Our Easter 2014

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!  Ours was quite busy, but very nice.

We started Holy Week by talking about what Palm Sunday was about and doing a little craft.  Morgan was sick, so we didn't make it to church that day and I wanted to make sure the kids knew what it was all about.  They also watched a couple of their 'Jesus' movies and we started a Holy Week devotion from FaithGateway Family.

Palm branches made from the kids' hand cutouts.

We continued the devotions throughout the week and did a few more crafts.  (After doing the craft Palm Sunday, they just assumed that they were going to do a craft every day, so I didn't think it'd hurt to plan a some more!)

Jesus ascending into heaven craft.

Jelly Bean Poem that the kids made and handed out to friends.

Easter Lilies made from a cutout of the kids' hands.  We also discussed the symbolism of the Easter lily.

 

On Maundy Thursday my parents' church hosted a 'Seder Meal'.  Their Pastor wanted to do it to show us some of the Jewish customs that would be typical of Passover.  Never being to a Seder meal before, I have to say it was very interesting!!  I won't go into detail, but I have to tell you about Blake!  In our church the children have never taken communion, so when Blake saw the grape juice, he asked "Is that Jesus' blood?"  I thought it was pretty good for him to make the connection.  He then proceeded, throughout the duration of the 2 hour meal, to spill 'Jesus' blood' twice!  LOL!  It wasn't so funny for me at the time, but I could laugh about it after we left...and when he said he brought home one of the tiny plastic cups so he could always remember how he spilled them. ;-)

We had intentions of making it to the Good Friday service, but I'll tell you about that day another time, so we'll skip to Saturday.  We finished our devotions that day and went through our Resurrection Eggs.  The kids still love doing that every year! :-)

Sunday, the kids woke up and I went and threw the breakfast casserole in the oven right away so it would be baking while the kids looked at their baskets and hunted for eggs.

What the Easter Bunny brought this year.

Two very excited little ones!

The casserole was done at the perfect time for us to put together our Resurrection Rolls and throw them in the oven!  Unfortunately, Jesus (the marshmallow) never left the tomb (the crescent roll)...I'm assuming it's because my marshmallows were old.  :-/  The little mistake gave us a good laugh and the rolls still tasted amazing as usual!

We got ready for church after enjoying breakfast.  (I somehow missed the annual picture of the kids together in their Easter outfits...I only remembered when they got into their pajamas that night.)  Our church switched things up a bit this year and had an Easter egg hunt along with a carnival!  There were bounce houses, balloon animals, cotton candy, games that they won prizes at and even a little magic show.  I only know all that because the kids excitedly told me everything about it!  And from what I hear Jesus was still at the center of the celebration, which is awesome! :-) Rich said he enjoyed the service and I spent the morning in the nursery...which was pretty much packed!

We left from there and drove 2 hours to my sister's for Easter dinner.  The kids enjoyed another Easter egg hunt, shooting each other with Nerf guns and we all celebrated my niece's birthday as well.

We finally made it home about 6:30 and enjoyed some quality family time playing a game Morgan got in her Easter basket, "Farkle Around".  I didn't realize how competitive our family is!  LOL!  It was a BLAST though! :-)  The kids also spent a little time watching a new movie before bed.

And that's about it for our Easter this year!  I hope everyone had a blessed Easter as well! :-)