Easter With the Girls

Easter Sunday Evening. The Mr. is dozing off in his chair. I just threw myself into my own chair with a huff of utter exhaustion. The last twenty four hours have been a cacophony of non stop noise, tea parties, Easter candy and little girl cuddles. The girls came to stay the night yesterday. We had dinner, breakfast, church and lunch. There were some tantrums and some homesickness and very little sleep. Except Claire, she had no trouble sleeping. She had a twin sized air mattress all to herself and she fell asleep early. This morning, in the half light, as I eased out of bed, I did a double take, because she was no longer on the bed. It took me a second to see her tiny form wedged between the air mattress and the end of our bed on the floor. She looked comfortable so I didn't disturb her, although I wrestled with myself for a minute about whether I should take a chance on waking her if I moved her or just let her sleep it out for the next half hour. Arya was asleep square in the middle of my bed where she had finally given up the fight to stay awake at three A.M. 

I got myself dressed and breakfast made and then the girls were awake. Breakfast eaten, I got the girls into their pretty Easter dresses and shoes, fixed their hair, and we headed outside for some pre church Easter pictures. I had Ally bring out the baskets that the Easter Bunny had brought for them, and there was a bit of scuffling as Arya's basket fell over and all her jelly beans fell into the mud. It was still sprinkling and the air was nippy, so we cut picture taking short and quickly got into the car and headed off to church. I was so tired I could barely stay awake during the service. I laid my head on the Mr.'s shoulder while the pastor preached, glad he was here with me this morning. I couldn't have predicted this a year ago. If things had kept going on the trajectory we were on then, he wouldn't be with us now. From death to life. Jesus has done a miracle here and on this Resurrection Sunday I am hyper aware of it. I will never get over the wonder of it. . 

Grabbing the girls from their Sunday school classes after church we headed to McDonalds for some Happy Meals and then off to their house, where their mother was preparing for a big Easter party and Easter egg hung this afternoon. 

After everyone arrived and all the cousins, brothers, sisters, moms, dads, mom in laws and dad in laws greeted each other, we said Grace and sat down to eat. Then all the kids ran outside for the epic Easter egg hunt. My daughter lives on 100 acres and her front yard is enormous, so there was a lot of room to run for eggs. There must have been hundreds of eggs in the yard. The rain had gone and I stood in the sun with the girl's other Grandma, whom I love dearly, and watched all the kids running and shrieking with laugher. Arya was so beautiful in her pink Easter dress. True to form, she wandered off by herself while everyone else was taking pictures, her beautiful dark curls blowing in wind, and talking to herself. She is five now, and full of so much personality. There is always something new with her. This week she is talking in a Minnie Mouse voice. Everything she says sounds like Minnie and it's hilarious.  Claire, with her lighter curls, and chocolate covered face was so excited to find the eggs, as Mama directed her where to look. I can hardly believe she will be three in two weeks. She looks so dainty in her smocked yellow print dress with Easter bunnies all over it and her little peter pan collar.  They are getting so big. Yesterday they were bringing me endless cups of "coffee" and "tea" in their tiny plastic tea cups and feeding me plastic cupcakes and cookies on tiny plastic plates. I am aware as never before how fast time is passing. 

I came home and cleaned up the kitchen in the late afternoon. Coming upstairs to my room I started to pick up the toys they left out and put them away. I picked up the tea set with all of it's tiny components, including the cupcakes, cookies, cinnamon rolls, and put them back in the box they came in. I put their tiny play kitchen back in order and I shut the door on the toy closet until the next time. As I closed the door I was overwhelmed by a sense of nostalgia and longing for my little grandies. The quiet is as overwhelming as was the noise 24 hours ago. The house is completely silent, except for the hum of the air conditioner. The stillness is so still that it is disturbing to me, if that makes sense. 

Too much quiet after too much sound and activity, perhaps. 

Sitting back in my chair I reflect on our weekend. Those precious girls, they have my heart, lock, stock and barrel. I close my eyes and smile. I know that I am a blessed, double blessed, actually, Grandma. And I can't wait til next time.