10 Things I LOVE about Spring/Easter
(your Random Tuesday post for today)

I hope all of you are having a wonderful week so far!! We are having a FANTASTIC Spring Break (yesterday, we Easter-shopped with my Mom; went out to eat with my bestest best friend, Angela; shopped at Barnes & Noble; had smoothies; laughed and laughed and laughed!!), and I know it's only gonna get better and better!

To involve all of you with my blog today, how about a Random Tuesday post-and-share?

I absolutely LOVE this time of year. The beginning of Spring has got to be the nicest time of year weather-wise, and there are all sorts of wonderful celebrations going on. So, for your consideration this morning, I give you my...

Ten Things I Love about Spring and Easter (since Easter IS so early this year!)...

1. The appearance of my yard's first iris and Spiderworts blooms. I know that Spring is here when my irises pop up (it's always a battle between my purple and yellow ones for which one will pop its head out first!), and when my spiderworts peek their purple blooms out (this is my FAVORITE flower in my yard, because they came from my late great-grandmother's garden in Texas!).


2. Celebrating the birthdays of two of my favorite three girls in the whole wide world! McKenna's birthday is March 30th, and Sydney's is March 31st. Needless to say, we celebrate A LOT at the end of the month (and this year, McKenna turns 16 so you know it will be BIG!).

3. Holy Week stuff. Although I have very fond memories of the church I grew up in, one thing we didn’t do was celebrate Holy Week. My church now, though, has a rich tradition of celebrating Maundy Thursday and Good Friday (and Ash Wednesday earlier on in the Lent season). This week we are having Holy Week lunch services (in fact, we just returned from an awesome service and lunch!). As a Christian, Easter is the most important holiday of the year to me, so I really enjoy celebrating the “holiness” of it all.

4. Easter dresses! My mother started the tradition several years ago of taking the girls shopping and buying all of them a new Easter dress, and it's something we look forward to every year! As the girls get older, it becomes a little more difficult to find that "perfect" dress (you can't just find them something "frilly" that they'll wear without much argument); the girls all have very specific opinions about fashion, so you feel really good when everyone comes home with something cute! (And then every Easter morning, Gary takes a picture of me with the three girls all dressed up. I treasure those pictures I have from each year!)

5. Speaking of Easter, who doesn’t just LOVE to watch your kids hunt for Easter eggs? I love the entire tradition of dressing up in pretty dresses, going to our parents’ houses, and hunting for Easter eggs. And, yes, they ALL hunt for eggs; even when you’re almost 16, you enjoy it!!

6. That delicious Easter meal! This year, we will have a steak grill-out at my parents' house, and then we will have a more "traditional" Easter meal (ham, potatoes, etc.) at my in-laws. Food is one of the greatest joys in life, and Easter provides us with one of the best meals of the year! (My mouth is sorta salivating right now just thinking about it!)

7. March Madness!!

All of you know how CRAZY I am about sports, and there are lot of times of the year that I love when it comes to sports (for example: that first Saturday of the college football season).

But there's nothing that can compare to the NCAA basketball tournament. I love filling in my tournament brackets, cheering for some underdogs, and seeing so many fantastic games pretty much non-stop for weeks (and there are always some amazing finishes). I can't wait for it all to start on Thursday!

8. Getting to enjoy Spring Break! Some years we actually have managed to get away to the beach, but we usually just spend the week taking a break from all of the "regularly-scheduled" activities. This week is no different! Sleeping a little late, having friends over, going shopping, taking a day trip, playing outside ... it's all good!

9. Cadbury Easter eggs and mini Cadbury robin’s eggs

(and, yeah, you can throw in some Peeps for good measure!). If the Easter Bunny wants to make my day, he puts some of these in my Easter basket! (And, yes, the Easter Bunny does still leave me an Easter basket. Gary always puts together a great basket for me. Isn't that sweet? In fact, that fact right there could be a whole other "favorite thing" for this list!)

10. The joy of Easter morning. We get up for a special sunrise service, then later attend a usually-packed morning service. It is always a joyful experience, as we remind ourselves yet again of the greatest gift we've ever been given...an unimaginable gift of love and service and sacrifice and grace. (I pray that you will take the time to consider this amazing gift during this week!)

So...that's my challenge for you today.

What are your favorite things about Easter? or What are your favorite things about Spring? (One thing...or two... or ten... or whatever!) Post in my comments, or make your own blog entry about them! I'd love to know what YOU love!!!