How to Throw an Egg Hunt

This tradition has been a huge hit in my neighborhood for years. I've simplified it to the point that I ALMOST just show up myself. :) Well, maybe that's a little exaggeration. But, I've made it pretty easy. Here's how I do it.
1. Pick a date. I always choose the day before Easter. Many people go to church on Easter Sunday or spend the day with family. You could also choose the week before.


2. Find a bunny. Shhhh...don't tell my kids, but Grandpa Mike volunteers every year. He shows up for coffee and doughnuts and with all the excitement, no one notices that he disappears for the egg hunt. Just to make sure, I ask him in front of some of the older kids if he'll run to the store for cream for the coffee. I invested in a bunny costume that hides all year long in an unmarked box in the garage. The costume can be a little pricey, but you can price hunt online and share it among friends or a local organization that might use it as well.

3. Send out your invitations. I use evite. I tend to misplace paper these days. I like online systems that I can check regularly. You can print it up for friends that might not have email, but you can't be my friend if you don't have email. Its my main way to communicate.

4. Get some friends to help out. I have a friend who runs out to pick up doughnut holes for our breakfast. My friends love to help. So, I ask someone to bring a couple cases of bottled water, someone to bring creamer, sugar packets and stir sticks, someone to bring napkins and little paper plates, some years I feel like having cut up fruit. You get the picture. I'm the organizer, I offer up my house, I don't feel obligated to do ALL the work.

5. Pick a craft. Okay. This part is the most work for me. And while I'm up all hours of the night one night getting it done, I'm a little grumpy. But, when we deliver them and the kids are so excited to get them, I forget all about the work involved. And when the egg hunt is going on and these adorable crafts surround my yard, it brings a smile to everyone's face.

6. Designate a set up crew. Don't do it yourself! Some moms on my street send the hubby's up to help set up tables and clear out my yard while they get the kids ready.

7. Show time. It runs a little something like this:
9:30-10:00 Guests arrive and we eat doughnuts.
10:15 Bunny waves from a balcony that overlooks our courtyard. The kids are giddy with excitement. We do the egg drop. Dads are around the back scattering eggs.
10:30 I go over a few guidelines with the kids, we walk around the corner, they see the eggs scattered, we line up around the grass. I let the youngest go first. Its over in about 5 mintes. :) All that work! Then, the kids sit around open their eggs and enjoy. I have a friend that I designate as a photographer and she takes pictures of all the families with the bunny.

It's one of my favorite days of the year!

Teacher Gifts- Teacher Appreciation

I sat down to do a post about teacher appreciation gifts and right before I started I browsed through some of my favorite blogs. I found the CUTEST post about teacher appreciations gifts and I'm not even going to try my own. Check out these creative, simple, thoughtful gifts. I will be using them every year! They even give you the printables! Thank you, thank you, thank you Nothing But Country for these adorable ideas. I've listed some of my favorites below. Click the link to see the actual project.

http://www.nothingbutcountry.com/category/holidays-occasions/teacher-appreciation/

Cookies for the Teacher

Other great sites for ideas:
http://www.skiptomylou.org/teacher-appreciation/

Neighborhood Traditions

Breakfast with Bunny

Traditions are such a big part of growing up and many traditions we have belong to our families. But, neighborhood traditions are a great way to form life long friends for both kids and parents. We moved into our neighborhood as one of the original owners. The first year we were here, there was a community egg hunt and we decided to take our son, who was a year and a half old at the time. It was so incredibly crowded that when the finally counted down and sounded the signal to begin hunting for eggs, it was over in a matter seconds and our son never got a single egg. So, the next year, we started our own neighborhood tradition. We bought an Easter Bunny costume and my dad has been the good sport every year to wear it. We invited most of our neighborhood (as many as our yard could hold). We put out an Evite for an event we named Breakfast with Bunny. We served coffee, water, and doughnut holes which are an incredibly inexpensive way to feed a large group of people. I bought supplies for a craft that I deliver to the kids a couple days in advance to get them excited about the egg hunt and to have them help me decorate the yard. The craft is a foam egg with the letters for their name and some other foam stickers. They make it and drop it off in my mailbox the night before. I glue a stick behind it and they border the yard around the hunt. Last year we also added an egg drop because the kids are getting older and I wanted a little challenge for them. Surprisingly the parents were just as into it as the kids were. The morning of the hunt, we mingle while people arrive, eat some doughnut holes, and then hunt for eggs. All the parents that attend bring 1-2 dozen eggs and I throw in a ton myself. I know its one of those things my kids look forward to all year and I'm pretty sure the rest of the kids on the block feel the same.

Teacher Gifts- End of the year

We have 2 teachers this year, so I was looking for something new that was easy to make twice. I came across the cutest idea on this blog I found:

http://www.beneathmyheart.net/2010/05/inexpensive-yet-meaningful-teacher-gift/



I used her poem (below) and put my own little spin on it. I filled a can from Michael's with any kind of mint candy I could find, attached the poem in the inside, and hung a gift card on the back. I loved that it was filled with sweets to carry around in her purse. I loved the creative poem, and who doesn't love a little shopping spree over summer vacation?

Thanks for your commit-"mint" to help me learn.
Thanks for your encourage-"mint" to always do my best.
Thanks for your involve-"mint" in my life.
Thanks for your invest-"mint" of time and energy     
to make school such a great place to be.
Thanks for making each day an enjoy-"mint".
Thanks for helping to create a nice environ-"mint"     
for me to learn and grow.
Everything you have done this year
    has really “mint” a lot to me!!!

                                                   (poem from www.beneathmyheart.net)

Teacher Gifts- Birthdays

Candy bar cards were a huge hit in my son's kindergarten class this year. I thought they'd be fun for the kids to see since my son doesn't think that gift cards are any fun to get for your birthday. So, I figured the kids would love to see the candy, and the teacher will like the gift card at the end.

The first card I made, I learned that you can spend a fortune on candy bars and not even use half of the ones that you buy. I went to Walmart and the grocery store and initially just bought any candy bar that had a name I thought I could work with. As I sat down to write, I realized I had WAY more than I needed and some of the names that I thought were so clever, sounded a little weird for a birthday card to a kindergarten teacher (Butterfinger, Big Hunk).

 Both teachers were so excited to get their candy bar card. And on my way out the door after presenting the second card, 3 different students came up to ask me if they invited my son to their birthday party, would I make them a candy bar card, too. I had no idea this little project would make my son so   popular!