HOME TOUR

Easter is early this year and that’s never my favorite. March is birthday/anniversary month in our home so I wayyyyy prefer when Easter is an April holiday. I just turned 39 yesterday and Cade is turning 10 in a few days. So we’re busy busy with Otter party prep and family coming into town. I love the later April Easters because the flowers are blooming and spring is well established. Easter is the day after our wedding anniversary this year making a weekend getaway hard. But I love this holiday and want to celebrate it joyfully. This post highlights some Easter basket goodies for the kiddos as well as shares our family’s Christian Easter tradition.

Tulip Basket | Bunny Tag | Ballerina Puzzle | Purse | Honey Stick Beeswax Crayons | Unicorn, Mermaid and Princess Coloring Book | Mermaid Doll | Flower Sunglasses | Flower Hair Clips | Bunny Necklace Doll | Nail Stickers | Non-Toxic Nail Polish Kit | Bunny Chalk

Easter Basket | Bunny Name Tag | Wooden Car | Baseball Coloring Book | Sunglasses | Wooden Stacking Wave Blocks | The Little Rabbit Book | Wooden Tops | Car Chalk | Nerf Thrower | Football | Honey Stick Beeswax Crayons

I love to use natural wood filler or excelsior to fill the baskets. It looks beautiful and I can either save it or throw it in our compost. We have these baskets from Ballard Designs and have them embroidered with the kid’s names but I also love these new tulip shape ones from Olli Ella which come in a pretty pink or natural wood color. Last year I invested in these silicone eggs instead of plastic ones and will never look back. They’re cute, I can stick them in the dishwasher and they’re non-toxic. We fill them with these candies.

OUR EASTER BASKET TRADITION

I think there’s a tension sometimes when you have a Christian holiday steeped in richness and depth and then exist in a culture that tends to obliterates the meaning with consumer frenzy at every turn. For our family, Easter is no more about a fluffy bunny dropping off eggs on its way to deliver baskets of goodies, as Christmas is about Santa. I want to celebrate the richness of these holidays with my family while still engaging the fun cultural norms around them, ie dyeing eggs and assembling baskets. So I created a way to do the baskets but bring the meaning back in.

This is a decidedly Christian approach. We believe deeply in what this holiday represents and we want our kiddos to grow up understanding the whys behind our Christian faith. So we decided many years ago, when Cade was teeny, to do the Easter basket thing but differently. The afternoon before Easter we go outside and find rocks. Random I know, stick with me. This is usually a fun walk / explore time in the yard. The kiddos bring these rocks inside and we sit at the counter and talk about our sins. The kiddos name ways they’ve fallen short. This may seem a bit weird but we all fall short daily. If you don’t believe me try going for a drive here in Boston. You’ll realize what a rotten human being you are within 5 minutes on the road. Talking about the ways all of us have hurt one another, been unkind, selfish, ungrateful, etc opens the door for deep, beautiful conversation and creates space for apologizing to one another as well. This is one of my favorite parts because I get to tell my kids “hey mommy does not have it all together. I’m sorry. Here is what I did and wish I had done something better.” We have them write (if they can) those sins on their rocks. They usually put things like “hitting brother” or “not listening to mom”.

We place the rocks in the empty Easter baskets and then cover the baskets with a red blanket. The next morning those “sins” are gone and what is left is a basket full of goodies. Jesus, our cornerstone, through His death on a cross covers over our sins with His blood and gives us the best gift of all, eternal life. It’s simple and sweet. However you chose to celebrate this lovely holiday, I wish you a good one!

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