Easter Weekend

The week leading up to Easter was an eventful one. Xavier had an Easter party at preschool. I was the lame parent who forgot my camera so I didn't get any pictures. The teachers had the parents come and make an Easter craft with their child and then we got to hide all the eggs. Then the kids got to search for them.

The Young Women in our ward also organized an egg hunt for the Jr. Primary kids. They did such a great job planning and executing the fun activities.



First the kids sang some fun Easter themed songs and then they let them loose to fin all the eggs. At first Xavier just wanted to open them and start eating. Then I told him to collect the eggs first and he could open them when he was all done.

During the hunt a family with 3 daughters came in the gym. SInce they were late most of the eggs had been found. I asked Xavier to share some of his eggs with them. So he ran over and put one in each of the girl's baskets. I was proud of him for doing that to make them feel better about being late.


Then the girls helped the kids make an Easter picture, perform an obstacle race, and a relay. Xavier had a blast.

Over the weekend we invited our friend's over to eat some homemade pizza, frost cookies, and dye Easter eggs. Here is Gavin and Jack. Jack was born about 3 weeks before Gavin and weighs at least 5 more pounds than Gavin. He is the cutest, most solid kid I've ever met. He definitely could take Gavin down no problem and is pretty much born to play football.

Here is Lauren dyeing her eggs. She even helped make the pizza. She did a fantastic job!

The egg dyeing was a success. No spilled cups, just a few cracked eggs and lots of coloring fun.

Lydia was a cookie sprinkle pro!

Xavier requested a shark cookie. I made all Easter-themed cookies and one made-to-order shark for X-man. He's more of a sprinkle eater than a cookie eater. I caught him sneaking the sprinkles instead of decorating the cookies.

On Saturday night for our family scripture study I thought it would be fun to make these Easter Story cookies I found online. This is what we did.

1 cup whole pecans

1 teaspoon vinegar

3 egg whites

A pinch of salt

1 cup sugar

A zipper baggie

A wooden spoon

Tape

Bible

Heat your oven to 300 degrees. (Don’t wait until you’re finished with the recipe.)

Place the pecans in the zippered baggie and let children beat them with the wooden spoon to break them into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested, he was beaten by the Roman soldiers. (John 19:1-3)

Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 teaspoon vinegar in a mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross, he was given vinegar to drink. (John 19:28-30)

Add egg whites to the vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life everlasting. (John 10:10-11)

Sprinkle a little salt into each child’s hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus’ followers — and also the unsweetness of our sins. (Luke 23:27)

Add 1 cup of sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of Easter is that Jesus dies because he loves us and is born again to watch over us from heaven. (Psalms 34:8 and John 3:16)

Beat with a mixer on high for 12 to 15 minutes, or until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity of those who have been washed clean by the blood of Jesus. (Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:13)

Fold in the broken nuts. Drop by teaspoon onto a wax paper-covered cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus’ body was laid to rest. (Matthew 27: 57-60)

Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven off. Give each child some tape to seal the door. Explain that when Jesus was in the tomb, the world was dark and his tomb had been sealed. (Matthew 27:65-66)

Go to bed! Explain that they might feel sad about leaving the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus’ followers were sad to leave him in the tomb, too. (John 16:20-22)

On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface, and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Easter morning, Jesus’ followers were amazed to find the tomb was empty. (Matthew 28:1-9)

Xaver really enjoyed making these. I wish I would have gotten a picture of his face when we put the tape on the oven and I told him we couldn't eat the cookies until the next morning. He was so sad. But it was a perfect teaching moment and I felt like he really was able to understand a lot of the events of Christ's death better.