Blessings and Resurrection

This was an Easter unlike any other. As a mom, you try your very best to make each holiday extra special and magical. You want things to go perfectly so you plan and plan down to every little detail, but life has a way of throwing a curve ball or two that you just can't plan for unfortunately.

In the weeks leading up to Easter, we were extra busy with holiday things...my son's Easter program at preschool in which he had an important, solo line to recite. He'd practiced and rehearsed for weeks. We were so tremendously proud of him!

The program was followed by days of holiday crafts, parties, egg hunts and visits with the Easter Bunny (and lots of shopping, planning, and work for this mom!) The anticipation mounting as Easter Sunday approached.

Coloring dozens of Easter eggs at home together...

And this mom had BIG plans to surprise my little guy with giant Easter eggs (purchased from Michaels) for him to find along our annual backyard hunt...

Ginormous Fillable Easter Eggs!

With special messages from the Easter Bunny!

And carefully lining the Easter egg hunt route with adorable signage just for added fun (too bad it POURED Easter morning)!

and then a treasure hunt to find his Easter basket!

Grass green Easter Bunny Tracks lead to the first clue!

After five clues, he found his basket!

My husband and I were up every night stuffing plastic eggs with assorted candies, money, tiny (and not-so-tiny) toys. Our plans were right on track!

He had a blast opening all of the little and giant eggs filled with Hot Wheels cars, toys and candies - not to mention his basket...

Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars in the eggs!

E.B. from the movie, "Hop"

But then that curve ball came...

Saturday night we went out for a lovely dinner in honor of our 10th Anniversary and Easter, and just as the food was served, my little guy became violently sick (projectile vomiting all over his plate). We didn't think much of it at the time - maybe he'd eaten something earlier in the day that didn't agree with him, poor guy.

He seemed to feel instantly better, and didn't throw up again until late that night...but then it didn't stop.

All of Easter Sunday, he was sick (along with my husband), until it became extremely worrisome that he couldn't even hold water down so we took him to the E.R.

There's nothing scarier for a parent than seeing your little one so unlike himself/herself that they need to go to the hospital. Needless to say, it was a long, scary night for us. His blood sugar was dangerously low when he arrived. It took some time for him to return to feeling "great as new", as he would put it.

There's nothing like a scary incident like that to put everything into perspective. Decorations don't matter...having the perfect holiday table doesn't matter...having the perfect Easter basket filler didn't matter...even the rainy morning didn't matter...all that mattered is that my little 4-year old boy was well again!

And that to me is the true meaning of Easter ~ the love of one another that was so extraordinary that Jesus died and was resurrected for our sins. The eternal love that God has for each of us to have life everlasting by His Grace.

I hope your Easter was truly blessed ~ beyond the baskets, beyond the ham dinner and desserts with loved ones. 

I made another Easter Bunny carrot cake with cream cheese frosting that no one ate.

For what truly matters is this life is love...and those precious moments that we have with one another.

Happy Easter