Easter is tomorrow and we have been busy prepping. The baskets have been made except for a few last minute things being delivered today. The eggs are boiled. We’ve planned and shopped for the brunch menu. We are hosting Aaron’s side of the family tomorrow for Easter and April birthdays. We have McKenna, Aaron and my BIL to celebrate.

BUT…there were a few things we needed to take care of. It’s really the details. 

Aaron’s grandmother had the lamb and bunny cake molds. Remember those? Does anyone actually enjoy eating that cake or is it more about the tradition? To carry on the tradition, I wanted to bake the cakes and try to decorate them as she did. We first attempted this several years ago. We made the lamb but the cake didn’t rise and he was faceless. It was terrifying. Then before we could decorate, I landed in the hospital with kidney stones. My SIL, bless her heart, took over and let the kids go wild to take their mind off their MIA mama. The result was…interesting. Talk about the sugar rush.

The actual cakes turned out better this year having learned a few things from last time. We had full faces and the details were pretty distinct. We added toothpicks to the lamb ears to help them stay attached while we decorated. And we froze them both overnight so they would have a little more strength to them once the kids got to adding all that frosting.

Today, we pulled them from the freezer one at a time to make great grandma proud. We aren’t HUGE coconut fans so we stuck to just the grass and a few fluffy details rather than covering both creatures entirely. I couldn’t find a star tip so we improvised with what we had to add a little texture to the fur. Rather than using full jelly beans, we cut them in half and shaped them a little for the eyes and noses. The results are just adorable! I am not a baker or a decorator by any means so this is so much better than I anticipated.

Although Great Grandma isn’t able to be with us, she is here in spirit. This is how I host all my gatherings. We add recipes from those we’ve lost so serve as we gather together. We serve those recipes in their dishes. So although they may not have a seat out our table—they are always at the party.

We ended our prep with coloring Easter eggs. I now know why my mom did not enjoy this. She painstakingly boiled a dozen eggs for each of us. That’s six dozen eggs! What do you do with all those eggs? We have plans to make deviled eggs, egg salad, and serve hard boiled eggs all as part of our brunch tomorrow. But I fear even then we will be on egg overload. And I only have three dozen eggs to contend with. I highly recommend the Eggmazing Egg Decorator. A friend sent it to us last year and the kids love it! Just remember where you put it after you color your eggs (I put a calendar reminder in my phone for next year).