Happy Easter!

Now after the Sabbath, near dawn of the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala and the other Mary went to take a look at the tomb.
    
And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled the boulder back and sat upon it.
    
His appearance was like lightning, and his garments as white as snow.
    
And those keeping guard were so frightened at the sight of him that they were agitated and they trembled and became like dead men.
    
But the angel said to the women, Do not be alarmed and frightened, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, Who was crucified.
    
He is not here; He has risen, as He said He would do. Come, see the place where He lay.
    
Then go quickly and tell His disciples, He has risen from the dead!

Matthew 28:1-7 (The Amplified Bible)

Living He loved me.  Dying He saved me.
Buried He carried my sins far away.
Rising he justified, freely forever
And one day He's coming, 
OH GLORIOUS DAY!

Easter Treat Idea - "Empty Tomb" Rolls

Here's a great idea to do with the kids to help them understand the reason for Easter.  I did this with my preschool class this week.


Resurrection Rolls or "Empty Tombs"

Canned biscuits
Large Marshmallows
Spray margarine
Cinnamon
Sugar

Flatten each biscuit as much as you can.  Place marshmallows in the center and bring the edges of the biscuit over the marshmallows and pinch shut at the top.  Roll the biscuit around to form a ball (like you would do to make a ball of playdough)

Place the rolls pinched side down (very important!) on a cookie sheet (I spread wax paper over my cookie sheet to make clean up a breeze!)  Spray with margarine and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

Bake on 350 for 12-15 minutes.

Let cool.

When you bite into the roll the marshmallow is gone and the "tomb" is empty.  Just like Jesus is no longer in the tomb.  Hallelujah!

FREE Weekend Activities!

Thanks to Erin at Fun With Freebies for the list every week!

 

Lakeshore Learning – On Saturday (4/23) between 11am-3pm Kids create a FREE Big Eared Bunny Basket.

Lowes Build and Grow – On Saturday (4/23) at 10am-Noon, Kids build a FREE Birdhouse designed to stick to your window.

AC Moore – On Friday (4/22) at 1-3pm, FREE Make & Take: Crayola Model Magic Easter Creatures. Saturday between 1-3pm, FREE Make & Take: Duck Tape & Floracraft Styrofoam Easter Egg.

Bass Pro Shops – On Friday(4/22) at 6-8pm and Saturday & Sunday, Noon-3pm, Make a FREE Foam Magnet Easter Egg Decoration. On Saturday & Sunday at 1pm there will be an Easter Egg Hunt for 1 hour. Ages 2-10. There will also be FREE pictures with the Easter bunny.

Jo-Ann Fabric & Craft Stores - On Saturday (4/23) at 11am-1pm, FREE Easter Make It Take It.

Michaels – On Saturday 10am-Noon, The Knack Easter Card Event FREE Make-It Take-It: Learn to make your own creative Easter stamps with foam.

Celebrate the NEW Winnie-The-Pooh movie with FREE coloring sheets and Easter-themed activities!

Walt Disney Animation Studios returns to the Hundred Acre Wood with “Winnie the Pooh.” Featuring the timeless charm, wit and whimsy of the original featurettes, this all-new movie reunites audiences with the philosophical “bear of very little brain” and friends Tigger, Rabbit, Piglet, Owl, Kanga, Roo—and last, but certainly not least, Eeyore, who has lost his tail.  “Ever have one of those days where you just can’t win, Eeyore?” asks Pooh.  Owl sends the whole gang on a wild quest to save Christopher Robin from an imaginary culprit. It turns out to be a very busy day for a bear who simply set out to find some honey. Inspired by three stories from A.A. Milne’s books in Disney’s classic, hand-drawn art style, “Winnie the Pooh” hits theatres on July 15th!

Download printable coloring sheets for the kids and check out these Easter-themed ideas:

Rice Krispie Easter Egg Treats

Thanks Brett at This Mama Loves Her Bargains for sharing this cute Easter idea!  Find lots of great Easter ideas on the blog this week!

Hidden Surprise Easter Egg Treats™ Recipe - Kellogg's® Rice Krispies®.
1. Clean, then coat inside of plastic eggs with cooking spray. Set aside.
2. In large saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.
3. Add Kellogg's® Rice Krispies® cereal. Stir until well coated.
4. Using greased hands, firmly press 1/4 cup of Rice Krispies® mixture into both halves of each plastic egg. Use fingers to make hollow center in each half. Remove from molds. Place on wax paper. Cool slightly.

A Frugal Easter Basket!

Here are the main things I've gotten for Bug's Easter basket.  Would you believe I've paid less than $2 for it all?  :)

The wooden train (Hiro from Thomas the Train: Hero of the Rails) was FREE from Amazon when I used my Swagbucks for Amazon giftcards!

The Counting Flash Cards came in the Kix Prize Pack I won a few months ago = FREE

The toothbrush plays music and was 94c on clearance at Walmart shortly after Christmas.

The football cup was 23c on the clearance shelf at Winn-Dixie a couple months ago.

Total spent on Easter basket so far = $1.17!!

Easter Egg Ideas

Do you think outside the box for Easter egg filler ideas?  This Mama Loves Her Bargains does.  She shared a few ideas with us!

Since Easter's just around the corner, I thought I'd share a few of my suggestions to fill plastic eggs that are not candy!

Here are This Mama's suggestions to put into eggs:
1. Stickers
2. Tatoos
3. Bouncy Balls
4. Bandaids (what kid doesn't love character bandaids?)