Easter was perfectly timed this year in connection with a mini food revolution that I staged after attending a clean eating class in February. (Maybe I'll eventually get around to elaborating on that later, but basically, we went hardcore for us, but not hardcore like the people who eat wheat germ and applesauce birthday cake and other totally bizarre stuff like that. No offense if you prefer to eat wheat germ birthday cake. I just prefer chocolate, in large quantities, when celebrations are in order. For us, hardcore was basically eliminating the purchase of products containing food dyes--which, who KNEW they are in such a terrifying amount of products lining our grocery store shelves. We started trying to further limit the amount of processed garbage we consume, but we still consume some of it. We have to make this a change we can live with, and not something that will lead to weeks of binge eating nothing but Oreos and french fries. I started making all of our bread, so that's something. And we've made a series of small changes. The hardest change for Kaden was that I am no longer buying fruit snacks, something he used to beg for from the moment he woke up until the moment he went to sleep. I made this decision for a couple of reasons: 1) I was sick of hearing him ask me in the whiniest voice imaginable for something multiple times a day, having to say no and hear more whining (which then led to time out and other unpleasantries), or giving in and letting him have a billion fruit snacks a day, 2) fruit snacks are not exactly cheap, especially when your kid wants to eat them at the rate Kade does, and 3) I had to pick up at least four different brands of them in the grocery store before I found even ONE that didn't contain red #40, blue #1, or yellow #5. So the fruit snacks got cut from the grocery list. The second hardest change was adjusting our cereal selection in the pantry. Chad is kind of a cereal fiend, and Kaden has followed suit. A pretty large section of our pantry is filled with cereal, and a lot of it used to be quite colorful and sugary. Saying bye to Fruit Loops was kind of a hard thing for Kade. The week the Toucan's box disappeared from the cabinet was the week we caught him smuggling the brown sugar canister into the half bathroom, so it was obviously a difficult adjustment. Anyway, we still let Kaden have those things on special occasions, or when he is offered them by someone else--a friend, grandparent, etc. We've just decided to stop spending our own money on them, which makes it much easier to have them as an occasional indulgence. I love to bake, and I'm still baking--cookies, cupcakes, you name it--even with GASP! white flour. You'll likely see us at the Chick-fil-A from time to time. We're not perfect, we aren't a model "clean eating" family, but I feel like it's good to make a conscious effort, and especially to talk to Kaden about food choices. I want to make sure he understands that what we eat affects our bodies. I also want to point out that I in NO WAY think that because I've stopped buying fruit snacks and Fruit Loops that I am a better parent than someone who still buys them. These are just changes we decided needed to be made for OUR family, because we were having a hard time remembering "moderation in all things." To each his or her own. So. That kind of ended up being a lot more explanation than I originally intended. Sorry about that.) So. As I was saying, when Easter rolled around, everyone, particularly Kaden, was pretty stoked about Cadbury Mini Eggs, Starburst Jelly Beans, and the like. And Kaden hit up three solid egg hunts to make sure we were fully stocked. Then Chad and I ate most of the candy while he was sleeping, or just wasn't looking.
Our first egg hunt was by far the coolest. It was a night time Easter egg hunt. It almost didn't happen, but at the last minute, it pulled together. We have an amazing friend in our ward who goes above and beyond on every holiday, and she put it together. Kaden had an absolute blast!
I love this shot of Kaden's friend, Jack. Someone had brought these awesome LED finger lights.
Mark, holding the baby who is a quarter of his age, but not a quarter of his size:
Poor Evers. It was definitely past his bedtime.
Not to be deterred by the fact that we already had a boatload of candy in the house, we headed to the Primary Easter egg hunt the next afternoon. This time, Kaden hunted in the daylight:
Then it was time to head to Kinston for a fun weekend, complete with another egg hunt at Gigi and Poppy's house. And of course the good bunny himself decided to drop in on Saturday night.
So excited to see what was in those eggs!
The Easter bunny must have decided one box of fruit snacks was in order!
We got all spiffed up for church and listened to Poppy speak and Gigi sing during sacrament meeting.
And Kaden may have gotten to drive part of the way home in Poppy's convertible, once we were in their neighborhood. He tells me at least once a day that he's going to have a "Ferrari" like Poppy for his first car. Or a Top Gear car (meaning the Bugatti Super Sport). He has exceptional automotive taste for one so young.
In true Reese fashion, we had a killer good meal to end the day. (This after already having Bruce's famous shrimp and grits the night before! We were so spoiled!) You know dinner's good when the sauce from the chicken ends up smeared on the water pitcher by the time the eatin' is done.
Papa had a birthday while we were there. We left these M&Ms (his favorite) at his place at the dinner table. He was pretty happy to find them.
I'm so thankful for Easter and the chance it gives us to remember our Savior, Jesus Christ, and his love and sacrifice for us. If you haven't seen it, you should go watch this video. There really is so much good in our lives, because of Him.
I loved your food section. Isn't it so sad how much clarifying we have to do these days? I battle all the time the two thoughts "We are eating too much junk" and "Wait, this is wwaayy better than I ate growing up..."
ReplyDeleteAnd... i still want to kiss your baby's amazing cheeks.