We had such a great Easter this year. It was so fun to be able to teach Tyce and Shaylie why Easter is such a special holiday! It was pretty funny at times, too. Trying to teach two 2 1/2 year olds about death is interesting; when riding in the car at one afternoon, Tyce told me out of the blue, "I want to go to heaven and see Jesus"... So sweet and innocent, yet also a bit scary for a mommy to hear :) I tried to explain to him that we will see Jesus in heaven someday and it will be amazing, but for now, I'm happy he's here on earth with the rest of us! Until then, we can talk to him all we want :)
Our Easter celebration began on Palm Sunday. We went to church and enjoyed a young families celebration including a really neat activity involving a story and fun visuals that I will keep for years and years to teach the kids about the last supper, Jesus' death and resurrection. We also had a nice dinner and Easter egg hunt, too. (I didn't get any pictures, boo!)
On Wednesday, I took the kids to our gym for a fun Easter celebration. It also involved an Easter egg hunt, fun crafts and even the Easter bunny was there! Tyce and Shay saw a different Easter bunny at the mall a couple of weeks ago and made it quite clear that they didn't want to go near him (in other words, no pictures). The Easter bunny at the gym was another story. I think they were ok with her because you could see her face :)
On Good Friday, we had a nice family dinner and re-read the Easter story along with the fun activity that goes along with it (the activity involves 12 Easter eggs and little things that represent different parts of the story, ie. a little clay loaf of bread to symbolize the last supper, a little thorn to symbolize the crucifixion, etc).
On Saturday, we dyed Easter eggs in the morning. We didn't do this with the kids last year, so it was Tyce and Shay's first time!
On Saturday evening, we went to church. It was an extra-special Easter service because both Grandma Kathy and Papa were volunteering in the kid zone! Needless to say, we didn't have to worry about the kids having a hard time without mommy and daddy :)
On Sunday morning, the kids and Sydney were excited to find their Easter baskets:
Tyce and Shay each got a new book, a toy (Tyce got a new Playmobil helicopter and Shaylie got a little stroller and doll for her doll house), a t-shirt (the ones they're wearing in the picture below) and a new talking Thomas & Friends train (Tyce got James and Shaylie got Rosie).
After breakfast, the kids got to do another Easter egg hunt! They each got to find 12 eggs, half filled with stickers and the other half filled with organic jelly beans. This was their first time having real candy--I only put 2 in each egg, so they each got about 12 total. I suggested they save some for later, but that was kind of a joke...good thing they only had 12 :) For kids who don't get a lot of sugar, you can really see how it affects them!
After our Easter egg hunt, we went down to my Aunt Nancy's house for brunch with the Burke Family:
Faith (Nate and Stacey's daughter), Nate, Grandma Sally and my cousin, Stacey:
Aunt Joyce and Stacey's baby, Jayde:
My cousin, Kristin, and her fiance, Jake:
My cousin, Mike, and uncle Steve:
Shaylie loves baby Jayde:
After naps, we all went over to Papa and Grandma Kathy's house for a nice Easter dinner. It was a fun day full of family, love and blessings. Thank you, Jesus, for making the ultimate sacrifice for each and every one of us and giving us a reason to celebrate Easter!
