The Perfect Easter Basket

When I think of favorite holidays, my heart always goes to Easter. (Ok, I would say my birthday but that sounds silly of me!) There are so many reasons I love Easter: bright colors, rebirth of flowers and trees, memories of Passion Plays at church, and seeing my little kids all dressed up.

Most importantly, Easter is my favorite because of the resurrection of my Lord and Savior Jesus. The rebirth of the everything in spring points me to the resurrection, giving me joy and hope.

When my kids were little, Easter baskets were so fun to make. The kids were easy to please with candy, Peeps, Hot Wheels, and stuffed bunnies.  One year when they were all teenagers, I decided to only buy chocolate for their baskets.

I still remember that day so vividly: I hurried home from the grocery store. We were running late for our boys' hockey game, so I tossed the candy bags in my bedroom to hide from the kids. In a hurry to get to their game, I forgot to shut my bedroom door. Upon our return, we found Reesey, our 18 pound dog, sitting at the front door, candy wrappers by his side, looking very guilty.

I sprinted upstairs to my bedroom and, to my chagrin, discovered that Reesey had eaten a large chocolate bunny, half a package of Peeps, 3 Cadbury eggs, and a some Reese's peanut butter cups (seems fitting since his name is Reesey!) The floor was covered with chocolate and wrappers.

Reesey survived (he's 15 now!) and I've learned to shut doors and put chocolate out of reach. I haven't thrown out the idea of the "perfect" Easter basket, though. With the kids grown now, I just have to be much more creative.