We played Ring Around the Rosies for our activity and our closing song and Degen was very pleased about it.  Our opening song was "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes"–the favorite song at the moment.  We had ice cream as a treat (Colin had a burger) and it was a grand success.  It's nice to have a husband who is also a natural at teaching.  It makes the last-minute lessons good despite the lack of preparation.

Spiritual experiences with hymns.  I've had a bunch, but usually it's just me finally noticing that the lyrics actually have meaning and apply to me.  Our YW music specialist had us learn "Dearest Children, God is Near You" before the YW broadcast and while she was teaching it she said that it was the song she used as a lullaby for her babies when they were little (they're all grown up now) and that to her it's a song that says everything she wishes her children would/could learn from her.  Then we sang it and it suddenly meant 10x more to me! 

There was another time during college when a girl in my ward was hit by a car in an accident and died.  They asked me to be part of a group that sang "Nearer, My God, to Thee" at the funeral and I found that suddenly that song was nearly impossible to sing without crying because I now had experience to understand it.  Same thing with "God Be With You Till We Meet Again" that we sang at the same funeral.  I'd always thought of it as a "see you next week at church" song, not a "we might not see each other until after we die, so I'm going to ask God to take care of you since I may not be around to do it myself" song.  Then, I was singing at this funeral where this girl's parents and siblings and friends were trying to have faith and remember the Plan of Salvation and not be bitter and angry about her dying and the music helped me believe and understand that God loves us, has a plan, and takes care of us even though sometimes bad things happen to good people.  Those hymns, along with "I Need Thee Every Hour" are a big part of my ability to have faith during hard times because they explain with music (which always helps explain things better) how utterly dependent I am on Heavenly Father for everything and that everything really will turn out okay in the end now matter how bad they seem right now because He will take care of me and those I love if we let Him.

"I Believe in Christ" is a hymn that helps me express my testimony.  When I sing it I really feel worshipful, and it helps me feel spiritual when it's sometimes hard to feel the Spirit as I wrestle with my kids during Sacrament Meeting. Maybe the Still Small Voice talks a little louder through music. 

For the opening song, we'll probably do "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam."  Then we'll have a prayer.

I'm planning to take the lesson from this Friend article where they have flannel board figures you can print and cut out of Jesus on the cross and in Gethsemane, then the women meeting him at the tomb.  I'll tell an abbreviated version of the Easter story for the babies.

Then we can color Easter eggs for an activity.

Then a closing song of "Do As I'm Doing," Degen's current favorite song, and a prayer. 

I saw a cute treat where they made thumbprint cookies with frosting and pastel jelly beans as cookie easter baskets, so maybe I'll do that.

I saw another Easter lesson where they filled a bunch of plastic eggs with lines of testimony about Jesus, then gave someone the basket with the eggs and egg-shaped cookies frosted to look like easter eggs.  That would be a fun one to do with older kids who can write.

And, of course, there's my parent's awesome Passover Seder (dinner) that they do every year that would be perfect to do as an Easter time FHE for grownups.