Easter is Coming!

We had so much fun in the days leading up to Easter, preparing for the big day. It actually started with Lent, as Gary lead us in a family devotional each evening. We were hoping to remind the kids of the real reason we celebrate Easter, before all the bunnies and chocolate took over. :) Lauren pretty much knew the bible stories already, but still had fun reviewing them in a new way. Jonathan didn't understand most of it, but he does still say, "He is risen, indeed!" at random times. ;)

A few days before Easter, we started the main celebration by decorating eggs at Grandma and Grandpa Lillo's house. Now that they live just down the street from us (woo hoo!) it makes it easy to do fun things with them.

The next evening, the kids and I had a little celebration when Daddy had to be gone for the night. We made "bunny bait" which consists of popcorn, pretzels, M&Ms, melted white chocolate, and sprinkles. Yummy! We watched "It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown" for our evening's entertainment. :)

The day before Easter included more fun. We dyed "glitter eggs" at home in the morning (not sure what the deal is with the head tilt).

And then we headed to a local church for a massive Easter egg hunt. And by massive I mean 10,000 eggs were scattered around various lawns, marked off by age group. We had a little extra time before the hunt began, which I used to take pictures of my cuties.

We also played some games they had for the kids and even met the Easter Bunny! Jon was not at all afraid and ran right up to give him a hug.

Finally it was time for the egg hunts, and Jon's turn was first. He filled up his basket quickly and then turned to me and said, "I'm all done" even though he was still surrounded by eggs.

Then we waited for Lauren's turn, and she also filled up her basket in no time.

As if that wasn't enough, we then came home and Lauren and I spent the afternoon making "birds' nests" to share as a treat on Easter.

And finally, the kids got some new jammies to wear on Easter night (since they needed some new ones anyway) and we put out carrots for the Easter Bunny.

Whew! All of that and it wasn't even Easter yet. That post will be coming next...