Eggs and Baskets

Well, we did try to make this Easter a little more spiritual by talking about it during the week and doing a Family Home Evening with pictures of the resurrection. Sadly, or not I suppose, most of what our boys understand about the true meaning of Easter comes from the animated movie, "He is Risen." We started off Easter Sunday with their watching it while we slept in, but in the end we went commercial and tried to make the day fun and memorable.

We had already planned to have an Easter dinner and backyard egg hunt at our place with Stephen's parents and sisters that evening, but growing up in a family where all holidays begin the moment you wake up, I simply couldn't wait that long to start celebrating. So what did I spontaneously decide to do? A breakfast picnic on the front lawn, of course! I thought it was a brilliant new tradition that we could recreate for years to come. Stephen was a little bewildered, however, to come out and find the boys carrying blankets, plates, muffins and strawberries out to the grass, thinking they were up to some sort of Sunday morning mischief. Then he saw me putting together the picnic table and realized this was actually my doing, not the boys'. "Here she goes again," is I'm sure what he was thinking.

After breakfasting in the morning sunlight and looking at all that's growing in the garden as a symbol of new life, we let the boys find their baskets and have fun with what was inside, none of which was symbolic or spiritual in any way. Unless of course you feel uplifted when you play games or puzzles, watch Kung Fu Panda, do Spiderman sticker books or play with Matchbox cars. Now eating chocolate, that IS an undeniably spiritual experience!

Time to taste-test the fruits of their labor

"My favorite movie, Bolt!!"

Eli, the gatherer, in action

Good thing he checked the playhouse

A new board game for the game-lovin' Benito

Breakfast on the front lawn--it's not that crazy, is it?