When I was going through the stuff I'd bought and stashed in the closet, it started to seem like I had overdone it this year. Once I got everything in the baskets to take the picture, it turned out fine. I probably did spend a little too much, but the baskets aren't as extravagant as they look (they're small baskets). Plus I'm really happy with the stuff I picked, so I am okay with them maybe being a little over the top.
I bought the two dinosaur puzzles a year or more ago and totally forgot about them. I found them when I double-checked the various boxes of gifts I have shoved in my closet and figured I should give them to the boys before they're too old for them. Each kid is getting a box of color Goldfish crackers, a little bag of vanilla yogurt pretzels, a bubble toy that you blow into like a whistle vs blowing through a wand because I'm hoping they'll be easier to use, two musical shaker eggs, an LED headlamp for camping trips, a pinwheel, a matchbox car, and two of those little plastic pullback cars from the multipacks. I found those on clearance and bought five packages in case Nico's class did an egg hunt this year. They ended up hunting for real dyed eggs, but I'll need egg-loot for Elliott's egg hunt next year, so I'm still glad I grabbed them. Other clearance deals I'm pleased with are the headlamps (which came in a package with four small flashlights and batteries for everything, at a grand total of $7.00) and the bubble blowers (which cost something like 74 cents each at the grocery).
In addition, Nico will get egg-shaped sidewalk chalk, a small 3-in-1 Lego set, and a Folkmanis great horned owl finger puppet. Elliott will get a matchbox airplane, a swimming turtle bath / pool toy, and a Folkmanis squirrel finger puppet. I love the adorable chick and carrot eggs, which were three for a dollar at Dollar Tree. I initially hoped to put some cute little plant kits from the dollar spot at Target in the kids' baskets, but Nico saw me pick them out and asked some questions about them, so I figured he'd remember that if he saw them again under suspicious circumstances. I'm not pushing the Easter Bunny myth really hard, but I also don't want to undermine it while they're still little enough for it to be fun. We went ahead and planted strawberry seeds and sensitive plant seeds today, and also gave out the little sunflower kits as treats at Nico's class party.
For some reason I was planning to stage the baskets, take a few pictures, and then put everything back into a box to store until Saturday night. Once I had them all arranged, though, I liked them too much and realized it was silly to do the same work twice, so I stashed them fully assembled in my closet behind my hanging shirts, making this the earliest I've ever had Easter stuff ready. Hooray!
For more Easter basket ideas / posts, visit Here We Go Again. Because we're supposed to tell, Nico is five and Elliott is two this year.
These are awesome! What lucky boys! i'm mostly excited about the sunflower kit--hope it grows tall. Happy Easter!
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