If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.

Sunday, April 12, 2015

Easter Basket Treasures

I fondly remember the Easter Baskets of my youth.  My mother would go all out at making them be something wonderful.  We never had one of those plastic things that was stuffed with some sort of filler and has a few little treats that is all wrapped in cellophane.  As little girls, my sister and I used to see those at the Ben Franklin Five and Dime store on Franklin's Main Street and lust after them.  (Do little girls lust after things?  Is that proper?  Well, we did yearn deeply for them, anyway.)

That sort of commercial, fake, unoriginal thing never made it to our house.  Even though we did get something from the Ben Franklin Five and Dime store a couple of times...colored chicks!  They were beautiful real live peeping chicken babies that had their little downy-ness dyed pink or blue or green and we thought they were beautiful!  I don't ever remember them making it o adulthood and laying eggs, though.  Wonder what happened to them?  I digress...

Since my mother set a precedent for Easter Basket wonderfulness, my own children never got one of those expensive, commercial, fake, unoriginal things either.  Instead, they got nice heavy-duty baskets filled with wonderfulness.  Sometimes they might get new ballet shoes (if recital time was growing near).  Sometimes they might get new baseball or softball cleats.  Always they would get loads of chocolate-y sweet treats.

Mike and I continue the tradition with the grandchildren.  This year, the babies (Luci and Levi) got a sweet stuffed animal and a unique shirt in their baskets.  They also got one of those little hopping chickens.  The two older girls got softball needs.  Lillie got a aerodynamic new batting helmet and batting gloves.  (We are expecting her to become our own Hank Aaron this summer, I guess.)  Lydia got a new glove and a neon softball.  (We just hope she stays in the game instead of picking clover and watching airplanes in the outfield, I guess.)

Luci wasn't so certain about her Easter treasures at first...
It didn't take her long to decide she had better grab on with some gusto, though.
She seemed to think she should dig into those mini chocolate bunnies 
but her Mama distracted her a bit with the cute stuffed duckling.
Ducky seems to be a hit!
Levi really was into the light-up ball that the L-girl crew gave him.
His Mama tried to entice him into checking out the depth of treasures in his Easter bag...
He seems to be all male, though...
Just pretending that woman isn't there and doing what he wants!
Lydia is a girl who knows what she likes...
Go for the chocolate, baby!
Lillie is experienced and knows to check out everything to see what is in the haul...
There is no doubt what she was most excited about, though.  Look at that smile!

The older two girls were eager to take part in the traditional egg hunt.
Dashing off to the front yard to get a good start...
They dug into the daffodils...
They plucked them right off the grass...
They made quite a haul.
Lillie poked around under the magnolia tree...
Some were easy to find...
Some required a bit more hunting...
She was surprised and excited to find the aluminum-foil-covered prize egg.  
Then, when she opened it up and saw that it had money in it, she was ecstatic!
Maybe it was the shades...
Luci found an egg, too!

Harris was hunting eggs with the other side of the family on Easter Sunday but he visited the week before and dug into his Easter treasures...

He quickly learned that the plastic eggs had a different kind of  treat inside 
and shook each one before opening.
The surprise was obvious when he opened the first one.
I think he liked it!
There was a big bunny that looked pretty exciting, too.
He had to pause for a little peanut butter egg snack.
Smart fellow.
That chocolate-y goodness is divine isn't it?
Savor every morsel, man!
Then, move on to the next treasure.  Hey!  Sixty mini bunnies!  Wow!
"Now, if I can just get Mom to let me have as much of this as I want 
instead of doling it out in little bits at a time..."
Luci really appreciated the sippy cup Levi gave her and kept hydrated 
inside and out!
Without a doubt, I think everybody likes the traditional home-made 
Easter Basket treasures...little kids and big kids as well!

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