Happy Easter 2015

Christus surrexit alleluia, alleluia!

After forty days of Lent, you can believe that we were ready for Easter.

The feast is always sweetest after the fast.

As joyful as our Easter celebration has been, 

it is but a faint, faint shadow of the celebration of Heaven, 

pale in comparison to Christ's glorious return. 

 There are much, much greater things for which we still hope.

This year, we braved the Easter Vigil with our kids for the first time.  A dear friend was entering the Church, and we couldn't wait another minute to begin the Easter celebration.  The boys were decked out in their navy suits and the girls in their Easter dresses, for which they all received grand compliments on the way to church.  The kids loved the candlelight procession and the passing of the pascal light.  But, we don't have a picture of the evening because both the boys were asleep in the pews before the Gospel reading.  It was a late night at the end of a big, exciting week.

But, when we all awoke early the next morning, there was great rejoicing over the Easter treats and feast!  The egg hunt was over nearly before T and I were in the room, and the kids were soon emptying candy into the candy dish.  J-Bear wasted no time biting into a chocolate lollypop.

There were fancy bandaids and Eos lip balm for everyone (after all, Jesus heals!), and a few other little treats in each basket :), but the greatest excitement was over our bean basket filled with jellies, the chocolate crosses at each seat, and the tiny nests of chocolate eggs set out at the table.

MoMo and Papa joined us for brunch, complete with sous vide lamb that T made for all of us.
Such a perfect Easter treat!  We also had berries and yogurt, scones and biscuits, scrambled eggs (for the kids) and onion frittata (for the adults).

Our Easter lamb.  Well done, T!

It was quite the spread!

Our crew awaiting Easter brunch.

Later in the day, we got to go to my Aunt S's for a lavish Easter dinner.  We were full and exhausted by the time the day was done.  

 Remember, Easter is a full season, longer than Lent by a full ten days.  Talk about a feast.  How can we use this feasting season to be a blessing to others?  We'll be celebrating quite a bit over the next seven weeks, with all the birthdays and G-Bear's First Communion.  I am excited to do Easter crafts with the kids, open Resurrection eggs, celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday next weekend, and hopefully do the Stations of the Resurrection (which now replace our Stations of the Cross on the buffet).  As always, Christ, be before us.

 Christ is risen indeed, alleluia, alleluia!

Happily Ever,

Queen B

Breakfast Resurrection Rolls

Resurrection Rolls are a Holy Saturday breakfast tradition in our house.

We read John's account of Jesus' death and burial.  

This fun baking project is the perfect backdrop for the story.

Roll out the crescent dough,

count out one small marshmallow for each roll.

The white marshmallow represents Jesus.

Anoint the marshmallow, first in the oil, then in the "spices" (cinnamon sugar), 

just like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimethea did for Jesus.

Then, lay the marshmallow in the crescent roll tomb, and carefully seal it up.

 Hints: make sure the marshmallow is in the center of the dough and REALLY seal the edges well.

Once we sealed our tombs, we dipped each one in more oil and spices. Yum :)

Now, they are ready to bake according to the crescent roll instructions.

Look, our rolls are ready!

 A few may burst open, but that only adds to the effect of the "empty tomb."

We ate ours with whipped cream and sprinkles, because in addition to Holy Saturday, we were celebrating a certain, special, eight-year-old birthday.  

This was such a tasty combination, 

we may have to make the whipped cream a part of our tradition as well.

There is a clear reason why these are a family favorite!

Come, Lord Jesus!

Happily Ever,
Queen B

Lamb of God Cards

On Monday of Holy Week, we once again made Lamb of God Easter cards for friends and family.

The kids did a great job!

By Juliet, for GG

By G-Bear, for cousins.

By Buddy Bear, for cousins

By G-Bear, for MoMo and Papa

By E-Bear, for a neighbor

Happy Holy Week!

Happily Ever,

Queen B

Alleluia! Easter 2014

Alleluia!

The kids were up and ready to celebrate at 6:30am!  T and I were up into the wee hours the night before, finishing work and final touches before the Easter celebrations.  Even so, we were just as excited.  When we came downstairs, there were jellybeans and eggs hidden everywhere!  It was so great to watch the kids work together to find all the treats.  "Look, here Buddy Bear," G-Bear would say.  "Here, G-Bear, this one is your favorite color," said E-Bear.  "E-Bear, E-Bear, wook at this," exclaimed Buddy Bear.  It was so early, J-Bear slept right through the hunt! We'll try to make it up to her next year.  

Views from the hunt!

 The dining room was decorated and filled with surprises too.  

Buddy Bear exclaimed, "Thank you, Mommy, for decorating our house!"  T saw my face light up.  My heart melted.  Easter is our penultimate celebration, not because of eggs or candy or decorations, but because of Christ's victory over death. Even so, I know that thoughtful details help set the day apart and build excitement.  After the sacrifices of Lent, I rejoiced to see the kids enjoying the treats and beautiful details.  Over time, T and I hope they will come to embrace the glorious truth and joyful hope of Easter for themselves. 

Our bean basket was so full of jellybeans that it had tipped over!  Jellybeans were everywhere!

There was a set of resurrection finger puppets and special lollypops for they kids (I ordered all of them from Oriental Trading).   The table was set with our best plates and cups for the occasion.  

Each of the kids also received a simple pillar candle at their seat.  We enjoyed using our Stations of the Cross Eggs during Lent to pray Stations of the Cross (Way of the Cross).  I am hoping to use the candles as we pray the Way of Light (Via Lucis) during the Easter season.  Have you heard of this prayer, a complement to the Stations of the Cross?  It is a wonderful way to reflect on the Resurrection and our hope in Jesus, perfect for the Easter season.  Perhaps I'll make some Via Lucis eggs for us to use next year too :)

 We dyed eggs using brown eggs this year (all that I had in the refrigerator).  The colors turned out to be lovely, earthy tones. I also blew out a few egg shells so that we have a few eggs to paint and keep.

The kids each received a special clothing item to wear to Easter morning Mass: a new dress for G-Bear and ties for the boys.  "Oh, mommy, I always wanted that!" said Buddy Bear.

They were so excited to "look like Daddy."  I was soaking up these cute dressed up moments. 

For the next forty days, Lord, may your victory be at the center of our days.

May we share your Good News with others!

 Happy Easter from all of us!

Sundays at Church

It's the Easter season, and we are all letting lessons of God's love sink into our lives in our own way.

Last Sunday was Good Shepherd Sunday.  After listening to the readings about how Jesus is our Good Shepherd, G-Bear came home and drew a great picture for us:

G-Bear's interpretation of the Good Shepherd

I don't know about you, but God has pulled me out of more than one ditch in my lifetime.  

I think G-Bear has the right idea!

Buddy Bear takes on church in his own way as well.  

Last weekend, this was his response to the Liturgy of the Word:

As T so aptly said: 

"Buddy Bear shall not live by bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God!"

We're all growing, little by little, by His grace and help.  :)

New Creation Butterflies

This week, the kids and I made one of my favorite Easter season crafts: 

New Creation Butterflies.

This craft is great for 2-6 year olds.  The materials are easy enough for little hands to manipulate, and because the craft is relatively easy to assemble, it is perfect for short attention spans.  Plus, they make a great springtime decoration!

Before starting, we read 2 Corinthians 5:17 together and talked about how God makes us new when we ask Him to come into our lives.  The kids loved the analogy of a caterpillar becoming a butterfly.  They pretended the clothes pins were caterpillars munching on the tissue paper.  Then they wrapped the clothes pins in tissue (to represent cocoons) and we got to work on our craft.

Here are the materials we used:

Materials:

Tissue paper in various colors

Wooden clothes pins

pipe cleaners

scissors

colored paper cut into thin strips

glue

Begin by choosing your tissue paper.  Cut it into two squares.

Cut the pipe cleaners into 1-2 inch lengths.

Pinch the tissue paper in the middle and insert into the mouth of the clothes pin, followed by the pipe cleaner.  Then glue a colored paper strip to the clothes pin and write part of 2 Corinthians 5:17, 'In Christ we are a new creation!'

Then, let your butterflies take flight!

Pretty soon, our dining room was full of butterflies.

Thanks to G-Bear and E-Bear for their hard work.  Our home is full of butterflies, ready for spring.

Lord, thank you for making all things new!