I Love Easter for Sentimental Reasons

Easter is my favorite holiday, and I'm pretty sure it always has been.  As a kid I felt like everyone had Christmas, but Easter was just for me.  My parents used to make baskets for each of us kids and hide them around the house.  When we woke up in the morning there would be a trail of chocolate eggs, a different color for each kid, starting at our pillows and ending at our baskets.  This is one of my most exciting memories as a kid and a tradition I can't wait to continue with Little.





I'm sure a big part of why I love Easter so much is because I love spring.  I love how it feels to walk out into the warm spring air after the snow melts, and feel like it's the first time I've ever had sun on my face.  I love taking off my shoes for the first time and feeling the mud squish between my toes.  I love the tiny green buds of leaves and the smell of wet grass, the tulips and daffodils showing off the first colors of the year.





Easter is a day filled with love, for me.  I get to be with my family, without obligations or distractions, knowing that at that moment there is nothing more important to do than to simply be at peace with them.  I don't have to do anything but let the joy of my family fill my heart.  At church, everyone is rejoicing and thanking God for his love and his salvation.  Easter is the one day out of the year that I never question God's love or faithfulness. 

 



This year, Easter was a day for a quiet drive through sleepy suburban streets, teaching Little to smell the flowers, picnicking by the river, and playing with blocks with the spring air blowing through the house.

Easter was a day for peace.






 

Just a Typical Day: Family Field Trip

David is currently studying church parks in DC, so every Sunday we will be going to a new church garden.  David will creep out the park goers by walking around taking notes in a notebook while Nora and I smell the roses and play in the grass.  Last week we visited the National Cathedral.  We spent all afternoon in the garden and took a brief tour of the cathedral.  It was so beautiful.  I can't wait to go back!

Halloween 2010

I may have mentioned this before, but deadlines and this household are not friends.  So here's my Halloween post, three days later.  Not that it's a huge deal.  Halloween this year (for us) was decidedly mediocre, to say the least.  We went to church, which was super fun.  We sat in on a parenting study group then walked to a pumpkin sale at another church.  This church was on our bus route and had pumpkins covering their lawn all month, so naturally, we decided to show up Halloween day to pick up whatever they had left.  

They actually didn't have that bad of a selection.  There wasn't much for the traditional orange roundy, but they did have lots of lumpy, funky colored pumpkins, which is what we were looking for anyway.  We picked up as many as we could possibly carry with us on the bus.  Once we got home, David walked to the super-market and got tons more candy in preparation for the deadly onslaught of trick-or-treaters he was expecting.  Meanwhile, I decided that the Little had to dress up, even if only for 5 minutes, and even if I was the only one who would see it. 

Is it considered a bad thing if a child's dedication outfit is the same as her Halloween costume?  If so, I foresee many embarrassing moments in  her lifetime.  I hope she forgives me.

Finally, we snuggled in front of the computer for some good-old-fashioned Hulu and waited for the frighteningly cute kids to arrive. 
We waited.  And listened.  And watched. 
We even put all our pumpkins with a trail of candy leading up to our door. 
I chased one kid (who didn't bother to dress up) down the stairs to give him candy. 
David watched through the peephole as some punk teenager dumped the neighbor's candy bucket into his bag. 
In total, there were four dressed up kids who came to our door, and they were all together.  I gave them a lot of candy.  And thanked them.  And acted WAY too enthusiastic. 
How was your Halloween?  Did you dress up, or just turn the lights off and hide in the dark (ehem... Mom... Dad...)?