Reed, AKA "The Little Outdoorsman",  had one word for Easter this year.  

It wasn't "egg".
It wasn't "Jesus" (even after all of our efforts).
It wasn't even "bunny".

The word.... "PAIN-O" (piano).

​In the weeks before Easter, Reed began asking for a piano.  We bought him a ukulele a few months ago, and it is his favorite toy.  It is the first thing he grabs in the morning and we have to pry it from his little fingers every night.  Anytime a song comes on the radio, a movie or show includes music, or somebody is singing, he exclaims, "OH! OH! Gin-tayr!" and frantically runs to grab it before it is too late. 

It's a pretty versatile instrument.  Sometimes, depending on the occasion, it becomes a biolin (violin).  Sheesh, two-year-olds are fun!

So, of course we were going to get him a piano.  Because of the minimizing we have been doing around the house, we have some space for a keyboard.  Now we just had to ride it out until Easter.  It wasn't hard to make Reed wait, but Jacob and I were counting down the days!  Whenever Reed would ask about the piano, we would tell him the Easter Bunny was bringing it for Easter.

Oops.
(You'll see why in a minute.)

As Easter rolled around, I started teaching the Easter story in every way I could find.  For some reason, we had trouble getting the Easter story to "click".  We didn't have this problem at Christmas, even with Santa in the mix.  I feel like the Christmas story is so much more accessible for toddlers.  I've tried a resurrection garden, reading a few different books about the Easter story, a Christian Seder, stations of the cross, even a resurrection-themed egg hunt.  Hours of time!  Nothing.  I think its just a little too deep and frankly, violent, to present authentically in a way that a toddler can truly comprehend.  The one thing he would always get right was "God loves Reed SO MUCH!"  For me, that's enough.

We threw in the towel on teaching the Easter story (for this year, anyway) after the resurrection egg hunt.  The conversation went like this:

Me: "Reed, who died on the cross for you?"
TLO: "Cha-Cha."
Me: "Cha-Cha?!  No, Jesus!"
TLO: "Jesus."
Me: "Reed, who rose from the grave?"
TLO: (Long pause, looks at me like I'm driving him crazy asking the same question over and over) "God?"
Me: "Um... ok." 

(Cha-Cha enters conversation)
Cha-Cha: "Come on, Reed, we are going down to the river to have a Jesus Easter Egg hunt!"
TLO: "Is HE down there?"

Sigh.

So if you have any suggestions for teaching the Easter story to a toddler, I'd love to hear them in the comments.  Because we had absolutely no success this year.

Overall, our Easter weekend was lovely.  There were a few snafus (you can read about those here), but it was certainly a special weekend I will always treasure. I was able to spend a lot of time with Jacob and Reed, my parents, and Jacob's parents.  My family had a yard sale and an egg hunt on Good Friday, and Matt and Reed got to hunt Easter eggs together for the first time!  It was the first hunt of the weekend, and it was so neat to see how each boy reacted to the eggs.

Our church egg hunt was on the Saturday before Easter.  We met up with our sweet friends Tyler and Hannah and their children, Hunter and Hayley.  We have been friends with Tyler and Hannah for years, and it is always so fun when we get together.  Hunter and Reed are very close in age and love being together.  They kept putting eggs in each other's baskets.  Later, they entertained the entire church with their dance moves!

The Easter Bunny was puzzled.  Sorry for the little stalker, bunny.  He wants you to bring him a pain-o and he's trying to work his magic.  Poor bunny.  I eventually peeled TLO away.

Sunday was a beautiful, sunny day.  After Easter service, we had Easter dinner at my mother-in-laws.  Then Poppy hid Reed's piano in the yard so he could stumble upon it in his final egg hunt.  His reaction was priceless.  He said, "Oh!  Oh!  A PAIN-O!!!  Um, oh, um... I-I-I, I need a STOOL!"

So we set him up with a stool and he entertained us all afternoon.  We flew kites, snacked around, did the resurrection egg hunt, and really just relaxed.  It was lovely.

I hope you had a memorable Easter weekend as well.  Maybe next year Reed will understand the true Easter story a little more.  I'll spend some time this year reflecting and researching, figuring out what I need to add (or maybe take away? Sorry, bunny?) next year.  If anything, though, he learned that he is loved; and if that's not the Easter story, I don't know what is.

We've never dyed Easter eggs with The Little Outdoorsman.  Last year he was just too little.  But one thing is for certain- he loves eggs!  Boy eats an egg for breakfast almost every day.  So when I told him we were going to "dye eggs", he probably thought I was going to make green eggs and ham again, like I did after reading Dr. Seuss one inspired morning.

Cha-Cha and Poppy (Reed's grandparents on Jacob's side) put everything together for the big occasion.  But first, Cha-Cha insisted that Reed receive sustenance in the form of an ice cream sandwich.  Obviously.

Now sufficiently fortified, we faced the task ahead.  First, we laid out a plastic tablecloth.  This proved to be the most insightful thing we did all night.  Reed is now in the "I'll do everything by myself" phase, so that was a good call.  The voice of experience!  Then we assembled the usual materials: hard boiled eggs, cups, dye, water, vinegar, egg dippers, and a few plastic spoons. 

This little pack had some fun extra stuff, too.

We set TLO up with all of the cups organized in front of him.  Please observe the green ring pop.  Note to self: do not give toddlers ring pops during exciting activities.  I'll explain why in a moment.

Cha-Cha and Poppy explained the process.  I love this picture!  As you can see, Reed takes his egg-dying responsibilities very seriously (just like his Poppy).

Then they helped him add the dye to the cups.  After this, Reed insisted on doing everything all by himself.

Oh, look!  Dye dyes!  Starting to make sense...

Stirring in some glitter.  Who knew kids used glitter now?  

Or "magic crayons"?  Sheesh...

Ready to begin!  After Cha-Cha and Poppy showed him a couple eggs, he completely took over the process!  I was so impressed.  He used the egg dipper to place the eggs in the dye...

Checked them with a spoon...

And then put them in the tray when they were finished.  The back of the Easter Egg Dye pack actually turns into a little drying rack for the eggs.  What we have here, people, is an Easter Egg Expert.  He is a master at his craft.

Reed snacked on (another) sucker as the eggs dried.  We managed to get through the whole process nearly unscathed.  I say "nearly" because:
1.  He didn't spill any dye outside of the table.
​2.  The aforementioned ring pop only ended up in my hair once. Ick!
2.  The eggs looked fantastic!
3.  ​He only ate two of the eggs-- but no shells!  Bonus!