Happy Easter

It's a good day. Despite the forces working against us, we actually managed to make it to the Easter service at church. Okay, so it wasn't the early service as we had planned, but we did manage to get to the 11:00 service and were seated before the opening music ended.

We were off to a good start when Isaac had the household up and at 'em by 7:15. That's not bad considering the late night supper and 1 1/2 hour late bed time after our return flight home last night. But things started falling apart after the kids dug into their Easter baskets and the chocolate/sugar-induced insanity hit full swing. Isaac's freshly washed hair had a dumdum sucker tangled so badly that I almost resorted to using the scissors. As I turned to get a dishrag to get some of the goo out of his hair, he spilled Katherine's full cup of chocolate milk all over himself, the tablecloth and the kitchen floor.

Katherine, filled with chocolate and sugar on top of jetlag, goes into full meltdown mode and reacts hysterically to her Easter dress that she insists is itching her beyond all measures of torture.

Leaving Katherine sulking and in tears, I turn my attention to Dylan's hair. But her headband has disappeared. Knowing how Isaac loves hair accessories, Dylan and I spend the next 30 minutes trying to retrace Isaac's toddler steps, over and under furniture, in a futile attempt to locate the missing headband.

Scott casually emerges from a quiet, peaceful shower. "Oh, that white headband? I put it in the top drawer in the bathroom." He then retreats back into the quiet, peaceful bedroom to spend the next 20 minutes getting dressed. Alone.

Dylan's headband in place, I rush down to the kitchen to put the potato casserole into the oven with the ham. Seeing Katherine crumpled in the corner, I feel some sympathy for her and go back upstairs to get a slip. It doesn't really matter that the straps will show anyway. She will be wearing a sweater because...IT IS SNOWING OUTSIDE. We won't even go there.

The time to leave for the early service has come and gone by now, and I haven't even started dressing Isaac or myself. As I frantically throw clothing over our heads, I remember to check the potato casserole only to find that I had inadvertently turned the oven off when I had reset the timer and the potatoes are still cold.

Finally, everyone is dressed and loaded into the car. After a couple of return trips to get forgotten necessities, we are off. As I lower the visor to finish applying my makeup, I see those sweet little faces in the backseat and I have to smile.

So what that Isaac has a mass of sticky hair protruding from the side of his head. So what that Katherine's slip is showing. So what that Dylan isn't wearing that headband that took a chunk out of our morning to find because it hurts her ears to wear it. All is quiet now. And when I smile at them, they smile back. And Scott, off in his own world, listening to the music on the radio, also smiles.

Easter isn't really about the chocolate, candy, and new clothes anyway. The church service is a nice reminder of that, and we're still smiling on the way home.

Yes, it's a good day.