Easter

My favorite holiday was always, without a doubt, Christmas. Such a magical time to celebrate with family... or at least it used to be. As each holiday season passed, I became more and more disappointed with how commercialized Christmas became.

Now it's not to say that all holidays in our society are about the gifts, the to-do list, etc. but Christmas seems to win this award. I remember how simple Christmas was growing up as a kid but now it's like a mad dash to the finish line. And yes, it can still be such a enchanting time of the year if you work hard at not allowing the outside pressures in.

For some reason, though, Easter hit home for me after having Tessa. I blame it on my Polish heritage but Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Dyngus  Day (Monday) all have held meaningful traditions in my family.

Good Friday means a trip to the Broadway Market was first opened in 1888 on the east side of Buffalo where a great number of Polish immigrants settled, including many generations of my family. In its hay-day it was busy every single day but now, although it is open year round, is only swarming during the Easter season.

Photo courtesy of http://broadwaymarket.org/

Family owned businesses passed down from generation to generations sell kielbasa, sauerkraut, chrusciki, pussy willows, horseradish, handpainted eggs, chocolates and so much more.

Photo courtesy of http://broadwaymarket.org/

Good Friday morning, a group of us fight the crowd to gather all of our Polish goods. Here's a picture of my Momma, her fiance` Dave along with Tess and I in 2013.

Then we dye some eggs with my Momma at her house...

And then get home to get some sleep so the Easter bunny can do his magic. This year was our first Waldorf-inspired basket which included:

• Hand-dyed playsilks in every color of the rainbow
• A weighted Waldorf doll
• The Sun Egg, by Elsa Beskow
• The Easter Egg, by Jan Brett
• A rainbow wind-spinner
• Handcrafted wooden rainbow stacker
• Chocolate sucker
• Polish painted eggs
• A half-dozen wooden eggs for her play kicthen
• A Polish t-shirt to wear on Dyngus Day
• Two handkites, one with ribbon and one with rainbow silk

Tessa was so excited to find her basket behind Daddy's chair!

And the chocolate couldn't be beat!

She did her Easter egg hunt outside and then we played and played the morning away with all of our new playthings. Read about our playful Easter morning here: The Heirloom Family: New Playthings for Easter

Then we got ready for family visits.

After a fun filled day, I got to kiss this little bubble-slowing bunny goodnight.