Easter and new life

'Twas a windy morning when we hopped over to the neighbourhood Easter egghunt, over as soon as it started 'coz the little and not-so-little ones worked fast!

Why egg? Why bunny? Ben asked me.

Egg = new life, Jesus died for us and came back to life. I spoke off the top of my head.

And the bunny, bunnies hopping around this time of year... they are part of the new life! (We've not seen them in this part of the States though).

Still making some sense when I said that. Then, I added...

Bunnies and eggs... bunnies lay eggs!

BUNNIES LAY EGGS??? Jon thought I had gone half insane!

He wasn't wrong, you know. It's been a haphazard week with three energy-packed children and my half-done chores. Springbreak for the boys, and the little girl just wanted in on all the fun, silliness, and nonsense, too -- rather than nap. Every other day, overstimulated and she crashes too close to dinner. But 20 min is enough to give her the second wind to stay up till past midnight. Eggs-tra tiring, and she's still waking up several times, not near sleeping through the night yet.

The children had a basketful of little joys when they combined their finds.

The boys, still in their coats, got cracking on them faster than anything I tried to get them to do all week -- outside of playing and eating. My simple reward scheme to encourage them to be responsible and helpful was exploited along these lines: "I (should) get a point for brushing my teeth!" and "I'm not going to help you move the furniture (for the vacuuming) if you don't give me a marble first!".

Parenting tip: Don't underestimate what a little treat can do. My problem: I tend to overdo it!

Lots more housework for me to play catch-up, and the children's different needs and wants to learn to deal with. Work will always beckon, but I guess there's a reason why there's just 24h in a day.

Now here's why Easter is the best thing that happened:
Jesus is alive, and God's love is new every morning!

Have a blessed one!

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
In his great mercy he has given us new birth
into a living hope through the resurrection of
Jesus Christ from the dead...
~ 1 Peter 1:3

A different egg, some quail's eggs (I hardboiled) and frozen fishballs, clam meat, and cuttlefish (squid) were my happy finds at a "new" Korean grocery store. They went into this one-pot wonder, steamboat style never mind simplified, that I cooked on the stovetop instead.

There's more going on in a pot like this than my usual, mostly one meat-one veg with one carbo dinners on schoolnights. We enjoyed it with noodles in the soup.

Homecooked food -- and it doesn't have to be fancy, can be really comforting, the constant in the chaos. Food talks, yeah :).

(I'm sorry if you came by for this earlier posting. I took it down to add pictures, etc, but only just got round to finishing it).