Easter is coming!

I've had a lovely Sabbath day with my two little puppy dogs. Sacrament was manageable but not perfect. We went over time by a bit but I managed to keep the puppies happy with some stories I read to them quietly. Sooooo nice they love books!

Well this morning I happen to mention Easter and Asher said, "I love Easter mummy" and I said "do you know what Easter is?" and he giggled and said no. So this week I'm going to start preparing for this sacred holiday. I want to put in as much effort and thought as I do for Christmas because clearly these are special seasons of remembering the Saviour and we can get mostly consumed by all,the chocolate!

Some things I want to do are:
Have an Easter advent calendar with scripture stories
Make an Easter tree - have done this now for the past 3 years
Make clay egg ornaments for tree - incorporate words of the Saviour
Make an Easter wreath
Send Easter cards to grandparents and cousins
Prepare an Easter egg hunt with friends/family
Have a family Easter brunch with the missionaries - 2nd year running
Watch an Easter kids movie - Hop
Do Easter crafts with kiddos, find in the Friend magazine
Easter reading, unwrap one each day if theres enough Easter or rabbit themed books in our library
Visit the temple gardens with boys
Take Asher to pick a store bought Easter decoration to add upon each year
Attend General Conference weekend - have a Sunday evening Easter devotional
Decorate our house as tastefully as possible without missing the true meaning of Easter

All of this is to occur before our third baby arrives which is in about 3 weeks. I have decided themed school time will be put aside while we focus on Easter. I hope I can do well and the boys get something from this. All in all I want this time to be another tradition we cherish, building beautiful memories as a family. I hope that these boys will remember the feelings of love such traditions instill within a family. I want them to have a good feeling of the home they grew up in when they look back on these times. And then I want those feelings to still be there when our children and grown and parents of their own when they come back and visit the family home.

I have had a lovely few days with our boys being such a joy. Still tears, still fights and many tantrums but the highs have been flowing well and truly. Just last night Asher and I stayed up and watched Beauty and the Beast. He loved that special time with me. Then we got a quiet moment together after church while we ate a simple lunch. He was adorable and I was capturing his innocence and purity. I was staring at his big eyelashes and all his features just feeling blessed he is my child.

I also had a moment like that with the baby Jet, later in the day. He was repeatedly giving me cuddles and just wanting to giggle and smile and again I took in every detail of his face and my whole body felt warm.

I am now due to have another child in a very short time. People will say you're crazy for going for number three, and all I can think of now is why wouldn't you! Seeing my three year old talk and express love for me daily is an incredible feeling. He is powerful and I often don't like being around him because of his intensity, but seeing things come good from the efforts I have made with that child is an incredible feeling no one can take away from me. A child who tells me that he loves me, or that I'm his best friend or that he thinks I'm pretty on so many occasions throughout the day, is something that I do not want to be missing out on. He is learning love and trust from me and I am amazed how much this affects him. I'm learning even more so into other research I have done how this will affect him as an adult an overall as a human being.  My influence for good is reaching so far even if it is just within the walls of this home.

I love my babies, and love that I get to again teach them about the Saviour through the season of Easter.