Hiding the Alleluia 2015 Edition

It has been a long time since I have posted on either of my blogs. I have missed it, but life has brought great busyness, with a move in the fall, followed by my oldest daughters wedding, a few days before Christmas. My hope for January was to find our groove again, getting back to a normal routine. Sadly, I lost my dad at the end of the month. Winter has been all about trying to find a new normal. I haven't felt up to doing much of anything but really wanted to get this post out about our scavenger hunt from last Easter, before Holy Week flies by. This was the second time we "found the Alleluia" and it was such a nice twist on an Easter egg hunt. Much more meaningful and engaging.

So here is how we did it last year! This time I used the Parable Pouch in addition to the Resurrection Eggs.

# 1 Egg filled with straw to represent how Jesus came into the world.

 Question/Clue: When Jesus was born they laid Him in a manger in a stable. Do you remember the town He was born? How can we find that town?  The kids realized they needed to go to our globe to find Bethlehem. The globe was where they would find the second egg and next clue.

#2. Wooden Jug from the parable pouch to represent the Wedding Feast of Cana.

Question/Clue:  Jesus performed many miracles when He was on earth. Do you remember His first miracle at Cana? Think about something that would remind you of this and see if you can find your next clue! The kids would then go to our china closet to find an egg in a wine glass.

#3. Wooden fish from the parable pouch to represent the miracle of loaves and fish.

Question/Clue:  Another miracle was when Jesus fed 5000 people. Can you remember what Jesus did during this miracle? What do we eat that may remind you of this?  After some quick discussion about the loaves and fishes The kids would then find their next egg inside a bag of goldfish!

#4. The wooden shell from the parable pouch to represent Jesus’ Baptism.

Question/Clue:  Do you remember when John the Baptist baptized Jesus in the river? What do we use to baptize babies when they are born? Where do you think you can find the next clue? The kids found the next egg at our holy water font.

#5. The Donkey from the Resurrection Eggs.

Question/Clue:  When Jesus went back to Jerusalem He came in on a donkey.  What do we have that reminds you of where donkey’s live?  The kids had to find the next egg with their play farm toys.

#6. The Cup from the Resurrection Eggs.

Question/Clue: Think about The Last Supper. What did Jesus give us that night and why? After discussing the Eucharist and that Jesus is the Bread of Life and that the main ingredient in bread is flour, the kids found the next egg in our bag of flour.

#7. The wooden cross from the parable pouch.

Question/Clue:  Jesus was condemned to death. As He walked the long road to Calvary He fell trying to carry His cross THREE times. What do we do when you fall? The next egg was found where we keep our Band-Aids.

#8. The cloth from the Resurrection Eggs to represent the cloth Veronica used to wipe Jesus’ face.

 Question/Clue:  Veronica wiped Jesus’ face during His walk to Calvary. Where do we keep things she may have used? Go there for your next clue. The kids found the next clue in a linen closet.

#9. Nails and rock from the Resurrection Eggs.

Question/Clue:  After Jesus finally made it to the top of the hill they crucified Him and He died. A man named Joseph took him to be buried in a tomb. Where do you think you can find your next clue? The girls found their next clue in the open, empty tomb in the Resurrection Garden we made the day before.

#10. A note in the empty tomb.

Question/Clue:  When the women went to the tomb on Easter morning to anoint the body they found the tomb empty. And angel was there and asked why they were looking for the living among the dead. Do you know what this means? Do you remember what we should say to celebrate that Jesus is Risen?!! What did we use as a “tomb” this morning? Go there to find something special! We used the oven as a “tomb” for our Resurrection rolls in the morning. The girls found the Alleluia banner near the oven!

 Here are some pictures of the girls putting together our Resurrection Garden and the scavenger hunt.

Blessings to you the Holy Week and Easter season,
Jen

Lenten Resources 2013

March 22, 2013
I have been wanting to share some things we have been using throughout Lent for a while now. Here I am finally!

One of my favorite things this Lent is our Crown of Thorns that I found at Waltzing Matilda. (Jessica at Shower of Roses led me there and was the inspiration behind the purple candle). I thought it was such a beautiful piece to use as a reminder of what Jesus did for us, but I loved it even more when I read this, "The idea is that the thorns represent Our Lord's many pains and sufferings for our salvation. When we make a sacrifice or offer an extra prayer, we remove a thorn hoping in some small way that our sacrifice will help make amends for the sins that caused the suffering Our Precious Lord endured." I was really touched by that and created our crown of thorns right away. Here it is! (directions are on the site I mentioned)

Here are some other things we have been doing...

On Sunday nights we have been trying to do a family Rosary and watch a DVD from our Catholicism Series collection, pictured below. Father Barron explains things about our faith beautifully. The other books are just a few I have pulled out. Little Rose of Sharon is a touching story of sacrifice. One of my favorites!

We have also been working on creating Stations of The Cross from the kit pictured below.

You can find the kit here at Illuminated Ink.

We have enjoyed working on them. They take a lot of time and we have only made 4 so far. I'm hoping to finish over the weekend or at least before Holy Week is finished!

Here are the four we have completed!

I cannot believe Lent is almost gone. I pray as we go into Holy Week that we can all be touched in a special way, by what Our God has done for us.
God bless,
Jen