the easter bunny's coming

I hear ya there. I am in the same boat. Just spend quality time with them. They know that you love them. You don't need a holiday to show them how much you love them. But I will come and do something with you and the boys for Easter we can go have some starbucks if they are open.

You can do Easter bunny cookies with them or an Easter bunny cake. It would not cost so much because the cookie or cake mix is less than 2 dollars. Whatever you will be doing, I know your children will always feel being love because you spend time with them. For the children, the materials things come and go but the thing that has the most impact is the time that we spent with them.

Maybe you could all sit down and make Easter decorations together? Often I think kids like the fact that the family does something as a unit much more than sweets or gifts. I remember one new years eve where we were flat broke. It was really cold and we had no fireworks like all the others. Still this is the one New Years Eve I remember because we worked like a team and found nice things to to together. I hope you will find a way to celebrate that is right for you and your kids. I hope your Easter will be as good as possible

You didn't say how old they are, but children usually appreciate anything special. Go on over the (I can't post links yet) Stretcher dot com, they have so many things to save money--the whole idea behind the site is to live well without spending a lot of money! I never spent much on Easter but didn't have to. We'd have treasure hunts, with written and picture clues all over the house and yard leading to the final treasure--which sometimes was just a unusual rock or something else that the child liked or collected at the time. I'd hide plastic eggs with messages inside saying how much I loved them or praising their compassion or other attribute that I was so proud of. I'd put some coins in some of the eggs, or cookies I'd made that I baked very small to fit the egg. One of their very favorite games was balloons! I'd buy a cheap package, less than a dollar, and blow them up then we'd bat them around and have contests; who could keep them up with just blowing on them, who could bat the farthest, etc. Then we'd stomp on them and bust them!!! Oh, that was fun! I bought a dollar store coloring book one year and we spent half the day coloring and making up stories about the bunnies and ducks. Then we glued bits of old cloth and buttons and stuff on their pictures, it was great. See, make it an experience. In twenty years, they won't remember all the candy you bought them for Easter but they'll treasure the memories of how you spent time with them and made the day so special!

Coloring eggs, give them some "fun-size" candy if you can afford it. Try shredding colorful paper and adding tin or aluminum foil to decorate baskets.