Easter 2010 and such...

Wow! I'm way behind on blogging. Sorry. It was a bit of a stressful and busy month around here with lots of drama regarding my Dad's care (I'll spare you all the details of that as right now it seems to be going well, but believe me, it was MAJORLY stressful for all of us for about 2 weeks and it looked for awhile like we might have to either find other care arrangements for him or even bring him back home - NOT a good situation at all!! - but after a very long week of taking turns spending about 10-12 hrs/day with him between me, Joel and my Mom, lots of tearful and heated meetings with the staff at Roselani Place, and some pretty significant changes in his medications - we seem to have things under control for now. Fingers crossed this lasts for awhile!!).

So anyway, right in the middle of all that stress (and probably at least party because of it) my Mom and I both got pretty sick. I ended up with a nasty sinus infection, chest congestion, terrible laryngitis (with hardly any voice at all for about 3 days), and on top of all of that - Pink Eye of all things!! - NOT FUN. I finally gave in and went to the doctor to get some antibiotics (I'm not big on taking antibiotics, but after 2 weeks of dealing with that crap, it was time for something). Between dealing with my Dad's situation and being sick, I missed about half of two weeks of work, so I've also been playing catch-up there. Not to mention trying to give Dean lots of extra love and attention as I think he was feeling a bit neglected and picking up on those negative stressful vibes.

But finally this past week we seem to be getting back into our normal routine, we all seem to be healthy, and we've been enjoying some much-needed family time!!

So, how about I get you all caught up on the GOOD stuff from April now that you're all up to speed on the not-so-good stuff??

The day before Easter we dyed Easter Eggs. This was Dean's second year dying eggs and I'm still not sure who has more fun with this - Dean or Joel! ha!
We had a really fun Easter at home. Dean got a TON of goodies from the Easter Bunny - probably way more than he actually deserved if we're really considering the whole "good boy" thing. Some of the highlights were the Toy Story DVD and coloring book, a Rock-N-Roll Craft Kit, several Early Readers Curious George books, and lots of other small toys and arts & crafts items.

The only thing that Dean REQUESTED from the Easter Bunny this year was "Funny Putty" - all because he happened to be at my Mom's house when Aunty Jayci got her Easter Care package from her Mom and there was "Funny Putty" inside. Dean didn't stop talking about that stuff for days!! (thanks a lot Judi). Unfortunately, the Easter Bunny could not find any "Funny Putty" anywhere on the entire island of Maui the day before Easter, so we had to settle for something called "Glitter Lava", which Joel thought looked about the same. What a giant mess!!

After playing with all of the Easter Bunny loot, we stopped by to visit my Dad. I don't especially like pictures of my Dad as to me they don't look like him. But I know that there will come a time when I cherish these photos and will be glad that I have them. So I force myself to take them.

My Mom and Jayci came over for Easter Lunch - Joel cooked a delicious ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and home-made rolls. He always makes the best home-made breads!! This year, my Mom requested a pineapple glazed ham, so Joel made the most ridiculous looking ham I've ever seen:
But it sure was good!! We managed to get away with only 1 large Easter Egg hunt at home this year. I'm sure there will come a time when Dean remembers that Easter is all about Egg hunts and will pester us relentlessly to hide eggs over and over again (I think I remember doing this as a child). Until then, I'm going to enjoy my single-hunt holiday!