Ellie's Easter Program

On Ellie's last day of school before spring break (St. Patrick's Day!), the preschool held a little Easter celebration that included a concert, parade and egg hunt.

Given how Ellie's Christmas program went:

Oh my.

...we went into this performance with much lowered expectations. A couple of weeks before the performance I was talking to Ellie about it and, operating on a hunch that she only sulks like that when I'm around, I asked her if she wanted me to come watch her sing on stage. She answered "no," and I lied through my teeth and told her okay, I won't come. LIES.

I went. We all did. Eric left work early, Grammy came to visit, E.J. rode in the baby carrier on my back. But, we snuck in at the very last second, found seats in the back, and literally spent the entire show hunched down to stay hidden behind the people in front of us so Ellie wouldn't spot us. We must have looked absolutely ridiculous.

The glamorous world of motherhood, my friends.

BUT IT WORKED. She still didn't sing, but I didn't expect her to given that in addition to seeing her prior performance, her teacher specifically mentioned at our parent-teacher conference that they can't get Ellie to sing. So I didn't expect singing; I was just hoping for at least a neutral expression on her face. Not only did she rock a neutral expression, but she DID THE HAND MOTIONS. To every song! She actually did it! It was so great.

GO ELLIE!

Look at her doing it!

Here's a little snippet of the closing number so you can see for yourself:

VIDEO: Ellie's Easter program

(pardon the shaky camera work - I was hiding and just holding my camera up, plus had an antsy E.J. strapped to my back!

After the performance, the parents were invited out to the walkway alongside the church building to watch the kids in a little Easter parade, led by the Easter Bunny himself. They were all so cute - each class made their own Easter bonnets and looked adorable!

E.J. waiting for the parade to start

Here they come!

E.J. was so excited to see the Easter Bunny!

Ellie on parade!

When the parade reached the front of the church, each class posed for photos with the bunny.

The cutest.

Then, they went into the garden for an egg hunt!

They're off!

Ellie on the hunt

I don't think he was supposed to, but E.J. couldn't resist lending a helping hand!

Ellie gave him a soccer ball egg!

Ellie had so much fun playing with her friends, even after all the eggs had been found.

Playing with her best friend

It was such a nice morning! I'm so pleased with how it went. We're so proud of our Ellie!

Way to go, Ellie!

And you better believe that we're going to be hiding behind people in the audience at Ellie's ballet recital this month!