Easter Dinner

Anthony with Nanu, aka my father-in-law.

I didn’t get a nice family portrait of all of us in our Easter finery. Getting ready for the Vigil we were in the usual panic that getting four kids ready for Mass entails. (Pretty much the same as the panic for three kids with the added stress of nursing the baby.)

Bella tries to comfort Ben.

After the Vigil it was almost 10pm. Time to get the kids ready for bed. Who’s thinking about snapping some photos? Not me.

Rosy-cheeked Bella

Then since we went to the Vigil we spent Easter morning in our pajamas. And the girls were the only ones who got dressed up to go to dinner (hosted by my lovely sister-in-law Carol who made the best lamb!) They had to show off their Easter dresses. Me, I wasn’t going to wear my white skirt because I just knew I’d spill something on it. Dom didn’t dress up because we weren’t going to church. Ben didn’t because well, who wants to torture the poor child more than we have to. He was already suffering from an ear infection and missing his nap on top of having got to bed really late the night before. And Anthony doesn’t have dress up clothes.

Ben holds hands with Anthony.

I still wish I’d got a family picture. But since I didn’t I’ll just post some candids I snapped with my iPhone of the kids at the party. That’s all anyone really wants so see anyway, the cute kids.

Anthony with Uncle John, his godfather

As much as I love going to the Vigil, it still feels vaguely wrong to me to not go to Mass on Easter. Not that I’m going to try to take the kids twice. That would be madness. But I still felt a bit unsettled all day.

Bella and Sophie with Easter eggs.

I had some plastic eggs with candy in them but we never got around to hiding them. Then my sister-in-law organized an egg hunt for all the cousins so the girls got to fill up bags with candy-filled eggs. And we got home just in time to grab a bite and put the kids to bed. So I’ve still got a big bag full of eggs that haven’t been hunted. Should I bother organizing a hunt sometime this week just for fun? Or eat all the candy myself. (It’s Reese’s mini cups and Dove dark eggs.) The kids will never miss it.

Sophie finds a quarter

Can I tell you how glad I am I didn’t have to cook Easter dinner? I’d probably have thrown up my hands and just made soup. I’m still trying to figure out how to cook with four kids. We’ve been eating very simple meals of late. I do miss having leftovers though.

Sophie the waif

I do love having meals with the whole Bettinelli clan. I adore Dom’s family. So much fun! My first encounter with them was actually Easter dinner. It was before Dom and I were even officially dating. He just took pity on me and invited me to Easter dinner so that I’d have a place to go. Isn’t that sweet? Of course his family all thought I was his girlfriend anyway. Guess they weren’t too far wrong.

Anthony with Auntie Patti