Easter

Easter was fun and simple this year.

 Matt is still pretty anti-prefilled Easter basket, so instead I just made Madeleine a little basket and a flower wreath. 

 We had a chick for breakfast with Madeleine's very favorite thing right now - orange juice.

I hid the Easter eggs and got her dressed before Matt and her went out to find them. I was thrilled with this dress too. I found it at the thrift store in perfect condition and it's oh so cute on her.

She found the first one by herself but she kept getting distracted by all the dirt to play in. Matt would point her towards another one and she get all excited, "Egg!!!" pick it up and ask, "More egg?" before wandering off towards a shovel. Matt ended up throwing his shoe about an inch from some of the eggs to try to help her. But no, our little shoe obsessed girl would run to the shoe and without looking up return it to him and try to put it on his foot. But eventually she did find all 10.

And had to have them opened. 

When we were on our trip a few weeks ago, I got the candy for her eggs. Most of the candy was little sour bunny gummys, but I also had got her some chocolate. They were shaped like animals and she was really excited by them. We found them at the oldest bookstore in the country The Moravian. They were bulk and so cute so I grabbed them for her Easter eggs.

After that we read a few books about chickens (we've been learning about eggs for the last 2 weeks) from the library.

And dressed her up to take some Easter photos.

Those were the best 2. I have to say taking photos of a toddler is hard even when your camera can keep up with them. Almost every photo she was making some type of face or eating candy. 

The worst one. Demon fairy child.

But in the end we got one or two for grandparents and our wall and called it good.

Matt and I headed in to get ready for the Sisters to come over but Madeleine surprised us and stayed outside sitting on her bench.

After 10 minutes or so I went out to check on her. She was eating her candy and watching the birds and airplanes. Not long after the bells from the campus cathedral rang and she was so excited. 

The rest of the day was pretty unexciting. We listened to church and talked to family, before going to bed at a reasonable time. 

Matt and I were happy with it. I was able to keep it inline with our zero-waste goals thanks to our wood Easter eggs and chocolate factory candy. She didn't get much so clean up was nonexistent. And as for the religious part of Easter, I decided it was pretty perfect. Christmas to me is all about the hope that Christ can bring, and Easter is all about the joy that the Atonement brings.

Madeleine will learn about the Atonement and Crucifixion when she gets older. She'll understand pain and guilt better and hopefully understand that we believe Christ can help take those feelings away. Right now, Easter is just focusing on the joy and happiness.