A Wonderful Easter Sunday

The Easter Bunny had a 5:45am wake up call (Charlie's our little alarm clock). That gave me plenty of time to stuff and hide eggs, start preparing brunch and finish assembling Easter baskets before Madeline even woke up. And boy, was she excited! Usually Rob and I take turns sleeping in, but not this weekend. I could hear Madeline from downstairs, jumping all over her daddy in bed and excitedly shrieking that the Easter Bunny had come! We had been building it up for weeks. The rabbit who lives under our deck often hangs out outside our dining room window, nibbling grass and torturing Maple on the other side of the glass. We told Mads that it's the Easter Bunny, scouting out the best spots in our yard to hide eggs. I felt a rush of love for Rob as I heard him act equally excited to be yanked out of bed and run downstairs to watch the kids tear into the baskets and run around the back yard hunting for Easter eggs. The Easter Bunny has a confession: I re-hid most of the stuffed eggs that Madeline brought home from the previous day's egg hunt with my Moms Club (mine were stuffed with animal crackers -- kind of lame compared to jelly beans and stickers). Then we ate a lovely brunch that Ning had delivered from Super Suppers.

Our attempt at making it to church didn't pan out. During these years while our children are young, our schedule is their schedule in many ways. Rob and I told Madeline that Easter is a special day when Baby Jesus, who was all grown up, went to heaven. She knows that heaven is where Grandma Bonnie lives, and she thinks it's a pretty awesome place.

That afternoon, Madeline and I went to Home Depot and picked out plants for a backyard garden! Rob turned the soil and Madeline helped fill holes with the seeds. Charlie and I joined in too, planting tomatoes, red peppers, strawberries, snap peas, lettuce, onions and marigolds. It was a gorgeous day -- warm and sunny with a perfect breeze. The very next morning, Madeline asked if we could go pick our vegetables!