ONE AND TWENTY IN TWO

It took the children all of two minutes to collect the twenty-one eggs I had placed around the backyard of the new place. We waited until noon to drive over to the house as raindrops started to sprinkle during breakfast. Despite the ground being a bit damp from the rain, it did not stop the three from wanting to do an Easter egg hunt.

Last night I debated as to the amount of eggs to give the children. I did not wish to overindulge them with an abundance of candies and chocolates but at the same time wanted to give them something to search for in the backyard. Little did I realise how quickly they would run around gathering the plastic eggs. I hardly had time to adjust the settings on my camera as they declared they were all done.

Sage was sad at not having collected as many eggs as his sisters. I then pointed out the two remaining chocolate hazelnut carrots hanging on nearby branches. It was only later in the afternoon when Cinnamon mentioned 'Kinder eggs' that I remembered the three Kinder eggs I had brought for them from Ireland during my last trip in February. We drove back to the new place and I found the eggs in a bag I brought over last week which the three ate as soon as we returned home.

Not long after the Easter egg hunt, we drove downtown for the surprise I had planned for the children. I told them they would never be able to guess what it was. We had an hour before the modern-day play of 'Jack and the Beanstalk' was to commence at the Scottish Rite Theater so I decided to find a field of bluebonnets where I could take photographs of the three.

Seeing how photographing children in a field of bluebonnets is a Texas thing and I had never done this in eight years of being a mother, I wanted to do so this year. Someone on Facebook had mentioned bluebonnet fields at St. Edward's university. Unfortunately, I ran out of time to find the place and only later saw many bluebonnets albeit at the side of highways. I have a few more days to find another place as the bluebonnets will most likely be gone by the time the children return to stay with me again.

After the attempt to find the bluebonnets, we drove to the theater and had enough time for the children to decorate paper bags for the Easter egg hunt hosted by the theater. As soon as the doors opened, all children present ran for the plastic eggs filling their bags in a furious manner. My three showed up at my seat with their bags filled to the top. I promptly informed them they had too many eggs and needed to give some away. They gladly did so but more needed to be given away.

After the show, as the children were getting their program papers signed by the cast members, I saw one child with an empty bag. I grabbed a handful of plastic eggs from my children's bags and handed them to the parents. They I gave away two more handfuls which brought delight to the child and parents.

Once home, I had all three children go through their bags to further reduce the amount they would keep. They plan on giving half of what they have to their 'almost' stepbrothers this next weekend when they have another Easter egg hunt.

The children were excited and happy, having declared this Easter 'the best ever'. The girls were overjoyed at the books the Easter Bunny gave them and spent the afternoon and late into the evening reading them. Sage also liked his book, A Lion in Paris, and I sat with him as he read the first two pages. The day could have been better. For me, this would have been having my boyfriend with me to share in this day with the children and me. In time, this will be a possibility. For now, we need to be patient a little while longer.