Happy Halloween... I mean Christmas... no, Easter!

For the past couple of days, I have felt like the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland darting through the bushes and mumbling, "Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!" I don't know how this happened, but Easter hopped up from behind and nearly pushed me down the rabbit hole.

It hit me when we went to an Easter egg hunt last Friday. I had not sent out any Easter cards. No pastel eggs or cute bunnies were decorating our house, which was okay because I explained to the kids that we don't put them out now until after Good Friday. Lent is so serious, you know. We can't decorate the house during such a solemn time.

Whew. I really saved myself with that quick-witted thinking. I think might have started a new tradition, too.

I knew I was in big trouble, though, later that evening when the boys asked about Katie's Easter basket. She and her friends had hidden the eggs, not hunted them. Nicholas forgot.

"Why is Katie's basket empty? Did she eat all her candy?" He asked.

"No, honey. Remember? She didn't even go trick-or-treating with you."

Everyone just stopped and stared while I tried to cover up my snafu with a chuckle.

"I was just checking to see if you were paying attention." Then I quickly changed the subject.

That night before bed Pete said, "Today is Friday, tomorrow is Saturday... and then comes Monday."

"You mean we skip Christmas?" Nicholas answered.

We all laughed.

It must run in the family.

"You sound like Mom!" Andrew joked.

Haha!

*

P.S. We ended up having a very nice Halloween/ Christmas/ Easter celebration.

A Heavenly Surprise

Yesterday it rained chocolate from heaven. An angel showered me with sweet blessings. I can say that because I believe special friends like Linda, the one who sent the treats, are earthly angels; and where the chocolate came from, Germany, seems almost like heaven to me (at least it's far enough away).

It's funny because Linda had just asked me that morning if I had gotten any surprises lately, because she had the inside scoop of something good that was going to happen to me. Of course, my writing mind jumped to publication, and then even higher to honors. Did I finally break a deal? Had I won the Pulitzer Prize? I soon came off my purple cloud and realized this wasn't a dream. But what could it be?

I had no idea I would find out a few hours later. I came home from running errands and this box was on my front porch. Had I looked closely on the outside of the box, I would have seen "chocolates" written on the bottom; but instead I rushed inside and cut it open with my green scissors. Not only did Linda send several different kinds of rich, flavorful German chocolate, but she also included three Easter eggs for the kids.  Inside the hollow milk-chocolate egg, which was lined in white chocolate, there was a surprise- a plastic Easter egg with a toy inside. Pictured below is what the kids found.

We had so much fun experimenting with the different flavors and sinfully splurging the night away. Since we can't read German, we had no idea what we were biting into, but each piece of chocolate was (and still is) out of this world... heavenly. I can't wait to see what the next bite brings. Wait a minute, I'll try a taste for you. Here's the little chocolate bar:

...excuse me while I take a bite (I love how it comes in little squares)...

 
...yum! It's solid chocolate (thank goodness it didn't have caramel in the middle because on an impulsive whim I gave it up for Lent).
 
Thank you dear Linda for your friendship, support, humor, and love. Thanks, too, for the heavenly delight... you are an angel! And the surprise is better than anything I might have conjured up in my head; nothing tops a gift from the heart.

Catching my breath...

Wow!  It feels so good to finally sit down and relax.  The past two days have been crazy.  I feel like I have been running around like a baby chick that has been died green...

...or like someone being chased by Big Al, the largest alligator in captivity in Texas...

...maybe even someone who visited friends from Turkey and had Turkish food made with mutton..

...in between dying Easter eggs...

                     ...and making the infamous Easter Bunny cake...

...not to mention mass, Easter egg hunting, visiting with an old friend and making homemade potato salad.

               It feels so good to finally sit down and catch up again.  Happy Easter everyone!                        

Our Easter Surprise

Today we had a wonderful Easter! Getting ready for mass, I heard Pete exclaim, "I can't believe it!" He had found his Aggie ring in the pants he put on for church. The last time he wore those particular slacks, he had taken some clients out to dinner. Pete was certain he had thoroughly checked the pockets, but when he put the navy pants on this morning he felt something heavy against his leg. Sure enough, there was the ring that had been missing for nearly three months. The kids are convinced that the Easter Bunny put the ring there. Thank goodness I told Pete to wait before we ordered another Aggie ring. At $800.00, that is not quite in our budget right now!

Here is a picture of the kids and me before church. Afterwards, we went over to my parents house for an Easter dinner. My sister and her family were there. Her oldest, David is engaged, and his fiancee was with him. Matt, the middle child, was home from A&M, and Sarah, the youngest (a freshman at Lamar) was also able to make it. I sure do love my family! What did you do for Easter?

Easter Fun

Happy Easter! Today we were kept busy preparing for Easter. First, Katie and I baked and decorated our annual Easter bunny cake. As you can see, Katie likes to REALLY decorate the bunny's face- giving him candy freckles and a mouth made of almonds. We usually use licorice for the whiskers, but this year we went out on a limb and tried Pringle sticks! You gotta love a little salt with your cake.

Then we dyed eggs. I wasn't able to find my usual PAAS, so this time we used a different kind of coloring kit that uses oil and water (no stinky vinegar). The eggs actually turned out more beautiful- pastel colors of pink, purple and yellow, along with some crayon rubbings made for a fun project.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter in celebration of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior. Thank you, Jesus!

Holy Week

I still can't help but associate Mary's death with Easter because last year it was the day before Easter that she died. Although her year anniversary has passed, the memory of what I was doing during that time weighs heavily on my mind. So this week might not be too easy for me. I have experienced a lot of peace and acceptance since Mary's one-year passing anniversary, March 22, though. I now can look back fondly on the memories and smile, which is huge for me. I used to look back on memories and cry. I have not done my usual decorations for Easter this year. We have huge Easter eggs we throw out in the yard to decorate and I have all kinds of bunny knick knacks I place all over the house. Not this year. I simply haven't had the motivation or desire to fool with all of that. I know next year will be different, because time really does heal. Until then, I will walk through this Easter week in prayer. I hope you will, too.