Easter Begins

I think Brother Bear said it best this morning when he declared, "I'm so glad we don't have to leave in silence anymore." He's referring to the Palm Sunday service last week when the choir didn't sing a "last song" at the end of mass since it is traditional for the priest and such to leave the church in silence. Obviously, this didn't sit well with Brother. He does enjoy music.


So, this morning our "Alleluia" was released from its Lenten box and we were able to sing it aloud. We even broke our rule of "no singing at the table" because it is Easter morning and we've longed to say it for seven weeks of Lent. Alleluia, He has risen!!!

My dh made a wonderful pancake breakfast. Traditionally, we wouldn't have eaten pancakes since Shrove Tuesday (also known as Fat Tuesday), but we actually have. They were still wonderful and very special as a breakfast food since we rarely have time for elaborate breakfasts. This was made possible by the fact that Sister joined the Children's Choir and they sang at the 11:30 mass. We typically attend the 9:30 mass. Trust me, two hours makes a HUGE difference in the way children behave. Fortunately, Baby Bear ended up taking a morning nap (which is really rare nowadays), so he was pretty pleasant during this late mass.
The other benefit to it being a later mass is that Daddy joined up partway through (after his church service was over). Sadly, for me at least, Daddy is not Catholic, so he attends a different service and only occasionally attends with us for special occasions. Sister singing was one of those occasions. Mommy was blessed with many helping hands at mass today as Memere and Papa had returned from their RV adventure. It's so odd to go from taking three kids by myself to mass, to having only two kids (since Sister sat up front with the choir) and three other adults. I think I even heard most of the homily today!


This year the Easter Bunny arrived while we were away at mass. This was wonderful since it would have been difficult to get Sister to "take a nap" for the Easter Bunny to come. When we arrived home, the baskets were out on the coffee table and the great room was covered in eggs. Baby Bear really liked the eggs, but didn't get the concept of putting them in his basket and leaving them there. He preferred to walk around shaking them, occasionally dropping a few in his basket, then dumping them out again. The two big kids were well aware of what was inside those eggs and rushed to fill their baskets very quickly.

In addition to the fun eggs filled with candy, Sister and Brother both received patron saint statues. Baby Bear (who already had a patron saint statue) received a fun book. All three kids received chocolate prayer hands.

After all that egg hunting fun, the big kids went over to Memere and Papa's to watch a movie (Spy Kids 3) and Baby Bear was supposed to take a nap. That didn't really happen, but it was a nice afternoon anyway. After Baby Bear finally took a very short nap, we joined the kids at Memere and Papa's for a yummy roast dinner. It's been a month since the last Sunday dinner at my parents' house. What a joy!

Now, it's Spring Break! If only that warm, sunny spring weather hadn't been replaced by rain. Oh well, we'll have fun pajama days, open swims, and movie nights to keep us entertained.

I hope all of you have a blessed Easter Season!!!