Easter Our Way. Peeps Were Harmed.

Happy Easter!

For the second year in a row, we have welcomed a good friend into full communion with the Catholic Church.  This meant our entire family once again went to the Easter Vigil on Saturday night.

For those who are not Catholic, the Easter Vigil doesn't begin until sundown, which is 8:00 here in Indianapolis.  It is a Mass which can last up to three hours.  Those two reasons alone explain the absence of many families at this Mass.  For years, I refused to take our kids.  I would go alone, and enjoy the peace and quiet and beauty that is the Easter Vigil, then go to Mass again with the family on Easter morning.

Our friends becoming Catholic changed that routine.  We wanted the kids to be a part of these special nights.  This year, three of our kids were servers during the Mass.  (To be a part, but also to make sure they stayed awake.)  The other three were door holders/greeters as people entered the church.

I am so glad we overcame our hesitancy and brought the kids, especially the little ones.  I have stored up so many wonderful memories.  I took charge of Cuckoo most of Mass, and he had so many great questions throughout.  As each person had water poured over his head, we talked about baptism.  Cuckoo really wanted to be baptized and was quite perturbed to hear he was baptized as a baby and couldn't remember it.  He got to be a big, responsible boy and carry a lit candle from the fire outside aaaaaallll the way to the front pew where we were sitting.  It took him about 5 minutes at the pace he was going, but he was so proud of himself.  Both little boys stayed awake, and actually behaved very well.

To wrap up the Easter weekend and have some semblance of order for the miniature photo dump about to occur, I'm linking up with Kendra at Catholic All Year.  Each week she does an "Answer Me This" linkup, and this week is (almost) all about Easter.

1. What did you and your family wear to Mass on Easter Sunday?

I do believe we are the only family who did not take an Easter photo and post it on Facebook.  Bryan had two boys on the north side of Indy for soccer games and actually met the rest of us at church for the vigil.
I didn't see the boys until they were in their albs, but I hear Giant had black dress shoes, brown dress socks, and his khaki school shorts.  Note to self:  Don't forget to check exactly what the kids put in their bags when I tell them to pack clothes for church.

I have never, ever purchased special attire for Easter.  I have 5 boys.  They wear khaki pants and dress shirts.  Buttercup wears a dress already in her closet.  Same for me.

2. Easter Bunny: thumbs up or thumbs down?

Thumbs up, but barely.  We don't get photos taken on the Easter Bunny's lap.  We don't talk too much about him, but we do...

decorate eggs

and score Easter baskets from the Bunny.

3. Do you prefer to celebrate holidays at your own house or at someone else's house?

Easter is the one and only holiday we spend at home.  It is just us, celebrating any way we choose.  Regardless of which Mass we attend, there is always monkey bread and Easter eggs for breakfast.

This year, the weather was perfectly perfect in every way.

We celebrated God's gifts by getting our garden started.  Potatoes, onions, garlic, spinach, and carrot seeds were placed in their perfect rows.  We even had some grass clippings to put around them.  Some people may see gardening as work on this special Sunday.  We see it as a prayer of thanks.

Easter at our house always includes a bonfire and Peep roast.  Peep s'mores are optional.

If you ever try this with your kids, make sure they don't eat the Peeps as soon as they come off the fire.  The sugar caramelizes and gets really hot.  Wait a minute before shoving the Peep in your mouth.

Later, after the kids gorged themselves on creme bruPeep, they headed out to the corn field for some redneck fun.

Giant in the corn stalk/dirt clump toss

Buttercup in the old, dry weed javelin.

He found some corn.

Shorts and winter boots...He knows what weather in Indy is like!  Changes on a dime, I tell ya!

4. What is your favorite kind of candy?

Butterfingers.  All the way.  At Halloween, I don't even have to ask anymore.  The kids hand over every one of their Butterfingers.  When I asked them a few days ago if they would be sharing any Butterfingers they get in their baskets, Buttercup replied, "I'm sure the bunny will leave any extras for you.  *wink*"

She was right!  There is almost a full bag in the cupboard!

5. Do you like video games?

Mostly, I can't stand them.  My kids are severely limited on the amount of time they get to play.  However, on Easter, the entire family had a great time getting our groove on and working up a sweat by doing some Just Dance on the Wii.

6. Do you speak another language?

No habla Espanol, but...

My dad made us kids learn how to count to 10 in German.  Most parents would have their kids play a piano or sing for dinner guests.  My dad had kids who knew "eins, zwei, drei" (Side note, I did not know how to spell those numbers.  I just now looked them up.) and could tell you who Sisyphus was.

I also took some sign language classes when I was a preteen.  I can sign the alphabet, the words "kids" and "french fries".  When I was in fifth grade, our class signed a song for an all-school Mass, so I also know how to sign every word of "You Light Up My Life".

Does any of that count?

Feel free to head over to Kendra's to read some more or link up your own.

For my non-blogging readers, I'd ask you to answer the questions in the comments, but you never talk to me.  :)

Have a lovely day!