dinner.

It was almost 3 p.m., and Ethan's plane took off at 5:00.  It just so happened that Michigan was playing Florida for a spot in the Final Four, and we had an hour to watch it.  We had no problems leaving for the airport with 10 minutes still on the clock with a 20 point lead by Michigan :-)  Yes, the maize and blue came through, and we're in the Final Four.

Ethan didn't want to leave, and we didn't want him to go--I don't think I've ever heard him express his happiness so many times about being home.  It almost felt like the family was back together again (minus a certain good-looking missionary boy).  However, school calls as does a certain sweet girl who has made Ethan a happier person.  We said good-bye.  Until next year, good-bye Easter.