Holidays in Our Home: Easter
Easter Reading:
We read several good books about the Easter story, a couple that we've been reading in our family since I was little. One that was newer and surprisingly good was My First Easter Story by Tim Dowley. We also continued and expanded on a tradition that we began last year by reading Beatrix Potter stories. Last year my cousin, we read The Tale of Peter Rabbit and The Tale of Benjamin Bunny and my cousin, Jamie sent us an amazing video
collection called The Beatrix Potter Collection by BBC video. This year we expanded our reading to include thirteen different tales, and Sophie could not get enough! Not only did we enjoy the video collection again, but we also had the opportunity to explore Mr. McGregor's garden at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. Sophie loved crawling under Mr. McGregor's fence, hiding in the watering can, visiting Peter's home, and checking out the scarecrow made with Peter's clothes!
Chocolate Bunny Pie:
One of Sophie's top five favorite stories is Pinky's Sweet Tooth by Michele Malkin. In this story, Aunt Pinky makes all kinds of delicious treats, and the one that makes Sophie's mouth water most is Chocolate Bunny Pie. Last year, my grandmother made Sophie a chocolate bunny pie just like Aunt Pinky's, and I continued the tradition this year. I used Paula Deen's chocolate chip pie recipe, topped with whipped cream and let Sophie decorate. The pie was a huge hit, though Sophie and Matt ate as much of the bunnies as they did the pie! Matt read the story while I served the pie. Lots of fun!
Resurrection Eggs:
We continued our tradition of using Resurrection eggs as a part of our family devotion time during the days leading up to Easter. Sophie engaged even more this year in the story than she has in years past, to the point of tearing up when Matt taught her about the crucifixion. At one point she said, "No, no. Not another guard story." It is beautiful to watch her in the early stages of understanding what Christ did for her.
Dyeing Eggs:
Sophie had the opportunity to dye eggs twice this year. The first time was at a neighborhood playgroup, and Will very nearly brought that party to its knees, so we let her stay up and dye eggs after Will went to bed on Thursday night. I think she truly enjoyed the opportunity to be creative without also having to play defense against her younger, but not much smaller brother! Matt drew the kids faces on a couple of eggs, and I wrote names, but once again this year, our primary theme was Disney princesses!
Easter Services
This year we attended Easter services on Saturday night. The service at Crossroads was great! I've seen the cardboard testimonies several times at different churches, but this was as powerful as I've ever seen it. It was a little strange not going to church on Sunday morning, but it allowed Will to take a nap and be able to make it through lunch, an Easter egg hunt, and opening his basket! We were excited to eat a nice dinner out on Saturday night, though eating at 8:30 p.m., with a little guy who goes to bed before 8 was very interesting. The kids both did really well, especially considering there was no highchair for Will to sit in and the restaurant wasn't exactly kid-friendly!
Easter Egg Hunt
We had hoped to attend a community egg hunt this year, and we were so sad to miss the one in our neighborhood, but we decided to hide eggs in our yard and let Sophie, her friend from across the street, and Will hunt in our yard. Sometimes simpler is better, and Sophie really seemed to enjoy the hunting and the candy eating! Will wasn't overly impressed and mostly played with the wheel on my car. At some point during the hunt, he fell down and bloodied his leg, but he never cried and no one actually saw it happen!
Easter Basket Scavenger Hunt
This was a new tradition for our family, and one that Matt deserves all the credit for thinking of and executing! The Easter Bunny doesn't drop off the kids baskets while they are sleeping, but visits while we are out and about on Sunday, so Daddy can see the kids open their baskets. (Matt always leaves the house early on Sunday mornings, usually before Sophie is even awake!) This year the Easter Bunny created eight clues and sent Sophie on a wild chase throughout our house looking for her Easter basket. (I want to post about the hunt later because I want Sophie to be able to see the all the hard work her dad did to make her Easter memorable!) At any rate, Sophie found her basket and Will's and was almost as thrilled with the hunt as she was with her basket!
Easter Music:
This year Sophie was very excited about A Very Veggie Easter. Now Veggie Tales' music tends to make me a little crazy (just not wild about their little veggie voices), but Sophie loves this particular cd, so we listened every afternoon. I must admit it was precious to hear her singing Hosanna Loud Hosanna and Christ the Lord Is Risen Today. We also sing songs that I learned while teaching at Providence Christian Academy. Lisa Carlton taught the students (and me) songs like Run Peter Run, God's Not Dead, and Jumping Up and Down, Shout Hosanna. We sang them every year, and I remember thinking the songs were a bit corny. It is funny though how they stuck with me, and I taught them to Sophie and now to Will. They are both love them and dance like crazy! This year I actually ordered the DVD they are from, Donut Man On Tour and Resurrection Celebration. It is so funny how your perspective changes!
It will always be bittersweet to be without our family on Easter, but after all, Easter is a bittersweet time. I am thankful for the many wonderful memories I have of growing up in a home where we always celebrated and had fun, and yet I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt why we were celebrating. I am thankful that I have the opportunity not only to begin some new traditions in our home, but also to continue those that made my childhood so rich. I pray that Matt and I will be able to make memories and communicate meaning as we marvel at and celebrate what Christ did for us.
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