bucking tradition

Growing up, I had so many Easter traditions... a new dress each year - many handmade by my grandmother who was an incredible seamstress. Easter baskets filled with GIANT chocolate bunnies that took us weeks to eat. Hiding eggs with my brother for weeks before and after Easter. Church with my family. Huge dinners with my extended family after church. Pictures taken by the garden.

Jackson has been hiding and finding eggs ALL WEEK like crazy. We've dyed eggs, done a few Easter crafts, read the Resurrection story from the Bible every night, opened and explained the "Resurrection Eggs", and various other fun things this week leading up to Easter. [I am amazed at how much he gets it... the REAL story of Christ's Resurrection. And how when I teach it to him and my class at church, Christ's sacrifice touches my heart in new ways.]

But Easter day is a different story...

With both my hubby and I working for the church, Easter mornings are a bit CRAZY for us - there's so much to do to get ready for church. Weeks of preparation beforehand. Mike wakes up super early and is gone long before I wake up. Jackson and I leave early to get everything set up and ready to go for all the Bridgekidz classes, and with much help (thank you guys!), we hide hundreds and hundreds of eggs. The service was a wonderful time to celebrate Christ's Resurrection with our church family. The BridgeKidz classes went great. We leave church exhausted!

We opted for the oh-so-nontraditional Easter lunch at Salsa Fresh and McDonald's for Jackson. Ha! It was delicious! I debated all week about doing an Easter meal with all traditional yummy food. In the end, it was just too much for me to do with the busyness of church and this ever-growing belly of mine. Trust me - I was praising God with every bite of my yummy chimichanga-style Chicken Beuno Burrito! During lunch Jack spilled chocolate milk all down his clothes... that's when I realized we weren't getting a family picture for that day.

Once we finally made it home, Jackson got to pick a few pieces of candy and then it was off to his room for quiet time. Mike and I engaged in our regular Sunday afternoon tradition -- he naps for hours and I read the paper and watch cheesy 80's movies on TV.

Our laziness was interrupted by a call from the Wells wanting to play outside in the beautiful weather. We met them at our neighborhood ponds for some fishing. It was Madeline and Ryan's first time (and Lauren too!) so Mike brought rods for everyone and gave them some lessons. In no time, Ryan caught 3 fish and Madeline caught one! Jackson preoccupied himself with throwing sticks in the water for their dog Bobo. After the fishing success, we played on the playground. We had so much fun!

Returning home for dinner, Jackson had the traditional Easter peanut butter and jelly sandwich, Mike had leftovers, and I was still full from lunch so just munched on a little popcorn. We watched a new movie Jackson got from Aunt Kaye and then went to bed.

Probably not your traditional Easter in many ways... yet the day seemed perfect to me.