Easter Garden

Today's Scripture: In the Garden--Matthew 26:36-46

This project requires a little more labor and supplies than I usually like, but I thought it was such a neat idea. I put it on the calendar for Friday so that way we were not worried about hurrying to get homework and baths done! It's a great representation of the tomb that was found empty because Jesus lives! The kids will also enjoy watching the grass grow, bringing new life, just as Christ's death brings new life to each of us!!

After our Scripture reading, the kids and I read the Tale of Three Trees by Angela Elwell Hunt. This is such an incredible story about how God takes what we consider mundane and makes it great for His glory!

Then, we began creating our Easter gardens.

Supplies: terra cotta mini pot (tomb)

terra cotta small tray

small pebbles from the floral department

grass seed

one small bag of potting soil

small twigs and a large rock(smaller than a child's fist)

glue gun

spray water bottle

Place mini pot on the tray and add potting soil around it

Pack soil in and on top of the mini pot, forming a small hill

Add pebbles coming form the opening of the "tomb"

Place larger rock half covering the tomb

Sprinkle grass seed on the soil

Glue small twigs to form three crosses (hot glue works best)

Stick each cross into the "hill" behind the tomb

Spray soil lightly every day with water bottle

Watch and wait for new life (grass) to spring forth!

For the younger children who may not be as patient, you can create a simpler project! 

Supplies: terra cotta mini pot

Easter grass

popsicle sticks

Fill the terra cotta pot with Easter grass

Use a glue gun to glue popsicle sticks into crosses (You could have the kids paint or color the popsicle sticks brown)

Stick three crosses in the terra cotta pot and you have a much simpler Easter Garden!!

Nailing our sins to the cross

Today's Scripture: Jesus Cleanses the Temple--Matthew 21:12-17

At a youth retreat one year, one of the men from our church led a devotional. He was talking about Jesus and the sacrifice He made for us. During the middle of his lesson, he had us write one of our sins on a slip of paper and one by one we went up front to a wooden cross and nailed our sin to the cross. Wow! That was an incredible lesson. It really brought to life the fact that Jesus was nailed to the cross by my sins. I've never forgotten the way that made me feel. I felt guilt. I felt discomfort. I felt pain. But, I also felt free. Free from whatever sin was haunting the junior high me. My kids and I have talked about sin a little over the past year. They are old enough to understand when they do something wrong and why it was wrong. I wanted to let them experience something similar to what I experienced by nailing my sin to a cross. I want them to see what freedom feels like when we have our sins washed away, when we have our sins nailed to the cross.

Supplies:

Cork board square

straight pins

little colored circles

Sharpie

I drew a cross on the cork board. Then we brainstormed types of sins and looked up some scripture about sin. The kids wrote these sins on the cross. Then, we each thought about something that we are doing that is wrong.  We said a prayer for God to forgive those sins, and then pinned a colored circle on the cork board. The circle represents Christ's perfection. The pins represent the nails that held Jesus to the cross.

 We left the cork board in a central location in our house, so that each time we did something wrong we could ask for forgiveness and cover up another place on the cross. This really taught the kids, and myself, the importance of asking for forgiveness and repenting of our sins.  Hopefully, by Easter we will have completely covered the sin on this cross, just like Jesus covers our sins with his death on the cross.

For younger kids, you could do this fun, simpler craft!  Mosaic cross

Print a blank cross on card stock (or draw one on construction paper) and write the word SIN in the middle of the cross. Use a glue stick to put glue on the cross. Tear up little squares of tissue paper and let the kids stick the squares to the cross!! Easy and fun, with little mess!

Resurrection Eggs

Today's Scripture:  Jesus Enters Jerusalem--Matthew 21:1-11

Each day we start by reading the scripture from the resurrection story.  If you have younger kids, you might rather use a Bible Story Book and just read a page or two from the stories of the resurrection. After we read the scripture, we have craft/project time! I am going to show you what I'm doing with my kids, but at the end I will also give suggestions of things you could do with younger kids! I've done this for several years now, so we have done several different things! There are also TONS of cute Easter craft ideas on Pinterest. For really young kids or super busy nights, coloring sheets always work really well too! You can google Easter color sheets and get more options than you could ever use! 

Resurrection Eggs are an awesome way to go over the story of the crucifixion and resurrection. There are different ways to create these eggs. You take 12 plastic eggs and put a number on each of them. Then, you find little items around the house to represent each event. I have attached a list of items that are suggested for each scripture. I also created these little egg pictures with the scripture on each. I printed these on card stock and cut them out (picture below). In the past, I made the resurrection eggs and we just went through and read the scriptures and looked at the item. (This works great for young kids!) This year, I actually let my kids find the items and create the resurrection eggs themselves!! You can put the finished eggs in an old egg carton and decorate the top of it or you can place the numbered eggs in a basket to display!

For younger kids, I found this!! I am going to use this for Lila when she gets older!!

Soaking Up the Son--Easter Edition

In Sunday school, we sing Jesus Loves the Little Children. I've sung this song for my whole life and have not really ever paid attention to the words. Each of the four verses is telling the story of Easter! Jesus loves the little children. Jesus died for all the children. Jesus rose for all the children. Jesus lives for all the children. Believing those four truths is essential to our salvation. Easter is such a special time each year because it is a day we reserve to remember and celebrate that Christ LIVES! Without Christ's victory over death, we have no way to be with Him in heaven.

I love traditions, especially those associated with holidays!! Each Easter season the kids and I dye Easter eggs with my mom. The Easter bunny comes on Easter morning leaving baskets overflowing with goodies and also hides eggs in the yard. So, we get up EXTRA early on Easter morning to check baskets, hunt eggs, and then get dressed for church!  Hannah has been known a few times to hunt eggs with rollers in her hair!

 We also spend time each night in the weeks before Easter reading scripture and doing crafts or projects that put our hearts in the right place. I want my kids to always understand the true importance of Easter. Jesus Christ suffered a horrible, agonizing death on the cross to save each of us who are just sinners.  My kids need to hear the details of what Christ did for them so that they fully understand what a sacrifice He made for us. I have created a daily list of scriptures and projects for us to do together. I usually start a week early, so that if we have to miss a day, we can catch up the next day and not feel stressed.

This is an overview of our projects and crafts with the scriptures. Each day I will put instructions, examples, and pictures of what we did!

Home

Home Sweet Home. Home is where the heart is. Home is where mom is. Home is wherever I'm with you. There's no place like home. So many quotes about home. For me, home has been several different places over the years. Growing up I had a wonderful home. I lived there with amazing parents and two pretty great brothers. We were taught right from wrong, how to make wise decisions, to go to church, and many other important life lessons. Now, home is with my family. I have a wonderful husband who really is my best friend and three precious children. Brett and I take care of our family together, combining the lessons we learned in our homes and raising our kids.

I love to be at home. Sitting in the yard, watching the kids run around. Digging in my flower beds, planting new things. If I take a step back and give myself a chance to reflect. I can even enjoy the not so fun things like laundry and cleaning. A few days ago I was changing sheets in the kids' rooms. I thought about how messy each room was, the floor cluttered with Legos, baseball cards, Barbies, and American Girls. I was angry because these things have a place and they weren't there. But, then a thought hit me hard. These rooms will not always be cluttered with toys. The kids will grow older and toys will go in the attic. They will be replaced with sports equipment and beauty products. And then, those things won't even clutter the floor. Their floors will be nice and tidy. Their rooms will stay just the way they are, because my kids won't live in my home anymore. They'll be creating their own homes.

As I teared up about these sad, sad thoughts, I realized how important my job is RIGHT now. I have been given a great responsibility by God. He has entrusted three little lives into my hands to instruct, discipline, and teach. What Brett and I demonstrate in our home will mold our children and affect their futures. I use the word demonstrate, because I know that my kids are watching what I'm doing way more than what I'm saying. From a very early age we see our children imitating our actions.

I want my kids to grow up to be like Christ. I want them to serve others, to spread God's word, to be lights in this cruel, heartless world. I can tell them that I want that for them every single day. But, until I'm like that they won't understand the importance. They will only hear me say "I want you to be a servant." But, they won't see anything to imitate. I need to become more like Christ. I need to become more forgiving. I need to serve more. I need to seek opportunities to shine.

Our earthly homes hold so much responsibility. So much joy. So much laughter. And, sometimes so much pain. But, this is not our final home. One day I hope to be in heaven with my Father. I want as many people as possible to be there with me.

At camp one time, we had a skit group come perform. One of the skits (the only one I remember) was about two friends. They hung out at school and on weekends. They talked on the phone. They sat by each other on the bus. But, they never talked about Jesus.  One day, everyone was put in two lines. One friend was in one line and the other in the other line. They were lines to heaven and hell. The friend in line to hell walked over and said "Why didn't you ever tell me?"

It is our job to go into the world and tell people. This does not just mean going on mission trips. This means telling your kids, your family, and friend. Let's not just stay tucked inside our homes living life. Let's tell people near and far about a home that's far better than anything we can imagine. Let's not risk someone asking "Why didn't you tell me?"

More Annie Sloan

My dad made this table for us when I was a little girl. We grew up around this table. We had Brownd tradition steak dinners. We dyed Easter Eggs. We carved pumpkins. We laughed. We cried, well at least Bo did when he was forced to eat green vegetables!! This table is a part of my history. As our family grew, my mom decided she needed a bigger table that would seat more. I couldn't bear to see this table end up on the curb, so I asked if I could have it. It was a little worn and had some paint stains here and there. So, I decided to spruce it up with some Annie Sloan paint! (Which is quickly catching up to hot glue as being my best friend!!) On this table I used Emperor's Silk, then I added some touches of Florence, and covered in dark wax.

My next project was Ty's furniture. None of it matched so I used Graphite and dark wax. I forgot to take a before picture of the dresser, but I did get a before the wax picture!

 Please excuse the picture above the bed, it was centered, then I moved the bed!! 

 Then, I decided to turn Hannah's furniture into Lila's furniture. I used Old White with dark wax.

My last project for now is totally stolen from a friend (I hope you don't mind;)! I took cheap bar stools from Walmart, painted them, and then painted the kids names on the tops! Although not perfect, I think they turned out so cute!! I used Florence with Emperor's Silk letters on Hannah's, Emperor's Silk with Graphite letters on Ty's, and Arles with Florence letters on Lila's!

I cannot wait to get into the new house!!

Balancing Act

I love to do a lot of different things. I love to go to ballgames. I love to play in the yard with my kids. I love to play golf. I love to water ski. I love to craft. I love to jog. I love to throw parties. But, I HATE to cook. I'm not lazy, I just don't like cooking. If I cook three times a week I feel like I have really accomplished something special!! I always joke (although it's kind of true!) that my cooking rotation always starts with spaghetti. So, I cook spaghetti on a Monday, don't cook again for three weeks, and, SURPRISE, we have spaghetti again!

My point is that we all have talents. We all have things that make us happy and things that we like to do. To be a good mom, you don't have to be able to do everything. And, you especially don't have to be awesome at everything. You can pick and choose what you're good at and put your time and effort into those things. The other things have to be done, but if you don't like to cook, you don't have to worry about making a new recipe perfectly every night! It's okay to cook fish sticks or order a pizza sometimes!! If you don't like to craft, you don't have to! If you can't sew, don't worry about it! There are very talented crafters and seamstresses on Etsy that would love for you to buy their handmade dresses and hair bows!!

Social media sites like Pinterest and Facebook sometimes make us feel like we're not good enough. That we should be able to cook picture worthy suppers and have craft time with our kids every night, make our own clothes and laundry detergent, and make a snack or treat bag for EVERY occasion.  In truth, SOME moms are good at cooking fabulous suppers, SOME moms are good at crafting, SOME moms can easily make cute printables for treat bags.

Romans 12:6-8 says, "Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness." We need to pick one thing or even a few things that we're good at and do those. It's too easy to get down on yourself because you didn't make the cutest Halloween costume or send the most creative Valentine treat! But, NONE of these things matter to our kids. We're supermom to them, no matter what! They will love us unconditionally even if the only thing we ever cook for them is spaghetti!

Even more important than our children's approval, is the fact that God doesn't care about any of these things. God wants us to have a relationship with Him, teach our kids to love Him, and serve others so that they can see His love through us. He's given each of us specific talents to be used for HIS glory, not for the approval of the world (or other moms!)