Easter 2011

I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. John 11:25-26

Easter is a pretty big deal around here! Sure we enjoy all of  the Easter chocolate, Easter baskets and even anxiously await the arrival of the Easter bunny...but Easter is 55 days in the making for the Orthodox religion. It begins with 1 week of preparation, 40 days of Lent and 1 week of Holy Passion week (the week between Palm Sunday and Easter).

This past weekend, like every Easter, was jam packed with church activities and family festivities......

Friday we attended Good Friday Services at our church. It was both very moving and emotional. During the Crucifixion re-enactment I became very emotional just remembering the sacrifices He made for us. Stella saw me tearing up, she hugged me and said "mommy, I know you're sad because Jesus died, but it's ok because he goes to heaven." It's living these moments and seeing them through the eyes of your children that make it all worthwhile!

After the Good Friday services, it's tradition to go to Teta and Gido's house to devour fool (fava beans) and falafel sandwiches. We had such a great time and were in good company! My cousin Emad, his wife Mary and their daughters Marina and Olivia were in town from Lima for  the weekend and were staying at my parents house and were there too and we had a wonderful evening with them. We even were able to Skype with some family in Egypt (Emad's parents) and they were able to see Jonah how big Jonah had grown.

Emad and Jonah

Due to all of the rain, Stella's Saturday soccer game was canceled. I can't say that I was too upset about that because we I had so much to do before we got the kids dressed and out the door for the Resurrection Liturgy that evening (8pm-12am).  I was able to tackle a ton of projects around the house that I have been putting off for months because we've been so busy and I haven't found a single Saturday to set time aside to do them. I am happy to report that the office has been cleaned/organized, taxes and important paperwork that was piling up are now filed, organized the kids closets (removed small and out of season clothes), pictures are framed and hung, laundry is put away, kitchen cabinets and pantry are purged and organized, dog is bathed and Easter baskets were assembled. Yes I completed ALL of these tasks over the course of an entire Saturday afternoon and it felt great to scratch all of these long over due tasks off of my to-do list! It feels so good being productive!

On Saturday afternoon, I had a little photo shoot with the kids. I bought Easter bunny ears for each of them and we had a ton of fun snapping some shots.  Although Todd was not all to happy that I put bunny ears on his son, I figured that there no better time to do so then when he is small, innocent and cute. Right? I must admit, I think I have the cutest little bunnies in town!

We also found time to color Easter eggs on Saturday afternoon. Stella and I had a blast doing this together (the boys were watching the OSU spring game together while we were coloring eggs). As you can see Stella made a "Jonah's 1st Easter"egg, a OSU egg for her daddy and she even took the time to make a "poop on Michigan" egg (Todd was so proud of this work of art). Stella loves to do craft projects and coloring Easter eggs was right up her alley!

After I completed all of these projects I mandated "nap time" for the ENTIRE family since we would be up so late for the Easter/Resurrection Liturgy and dinner at Teta & Gido's. After our naps, Nana and Papi stopped by to visit and give the kids their Easter baskets. We had a great time and as you can see Jonah and Stella loved their gifts and enjoyed their visit. Jonah especially loved playing with the tissue paper and tried several times to put it in his mouth.

Jonah enjoys the tissue paper

The Liturgy at church was wonderful and the Resurrection re-enactment was moving. The liturgy ended around midnight but the evening was far from over! We headed over to Teta & Gido's for a feast! It was so so fun and delicious. In typical Teta fashion, she cooked way too much food, had chocolate bunnies at everyone place setting and baskets for the kids. I over indulged as usual but the food was way too good to pass up. What can I say except that my mom is the best cook ever. I need to shadow her sometime in the kitchen and learn her recipes so that I can learn to replicate them and pass them down to the kids one day. Again we were in great company and amazingly enough although we were up until about 2:30 am, the kids did great!

Jonah sleeping at church!

Long lost twin!

3 Grandkids!

Gido & Teta with Jojo!

Auntie Sissy and her Jojo!



Epic Shenouda family feast dinner at roughly 1:30 am!



Sunday morning we slept in because we were up so late the previous night! We awoke to find that the Easter Bunny had stopped at the house and left the kids baskets. This year the Easter Bunny out did himself and increased the loot! Stella received very little candy since she recently had a palette expander put in her mouth and can't eat much candy or any gum; its amazing how the Easter Bunny is cognizant of these things! :)  Instead this year he brought her 2 Nintendo DS games, some Squinkies and a new lunch box and messenger bag. Jonah got a Fisher Price Turtle toy with shaped pieces that fit in his shell and a grocery cart/high chair cover for when we are out and about.



At the top of the stairs waiting to come down!



Jonah and his basket from the Easter bunny!



Stella and her basket!

After the kids took inventory of their loot and settled down it was time to head to church for the Egg Hunt and Easter morning activities. Todd took Stella and our niece Sophia and I stayed home with Jonah because he was a tad fussy. Nothing like being out in public with a fussy child, right?  The girls had a blast and were very appreciative that Todd took them.  A few hours later they returned home with more candy and loot. Needless to say that my kitchen counter looks like the Easter Bunny exploded. The kids received no less then 5 baskets each from family and friends and every year it seems to exponentially get bigger and they receive more and more...I will be forced to sort thru them shortly.

Finally Sunday evening was upon us and it was back to Teta & Gido's house for dinner; YUM. It doesn't take a whole lot of convincing or coercion to get us to go over to their house for dinner because my mom is a fabulous cook and usually has a HUGE selection of choices to please the masses. What can I say except that when it comes to cooking feast's, Teta NEVER disappoints! Mike's mom and sister, Gigi and Breanna, joined us for dinner too. They too brought the kids baskets too and we enjoyed a delightful evening and dinner with them. They hadn't seen Jonah yet so they were very pleased to meet him.

Teta makes a HUGE spread!

And just like that the weekend was over! In a blink of an eye Friday, Saturday and Sunday were over and now we're preparing to return to school and work and to return to the daily grind. This past weekend although it was jam packed and I found myself tired at times it was still so so FUN! We celebrated the Resurrection of our Lord, ate way too much and created everlasting memories with family that we will cherish forever. This is definitely how life should be lived!