Easter Hoppenings

^^^ see what I did there?! ^^^

With Easter just around the corner...5 days to be exact...I thought today would be the perfect day to share a few little traditions and ideas for celebrating this holiday.  

Easter is one of those holidays I remember from my childhood so very vividly.  We always had brand new Easter outfits...most of which were sewn and handmade by mom.  My sister and I always had some type of matching outfit.  I remember one year all four of us...me, my sister, and two younger brothers...all had matching outfits.  MOTHER!!!!!!  I die!!!! I wish I could find that picture!  

We always dyed eggs the night before Easter and when we woke up Easter morning, our baskets would be filled with candy and coloring books and we'd quickly empty them and race around the house trying to find the eggs we dyed the night before.  One year an egg went missing.  I'll never forget it.  My mom kept swearing we didn't find them all and it was never found.  Fast forward a few weeks and there was a putrid smell coming from the corner of my bedroom.  We had this wicker rocking chair in the room that had a seat cushion on it.  Lo and behold, that missing egg was underneath that seat cushion, only now it was a pile of mush and breeding...wait for it....maggots.  MAGGOTS!!!!  GAH!  That was the last year my mom hid real eggs in the house and the sole reason I won't hide them in mine!  HA!!!!  

After Easter mass, the WHOLE family would head over to Grandma Kay's for lunch.  Grandma always had Easter baskets for all the grandkids.  The Easter Bunny stopped at her house, too.  Grandma dyed eggs for us that always had our names on them and the baskets were filled them...along with chocolate bunnies and more coloring books.  We'd empty the eggs out of our baskets and the adults would head outside to hide all of our eggs.  There were 9 of us so imagine LOTS of eggs!  The grandkids would anxiously wait inside ready to storm the door and find those eggs.  Once they were hidden, we'd run out and start the search.  As we got older, Grandpa started hiding money in some of the eggs.  Never more than a couple of dollars, but you would've thought it was thousands the way we carried on :)  Nothing like childhood memories!!!!!  

We have our own little set of traditions nowadays, but one thing remains the same.  Grandma's Easter Bunny cake!!!  I love this thing!  She's made one every year since I was a little girl.  I swear no one eats it because admiring her handiwork is so much fun.  The boys look forward to this every year!

When we were still living in the Dallas area, we started a new tradition my boys just adore.  I'm sure you've already seen it...

The small glow sticks inside the large Easter eggs work the best.  Just toss a glow stick inside an empty egg, hide, and let the fun ensue!!!  My boys beg for us to hide them repeatedly after the first round.  They've been asking us to make sure we have everything for the hunt for weeks now!

Something else they keep asking about is planting jellybeans.  I started this one year several years ago not thinking they'd remember it the following year and I was so sorely mistaken.  This *might* be their most favorite Easter tradition. 

The idea is to plant the jellybeans and wait for the Easter Bunny to come by and sprinkle his magic over them and turn the jellybeans into lollipops.  As soon as the boys wake up Easter morning, they make a mad dash to the front door to see if their magic garden grew.  It's hilarious and sweet all in the same breath.  Just look at their sleepy little eyes!!!!  

Can I share an Easter fail with y'all please?!  Because this picture cracks me up every.single.time I look at it.  The first year we moved into our new house I had holiday boxes unpacked and in the attic for months.  The night before Easter our first year here, I ran up to the attic to find the boys' Easter baskets and Grant's was  nowhere to be found.  NOWHERE.  It was a pure moment of panic.  The closest store was about 25 minutes away and it was already 9.  So I did what any resourceful momma would do and I used his Halloween pail instead :)  Holidays don't discriminate around here.  Cracks me up every time I see it!!!  The boys were SO confused Easter morning!  HA!

Our favorite way to dye Easter eggs is with shaving cream.  I found this idea via Pinterest several years ago and the boys just love it.  

A couple of disposable pans, shaving cream, food coloring, and plastic gloves is all you'll need.  I filled up the pans with shaving cream and then dropped a few drops of food coloring throughout the pan.  The boys put on their gloves, took the eggs, and started dipping and dyeing.  As they would dye their eggs, we'd take them out of the shaving cream and place them on a baking sheet.  Let them sit and soak for about 20 minutes then rinse with water.  LOVE!  I love that my kitchen doesn't smell like vinegar and the boys love getting messy.  Pretty easy clean-up, too!

Grant's birthday always falls right around Easter.  This year it's the day after.  I made these cupcakes for his birthday party when he turned 3 and he requests them every year.  This year I'll be making them again and he's SO excited.  Just a little cake-in-a-box topped with homemade buttercream icing and a Peep. Simple and cute. 

Speaking of simple and cute, these are a few of my favorite Easter treats.  I typically give these out to the kids in my classroom, but I've also given them out as party favors.  The Peep treat bag topper is from Eighteen 25 and is a free download.  Talk about simple and cute!  The goldfish filled "carrots" are placed in a cone shaped bag and then tied with green ribbon or raffia.  Doesn't get much easier than that!  

One new tradition I'm starting this year is baking  Resurrection Rolls with my boys after we dye our eggs.

The Easter Bunny is wonderful.  The magic and excitement of waking up Easter morning to find hidden eggs and a basket full of treats is so memorable.  However, I know my most important job this time of the year is to teach my boys the real meaning of Easter.  This is just one more way I'm planning on bringing a somewhat abstract concept to life.  

I'm also going to put these on the place settings at the kids table for Easter lunch as a follow-up to the verse we've been practicing.

We've also been reading our Easter bible  and absolutely love this one...

My boys read this over and over.  Landon has always been fascinated by the Easter story.  "How could ANYBODY be mean to Jesus, mom?!"  Bless.  

Next Tuesday I'll be starting "Tuesday Home Tour".
My house isn't anything exciting or fancy, but every now and then I'll have a few comments on IG asking for a home tour.  It's not tour worthy by any stretch of the means, but I figured it would be fun to post a different room each week so stop by next Tuesday and take a little peek!