hoppy easter...

I hope everyone had a blessed Easter, ours was a fun-filled one! Breakfast, church, egg hunt, movie and a bed-time story to finish the night. Goodies were eaten, laughs and giggles filled the air and memories created.

We started off the morning with breakfast. I love to wake up early and prepare breakfast for my kids so that they can wake up to the  smell of bacon & eggs cookin'. I made eggs in a basket. Simply placed the bacon in a cupcake pan and baked them for about 15-20 min at 425. I then stuffed them with eggs which I had scrambled up and added spinach to. You could also top with cheese. I made butterfly shaped toast from cookie cutter.

Another one of my favorite Easter meal's is a nest egg or bird house breakfast.

A childhood favorite of mine passed down generations. I used to love when my mom would make this for me! Cut out a hole in a slice of bread. I use a small cup to get a perfect circle shape. This time I used a square glass cup to create more of a "door" shape. Place the toast in a skillet with butter or as I like to do, butter both sides first so it gives it cooks it to a nice brown and you don't get a greasy mouth full. Fill the hole with an egg until cooked. It can be scrambled or sunny side up.

After breakfast, we attended church and let our bellies rest as well. These are nice to prepare in the morning and refrigerate so that when you get home from church or your egg hunt, you can take them out of the fridge for a little appetizer while your guests are visiting.

I always create a drink station, meal station and dessert station when hosting a get together. For my dessert station, I filled several small mason jars with an assortment of candy. All which cost about $1 each and wrapped them in ribbon for a decorative look. The Dollar Tree is also a great place to look for glass dishes for displaying candy. A cupcake stand to display cupcakes, and different shaped or sized platters to display the rest of the treats.

Carrot cupcakes and cake pops are great for Easter. I always decorate each cupcake different. Makes it more fun when trying to decide which to pick.

This year we made Tie Dye eggs. This picture doesn't do justice but these were fun for the kids! Before hand, we also wrote on some with crayon. I used words or phrases that had meaning to me such as "He Is Risen", "Hope" or "Jesus" because this is what we celebrate in our home in addition to the Easter Bunny. During our hunt, whoever found the eggs received $5 for each "special egg". Of course, this always makes the hunt more competitive. And for the one who helps hide the eggs (in this case my 11 year old as he feels he is too old to hunt for eggs) receives $5 for being a LEADER.

Silly me forgot the foam block to stick the cake pops in so they could stand in an up-right position so I quickly came up with the idea after cutting up celery to leave out for the Easter Bunny. I placed the bottom of the celery in a dish, popped the cake pops into it and topped it with decorative grass to hide the any celery.

Along with Easter baskets the Easter Bunny always delivers a movie for the family as well. This year it was HOP! We all gathered around the TV after our long day and watched this super cute movie that was great for the entire family!

And to finish off the night, a bed time story that my daughter received In her Easter Basket. The Easter bunny always brings books in my children's baskets. Something I am very grateful for. This particular book even made my boys laugh. Such a cute book!