Thursday, April 28, 2011

Easter

Happy Easter.
I hope you had a great day celebrating the love and sacrifice Christ made for us.
I found a couple of cute bunnies to celebrate with.
And what do you know, they took to Aaron right away too!
Noah's demonstrating a special egg finding dance move
Once B discovered why the eggs made so much noise, he was all about finding the eggs!
I wouldn't want to spend Easter any other way!
And apparently, there's just a little bit of my father rubbing off on Aaron. I found this picture on the camera. Beautiful purple flowers that I know he took just for me, but so like my dad. LOVE you Dad!! (love you too, Babe!)

Easter Tradition

My little chefs are all ready to pass on a special recipe we discovered this year to better understand about Christ's suffering, death and ressurection. Thanks, Mom for the idea!
Easter Cookies
To be made Saturday night before Easter. Preheat oven to 300.
***1 cup whole pecans ~ put them in a ziplock and let children beat them with a wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Set aside. Explain that after Jesus was arrested He was beaten by theRoman soldiers. Read John 19:1-3
***1 tsp. vinegar. Let child smell this. Put into the mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty he was given vinegar. Read Jn 19:28-30
***3 egg whites. Add to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to have us life. Read Jn 10:10,11
***Sprinkle a little salt in each child's hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own sin. Read Luk 23-27.
***So far the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1 cup of sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesu died because He loves us so much. He wants us to know and belong to Him. Read Ps 34:8 and John 3:16
***Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 - 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Read Is. 1:18 and John 3:1-3 (note from the editor: it is important to beat with the mixer for the full 12-15 minutes or they don't come out as they are supposed to)
***Fold in the broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper covered cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid. Read Mt. 27:57-60.
***Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF.
***Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door4. Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed. Read Mt 27:65-66
***GO TO BED. Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight.
***Jesus' followers were very sad when the tomb was sealed. Read Jn 16:20 and 22
On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Easter Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. Read Matt. 28:1-9.
I think they like it.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Snow...in April...REALLY?!?!?!

Hey, Mama! Look what's outside? I thought you said the snow was all gone?
N's showing B the traditional snow dance:)
Now I think they're watching for the snowplow to come by. Yes, there may only be 1/4 of an inch, but they're still hoping for a view of the snowplow.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Your laugh for the day

Can you point me in the direction of the nearest coral reef?

Noni's visit

Last weekend, we had the privilege of having Noni come and spend a long weekend with us and we had so much fun. And thankfully, Noni brought the beautiful, warm weather with her so we could enjoy some time outside.
Our first item on the agenda: Potty Training.
Whats better than potty training a little boy? Having 2 adults to potty train a little boy.
Okay, so go with me for a second...when B was born, Noni arrived and Noah was 26 months and 3 days. Upon arriving, Noni got the notion to potty train Noah and while it was time consuming, he seemed to get it(and while she had to do most of the work since I had just had major surgery, I didn't say no).
And when we realized that Noni would be arriving this time with Breven being the exact same age as Noah had been (26 months and 3 days) we thought B might be just as trainable as Noah had been.
Uh. Yeah. Right.
He proved how different from Noah he could be! We spent all of Friday running to the potty every 5 minutes with ZERO results. Well, okay so maybe there were 2 times he went, but definitely not enough to count. And I think its safe to say Noni and I were both wiped out from trying to stay excited with him all day! (and we wore him out so much he slept an extra 1 1/2 hours the next morning!)
When he finally woke up the next morning, we started the routine all over again. Took him straight to the potty and then on to breakfast. After the first 5 minutes and the realization that he had decided the training pants were a much safer place to relieve himself than the potty, Mom and I threw up the white flag.
And let me just say that while I would love to have a potty trained little boy right now, our weekend was much more enjoyable!
And of course, what visit with my mom would be complete without a huge batch of verenika and a picture behind the counter.
Saturday, after a lazy morning and lunch we left the sleeping boys in capable hands and had some great girl time. Pedicures and some therapy shopping always makes everything better ;)
Sunday was so beautiful that we spent the bulk of the day outside. The boys are loving all the spots to dig around the house and all the trucks to fill with dirt. Something tells me that while they may not make a career out of it, construction will definitely play some part in their future.
And a future businessman of America is prepping for his entrance into the work force.
Like his big brother, he loves to keep his phone close in case his boss needs to call. In fact, I've seen him with a phone to each ear a lot lately. I didn't realize he was in such demand!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Lego creations

As I've said before, Lego's have taken over our house. I've been reaquainting myself with building all kinds of things that Noah requests. On Noni's recent trip, he requested she build a Loader and she did an amazing job! I just wish I could have gotten a picture before Noah decided to transform it into something else.
I thought you'd like to see a few of our most recent projects:)
Daddy's crop sprayer
Noah's "poop truck"
Mommy's Ambulance
with a stretcher for the back:)
And if you see any lego men with lights on top, those would be Breven's

Monday, April 11, 2011

The latest project...

So we've been working on a project the last month that has required me to live with everything from my kitchen counters on my dining table...
Can't wait to show you!!