Each year I try to find something to help our family focus on the Savior during Easter season. I know that as members of the LDS church we try to keep Him at the forefront of our worship all year long, but I sometimes wish we participated in the tradition of Lent and the observance of Holy Week in our worship services. It seems like Easter kind of sneaks up on us each year without much preparation or thought. So different from Christmas with all of its tradition, food, stories, and music. I want to create more family traditions around Easter to help our family feel the beauty of it and remember the significance of it. I heard about Easter Story Eggs and knew this would be a simple thing I could do in our home and hopefully turn into a tradition. I asked Grammy and Grampy for this Story Egg as a birthday gift and our whole family loved it. Joey loved it to death - we are missing a piece already. Such is life with kids. We've searched everywhere and can't find the missing piece.
Each night leading up to Easter we would open a new egg and read the corresponding story poem from the book. Sometimes we also sang a song, did an act of service, or a craft that went along with what we were learning. I didn't get pictures of each night. It is still a work in progress, but I know it was special and I loved seeing the kids looking through the book and playing with the nesting egg all week long.
The kids love to dye eggs the Monday before Easter. We had nearly two dozen eggs to color. Which goes really fast when divided between four kids who want to make one egg of every color.
While we waited for the eggs to color, Lily taught us an Easter lesson her Primary teachers taught her:
This represents the house where Jesus had the last supper with his disciples
This represents the cup used as part of the last supper
This represents the spear used to wound Jesus on the cross
Then we tear the paper, just like Jesus' body was bruised and torn for us
When we unfold the paper, it reveals a cross and when we put the paper scraps together we can make the word love. This reminds us that everything Jesus did during his time on earth was because he loved us.
The kids were so proud of their eggs. We got some beautiful colors this year. As the kids get older, they are more patient to wait for the dye to take effect. My favorite are the bright blue ones. Annie did a gorgeous stripe egg with yellow and blue which made a green band through the middle. She was so proud of it.
Another part of our Easter week was these Resurrection Eggs. Each egg is filled with a small item to help remind us about the events of Christ's last week. The kids love these eggs and they all want a turn to hold the items inside while we tell the stories of Jesus. I still have more I want to do to help Easter feel more sacred and special, but I am collecting ideas and items slowly.
This year we tried something new. We "egged" a family. We filled 11 plastic eggs with candy and left one empty to symbolize the empty tomb. The girls and I quietly walked up the street to a non-member family's home and we hid the eggs in their front yard. They tried to hold in their giggles as we sneaked through the neighborhood in our pajamas and winter coats under cover of darkness. Getting to stay up past bed time was also super cool to them.
The next morning, our neighbors woke up to find the note below on their front door and the dozen eggs in their yard. We loved doing this. The neighbors were so thrilled to get it that they did it for two other neighbors. I am glad we could do a fun service for someone and get rid of all that pinata candy from Tommy's birthday party. Next year we might do a spiritual one with resurrection eggs for a less active family.
In order to keep Easter Sunday a little more reverent and avoid sugar meltdowns at church, we like to do our baskets on Saturday morning. The Easter Bunny is happy to fill our request for early delivery.
I love the mismatched jammies, messy hair and sleepy faces. The only candy the kids got was a giant sucker and a mega pack of chewing gum. Everything else was for playing outside or something they needed.
Joey got more toy horses.
We had a great morning opening our baskets. While the kids ate breakfast and got dressed, the Bunny was busy hiding eggs in our yard. It was different doing an egg hunt with just our family. But it was also very sweet and more family focused than the big community hunts we've tried in the past.
It was a blustery morning. But the kids didn't even notice. They were on a mission to track down every egg. We only missed two. Our neighbors found them a few days later.
Moments like this with all the kids together make my Mommy heart swell.
Easter was on General Conference weekend, so we spent a quiet Saturday and Sunday at home listening to the words of the prophets.
In between sessions we played a few rounds of dinosaur bingo and made our way to the city park to get out some energy.
I love the look of pure delight on Joey's face in the picture above. He loves to swing.
It was just the six of us all weekend long. And we loved it. The kids still have a hard time listening to all of conference, but they felt something special during the Solemn Assembly, and they are taking it in even while they sit and color or play. I am so thankful for our Savior and Redeemer. I pray every day that all of us will love Him more dearly and follow Him more nearly.
"God be thanked for the matchless gift of his divine Son." - The Living Christ
Happy Easter!
