The Real Easter Bunny

My boys Doyle and Trenton found something better than an Easter egg in our yard the week before Easter. What they found that year made it one of our most memorable Easters ever.

I was in the kitchen with the girls. We were getting things ready to write letters to The Easter Bunny. Sally and Jackie were looking through the packs of stickers I bought. Melanie and I had our hands full making sure that everything we needed for their Easter letters to The Easter Bunny was ready.

Suddenly both of my boys came running in the door. Both of them were grabbing my hands and pulling me towards the yard. I followed them out the door and into the yard. They were both so excited and anxious - the way only adventurous little boys can. We stopped in front of the Japanese cherry tree. The boys made me kneel beneath the flower covered branches. Very delicately the boys brushed away a pile of leaves. Under the leaves was a small brown shivering bunny.

Then I certainly understood why the boys were so excited. The little bunny was so small and cute. By this time all five of my kids stood around me with pleading eyes. I told them I wasn’t sure if we would be able to keep the wild little bunny. I told the boys to stay with the bunny while the girls and I went to look for a cage. We found an old hamster cage that we decided would work.

The boys and I took the bunny to our vet for advice. He told us that the bunny was young and probably wouldn’t survive for long out in the wild alone. That sealed the deal. Doyle and Trenton had just become the new owners of a small brown bunny.

When we got home the excitement spread to the girls. All of the kids fell in love with the bunny and his fuzzy white tail. My husband Drew even thought that the bunny was cute. The boys named the bunny Cottontail. Not too original maybe but the name sure did seem appropriate!

Later that night we finally got back to our Easter letters. They kids all wrote about the newest member of the family. I took a picture of the boys with the bunny under the tree where they found him. They both sent the picture with their letters to The Easter Bunny.

 The next day we set up a cage in the boys’ room. My husband Drew later helped the boys build a cage outside. The three of them worked very hard on the cage together. It was fun for all of them – the kind of activity that creates lasting memories that we will all cherish for years to come.

By the end of the day Cottontail had a cage fit for a rabbit king. The girls had even painted a sign that said Cottontail to hang on the front of the cage. That little bunny earned a special place in all our hearts.

Treating Your Pet like a Child during Easter Safely – How to Create an Easter Basket Fit for the Family Dog

So, Easter is fast approaching and you are eagerly anticipating it as it is one of the most important festivals -- and people celebrate it for different reasons and in different ways. However, I believe the most important thing you should never forget to indulge in getting Easter is have fun and enjoy yourself. This is actually the most holidays in during the summer season. Easter is about a number of things like the Easter eggs, Easter baskets and Easter packages from the Easter Bunny along with the Easter baskets. However, you can always try some unique ideas for celebrations which can make your Easter even more memorable.

So, this year you can consider gifting your pet and Easter basket. Now, you must be wondering if I have lost it. Well, let me explain that pets are a member of our family. We take care of them and treat them as our children. Therefore, it is but natural that we should include them in our celebrations in the best possible manner and therefore your pet is entitled an Easter basket for himself. By doing this, you will ensure that your pets are not left out of all the festivities. After all, it is a common practice to purchase Christmas presents for pets, so why not for Easter. So, I hope you must have realized that it is important to gift your pet an Easter basket. So, you should start with choosing not Easter basket itself. However, you should steer clear of the traditional because baskets and keep it simpler. You should always be the size of your pet dog into consideration then you are choosing the basket.

You can pack dog food in the Easter basket and you should ensure that your dog does not get to the basket and choke. You should also make it a point to not pack chocolate in the Easter basket as it is a fact that animals are not supposed to eat the same. However, there are treats which are especially made for dogs in the market and you can selectively include them in the Easter basket. However, before you include any sweet treats for your dog make sure that you check the authenticity of the company and brand. You can also include the some toys for your dog in the basket and I am sure that your dog will just love it. You can buy any kind of toys which squeak and you can play chase with for your dog. You can also buy any chew toys for your dog which it will definitely love. Grooming items for pets are also one of the things that you can include it in the basket. You should however avoid the perfume sprays and bug sprays, if you want your pet to like his basket.

Now, have you understood what you can include in the Easter basket of your furry friend? And just for the fun of it you could write a letter to the Easter Bunny from your dog and then include the Letters from the Easter Bunny in the basket.

How to Stress Less during Easter?

So it is again that time of the year which your children are eagerly anticipating and you are secretly dreading. It is the holiday or the festival season, in which family get-togethers, lunches, celebration and enjoyment are common. However, when other family members and loved ones are enjoying, you are on your toes arranging everything and making everyone comfortable. You need to arrange everything from the Easter baskets, decoration, food and also the Easter package from the Easter Bunny. You need to plan everything in advance and supervise the same during the occasion and clear up after the celebration. This will easily tire anyone and stress levels are bound to increase. However, there are ways in which you can reduce your stress levels during Easter.

One of the main factors which increase the stress levels is not the problems or events which cause the stress, but it is our reaction to these stimuli. It is a fact that two people react differently to similar situation and therefore, it is possible to have different types of reactions to a situation. One of the most common problem with the holidays and festivals is that anyone and everyone is expected to be happy and if this does not happen, people or you yourself tend to believe that something is seriously wrong. You just cannot force others or yourself to have a good time.

You should also not compare or compete with anyone in having a better Easter celebration as the important thing is that you and your family enjoy and cherish the time spent together. Negative comparisons are a strict no-no and remember that the love and health of your friends and family is priceless. Also, do not take the complete responsibility of the Easter celebration on yourself and distribute responsibilities among your family members. You can share the major responsibilities with your spouse and the responsibilities such as egg decoration and writing letters to and ordering letters from the Easter Bunny to the older sibling among your children. Of course, if you keep a well stocked craft box year round, preparing for holiday fun and décor becomes easier.

Your craft box will be used in countless craft projects, including writing imaginative letters to The Easter Bunny. And those letters can be used as part of the holiday décor. It’s also a great idea to use letters from The Easter Bunny from previous Easters to decorate your home. You can also give some basic responsibilities to your small kids when you are busy with other decoration jobs. This will give you a lot of relief and you will also enjoy the whole process.

Also, do not spend the whole day in the celebrations and keep sometime for yourself doing what you like or just relaxing without even thinking about the celebrations.

You should also see to it that you eat well during this time so that you have the energy levels required and are able to manage all of the tasks efficiently. You can just research on the Internet for the different ways in which you can reduce the stress during Easter and manage a successful celebration of the same. I am sure you will find more than enough information on this topic as it is a common problem which most people tend to suffer from. By doing this, you will be able to enjoy Easter along with your family members and cherish those memories for a lifetime.

The Different Flavors of Easter Chocolates from The Easter Bunny

Easter goodies are often made of different chocolate flavors and each is really delicious in its own form. What really makes the flavors of chocolate different is totally dependent on the content of the Cocoa it has. It is the content of cocoa in the Easter chocolate eggs and candies that determine how intense or sweet the chocolate will be. Because of individual preferences, the chocolates are made with different cocoa content as some like sweet chocolate while others prefer a little bitter flavor.

There are lots of different flavors of Easter chocolates delicacies available throughout the Easter season. Chocolates that have 100 % cocoa content are actually unsweetened chocolate while the Milk chocolates are made of sweetened chocolate that only has 10% cocoa content. So actually in making the different flavors of chocolate varying amounts of cocoa and cocoa butter are added.

Unsweetened Chocolate:
This form of chocolate is most commonly used in making brownies and cakes and this is available in bar form as this melts easily.

Bitter Sweet Chocolate:
The Bitter sweet chocolate is much darker than the other chocolate flavors and is also more pronounced and semi sweet plus it contains high content of cocoa. The Bitter sweet chocolates are made by adding sugar, cocoa butter, and vanilla plus Lecithin is added which is an emulsifier that helps to hold the cocoa and cocoa butter together in candy bars.

Semi Sweet Chocolate:
People use semi sweet chocolate for baking and snacking only and this semi sweet dark chocolate also has very low sugar content. The best thing about the semi sweet chocolate is that it combines well with flavors and easily melts away. You can find semi sweet chocolates in the form of chocolate chips and chunks.

Dark Chocolate:
This type of chocolate is plain chocolate without any milk and so this is actually a pure form of chocolate that contains no sugar. Dark chocolate is considered to be a very healthy choice for your overall health.

White Chocolates:
People often make Easter Bunnies and cakes with white chocolate. It contains sugar, cocoa powder, dry milk and added flavors like vanilla.

Whichever chocolate flavor you use depends on your particular preferences, but Easter just wouldn’t be the same without some type of chocolate! It makes excellent delicacies for your Easter festival. The kids just love to eat chocolate in any form and especially on Easter Sunday they like to participate in the Easter egg hunt and love to hunt and eat the eggs that The Easter Bunny has hidden for them.

You can also add additives like mint, coffee, orange or any other flavor you prefer. These are added in very small pieces or in the form of creamy liquid. You can also add little pieces of peanuts and other nuts in your Easter chocolates.
The Easter Basket is another treat that the children wait for as it is filled with candies and chocolates. You can easily load your child’s Easter basket with all the assortment of candies that are especially made for the Easter holiday – along with a special letter from The Easter Bunny. Then you and the kids can enjoy a wonderful chocolate treat as you read the letter and compare it to what the children said in their letter to The Easter Bunny. Sometimes it’s the little things that make holidays special!

Special Touches That Make Easter Special

Most Christians consider the Easter egg more than a celebration of the ending of the fasting as they believe that it is a declaration of the resurrection Of Jesus Christ. In some churches, on Easter day each household brings an Easter basket to the church and at the end of the services the Easter eggs are blessed by the priest. After being blessed by the priest the eggs are distributed among the children.

Easter eggs are given as traditional gifts during the season. Although there is a modern trend toward using plastic and candy eggs, in years past eggs were always hand-decorated. Many families still continue this tradition and there are several different methods that can be used. Whether you choose to use store bought egg coloring kits, create your own with food coloring, or use tissue paper or another creative method, the truth is that decorating Easter eggs is a lot of fun.

Easter egg hunts are always a fun game to play on Easter. Sometimes the game is that the eggs are ‘hidden by The Easter Bunny’ and other times the kids take turns hiding them for each other. Either way, children seem to love this game.

In checking some of the Easter traditions of other places and how they use eggs during Easter, I found some interesting information and I thought I would share it here with you. Here goes:

There are different decorating techniques that people of different traditions use to decorate them. In Romania the eggs are decorated using the Batik technique which is actually a wax resistance process and the eggs are dyed using this technique.

While in Ukraine exquisite Easter Jeweled eggs were created for the Russian Imperial court. And most of the Easter eggs contain surprises like miniature ships and clockwork birds. Easter eggs are given as a token of love and good wishes.

In most places around the world, some of the most elaborate boxed chocolates are given as Easter gifts to loved ones the number one gift during the Easter festival is the Easter basket that is full of Easter chocolate eggs that children and adults all love to eat. The children also get excited when they receive a letter from The Easter Bunny and this is the reason that many parents write a letter for their children from The Easter Bunny. It seems to to add a fairy tale touch to the holiday festival. Just a side note here, now days, we can purchase letters from The Easter Bunny that are much more authentic than the ones we write for our kids.
Games seem to be included as a part of the Easter celebration in many parts of the world. And most places do at least some type of decorating for the holiday. Not surprisingly, people everywhere are looking for ways to cut costs so making decorations at home is a popular way to spend family time during Easter as well as during Christmas. Cost effective activities such as writing letters to The Easter Bunny are appreciated by parents and loved by children. Kids look forward to chocolate treats and other goodies. Easter is celebrated all over the world at nearly the same time but different cultures have different traditions to follow. However, Easter is an occasion that is celebrated with joy and people of all ages participate in the fun. Easter is much like Christmas, it is a holiday that has a feeling all its own and that Easter feeling is in the air for quite a period of time.

By decorating our homes with colored eggs, flowers and other Easter related adornments we can add to that Easter feeling. It can be almost intoxicating, making our holiday even more meaningful and memorable.

The No Mess Easter Evening Event

My grandchildren will be coloring eggs and decorating their Easter baskets at my house next year. And while I plan to make an evening around the fun I am also dreading the mess. Believe me, I want the kids to have a great time but I anticipate egg color being spilled and splattered and Easter grass being spread throughout my home. Well, let me back up – I was anticipating those unpleasant outcomes. But here are my solutions to avoiding the mess and to insuring that the kids will remember the time as a fun and creative experience.

Of course this will involve my craft box. I will be needing craft tissue paper in various colors. I will also want to use green ‘stuff’ from my box. If I have any pieces of green wrapping paper from another holiday or event, that will be perfect.
Okay, my plan is that on the evening the kids come over for this Easter Event I have already boiled the Easter Eggs. I generally provide 6 per child. The eggs will be cooling and ready for color. Now I know people’s idea of the perfect grandmother is one that does a lot of cooking and baking – but that really doesn’t describe me. Don’t get me wrong – I love to cook, I just hate the mess!

Anyway, I have decided that we will have a quick and easy meal of tacos. The kids always like to help me gather the ingredients and then make their own tacos their way. We simply place the shredded lettuce, cheese, salsa, taco sauce, refried beans, beef and chicken in their own bowls and everyone digs in. I will also cook some rice and purchase a large bag of tortilla chips.

After we eat that meal I will get out the craft box and the real fun begins. To start, the kids will all write a letter to The Easter Bunny. This is one tradition that I really enjoy. It’s mess free and lots of fun for everyone. As the kids are entertained with their letter writing activity I will throw some brownies in the oven.

Next we will color the eggs with a no mess method. Here’s how: The kids will shred the beautifully colored tissue paper – we’ll keep the colors separated in bowls. Next we will use wet washcloths to get the eggs wet enough so that the tissue paper will stick to them. As the paper is applied the eggs will begin to take on that Easterly appearance. And some magic begins to happen. The color from the paper transfers to the eggs. When the paper is dry the kids can remove it to reveal the pastel colors. The entire process is quick and easy, and there’s no mess.

Of course the kids want a beautiful basket to place their eggs in so we will use ribbon, lace, miniature flowers and other odds and ends to decorate those. But no Easter basket is complete without some grass, right? The good news is there are creative alternatives that can be used instead of that messy plastic grass that seems to find its way all over the house.

Here are some ideas that I have found. First, if you have any gift wrap that has a lot of green in it, use it. Just crinkle the paper and place in the bottom of the basket. Then cut small pieces of green ribbon and cut up any green bows you have. This can be added on top of the green paper to give a ‘grass like’ look. This is the method I will be using, but I found a few others that also sound fun.

You could use green licorice (apple flavor is usually green) for grass. Or you could use green fabric. One option here is to purchase green bandanas or even green socks that can be used for something else after the holiday.

You can also purchase various types of green candy to use in place of grass. Or you could use long strands of green beads.

I read a couple of suggestions about using green marbles or spray painting small pebbles green for this purpose. My only problem with this is that some smaller children may put those items in their mouth.

Okay, there you go – a fun filled evening with your kids or grandkids that is virtually mess free. You will build memories for everyone involved. Give it a try!

My Traditional Easter Holiday

When you hear the phrase, ‘traditional Easter holiday’, what type of thoughts come to mind? Generally I flash back to my childhood days. I remember coloring eggs and placing them in my cherished Easter basket. When I was growing up we did not get a new basket each year. Instead, my brothers, sister and I each had our own basket that we treasured, and used over and over again. I remember that the boys’ baskets were bigger and bulkier looking. Mine and my sister’s were smaller and pastel in color, and had a more delicate appearance.

For my siblings and me, decorating our baskets and coloring the Easter eggs was an important event. We always ended the evening by writing a letter to The Easter Bunny. It’s funny though, I really don’t remember if we planned to mail those letters or what – I just remember that writing them was important and it was fun. I also remember that some Easter mornings we would find that The Easter Bunny had actually left us a note. That was always special.

Easter morning for us kids would always start early. It was a lot like Christmas – only our parents did not bother to get up early with us. Instead we would happily carry our baskets into their room to show them our goodies.

Easter Sunday always meant a large breakfast, followed by church, and then Sunday Dinner. Some years dinner was a family event, held at my grandma’s house. And other years we would simply eat at home. But every year included an Easter egg hunt and eating too much candy.

When raising my own children we had our personalized traditions. Of course, we did the usual things like coloring eggs, writing letters to The Easter Bunny, and having Easter egg hunts. But our main event was a trip to the zoo on Easter Sunday. My children have continued this tradition with their own kids.

Now that I am a grandma Easter has a different spin. I treasure all holidays because they offer an opportunity to spend quality time with the ones I love the most. To me, aside from the true foundations of holidays, that is why they are important and meaningful.

This Easter will include observance of religious significance of the day, followed by family time. I will prepare a ‘traditional’ Easter Sunday Dinner. We’ll all eat too much. The kids will run and play. And by the end of the day I will be tired but feeling blessed and grateful. It will be a good day!

Decorating For Easter

In years gone by we seldom saw any or at least very little decorating done for the Easter holiday. But nowadays, with the availability of beautiful craft and holiday supplies, we see more and more people are putting real effort into decorating for this wonderful event.

Easter symbolizes different things to different people, but almost universally we recognize that Easter relates to new beginnings. It offers an opportunity to begin again and it happens at a time of year in which we are enjoying new sprouting plants, trees budding out, flowers beginning to bloom, and the grass getting greener. With those things in mind, it is not surprising that many people choose to decorate their homes with flowers when preparing for Easter.

Of course, Easter has a religious foundation that cannot be ignored. During this time we notice churches’ are likely to decorate both inside and out in a way to honor the beginnings of the holiday and to remind us of the foundation or real reason for the holiday.

We also enjoy things like door and window decorations for the home and/or office. These often depict scenes of the adorable Easter Bunny. Children enjoy coloring pictures of the fabled rabbit and hanging them to decorate the walls of their home. Stores everywhere sell beautiful stickers and window clingers to make Easter decorating easier.

And as we have become accustomed to being more creative as well as more crafty and innovative with our decorations, our children expect more of themselves. Simply writing a letter to The Easter Bunny is not enough – children want to decorate the letters and envelopes with stickers, markers, and other items that add a creative touch.

Coloring Easter eggs has also become an art form of sorts. While it’s true that some children are still content with the basic primary pastel Easter egg colors, some are now demanding a more artful approach to coloring their eggs. In fact, many adults enjoy this Easter craft. Nowadays there are wonderful kits available for adding unique touches to Easter eggs. Another idea is to pull out the treasured craft box and use buttons and other small adornments to add a personalized touch to the eggs.

The Easter eggs will of course, need a beautiful basket to keep them safe. Baskets of all types are used and they can be decorated lovingly by either the adults in the home or the children themselves. Once again, buttons and other craft supplies can be used to make a basket more beautiful. The truth is that even a plain basket looks nice with a little ribbon and lace glued or tied on it.

We can use the store bought, artificial grass to line our baskets or we can be more creative and use fabric, or even tissues. After we have added our eggs most children want to add a special Easter Bunny letter, intended for him to find when he makes his visit.

The point is that you can get as carried away as you want with decorating for Easter. The more involved you become in the process the more you are likely to enjoy it and the more your children are likely to continue believing in The Easter Bunny. Start planning and decorating for Easter today!