Our Easter

A while back I told everyone that this year we were doing something different.... we were not going to do the egg hunt but hide some bags with clothes...well the best laid plans. My playful husband decided late last night that he wanted to hide a "few" eggs. Total eggs hidden..166. Yes that's right for my two girls ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-SIX EGGS.... In addition to the colorful "summer" clothes bags. We were up to almost midnight trying to find new and unusual places to hide the eggs... Kind of hard when you have ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-SIX EGGS! The girls had a great time find the first 150 eggs.. I think the the remaining eggs just kind of lost their appeal....but this is a tradition that the girls do appreciate and I have a feeling they will pass to their own children someday. The girls loved their new summer clothes too. We had a great start to the morning..the Easter Egg and bag hunt and then going to Church to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. What an Amazing gift. He Has Risen! HE HAS RISEN INDEED!

Something New for Easter

We are doing something new this year for Easter and I am really excited about it. Every year on the night before Easter, Dusty and I would set out to hide over 100 eggs for our kids...mind you, we only have two girls! In the eggs the girls would find candy and sometimes a quarter or two... I came to the conclusion that Dusty and I had more fun hiding the eggs than the girls did finding them..why because the last three years I have found several eggs that still contained their treasures ... I think because of the quantity it became overwhelming...
Now that my girls are getting older and are more into clothes than jelly beans , I have decided to give them some of their new summer clothes for Easter!!! Great way to save some money... I went over to the 99 cent store and purchased a bunch of pastel colored lunch bags..for you guessed it .99 cents. One bag will have a shirt another bag a pair of shorts another bag a tennis outfit and so on... I'm going to put their names on each bag and hide them throughout our home... Of course, I got most of the clothes at Target using my 10% off coupon...

Resurrection Eggs

Every Easter my family discusses the meaning of Easter by using Our Resurrection Eggs. It's a fun way to remind ourselves of the purpose of Easter, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
You can make your own Resurrection Eggs too! This is how you can do it..

You will need 12 plastic eggs that open in different colors if possible, an egg carton, and a Bible
Each egg will have an item, Bible verse and explanation of the item that represents the Easter Story. The eggs are to numbered 1-12 or you can go by color.. You can write/type and put the meaning in each egg or you can use a cheat sheet and describe the egg after the participate opens the egg. It's up to you....If little kids open the eggs, I would have the cheat sheet..

Egg #1 A Donkey (plastic or draw one) or piece of a tree branch/leaf
Read Matthew 21:1-9 The Donkey and/or branch represents Jesus coming into town on a lowly donkey just before His death and resurrection. People were shouting Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.The people were laying branches on the road for Jesus to cross over on. (what many people don't know is that it was a common tradition for a king to ride on a donkey in times of peace.

Egg #2 Silver coins. I use a quarter and nickel to represent the 30 silver coins.
Read Matthew 26:14-16, 46-50, 27:1-5 Judas accepted 30 silver coins for betraying Jesus into the hands of the Jewish leaders.

Egg #3 Passover cup or crackers. Use your imagination- a barbie cup, a drawing of a cup..saltine crackers.. Read Matthew 26:17-19, 26-28; Exodus 12:23 At Jesus' last supper with His disciples before He died on the cross, He used the cup of wine and bread to explain His death. This was during the Passover...

Egg #4 Praying hands. You can use a picture of Jesus praying..
Read Mark 14:32-42 Praying hands reminds us that Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray with His disciples

Egg #5 Leather whip - cut a small piece of leather from a belt, bracelet..
Read John 19:1-15 After Jesus' trial by Pilate, the Roman soldiers used leather ropes with rocks and metal woven in to whip Jesus leaving 39 deep gashes in His skin

Egg #6 Crown of Thorns - take a thorn off a rose plant...
Read Matthew 27:29-31 The soldiers who crucified Jesus placed a crown of thorns on His head, so they could mock Him by saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!"

Egg #7 Nails in the Cross - 3 nails
Read John 19:16-22 Three large nails were driven into Jesus' hands and feet to nail Him to the cross.

Egg #8 Dice for Gambling - one or two dice
Read John 19:23-25 The Roman soldiers used dice to gamble for Jesus' robe

Egg #9 Soldier's Spear - use a twig or draw a spear
Read John 19:31-37 Roman soldiers used a spear to pierce Jesus' side when He was on the cross.

Egg #10 Linen Wrapping - a small piece of white cloth
Read Matthew 27:57-61 Joseph of Arimathea wrapped the body of Jesus in a linen cloth after He died on the cross.

Egg #11 Stone of the Tomb - a small rock
Read Matthew 28:1-3 The huge stone that covered the tomb was rolled away.

Egg #12 Empty
Read Matthew 28:5-8 Jesus' tomb was empty because He rose from the dead.