Easter Prep

           Easter....You know, Kim put a lot of time and thought into getting ready for this blessed holiday. 
           There was the homemade candies...three weeks out.  Peanut butter eggs.  Coconut eggs, because she knew these were my favorite. 
           Choosing perfect Easter basket candies...two weeks out.  White chocolate for Cody.  High end stuff, like Godiva.  Jelly beans - I feel bad that I cannot remember the brand, but she wouldn't just settle for what was on sale.  Malted eggs - another of my favorites.
           Then, it was the breads.  One week out.  Viro's run.  There was Columbo Pasquali, the cross shaped Easter bread.  And Pupo con Uvo - and egg baked into a cookie, for each bambini.  She would also get a loaf of bread, sliced thick, to make french toast Easter morning for the kids.
           Easter eve.  Kim would be so excited to get going on all of the special things she would do for Easter Sunday.  In the afternoon, she'd make her pasta salad to bring to Angie's. We'd color eggs out back, Kim making everything a happy event. In the evening, she'd be getting the kids wound down, putting out their Easter baskets, and, once the were asleep, she'd be filling each basket with all of the wonderful things she had collected over the last few weeks.  Each basket looked amazing.

           For me, there was no three weeks out.  The other day, Lola, the 85 year old patron saint of my book store, blessed us once again (three years running now), with a box full of candies from Trader Joe's.  I don't have that kind of time to sneak out without any of these guys and buy candy.  Or the strength.  She got them chocolate rabbits, gummy rabbits, jelly beans, chocolate eggs and peanut butter eggs!!  I never did get a chance to make any of the candies Kimmy used to whip up.
          The breads.  Fortunately, we are blessed that Rosa and Vito still automatically fill Kim's order each year.  They sent me home with a huge bag of the pupo con uvo, Columbo Pasquali and nice bread for french toast!!

            Today, we did color eggs (and I was smart enough to boil them last night when I got home around 9!)...I let Tonio pick out some dye kits at Walgreen's this morning.

 

I didn't drag out the big banquet table we've used over the years...

 

Instead using the wrought iron patio table.  Cody learned that crushing an egg in one hand is nearly impossible, due to it's spherical shape!

 

 

Bella wishes she could decorate an egg, but, alas, she has no thumbs.

 

 

Tonio's finished!

 

Cody's works of art!

 

                                                       Autumn finished hers last, adding 'Kimmy' touches, like glitter, to make her eggs 'perfect'...

                                After we were done, I got to work making Kim's recipe for pasta salad to bring to Angie's tomorrow, as she had done countless times over the years, making sure to include even the pine nuts!  Our basil plant is doing great, so I was able to add fresh basil to it, too. 
                               When we finished dinner, I asked the kids to get their baskets ready.  I couldn't remember whose was whose, feeling a moment of panic - so I asked them to work it out.

 

They had more fun putting the Easter grass into their baskets...this is what I live for.

 

Putting the lil ones to bed proved to be a challenge.  They chose to watch 'The Sword in the Stone', but were restless.  Finally falling asleep around 10:30.  I quickly put their chocolate in their baskets, realizing I had forgotten to have them get out some milk and carrots for the bunny...next year.

Cody and I enjoyed watching 'Resevoir Dogs' together, a Quentin Tarentino classic.  He is finally asleep and I can put the finishing touches on his basket!

 

 

The baskets are all ready, a DVD for each (Aut "Wreck It Ralph", Tonio "Rise of the Guardians" and Cody a 007 double pack starring Daniel Craig, the best James Bond yet!  There's an Italia baseball cap for Cody, a Lego Mindcraft set for Tonio and a new book 'Wonder' for Aut!  Even a basket for Bella, with a squeaky duck and dog bones.

 

My work done, I turn to my 'basket'...and hope I can get up in time to hide the Easter eggs these guys had so much fun coloring....

 

 

Buona Pasqua!