Easter

i know that it has almost been a month since Easter but i still thought i would share some pictures with you, since it's my favorite holiday!

preparing for Easter

Palm Sunday

we began a new tradition this year.  at Christmas we always buy a real tree.  when Christmas was over, we kept our tree.  a few weeks ago, my husband cut off all the branches, so we were left with the trunk.  he cut the top off the trunk to make it into a cross.  at Christmas, we have a tree in our house to remind us of Christ dying on the cross, even though we celebrate His birth.  at Easter, the tree becomes a cross as we prepare for Good Friday and what Christ did for us on the cross.

i'm a doodler...always have been, always will be.  i love sketching things out, things that inspire me.  sometimes i do something with them, other times i don't.

this sketch made it to my chalkboard.

they are ready and waiting to be dyed.

Lent ideas

i had some requests for things we do with our kids during the Easter season.  i thought i would share it here so i can refer back to it too!

we do a bible reading each night of Lent and light our candles.

i bought our Lent wreath here several years ago.

 i found these cute printables to hang up.  each day there is a different card to to go with a bible story.

(image via artmama)

we make a resurrection garden a few weeks before Easter.

hot cross buns are fun to make...the kids love munching on them!

these were a hit at our Easter party...edible tombs!

of course there is probably a ton of ideas on pinterest, but these are the ones my family loves!

please share if you have a special tradition you do!

Palm Sunday

yesterday morning at church, the kids came into service, waving palm branches and singing. i love seeing all the beautiful faces and hearing their sweet voices as they sing.

coffee filter garland

i had dyed these coffee filters last year and never gotten around to doing something with them.
so they became coffee filter flowers that i hung as garland.

Countdown to Easter Party

on saturday, we had our "Countdown to Easter" party. every year, we have a "Happy Birthday, Jesus" party for Christmas and i wanted to do something this year for Easter that really focused on Jesus. don't get me wrong i love dying eggs and hunting for eggs, but i wanted to have a party for our kids and their friends, that would focus on the real meaning of Easter.
we had simple food...muffins and cuties.
 
we also ate these cute empty tomb snacks.  i found the idea here. we read a few of my favorite Easter stories.   The Colt and The King is a great story about Palm
Sunday from the perspective of the donkey.

after the stories, the kids went to 3 different stations to make some fun crafts.  we also had chalk out for the kids to draw with. they each made a resurrection garden, a palm branch and a cross. 
lastly, my little guy stuffing is face with leftover food.

i'm thankful for all our wonderful friends that came!

week 2 of 40 days

this week was a bit harder for me.

we didn't memorize our verses, well, the kids did, but we didn't.  busyness got in the way.

i tried to find items i would need to make different meals from third world countries.  i went to several stores and couldn't find anything i needed. so, i've decided to revamp this one.  we will read about different countries and the harsh conditions they have to live in and i will make a very simple meal to go along with it.

i did get rid of 8 pairs of shoes.  i originally thought i would get rid of a total of 7 pairs of shoes, which were from all 4 of us.  but, when i went through my closet, i found 8 pairs that i need to let go of.  most of them i hadn't used in awhile and they will be far better off in someone else's care that will wear them more often.  i really have an excess amount of shoes.
 
lastly, i cleaned out some of our clothes and took them to a friend who is collecting items in a barrel to send to Africa.

i'm still a trash digger, but getting better at it.

40 days

yesterday, was Fat Tuesday and we celebrated with our usual tradition of crepes. i also set everything up for the beginning of Lent, which begins today. 40 days (not counting Sundays) as we wait for the arrival of Easter. Easter is my absolute favorite holiday, so this time of year is always so exciting to me.

if you read my blog every so often, you know that i loved reading the book 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker. it challenges you to really examine your life and the world of excess that we live it. i read the book last summer, and really began to implement some of the things the book talks about. however, i wanted to do more and after talking to a friend about it, i decided that i wanted to really focus on implementing some of it during the Lent season, leading up to Easter.  just like Jen says, "less of my junk, more of You." Jen focus' on 7 issues of excess and so we are going to focus on how we can reduce our excess and focus more on Christ. we had a little family meeting to discuss what we would do and here's what we came up with for the next 40 days...

food
we are going to eat what we already have.  i'm going to get creative and try and use up what we already have.  i still will buy a few kitchen staples when we need them like milk, eggs and produce, but we will reduce our excess of buying so much stuff.

we will eat 7 different meals from 7 different third world countries.

possessions/clothing
clean out our closets/room and get rid of anything we don't use or need.

get rid of 7 pairs of shoes.

waste
we are going to recycle and compost and are only allowed 1 bag of trash per week.

get our garden ready and begin to plant.

use no ziploc bags.

spending
live on $7 a day...$49 a week.  this will include all groceries, clothing, shoes, personal items.  this will exclude bills, gas, trips to any hardware store (we are in the middle of redoing our kitchen, and we don't want to stop our progress.)

media/stress
keep the Sabbath- no work, no computer (emails, Facebook, etc.), no phone (texting, talking...except for emergencies) on Sundays.

daily devotion during the Lent season.

learn 7 verses a week.  my husband, my little lady and i will each learn 2 verses each per week and my little guy will learn 1 verse per week, totaling up to 7 verses a week.

i'm also going to be watching these videos throughout the next 40 days.

resurrection garden

i saw this idea in a magazine a few years back and it has been stuck in my memory and this year we finally got around to making it.

materials~ 
a shallow pot about 12" in diameter
one small pot potting soil
wheat grass seeds (soak the seeks for 24 hours before adding them to the dirt)
a rock large enough to cover the opening of the smaller pot. 

we first read one of the kid's Easter books. we talked about where they took Jesus after he died on the cross.

we went outside and filled the larger pot with dirt. the smaller pot, was used to make the cave. we used water during the process to mold the dirt into the right shape.

then we added the seeds.

our garden is growing!   easter week, we will add 3 crosses to the garden.

dying eggs

this is one of my favorite things to do during the easter season.

we actually dye egg more than once a year, just because it is so much fun!

i just love the bright colors!

bunny pancakes

i found this adorable idea here.

my kids loved them and i had a blast making them.   there is nothing better than combining art with eating!

butterfly snack

this week at preschool it was our turn to bring snack. i know i could have easily grabbed a box of crackers and fruit, but she won't be little forever and i love to make things special!

things needed:
ziploc sandwich bags
clothes pins
paint (if you choose to paint the clothes pins)
popcorn
marshmallows
robbin eggs (or any small candy...m&m would work great)

i painted the clothes pins and popped the popcorn. i filled the bags only half full with the yummy goodies. then pinned the clothes pins on in the middle.