it's become a family tradition for us to celebrate Easter Sunday at our place, with the aunties, uncles and cousins coming over for an Easter egg hunt & tea-party in the afternoon.

this year was no different...*but* i decided to invite the littlies from kay's playgroup along as well, and their older siblings too (who r ky's friends too). so total we had 11 kids and 12 adults. hard to believe there were so many in our ouse, but somehow it didnt seem crowded. e kids started with basket-making when they arrived, using signs of e cross, eggs, hearts, flowers and other spring motifs. they tied them together with ribbons and put some shredded paper inside. (it stopped e eggs falling out laterr ;)) then they dug into e goodies while waiting for their buddies to finish. (the best surprise were some wonderful jelly-coconut cream eggs and number-shapes which Aunty Sh had made...)

when the hunt was abt to begin, they all got in an excitable little line from smallest to biggest... then wasted no time in ransacking e kids 2 bedrooms for their Easter treats. :)  i'd hidden them well, so it took some a while... and it also gave them time to share their finds so that everyone had an equal number. little M was the 1st to munch his down...even while the others were still counting :) when i asked to see how many he had, he pointed to his mouth and tummy... "in there!" :b

after that the kids played in little clusters and pairs, while e adults had some time to chit-chat. as they went off in dribs and drabs, little goody-bags were filled, and thankfully e treats on e table were reduced to a reasonable amount.

by ard 7+pm, e older cousins went off, and we escorted our kids out the door to vivocity for dinner. both were almost falling asleep in the car, and neither wanted to go out at all!... but dh and i were in the mood, so they had no choice! ;)  they brightened up once we got there, and continued playing when they got home. before bed there were plenty of happy stories to share about the day's happenings.

highlights of e day:

-ky was pleased i got his curtains finished on time, so he cd show off his 'new room' to his cousins.

-the memory of kay coming out of her room with 16 eggs in her basket...(even before the hunt had begun!)  "sorry i didnt know", she lamented sadly... as ky and his mate took them back :(

-kay has decided she *really* likes her 2 older cousins, M&K ..."because they played so nicely with me."

-a clean house tonite. no real mess... v few dishes... (thank goodness for disposable cups and plates!)

-a tidy house!  were it not for e party, it wd be such a sight!...so i finally had reason enough to clear-up! :)

-4 little prawns in our fishtank (kindly donated by A&A's papa. _not sure whether we like the bigger one yet...though the little ones are cute!)

-a blessed and happy gathering...