You are my Sunshine

As I've mentioned before, I'm a sucker for hand print crafts. :-) Here's a sunny example:



Then C made my day by writing her name! We've been working on individual letters for a while, but this is the first time she (completely on her own initiative) wrote her entire name by herself.





Now who's "beaming" with pride?

Sun Catchers

I'd seen this idea, here, and have been saving it for a rainy day. Today certainly qualifies!


Can you tell what E's favorite color is? She picked and placed every single one herself.

Easter Events

We were so blessed to have my parents here for Easter this year.


Doug and Dad were pretty much down in the basement for most of the visit, working on the laundry room. C even got in a little painting action:


Mom helped me keep the girls occupied and had fun with some Easter craftiness:




This was the first year I let the girls dye eggs. (Thanks to two free kits from CVS!) They really enjoyed it. E spent a LONG time just moving the eggs from one spot to another.



On Easter Sunday, we had an egg hunt outdoors, and both girls were very into it. So much fun!




They got Easter presents from both sets of grandparents and mommy and daddy. For many weeks now, we've been talking a lot about Easter and why it's such a big celebration. For E, the concept of Jesus dying on the cross and becoming alive again is not much more tangible than falling asleep and waking up. However, for C, she really began to grasp a bit more of the true meaning.

The first time I told her about Jesus being beaten and dying on a cross, she was shocked. Did I mean the same Jesus she's been learning about all these months in church? The same Jesus who is amazing and can do anything? (Except swim. She told me Jesus can do anything but swim, because he walks on the water...) She actually asked me "why did Jesus let the soldiers beat him up?" With all the stories of Jesus' miracles she's been learning, she didn't understand why He didn't save Himself. What a great chance to talk about that fact that Jesus could, but didn't. He loves us so much and wanted to take our punishment for us so we could be with Him in heaven when we die. It's a lot of big concepts for a three year old, but we're working on them. Her childlike faith is amazing and inspiring to me.

Hope you enjoyed a blessed and Happy Easter!

My Own Font

When I scrapbook, I usually use Word to type out my journaling and print it out. As I don't trust myself to write neat enough, I often like to use cool handwriting fonts, so it looks like I actually wrote it. But they say, you should write some things yourself, so your own personal handwriting is preserved as well as the photos.

Here's a great compromise I found: create your OWN handwritten font for free! Go to www.yourfonts.com and find out how to do it, too. But don't wait too long, as they will start charging for it in the near future.

Want to see some samples?

Spring Crafting

Thought I'd post some pics of a few cute crafts we've done lately:

Crickets:
C was asking about crickets, so we went online, and learned some interesting cricket facts and made a cricket craft:



Some links we looked at:
Cricket Chirping
Cricket with body parts labeled
Cricket coloring page
Cricket facts

Sheep:
This coincidentally tied in with learning about the Lost Sheep at church. We played a game where we hid the sheep, and the girls had to go find it.



Easter Lilies:
These are made from the girls' handprints. I ended up doing most of the craft, myself, but I like it anyways! Found here.


Spring Chicks:
C cut the circles herself and E helped cut the tissue paper "feathers." They both loved gluing those on!

The Easter bunny came early

and left some little surprises! At least, they certainly surprised me when I was cleaning out the garden this morning. There were 4-5 baby bunnies in the nest, and all but two hopped away. The kids have loved "loving" on the poor little ones who remained. We plan to release them in the woods across the street later today.

Keeping the Girls Busy

Yesterday I attempted to cook nine recipes for OAMC. I did get eight completed and have 32 chimichangas to make today. Doug's primary duty on these days is to entertain the girls. I found a cute craft for them to make - a photo house card. They all had fun!



After naptime, Doug was pitching in with the cashew chicken (he's the wok master of our house). So, I had to come up with some way for the girls to occupy themselves while we both worked. Voila! A homemade, indoor water table did the trick: