While there is usually a dinner with the in-laws where we do fun things like egg hunts for the kids, always the focus of the week is on the significance of Christ's death and resurrection.
For the little ones in the family, we always bring out the Resurrection Eggs (our version) to explain the events leading to the Cross.
Our Easter festivities also include special Sunday services at church which very often include someone in our family participating in a passion play.
This year, Jeff played the role of Jesus' disciple Peter in a drama which was woven in with a lovely Easter Cantata.
For days in advance we had to relive the horrible events of the denial of Christ in our home over and over as Jeff practiced his lines.
As it happened, the day before Easter was the big dress rehearsal.
This overlapped with an event I was involved in by about an hour, which necessitated Jeff taking Judah with him to the church.
Our ladies craft group was at a local nursing home delivering Easter cards along with these faux Faberge' beauties
While there, I was happily oblivious to what Judah was doing at that moment, secure in the knowledge that Jeff would keep an eye on him. He was to be turned loose in the church nursery right off the sanctuary where the doors between would stay open.
It seemed an ideal plan. After all, it was only for an hour.
Judah, however, is a force to be reckoned with.
In the same way that Judah always gets into his worst mischief when I'm on the phone, seeing his dad was preoccupied, Judah did not stay in the church nursery.
Instead, Judah seized the opportunity to do a little exploring of his own. The entire church campus (thank the Lord not the world!) was his oyster.
Later, when I came to pick
That should have been my biggest clue right there. Never is that nursery clean when Judah has been playing in it...especially by himself and unattended.
He got off the rocking horse when he saw me and said, "Hi, Mama! I missed you!"
Of course, whenever he says that I melt and so was distracted enough to not give it a second thought. "I missed you, too."
We waved across the sanctuary to Jeff to let him know he no longer needed to worry about Judah, and then went and got into the van.
Judah immediately began chatting
Now Marie knows all about Judah. She was there when Judah very nearly busted our Pastor's chin open.
She's also one of those good-humored souls that are very quick to laugh and always has a sparkle in her eye. Her deep Arkansas accent and mannerisms remind me quite a bit of my dear Mamaw in this respect which is probably why I took an immediate liking to her the first time we ever met.
She was enjoying the childish prattle streaming forth from Judah, which ran the gamut from Spiderman to the seeds in our garden and ending with, "Mama...you forgotted to give daddy da church key."
"Oopsie" I said, realizing that I had forgotten to give Jeff the key to let the cast members in that morning.
"I realwy wiked see-een Jerry's camper house!"
"Oh, did daddy take you back there to talk to Jerry?" I questioned, figuring it had been necessary to visit the retiree caretaker's RV when Jeff realized I still had the key.
"No" he said, matter-of-factly.
"So daddy didn't ask Jerry to open the building?"
"Nope, Waura opened it."
"Then how did you see the inside of Jerry's camper?" I asked, looking at him in the rear view mirror.
"I goed in dere when daddy was in da church." His little sing-song reply spoke of having had a grand adventure.
"So you went in there without asking? When Daddy thought you were in the nursery?"
I glanced at Marie, whose brows had risen and who appeared ready to burst out laughing.
Putting in that way, Judah got a certain guilty expression on his face. "Yeah."
He brightened suddenly, "it's wike a witto house in dere." Again with the sing-song voice.
"Was Jerry in there?"
"Nope."
Oh, great...Judah prowling around in someone's RV all by himself. There was no telling what sort of havoc he unleashed.
His eyes brightened. "He has a cool toy truck in dere."
Whether it belonged to Jerry's grandchildren or was a remote control type gadget I didn't bother to find out. I was too appalled. And embarrassed.
By the time I pulled into Marie's driveway, she was doing all she could not to laugh.
What am I going to do with that boy?
:: :: :: ::
Before putting Judah down for his nap that afternoon we made Easter treats for all his cousins.
While I'd planned to finally try the Empty Tomb confections or at the very least Hot Cross Buns, being pressed for time we fell back on a non-symbolic old favorite involving crispy cereal, marshmallows and butter. You can hardly go wrong with that combination.
My young assistant chef had no problem at all with putting away as many of the 'scraps' (between the cutout flowers) as he could.
:: :: :: ::
After Judah's nap, we made the long drive to Jeff's sister's house for the family Easter gathering which had rather unexpectedly been changed to Saturday instead of the usual Sunday afternoon affair.
This is always a highlight for the kids in our extended family as Aunt Karen and Uncle Paul have a pool and this usually constitutes the inaugural pool party of the season.
It was still a bit too cold outside to comfortably swim, but the kids enjoyed hanging out in "da cuh-choosi" instead.
Later, festivities moved down the street to cousin Nikki's house, where she had literally turned her living room into a home movie theater and had all kinds of fun activities set up for the kids, including that annual favorite, egg-dyeing, and the telling of the Easter story with Resurrection Eggs.
Meanwhile, we adults all had a wonderful time visiting together after dinner.
In a rather old-ladylike turn of events, I managed to converse while oh-so-busily trying to finish my big crocheted afghan project to enter in the fair early Monday morning.
I had been working almost non-stop on it for days and finishing it was still going to be a stretch. Nevertheless, I soldiered on. And on, and on, and on.
That night when we got back home and I was still frantically crocheting into the wee hours, eyes, hands and neck screaming for sleep, I decided to consult the fair entry guide hoping I'd gotten the date wrong and that I had a couple of days leeway...only to learn I'd missed the entry deadlines, not only for my afghan but a couple of photographs, a quilted wall-hanging and baked goods. **long sigh**
However, I wasn't going to let it disrupt our Easter observances. I'd just save all my entries for next year. **I could'a been a contenda!**
Bright and early the next morning, we got the fixings for our Easter dinner going, and then got the kids up to find their Easter
Jericho didn't want his picture taken while still in his PJ's.
Judah, after changing clothes for the umpteenth time that morning, went outside to deliver some treats (meat trimmings) to our dog, and returned with this.
"I picked some fwowers for you, mama."
Best of all, they weren't even from the neighbors yard!
"Awwww, thank you," I replied, gushing over the beautiful flowers and giving him a hug.
I found a little vase and those became our centerpiece.
At last, we headed off for church.
The Cantata and Play went off without a hitch.
Afterwards, all the local extended family came over after church and we had a wonderful visit.
When everyone headed for home, we were cleaning up and and contemplating a Sunday nap when my dad called announcing that he'd be arriving hours ahead of schedule.
Though tired, we were glad he'd made it into town in time for a good dinner and then the evening service at church. It was a special treat to have some of my side of the family there to celebrate with us for once.
My dad barely walked in the door and sat down when we experienced a big earthquake.
It felt rather symbolic having a big earthquake on Resurrection Sunday. In spite of all the festivities, our attention was drawn back time and time again to the significance of Jesus' death and resurrection and the importance that holds for mankind.
Blessedly, we all did manage to get a quick power-nap before heading off to church.
All in all, it was a wonderful Easter.
:: :: :: ::
Of course, a Holiday cannot pass in which I am not out the following morning scouring stores for great deals on useful seasonal decorations.
Aside from the eggs we put in the kids baskets, we tend to decorate more with lambs and crosses and empty tombs, but there generally isn't a lot in those categories left around after Easter.
However, I was not averse to snapping up some cute little discounted birds nests at Wallys.
and this wreath which I got from the Salvation Army (a couple of weeks earlier) for the bargain price of $1.50.
For $7.50 total outlay, I harvested enough supplies
to make a different wreath (pictures to come later)
and some darling little birds nest decorations for another purpose.
Oh, and see that cute little silver footed plate holding the nest up? That was another under $2 find from another thrift store. Nothing a little silver polish didn't fix in a jiffy.
Almost makes up for my disappointment in missing the fair entry deadlines!
