I know it's been over a week, but I'm finally here with an Easter update! How was yours? Was it good? Ours was fantastic. So good, that I'm ready to make this bold statement: Easter is my favorite holiday. Yep, I said it. Someone remind me of that the next time I have to fill out a get-to-know-you survey because I'm pretty sure I've always answered Thanksgiving in the past.
But Easter is so much better than that. It's awesome for the very reason we celebrate it: because Jesus was crucified and then rose from the dead. He rose from the dead. Something that is so far beyond comprehension it's hard to even believe it's true. But at the same time, how can you not? As our preacher reminded us that Sunday morning, Jesus's resurrection is the cornerstone of our faith. A dead prophet makes for a nice story, but a Christ that lives within us and among us whose blood paid our entry fee into Heaven makes for a blockbuster on Oprah's Book Club that's the number 1 download on iTunes for a full year and would top even the Hunger Games at the box office. Also? My mom used to warn my brothers and me that we "better hope God has a sense of humor" after we'd beatbox and rap our prayers, and this holiday just proves that he does. Easter is God's biggest joke, as he raised his Son to beyond our understanding, leaving Evil mocked in the empty tomb. (Paraphrased from here.)
I also love Easter Sunday for the hymns. There are old classics that always come out for the Easter service, hymns like He Lives, Up from the Grave He Arose, Christ the Lord is Risen Today. All of which remind me of my Memaw. I don't really remember us spending every Easter at her house, but we must've been there a fair amount because just hearing those songs takes me back to her pew on the right side of the sanctuary at First Christian Church.
There are other reasons I love Easter too. It may not be an extended family gathering like Thanksgiving and Christmas, but I still get to see my immediate family. Mom always prepares a huge lunch of all my favorite things. Dessert always include chocolate and jelly beans (stolen out of someone's Easter basket) and is followed with an Easter egg hunt. I LOVE Easter egg hunts! Seriously, why aren't those for adults? And, call me vain, but I also really like seeing everybody dressed up in pretty Easter outfits. If the weather is nice, it's just icing on the cake Cadbury egg.
Ok, I'll shut up now and get to the pictures. That's what you're here for anyway, right?
As soon as we got to my parents' house, we found our seats on the front porch of the shop. This has become Sunday ritual while we decided what's for lunch, and Easter Sunday was no different.
Of course, for this particular Sunday, we didn't have to decide what was for lunch. Before Mom left for church (early so she could warm up her piano fingers), she lined the ovens with casseroles and a big ham, set it to the right tempature, and left my dad strict instructions to turn it on before he left for church.
Guess who forgot to turn on the oven before leaving for church? Hint: he's on the left in the photo below.
So we had a little time to kill before lunch would be ready. I used the opportunity to snap some Easter pics of the munchkins. Ramer and Parker were up first. I have about a hundred pics from this series, but it's really hard to get a 3-year-old and a baby to look at you at the same time! Here are some of my faves, though. (My blog is cropping off Parker's head. Boo.)
Sometimes, photo shoots get really tiring and you just need to rest.
Jett and Bren were added to the pics - and I thought getting just the two boys was hard!
I got a few cute ones of Jett and Bren loving on each other.
Giggles!
This cutie-patootie decided his mama needed some pretty yellow tulips. (You may recognize them from the shower the night before.)
The rest of us may have had to wait for lunch to cook, but Ramer got to go ahead and start eating. I got in a little practice feeding him.
Normally we hunt eggs after lunch, but the kids (and me!) were getting antsy so we got busy hiding eggs.
I decided Jett should have a special egg to hunt for, so I wrapped a big one in aluminum foil to make a golden silver egg. I know it's out in the open but I figured he'd be focused on the ground and never look up to see it.
We hid a BUNCH of eggs! Some were tucked under leaves or behind corners of the playset, others were out in the open grass. Some were full of candy, stickers, erasers, and coins while others were left empty.
Parker was very picky with his eggs. After giving each one a good shake, empty ones were placed back on the ground. No empty eggs for him!
The Princess didn't find an egg that she didn't like.
Don'tcha know Jett found the silver egg right off the bat. He was running across the yard and it must've been doing some shinin' up there because he spotted it right away. Next year, it will be hidden much harder.
For any baskets left unattended, you know who had her nose all up in 'em!
Mimi and Poppy entertained Ramer during the hunt. Maybe next year he'll get to put an egg or two in his basket.
Bren and Parker showed off all the eggs they collected.
Obligatory Easter pic of me and the hubs. (And maybe we have jaundice?)
It wouldn't be an afternoon at Poppy's Playground without a shot of Bren on a swing.
Finally, after all of our churchin' and picture takin' and egg huntin' and playin', we were able to go inside and eat lunch. It was well worth the wait! Mom had every last one of my favorite casseroles (they're really the best vehicle to get vegetables in me) and I stuffed myself silly. Since Erin's birthday had been just a few days earlier, we had a celebration after lunch. I had intentionally made extra cake pops so we could have them for dessert on Easter too, but we used one of the cupcakes in a jar so Erin could blow out candles. Just like every other birthday party, she had helpers.
The men left after dessert and headed to the golf course. Maybe that's why Easter's their favorite holiday? The rest of us still had some celebrating to do! Since Mom and I had both bought cascarones, we had 2 dozen eggs to go through!
If you're a long time reader, you know this is our third year to have these at Easter (see past years here and here). If you haven't jumped on the confetti-filled egg train yet, what are you waiting for?? These are definitely a highlight of our Easter afternoons. If you could only hear all the squeals and giggles!
Jett made sure all of us grown-ups got confetti-ed too. The picture below - Beth, me, my mom, Erin - was taken by him.
When it was all said and done, the picnic table looked a little something like this. I think if anyone wandered into the backyard later that night, they'd agree that we had a really good Easter celebration.
