I hope everyone had a lovely Easter.  I know our family did. Those eggs up there were colored on Saturday.  It's so much fun to see each child's unique take on "art."  On Sunday, we had them on the table for breakfast, both to admire and to eat.  Some were also featured, in deviled form, at dinner.  The kid's baskets each had two "spiritual" items.  They ranged from Veggietales to a cross of nails on a leather cord.  They also each received one "entertainment" item, a bunch of candy, and two quarters to symbolize "silver."   Next year I think I'll put forty cents in that egg.  We had several conversations on what "Easter" is about for us.  We talked about why the resurrection is so important.  We had an egg hunt in the back yard.  Grandma & Grandpa came, took us to a movie, and hung out for dinner.  The weather was great, so we were outside a lot.  We basically had "home church" and some great family time.   No, we didn't go to church-church.  We're too introverted for that on Easter.
       We understand for a lot of people, Easter is the annual "church pageant."  The church building has to look it's best, and so does everyone in it.  The regulars want to look their best to make a good impression.  The twice a year peeps pop in to show yes, they get it.  Whole families attend to make grandma happy.  The pews are full.  The sermon, about hope, or conviction, or the cross.   Everyone smiles, waves, and goes to Grandma's for dinner.  Then life goes back to "normal", whatever that is.
    Our family refuses to play that way.
    Yes the girls both wore dresses, and were adorable.
    Yes, we reviewed what Resurrection Day is about.
    Yes we partook of Easter as well, in the nonreligious sense.
   We just don't feel a need to partake in the pageantry, and crowds make us cringe.  Heck, wearing dress clothes and make up make me cringe.  I just don't feel like "me" in that stuff.  I'd rather celebrate the carpenter angle, by working on my new raised vegetable bed.  That covers the new life aspect too, planting seeds or fledglings into healthy soil.
   I do admit, if our church had a candle-lit sunrise service I would probably feel differently.  The quiet of watching the sunrise to symbolize the "SON-rise" holds a lot of meaning to me.  I still did kind of see the sunrise, because the kids were up at oh-heck thirty in the morning,  (upstairs, awaiting us to get out of bed, but still noisy enough to wake us up.)  Once we we did arise, it was a glorious day.