Happy Easter! Plus April

We couldn’t have had a nicer Easter. Phoebe woke up first and went downstairs to see if the Easter bunny had come—and came running back up to report, with delight, that not only had she come, she’d brought a particular Easter basket Phoebe had been eyeing in the grocery store! Plus the regular basket, which had a Beanie Boo in it! (I always thought the Easter bunny was male, but that possibility has never crossed Phoebe’s mind.) I climbed out of bed, took a shower, and made everyone eggs, hashbrowns, and sausage. We got all dressed up and made it to church a respectable five minutes early, where we enjoyed sitting with my dear friend Becki, her daughter Maya, and her mom, all of whom were joining us at Mount Calvary for the first time. The worship service was lovely, and afterward the kids had a great time at the annual Easter egg hunt. Phoebe stuck with Maya and found her friend Julia, and Julia’s big sister Maggie took Benjamin under her wing, as she always does. They came home with plenty more candy, stickers, and little toys.

After church, we cleaned house and did the final batch of cooking for Easter dinner. A week earlier, I’d gotten bummed about not living near family and started inviting everyone else I could think of who doesn’t live near their family. We had a terrific group for our 4 p.m. dinner: Jen and Varis; Katherine, Alex, and Ellie (Phoebe’s great friend from Lafayette Elementary); Renee and Ian; Janice; and Elijah. I got to make all my favorite Easter foods, and I tried a fancy cake recipe from Cook’s Illustrated: triple-chocolate mousse cake. It was as delicious as it sounds. Phoebe made 20 deviled eggs from scratch; she even peeled them all herself without complaining! She made half with paprika and half with capers. They were delicious. (She ate four herself!) We opened four bottles of wine and sat out on the deck in the perfect weather. Christ is risen! Alleluia!

April 2

Phoebe’s first-grade class been learning about Japan for half the school year, and she’s fascinated with it. She’s learned many Japanese words, holidays, and traditions. I offered to take her to a Japanese restaurant near our house, Udon Kaisha, for a mother-daughter birthday celebration lunch, but we didn’t get around to it until early April. We had such a good time! It’s fun to spend time with her separately, and she loved the food. She kept saying “This is delicious!” (I agree; I eat lunch there as often as I can fit it into my work schedule.)