Feliz dia de Pascua!

Yes, yes! Happy Easter!! I hope the Easter bunny brought you all sorts of sinful indulgences. Look what the bunny left for me in my basket! I think she's a keeper. Easter is hands down my most favorite holiday of the year. I don't know what it is. Maybe it is because I've always been around loved ones and after long Lent seasons, it's so rewarding to enjoy things that you've sacrificed for 40 daysI love this time of year, because everything seems to wake from the long winter's nap. Trees bloom, flowers wake up and smile at the world, and fashion is filled with intense spring colors. All seems cheerful, happy, and bright again. Don't get me wrong, I do like the winter weather, especially because my allergies aren't in full gear, but the spring is phenomenal.

We were up pretty late on Saturday struggling to acclimate back to the time change. I was wired, hopped up on Mexican coke (my current favorite guilty pleasure!)

Mexican Coke - it has all of the yummy nastiness from coke, but made with real cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. It's also packaged in glass bottles. Quite frankly, there's this overwhelming feeling of nostalgia when I sip on it. I'm quickly taken back to my childhood filled with hot, hot summers, grandma's cooking wafting from the kitchen, and gentle breezes kissing my body while gliding on my swingset. Ahhh...to be a kid again. I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony. I'd like to buy the world a coke and keep it company. I'd like to buy the world a home and furnish it with love, grow apple trees and honey bees, and snow white turtle doves. I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony. I'd like to buy the world a coke and keep it company. C'mon, you know you remember that song and you loved it!

So anyway, back to the Easter celebration...DELIGHTFUL! Like I said, I didn't go to bed until late, I'm thinking like 3AM and was up at 7 because Mari was ready to eat. I probably could've gone back to bed easily, but when you have a tiny infant cooing and smiling at you, it's really hard to go back to bed. Half asleep, I stayed up and played with her. When she went back to bed, I started to clean the living room area. After that, I wen tto clean her G diaper. I'm so glad we are back home and using them. I don't have anything against more traditional diapers. They get the job done, but because they are so absorbent, I can't always tell when she needs changing. Here's an example: When I took her swimming, I kept her Pamper Swaddler on. Back up in the hotel when I changed her, this diaper was like a large water balloon! It was thick, heavy, and voluminous! OMG...talk about super absorbent. If I ever cut myself and all I had around was a diaper, I'd be using it instead of a towel because they are better than Brawny. I digress...so back to cleaning the G diaper and prepping the next round of them, I quickly realized just how fast she'd been growing. I went to measure her, and sure enough, she's 23 inches long! Hard to believe she's stretched out so much. I can't believe she is nearly 2 feet long. She's so tall. :)

I WAS EXHAUSTED. I went back to the room for a 15 minute power nap. I realy wanted to do my hair before church, but at this point, I didn't care. I valued sleep more. A couple of minutes before the alarm went off, Mari began to stir, so I got up to nurse her. So much for 15 minutes, but again, she paid me with an incredible gummy smile, I couldn't be angry. After nursing, I put her in her Easter dress and quickly went to get dressed myself. Don had already gotten snazzy and I must say we were quite an attractive family. Too bad I didn't grab a photo! After church, we went to eat at Great Wall in Plano. We'd just left the land of buffets, why on earth would we go eat at one? Well, Great Wall is definitely that good. I swear they dip their crab rangoon in honey before they fry it because it has this luxuriously sweet quality to them. YUM!

Anyhow, back home and I was going to prep for our guests when Don insisted I take a nap. I fighted the urge and realized that I was probably being like Mari gets when she doesn't want to sleep. I fought the fussiness urge and complied quickly. 45 fast minutes later and my sister was there with Mari in her arms pulling me from my slumber. I was grateful. I threw on some clothes and half asleep, I proceeded to take an inventory of what had been done and what we still needed to do. I didn't have candy for an easter egg hunt, nor did I have eggs for deviled eggs. Sam and I headed to the store to get some essentials. By the time we'd returned, Lindsey and Jennifer and Mia had arrived. Simon was knee deep in prepping the guacamole, fajitas, and sopa. My niece and nephew running around enjoying the brisk afternoon. We prepped the plastic eggs and laughed and joked. After what seemed like hours, we finally agreed to get the Easter festivities started.

CASCARONES - First off, cascarones (confetti filled eggs that we crack on each other's heads) in the back yard. Each person was armed with a dozen brightly colored eggs, the kids energetically cracked their eggs on the adults. There was this frenzy of bold confetti colors flying everywhere. It was chilly out, but despite the runny noses, we were all panting and puffing air and laughing hysterically! I went to get my sister and I used some pretty fierce force, but that egg didn't crack. I think I successfully achieved a mini bump on her head! LOL. I finally just broke it in my hand and sprinkled the confetti on her head. Everyone blessed Mari with her confetti and I even got Guapo too. Everyone needed their Easter cascarone good luck.