Again, this year, I thought about buying them something from the LDS Distribution Center, but yet again, I was late placing my order, so I decided not to do it. So, I tried to come up with something else Christ-centered to do.
On Saturday, Michael and I had put our heads together (via cell phone while he was at the store) to come up with some new ideas for how we wanted to celebrate Easter. In the past, I've put together an Easter basket filled with goodies for each child. It gets a little expensive and do the kids really need a bunch of candy and toys that just get added to the stuff we already have? Michael suggested we get the kids the sugary kind of cereal that I don't buy too much anymore. I suggested that we have them do a follow-the-clues to a special treat at the end, but that they would have to answer questions about the Savior's Atonement and Resurrection to go on to the next clue. So Michael got all the "materials" we would need for our celebration.
On Sunday morning, we had everyone sit down in the living room. Then I read the story of the Atonement and Resurrection in the New Testament Stories book while Michael made up questions to ask. Then I went and got the sweet cereal and prizes. I showed them the boxes of cereal and told them which one was theirs and that they could earn their box if they could answer a question about the Savior. They each answered their questions correctly, sometimes with help, and got their cereal and prizes. They were so excited about having their very own box of cereal and I'm pretty sure I guessed their favorite cereals: Jonathon - Trix, Christian - Lucky Charms, Nathaniel - Cocoa Puffs, Eliza - Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Timmy - Cinnamon Life, and Katie - Cheerios. The prizes were: a game for the older kids to play, a Thomas toy for Timmy, and a shape-sorter for Katie.
Church was excellent with all the talks and lessons centered on Christ and the Atonement. Eliza gave a talk about the Resurrection in Primary. It was so cute.
After church, we had a family gathering at our house. After our yummy ham dinner, we did the follow-the-clues game and all of the kids did great with their questions. Our "exercise" in the morning seemed to have been very good because they all answered every question correctly and without hesitation. I could tell that my dad was impressed... At the end they each got two bags of candy, one from us and one from Grandma and Grandpa (Katie and Spencer each got a small box of Cheerios). Scott and Linda had to leave to put Spencer to bed and the older kids (Eliza up to Jonathon) went hunting for eggs outside. Luckily, my mom brought colored eggs since we didn't do them this year. It was cold, especially since it was windy. But, it just wouldn't have been the same if the kids hadn't looked for Easter eggs outside!
It was kind of weird to have so few of us together. My parents, Scott, Scott, Linda, and Spencer came. Aaron and his family were in the Poconos this year and John and Kathy usually spend Easter with her family. Still, we had a great time! We might do something like this every year!
