Pandora Beads in my Easter Basket

As Easter was approaching I thought in the back of my mind….hmm I wonder if my husband or children will buy me any more charms for my Pandora bracelet and keep the giving tradition alive.  When I awoke on Easter morning, they told me I had a Easter basket hiding somewhere in the house and they weren’t going to help me find it.  They had never hidden an Easter basket for me so I thought this would be fun.  (I secretly hoped it would be a charm but would not be disappointed if it was not.)

So I searched in the basement, under pillows, couches and behind the TV.  Then I went upstairs and searched in the kitchen cupboards, behind soup cans and snacks, in the china cabinet, under kitchen chairs and still did not see it anywhere.  Then I checked in the bathtubs, under bathroom sinks, in the wash machine and dryer, and in the laundry basket, still no luck.  As I was walking past the patio door, on my way to the living room, I noticed a wrapped box inside a basket on the patio swing on our deck sitting next to our cat, Flowers.  There was a little snow on it, and I guess that is why I didn’t notice it earlier.  I opened the door and grabbed the gift. I saw the children had made me a card, which was attached and a little damp.  They were so excited to see me open the gift and could not wait any longer, so they grabbed the gift from me and opened it themselves while I admired the card.  That did not bother me because I know how much they like to open presents or should I say tear open presents. 

Inside the box was the Lotsa Love Heart charm, and inside the basket were my favorite candies; jelly beans, chocolate bunnies and marshmallow peeps.  My four-year-old daughter loves to draw hearts and had them all over the card she made.  I didn’t realize it at first, but she had drawn pictures of the charm all over the card she made along with the words “I love you.”  It was so special to me.  My husband said she wanted him to buy that charm because she loves hearts, even though he had picked out a different one he wanted to buy.  So he decided to buy this one and said it was from her. 

Also in the basket, which I didn’t see right away, was another charm and this one was from my two year old daughter.  It was wrapped in pink tissue and it was the owl bead.  Right away I knew why I had received this bead.  While we were vacationing in Arizona, we watched an owl everyday high up in a palm tree outside our bedroom window.  We would get out the binoculars each night and watch the male owl fly in and then fly away until the next evening.  The children loved watching and sometimes could not find the owl because he blended in so well to the palm tree and his nest.  My two year old loves saying owl and after asking her what the owl says, she always says, “hoo hoo.”  It is so adorable and makes your heart melt.  So of course when I unwrapped the bead she said, “owl, owl” and also “hoo hoo.”  We like to look at the eyes on the owl and I tell my children they remind me of flowers.  So now both of my children have favorite beads on my Pandora bracelet.

I did not realize he was hinting that he also bought the charm he picked out, which I guess I would find out later.  My daughter also hinted there was another gift somewhere in the house while we were in church.  I heard her tell her Grandma that, “Mommy still didn’t find the hidden gift from Daddy.”  Of course I made believe I did not hear her comment and turned away.

He gave me the charm he picked out later that day on Easter.  I forgot about my daughter’s earlier comment and didn’t know he had anything else for me so I was shocked when I found it hidden in the refrigerator with the colored eggs we had made three days earlier.  I was about to set some of the colored eggs on the table for dinner when I noticed the wrapped gift.  There was a small bag with a pink ribbon tied on it and inside I found the pink decorative egg charm.  He said he had picked it out months earlier, because he was afraid it might be hard to find when Easter got closer.  He again chose something with a pink gem which I found touching because he always says I look good in pink and knows that pink is my favorite color and it is my daughters favorite color also. 

I will never forget this Easter and how thoughtful my husband and daughters were.  I think they enjoyed watching me find my Easter basket and hidden gift even more than searching for their baskets filled with toys and candy.  I can’t believe they were able to buy both of these charms without me knowing.  They were so happy to surprise me and I won’t forget how they danced around the floor and followed me in my search for my Easter basket, but never giving me any hints even though I asked.  They would only giggle when I hit another dead end and came up empty handed.

-Kim H.