Easter 2012

We had a nice Easter celebration this year. The weekend was full of fun stuff. We had Eli's birthday party Saturday and then dyed Easter eggs that evening, the boys did their egg hunt Sunday morning, we managed to make it out to some bluebonnets to take some pictures, and Sunday night Max was dedicated at our church.

The Easter egg dyeing and hunting is fun and all, but I don't like the whole Easter bunny idea. I'm not really sure why. Maybe it's the fact that it's all commercialized and the fact that Easter is about Jesus, not the Easter bunny. Plus, I think the idea of a giant bunny coming to my house is kind of creepy. I originally bought some stuff to do Easter baskets for the boys, but I was feeling anti-Easter bunny and decided that I didn't want to do them every year and returned all the goodies. We ended up telling Eli and Jed that the Easter bunny came and hid the eggs, that way they wouldn't have to think that he came into our house to deliver anything. The boys didn't ask details about how he got the eggs we dyed. It's all confusing to me. So, next year, I think we the Easter Bunny may just hide some plastic eggs that he brought himself. I always thought it was gross to eat the dyed hard boiled eggs that were laying in the yard for hours. Anyway, I digress. Eli and Jed had a fun time finding the eggs and dyeing them, so I guess it was a success...except for the fact that there was one egg that we never foud. I bet a raccoon found a nice Easter treat!

To help explain to Eli and Jed why we celebrate Easter, I got some eggs called Resurrection Eggs. They're plastic eggs with little things inside like a loaf of bread or a linen cloth or a nail, along with bible verses and a little explanation of the Easter story of Jesus. They sort of understood what it was about. Eli liked the spear and talked about how much it would hurt, and he also thought he got jipped because the last egg was empty (for the empty tomb). It was a good tool to at least introduce them to the story of Easter. I like that way better than the Easter bunny and all the candy and Easter baskets!

Max's dedication was a special moment. At our church, children’s dedication time is a special time set aside to introduce kids to the community, pray for them, and let their families know the church community is there to support and encourage them as they strive to raise their children well and in our shared faith. I'm thankful Mammy and Uncle Dan and Aunt Lisa were there to share that time with us, and I'm thankful for our church community.