Easter!

Easter is 40 days long, and this year I am especially grateful for that as I have my boys with me this season.  As I put up my Easter tree, I became nostalgic for the uncomplicated summers of our early family life when we were all together and able to focus on the festival, the early morning verse, story, and then the much anticipated egg hunt (real eggs, of course!). It feels like a lifetime ago.

I was a little sad that the days of painting eggs for the tree were over, but we had a special surprise of an Easter moment last week when a sailing class was cancelled. Where they normally spring out of bed to sail, that morning my boys mumbled, burrowed, and begged off. It was a day for staying home.

Aha! Inspiration struck. It was a good day to use up the bar of organic 60% dark chocolate I’ve had in the fridge for far too long. Yes, we had all the ingredients for brownies!  Everyone thought it was a grand idea (anything chocolate always is). Out came the little chef’s uniform, little hands got busy and voila! A homemade, chocolatey, not-too-sweet treat loved by all.

Come to think of it, this is the first time I've ever made them from scratch!

While our little masterpiece was in the oven, rules about balls in the house were forgotten and a confession was made about the unintended destruction of three eggs from our Easter tree. Aha! Another inspiration struck. I had the eggs ready anyway.  It was time to whip out an egg decorating kit I’ve also had in the closet for far too long.  This was the day for making things. Hooray!

We started with the empty shells, of course, which I can easily do with a little kit I found years ago.

Then we dyed the eggs patiently and with much anticipation.  The dye tablets also came with the egg decorating kit I found during a trip abroad. (Yes, what I lack in skill and creativity I make up for with kits!) I was quite surprised they still worked, though it took forever for them to dissolve. But with water, vinegar and some coaxing, dissolve they did.

Our eggs bathing in color!

How fun to be able to dry on colorful turtles!

Every growing boy loves a new tool and this egg engraver gave them just the right push to have at it again! I'm amazed he ignored the cut-up treats on the left.

Ready for the little crochet caps that make them hang artfully on the tree. Aren't they beautiful?

And so our unexpected gift of a day together turned out magnificently. It was a true Easter day when I was reminded that life is a series of deaths and births. The Easters of their early childhood are no more, but a new one has emerged as it should. All one needs is to have faith, create the space for the new, and jump in with trust and enthusiasm .

So it is!

The Easter Tree

**Some photos courtesy of Santiago Lopez