Friday, April 10, 2009

Easter Festivities

I should write about all the Easter things that we are doing this year. The Easter traditions in my family start with the first day of Spring. A few years ago, I decided that I wanted to be able to focus on Christ during Easter. So instead of an Easter egg hunt and the Easter Bunny coming on Easter, we shifted those activities to the first day of spring. And so we wouldn't be doing it alone, we invite our whole family to come over and search for eggs that the Easter Bunny has hidden. We also have a big brunch and a whole lot of fun. This year went really well. The early Spring weather was pretty chilly, but at least it was dry and sunny. Then on Easter we focus on Christ. We have daily devotionals, talking about his life. Typically we focus on the last week of His life. This year, however we have been learning about His visit to the Nephites after his death. We learn a song together as a family. This year we are learning "I Wonder When He Comes Again." We have a couple of special meals. The one we have every year usually we do towards the weekend where we have a leg of lamb and talk about Christ being the lamb and his sacrifice and resurrection. That one is served on my best china with candles and formal presentation. Even if they don't love the food, the kids feel so special with the formal dinner preperation. Then on Easter morning I love being able to talk about Christ's death and resurrection. We make resurrection rolls for breakfast. We can focus on the true meaning of the holiday that morning. The spirit that is in our house as we focus on learning about Christ. I always hesitate to tell people about this in that I am afraid that I am going to come across as being self-righteous. But really the reason that I share these ideas with everyone is that I want you to be able to have the same wonderful spirit in your house that we do when we study Christ intently and seek for the true meaning of Easter. If you are interested in this in your own family, a great resource is A Christ-Centered Easter.

Now this doesn't mean that we forgo all Easter Bunny related activities the week of Easter. If our friends or family are having Easter egg hunts, we are so there. In fact another tradition in my neighborhood that a few days before Easter we all get together in the small neighborhood park and a good 30-50 kids hunt eggs (plus the moms can get together to chat). We love it and have a blast. We just came from there this afternoon. The kids have been antsy all morning for it to be time to go hunt eggs. As usual it was so much fun and we came home with a good haul.

On why my house has (literally) gone to the dogs.

Okay, I love dogs. I think they are really good for me emotionally. They make me get outside and get more exercise than I normally would. I enjoy their happy and forgiving personalities. There is something totally satisfying about teaching and training them. However, I am not done (hopefully) having babies. And I have learned that babies + dogs = too much stress for Jessica. So until my youngest is in grade school and I have the time and energy to spend on a creature that takes a lot of time and energy, I am not going to get a dog. I am happy to dog-sit for anyone pretty much anytime though. It's doable in short spurts. When my friend Anne told me that she was going on vacation and they didn't know what to do with their dog, I happily offered to take her. She is a five month old puppy with lots of puppy energy. She is a really good dog though, very trainable I think. Then my mom reminded me that I had said that I would take HER dog while they went on vacation over spring break. So that makes TWO dogs that I now have for the next few days. The funniest part of this whole thing is that both dogs are named Abby. Just call the one name and they both come running. Ah, good times. On the up side they keep each other entertained and neither of them need as much attention from me. On the down side they have lots and lots of energy. I am very afraid of the well being of my garden. I hope it can survive. But look on the bright side, right? It's fun and it gives my children exposure (and hence reduces fear) of animals. It sure mixes things up and keeps things exciting around here. And I think that the beginning of next week will seem soooo peaceful and calm. That should be nice.