easter moments...

i love holidays.

i especially love Easter and my favorite Easter tradition is our Jesus Dinner.

i love shopping for things that Jesus would have eaten. You know...

Olives (collosal and green-spicy ones), figs, unleavened bread (pita, melba toast, triscuts), fish (tuna, oysters, sardines, salmon? yes. i know he didn't really eat salmon, but what the heck kinda fish did he eat?), beef jerkey, grapes (duh. big, huge black Jesus grapes, grape jam, grape fruit roll-ups, grape juice, raisins), hummus, dates, nuts, cheese (goat cheese, wee brie, feta, mild cheddar...), trail mix, and my personal favorite this year Honey with Honey Comb in it...

yup. it's fun to plan. but, i hesitate to write about my Easter plans lest my words create an unrealistic image in your mind of my sweet holy days. Nope. We don't have vacations-- we take TRIPS. Easter at our house... it was a trip. A grand adventure. the stuff of which legends and hopefully fond memories are made...

Anna lost her first tooth on Easter Sunday. In our home, loosing your first tooth is emotional, exhausting and exhilarating!! It is a true rite of passage. For some children it may pass quietly without pain or excitement. Not so with my children. (At least not their FIRST tooth.) Anna's screamed the first time her tooth WIGGLED. Since that time, she has gingerly avoided any food contact with that tooth, cried at night because her wiggly tooth was hurting, wanted to show me how wiggly it was and then screamed and shut her mouth any time I tried to wiggle it... it had gotten to the point that it was ready to come out, and she wanted it to come out, but there was this one thread... this tiny fear that held her back. That was the BEGINNING. This is the END.

JOY!! Excitement. Sense of accomplishment and bravery.

The MIDDLE... blood, tears, screams, fights with the Professor as he tried to tie a piece of string around it and she kept moving. Shouts of encouragement from brothers who have no memory at all of their own personal first tooth struggles... it was difficult, but it was wonderful. and. we loved it. we love her. she is growing up. she screamed, but she did it. and, she'll do it again. (She prayed this morning for another loose tooth.) Despite the fact that I don't really like the pull-the-tooth-out-with-a-string thing, Anna did want too. But, she was scared. Just like shots, and ear piercing, and eating sardines... my kids can do hard things. And, seeing them at the end, makes the MIDDLE worth it. Knowing THE END, makes the BEGINNING and the MIDDLE joyful and fun and exciting-- not a vacation but a great trip. Does this make sense?

OK- so, back to Easter and our Jesus Meal.

It wasn't ideal, but it was PERFECT.

I loved Sunday.

The BEGINNING, the MIDDLE, and THE END.

We had Easter bunny Sunday morning, cause the Easter bunny wasn't ready for Saturday morning. We were rushed to get to church by 9am. Leah had only chocolate and jelly beans for breakfast. My kids "had to go to the bathroom" twice each during the meeting. Anna took off her modest t-shirt on the way to church and un-did her cute Easter hair, so i was a little surprised when I looked down the row at what she was wearing. I took a nap right after church while the professor and the kids watched the first half of BEN-HUR. I came out for the 2nd half and we ate our Jesus dinner on the coffee table in the living room. My kids tried most of the new foods, which was great. They fought some. They made big messes and weren't quick to help us clean-up when we asked. We had our Sunday Night Family Council (which includes watching America's Funniest Home Video, reenacting every gut smashing crash, and listening to the boys laugh like girls....) and our Sunday Night Spiritual Devotional (watching Extreme Home Makeover... mom and the girls are usually in tears by the end). And, bedtime-- bedhour-- coaxing, cuddling, comforting, threatening, begging, and then... silence. Kids sleeping. Easter remnants scattered throughout and our Jesus Meal still waiting to be cleaned up.

we did it.

our Sunday was a laughing, crying, singing, fighting, remembering, enjoying, resting, learning, teaching, worshiping, forgiving, growing... HOLY day.

it was a trip. i loved planning for it,

and, i loved the MIDDLE as much as THE END.