Easter at House on Hope

So it's just man and wife here on Hope Street, and we're fortunate to have some family fairly close and my husband's 3 nearly grown children just minutes away at their mother's house. The year before we got married, we decided we would start our own family tradition - Easter Brunch. Let's leave Thanksgiving turkeys, Christmas hams and such to all the "grandmas" in our lives, shall we, and wedge our claim in for a Resurrection Brunch. I am sure it's what the disciples would have eaten once they heard the good news, right? Some hearty sausage gravy and biscuits and a Belgian waffle? Well, we've enjoyed such menu planning from year to year, and even invested in a 3-bin warming server, which takes up precious pantry space, but is golden at parties, Christmas and brunches. Let me tell you, these warmers are genius. Breakfast foods like toast, eggs and pancakes are a labor of love on behalf of the cook; we turn them out one or two at a time, elect the lucky recipient to "eat while it's hot" and claim the batter remnants or any "extra crispy" pieces for ourselves (we've all scraped toast into the sink, let's be honest). And then we cooks typically consume our second-hand delicassies from the griddle or on a plate from the countertop. Now, these warmers let us get everything ready before hand, allowing us to remove our flour dusted aprons from our belted A-lines, enter the room a-la Norman Rockwell with piping hot cinnamon rolls and call, bon apetit!

Yeah, right. It just don't ever go down quite that way, does it ladies? Fortunately, reality is somewhere between these two extremes.

This year, attendance was looking a little thin, so we scaled back our menu, and I even thought, "Geez, should I even decorate?" I have a large binful of colored baskets, ceramic bunnies and eggs, Easter ornaments, chicks, stuffed cottage-y type bunnies, candy dishes, lilac candles, table runners, place settings... takes me hours. It's easy to say, I'll pass this year, isn't it?  

I can't tell you how good I feel when I decorate my home. I smile. I breathe easier. And I don't mean this to sound trite, but I really do feel like I am doing the Lord's work when I create vignettes to bring the seasons into our home. I feel at home. I feel peaceful. So I decorated. And we brought home some fresh potted tulips and narcissus. I didn't empty the whole attic bin, but I got out my favorite pieces. I tried out some bamboo placemats that I had in mind for an Oriental theme, beneath our aqua floral place settings, and matching linen napkins. I got out enough baskets to pop some pastel color into the earthier corners of our dining room and topped it all off with some vintage Easter postcards I picked up last year at a nearby antique store.

So we didn't pull out the warming bins this year, but we poured out love into preparing delicious food for our family, set aside time to thank the Lord for our many blessings and for His great sacrifice and New Life and Hope. And we've continued a more precious tradition than sausage -- a home that's simple, memorable, welcoming and true. I don't know if I'm just doing it for me, but it sure does feel right, and my time in decorating my home for important occasions, when we honor God and our country, as we welcome family, or even celebrate silently over the waffle batter in the kitchen, this is how home should feel. 

Linking to Tablescape Thursdays at Between Naps on the Porch

http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/2012/04/teeny-bit-of-trouble-big-giveaway.html