Easter Doings!

The beautiful redbud tree that greeted me Easter morning

Happy Easter, dear sisters in Christ!  What a glorious morning greeted me when I awoke yesterday!  Our Easter day was so lovely, as I hope yours was also.  Now, however, I have a lot to tell you and to catch up on with you.

Adding the wooden lamb

So, first I need to finish off the Holy Week tree posts.  On Friday of Holy Week, we added a little wooden lamb to our tree and some homemade popsicle stick crosses to represent the crucifixion.  The reading for Friday was Mark 15:16-39.  In addition to this, we also attended the Stations of the Cross at noon and the Liturgy of Good Friday at 3 p.m.  Since I felt that remaining at church from noon to three was more than my younger children could successfully accomplish,  we went home between these two devotions.  During the time we were at home, we observed a time of silence.  We were nearly silent, with as few reminders of, "This is the time our Lord was on the cross, let's be quiet."  This is a tradition in our home on Good Friday, but the children themselves suggested this year that it is something we ought to do more often, so I am thinking about introducing a period of silence on Fridays throughout the year, maybe pegged to saying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy at 3 p.m.?

Covering the lamb with a black cloth

On Saturday of Holy Week, we read Mark 15:42-47 and covered the lamb with a black cloth that  was in the last egg we opened.  The cloth reminds us that Christ "descended into hell", that He lay in the tomb during that day after His death.  I also read this quote from an ancient homily to the children because I think it is so perfect for Holy Saturday.

Decorated for Easter!

Our Holy Week tree was finished.  We had walked with our Lord and remembered the events of His last week, and now we were ready to celebrate His Resurrection!  After the children went to bed on Saturday, I covered our tree with symbols of the Resurrection--eggs, butterflies, and  red hearts, which incorporate the traditional Easter color of red with a representation of God's love for us.  Then the tree served as our Easter centerpiece for Easter Sunday brunch!

We had dyed our eggs:

Set out our baskets (if you are over 18, no basket! so there are only four):

Cleaned like crazy people (many hands make light work):

Dusting the mantel...

A vacuuming blur of activity...

The Happy Sweeper...

wearing her Daddy's shoes!

Dusting the windows!

 Decorated the mantel and laid out the sideboard for Easter brunch:

After Easter, I will plant the bulbs in the garden!

Now we were ready to celebrate!

We hunted for eggs (after Mass on Sunday morning):

The Three Musketeers in various outer wear including a bathrobe!

Hmmm...should I eat my chocolate bunny or look for eggs???

Finding a secret stash!

Off at a run!

Watching from the comfort of the porch, the "Easter bunnies" give tips on where they hid the eggs!

Sisters snuggling!

Marinated shrimp, berries, smoked salmon, muffins, and more!

 We had a big Easter brunch and enjoyed having nearly all of our children and grandchildren with us.  The only one who couldn't be there, although he was in our prayers, was our son who is currently in Afghanistan.  

Don't forget dessert!

At this point, my camera batteries died, which is well for you or you would have to look at a lot more photographs of my whole family!  Maybe another day :).