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.

Easter Letters & Easter Trees!

Decorating a tree for Easter is quick and easy. You can decorate any tree you have in yard or you can purchase one from a craft store if you want one for inside your home. This is a fun way for a family to spend a nice spring day.

I get my kids busy writing letters to the Easter Bunny while I get all my crafts supplies together. If you are going to put lights in your tree this is a good time to do it. As I gather the supplies the kids and I chat about what they hope to find in their Easter Baskets on Easter morning. Once I have everything we will need to do our crafts together I help the kids finish their Easter letters. They wait to seal their letters until after the crafts so we can send a picture of what they made.

The easiest ornaments to make are plastic eggs. All you need to do is tie a string around the egg. I used a small strip of tape on each side of the string to help secure it. If you live in an area that is windy you may want to put tape all along the string. Simply hang on the branches of your tree. My kids like to paint designs on the eggs before they attach the string, but you don’t have to.

A few bunches of artificial flowers can go a long way. Take the individual flowers off of the stems.  Use glitter glue around the edge of each petal. Now using a large needle thread either a ribbon or string through the flower. Use the ribbon to hang the flower from the tree. Pick flowers in bright vibrant spring colors.

Hang long pieces of ribbon from the tree so that they can sway in the breeze. They really catch the eye. Use several different colors and lengths of ribbon.

Glitter balls are simple and fun to make. Start with plain Styrofoam balls. Give your kids a variety of glitter glue sticks and let their imaginations go wild. Use string to hang them from the tree.

If you are doing an indoor tree you can have your kids cut out Easter shapes out of construction paper. Add a little bit of glitter to give your tree a bit of sparkle.

After your tree is finished be sure to snap a few pictures. My kids always send a picture with their Easter letters to The Easter Bunny. I love to have pictures to remember the fun we have each year decorating our trees. The pictures make a nice surprise for The Easter Bunny and grandparents.

Making Letters To The Easter Bunny Special

My oldest daughter Melanie has always loved to write letters to The Easter Bunny. She is very selective about the paper and other supplies she uses. So this year I decided to take her with me when I went shopping.

When I told her that she was going to go on a special shopping trip with me to buy all the things we would need for our Easter letters. She was so excited. I was glad that we were going to have a day out together with just me and her. She got a pen and paper, she sit down and made a list of all supplies we would need.

We started the day at the craft store. She took her time making her choices. When it came to stickers she chose flowers in soft spring pastels. Then she found a pack that had baby animals. To my surprise she even picked out a pack of stickers with pictures of bugs. She explained that those were for her brothers. I was glad to see she was thinking of them too.

She picked out envelopes that had little bunnies and chicks along the bottom. She found paper that matched. She couldn’t wait to get home and start writing a letter to the Easter Bunny.

Next she went to the glitter. She picked colors to match her stickers. She wanted to get brown for the boys because the always play in dirt and they had bug stickers.

We stopped and had a nice lunch at her favorite pizza restaurant. We ordered her favorite toppings. We spent a couple of hours talking as we ate our pizza. It was nice for her to have some time without any of her brothers and sisters. She talked the whole time about her friends and school. I was glad to hear that things in her world were happy and sunny.

Our last stop was the post office to buy stamps. Melanie told the woman behind the counter that she needed stamps so she could mail a letter to The Easter Bunny. The woman showed her the different stamps they had to offer. She picked a book of flower stamps.

When we got back home Melanie showed her brothers and sisters what we had bought. The boys were thrilled with their bug stickers. The girls all worked on making fancy letters. I found them little pieces of lace to glue in the corners of their letters. They sit down and got started right away on their letters. Even my husband Drew helped with the letters. In the end they all turned out adorable. Melanie told The Easter Bunny all about her special day out with mom.

Coloring Easter Eggs Together Can Create Cherished Memories And Stronger Family Bonds

The day before Easter my kids and I dye our Easter eggs. We dye several dozen eggs to be used in our egg hunt on Easter Sunday. I put the eggs in a big bowl in the center of our picnic table outside. Dying the eggs outside makes cleaning up any spills much easier. Each of the kids has six cups with the all the colors of the rainbow to choose from. I also give each one of them a rubber band, a small sponge and white crayon to decorate their eggs.

They all take their places at the table and choose an egg. Trenton drops an egg into each of his cups. He runs off to play while he waits on his eggs to change color. Jackie and Doyle wrap rubber bands around their eggs to make swirl patterns. A warm breeze is blowing making this a perfect day to be outside. The sky is a brilliant shade of blue with white marshmallow clouds in the sky. While the kids work on their eggs they talk about writing letters to The Easter Bunny.

Sally and Melanie draw designs on their eggs with the crayons Trenton stops by the table every few minutes to check on his eggs. He likes his eggs to be bright and vibrant. When each of the kids finish with an egg they place it in one of the drying trays. Sally says we should include a picture of all our Easter eggs in with our Easter Bunny letters. The truth is, the brightly colored eggs would make a pretty Easter picture.

The girls sometimes take some of their eggs and draw stems with leaves on them with the white crayon. Next they put the eggs into the dye. When the eggs were the color they wanted they set them aside to dry. When the eggs had dried completely they took the sponge and made little flowers atop of the stem. Jackie said that she wanted to email a letter to The Easter Bunny and add a picture of the eggs.

I dyed a special egg for each of kids to put in their baskets. The kids were allowed to keep half a dozen eggs in their basket. The rest of the eggs were to hide for the big Easter egg hunt the next day. Sally chose all blue eggs to put in her basket around a letter to The Easter Bunny she had written. The girls pick some of the hyacinths that grow along our fence to put in the house. We all like to add a touch of the outdoors with beautiful flowers. I guess spring is my favorite season – I just love all the flowers and newness and I think that is rubbing off on my kids!

When the eggs are all done we look at the master pieces the kids have made. I take a lot of pictures that day. It turned out to be a perfect day. I’ve learned that any day can be made into a special and meaningful day if I let it be. All it takes is a little creativity and effort. I love spending time with my kids. It’s fun to watch them grow and learn and I think these family times help them see that life’s most precious gifts really don’t have a lot to do with money at all. Instead, it’s about sharing good times with the people you love. I hope that we will be blessed with many more Easters as happy as this one.

Easter Sunday – Disaster Almost Strikes But Instead A Cherished Keepsake Is Found

On Easter morning I have my hands full trying to get my husband and children ready to go to church. It is a challenge to make sure the boys don’t end up with some kind stain on their Easter clothes before we leave. My husband, like many men, has the inability to find anything on his own so I have to direct him around all morning. My two teenage daughters must be checked over to be sure they aren’t wearing anything too wild for Easter Sunday. My youngest daughter Sally still needs me to fix her hair.

Everything was running pretty smoothly last Easter Sunday until Sally ran to me with her dress shoes in hand. It seems that since Christmas she had out grown her shoes. I told her not to worry that we would find a pair of shoes for her to wear. I told her to sit and read the letter sent by The Easter Bunny while I tried to find a pair of shoes for her to wear. My older daughters checked their closet but unfortunately they didn’t come up with anything suitable.

I called my mom and asked her to check and see if she might have an old pair of my older daughter’s dress shoes. She said she would look around and call me back if she found a pair. Sally and I tried a pair of my shoes but her foot was just too small. Then my mom called back and said she had found an old pair of my Easter shoes in the back of her closet.

I told my mom that Sally and I would be right over. I rushed her into the car and told her to fasten up her seat belt. On the way to mom’s Sally read me her letter from The Easter Bunny. We looked out the car window at all the beautiful spring flowers popping up everywhere. Sally pointed out the trees that were starting to get their new spring leaves. Sally told me that she wanted to us to grow daffodils in our yard next year.

When we walked in the door of mom’s house she handed Sally an old black shoe box. Sally took out the shoes and tried them on her feet. I couldn’t believe it but they were a perfect fit. Sally pulled an envelope out the box she found under the shoes. Inside was a letter sent by The Easter Bunny to me when I was a little girl.

At home we finished getting ready to go to church. I spied Sally slip both of our Easter Bunny letters into her new purse. I thought it was funny that she thought having my old letter from The Easter Bunny was special. And I was grateful that my mom had hung on to the shoes and the Easter letter for so many years.

Does The Easter Bunny Have Favorites And Special Friends

My daughter Sally loves to write letters to The Easter Bunny. She is always the one who volunteers to go shopping with me for the letter supplies. She takes her time when she picks out the stickers we buy. She always tries to pick out stuff she thinks that The Easter Bunny will like. I used to use plain white envelopes but she insists on using pastel colored ones. She says that The Easter Bunny likes those pretty shades of pinks, blues, yellows, greens and lavenders. According to Sally, The Easter Bunny pays more attention to the letters and envelopes that are written on his favorite colors of paper.

When it is time to sit down and write the Easter Bunny letters she lays everything out neatly. All the glitter and paint is organized by color. There isn’t a craft supply we might need Sally hasn’t thought of. She likes to write her letter where she can look up and see the flowering Japanese cherry tree in bloom in the garden.

She likes to help me make the snack we are going eat while we are writing our letters. Without fail she wants warm chocolate chip cookies with tall glasses of cold milk. She counts the plates and fills the glasses with milk. None of her brothers or sisters argues with her choice in snacks. Sally really likes to bake and cook with me. I’m glad I have her to pass my love of cooking on to.

She takes longer that any of my other kids on her letters to The Easter Bunny. Her letters turn out very pretty thanks to her attention to detail. She likes to use glitter and shiny foil stickers. One year she made pretty tissue paper flowers that she glued in the corners. It was tricky to get that letter to stay sealed inside its envelope.

In Sally‘s letters to The Easter Bunny she doesn’t ask for a lot of things. Her letters are more of a run down of the past year. She loves to write to The Easter Bunny. She has been known to tattle tell about her brothers and sisters in her letters. They get so mad when she does that.

This year she has a new set of Easter stencils she is anxious to use. She plans on decorating the back of her envelope with them. She showed me the stencil of an Easter basket and told me it was her favorite one.

Once her letter has been mailed she goes crazy waiting to receive a letter from The Easter Bunny. She checks the mailbox everyday when she gets in from school. When it does arrive she reads it probably a hundred times. She makes sure that everyone in the family sees her letter. She calls her grandparents and brags to them about the year’s letter from The Easter Bunny. Sally believes that her letter is of course, more special than anyone else’s – she thinks that she has a special bond with The Easter Bunny that other kids just don’t have. I think it’s funny to listen to her brothers get upset about this – because they too believe that The Easter Bunny and Sally are special friends!

Little Girls And A Love For Bubbles

My daughter Sally loves to blow bubbles. As soon as it starts to warm up outside she is ready to sit on the front porch and blow bubbles. Her best friend Mandy who loves down the road also loves bubbles. They have every imaginable shape of bubble blowing stick. Both of them wear necklaces with little bottles of bubbles.

Sally and Mandy told me that this year they plan to mail a letter to The Easter Bunny. They told me very seriously that they just knew The Easter Bunny would bring them bubbles in their baskets if they asked.

They looked through all their coloring books. Any pictures they found with bubbles they pulled out and colored. There were pictures of fish bubbles, soap bubbles and of course the kind you blow. They wanted to add the pictures they colored in their Easter letters to The Easter Bunny. I showed them there wasn’t room in the envelopes for all the pictures they colored. I let them each pick two pictures to send.

They were disappointed about the pictures they colored until I told them that they could leave the pictures in their Easter baskets for The Easter Bunny to take with him when he comes.

The letters the girls wrote were long. They included every reason they loved bubbles. They sat at the kitchen table talking to each other while they were writing letters to The Easter Bunny. I baked them bunny shaped sugar cookies to snack on while they worked. I had never seen those two girls sit still for so long.

Finally they announced they had finished their letters and were ready to mail them off. I gave them each a stamp. They very carefully placed the stamp on the corner of the envelopes. I walked with them to the end of the driveway to put the letters in the mailbox.
They lifted the red flag and doubled checked that the door was closed real well.

For the next week we had to check the mail everyday. I was so happy when Sally pulled two pastel purple envelopes out of the mailbox. They opened the letters from The Easter Bunny. Inside the special letters The Easter Bunny told them he was real impressed by the way they blew bubbles. The girls bragged to their other friends about the things The Easter Bunny said, including that they took excellent care of toys.

Sure enough the girls were right. The Easter Bunny left bubbles in both their Easter baskets. They skipped off to the front porch to blow bubbles. Through the open window I could hear them planning the next year’s letters.