Give Me More Easter

a bunch of us were talking before easter about our families easter traditions and how we celebrate and prepare for the holiday.  what we realized is that we have a ton of fun ways we celebrate christmas, but easter is a lot harder to figure out and focus on.  should't easter be the deal? the big dance for those who love Jesus?  and yet, we merely wear pastels, cook a ham and call it done.

i certainly haven't figured it all out yet, but we're setting about to make it a true party.  seriously! paaaartay! celebrate!  cause there's plenty of reason to.  plus our last name and all :)

here's the first half of what we did this year.  more in a day or so...



at my mother's request, i bought an easter lily.  little did i know they were only $5 and they smell amazing.  i popped mine in a little urn i found at hobby lobby.  it fit perfectly and i kinda pushed some moss around the top to hide the lip of the pot inside.



the plant was actually grown crooked.  next time i'll look a bit more closely when i choose.  i suppose it adds character.  i'm sure there's some dramatic symbolic story behind why the easter lily is the easter lily.  i don't want to overspiritualize everything though either.  i kinda think the pendulum can swing too far in both directions, no?





we made this little ditty we found on the great and wonderful pinterest.  fill the tray with the potting soil making both calvary and the tomb.  you're supposed to sprinkle it with grass seed and it'd be really pretty and all.  just let your kids make it and don't worry about the pretty part :) talk through the story while you make it.  satisfying all around for the visual, auditory and tactile learners.  boom.












searching for the perfect stone to block the tomb.







spraying it down with water.  our grass never did grow, but then again this was one of the only times we watered it ;)





jack placed a Jesus leaf in the tomb which was no longer there easter morning.  and the stone was rolled away as well.  fabulous.



i bought the mini pots for it at hobby lobby.  they came in a six pack so to use up the rest i did this:



napkin...



moss...



egg!





and some faux spring sprigs.  i was in hobby lobby way too long.  sigh.