Easter

I love Easter.
I love what it means: our savior gave us life by defeating death. Who would have imagined that this is how our salvation came to us? It's amazing.
I love that it's a low key holiday that doesn't overwhelm me with planning and decorating. I feel like the expectations are pretty minimal. I love that no matter where we are, we go to church.
And I have found since we have kids that I love Easter even more, they help give clarity and color to the beauty of the story of Christ crucified and alive again.

Here is my family last Easter:

Avett was about half-baked in the oven and Vaughn and Eloise were just three months home. It's so hard to believe....

Here we are this year:

P.S. This is not a very flattering photo of any of us. I asked my mom to take the picture and she 'took' 5 and when I checked there was one single picture of my eyeball. Our "backdrop" doesn't help either, please note the almost finished deck, the telephone pole and the gutter. Do you want your photo taken in our yard? Come on by!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wish I could explain to you how different V & E are. I can't even capture it here. What I can capture for you is the heart of Easter as told by them....

Eloise: on Friday morning, I decided that I would tell the kids the story of Easter to be sure they understood what all the celebrating was about. I kept it pretty light and age appropriate, no added drama or anything (not that it isn't a dramatic story). All of a sudden Eloise BURSTS into tears. Visceral sobbing. With much tenderness (a rarity) I asked what was wrong. She could hardly talk, but she finally told me that it was because Jesus died. She just couldn't believe it. It felt like I had just showed her The Passion of the Christ for the emotion she clearly felt. It was seriously a heartbreaking moment. Even after I told her that He was alive, she still couldn't settle down. Oh! What the savior has done for us, we should all be weeping like that.

Vaughn: This morning I was pre-correcting* the children about something and I warned them that if they did such thing (whatever it was) I was going to be angry. Vaughn got a look of incredulity on his face (certainly not because I was pre-correcting since that happens daily) and said, "Mom, how can you sin again? It's Easter. Jesus already died for our sins and you would sin again? On Easter?" This boy is a preacher if I ever met one. Did you know that is exactly in the Bible? How does he know this? He has such an incredible heart, sometimes I just can't even bear it.

*Pre-correcting is a valuable parenting skill.  Basically, you imagine all the horrible things your children could do and you correct them in advance. Additionally, you let them know what the consequences would be (generally incredibly severe so as to scare them away from whatever it is) if they do whatever it is. I have a helpful journal where I've documented every consequence I've threatened so that if anything comes up I can refer to the journal and be sure to render the consequence I promised. I hope this helps someone.

And here's my annual, my kids are cuter than your kids photo: