An Eggcellent Weekend

Easter Weekend is always exciting, but Easter + General Conference Weekend is extra special.  On Saturday morning we went down to the Inner Harbor where I may or may not have gone to Shake Shack for the second time in three days.  My excuse is that Bryan hadn't been yet, but really I just couldn't stop thinking about those shakes (and I'm about due for another one.)  It was fun to walk around for a while since we'd spend the rest of the day inside.  We dyed Easter eggs while listening to General Conference; Mattie cracked 3 eggs and Jilly dyed all of hers pink so... a success.  We also made cupcakes and chow mein noodle nests.  Jilly, who loves holidays just as much as her mama, had memorized our agenda for the day and kept me on task.  She also told me over and over "this is my best day!"  It was a good day, but I'm quickly learning that holiday hoopla with kids = exhaustion for parents.

On Easter morning the girls got a few little things in their baskets and we had an egg hunt at home.  Mattie is our resident chocaholic and had eaten her weight in candy before Jilly even had one piece.  After breakfast we drove to my sister's house where we had another egg hunt in her back yard.  We watched Conference and between sessions walked on a trail behind their house where we found a fun little tepee and Jillian went on the rope swing (so scary!)  We ate a fabulous Easter dinner; tonight when we had leftovers Jilly told me "This is a delicious dinner, you're a good cooker like Gigi."  Then Bryan had the nerve to tell her that Gigi actually had made this dinner- Traitor.  

Thanks to uplifting Conference messages, nice weather, time with family, and remembering our Savior I started this week in a great mood.

Easter 2014

Dying Eggs- Earlier in the week Jilly and I bought an egg dying kit and she talked about it alllll week long.  On Tuesday she asked every 5 minutes when we were going to "play the egg game" so finally I told her we'd do it in 4 days.  After that she'd occasionally run over to the clock and say "It's 4!  Time to do the eggs."  We have a lot to learn in the time department...  But when we finally made it to Saturday we had so much fun dying our eggs.

Food Truck Revisited- We had to go back to Lowe's again this weekend and there were some new food trucks in the parking lot so naturally we had to try them out.  Krush burgers were so, so, so delicious (overpriced, but delicious) and the girls loved the Hawaiian shaved ice.

Church- We had a wonderful Easter service then Jilly said the theme in Primary.  Her part was "The family is central to God's Plan" and we practiced over and over and over with a little (maybe a lot) of bribery.  When she stood up to say it she whispered something to the Primary President then stepped up to the mic and said it perfectly.  Later the Primary Pres. told me that Jilly had said, "I get a treat if I say it all by myself."  So I'm really glad we've started this precedent.  

We snapped a quick picture of the girlies in their matching dresses then threw them in the car to drive to Nana and Papa's house.

Easter Bunny- the Easter Bunny left baskets and hidden eggs at our house in the morning (Jilly got the Easter hat she'd been talking about for weeks, but then I never even got a picture of it!)  Then at Nana's house we had a delicious dinner, more Easter treats and another Easter egg hunt.  Both girls ate their weight in chocolate- clearly I am a model mother.  It was truly a lovely day to be with family and remember our Savior.

Easter Weekend

On Saturday morning we let Jilly open her Easter presents from my parents.  She got an outfit for her bitty baby, which she loves, and this dress, which was a definite winner.  She immediately put it on and started dancing around the room telling us she was "Pincess Rella."  When Bryan suggested that she looked more like Princess Strawberry he was given a dirty look and an emphatic "No, Pincess Rella."  

We drove out to Bryan's parents' in the afternoon and our first stop was their ward Easter Egg hunt.  Up until this point all of our egg hunts had involved empty eggs so when Jilly realized there was candy in these eggs she was pretty thrilled.  So thrilled that she lost the gathering spirit and chose to just open the eggs and eat the contents.  

After the egg hunt we had a picnic.  It got kind of cold and breezy, but it didn't stop us from having fun.  Jilly loved getting to sit up in a high tree with her Uncle Jeff even if it made her mother nervous.

After church on Easter we had another egg hunt, a delicious dinner, and lots of fun playing in the backyard.  I got Jilly's dress at Target and it was a huge win for its spinning effect.

Resurrection Eggs

When I was young we had this activity and did it every year as our Easter Family Night to learn about the Resurrection.  When I saw it on pinterest, I was excited to make one for us.  Then once I got going I decided to make some for the families I visit teach. 

Basically you have 12 plastic eggs, each filled with a scripture and an object to represent an event from the week before Christ's resurrection.  This year we'll hide the eggs and let Jilly find them, then go through the objects and talk about the different events so she understands them (or as much as a two-year-old can understand things like the crucifixion.)  We'll also use lots of pictures to help.  But as she gets older we'll be able to spend more time reading the actual scriptures.

To put it all together, you label some plastic eggs 1-12.  Then put the appropriate numbered statement and item in the egg.  I mostly used the ideas from the link, but changed a few things.  Here is what went in my 12 eggs-

1. When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the people waved branches because that's what people used to do when a king walked by. Mark 11:8-9 (a plastic leaf)
2. Later, Jesus had a special dinner with his friends.  A woman came and poured perfume on his head.  This showed that she knew that he was the Christ and she knew that he would die soon.  Mark 14:3-8 (a cloth with perfume on it)
3. The next day, Jesus had another special meal with his friends.  We call this The Last Supper.  Jesus said that people who followed Him should have bread and wine or water to help them remember Him. Luke 22:19-20 (a sacrament cup, you can also use a piece of cracker, but I like the cup because it's easy to make the connection to our sacrament.)
4. Jesus went to a garden to pray.  Luke 22:39-44 (a flower, but this one I'll definitely use a picture and talk more about the atonement as Jilly gets older)
5. Judas was supposed to be one of Jesus' disciples, but instead he helped other men arrest Jesus.  He did this because those men paid him money.  Mark 14:10-11 (3 dimes)
6. After Jesus was arrested, the soldiers were really mean to Him and made fun of Him.  One thing that they did was to put a purple robe on Him.  Only kings wore purple robes.  They didn't realize that He really was a King, they were just teasing Him because people thought He was a king! Mark 15:16-20 (piece of purple cloth)
7. The governor's name was Pilate.  He didn't think that Jesus had done anything wrong, but the people wouldn't listen to him.  Pilate washed his hands and said, "I am innocent of the blood of this just person."  Matthew 27:22-24 (a piece of soap)
8. Jesus was crucified.  Mark 15:25 (a nail)
9. Another thing the soldiers did to make fun of Jesus was to put a sign on the cross that said "THE KING OF THE JEWS."  Again, they thought they were making fun of Him, they didn't realize that He really was the King of the Jews!  Mark 15:26 (small piece of paper that says THE KING OF THE JEWS)
10. After Jesus died, His friends put His body in a tomb.  Later, some of the women who followed Him came to the tomb to put spices on His body and wrap Him in white cloth.  Mark 16:1 (white cloth and/or whole cloves)
11. The tomb had a rock that could roll over the opening to seal it.  While the women were walking to the tomb, they wondered how they would get the stone out of the way.  Mark 16:3-4 (a small round stone)
12. When they got to the tomb, they were amazed to find that the stone had been rolled out of the way- and Jesus' body was gone!  Then an angel came and told them, "He is risen; He is not here."  This egg is empty because Jesus' tomb was empty.  Jesus' tomb was empty because He was resurrected!  Mark 16:6

I put the finished eggs in an empty egg carton and tied a note and bow around it.  Happy Easter!