Easter 2*0*1*2

I love Easter! I love that it means that spring and warm weather are just around the corner -- or as was the case this year, they are here. :) I love the flowers that are blooming and watching my kids "practice" hunt eggs in the weeks leading up to Easter.

I know that much of the world celebrates Easter as the resurrection of Christ. And, for me, Easter always makes me thankful for several reasons. First, I'm reminded how thankful I am that I was raised in a home with parents that not only modeled what the Bible teaches, they placed great importance on teaching us why we believe what we believe and therefore why we do what we do when it comes to worship. Easter always makes me thankful that as a Christian trying to do just what the 1st Century church did, I get to celebrate the life, death and resurrection of Christ EVERY WEEK, just a the first church did. The Bible gives us no indication that we are to place a special importance on Easter, in fact it tells us to remember each week and, I guess, I believe that if God had wanted us to have an extra-special Sunday he would have told us. And, as someone that is trying to follow what God has commanded through the Bible, that is what I am going to do. But, it's also what I'm wholeheartedly teaching my children to do. And, this Easter, that's led to some questions from our oldest about why we don't put a special emphasis on Jesus rising from the dead on Easter and what's wrong with that? I can only pray that I have answered her questions in a way that she was able to understand and that I will be able to continue to do so.

So, on to the fun we had getting ready for Easter! I had a blast making their lunches eastery this year -- bunny sandwiches (love my food markers!), bunny gummies, bunny crackers and carrot bags filled with carrots (or cheetos).
Saturday afternoon, after our church egg hunt, we dyed eggs. They had such fun doing this, but the hit of the afternoon were the Color Snaps I'd bought! They were able to color on the eggs and draw on them with these. So much fun! I'll be getting them again next year. :)

The night before Easter. Baskets filled with eggs, ready to be filled and hidden by the Easter bunny!

We left carrots for him; Harrison decided he needed some chocolate as well. I'm sure the Easter bunny appreciated that!

He came! Their baskets were filled to capacity and beyond!

Charlotte's basket.

Madeleine's basket.

Harrison's basket.

And, yes, he ate all the candy and some of the carrots. Guess even the Easter Bunny has a sweet tooth. ;)

Easter morning the kids were so excited! They were up at 6:15 to see what he'd left them!

After checking out their baskets, the hunted for the eggs he'd hidden.

We got dressed and ready for church in our new outfits....and all this by 8:45 that morning! Madeleine and Harrison both had new clothes, but Charlotte was wearing the same dress that Madeleine wore 6 years ago on Easter. I still remember the day I picked it out.

After church, we headed home for Easter lunch. We had some of our good friends, Ryan and Sarah and Mary Mack some eat with us. Sarah is my Ph.D. school friend since Ryan and Matt are in school together. We've supported each other through all of this and it's been wonderful to have someone to talk to that understands the demands of their workload and how tough it is on the wife, too. :) I'm going to miss her so much when they move this summer!

After lunch, the guys hid eggs for the kids. We put Charlotte and Mary Mack in the front yard and the big kids in the back. Charlotte has taken quite a liking to Mary Mack and asks for her every time we go to the park.

It was an absolutely wonderful day, filled with good friends and lots of good memories.