At-Home Easter 2013

I finally got around to uploading some pics, (it's amazing what a cleaned computer desk and new computer can do for motivation!) Easter 2013 didn't exactly go as we'd initially hoped. Tatum came down with the dreaded stomach bug the Thursday before, and Trey was sick with a nasty croupy cough, and fever. Come Saturday night, our little guy was still running fever, and we just couldn't risk going to services on Sunday. That night, Nathan and I decided we needed to do something at home to make sure the meaning of Easter truly resonated with the kids. We had a lot of fun planning out our family Sunday service!

 

After breakfast, we explained to the kids that we would be having church at home. They were SUPER excited and joined the planning, making sure we had every detail straight. We are blessed to have AMAZING children's programming at our church. Each Sunday, as part of their activities, they go to JAM (Jesus And Me) time. It's a super-creative time of Bible teaching, music, and fun. We did our best to do our own JAM time... complete with a blanket on the ground for our "class" to sit. We played their favorite worship songs, and added in a few from their preschool Chapel class. After music, we played an interactive Easter story we found on iTunes to make it a little more interesting.

 

After JAM time, we headed to the kitchen, where they completed their Easter crafts. To punctuate the day, we decided to decorate a cross, with the amazing message that "Jesus is Risen!," We then tied the crosses to balloons and released the balloons to tell the world the good news! (The balloon release happened during Trey's naptime- so as not to devastate the boy, who just doesn't understand why anyone in their right mind would let a balloon fly away like that!)

 

Turns out, our stay-at-home Easter turned out to be one of our favorites ever!