Celebrating Easter

Easter is upon us. We remembered Jesus' Last Supper last night at church with Maundy Thursday services. And it was good! Communion was set up similar to the Last Supper, with still/live disciples. What a great experience for the adults and a learning experience for the kids!

Here's a list of the items that the kids have been using to learn the Easter story. As we know, it is not about the Easter Bunny or chocolate.

1. Palm Branches (a symbol of victory & rejoicing, popular in Jericho)
2. Donkey (a royal transportation, used in peace time)
3. Soap (Jesus came to serve, washing the disciples' feet)
4. Silver Coins (Judas' betrayal, 120 denarii, 1 denarii equals one day's work)
5. Passover Cup (Last Supper, the wine represents Jesus' blood)
6. Rooster (Peter denies Jesus three times)
7. Praying Hands (Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prays to God about dying, the disciples are sleeping).
8. Rope (Jesus is arrested)
9. White Cloth (Jesus is blindfolded)
10. Purple Cloth (Draped over Jesus, purple is a royal color)
11. Leather whip (The lashes that Jesus endured)
12. Crown of thorns
13. Black paper (the three hours of darkness in the middle of the day)
14. Soldiers (at the cross)
15. Nails
16. Cross
17. Sponge (offered to Jesus)
18. Dice (the gambling for Jesus' clothes)
19. Spear (Jesus side was pierced)
20. Mary (Jesus' mother was there)
21. Cinnamon stick (spices for burial)
22. Linen (Jesus' burial clothes)
23. Glue stick (seal around the tomb)
24. Stone (in front of the tomb)
25. Empty Egg (the tomb is empty)
26. Key (Jesus came in to visit the disciples)
27. Angel (appears to Mary Magdalene and Mary, Jesus has risen)
28. Cotton ball (Jesus' ascension)
29. The Bible

Happy Easter everyone!

Easter with Friends

I took this picture on the way home from church, after the kids sang in church. Eden had just said "The people were so proud of me!" And we were . . . she's come a long way since the beginning of sunday school in the fall.

We met with some friends for an Easter Egg Hunt and potluck. We started out with a donkey craft for the kids.



Looking for eggs!


Eden was hoping the egg would just jump into her basket.

Classy Easter baskets, I know!

Emmet was already convincing Eliza to trade eggs.


Look at that bunch! Kobie & Kamden, Becca, Trace, Hannah, Sevanna, Eliza, Ephraim, Eden, Micah, Emmet, Hayley.

Behold He Comes!

All the First Steps, Grow Time and Power Zone kids sang on Palm Sunday. They walked in with palm branches and then sang on stage. It was quite a sight!

Here they are at the 1st service.

And at the 2nd service!

Eden was looking back at Ephraim.

"Behold He comes, riding on the clouds, let the trumpet sound . . . ." It's a great song at Easter time!

Pictures of the week, April 10 to April 16, 2011

Sunday, April 10, 2011

On the same day that Emmet showed off his tooth, they also showed the Great-Grandparents their pinewood derby cars.

Monday, April 11, 2011

New to the flock! Our 13 chicks are getting big and we've even added one to the bunch. Buzz is his name and he's the littler one on the far left. He comes to us from Emmet's classmate who bought a couple ducks and one chick. I guess the chick outgrew his welcome after a few days so we've adopted him.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Ephraim goes to Clover Kids once a month. It is a version of 4-H for those who are too young for 4-H. He enjoys it!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

My budding surgeons?!? This is the Toy Story Operation game. It was on sale at Wal-Mart for $5 and then I had $3 off coupon. Not a bad buy for $2. We've been playing it some and it's good for their hand/eye coordination. Of course, for the girls, the buzzer goes off constantly. The other day when we were playing it, Eliza was getting "buzzed" (no pun intented) and then it was my turn. The buzzer did not go off. Eliza cocks her head and gets this quizzical look on her face . . . and says "Huh, it's not working!" Ha! She thought that the buzzer is supposed to go off!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

A little cleaning and rearranging in the master bedroom.

Friday, April 15, 2011

A morning at the science center.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Here are the objects I've been using to teach the kids the Easter story. They've really caught on with the tangible objects. And then we read the verses out of the Bible, sometimes the same one for a few nights in a row, but that's okay because repetition is good at this age. We've got one more week of objects to learn from.

A day of science!

Our membership to the Science Center/Zoo expires the end of May.

Friday was a no school day.

It was going to be cold, windy and rainy.

This all combined for a great day to head to Des Moines and visit the Science Center.

We started out in the Star Theatre and then studied the space exhibits.

I had dressed the boys alike and the girls alike on purpose--easier to keep track of that way!

The power generating station was a favorite. I did panic at first because there is a sign that says the water is treated with chlorine and may bleach clothing! Aghh! But, didn't do any damage, thankfully!

They did pretty good with their rockets!

Takin' a break!

Blowing bubbles!

Jumbo legos!

Emmet built a fort. I'm hoping Eliza isn't making some sort of gang symbol?!?

This is a favorite exhibit of the kids. I tried not to be grossed out when they did their face on it. Think of all the germs!

Then it was time to go to the van for our gourmet lunch. I'd packed peanut butter & jelly, chips, apples and water. The kids were pretty excited, somehow! We ate in the van. When they were finished, I asked for the garbage (baggies, apple core, etc). Eliza just gave me her baggie.

She did not have her apple core. I remember looking at her while she ate her apple, and thought "She's doing pretty good with that whole apple." After a brief interrogation (without scare tactics) the truth was revealed that she ate the WHOLE apple. Stem, core and bottom, all of it! Um, okay. I asked her where her apple stem was and she replied by pointing to her mouth! Nice, Eliza!

We left there and went to Bed, Bath and Beyond. I had a coupon that was begging to be spent. I bought a French Fry Cutter and some spring napkins. Then it was time to do some damage at Barnes & Noble. I had two coupons to spend there! We survived the escalators (kind of scary ride with four kids!) We picked out our books and left.

It was a great day with the kids, despite the wind and rain, we made the best of it. They were really good for me and we didn't have any potty accidents (really, that's something to be grateful for!)

That's disgusting!

I've got a couple stories to share (no pictures, though). And perhaps these stories will just confirm that your family and mine are normal!

1. A story about Eden. I was making crispy chicken one afternoon. I take my raw chicken pieces, dip them in melted butter and then roll them in corn flakes before putting them in my baking dish. I love this recipe and so do the kids! Anyway, Eden is kind of helping, kind of watching. I'm a bit leery of having her help with the raw meat, etc. So she's mostly watching and then all of a sudden she . . . . . reaches . . . . for . . . . the . . . . cornflake dish . . . . and . . . . takes . . . a . . . handful of cornflakes . . . and . . . eats . . . it . . . . immediately! UGH! GROSS! I tell her to spit it out! Of course, I watched her closely for mad cow, e coli and salmonella but all is well! Wheww!

2. A story about Eliza and Emmet. We were at school for a preschool assessment for the girls and they needed a drink. We pause at the drinking fountain. Eliza is taking a drink from the fountain and then to my horror . . . I catch Emmet start to drink the water that's supposed to going down the drain of the water fountain. Yes, he was lapping it up! Oh, gross!

3. The bathroom was occupied the other evening and Emmet had to go. He asked if he could go outside. I said yes. And then I proceeded to see him go to the breezeway, open the door to the outside and pee. Uh, okay. I'd kind of assumed that he would actually walk outside but I guess he thought that keeping his feet inside with the door open was a better idea. Note to self: next time, be a bit more explicit.

And not really a disgusting story, but humorous none-the-less:

We were outside today picking up sticks in the yard. And Eliza has to go potty. I asked her if she could hold it for a bit longer and she said no. Emmet says "I'll take her potty." Ahhh, now isn't that sweet. I turn my back as they rush off. And then I turn around to see him helping her squat by the evergreen tree. Again, note to self: be more explicit or just do it yourself.

I share these stories so that you'll find humor, but realize that events like this happen to all of us!

1st loose tooth!

Emmet proclaims on Friday "I have a loose tooth!" I look in his mouth and sure enough a front bottom tooth is very loose . . . and the permanent tooth is coming up right behind it! The same thing happened to Ephraim so I at least knew what to expect. I told Emmet "This tooth has to come out today or we're taking you to the dentist Monday." The tooth was really loose, so we tried to wrap some dental floss around it and give it a few tugs. I wasn't having much luck getting the floss to stay on the tooth, so I just gave his tooth a couple of tugs with my fingers and it came out!

Emmet was a super trooper through it all! He tooth is the white speck in the bottom of the dish.

On Sunday he couldn't wait to share the news with his Great-Grandparents.

The Great-Grandparents just never know what the kids are going to bring in or what kind of stories they'll have to share from the week. Here's Emmet sharing his tooth with Great-Grandma.

And here's Great-Grandpa sharing a tooth pulling story of his own. He told Emmet to put a string around his tooth and wrap the other end around a doorknob and then close the door. To which Emmet replies "Yee-ouch!"

We don't do the tooth fairy, so instead Emmet will get to pick out a special meal. His request: Meatballs!