Hi Friends!
I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend!
This year probably looked a little different than most. It may have involved far less friends and family members. Or it may have been spent working on the front lines if you’re in healthcare (like my sweet sister-in-law!).
My hope is that you were able to still celebrate and find joy on this special day.
Easter is one of my favorite holidays. I love the pastel colors, spring flowers and prints, and all the bunnies! But I also love teaching my children about the religious meaning behind our Easter celebrations.
Though we weren’t able to go to church in the traditional sense this year, it didn’t stop my husband and I from explaining to our kids how Jesus died for us and ascended into Heaven.
I think the promise and hope of an eternal life is more meaningful than ever this year.
So, here’s how we celebrated this special weekend!
Easter Baskets
Fun Fact: I love filling Easter baskets more than Christmas shopping!
I adore thinking of a few fun and thoughtful things for my kiddos, and of course adding in a touch of sweet! I love the colors and the opportunity to hunt for some special treasures to fill their baskets.
I was a little behind this year though! With all the craziness in March trying to adjust to a new normal, and helping couples reschedule their spring weddings, the month got away from me and April came in HOT!
Thankfully it was Amazon and Target to the rescue! Though a couple items I ordered didn’t come in time, I still had plenty of cute items that lit up the kids’ faces when they saw their baskets.
My husband has been doing all of the grocery shopping in the last month so I don’t have to take the kids into the stores. Last week, I gave him a grocery list with an added request to pick up some chocolate bunnies and easter treats for their baskets, and I had to laugh when I saw what he brought home!
Since my kids are young, I usually just get them a small chocolate bunny and maybe one other small sweetie. This year the kids hit the jackpot with Daddy doing the shopping! It was GIANT chocolate bunnies and more candy than they could eat (especially since Duke is only a year old!!). I asked him if he bought all this for him or the kids!
Here are their baskets this year! I was excited to get to put more in Duke’s this year now that he’s older and able to play. Last year, he was just two months old. I’ve provided links to all these items below!
Hunt for the Baskets
My favorite tradition is to hide the kids’ Easter baskets and they get to hunt around the house for them when they wake up! This is something my parents always did with us growing up and it was fun up until we moved out! I think my brother and sister miss this as much as I do, but my parents still always give us some Easter treats even as adults!
It reminds me of Christmas morning because we make the kids wait upstairs until we are ready to come get them. I like to video them coming down to find their baskets each year. I fully anticipated Duke to be excited to hunt for his basket with his sister this year. BUT, turns out he wasn’t into it at all! He just wanted his milk and breakfast. Haha Both of my kids are such creatures of habit!
We hid Duke’s basket in the dining room where it could fairly easily be spotted. Brooklyn saw it immediately of course, but Duke wasn’t intrigued. He was fussy until we gave him his milk, and then once he was satisfied, he sat in the floor and pulled out all the easter grass out of the basket and shoved the goodies aside!
I’m telling you…best-laid plans. Ha!
At four years old, Brooklyn, on the other hand, was all about the hunt for her basket! After a few minutes of checking each room, closet and cabinet, she found it in the downstairs bath tub!
P.S. This tub NEVER gets used and it’s clean!
Breakfast
We usually try to make cinnamon biscuits in the morning (can you have too much sugar on Easter?!), but I’ve only ever gotten around to cracking open the Pillsbury tube and popping them in the oven!
Since we forgot to get them on our once-a-week precious grocery store run, my husband found a recipe for semi-homemade ones that we could use what we had in the house.
He got up at 6:30 am just to make sure they were made and in the oven by the time the kids got up to look for their baskets!
The recipe was from YouTube and we used a roll of Pillsbury crescent roll dough that we laid out flat. We spread melted butter and a layer of a cinnamon sugar mixture on top, and then rolled it up and cut the dough into 8 pieces. It really was so easy!
The glaze made of cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter, vanilla extract and lemon juice was my favorite part. The lemon juice made it a little tangy, but you could leave it out if you’d prefer. They were delicious!
Here is the link to the recipe we used: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DMl4YMtL5k
Egg Hunts
My mother-in-law always has her own egg hunt for the kids at her house on Easter weekend. We celebrated with them on Saturday and the babes loved running around in the grass and then sitting in the floor opening up each one to see what treasures were inside.
In the afternoon on Easter, we went over to my parents’ house for an egg hunt and early dinner. This was a special year because all of my siblings were in town (because #quarantine) and it was fun to be all together. We had an egg hunt, relaxed by the outdoor fireplace and dined on my mom’s spiral ham. We were really missing my aunt and grandparents though!
Despite being in the midst of this pandemic, I’m hopeful for a future where we are all together with loved ones again and celebrating holidays without the fear of being too close to the ones we care about. I feel a light starting to show at the end of the tunnel and I’m grateful for a society where everyone is trying to do their part and sacrifice for others.
Wishing you peace and joy in the days ahead, always.
Much Love,
Jamie
Links to Shop Any of the Easter Basket Products:
Easter Baskets & Liners (all on sale right now!): Pottery Barn Kids
Kids’ Clothes: Target
Hair Clips: Target
Unicorn Chalk: Meri Meri
Unicorn Sketch Book: Meri Meri
Baby Polarized Sunglasses: Amazon
The Velveteen Rabbit: Amazon
“A Spring Surprise: A Peter Rabbit Tale” Book: Amazon
“Tickle, Tickle, Peter!” Book: Amazon
