stewed monkey heads and easter traditions

When I was growing up, I would wander into the kitchen where my mom was putting a meal together and ask an innocent question...

"What are we having for dinner?"

And for some reason, she found that annoying.  She would respond by saying something like "dinner" or "food" or "what do you think we're having?"  That drove me nuts.  I never understood why she couldn't just tell me what we were having to eat that night. 

Now I'm the one cooking dinner.

And my son will walk into the kitchen and say "what's for dinner?"

And I find that I am my mother's daughter.  I hear myself saying "what do you think we're having?" or "something edible."  Or I'll take a page from Calvin and Hobbes and respond with "stewed monkey heads" or "boiled cabbage and octopus sticks" or "brussel sprouts and liver."  Or, if I'm good, I'll bite my tongue, consciously fighting the instantaneous feeling of annoyance, and tell him the truth - "spaghetti" or "chicken stir fry" or "Cocoa Puffs."

Oh, help....Please tell me my mother and I aren't the only ones.

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We dyed eggs this afternoon.  I love dying eggs!  I don't like to eat them, but I sure have fun making them pretty (or, in this case, watching Kiddo make them pretty).

We had a tongue thing going on today.  He comes by it honestly - I do it when I'm concentrating, too.

Some of the eggs weren't exactly dipped - they were kind of...plunked.

It made for some cool-looking spider web designs, though.

Happy happy colors!

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One of my favorite Easter traditions when I was a girl was the Easter scavenger hunts my mom would put together.  We would often have a traditional egg hunt, but each of us kids would have one egg with our name on it that no one else would be able to pick up.  That egg would have a slip of paper inside with a clue.  From there, my brothers and I would all have individual scavenger hunts with unique clues.  The clue in the first egg would tell us where to find the next egg and so on.  Eventually, the clues led us to our Easter baskets.

I've continued this tradition recently with our son, and it has become one of his favorites as well.  In fact, for the past two years, he has been so excited about it that he has made a scavenger hunt for me to do, too. 

Today's rain necessitated an indoor hunt.

 
When he finally got to his Easter basket, he found the softest, cuddliest cat you'd ever want to meet.

 

Awwww.

He came with the name "Cobbler," but was quickly renamed "Orange Cat."  Orange Cat is in good company.  He was soon introduced to some of Kiddo's other stuffed animals - buddies like "Gray Cat," "Black Cat," "Soft Duck," "New Duck" and "White Duck."  Creative?  Not especially.  Descriptive?  You betcha.

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Tomorrow we are rising early, eating breakfast at church, and rushing through multiple music group rehearsals before the service (Hubby is involved in three).  After church, we run home to pick up our contributions to Easter dinner (salad and dessert), and then we are off to my brother- and sister-in-law's for the afternoon.  The weather forecast for tomorrow is calling for a chance of thunderstorms.  Tonight when he was praying before bed, Kiddo prayed that God would "cancel the thunderstorms, so that we can be outside all day for Easter."  I think he is looking forward to checking on the goats and chickens again, playing foursquare with his cousins, and decorating his aunt and uncle's driveway with sidewalk chalk.  I'm looking forward to a lot of those things, too!  :)

May you have a blessed and wonderful Easter tomorrow!