Making Easter a Big Deal

So, we are in my favorite season..

Most people I know say Summer is their favorite season..  Not me!  Although, I like Summer, with my 'see-thru' skin, it's too hot and too bright. ..and being a since-birth-west-coaster, I do enjoy the beach, but am not really a fan of sand in new places conisitently. Spring is just the right temperature, with flowering trees, a perfect breeze, and a kiss of sun. (Rolling your eyes yet?)  As everyone is complaining about daylight savings and how their schedule is all screwed up, I'm excited because it's not dark after work, when I pick up the kids and head home.  I can actually let my son play outside (which he constantly asks to do) before or after dinner (depending on when it's done cooking.. Sometimes it's even BOTH!) without worrying about a coat or porch lights.  This is my happy time!

With all that being said.. Can someone please tell me how it is almost Easter ALREADY?!?!  Thank the good Lord above for creating the person who created Pinterest.. I have been pinning away, since the end of February, onto my EASTER board.  This year, my son is now old enough to actually understand what is going on and the reason we celebrate this day every year.  You know, that bunny & egg holiday which is the most significant (in my opinion) to Christianity.  I remember my mom used to make a big deal about our Easter baskets when we were living with her.  One year she even made bunny prints through the house with flour.  ..and she worked away from home too!  After thinking and praying about all of this, I decided that being away from home & the kids all day was not going to stop me from teaching my son the reason for Easter, doing some crafts & activities, and having some fun in the process. (What was I thinking??!?!!?)

I like the idea of the Resurrection Eggs, but thought maybe next year (like most of my Easter pins) when both kids can be more involved in it, and we can do it as a family. If you are interested in doing this, you can purchase a kit (online or in most Christian book stores), or make your own.  If you are going to make your own (like I would, because buying one is not in the budget), here are a few I like:

12 Days Of Easter , Simple Easter Countdown , Preschool Resurrection Eggs , Resurrection Eggs for Toddlers , Easter Story Eggs

Keeping it a little more family (and neighbor) interactive this year, I decided to do Easter Egg Advent Activites. I'm pretty happy with the results so far..

Check out how that went!

Easter Egg Advent

After looking through a few Easter Advent ideas, I found this Countdown from kojo Designs (shown on left), which I LOVED immediately. Her's is beautiful, modern, and artistic.  She got her children involved in the creation by asking them to "think of ways we can thank God for everything He's done for us", and excited about the delivery by using bright colors, and adding a treat. Of course, I had to adjust mine a little, because I didn't already have the Metallic Window to hang my eggs from (nor the time to create one), my kids are not old enough yet (3 & 16 months) to come up with ideas outside of "get a toy" and "eat candy".  Also, I didn't want to be giving them treats every day for a few weeks when they were probably going to end up with a ton from the family.  So, I used the resources I already had: plastic eggs left over from hunts of years past in my holiday bin , stickers from my 'hoarders' crafting collection, spring colored scrapbook paper left over from my sister's baby shower, and the egg carton(s) we were about to throw away.  Below is what my eggs looked like after decorating.

I shortened ours (out of pure laziness) down to 2 weeks, starting on a Sunday, then picked which ones I thought we would be able to accomplish out of her list of 18 .  Here is the list I ended up with when I completed it (the first time.. Yes, you read that correctly.. I''ll get to that.):

-Watch the Veggie Tales Easter special.
-Make something for someone as a surprise
-Make something for old people.
-Have an egg hunt. -Read Good Friday story.
-Have an Easter treat. -Share.
-Meet our neighbors. -Read the Easter story.
-Help someone who needs it.
-Dye Easter eggs. -Open our Easter baskets!
-Give a toy to a kid who needs it.
-Make a special Easter dinner.
-Do something nice for a friend.

I wrote them out nicely,
thoughtfully choosing each color combination of pen and paper, and tried to fold them in some different 'cute' ways.

 I repeated some of course and kept A LOT of them simple.  My thinking: They are just going to open them and ask me to read it anyway.  I put them in the eggs, closed them up and was SO proud of myself when I finished the project a WEEK ahead of time!

..or so I thought..

During one of my lunch breaks, I was reading back over my list (in order to be prepared for each egg activity when opened). I realized that some of the eggs were setting me (and in turn my family) up for extra stress and possible 'failure'.

My kids and I are away from home between 10-12 hours a DAY! Our time at home consists of eating, getting ready for school/bed, and little bits of time in between. Not to mention the fact that we are taking a class at church Monday nights through Holy Week, participating in a Young Adult (Woohoo! We meet the qualifications!) group on Tuesday nights, and I sometimes have commitments outside the home on Thursday nights. I decided to make a few changes accordingly.

I made the following activity substitutions:
-Make something for someone as a surprise (not enough time)
-Decorate our window for Easter
-Share. (this is on our responsibility chart)
-Make Bunny Masks
-Help someone who needs it. (WE need HELP!)
-Do Jesus/Sin Science Experiment
-Make something for old people. (rephrased and redirected)
-Make something to send to Grandparents
-Watch the Veggie Tales Easter special. (we don't already own it)
-Color Easter Pictures

Next, I made sure any activity requiring a lot of time, prep, and cleanup was saved for the 'right' nights. Like the NERD I am, I pulled out my calendar and plotted it all out before assigning any activity to a day number.  (To be honest, I did transpose a few of them and had some surprises when opening them. Thankfully they were easy ones I was already prepared for.) You know, a 'Full-Time Lifer' has a scattered brain and has to be ready to adapt at a second's notice.

And to finish us off, the Saturday before the unveiling, I got a full (3 hour) dual-nap window (for those of you who have never dealt with small children, this is when both/all children sleeping at the same time for the allotted duration of the 'non-cranky-pants' nap time requirement).  So, of course, instead of cleaning or resting, I got a crafting bug in my brain and decorated the egg carton!

Had to tape cut and tape the two (different kinds of) cartons together.
I mean, why
would I
choose a number
of days that
the store
already
sells
PACKAGED
that way?

And yes, that is masking tape. The crafting bug does not plan ahead, it moves on a whim and utilizes the resources at hand!  But that's ok, cuz I just covered it with a 'Jesus Loves Me!' sticker.  What?!? He DOES!

Cover the top with a hand drawn Label 

 

Tape on some related Bible verses

Add the Golden Egg

 and Voila!  The kids will LOVE it!

(Who am i kidding?  They probably would be happy reaching into a grocery bag and picking an undecorated egg at random.)

Check back to see how the activities went!

Endlessly Creating..

..check back soon!