Happy Easter!

I would say that this post is late, but it's not! It's still Easter! And it will be the Easter season for 50 days! From icatholic.org:

"The 50 days of Easter are a "space" filled with the presence of the risen Christ, who shows himself over and over to us, his Church, as he manifested himself to the apostles. It is important for us to see the Easter event not only as something that happened long ago but also as an ongoing reality that is very present NOW in our own lives as Christians. Just as it was with the apostles, everywhere we turn, there is his Spirit outpoured, shaping the new creation. We know from the Scriptures that his disciples did not always recognize him. The challenge for us is to recognize the Spirit in our daily lives.

Ascension is not a departure, but rather a promise that the Lord will return. He goes to prepare a place for us. It is therefore a feast of great joy and an integral part of the Easter event."

So - Alleluia - Happy Easter! Here are some of our celebrations!

It was so special to be included in a Seder Dinner with close friends. The food was INCREDIBLE and it was a neat way to start Holy Week. Unfortunately, many of my Holy Week ideas did not come to fruition due to my poor planning and tiredness....but we did manage to go to the service on Good Friday and do a few other things.

Easter morning we dyed our Easter Eggs. The boys had a blast.

Sebastian had fun dipping the eggs in multiple colors, which led to some interesting creations.

Then we made some Resurrection Rolls for breakfast. I found this idea on one of my favorite blogs, Catholicicing. Using a marshmallow to represent Jesus, we dipped it in butter to represent the oils they put on Jesus after he died.

Then we rolled it in cinnamon to represent the spices that were rubbed on His body.

Finally we wrapped the marshmallow in the bread to represent the cloths they used before they put Jesus in the tomb.

Our oven became the tomb....

And when we took them out of the oven...

The marshmallow had melted away. Jesus had risen! Very cool way to share the story of the Resurrection with the kids, although Sebastian was still a bit perplexed about Jesus being a marshmallow. Ahhhh....what can you do! =)

Yummy treat on Easter morning.

And here they are admiring the finished Easter eggs they dyed.

Now - Easter baskets! Matteo was excited to see what was in his.

Sebastian couldn't wait to open each egg to see what treats were inside.

Sebastian is not a candy lover. Matteo on the other hand will scarf it down. So we carefully picked things they both liked: mini marshmallows and gummies. We also added a few M&Ms to Matteo's since he loves them so much.

Matteo discovers an egg full of M&Ms.

Little hands...

When he realized the next egg might have MORE M&Ms in it!

We finally gave him a little bowl to put the treats on because he was trying to eat everything in the eggs as fast as he could open them.

Sebastian couldn't help himself I guess....boys!

Hey!

And then the basket from Nana and Papa had a WHOLE BAG of gummies in it! Look at that face as he grabs a HANDFUL!

So....we have this bunny outfit. And it's just too tortuously funny to not put our children in it. Yes, they will hate us in 10 years for it, but for the moment, it's worth every laugh. And they love it too. Matteo threw a huge fit when we made him take it off!!!

VIDEO - Matteo the Easter Bunny
(If the video does not appear, click here to watch.)

The happy bunny!

Since Matteo loved it so much, Sebastian insisted on wanting to wear it too....but it did not fit him AT ALL. He was very upset about it and insisted that he needed a costume for Easter too. So Mami had to start thinking about what I could easily pull together and we decided he could be a flower for Easter. He was thrilled.

Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of him with his flower hat on, but here they are after the Easter show with costumes their costumes. Matteo the bunny and Sebastian the flower. He loved wearing the pillowcase "stem" the best.

Since I am 38 weeks, I really couldn't travel anywhere for Easter. So we told our family, we'd love to see them if they wanted to come but were unable to really host anything. So our family got together, planned and brought all the food, set everything up, served, cleaned up the kitchen and our floors and left us with tons of leftovers. WOW! How wonderful is that! I have to admit, I love hosting our family events, but for once it was really nice to have everything taken care of! What a treat!

Angelica and Tyler had fun hiding eggs for the kids to do an egg hunt on the porch.

Our family at church on Easter Sunday. Happy Easter!

Pre-Easter Festivities

As a family, we work hard to make sure our kids are learning about the liturgical seasons of the Church and that it's not Easter just yet....still Lent. But this is hard when there are egg hunts and Easter parties during Holy Week. Sebastian did question it a few times saying, "but it's not Easter yet!" but I just explained that sometimes we do a few special things before Easter too. What can you do!?! =)

Getting ready to look for eggs. Matteo was very excited. Sebastian was not too sure...

He sure was happy when his bucket was full though!

Matteo loved opening each egg to discover the treats inside. This was a nice hunt because all the eggs were filled with little trinkets, stickers and such - not candy that my kids don't really eat anyways.

Squinty but happy faces after the hunt!

Sharing the spoils. Sebastian was decorating his brother with stickers.

Sebastian with two of his Easter crafts from school.

The kids had a small Easter party and egg hunt at school. Sebastian was excited to see us there.

With his classmates ready to go search for eggs.

With his stickered and glittery egg box. =)

Loving on his brother. =)

Matteo was very excited because there was a spot at the table for him to sit too and have ice cream with Sebastian just like the other kids.

Digging in!

Beach Day!

Last week I tackled a big adventure. 37 weeks preggo, I took both boys to the beach by myself. Crazy, yes. I know. I just couldn't take Sebastian's pleading any longer and it's a crime to live 10 minutes away from the beach and not take him after he'd been asking to go for more than a week. So, I packed as light as possible, told them they HAD to walk - even with sand in their shoes, and also told them only our toes could go in the water. We were there to play in the sand and fly kites, NOT swim. I know I can't handle that on my own, pregnant or not!

I am happy to report the little trip was a great success!

We took lots of sand toys and got right down to business. It was prefect because we got there around 8:45, stayed for an hour and were gone before it got too busy or hot. Perfect!

Matteo LOVED it and later loved using his buckets to collect shells from all over the beach.

Sebastian was so happy to be at the beach - even without getting in the water. =)

Our flying lizard kite. Lots of squeals of delight. This was the main reason Sebastian wanted to go to the beach. We try to fly kites in the backyard sometimes, but they never go too high. I always tell him the beach is the best place to fly kites and he really wanted to see this one go up high!

They loved running and rolling up and down the sand dunes.

With just our toes in the water. It was a beautiful morning, a beautiful part of our Holy Week. Maybe this will have to be a tradition, to help us be thankful for the gift of having the beach right up the street.....

Just stuff!

This month brought the last of Matteo's friend's birthday season. Happy birthday to Fiona!

And to Gabriel!

Matteo had been going through this "piling" phase as I called it. It was CRAZY. And a HUGE mess. Basically, he would pull toys from everywhere and collect them in places all over the house....the couch, under the table, every corner of the playroom. And if you even as much as moved something, let alone try to clean it up - he would wig out. Thankfully, we just had to put a complete stop to all of it and he took it relatively well. Now we are back to cleaning up our messes and things are much more manageable!

VIDEO - Matteo Piling
If video doesn't show below, click here to watch.)

We officially kicked off the summer with some water play and backyard picnic dinner a few weeks ago. The kids had a blast seeing some of the water toys we haven't played with since last season, even though it was still a bit too windy to be comfortable. We'll have to try again in a few weeks.

Grilling out for dinner time! They loved eating on the porch.

Sebastian and Lita set up the train table as an airport. Both boys have loved it!

Last week the boys helped me start sorting through some of the baby clothes, blankets, etc. When I showed him his baby blanket he snuggled up with it and said "that's amazing!" Now he is sleeping with it at night again. =)

Matteo found his baby blanket too (which he NEVER used or cared for!), and he was also excited about it. Just don't ask about the glasses. Silly kiddo.

Paul took apart and washed the car seats. The boys had fun sitting in them. Hard to believe our new little one will fit in these tiny seats!

Paul and I went out on a date last week to the Melting Pot. It was nice to spend time together before things get increasingly crazy at home! And here is another belly shot! Anytime now baby, we are ready for you!