Easter

For several months, Ella's school has been collecting mandatory Easter Eggs from each family. We were required to bring 1 cereal box, wrapped candies, and at least 30 empty eggs per child. Mind you...these are not pin-hole-blown empty eggs. Instead, you tap off the top of the egg, empty its contents, and then bleach the inside clean. Since we do not eat eggs, I opted to go to a local pasteleria (bakery) and ask for some empty, clean eggs in my broken Spanish. The lady said she would have them ready in 2 days, and when Jared returned to pick them up, she only charged him about $2 for 70 empty eggs. And she did all the cleaning and hard work! Sweet!

The teachers painted and the kids helped decorate and make their cereal boxes into Easter "baskets". The kids also painted the eggs, the teachers filled them with candy, and then they sealed them with tissue paper over the open tops. I admit at first I thought it was a time-consuming and silly tradition (why not just fill plastic eggs?!), but seeing it in action...I thought it was pretty neat to have real eggs. The only way to get the candy out was to break the real shells open! Kind of fun!

The Kindergarten and Pre-K kids took a field trip (in the parents' cars) to our friend's (Martha & Mark's) house on the lake for the big Easter egg hunt! They let the youngest classes into the property first. It was an egg-free-for-all!

There were many many eggs, and all of the kids got at least half a box full. Here is Maiya with Ella's best buddy, Alex.

Below is Maiya sitting with her teachers and classmates, eating their bagged lunch. All of the other kids finished their meals and went to play on the swing/activity set. Maiya instead sat and sat and ate and ate and ate potato chips. I had to explain to her teachers that potato chips are a rare treat for her, which is why she didn't want to get up (that, and she plays at this house quite often--so it was not quite as "new" for her)!

Ella ate Nutella sandwhiches with her classmates. And funky lime-flavored crispy rings that I have yet to real pin down. They're yummy---but so, totally, and completely Mexican.

Me and two wonderful ladies. Martha, on the left, is the sweetest--she takes care of us, going above and beyond to watch our kids, take us to dinner, etc (and it was her house we were at). In the middle is Heather, Ella's English teacher. Heather is from Colorado, but moved here 18 or so years ago. She speaks Spanish fluently, but assures me she didn't speak a lick when she came. There is hope!

It was Heather's birthday, so the kids had a surprise party for her! Martha is a fantastic cake maker, and made Heather this cute "cupcake" cake!

The next day was Saturday, and the girls and I dyed hardboiled eggs (please excuse Maiya...she doesn't really like to wear clothes).

On Easter Sunday we talked a lot about Christ and the resurrection, and watched "The Testaments" movie. Then the girls did a little Easter Egg hunt in the house, and we embarked on my family's Easter tradition--rolling and breaking up the hardboiled eggs.

Once the eggs were sufficiently beaten up, we peeled them, popped them on the stove with some white sauce, and served the "egg stuff" over toasted bread. The girls don't care for it (yet)...but it was a Yummy treat for me and Jared!

Also, I should mention that I have no idea if Mexicans do the "Easter Bunny." I'm guessing not. However, down here they have "Semana Santa" for several days before Easter. The week prior to Easter is their Holy Week (no school), and starting on Maundy Thursday they publicly reenact the biblical stories about Christ each day--his trial, crucifixion, and resurrection. We did not go watch these productions in the town squares this year...but I look forward to attending in the future! It is a very "real" reminder of what Easter is truly about!

I hope you had a wonderful Easter!