May 2, 2011

May Day/Beltane= Maeaster or Ostaltane

Whew......after all we have been up against we postponed our Easter celebration this year.
We celebrated Ostara a month ago where we had our egg hunt and spring celebration, so I wasn't to worried about missing out on Easter Day festivites. Mommy is tight with the Bunny so I asked if he would come back when we were ready. He asked that I set out our eggs, once colored, and he would come and hide them and leave treats for the kids. Well, that day was a big day for us. That night we scrambled to get our eggs dyed (no pun intended). Red onion skin, red beets, golden beets, and turmeric (or what I had on hand) combined with vinegar and boiled in water left our house smelling strange. Then add white eggs and our chickens multi colored eggs and voila! Easter Eggs! Landis had his spring festival fundraiser for his preschool that evening so we made the dyes rushed off to that and then came home around 9:00. The kids threw the eggs in and we let them sit overnight. The bunny took them out and hid them and left the kids a few treats.
The kids are most excited about the hunt. Second best is seeing what the bunny brought, and then there is the excitement over what color the eggs turn out to be. I am not sure what turned the eggs greenish-blue, but am pretty sure it was the onion skin.

We are still a rush. Now we can move at our pace, and I am giving up things that can be given up. Beltane has been an oversight, and that is a hard one to miss. I am craving a bonfire! The kids don't remember that Easter was late, they barely blink an eye that there was no May Day/Beltane festivities. They are just in the moment enjoying the hunt. We could have made it painful and stressful to pull of Easter, but we choose to cut ourselves some slack. Sometimes being a rotten mom is the only way to truly give your children unabashed joy and yourself a little breathing room! Now off to unpack, get the garden in, finish the floors, fix the plumbing, paint the bathroom, fix the toilet, repair the gutters, remodel the chicken coop, weed the yard, replace the windows, etc.......... Poco a poco.

My new umberella!