EASTER!!!

We started a new Easter tradition this year - Resurrection Eggs!  I tried to do the egg like an advent calendar at Christmas... an egg a day until Easter.  That didn't really work out though, because Grayson was so inquisitive and wanted to hear the whole story.  We kept doing an extra egg until we were through the whole thing several days before Easter.  Even though my implementation didn't work out as planned, I was super happy with the Resurrection Eggs.  By Easter, Grayson could (and repeatedly did) tell the whole Easter story, with details I never would have realized a 5 year old was ready for if we weren't working through the story with those eggs.  Even Harrison could tell you the real meaning of Easter this year.  Easter afternoon, after they'd both had lots of candy out of their Easter baskets and had an egg hunt in the backyard, I asked Harrison if he remembered why we have Easter.  He replied "Jesus died da choss...we cedebwate...Jesus ALIVE!!"  I was impressed that he could articulate that much at 2.5, and that he remembered that after stuffing his belly with chocolate!  

The week leading up to Easter, Grayson spontaneously told the Easter story several times, including once when he drew an illustration in the driveway with sidewalk chalk (complete with soldiers and spears) and told me the story totally unprompted.

Easter morning we were up bright and early as usual.  

Took a few Easter pics outside before heading to church, but we were in a bit of a rush!

This next picture is so them... Grayson is the morning person, Harrison is not.  Grayson likes to dress sharp, Harrison did not want to be in that tie.

Checking out their fancy Easter duds...

At church, Grayson was excited to be the first person to put flowers on the cross.  And if you notice their ties hanging out in these pictures, it's because Grayson decided it's better that way... people can see your tie better if it's not tucked into your vest.  It wasn't enough for him to realize this himself, he taught Harrison that he should pull his tie out too.  Thank you, Grayson.

Grayson wanted the purple flowers at the "tippy top" of the cross, like the star on the Christmas tree.

The boys with the flowers they put on the cross.

After church, Grayson was excited he exclaimed "Mommy, Mommy, come see the cross!  It's so beautiful with all the flowers on it!!"  He was even more excited than he had been earlier when he was putting the first flowers on!  And the next Sunday, Harrison wanted to know why the flower-covered cross wasn't there anymore - glad he remembered it!

Family picture after church on Easter...

Caught them holding hands on the way home... so sweet!

Took a couple more pictures in their Easter finery when we got home, but it was way too sunny to get very good ones, plus we were hungry, so not much time or effort went into these!

After lunch, Grayson & Harrison got their Easter baskets.  They were really excited about everything!  I LOVE these pictures!

After they'd ingested an adequate quantity of chocolate and played with their toys for a little while, we headed out for their Easter egg hunt.  Harrison took a few minutes to get the hang of what we were doing.  Consequently, Grayson got the majority of the eggs.  But they both had a blast regardless.  We hid the eggs a second time and Harrison held his own that time.

After a couple eggs hunts and more candy ingestion, we finally got around to dying some eggs.  Both kids thoroughly enjoyed seeing the eggs change colors and Harrison had gotten a little bit better at handling the eggs with care by the time we finished. 

While we were dying eggs, Daddy was grilling hot dogs and turkey-burgers for our supper!!  Yummy finishing touch to the day!

The next day they added stickers to their dyed eggs and also started eating them.  They've both loved picking which color egg to eat, then cracking and peeling the eggs themselves!

They're both still so young that each year every holiday is a completely different experience than the previous year, because they've grown and changed so much since the previous year.  This year was my favorite Easter with the kids so far!  Had such a fabulous family day celebrating the real meaning of Easter, and it was extra special because both boys understood the meaning of Easter as much as they can at these ages.