Easter kinda snuck up on me a little this year. I wasn't feeling so hot. But decided that after putting so much effort into April Fool's I had better go out of my way to do something for Easter. Since that is MUCH more important to us and our faith than playing pranks is.
We started out at Oma's house for our tradition of decorating eggs. Oma is fabulous and had it all set up and ready for us. Olive joined in this year. And it seems so funny that Jesse boy will be diving into the action next year! They each got their own bowl with 6 eggs to decorate with crayons, food coloring and stickers all ready.
Jesse was so happy just watching :) And eating. Of course.
Busy little beavers. Lots of concentration and not many words
Finished products!
The kids had a blast!
The kids were super excited to do the resurrection rolls again :)
The kids have done this 3 years in a row now. The marshmallow represents Jesus, the melted butter, sugar and cinnamon represent the oil and spices they used to prepare the body for burial, and the pastry that we rolled it all in represented the burial clothes. After putting the rolls in the oven or "grave". When we opened the rolls we saw that Jesus had risen.
*I had to make a note that this isn't entirely accurate in that Jesus' body hadn't actually been prepped for burial other than being wrapped in cloths. They had come to do that when they found the grave empty. But anyway. The kids love it and it is pretty nummy!
Then on Easter Sunday we were back at Opa and Oma's house for Easter lunch. Opa always hides the eggs and then we eat egg sandwiches for lunch. Thanks Meg for these photos!
Then we went home and the kids got to open their special Easter baskets from Auntie Angela :) Such a great photo of this crew!
I took the kids to the park and B stayed home with Tommy. Tommy has been struggling a lot with nightmares and wakes nearly every night in tears and crawls into bed with us. Poor buddy is so sad and not sleeping well which leads to not enough sleep and even more problems! It's been a very long couple of weeks. If you think of us please pray for patience and grace as we try and deal with him in his overtired, cranky and not-mature-enough-to-handle-his-emotions state. Things are starting to get better sleep-wise. But we're a few weeks down this path now and we're all a little over it and are running low on compassion and grace!
But the other kids and I had a fun time :) Maria and Esther have had such a hard time with monkey bars but are getting better. I think Esther is able to do 2 and Maria 5. This is huge for them!
Danny just loves exploring :)
Jesse is starting to love the play ground as well.
I got a couple of these loves on the slide :) Sad to be missing Tom. But we'll try again
I did this hair style for Maria that Jennifer showed me. It fell out quite a bit but still is pretty neat :)
Then on Monday I decided to continue on with learning about Easter. I filled these little eggs with Bible verses and hid them in the living room. They each had a number on them.
Once we had found all 12 eggs I showed them this "Treasure Map" I drew. No judging. I drew it in about 3 minutes with a screaming baby and uber cranky toddler demanding attention! Not that it would have been any better had I not been distracted ;p
We started at the front of the house. And at each number on the map I had placed a little covered container with a number that matched an egg and the number on the map; starting with #1
I wish I had a link to where I found these verse, numbers and ideas to share. I thought I copied the link but didn't. I have searched for it 3 times now and still can't find it. It was so handy as I just printed off the list of verses, cut them into strips, folded them up and put them in the eggs. Finding items was an idea I found elsewhere. I did go a little overboard and put ideas from 3 different people together to maker up this hunt. It was a lot more work than I had anticipated but I feel like the kids really got it! So egg #1:
(Matthew 21:9
And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”)
Maria read most of the verses. The kids listened and then opened the container. In this one I had put a little toy horse. I didn't have a mule or donkey (As that's what Jesus was riding when this happened) . But they got the picture.
You totally can't see the horse as my photographer skills are lacking. So just enjoy this pic of Tommy instead :)
Then it was Danny's turn to follow the map to container #2
(Matthew 26:39
And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”)
I didn't have an item for this verse so I just used a picture of praying hands.
I didn't know it but Uncle Dean cut down the tree that I had drawn on the map so Esther got a little confused. Dean was awesome and just worked around us :)
(Matthew 26:14-15
Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?” And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him. From then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus. )
For this one I placed coins in the container. I was not expecting the visuals to be so great! The kids just stared at them and the lesson sunk in So well!
(Mark 15:15
Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.)
In this container I had a picture of a whip to show that they had whipped Jesus.
(Matthew 26:26-28
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.)
I put a small Lego cup in the container for this one.
( Matthew 27:29
and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said.)
You can just see the look on Daniel's face as we talked about how they had made a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head. Sometimes we get a little *too* used to a story and need a visual to remind us of what happened and to see with fresh eyes.
(Matthew 27:31
After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him. ) There were nails in this container to show how they nailed Jesus to the cross. I think this was the most shocking to them, I think. The extent of His suffering was quite apparent.
(Matthew 27:59
Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth)
( Matthew 27:35
And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots.)
( Matthew 27:66
So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.)
(John 19:34
But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.)
I felt like these were in an odd order. But I used this to show that Jesus was actually dead when they buried Him. So that none can say otherwise. A bit of Science, I guess.
And for the final egg:
(Matthew 28:5
But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.)
And of course this container was empty because Jesus is Risen!
And for the final treasure I placed 4 containers by the plum tree. Inside I had a kinder surprsie egg for each of them and we talked about our lesson and the similarities of the story and the eggs. How we should always be searching for Jesus. How even though we don't know what's in the Surprise egg we know that Jesus is always the same and never changes. No surprises. We may lose or get bored of our toys but Jesus love is real, new every day and is forever!
That night as I was snuggling with Tommy while putting him to bed he asked me to read him a Bible story. I read him the Easter story and his poor little heart was so sad for Jesus and angry with the soldiers! He said "I want to punch dose mean guys!"
It's sometimes hard to be a parent. Maria asked me the other day. She overheard a boy ask his mom and I wasn't super stoked about her reaction. I guess Maria wasn't, either as she has asked me a few times lately. Especially when I lose my temper, run out of patience, forget to keep first things first and wind up thinking of myself too much. But I tell her that I'm living my dream. There's nothing I've ever wanted more than being a mom. And it doesn't matter who we are, or what we do, we all have hard days. And it's days like this when I decide to dig deep and keep fighting hard against wanting to lay on the couch and do nothing but knit and eat chocolate that we make progress. This was way more fun and rewarding than doing nothing.
C.S. Lewis put it so brilliantly when he said "Children are NOT a distraction from more important work. They are THE MOST important work."
And that's all I have for today. Keeping up with 4 blogs has been a bit of a struggle but I'm glad that I do even if there is less writing and more photos. This is what I can manage for now.
Thanks for reading!
We started out at Oma's house for our tradition of decorating eggs. Oma is fabulous and had it all set up and ready for us. Olive joined in this year. And it seems so funny that Jesse boy will be diving into the action next year! They each got their own bowl with 6 eggs to decorate with crayons, food coloring and stickers all ready.
Jesse was so happy just watching :) And eating. Of course.
Busy little beavers. Lots of concentration and not many words
Finished products!
The kids had a blast!
The kids were super excited to do the resurrection rolls again :)
The kids have done this 3 years in a row now. The marshmallow represents Jesus, the melted butter, sugar and cinnamon represent the oil and spices they used to prepare the body for burial, and the pastry that we rolled it all in represented the burial clothes. After putting the rolls in the oven or "grave". When we opened the rolls we saw that Jesus had risen.
*I had to make a note that this isn't entirely accurate in that Jesus' body hadn't actually been prepped for burial other than being wrapped in cloths. They had come to do that when they found the grave empty. But anyway. The kids love it and it is pretty nummy!
Then on Easter Sunday we were back at Opa and Oma's house for Easter lunch. Opa always hides the eggs and then we eat egg sandwiches for lunch. Thanks Meg for these photos!
Then we went home and the kids got to open their special Easter baskets from Auntie Angela :) Such a great photo of this crew!
I took the kids to the park and B stayed home with Tommy. Tommy has been struggling a lot with nightmares and wakes nearly every night in tears and crawls into bed with us. Poor buddy is so sad and not sleeping well which leads to not enough sleep and even more problems! It's been a very long couple of weeks. If you think of us please pray for patience and grace as we try and deal with him in his overtired, cranky and not-mature-enough-to-handle-his-emotions state. Things are starting to get better sleep-wise. But we're a few weeks down this path now and we're all a little over it and are running low on compassion and grace!
But the other kids and I had a fun time :) Maria and Esther have had such a hard time with monkey bars but are getting better. I think Esther is able to do 2 and Maria 5. This is huge for them!
Danny just loves exploring :)
Jesse is starting to love the play ground as well.
I got a couple of these loves on the slide :) Sad to be missing Tom. But we'll try again
I did this hair style for Maria that Jennifer showed me. It fell out quite a bit but still is pretty neat :)
Then on Monday I decided to continue on with learning about Easter. I filled these little eggs with Bible verses and hid them in the living room. They each had a number on them.
Once we had found all 12 eggs I showed them this "Treasure Map" I drew. No judging. I drew it in about 3 minutes with a screaming baby and uber cranky toddler demanding attention! Not that it would have been any better had I not been distracted ;p
We started at the front of the house. And at each number on the map I had placed a little covered container with a number that matched an egg and the number on the map; starting with #1
I wish I had a link to where I found these verse, numbers and ideas to share. I thought I copied the link but didn't. I have searched for it 3 times now and still can't find it. It was so handy as I just printed off the list of verses, cut them into strips, folded them up and put them in the eggs. Finding items was an idea I found elsewhere. I did go a little overboard and put ideas from 3 different people together to maker up this hunt. It was a lot more work than I had anticipated but I feel like the kids really got it! So egg #1:
(Matthew 21:9
And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”)
Maria read most of the verses. The kids listened and then opened the container. In this one I had put a little toy horse. I didn't have a mule or donkey (As that's what Jesus was riding when this happened) . But they got the picture.
You totally can't see the horse as my photographer skills are lacking. So just enjoy this pic of Tommy instead :)
Then it was Danny's turn to follow the map to container #2
(Matthew 26:39
And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”)
I didn't have an item for this verse so I just used a picture of praying hands.
I didn't know it but Uncle Dean cut down the tree that I had drawn on the map so Esther got a little confused. Dean was awesome and just worked around us :)
(Matthew 26:14-15
Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?” And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him. From then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus. )
For this one I placed coins in the container. I was not expecting the visuals to be so great! The kids just stared at them and the lesson sunk in So well!
(Mark 15:15
Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.)
In this container I had a picture of a whip to show that they had whipped Jesus.
(Matthew 26:26-28
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.)
I put a small Lego cup in the container for this one.
( Matthew 27:29
and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said.)
You can just see the look on Daniel's face as we talked about how they had made a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head. Sometimes we get a little *too* used to a story and need a visual to remind us of what happened and to see with fresh eyes.
(Matthew 27:31
After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him. ) There were nails in this container to show how they nailed Jesus to the cross. I think this was the most shocking to them, I think. The extent of His suffering was quite apparent.
(Matthew 27:59
Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth)
( Matthew 27:35
And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots.)
( Matthew 27:66
So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.)
(John 19:34
But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.)
I felt like these were in an odd order. But I used this to show that Jesus was actually dead when they buried Him. So that none can say otherwise. A bit of Science, I guess.
And for the final egg:
(Matthew 28:5
But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.)
And of course this container was empty because Jesus is Risen!
And for the final treasure I placed 4 containers by the plum tree. Inside I had a kinder surprsie egg for each of them and we talked about our lesson and the similarities of the story and the eggs. How we should always be searching for Jesus. How even though we don't know what's in the Surprise egg we know that Jesus is always the same and never changes. No surprises. We may lose or get bored of our toys but Jesus love is real, new every day and is forever!
That night as I was snuggling with Tommy while putting him to bed he asked me to read him a Bible story. I read him the Easter story and his poor little heart was so sad for Jesus and angry with the soldiers! He said "I want to punch dose mean guys!"
It's sometimes hard to be a parent. Maria asked me the other day. She overheard a boy ask his mom and I wasn't super stoked about her reaction. I guess Maria wasn't, either as she has asked me a few times lately. Especially when I lose my temper, run out of patience, forget to keep first things first and wind up thinking of myself too much. But I tell her that I'm living my dream. There's nothing I've ever wanted more than being a mom. And it doesn't matter who we are, or what we do, we all have hard days. And it's days like this when I decide to dig deep and keep fighting hard against wanting to lay on the couch and do nothing but knit and eat chocolate that we make progress. This was way more fun and rewarding than doing nothing.
C.S. Lewis put it so brilliantly when he said "Children are NOT a distraction from more important work. They are THE MOST important work."
And that's all I have for today. Keeping up with 4 blogs has been a bit of a struggle but I'm glad that I do even if there is less writing and more photos. This is what I can manage for now.
Thanks for reading!
you are such a cool mom! you inspire me :)
ReplyDelete