Easter Craft For Children

This is a wonderful Easter craft for your whole family to take part in. I wanted to go ahead and post pictures of ours so if you're interested you would have time to get yours ready before Easter morning arrives. I saw this idea at a recent M.O.M.S. bible study I went to and just loved it so much. So... what this is suppose to represent is the hill of Golgotha (Calvary) where Christ was crucified. What you will need to make one:

*1 large Terra Cotta saucer (the larger the better- mine could actually be a little bigger but it works)

*1 small Terra Cotta pot

*potting soil

*rye grass seed

*sticks from your yard

*stone/rock

*hot glue gun or twine/string

*flowers

*small white fabric

*something to mist the grass seed with

Tonight we put ours together. It was really a lot of fun! Sarah loved helping us and learning a little about what actually took place. I hope this project will help to provide a visual for her to better understand what Christ did for us so long ago.

I've provided pictures to give you an idea of how to put it together. We picked sticks and a rock from our yard. Daddy used a hot glue gun to mold the sticks together to make the 3 crosses. Be sure and mist the grass every day and within 3 or 4 days the grass should begin to grow.

On Good Friday explain as best you can the story of Good Friday and that Christ was crucified and was placed in the tomb. If you have a small figure of Christ... or I'm probably going to try and draw one on card stock and cut it out - have the children watch you place Him in the tomb. Explain that 3 days later He rose from the dead to eternal life so that we also may live forever one day with Him. Yay!!! On Easter morning when the children go to look - they will find that the stone has been rolled away and all that is left inside the tomb is the white burial cloths that were used to put around Jesus. He has risen!!! I'm planning to also place pretty little yellow flowers around the saucer to make it look fresh and spring-like for Easter morning. But once the grass has grown in, it looks just beautiful! This is our kitchen table centerpiece now through Easter. I will post some more pictures of ours as the grass begins to grow. :)

Here is Sarah putting out the grass seed. She can't wait for the grass to begin growing.

"Finally Pilate handed Him over to them to be crucified. So the solders took charge of Jesus. Carrying His own cross, He went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). Here they crucified Him, and with Him two others - one on each side and Jesus in the middle." -John 19:16-18

Remembering what He did for us,

Until next time...

Spring Has Sprung!

Yay! It's officially spring - my most favorite time of the year! I look forward to spring arriving every year. I just can't tell you how much so! For me, this time of year is like Christmas. I just adore all the "newness" of life that springs up everywhere permeating the air. I have waited all winter to get my hands back in that wonderful garden soil. :)

Last night after dinner my family took an enjoyable walk around our neighborhood. As we walked I could smell the scent of fertilizer coming from some one's yard. Awwww I thought... the smell of spring is here and boy am I a happy girl! It is my dream this spring/summer to start a "kitchen garden" box so my daughters can learn and appreciate the joy of gardening. This will be a challenge for me but I'm hoping to get some good vegetable growing garden tips from my father as well as from my brother and his wife who are in the organic gardening business. It is my desire to plant a completely organic garden. When I'm at my parent's house in the summer - I just LOVE how my mother sends me out to their little lettuce patch to pick my lettuce for my salad. I just know how much Sarah and Elizabeth will love to learn and keep watch of our little garden.

If you're wondering about the picture above... Aren't these little purple flowers the sweetest!?! I just love to see them appear in my front and back yards each spring. They are actually called baby grape hyacinths. When we first moved here I was so perplexed by them and decided to look them up. For some crazy reason they grow in little patches all over my yard this time of year. I actually LOVE it because they are fun just by themselves or many times I have added them to other fresh cut flower arrangements. They don't have the WONDERFUL scent of regular hyacinths but I still love them for their cuteness. :) They are one little thing I will miss about where we live if we decide to move one day.

Oh, and in case anyone is interested - my favorite source for seeds is Renee's Garden. Not only is her packaging so beautiful she specializes in heirloom and cottage garden flowers - my fav. Click here to view her site.

"Spring has sprung!", said the bumble bee.
"How do you know?", said the old oak tree.
"I just saw a daffodil blooming on a windy hill!"

Happy Spring!
Until next time...

Elizabeth

On Monday of this week I took Elizabeth to have her official 1 year baby portrait made. We had one made for Sarah when she was the same age. We had Elizabeth's made at Shane Greene Photography Studio. Elizabeth did WONDERFUL during the entire photo shoot. I was so proud of her. She smiled for every picture. :) Shane's wife Bonnie did an excellent job getting her to smile! Bonnie actually has a blog too and decided to feature Elizabeth on her blog. Click here to view her blog.

Isn't this just the sweetest! This is definitely one of my favorites! :)

Blessings,

Until next time...

Where Did The Beautiful Weather Go?

Where did the beautiful weather go? It's amazing that just a few days ago when I took these pictures of the girls the weather was beautiful, sunny, and 78 degrees. Today, and from the looks of it all weekend is a much different story - dreary, cold, and 40 degrees.
Hopefully spring is just around the corner to stay because they both just ADORE to be outdoors playing in the sunshine! :)

Despite the weather, I hope you all are enjoying the weekend.

*Just a fun little side note - Sarah taught Elizabeth how to say "uh-oh" yesterday. So, today Elizabeth has been saying "uh-oh" quite a bit. :) I also heard Sarah say the word "lucky" today for the first time. "Lucky" is not a word I say very often so I was surprised when I heard her say it. But, it dawned on me that they are most likely discussing the word "lucky" at her preschool being that St. Patrick's Day is coming up. Who knows... It's always amazing/strange when their little mouths utter new words that come from nowhere it seems. I just feel so incredibly blessed to be at home everyday with these two sweet girls of mine. I love them so much and I just can't tell you how much my heart cherishes each and every ounce of who they are.

Blessings,
Until next time...

All About Mommy - According To Sarah (age almost 4)

A friend of mine on Facebook tagged me today with her note titled, "All about mommy - according to Gracie (age almost 6). When you get tagged you're supposed to fill in your answers and pass it on to others. I thought this was so fun and cute so I asked Sarah the questions this afternoon - just curious to see what responses I would receive. Gracie, being almost 6 had much more detailed answers, but I think Sarah did a great job too.

Here are the questions I asked her and her answers exactly.

1.) What is something Mommy always says to you?

Thank you

2.) What makes Mommy happy?

love

3.) What makes Mommy sad?

crying

4.) How does Mommy make you laugh?

tickle me

5.) What was your Mommy like as a child?

pretty

6.) How old is your Mommy?

four

7.) How tall is your Mommy?

(She held her hands up in the air and made me to be about 12 inches)

8.) What is Mommy's favorite thing to do?

cook

9.)What does your Mommy do when you're not around?

clean up

10.) If your Mommy becomes famous, what will she be?

a cheerleader

11.) What is your Mommy really good at?

cooking

12.)What is your Mommy not very good at?

playing baseball

13.) What does your Mommy do for a job?

walk

14.) What is your Mommy's favorite food?

corn and cereal, and salad - (this is actually not my favorites but as I'm typing this I just realized these are her favorites. :)

15.) What makes you proud of your Mommy?

your heart and your tummy - (We talked about recently that her and Elizabeth grew in my tummy.)

16.) If your Mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?

Dee Dee Doodle

17.) What do you and your Mommy do together?

play together

18.) How are you and your Mommy the same?

best friends

19.) How are you and your Mommy different?

I'm big (Sarah) and you're tall (Mommy)

20.) How do you know your Mommy loves you?

heart, hugs

Sarah then said, "Mommy, I'm going to get you a rose." We were sitting on the patio. She brought me a pansy. She actually calls all flowers "roses". I thought that was so sweet and her way of showing me her love.

Isn't this fun? I would encourage you to ask your daughter or son these questions and see what they say. I think I will ask Sarah these questions again a year from now and so forth and see how her answers change and develop over the years.

Blessings,
Until next time...

Snow Much Fun!

Grandmommy is here visiting us this week and it has been such a treat! I just can't tell you how much so!!! :) Here are some pics from our fun day in the snow.

The girls really enjoyed the recent snow storm. Elizabeth LOVED riding the sled with Daddy. (Even Grandmommy rode the sled some.) :) Sarah LOVED building a snowman with Daddy. And, Mommy LOVED taking pictures of all the excitement! :)

Sarah loves the snow!

Elizabeth could not wait to get outside and get her hands in the snow!

"Ready, Set, Gooooo..." :)

Elizabeth was "all smiles"!

Grandmommy teaching Sarah how to throw a "mean" snowball! :)

Sarah wanted Daddy to get the snowman "just right". Mmmm, wonder where she gets that from!?! :)

Blessings,
Until next time...