Easter Fun With Friends

See this beautiful woman reading a book to a group of attentive kids? She is less than 48 hours away from leaving the country for a week to do ministry with a group of high schoolers. She hasn't packed yet. She has a bazillion errands to run and things to organize before she leaves her husband and kids for 10 days. But, apparently none of that fazed her because he opened her home to a fantastic Easter party for lots of little ones.

I tell you what, she's quite the woman.

Annalyse and her buddy Blythe weren't interested in sitting still and hearing the Easter story explained, so they found their own books to read. Actually, they each yanked at whatever book the other one had. Didn't matter that there was a pile of books on the table - if one had a book the other one instantly wanted the same one.

The little ones had run of the front yard and the big kids helped point out where eggs were hidden, er, laying in plain sight. Annalyse was gun-shy at first but quickly caught on to the excitement her brothers were giving and she took off running and loading up her basket.

After the little ones had their moments of fun, the big kids lined up in the backyard waiting for someone to yell "Go!" so they could be off and running looking for eggs. The boys were madmen looking furiously in some bushes for the prized gold egg!

When all the eggs were gathered, Mrs. Hostess with the Mostess had some fun Easter egg games organized for the kids. They lined up in teams for egg relays, and of course, to make it interesting, there were buckets filled with water which, of course, means both my boys ended up wet.

Annalyse and Blythe held their own in the mix of big kids. Because, after all, a good loud scream was guaranteed to get most anything they wanted!

How cute are these lil monkies? Monkey see - monkey do!

In keeping with the true meaning of Easter and reminding the kids it's much more than eggs and fun, they assembled resurrection scenes, complete with grass seeds and dirt. If a craft involves dirt, my boys like it. If a craft involves stones, my boys like it. If a craft involves growing things, my boys love it! (Although, Micah is concerned about how we will "mow Jesus' tomb because the lawn mower won't fit on the bowl?")

Thank you, Jessica, for opening your home to some loud and messy fun, and thank you for creatively showing our kids the Easter story!