Easter 2020

Easter 2020 was certainly a blessed day for our family. Even though we could not attend church we still kept Jesus the center of our celebration, for without His sacrifice we would not have a holiday to celebrate. To be honest our Easter plans really didn't change much other than the fact that the church doors were closed and we had to have church at home.

Life is different these days for our family in a myriad of different ways, but especially in the sense that we have a little one experiencing all her 'firsts' and then we are missing our oldest who no longer lives with us. It's a really unusual season of life that's for sure. All the emotions are present; so much joy and excitement to share with Abby Lou's firsts and yet a touch of sadness that our oldest isn't around much. Even though our oldest wasn't there for all our traditional Easter activities, he was able to attend Easter dinner. 

Over the years we have collected quite a few plastic Easter eggs. They even have their own tote, lol. There was a time it was only me filling eggs and putting them together, now I have helpers who love to help out in that department. We don't fill all the eggs with candy. I buy one bag of candy to divide amongst the eggs and then the rest are left empty.

Thankfully, I plan throughout the year for holidays or we might have been in a pinch for Easter this year with all the stores being closed or with limited stock. To make each holiday extra special, I'm in a continuous state of shopping the clearance racks ~ this helps to keep our holiday expenses well under budget.

 Easter morning we had all the children eat breakfast, tidy the house, and get dressed in their Sunday best before opening their Easter baskets. I didn't spend a whole lot of money on any of the children's baskets. To keep things simple the younger crew all got the same items while the older children received the same. We didn't do much candy, mostly just little trinkets such as coloring books, bubbles, and a deck of cards. I made my husband a basket of his favorite snacks and he surprised me with a basket of my favorite healthy snack items too. 

After days of beautiful warm weather, Easter ended up being rainy and cool so pictures had to be taken on the porch ~ which wasn't as easy as it may look. {{sigh}}

Six of our seven handsome sons.

Our three beautiful daughters.

My husband was joking around, because let's face it taking family pictures with 11 people is eventful to say the least, and of course when the camera snapped he wasn't smiling. I promise he wasn't mad, but can we just say there is never a dull moment in our crazy life, especially when taking pictures!

Easter dinner wasn't anything fancy just a few of our favorite dishes. The children did call it a mini Thanksgiving, which I thought was sweet. Everything was homemade and a family effort to make. Our two oldest sons even contributed to the dessert menu, which was so very thoughtful. 

Easter Menu

Ham

Hawaiian Rolls 

Deviled Eggs

 Potato Salad

Dressing

Macaroni and Cheese

Potato Casserole

Punch

Easter Trifle 

2 Ice Cream Cakes

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Crackers

We did manage to get one group photo of all our children even it it was after everyone had changed out of their good clothes ~ this mama will take whatever she can get.

Due to the dreary day on Easter Sunday we opted to hunt eggs a couple days later. We usually attend a couple local church sponsored Easter egg hunts, but this year those were not happening; so I wanted to make sure our annual family Easter egg hunt was extra special. I was especially thankful that I had collected all those plastic eggs, because with our crew we need them. Even with as many eggs as we have, it didn't take long for my little egg hunters to find all of them. 

Once all the eggs were found my husband hid one egg that held a five dollar bill for the older children to find. The first time around no one could find it, so he hid it again. After some serious hunting our oldest daughter found it ~ only because she stumbled over it and the egg fell out of it's hiding place nestled inside one of our potted plants. Fun times and wonderful memories for sure.

Easter is such a special holiday to celebrate because without the death and resurrection of Jesus we would not have the hope of heaven. I'm so thankful our family was able to enjoy the day with each other and our treasured traditions. We enjoyed sweet tokens of love, good food, and delightful fellowship. Our family has been showered with blessings from above and for that I give all the glory to God.

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer 

Easter Trifle

Okay y'all, I know I'm all about posting on Easter this week, which has already come and gone, but this recipe is an amazing sweet treat that can be made any time of the year ~ I just happen to make it for our Easter feast. Honestly, I have been making it for YEARS and trying to prefect the it for years. Finally, this year I have narrowed down the recipe to be exactly what I had in mind on taste, texture, and ingredients.

As y'all well know recipes are a dime a dozen and there's probably 100's of recipes for any given dish you desire to create. But, everyone has their own taste preferences and that is where recipes differ. For me, it's first and foremost about ease of making, next comes affordability, and then of course how it tastes. Well, this little trifle meets all those standards and then some.

I like to schedule a set menu for each holiday. Why? Mostly because it just makes life easier. It's super easy to plan in advance, I don't have to stress about what I'm going to make each holiday, and everyone in the family knows what to expect. Which in my experience minimizes meltdowns. And Lordy be who doesn't want to minimize meltdowns. When life works in order it just makes life more enjoyable for everyone.

Back to this amazing Easter Trifle recipe. I saw an Easter Trifle many moons ago, and I just knew it would be the perfect dessert recipe for our Easter menu. Hence my desire to fine tune the recipe into what would best fit our family's dessert preferences.

Easter Trifle

Ingredients

One chocolate cake cooked according to directions and cut into 1 inch cubes
Two 3.4oz boxes of vanilla pudding
1 package of Oreo cookies crushed
one 8 oz tub of cool whip
2 cups of milk
pink and green food coloring, opt.
Large Robin Egg candies
Peep chick candies
Easter sprinkles

Directions

Layer half of the cubed cake pieces into bottom of trifle bowl. In a small mixing bowl pour in both pudding mixes add milk and mix for two minutes with a hand held mixer (can use stand mixer). Fold cool whip into pudding mixture. Divide pudding into two parts if coloring. Color half the pudding pink and the other half green. Pour one of the pudding mixture over the first layer of cake in the trifle bowl. Sprinkle with half of the crushed cookies. Now repeat layers. On top layer place egg candies and peep candies as well as the sprinkles. Chill in fridge.

I love this Easter trifle recipe for many reasons. One: it's easy to make, two: it tastes great, three: it's budget friendly, and four: it can feed an army. When one dessert that is quick and easy to make can feed a whole bunch of people I am one happy woman. I'm a firm believer in making life as easy as possible. It is very feasible to create affordable, easy to make, special holiday meals, it just takes a little time and effort to plan them out. By planning simple menus in advance for holidays, it allows me to be more focused on celebrating and enjoying time with my family than hiding in the kitchen, and that my friends is a win in my book.

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer