Easter

Easter's never been a big deal to me. Even when I was a kid and I'd get chocolate eggs and bunnies, it still wasn't a big deal and I'm guessing that might because, as a kid, I absolutely hated wearing dresses and being all girly and on Easter, it was expected: we had to dress in our absolute best, go to church, visit with family, and be on our best behavior.

Bo-ring if you ask me.

Easter today isn't much different except now I dress myself any damn way I please; I don't do church; I inhale so much fugly pastel colored chocolates long before Easter so that when Easter finally does come, I can pretend like I'm not interested in the candy; and now there's Lovie...of course.

Thankfully.

This Easter was her 3rd and the best one so far. She was telling me she wanted a bunny all last week and I kept telling her Easter was coming and that maybe she'd get one then.

"OK," she'd reply. "A pink one!"

"We'll see," I told her, lying, and knowing very well that she was getting a little white one.

Saturday night after we got home from a very busy day of root canals (me- joy), lunch out at California Pizza Kitchen, and a visit with the in laws, I reminded her that when she woke the next day, it would be Easter. And the next morning when I got up to pee at 6:45, with the sun casting bright orange light down the hall toward the kitchen, I could hear a squeal from Lovie's room followed by, "Hi Mama!" (she has french doors)

I smiled because it's impossible not to around this kid, opened her door and told her I'd be right back after I went potty (and told the hubs to get his ass up and into the dining room with the camera), and when I got her out of bed and changed her diaper, I asked her if she wanted to see if the Easter Bunny had come.

"Yeah!" she whispered with a smile.

The hubs was positioned with a camera under the dining room window where the morning sun brightly beamed through on to the dining room table and down the hallway toward us.

Lovie's basket sat alone on the dining room table.

It wasn't a big basket and really, it wasn't a basket but rather a bucket. Inside was a bucket of bubbles, a sheet of bunny stickers, a little bunny that chirps when its belly gets pressed, a package of pink peeps, and about a dozen plastic eggs filled with either pastel m&m's or jelly beans.

When we exited her room, Lovie started going toward our bedroom and I told her that I didn't see anything in there and that we should check in the living room (open with the dining room).

She didn't notice the bucket.

She didn't notice her dad snapping photos.

Finally I had to tell her that I saw something on the table.

And my girl? Upon laying her big browns on the basket, she gasped so dramatically as if a double rainbow appeared before her. She was in heaven and wouldn't stop smiling.

And it lasted all day long.

She played with her bunny and carried her bucket around with her all morning while playing and watching TV and helping me clean (she wanted to help). Then she took a bath and a two hour nap and when she woke, my dad had been there for about half an hour and the two of them played together for a bit (he brought her a basket with another bigger bunny) while the hubs and I finished making lunch: Ham, Crash Hot potatoes, Prosciutto wrapped asparagus.

After lunch, we had some Lamb cake (Lovie insisted we sing Happy Birthday because of the cake so we did, and when it came time to say the person's name whose birthday it was, my dad sang "Jesus" and we kind of chuckled because, well, Easter is about Jesus rising from the dead so it's kind of like his birthday again, right?!?) and went outside to enjoy the crazy beautiful day.

Lovie rode her bike and we ended up going all the way to the park and back (after playing for a bit at the park)- a good mile in total. And when we got back, we said goodbye to my dad, heated up a couple meatballs for Lovie (her request), and watched Max and Ruby before retiring for the day.

Easter's never been more beautiful.