the carley quest: Easter

I'm always on the lookout for good Easter FHE ideas, but for some reason I couldn't find anything to get excited about this year. There are plenty of cute ideas out there, but they all involve plastic eggs, counting down, scavenger hunts, etc. We try really hard to make Easter as important as Christmas around here, which is virtually impossible when the whole world isn't obsessing about food and shopping for the three months leading up to this holiday. But we do our best by spending the few weeks before Easter talking about its true meaning. We also celebrate "Easter Eve", making it a special night just like Christmas Eve. Having said all that, I was looking for an FHE plan with a little more substance. I saw this idea somewhere (I really can't remember where so I'm sorry if I stole it from any of my friends) and adapted it a little to fit my family and according to what I had around my house.

Our "Easter" Basket. We started out by looking through this basket and talking about each item and what it has to do with the real meaning of Easter. The kids came to the conclusion that even though it's really fun stuff, none of it has anything to do with Easter. A+, guys.

Our "Resurrection" Basket. Next, we went through this basket together and talked about each item. I had pictures from the last week of Christ's life and his Resurrection. We also had symbols of the sacrament, the stone, white linens, etc. We talked about each item and how it relates to Easter and Jesus Christ. These visuals really helped my kids understand the difference between the commerical aspects of Easter and the real reason we celebrate. It was a fun idea and so easy to throw together that I thought it was worth sharing.

And now onto all of the commercial, super fun parts of Easter . . .

A non-traditional Easter basket we put together for some friends
who are going through a rough patch right now. So easy and so appreciated.

Kyle with his eggs. I think he broke every single one he touched.

I guess Allie's hair was bugging her. I have no idea why I took out the cute hairdo
right before I started taking pictures.

We've never eaten a single egg that we've colored. That's why I only let them do about 15.

Have you ever seen an uglier group of eggs? This is what happens when I don't micro-manage
around here. But they just got thrown away 3 days later so who cares, right?

And now onto our Easter Eve celebration. Every year we do our own Last Supper. I realize that this does not even remotely resemble what would have been eaten at the Last Supper, but my kids don't know that yet. We do all kinds of finger foods and different breads and cheeses. I always throw in some yucky, flavorless things because I'm pretty sure the food could not have been all that good back then. And then while we're eating we casually talk about the last week of Christ's life and what happened at the last supper. It's not super structured or anything so the kids just ask lots of questions and we talk.

Easter morning. The Easter Bunny finally learned to not over-do it (with many threats from the bunny's husband). If it can't fit in the basket, they don't get it. USA soccer jerseys and magazine subscriptions were the favorites this year.

Finally, all of the traditions and obligations are over and it's time to go to church. It was an Easter miracle that we were ready by 11 a.m. with extra time to take a picture!