Another Easter has come and gone and just like that it's spring.  Snow may still be in the forecast and the weather may be chilly, but baseball starts this week and it's April, so there's no denying it.

We're entering a new season now with two boys in sports, which means two games on Saturdays.  Freezer meals may have a new look with items that can made ahead for the ball games?!  Wheels are already spinning as I anticipate some lunches and snacks by the field!  Let's not underestimate the power of the make-ahead meal.

Before we throw ourselves into this schedule and with Easter having passed it's making me think of setting some new "family rules" for Easter next year.  I find myself doing this more often now when things become stressful, realizing we have the power to set a rule for our family and how we want it to operate.  Sundays in our family are for church, no work, and for me, unplugging.  When one of our kids has a Birthday party to attend on a Sunday it makes the day far too busy and so I decided, we could just say no to those events.  It's really that simple.  Life is really only complicated when you make it that way.  This year Benjamin worked late the week before Easter, we had a double date planned on Good Friday, and two events Saturday.  All good things, but next year I want to block off Good Friday just like we do Christmas Eve.  I want the meaning of this holiday to be given breath and room in our minds and hearts as we think about the cross. 

 

The week got away from me, but in my mind I wanted to share some ideas of what we can really do for Easter.  Don't look to Facebook or Pinterest for these ideas, and for the love don't show your kids Pinterest if you don't want to hear about the millions of crafts and cookies you could make. 

Here are some Easter things we did, and that I think are more importantly do-able with a young family.

I made these adorable Bunny Pudding cups for Tucker's Easter class party.  Crafts are not my thing and so when I came across a printable that actually worked, I printed out some copies, cut and taped them on the already made vanilla pudding.  These were a hit super easy to do!

 

Now here's something funny.  I was going to say you could dye eggs, but every time I made hard boiled eggs in the Instant Pot my boys ate them right up. No time for coloring them.  

Here's the thing- are my kids upset and feel like they've missed out from not doing eggs?  Nope.  Will we likely do them this week?  Yup.

 

 You can stuff a bunch of eggs with jelly beans, pennies, chocolates and have your kids do an Easter egg hunt- in the basement, outside, where ever.  We did several before Easter either during play dates or at friends houses.  We avoided big community ones because in our experience those have been stressful and not super fun!  

You can make Resurrection Rolls!  Here's another thing we did a lot.  I had never made these but ended up making them for my book club, and then again at Anderson's school.  It's fun to get bigger kids involved in making them and telling the story as you go along.  Here's a recipe for them here although I think we maybe set the oven to 400 for 10 minutes too. Just watch them and make sure they are golden so the marshmallow melts!