Happy Easter

Well, as with most of our holidays, Easter was quite a busy day (not to mention week) for the Howell family. We started the day with me getting up at 5am to be at choir rehearsal by 6am. Traditionally, the choir sings all three services on Easter morning: 7, 9, & 11am. It's a long day after a long week, but it's fun for the choir to sing all the services (not to mention we get breakfast) and it's great that all three services have music.

Sadie was dropped off at the end of the 7am service by Andrew, who was on his way to his choir rehearsal in New London. Andrew and Sadie had slept in (later than me, anyway) and then dressed in their Easter best before arriving at church. Sadie had not one but two Easter outfits this year!

Sadie then spent some time with me, and then headed to the nursery for the 9am service. She spent some quality time with Great Aunt Wendy, and a special visitor: Grandma Alice, who came just to visit with Sadie. Then Sadie spent the 11am service strapped to Mommy in the Moby wrap, avoiding and then finally giving in to sleep. Mommy sang most of the final service, but not all of it: Sadie loves to sing along very audibly these days, and she still needs a few voice lessons before she can, ahem, sing with the choir.

So by the time we left church around 12:30, we had already had quite a long day. Sadie was running on a mini-nap, and we still had two more important stops to make. We met up with Andrew and headed over to Great Grammy's house for a visit with her, Grampa Stu, Uncle Dan, & Uncle Harry. Sadie showed her tiredness by being cranky and dramatic (no one but Mommy could hold her, the usual toys were not entertaining anymore, etc.). We left after a quick meal because we needed to get to our next stop.

Sadie didn't fall asleep in the car until we were turning onto the Dunhams' street, so we knew we would need to give her a real nap. We arrived at the Dunhams:

greeted everyone, and then promptly put Sadie upstairs for a nap. Much to our surprise, she took at least an hour-long nap, while Andrew and I had a wonderful time socializing downstairs. We enjoyed the usual fabulous Easter fare: grilled lamb, cheesy potatoes, and asparagus with hollandaise, plus a room full of drinks and desserts.

Eventually, Sadie woke up from her slumbers, and joined the party. However, she remained Mrs. Crankypants for the rest of the afternoon--very unlike her usual party-loving self. Everyone has their off days I guess. She did cheer up long enough to enjoy her first taste of asparagus (of course). We persevered until about 5pm when we decided it was time to head home and have a quiet end to our day. We changed Sadie into her final Easter outfit, wished everyone a happy Easter, and headed home.

Sadie had a nice big meal when we arrived home, followed by a quick visit from Grandma Alice (complete with some new toys and clothes!) and a nice relaxing bath. Then it was off to bed for Sadie, who slept very well that night.

The End.