Focusing On Easter + Empty Tomb Rolls

I don't know about you, but if you have kids, you're probably inundated with all the commercial celebrations of Easter right about now.  My kids have several family egg hunts this weekend (in addition to ours), their school does an egg hunt, as does our community.  I understand that it's loads of fun and I'm all for it....in fact, my husband and I hunted Easter eggs until we had children!  (Imagine grown adults racing around the yard for eggs filled with money....it got physical sometimes, not to mention highly competitive.  Pure fun.)

And on the candy front, Easter candy is my number one favorite holiday candy....and if you really know me, that's saying something.  (SweetTart Jellybeans & Robin Eggs both kill my eating habits.)  But I feel like I have to closely monitor my children's intake of it all.  Sweets, sweets, and more sweets.  My children come by it honestly (I mean, hello?), however, I want to make sure they know at an early age that Easter isn't all about the candy, eggs, and gifts.

As with Christmastime, the holiday can easily get out of hand, so I feel very strongly about taking every opportunity I can to remind, teach, and give my children experiences about what Easter is all about.  This past Sunday, we read the story in Matthew about both the Marys finding the empty tomb and I think our kids really thought about it, and I hope it truly sank in.  To continue to teach them about Christ's atonement and resurrection, we plan to make these rolls on Friday to sort of "set the tone" for the weekend.  It has great symbolism that helps their little spirits and hearts be touched.

(Growing up, I had never heard of these....but I hope to start this as a new tradition for our family.)

*If you're looking to focus on Easter this week with your family, there are some great resources on Pinterest for crafts, activities, and devotionals.  Also, I highly recommend downloading THIS version of "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" by Alex Boye.  It my new favorite!

Empty Tomb Rolls/Resurrection Rolls

(recipe from our RS)

via

Symbolism:

Large Marshmallows:  Body of Jesus

Melted Butter:  Oils of embalming

Cinnamon and Sugar mix:  spices used to anoint the body

Crescent Roll:  the wrapping of Jesus' body or the tomb

Oven:  the tomb

Cavity in the bun:  the empty tomb or the empty cloth

Ingredients:

1 (8 oz) pkg crescent rolls

1/4 cup sugar

1 Tbsp ground cinnamon

8 large marshmallows

1/4 cup butter, melted

Instructions:

-Separate rolls into eight triangles.  Combine sugar and cinnamon.  Dip each marshmallow into butter, roll in cinnamon-sugar and place on a triangle.  Pinch dough around marshmallow, sealing all edges.  *Make sure to seal well or all the marshmallow will escape.

-Dip tops of of dough into remaining butter and cinnamon- sugar.  Place with sugar side up in greased muffin cups.  It helps to use jumbo muffin tins so that the juice doesn't overflow.

-Bake at 375 degrees for 13-15 minutes.  Eat warm.