easter recap

We had a fun and relaxing Easter weekend.  I tried to keep things simple and everything ran fairly smoothly.

We started on Saturday afternoon with egg coloring.  Both boys were fascinated by the colors.  Ned made it easier by being happy just watching and Peter really got into everything, but was good at following directions, so it worked out fine.  We only dyed a dozen eggs, so this made the activity just the right amount of time and fun for my young boys. 

On Sunday, I tried to do a little teaching about the true reason for Easter with this little book that I made.  Peter really liked the book and we we got done with the story he said, "Good Job, Jesus!"  Out of the mouths of babes, eh? 

After church, we had dessert first - Darcy's fabulous Chocolate Sheet Cake.  This is one seriously yummy cake and today I am wishing we had invited some friends over to share it as there is half of it left and I am likely to eat it all today.

On Sunday evening we staged a small egg hunt in our living room.  The boys really got into it and had a lot of fun.  I think next year I will put a little more effort into doing a larger hunt and maybe try to do it on Saturday.  The eggs were full of candy - does anyone have any good ideas for alternatives to candy to put in eggs?  I'm not against candy, I just think so much of it probably isn't such a great idea.  But, I didn't really start preparing for Easter until Friday afternoon, so I didn't leave myself time for creative thought in that area. 

In fact, I borrowed Mary Beth's idea and stitched up a couple of Purl Frogs for the boys.  I let Peter pick out the fabric and we went with two different ones for each frog.  We also used buttons instead of beads for the eyes and placed them so either side of the frog can be the top.  These stitched up super fast and were incredibly easy.  I think the hardest part was getting the beans in the body of the frog.  I used a funnel, but the neck was a little too small and often two beans would get stuck.  Next time I am thinking of making a funnel out of the top of a plastic soda bottle - something with a little wider opening at the bottom.

We had such a great Easter - everything simple and low key.  This has been a learning process for me since we have had children - I'm usually a "go all out" kind of person for holidays and at least with my children, this usually makes for unhappy children because Mom is too busy making and doing to pay attention to and enjoy with the boys.  I think we all did it just right this year.  We hope you had a fun Easter too!

Comments

[Mary]

Sounds like a great holiday! I put little pompom chicks and dimes in the plastic eggs we hid for Miss L. She's all about the surprise inside, so it doesn't matter if it's something to eat.

[lera]

Those frogs are way cute! I think it would be a great use of destashing.

[Valerie]

I put stickers and coins in a lot of the eggs this year. I've heard of some people typing up little knock-knock jokes and rolling them up in the eggs, and other cute ideas like that.

[kathie]

yes I would put a couple of coins in the eggs so they could have enough money to go buy ice cream one afternoon.
I use to put in outings....
a trip to the movies
or a trip to the zoo...
the library and then go for ice cream...
a bike ride ...
different activities they really enjoyed
and they could hand it one coupon a month. I did this as they got older 6 and older...
very little candy in our house too.
Kathie

[Phoebe]

Cheerios and Goldfish were popular at our house, too.

I think it's best to slow down. We scaled way back this year and no one seemed to mind. Glad I did it while Henry's still young so he doesn't have too many expectations:)

[Emily]

Happy Easter! About the candy, I'm looking for alternatives as well. We did do a little book and DVD. Luckily, DD isn't a big candy fan. She just likes to lick the jellybeans:)

[Mary Beth]

I love reading people's Easter recaps--so fun! I'm glad you enjoyed making those frogs too--my kids really liked tossing and catching them. I love your fabrics. And thanks for the cake link--have to make that.

[kim sue]

We have done a variation of many of the above ideas over the last 8 years. We hardly ever put candy in. She gets enough candy already - I don't think she is missing out. And I agree with one of the comments above that the kids love the hunt and the brief suprise of what's inside. Jokes would be great for us - I think I will steal that idea.

For the last few years I have stuffed the eggs for school with those stretchy animals (worms, bugs, frogs, lizards) and the kids love it.

Last year (at home) since she was old enough to read, we did a scavenger hunt with clues in the eggs she really liked that.
I saw (too late for this year) an idea of filling the eggs with the supplies needed for an art project. I am definitely going to do that next year because my big girl loves art projects.

We also use quick egg hunts in the house for study during Easter week too. We had spelling words, math facts, and vocabulary words!

At work I use Easter eggs a lot for kids to practice their speech words. Last year I bought "eggs" shaped like sports balls and use them all year. It is amazing what kind of "work" you can get out of a kid when they are having fun!

[Christina]

N. isn't really into candy that much, so he was excited by coins in the plastic eggs and we would sometimes put one or two dollar bills in one. One year we had a few $2 bills that we put in the eggs. We've also used stickers, temporary tattoos, superballs, Playdoh, Matchbox cars, and goldfish crackers.

[Cayenne]

Cute, cute frogs and a very nummy looking cake!

[Pieces]

It sounds like you had a pretty good balance. That is the hard part, I think. Trying to be super mom and go all out when what they really want is for us to just sit down. I'm not sure I have ever achieved that balance.

The frogs are adorable!

[Missy]

I think Easter is more of a time to think about the Savior than a time to be busy. Simple Easters are the best!
We just did candy this year because I wasn't with it early enough either, but we normally do art supplies in their baskets and the kids love it when they find money inside the eggs.
We had my sister over for breakfast and I made most of it the night before, so it was nice to visit and do our egg hunt in the morning with family.
Happy Easter!

[natasha]

Cute frogs! (Or, as Griffin would say, "soggies.")

[Darcy]

Glad you liked the cake! Friends over to share it is always a good idea. It's a big cake. :)