He's Alive! He's Alive!

O death, where is your sting?
O hell, where is your victory?
O church, come stand in the light
Our God is not dead
He's alive! He's alive!

I haven't stopped singing "Christ is Risen" by Matt Maher all week long. True chills every time I hear/sing this song. I adore it. It helped put me in the right mindset for a thoughtful and reflective Holy Week and Easter.

On Holy Thursday, Eli and I used our lunch time to reenact the washing of the feet and the Last Supper while reading the story from our Bible.

We also made a "crown of prickers" (as Eli calls it) that afternoon in preparation for Jesus' arrest in the garden that night.

It was a very VERY messy activity...not for the faint of heart. Ha! And Jude had to watch all of the action from his Bumbo. To say he was a little miffed by the time we finished is an understatement.

Eli has added more details to his Easter story this year. We used Matt's Picture Bible from his childhood to look at the Passion story and talk about the Stations of the Cross. Eli was ready to attend the stations on Good Friday. He wanted to go and was looking forward to it. The stations were appropriately held at 3 o'clock...smack in the middle of our nap time around here, so Eli had a tough time during the reflections. I was proud of him for wanting to attend at all though.

Then it was off to the beach to spend Easter weekend with family. On Holy Saturday, we made time to dye eggs. We used crayons on warm eggs trying to get the colors to melt on vibrantly....i think i waited until the eggs were a little too cool.

They still turned out beautiful and fun. Eli learned the double dip technique...and even quadruple dipped a few.

Always so much fun! And the beach was absolutely glorious. Truly perfect weather: warm with a slight breeze. Just enough breeze for Eli's first kite flying experience...thanks to Grandpa. E had a look of pure joy on his face.

Though the air was warm, the water was still chilly, but Eli had fun splashing and running in the waves. Both boys had a ball playing in the sand. I think we've got another beach lovin' baby on our hands.

Easter morning, Eli was up early with anticipation. Both the boys seemed to like the goodies in their baskets, and Eli found a bunch of eggs around the house.

After all of the eggs were found, Eli was back up at the counter making Resurrection Rolls. A delicious and really cute idea reminding children of the meaning of Easter.

They were a delightfully tasty addition to a yummy Easter brunch. Mmmm! And we transformed that Lenten crown we made into an Easter nest.

We headed back to town that afternoon with just enough time to clean up and go to mass to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord.

I was thrilled to snap a few pictures outside our house that evening....and to get one with both boys looking and smiling. I just wanna kiss both those faces. I could eat them up! Love these boys! I had hoped to take some pictures of Jude in his basket and with some eggs like I did with baby Eli, but it didn't happen. Oh well. It was still a wonderful weekend. Happy Easter to you all!

Christ is risen from the dead
Trampling over death by death
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave
Christ is risen from the dead
We are one with Him again
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave