For those of you who are new to the blog, let me catch you up on our Annual Smith Easter Egg Hunt. Once upon a time, my sister, brother, and I dyed Easter eggs. The Easter bunny hid them around our house, and we searched for them before church with rollers in our hair. Then, we searched for them after church. Over time, our hard-boiled dyed eggs turned into the plastic eggs. They may have held candy. I can't really remember. Once we were a little older, we were surprised to find that the Easter bunny started leaving nickels, dimes, and quarters in the Easter eggs. This made our hunt just a little more competitive. Fast forward fifteen or so years, and you have what has evolved into the greatest competition this family has...complete with uniforms. Call it what you will...paying the bills, buying new clothes, saving for another baby, or repaying school loans and credit cards. Whatever it is...it's serious! And it's all about five grown adults racing around the yard with pastel colored Easter baskets searching for Easter eggs. Some wear cleats. Others...well, you'll see in a little bit. Ha!
To participate in the Annual Smith Easter Egg Hunt, you must be a Smith. Not just a pretend "I'm dating you" kind of Smith. A for real, legal Smith. Therefore, Russ and Lee had to wait their turn to enter the hunt. And, if you know how long Kristin and I dated these boys, you realize just how long they waited. Forever! Long enough for Lee to come up with his own winning strategy. Ha! Dustin is still on his own. But for some reason, my mama lets him hunt with whatever basket or bag he wants. Because "he doesn't have a partner in crime." Whatever! We'll just call him Jep on Duck Dynasty. Always the favorite.
Sheila joined us for Easter this year, and since she isn't legal yet...she couldn't hunt. The Easter bunny recruited her to help hide the eggs. Outside. Now, please note that it has rained here in North Mississippi for weeks. It rained Easter Sunday. The backyard was muddy! Do you see those tire tracks running through the yard? Yep. That was because my dad rode my mama around on the four-wheeler to hide the eggs so she wouldn't get too muddy.
And, since Dr. Russ didn't bring the appropriate mud shoes, he decided the best option was barefoot. He came completely unprepared, you may notice. No uniform either! He refused to let me buy him a green shirt and paint on it, so I settled for his green tee. And bare feet. [Sigh.]
Once all the eggs were hidden...all 269 of them...it was time for the Annual Smith Easter Egg Hunt to commence. But, not before the traditional group photo. This is where "unofficial" Smiths can participate. Ha! We took our legal Smith photo, and then we invited Sheila to join us. That's just how we roll. You've gotta be okay with it to make it in this family. Sheila's a good sport!
I had many people ask me what we would do about our egg hunt now that Millie Janalee is here. My response was simple..."Someone will have to hold her." Ha! She can have her own special egg hunt when she's able to find eggs. In the front yard. The back yard? It's OURS!
Daddy carried Millie Janalee in her exersaucer out to the deck to watch the chaos. We made fair warning to all hunters to WALK on the deck so no one accidentally ran into the innocent baby bystander. Millie Janalee thought it was so funny to see us all lined up with our baskets elbowing the person next to us making sure they didn't start before us. She clapped and cheered from her little spot. This may be our first mistake. Getting distracted.
When the Easter bunny says, "GO!" you better move out of the way! Siblngs scatter, slip, and leap into action! Kristin and I scoured the deck while the boys made their way through the mud and grass first. A strategy that seemed smart, to me, at the time.
It doesn't take long for the racing and scurrying around to slow. Once the obvious eggs have been found, it is time for all hunters to begin the meticulous search deep in bushes, behind fence posts, and under rocks.
It was at this point that I looked up for the first time. Only to find that everyone else's baskets were overflowing. Then, I looked down at mine. How in the world did this happen? It's never happened before. My mama told me after she saw my basket, "I knew you would be in trouble, because I knew you would be careful." Hmm...
When we all search through the yard with our fine toothed comb and find no more eggs, it is time to start the count. This gives the Easter bunny a chance to see if, indeed, all the eggs have been recovered. And they had! On the first try. That's gotta be a record for us!
All falls silent as the counting, opening, and retrieving the egg contents begins. Calculators come out, stacks are made, and whispering is all you hear. No one reveals their final numbers until all the results are in.
While the hunters continue the competitive counting of the eggs and money, the spectators spend time laughing and talking about what they saw. Which I'm sure is always ridiculous! Ha! Millie Janalee found her own little egg and was content to play in Paw Paw's lap.
The temperature was certainly not warm. Rain or shine, warm or cold...the egg hunt is on! My 86 year old grandmother adapts to the conditions well. Easter Sunday...almost April...and she's bundled up in her marshmallow coat, scarf, and surrounded by an afghan.
One by one, the hunters approach Mama to write down their total egg count and money calculation. No one dare voice their totals for fear they will be heard. When all the totals have been recorded, it is time for Mama to read the results to the group.
The egg count is as follows...
Dustin won the egg count AND the money total. He was crowned victorious once again regaining his title and crown. As we all cheered, he raised his hands for his victory speech...
Dustin was feeling good and on Cloud Nine, I suppose, as he walked over to Millie Janalee. He shared a little of his findings telling her, "There's plenty to share." Ha! She wasn't real sure what to think about this. I was secretly hoping he would share with us all, but it turns out he even took that two dollar bill back from Millie Janalee. Poor baby niece! Ha!
We started putting all the eggs back into the giant basket, and Mama realized she had some muddy eggs to clean. Then we all looked down and realized...we had some feet to clean before going inside.
It was a memorable hunt full of FUN, excitement, competition, and MEMORIES! That's the way we like it around here. Millie Janalee didn't get to hunt eggs this year, and she was distraught about it...
She loves a plastic egg. Especially the bright shiny ones. I think everywhere we visited over the month, we ended up leaving with an egg Millie Janalee got attached to. We have generous friends to let us take their eggs. Ha! Next year, I'm sure we will start making egg hunt memories with our sweet girl! Because, just as I was raised, I want fun family memories to be a huge part of my own little family! Thanks to the intentional planning of my parents, we always have time for a family memory. It doesn't have to be a vacation...or even cost money. Just be intentional and fun! Memories will follow!
The rest of our evening consisted of naps, family time, basketball, and ended with a family viewing of The Bible before everyone parted ways for the night. Oh yeah! There was a good bit of playtime on the floor too! With our new baby doll, cups, and of course Easter eggs!
Happy Easter from our crazy bunch to yours!
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| Egg Hunts 2010, 2011, 2012 |
Sheila joined us for Easter this year, and since she isn't legal yet...she couldn't hunt. The Easter bunny recruited her to help hide the eggs. Outside. Now, please note that it has rained here in North Mississippi for weeks. It rained Easter Sunday. The backyard was muddy! Do you see those tire tracks running through the yard? Yep. That was because my dad rode my mama around on the four-wheeler to hide the eggs so she wouldn't get too muddy.
And, since Dr. Russ didn't bring the appropriate mud shoes, he decided the best option was barefoot. He came completely unprepared, you may notice. No uniform either! He refused to let me buy him a green shirt and paint on it, so I settled for his green tee. And bare feet. [Sigh.]
Once all the eggs were hidden...all 269 of them...it was time for the Annual Smith Easter Egg Hunt to commence. But, not before the traditional group photo. This is where "unofficial" Smiths can participate. Ha! We took our legal Smith photo, and then we invited Sheila to join us. That's just how we roll. You've gotta be okay with it to make it in this family. Sheila's a good sport!
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| Game faces on! |
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| On your mark. Get set... |
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| Notice how Russ and I are distracted by that cute clapping baby, and everyone else is looking for the eggs. |
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| Kristin |
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| Nothing proper about this hunt...climb where you will! |
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| Lee |
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| Dustin and Russ |
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| Searching the flower bed |
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| Taking another look over |
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| Behind this bush is true partnership. Ha! Russ felt sorry for me and gave me two of his eggs. |
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| Russ's muddy feet with his basket |
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| Kristin starting her count |
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| Dustin with his gigantic basket. The favorite. |
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| Notice the concentration on Russ's face. |
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| Lee never said a word. He just sat in his little corner counting away. |
The temperature was certainly not warm. Rain or shine, warm or cold...the egg hunt is on! My 86 year old grandmother adapts to the conditions well. Easter Sunday...almost April...and she's bundled up in her marshmallow coat, scarf, and surrounded by an afghan.
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| Maw Maw |
The egg count is as follows...
Dustin won the egg count AND the money total. He was crowned victorious once again regaining his title and crown. As we all cheered, he raised his hands for his victory speech...
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| "I just wanna thank God..." |
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| "So this is what all the fuss was about..." |
It was a memorable hunt full of FUN, excitement, competition, and MEMORIES! That's the way we like it around here. Millie Janalee didn't get to hunt eggs this year, and she was distraught about it...
She loves a plastic egg. Especially the bright shiny ones. I think everywhere we visited over the month, we ended up leaving with an egg Millie Janalee got attached to. We have generous friends to let us take their eggs. Ha! Next year, I'm sure we will start making egg hunt memories with our sweet girl! Because, just as I was raised, I want fun family memories to be a huge part of my own little family! Thanks to the intentional planning of my parents, we always have time for a family memory. It doesn't have to be a vacation...or even cost money. Just be intentional and fun! Memories will follow!
The rest of our evening consisted of naps, family time, basketball, and ended with a family viewing of The Bible before everyone parted ways for the night. Oh yeah! There was a good bit of playtime on the floor too! With our new baby doll, cups, and of course Easter eggs!
Happy Easter from our crazy bunch to yours!
1 comment:
HAHA, been waiting on this post. So much fun. Thanks for sharing!
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