I know Easter was several weeks ago, but I wanted to remember a few things about our celebration this year. I felt like this was the first Easter where Josiah could really start to understand aspects of the Resurrection story, so I really wanted implement some traditions that would help him understand more why we celebrate Easter.
I made my own Resurrection eggs this year. Each egg has a symbol inside that correlates to a Bible verse and part of the Easter story. I used my friend Sarah's
tutorial here.
I did one or two each day leading up to Easter. I think this did help Josiah understand some concepts: the sharpness of thorns, the palms they laid before Jesus, the smell of perfume. But some parts were lost on him: What is a dime? What is a dice? Why can't I eat the cracker? He also looked a little disappointed and confused that there were no treats inside these eggs. Nonetheless, we'll steal be doing this in the future; it was a keeper overall.
I just had to laugh at myself about this one. These are Resurrection buns. You wrap biscuit or crescent roll dough around a marshmallow and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. The marshmallow represents Jesus (white=purity), the biscuit represents the tomb, and the cinnamon represents the spices used on Jesus' body.
I tried to explain each symbol to Josiah, but problem #1 was that Josiah loves helping me bake and taste-test along the way. So he was upset he couldn't eat all the tombs, the spices and Jesus. He had to go to time-out because he threw a tantrum during my explanation.
Finally the buns came out of the oven; it was time for the big lesson to be revealed. The marshmallow melts away while cooking and the tomb is empty! So I cracked open Josiah's bun and said "See the tomb is empty. Jesus isn't dead anymore; He's alive!" Josiah cried, "Where's my marshmallow? I want my marshmallow back. I put marshmallows in the other ones!"
Perhaps we'll try Resurrection cookies next year. I just had to laugh at myself and the whole situation. Good try, Mommy. Nice Effort.
This was from the neighborhood spring festival, and it was just another example of the high mothering hopes I had in my head that dissipate with reality.
They had this super-cute craft where you put peanut butter on a bagel on a string and dip it in bird seed to make a bird feeder.
Josiah thought this was a much better use of his craft.
The boys checking out the flamingos. It was fun to have them walking around this year and interested in most of the exhibits.
"Jack, you are too cool!"
I don't even remember what exhibit this is, but I love the look on his face when he is mesmerized.
The hats were more interesting than the kangaroos!
The train ride - the best part!
I think this was at the predator exhibit (tigers and other carnivores). He's leaning on the glass.
We stopped at the splash area to say hi to some friends and lost Jack to the water fun. I might have the only child in the zoo who actually wanted to see the rest of the exhibits rather than play in the water fountains! We did stop by later, and Josiah had a blast once he warmed up to it. I'll post some cute pics from that soon.
