Overall, I am so happy with how this Easter holiday went. I love celebrating Jesus Christ. I hope your holiday was also wonderful.

Happy Easter!

This year was the first I got to use my Easter tree, which I completed last year. There is at least one egg ornament to open each day, which holds a miniature object (or objects) related to that day’s events and discussion. You could just as easily keep the eggs in a big basket -- I just can’t resist how pretty the tree is.

Our lessons are based on the book “A Christ-Centered Easter,” and I have made a lot of additions to the great material in the book (which I can send to you if you own the book).

Day 1 - Palm Sunday

The kids acted out Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. We also discussed the Anointing at Bethany and Jesus Christ as our King.

Tyler was a very reluctant “Jesus” for the play. Adam was disappointed that Tyler would not ride on his back into “Jerusalem.”

Day 2 - Cleansing the Temple

I passed out a picture of a temple to each child as we discussed how beautiful and sacred temples are. After reading the story, we discussed what it would be like for Christ to enter our home -- what we’d be happy with and what we’d like to “cleanse.”

We sang our song for this month “If the Savior Stood Beside Me.”

Day 3 - Parables

After school, the kids made oil lamps out of Sculpey clay. I really had no idea what I was doing! It was a little tricky to get their lamps lit, and the girls were quite anxious when I had troubles with their wick. Jon and I were nervous to have these lit in the house, but it was a fun experiment.

The older kids acted out the Parable of the Ten Virgins while Jon read it.

Here is Amy petitioning Adam (the bridegroom) to let her in.

Andrew loved being an oil merchant! He got this cool pitcher along with a pouch of foreign coins. Adam wants to be the merchant next time.

We talked about the meaning of the parable, though I was having a tough day and Jon was in a rush to get back to work, so it wasn’t as spiritual as I wanted. I liked ending with the song “When He Comes Again.”

On Sunday, I introduced the “Warm Fuzzies” jar. For each act of service the kids performed, they put a warm fuzzy in the jar. The goal was to fill the jar by Easter Sunday and, in the process, to serve each other and be more like Jesus. It was fun to catch the kids doing kind deeds for each other.

Day 4 - The Passover and Last Supper

There are no events recorded on this day, so we took some of Thursday’s big events to discuss on Wednesday.

today’s miniature ornament object: oil lamp

I broke down (last year) and bought a wooden Passover set for teaching the kids. In years past I have prepared those special food items, but it took a lot of effort and most of the food was wasted. All of the kids got excited about it this time instead of being scared about having to taste each item. I’ll save that for when they are a bit older.

Wednesday’s adventure was eating a “Jerusalem-style” dinner on the floor. The menu was completely modified, of course, to fit my family’s food preferences, but everyone had fun eating this way.

I served homemade lentil soup, dates, olives, grape juice, and a new recipe for matzah (which I think is too dry, but Jon, Tyler and Andrew loved it... I’ll be working to improve it).

Andrew really wanted to eat lying down. He actually did it, though only one bite.

While the kids finished their dinner, we talked about the Passover at the time of Moses and about the sacrament. I used quite a bit from Elder Holland’s talk “This Do in Remembrance of Me.”

Day 5 - Gethsemane

miniature objects: Seder plate and sacrament cup

Thursday’s focus was on the first part of Jesus’ atoning sacrifice in the Garden of Gethsemane.

We learned about olive presses and how significant it is that Jesus suffered for our sins in the Garden of Gethsemane - which means olive press. We ended by focusing on the love Jesus Christ has for us, demonstrated by his willingness to descend below all things for our sakes.

For an after school snack, I tried making homemade cheese crackers -- another bust. They looked cute anyway.

We ate a dinner of broiled fish and broccoli -- trying to stick with the times somewhat.

Day 6 - Jesus’ Trial and Crucifixion

We had twelve eggs to open on Good Friday! It was such a busy day that we did this lesson on Saturday morning.

Friday has the bulk of the events, from the betrayal of Jesus Christ to His burial in the tomb. The kids are already sharp about what each symbol represents and know the stories behind them, but they love discussing them and passing around the objects.

Day 7 - Saturday (The Jewish Sabbath)

Saturday night, (using the white finger puppet) we reviewed what happens to our spirits and bodies when we die:

When we are born, our spirits enter our bodies. Both our bodies and spirits are alive while we live on earth. When our bodies die, our spirits go to the Spirit World and our bodies stay on earth until the resurrection.

This Roman soldier is my favorite - isn’t it cute?!

Day 8 - Easter Sunday - The Resurrection

Easter morning, for scripture study, Andrew opened our last egg to find that it was empty, representing the empty tomb. We read the accounts in the New Testament of the women finding the tomb empty and Jesus appearing to Mary and then to His disciples.

We sang “Jesus Has Risen” and “I Know that My Redeemer Lives”

spices, Roman soldier, finger puppet

We talked about what happened to Jesus’ spirit when his body died: He went to the Spirit World. We discussed the vision President Joseph F. Smith had of the spirits in the Spirit World awaiting Jesus’ coming and what happened while he was there.

We also talked about the women preparing spices for  Jesus’ body and the Roman soldiers set as a watch to make sure no one stole Jesus’ body from the tomb.

We dyed Easter eggs on Saturday and I recruited some amazing helpers in preparing the house for Easter Sunday. Natalie is a great vacuumer and Amy loves to iron, so I gave her the napkins to press. They were also awesome on Sunday, setting the tables and such.

Right before church, I took individual shots of the kids. We had to wake up Tyler from his nap to get him ready for church - hence the stunned look.

Jon played his cello in our ward orchestra for the beautiful Easter program.

Here is what Tyler was like after church.

Easter morning felt like Christmas! The kids lined up on the stairs waiting for us to get ready while their baskets each occupied a cushion on the couch.

I color-code the kids’ eggs, so Jon can hide them according to their abilities. Jon is the best Easter egg hider! I laughed at the creative places he put them.

I don’t put much candy in the kids’ eggs or baskets. I distribute (religious) puzzles in their eggs along with a jelly bean or two in each egg. They had one plastic egg with chocolate candy inside in their basket. Other items included temple pictures for their rooms, Knights of Right and Believe and You’re There books, a CTR ring (for Andrew), new mini scripture cases (for Adam & Andrew), journals, a Living Scriptures DVD, a passport to the Utah temples, Faith Bandz (instead of Silly Bandz), an Armor of God game, a new tie, squirt guns, homemade play dough, a Cheetos “carrot,” Hot Wheels, clothes and homemade bracelets (for the girls), a cool bouncy ball (Tyler), brushes (girls), new flossers and mouth wash. I guess I try to compensate for the lack of candy! The kids were thrilled with all of it, so I was very happy.

For breakfast we ate cinnamon rolls shaped like the empty tomb (marshmallow baked inside).

Most of Jon’s family joined us for a lovely Easter dinner of ham, potatoes, stuffing, asparagus, beans, rolls and fruit salad. We topped it off with some lemon ice cream pie. Mmmmmm.

the kids’ counter and Natalie & Eric’s table

Jon’s aunt Myrna and husband Vaughn stopped by for a quick visit. They report to the MTC this Wednesday for their second mission - this time to Italy (where Myrna served her mission). They seemed to be just glowing to me.

Myrna’s maiden name was South and she married Vaughn North - what a cool name change, eh?!

Gary and Tyler

Tess is quite the kid-magnet!

Candy-Man-Gary had those kids wrapped around his finger!

The kids reporting for cleaning duty (military-style). Andrew South stepped aside momentarily for sergeant-Tyler to take a turn giving orders.

Gary & M’Jean stayed a little longer, which was super nice for us - a little late for them.

I bought these sets from Oriental Trading: Palm Sunday and The Resurrection. In the middle, the symbol for the day is displayed on a pedestal. The kids love these! Tyler smiles huge, points to it and says “Shee” and signs “Jesus.”

Decor

I make sure that my decorations reflect the true meaning of the holiday, so they are centered around Christ. (We do have lots of bunnies in our library.)

Left: Easter lilies and a picture of Christ. The easel displays the picture from the day’s lesson, then I add it to the wall (right) for the week’s timeline of events.

I love singing with the kids each day as part of our Easter devotionals.

Visiting with family was really enjoyable.

I made challah later in the week. Yum!

Thanks to 11:00 church I had time to do the girls’ hair as special as I could manage.