Easter Egg

We downloaded Hurricane's photos.

We found these fun pictures.

Hurricane took a lot of pictures of this one egg.

Sweetheart made it and put our initials on it.

He saved the egg and didn't want it eaten.

Hurricane wanted to keep it in his secret draw.

I didn't want the smell.

So we took pictures of it so Hurricane could remember.

He took most of the pictures.

Sweetheart wrote that he love me.

How lucky are we to have such wonderful boy

who wants to remember that his parents love each other.

Egg Roll

My parents started a tradition of rolling eggs.

After the eggs were dyed and the meal eaten, 

we'd go to the driveway and roll our favorite egg. 

 

The rules would change from year to year.

One year you could roll your egg

until the shell broke then you were eliminated.

One year we got really adventurous

by climbing the hill in the backyard.

All the boiled eggs blew up going down the hill.

We started last year rolling eggs.

Hurricane insisted they by colored before rolling them.

They dyed their eggs and called their cousin via FaceTime

to roll eggs with them.

I'm nostalgic and like to remember to build

from the good memories for our future.

Easter

Sweetheart bought me a new dress.

Hurricane wanted to take pictures more than pose in them.

After church, Underfoot has a lot of energy.

We hadn't eaten supper yet so he was hungry too.

Egg Roll

We dyed eggs and attended a baptism. 

We didn't breath on anyone because we felt sick.

Sunday was Easter. 

We were grateful for the time 

we have to reflect on the resurrection of our Savior.

We had our egg roll after dinner.

We invited our neighbors to come and roll with us.

An egg roll is when you take your dyed eggs 

and race them down the hill.

The roll turned into an egg throwing contest.

Peeped

During the day someone peeped our yard. 

This means they stuck Peeps in the front yard, 

ding dong ditched, and ran. 

The boys thought they had the best gift ever.

VBS - Dying Eggs

This was the last day.
(day 1 and day 2)

Here is the schedule that we followed:

 

Book: The Egg Tree
Activity: Coloring Eggs and Egg Roll

Activity: Resurrection Eggs
Treat: Resurrection Rolls

Video: Jesus Is Risen

Mr A brought brown eggs to dye.

The colors were very rich and somewhat sepia.

The coloring was traditional bright colors.

After they were colored,

we had the children race them down our steep drive way.

It was a tradition my family had growing up.

This was the first time my boys had colored eggs.

They enjoyed themselves VERY MUCH

and asked to do it again the next day.

This was the feedback we got:
 A child asked, "Mom...do you think we could do vacation bible school next spring break?"

VBS - Cookies

On day 2 of VBS, we did the following:

(here is day 1)

Book: In The Garden by Buehner

Activity: Hand-print Lilies

Activity: Stained Glass Pictures

Treat: Sugar Cookies
(the best recipe without having to refrigerate)

Activity: Easter Story Cookies for Friday

Videos: The Savior Suffers in Gethsemane,  

Jesus is Scourged and crucified,  

Jesus Is Laid in the Tomb

I know that decorating cookies has nothing to do with Easter.

Maybe....

 There is the sweet knowledge that

Christ did resurrect.

The colors of spring are hopeful and happy.

Each child got to decorate, eat, and take home 

as many as they liked.

VBS - Palms

During spring break, I hosted 

a VBS - vacation Bible school. 

Easter happened at the end of spring break. 

I wanted to keep our boys busy.

This was our introduction with the Easter All Week.
Each child got to cut out, paste, and explain what happened during the last week.
We also had our holy week picture wall up.

We held it over the course of 3 days. 

I made of the curriculum.

Almost all the ideas have a link to them.

We did a procession of the palms.

They cut their own palms and 

then held a parade and waved them.

This is what we did on day 1:

Book: A story from Family Easter Treasury

Activity: Palms

Activity: Easter All Week

Treat: Hot Cross Buns

Video Clips: The Lord's Triumphal Entry and Palm Sunday

Egg Hunt

To celebrate Easter,

our friends host an egg hunt.

They have a pot luck lunch.

It is usually at the end of spring break.

There are 3 quadrants.

Big children - hidden in the cacti in the back

Medium-sized children - less cacti and HOA cleaned land

Little children - front side walk and manicured yard

Underfoot attended a birthday party

but was allowed to gather before he went.

Hurricane was excited to gather eggs

 and was worried about Underfoot getting some.

I'm glad Hurricane is watching out for Underfoot.

Holy Week

Again I did a post for Jocelyn in 2011 

but didn't share the post here on my blog.

We have grown up some. 

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In our home we have a half wall that separates the bedrooms from the front room. The is half wall is like a big chalkboard for our family. We put up pictures on the wall. We use the flat part as a stage. My son used it as a the tower for King Benjamin giving his speech for scriptures one day. Since we don't have a television, we sometimes put the computer up there and watch a movie together. Last year for Easter we used the half wall as a picture time line of the last week of the Savior's life and His resurrection.

Our Display from Easter 2010

So here is a brief picture outline of what we did day by day to teach the last week of Christ's life and the resurrection. I will explain it in more detail below. The pictures that I have mentioned are in the LDS Gospel Art Book or individual pictures can be ordered through LDS Distribution. A scripture summary is given all of Christ's life with specific events in the New Testament. All the following story references can be found here near the bottom of the page. The Friend April 2011 also has a picture outline with the scriptures attached at the bottom. After I had written this post, I got the Friend in the mail.

Sunday: Plan of Salvation review and what Christ's role in the plan is.
Monday: Triumphal Entry
Tuesday: Purging the Temple and the Widow's Mite
Wednesday: The Last Supper and Washing the Disciples' Feet (Also can be taught are the parables)
Thursday: The Garden of Gethsemane and Christ' Arrest
Friday: Peter's Denial, The Crucifixion and The Burial
Saturday: No Picture. We talked about the Spirit World and Jesus' teaching. Also we read about the darkness in the Americas.
Sunday: Christ Visiting Mary, The Empty Tomb, Christ Visiting the Apostles

Sunday
We start the week by talking about Jesus' role in the Plan of Salvation. In my opinion, the whole plan came together during the last week of Jesus' life. When Jesus was resurrected, the plan came together perfectly. The rest of the plan is up to me to do what I should and to want to return to live with my Heavenly Father and my family.


We found this resource for a simple art project for the plan. It is a coloring sheet and a puzzle. When I printed it, I needed to scale back the percentage from 200% to 175% and have the sheet print on a landscape option.

Source

Monday
Jesus' triumphal entry was a beautiful fulfillment of prophesy.

Source

We put up the picture and explained that the people were so excited to see Jesus that they had a parade to welcome Jesus. We then do a parade in our backyard waving our arms and banging on instruments.


Tuesday
Jesus cleaned the temple. He came through and literally cleaned house. He also taught about the widow and her faith and what she gave was more than the hypocritical show of the others in the temple.

Jesus Cleansing the Temple by Karl Heinrick Bloch

On this day we post pictures of our favorite temples. We talk about how the temple is kept clean and is modest. We then talk about our bodies and how they need to be kept modest and clean.


Wednesday
 This is where we broaden the story. Since we have little ones, we break up the events of Thursday into two days. I am working with short attention spans not necessarily an attempt to dilute material. We share the the story of the Last Supper and Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. The healing of the 10 lepers also takes place and can be included.

The Last Supper by Karl Heinrich Bloch

We generally have a seder or a passover meal. (I will post again about how you can have your own simple passover meal later on in this Easter blog party, so stay tuned!) 


The Passover was being celebrated at this time. We talk about how God protected the Israelites that were willing to slaughter the lamb and have the blood on their doors so that the Destroying Angel would pass over them. We talk about how Jesus knew that His coming death was similar to the passover. We would be saved from our spiritual death and have a hope for the resurrection.

Source

We talk about how Jesus then washed His Apostle's Feet. We talk about how Jesus was willing to serve and love others. A discussion can take place on how service is important that even Jesus was willing to wash dirty feet of other people.


Thursday

On this day we show the picture of the Garden of Gethsemane and Christ's arrest.

Jesus Praying in Gethsemane by Harry Anderson

 We talk about how Jesus prayed for us and how he hurt. We also talk about how an angel was sent to aid Christ and that we can have Heavenly Father's help.

 We then talk about Jesus' arrest and how Peter tried to protect Jesus because Peter loved Jesus. We also talk about choosing the right and Judas' betrayal. We talk about how it is important to do things for the right reasons even when the price seems so bright and shiny.


Friday
There aren't many pictures of Jesus' trial or what happens to Him before his crucifixion. We talk about Peter, Golgotha, and the burial in the tomb.

Peter's Denial by Carl Heinrich Bloch

We talk about Peter and how either out of obedience or out of safety denied knowing Jesus. We talk about how scary it must have been for Peter.

The Crucifixion by Harry Anderson

We talk about how the Roman soldiers put nails in Jesus' hands, feet, wrists, and ankles. We get out a nail and a hammer. We show where the nail was put and put press on each of our hands. We have our boys point to Mary in the picture and how sad she is. We point to different parts of the picture and ask what is happening. We talk about when Jesus died the temple veil tore and how special the temples are.
 

Burial of Jesus by Carl Heinrich Bloch

Just before bed we talk about how the friends of Jesus raced to get his body into a tomb before the sun set and how special the body is. We also talk about how Jesus' spirit is no longer in his body. An example is shown with a glove. The glove represents the body and the hand the spirit. We talk about where the body and the spirit go. We don't talk about the reuniting of the body yet because the resurrection hasn't happened yet.


Saturday
We review all the pictures. We talk about the Nephites and how they sat in darkness and heard a voice from heaven. We also mention the sadness of Jesus' friends and Apostles. We also talk about how Jesus goes to the Spirit world and teaches.


Sunday

He Is Risen by Greg Olson

 Mary goes to the tomb and finds it empty. She is sad to think someone has stolen Jesus. She sees angels and hears the voice of Jesus. She learns that He has resurrected. She announces it to the Apostles.

Behold My Hands by Harry Anderson

Jesus shows himself. He lets them touch Him. He show that the plan has been fulfilled. We take the glove and show about the resurrection and how Christ was with out His body for three days.


This is what we have done. It has helped my older son know Christ better. We will do it again. As our children grow older we will add more.