Celebrating Easter as a Catholic Family

Happy Easter!

"Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are an Easter people and Halleluiah is our song." Pope John Paul 2

Lots of changes are on the horizon for our family, not least of which is that Tharin is currently looking for a new job. His last job was the perfect fit for us, as it was only part time and gave him plenty of time to spend with the family, but it is time to move on.

In this time of uncertainty, as we discern where we are called to next, I am taken aback by the realization that God has completely calmed our fears and given us so much hope and trust, in the face of so many unknowns.

As we enter this time of celebration, I know Tharin and I are hopeful. We are an Easter people, and we know God is ahead of us in this.

Our Easter Traditions as a Catholic Family

Tharin had the past week off for Spring break, we have celebrated a slow and lovely Easter week together as a family. We have been trying to add in little traditions here and there, as we feel the boys are old enough to be a little more aware now, and I thought I would share some of what we did this past week to make this season more meaningful.

Spy Wednesday

Tharin shared a video with the boys about the betrayal of Judas, and we talked about greed with them. They then found the thirty pieces of "silver" I had hidden for them. I loved this, and as always, found myself learning things right along with them. When they are older, I think we will make a tradition of putting the coins they find in one of the collection boxes at church.

Holy Thursday Last Supper

Tharin prepared a lamb supper to commemorate the Last Supper on Holy Thursday. Pictured above is the boys listening to the blessing and story daddy read to them about the last supper. 

After which, he washed our feet, and Jerome washed his, which I will admit, all made me tear up.

Love adding these faith-filled traditions to this season to make it more meaningful for the boys, and for us as well.

We then ate a rather hectic meal sitting around the boys work table. Lamb, unleavened bread, "wine" and vegetables, which was lovely. Aside from the fact that it was very confusing for the boys to be eating in the playroom and the hit, for them, was definitely the juice.

 Crafts, Activities, Books and Baking

You know me, I just had to throw a few themed crafts in.

This is actually the first year we have dyed eggs as a family, it was not something I grew up doing. It was a lot of fun, and I know we will be making this a tradition.

Benedict was so terrritorial about his eggs, I wasn't allowed to touch his whisk.

The whisks, by the way, were a fantastic way for this activity to be made more child-friendly. Even Benedict was able to fully participate in the egg dyeing, and no one ended up with dyed fingers.

Some of the baking we did. Tharin, I will admit, spearheaded this baking almost entirely. Kind of love having a husband who loves to be in the kitchen so much.

Our Little Bunny 

Of course I had to take this opportunity to photograph Ignatius. Honestly, we did not expect to have Ignatius when we did, I was so surprised when we found out we were pregnant.

But God knew this was the perfect time for our third son to come into our family. The past four months have brought so much more growth, so much more joy. I feel like I have really had the chance to slow down and enjoy this baby.

He is robust, as the nurse told me the other day. Full of smiles and kicks and special love for his mommy.

Easter Baskets

For the boys Easter baskets this year we stayed pretty simple with some new pjs, a Safari Toob each (all ocean animals), a saint book for the boys to share, as well as a new pair of slippers for Jerome.

Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday

Friday morning we drove out to my parents and spent a quiet Good Friday and Holy Saturday with my family. The kids woke up with their cousins on Easter morning to hunt eggs before mass, but other than that, we kept it pretty simple.

As the kids get older, I know it will be easier for us to stay home for this holiday and make traditions of our own. There are so many beautiful ideas out there:

• Ressurection Eggs. I love the idea of adding a religious theme to the egg hunt and would likely add these into the Sunday morning fesitivites.  
• A special breakfast like resurrection rolls, hot cross buns, and this cross-shaped fruit tray.

{ Real life = one kid not looking, one kid not happy, one kid smiling (like his life depends on it) with a chicken. }

God bless,
Olivia Fischer