It sounded a bit like a Little Rascals episode downstairs. I could picture the little people in the kitchen trying to get the skillet right over the top burner. There were lots of clanking noises. This reminded me of that Katharine Hepburn movie where she cooks pancakes… making a huge mess. That was enough to put a smile on my face. They worked quietly, being careful not to fight and squabble. The fridge opened quite a bit. Dad’s flight wasn’t coming in until later that day, and the teenagers, of course, were sleeping, so it was up to these little guys, the real heavyweights, to pull off this “Breakfast in Bed,” bit.

I learned later that it went like this: The older of the two had already strategized and planned ahead. He had asked another grownup “how to cook an egg.” He rubbed the butter all over the pan – although he worried that he had used too much butter. (He didn’t.) He was fascinated at how quickly the egg “turned white.” While the egg cooked, he made the toast, leaving off the butter (to make up for using too much on the skillet). Then, he made the tea.

Meanwhile, the youngest, the baby, was watching all of this big kitchen production, wondering what he could do. “I mean – eggs, toast – and even her favorite tea?! What is left for me?! Never mind the fact that I just made her a life-size origami dress (more on that later), I have to come up with something to serve her.”

So, he remembered that tuna salad I had brought him at Whole Foods yesterday. So, he pulled, what else – but tuna salad out of the fridge. Who doesn’t think of having a tuna salad sandwich, along with their egg, for breakfast? Working parallel alongside of his brother, he proceeded to make me a tuna fish sandwich. As the final flourish, there just happened to be a bit of leftover fried kale, so he threw that on the side of the plate, like potato chips.

Throughout all of this, I did not move or stir in my bed. I just stayed put and imagined their little hands, with bodies, barely tall enough to reach the counter, cooking away.

Then, they began the migration up to the bedroom. This was quite a challenge. Our bedroom is on the third floor, which includes two landings. They walked slowly. They stumbled.  The kale, as airy as it is, had slid off the plate and left a trail of powdered dust all over the stairs. Fairy dust, I like to think of it. None of this even fazed them. They continued and tarried on upstairs.

By the time they made it to the top, I had, maybe, a tablespoon of tea left in my cup.

They jumped on the bed and stared over me while I ate. They gave me the “play-by-play” of all the events that happened in the kitchen…”Then, I got out the tea bag… and I put water in the tea kettle.” This was a very big deal to them. And it was — and I showed them how big of a deal I thought it was too.

I did finally catch them working on their cards.

They presented me with their cards, handmade, with teabags glued on top,

and told me all about how they had “planned this for over two weeks.”

Please notice the little drawing of “Susiej”

Then, the littlest one sighed, and said, “Why can’t there be a kid’s day?”

They kept waiting, watching me eat… and then, they announced that they were hungry too. Soon, I was downstairs, cleaning up their mess in the kitchen and making them pancakes. I got the kitchen cleaned just in time to make room for Daddy, who came in with my favorite goat cheeses, and wine, and made dinner for all of us.

For the past two weeks, I have been bombarded with an avalanche of questions.

“What is your favorite candy?”

“Really? You don’t remember? And besides, do you have some for me? Is that why you’re asking?”

No, there were no Smarties.

“What’s your favorite color?”

This is always a tough one… because I never know how to respond. Color needs context. When my oldest was a first grader, I told him how much I loved to wear black. The next “flower” he made for me at school was black. I try to never answer that one… and say something about “all the colors of the rainbow.”

Over the next few days the questions jumped to tea, and then towards, “what time do you wake up?”

Then it dawned on me. It’s Mother’s Day this weekend. Like boys trying to be the first one to score a touchdown goal, they are literally falling all over themselves to be the “one” who will surprise me with the thing I loved the most.

My husband tells me the biggest fight is over the “tea.” Who’s going to make it and who’s serving it to me… in bed. Then, another one, who accepts the loss, thinks he’ll “one-up” the other brother by saying, “But I know which one is their favorite.”

Then, they asked him if they could order Jumbo-Sized Smarties… from Amazon. “You’re going to flip out, dad,” they said. “They’re $24, because you have to buy them in bulk.”

I think I could really throw them if I told them about the old-fashioned soda fountain,  inside of the big-time JCPenny story on Main Street. I was small, so the second thing to greet my senses when I walked in was the chekered brown and tan floor. The first thing to hit me was the smell: a combination of ice cream, caramel, cheeseburgers, new clothes and roasted peanuts. This was heaven. My aunt used to take me there, and it was then and there that I learned it was not “OK” to eat gum found on the bar stools while we sat at the counter.

We sat at the counter and waited for the store-made “Zagnuts.” Remeber those? Roasted peanuts. The man behind the counter would scoop them out of the bin into a paper bag and sent us on our way. The bag was warm from the candy, and soon the bag held grease stains. My aunt had her own bag of Zagnuts, so I didn’t have to share with her. Then, we zipped away in her car. Later, I learned that my aunt  was diabetic. Did she need that candy, or was she cheating?

Those warm Zagnuts (not the kind you find in the wrapper at the grocery store) are my favorite. But, I don’t want to overly stress the boys. They’d hunt down a shop that would custom make Zagnuts for me, and serve them to me warm. They quest to be the first one to supply me with a warm Zagnut would create too much competition and strife. I don’t think one exists.

I’m always amazed by their innocence in the weeks and days leading up to Christmas, birthdays and Mother’s Day. The boys never seem to be “missing” for extended periods of times (while they’re busy wrapping, inventing verses and rhymes, and shopping) nor do I notice the “mess” of pulled out wrapping paper and ribbons that appear on the “morning.” Their “wrapping station location” must be guarded 24 x 7 — because I have yet to find the spot. I am humbled… I always thought I never everything they were up to.

I think it was Warren Buffet who said, “We enjoy the process far more than the proceeds.”

No matter how bad things look, this is not the way it’s going to end. No one will take away your joy. Jesus glorifies that message on Easter morning with his empty tomb. Kids need practical tangible “tools” to see how this transformation of bad to good takes place… it helps them to settle the lesson in their hearts, so they can pull it up when they need it later in life.

The act of making resurrection cookies with them can give them these practical tools… far more effective than simply coloring eggs …. although I recommend that too.

A couple of years ago, the recipe for Easter Resurrection Cookies, or Empty Tomb Cookies, landed in my inbox. The story starts with pecans that are broken, egg whites (new life) and vinegar (Jesus’ drink on the cross) and a tomb (your oven) and ends with a beautiful white pristine “hollow” cookie. All of the “ingredients” humbly thrown together, looking nothing like the product that comes at the end — and somehow, a little miracle is created in your oven on Easter morning.

I have posted the recipe posted below — without pictures — as I will be doing this on Saturday as well.

Empty Tomb Cookies
Ingredients

• Bible
• 1 cup whole pecans
• 1 tsp. vinegar
• 3 egg whites
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 qt. or gal. size zipper bag
• wooden spoon
• tape
• 1. Preheat oven to 300F or 150C.

Place pecans in ziploc bag and let kids beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested, He was beaten by the Roman soldiers.

Read: John 19:1-3. Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. The soldiers twisted
together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe and
went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they struck him in
the face.

Let each child smell the vinegar. Add teaspoon of vinegar into the mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross He was given vinegar to drink.

Read John 19:28-30. Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life.

Read John 10:10-11. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that
they may have life, and have it to the full. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd
lays down his life for the sheep.”

Sprinkle a little salt into each child’s hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus’ followers, and the bitterness of our own sins.

Read Luke 23:27. A large number of people followed Him, including women who
mourned and wailed for Him.

So far the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1 cup of sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him.

Read Psalm 34:8. Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes
refuge in Him.
John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that
whoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”
7. Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12-15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed.
Explain that the color white represents the purity in God’s eyes of those whose sins have
been cleansed by Jesus.
Read Isaiah 1:18. “Come now, let us reason together,” says the Lord. “Though your sins
are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall
be like wool.”
John 3:1-3. Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the
Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a
teacher who has come from God, for no one could perform the miraculous signs you are
doing if God were not with him.” In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can
see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”

Fold in broken nuts. Line the cookie sheet with waxed paper. Drop mixture by spoonfuls onto waxed paper. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus’ body was laid.

Read Matthew 27:57-60. As evening approached, there came a rich man from
Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate,
he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body,
wrapped it in clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of
rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away.

Place the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus’ tomb was sealed.

Read Matthew 27:65-66. “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as
secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on
the stone and posting a guard.

Go to bed. Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus’ followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed.

Read John 16:20. “I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world
rejoices. You will grieve, buy your grief will turn to joy.” And John 16:22 “So with you~
Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will
take away your joy.”

On Easter morning, open the oven and remove the cookies. Take a bite. Notice that the
cookies are hollow! On the first Easter Jesus’ followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty.

Read Matthew 28:1-9. After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary
Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake,
for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the
stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as
snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The
angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus,
who was crucified. He is not here; He has risen, just as He said. Come and see the place
where He lay. Then go quickly and tell His disciples: “He has risen from the dead and is
going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him. Now I have told you.” So the
women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell His
disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them, “Greetings,” He said. They came to Him, clasped his
feet and worshipped Him.

I had no intention of doing this, until my littlest one challenged me to do something with that big tub of Easter Eggs I bought. He was expecting “decorations” as in Christmas. And Jello eggs… He wanted some traditions.

So, I bit the bullet and started growing my own grass… like everyone else is on Pinterest. I liked Delia Create’s tutorial the best — it involves no soil.

The boys have arranged the eggs around the grass several times now… it’s an “interactive display.” This is day 5… they say when the grass starts to grow you can almost “watch it” it grows so fast. Like kids. So, by Easter, this should be lush and full… if not, we’ll keep growing it.

The grass seeds? Believe it or not, it’s just barley. Barley that I have sitting in my pantry… un-pearled barley.. it tastes nuttier, and is way more healthier than pearled barley. Truly… it tastes more like nuts than a grain.

While the barley was growing, I threw some of the barley “seeds” into a pot of water and cooked them.

I put some whole beets in the oven and cooked them like baked potatoes… when they were soft, I rubbed off the skin, and chopped them up with some avocado… added some balsamic vinegar and salt… and had a feast. Just so you know… I was the only person in the house who thought this was king’s food.

For the front door, I skipped St. Patrick’s Day, and just headed toward making an Easter Egg Wreath. Easter is full of harsh pastel colors — lime green, neon pink, and that odd blue that is a cross between neon and cobalt blue.

I want nothing of the sort.  I prefer a more “gentle” awakening to spring. The way Spring natural wakens on it’s own… with Robin’s eggs — that’s a perfect blue.  I tried to find a natural looking brown feather boa… but all I could find was bright pink, lime greens and yellows.

So, I found this yarn in a grayish-bluish brown color — exactly what you might find in a real, live nest outside your door.

And — here’s a cheap trick to make a wreath base — go to the hardware store and find “flexible” tubing in the plumbing department. It’s foam… and cost around $2.

I cut it to size, and I think I’ll be able to make two wreaths from this. Simply duct tape the ends together to make your circle.

I wrapped the fun fur yard around the wreath (it stretches out to make a single thread)… making the wreath kind of fluffy…

Then, I glued on some Robin Egg Blue eggs — rescued from a garish old Easter wreath I found in my attic.

I will say, that my oldest son doesnt’ like this wreath. He says it’s too dark…

but I like it… just because it is kind of quiet, and it highlights the eggs. And, they are some really good looking eggs.

Why are little bags of chocolate gold coins never available at the grocery store? In hindsight, I believe, they do have them at the drug store… but the drug store is not one of my routine stops. I think of this every year, too late, and end up making cupcakes from scratch, with green icing, left from the leprechaun.

This year, even after they built the clever trap, I decided, “heck with it. The Leprechaun just isn’t making a visit this year… I have waaaaaay too much going on.”

At 10 p.m., a little voice in my house said, “Hmmmm. I wonder when the Leprechaun is going to stop by.”

So, the leprechaun did make a visit after all… almost to the 11th hour…

Four bottles of Ginger Ale,

Four bowls of Lucky Charms — the most Irish things I could find at the grocery store.

The responses of the boys I find insightful:

• Youngest: The oldest says you did this. (Do you really think I have time for this?)
• Oldest: Mom does this.
• 2nd Oldest: Cool…  Irish Soda. (So glad he got the whole “green thing” with the label and everything. My kids are awesome. He understands constraints… and he has a flexible imagination.)
• 2nd Youngest: Relief. His face says relief… he quietly sighs, and thinks…things are just as they should be… Mom, leprechaun? Definitely Mom — but it doesn’t matter. She is faithful, and reliable, and the world is still turning as it should.

So glad the Leprechaun made it to our house.

When you wake up in the morning to find this on your kitchen table…

There is a trail, not far behind…

leading straight to

The Leprechaun Trap

The oldest boys scrunched up my valentines, and stuffed their candy into their lunch bags, and said, “You don’t have to give us that stuff.  Just the candy is fine.” Ahhh,  but such is the price to pay, dear boys. And, I will do it again next year… so don’t even bother to make that scene or give me that face.

I made these heart eggs for breakfast:

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I’ve spent most of the day trying to spread Valentine Love to five men in this house .  I have the “roast” mastered, and I don’t even need to follow a recipe. I simply open the cupboard and slather on the spices that tickle my nose… (today? rosemary, thyme, garlic salt, celery salt, cloves, peppercorns and bay leaves) and a couple splashes of Pomegranate Vinegar. It’s on a slow roast in the crock pot…

I’ve been out most of the day catering my littlest boy to be a guest “teacher” at another school. He taught the kids how to make Origami Ninja Stars, and Origami Dresses.

I am in love with those dresses.

And the house is tumbling down around me, the floors need mopped, books must be returned to the library,  laundry is in all stages of disarray on every single floor, in every single room… but I’m on to bigger things…

The potatoes are boiling — for the mash.

I’ll probably roast some fennel too… and I have bread dough ready to pop in the oven — and then there is dessert: I couldn’t be more thrilled that my husband voted for this strawberry dessert:

Rather than this traditional strawberry one:

I can hardly wait to get started on that strawberry nacho dessert. I’m not using fresh strawberries, though… so I’m guessing I will have to cook the frozen ones a bit in sugar to make a syrup … rather than a mushy thawed strawberry. I want to add almonds to it — but so many boys won’t like that… and then, of course, a couple of them detest whipped cream… See, it’s just not that easy to give Valentine Love to everyone today. But that’s what makes this day so special… lots of giving, and no reason not to.

And then, there is that surprise… I walked in from a busy morning of “co-teaching” with my son, only to find sushi, a dozen roses, brie and fresh fruit. “The Sushi is for lunch,” he said. “We can save the brie for later.”

I hadn’t realized it before… but brie goes way back for us. From those early days when we were so poor, scraping up enough mileage points, and pennies to head to Europe… where we roamed the streets eating the best baguettes we’d ever tasted, and chunks of brie — unpasteurized.

Funny how you start the day out trying to give to everyone else… and then before you know it… you have received more than you can expected.

There is always some kind of strawberry dessert on our Valentine’s table, along with a favorite “red meat” (usually a roast) and green asparagus — roasted with a drizzle of olive oil and sea salt. And, with pleasure, I always make Valentines for the boys.

Can I even tell you how much I love slathering them with valentine hearts, candy and stickers… and they don’t even blush — because this involves candy. Now that two of the four are too old for “Valentine parties,” at school, they appreciate Mom’s valentine’s even more — probably the only bit of candy they will get all day.

This year, they’ll have two valentines in their lunches:

A Peep Heart, two graham crackers and a chocolate bar.

The second, is actually the same craft we’ll be making with the first and second graders tomorrow during their party:

(Just ask me how glad I am that I did not throw out all of those decks with missing cards.) The heart card, holding a sucker. Each boy gets a card that matches how many years they are (minus ten for two of them) and King for daddy.

How many of you still have a stray Christmas decoration lurking around your house? Honestly? We still had a mini Christmas tree, a lighted Madonna, and a few Santas in our family room — with lights still hooked up to a timer that clicked on every afternoon at 3, and shut off around midnight. My husband and I kind of liked the ambiance while we were watching TV.

I toted the last stray signs of Christmas out of the house and into the garage, yesterday afternoon. But these Christmas bulbs, which the boys gave me, are still here…

And honestly, I wouldn’t mind another batch of bulbs right now to start all over again.