Of Such is the Kingdom

Summer!

2013-05-24T17:11:00.001-07:00

No formal schooling,

warm sun

long hours for reading

many trips to the park...

It's summer!

Hooray!

These are our bucket list items from last year, but they are very similar this summer!

What are you up to this summer?

Summer Wardrobe

2013-05-22T04:43:00.000-07:00

I love to "window shop" at Modcloth. The vintagey style is so fun and modest.

Here are a few of the items I would choose if I were building (or adding to) a summer wardrobe. Enjoy!

p.s. Find all the direct links on my Wish List Board on Pinterest.

I see walking in the park or a casual date night or maybe a stroll down the board walk in these outfits.

With those comfy shoes and that beautiful skirt these outfits could go anywhere!

My perfect summer day outfit = skirt + tee + sandals

And for the finale we have a few of my fave modest swimsuits from Modcloth. Also, I have discovered that several of these suits are also at an online shop called Unique Vintage and the prices there are less.

Oh for the days on the beach watching the kids play, reading a book or taking a swim!

How to Make a Salad

2013-05-17T05:31:00.000-07:00

I think it was from a novel about a caterer that I learned how to prep a salad. The key is TIME and PAPER TOWELS.

Step 1: Chop lettuce. Lately my choice lettuce has been Romaine.

Step 2: Put lettuce in salad spinner basket and rinse well.

Step 3: Put salad spinner basket into salad spinner and Spin (call in the 4yo to help. She loves to spin.)

Step 4: Repeat steps 2 and 3 and spin some more.

Step 5: Layer salad and paper towels in a gallon baggie--I like to use two Romaine heads per bag.

Step 6: Squeeze the air out of the bag gently and close.

The paper towels absorb the water from the lettuce and create a dry crisp lettuce that is perfect for any salad!

Step 7: Place in the fridge for at least an hour before prepping your salad.

Step 8: Prep your salad.

I keep my bag of prepped salad in the fridge so that it can be ready for side salads or (as pictured here) yummy meal salads. Above: Boiled egg salad.

Below: Chopped grilled chicken salad.

Enjoy!

Dining Room Re-Do Sneak Peak

2013-05-15T04:17:00.000-07:00

Recently we took down our Chinese print curtains, painted over our yellow-striped wall paper and took down all the wall art in our dining room.

We are on our way to creating a calm, simple, elegant room of eating.

This is the first piece of art for that room--

a ceiling medallion from a local discount store.

This piece is likely to set the tone for the rest of the room and it did that without breaking our budget!

Happy decorating!

(more to come on the dining room redo)

The Birdies Fly (Bird Birthday Invitations)

2013-05-13T06:00:00.000-07:00

Our youngest bird is turning 5.

I really can't believe it's come to this.

But, I guess if we must, then we will celebrate in style.

This year's choice is birds.

We'll be setting up a table spread with some beautiful bird ideas, but for now, we're making invitations.

With a mix of old-fashioned flowers and simple modern lines,

I present,

the bird birthday invitation.

These are a total of 4 layers of paper glued together. The information is printed on white card stock. Then comes a layer of flowered craft paper, a solid blue card stock and then the simple bird shape witha small triangle stuck in between for the beak.

I was able to lift the bottom of the bird before the glue dried and draw the simple stick legs.

Then it was just a matter of dotting the eye.

Each invitation is a bit different.

Hopefully all the little birds will have a blast at the party to come.

Happy crafting!

Lately, Being a Momma Means...

2013-05-08T16:35:00.000-07:00

turning the oldest's pics into canvas art at EasyCanvasPrints.com

faithfully watching over the seeds we hope will sprout soon

(in more ways than one!)

baking

(and eating my fair share, for sure)

being the first responder for accidents like these

immortalizing the youngest's humor

(see the happy girls? and the sad boy who has to clean up the mess behind him?)

cheering for the boy

serving up color

shipping off those gently used clothes to Moxie Jean

cooking in batches to keep my sanity.

and teaching at the aquarium

and finishing up speech class and piano and horseback riding and choir and

and helping with a ministry's family festival

and grocery shopping

and getting over a tiny cold.

and to come?

well, there's going to be a little bird's birthday

and finishing up homeschooling for the year

and carpooling to camp

and traveling to Grandma's

and hopefully, God-willing adopting that baby soon!

It may be simple around here, but it is never dull!

Fast Food Sunday

2013-05-05T15:42:00.001-07:00

Tonight we're taking it easy...popcorn, boiled eggs and this yummy tray of veggies, cheese, nuts and fruit.
And in case you're wondering, it's pouring and we're watching a show about crocodiles. Yay for lazy Sunday evenings!
What is your go-to fast food?

Breakfast Cake

2013-05-01T18:17:00.004-07:00

I discovered something this week that may revolutionize our breakfasts (or at least my cleanup from them). Guess what you get if you make a muffin recipe and pour it into a cake pan? Breakfast Cake! And guess what? Cake pans are a whole lot easier to clean up.
Now, I arrived at this realization in a very circuitous way. First I saw a recipe on pinterest for breakfast cake and I tried it. Then I cleaned the pan. Then I mentioned this to a friend and she said, "Yes, I often make my muffin recipes in a cake pan because it's easier to clean up." And I thought, "Brilliant! It was definitely easier to clean up." And there you have it. Would I have arrived at this conclusion on my own? I'm not at all sure I would have. But there it is. I am now a big fan of breakfast cake.
Here's the one we made this week--the pinterest recipe from Meal Makeover Moms' Kitchen with lots of changes:

Breakfast Cake

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup quick cooking oats
2 tablespoons ground flax seed
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon white sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup greek yogurt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup fresh fruit

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly coat a 9-inch round cake pan with shortening. Dust with flour and set aside.

2. Whisk together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, quick cooking oats, flax seed, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, 1/2 cup of sugar, and the canola oil until well blended. Whisk in the milk, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla extract.

4. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan. Arrange the fruit evenly over the top, and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of white sugar.

5. Bake 22 to 25 minutes, or until the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack and cool (or serve while it’s still warm).

I'm thinking that this particular cake might be much better if I subbed the oil for applesauce, used 1 teaspoon of cinnamon instead of the lemon juice and zest and used chopped apples for the fruit. That's how I'm going to try it next. And I plan to try my double chocolate flax seed muffins as a cake as well. Yum!

this post first appeared on Of Such is the Kingdom on May 8, 2012

Breakfast, Snacks and Lunch

2013-04-26T10:54:00.002-07:00

In continuation of the update on the food we're eating around here, today I give you...
(drum roll)
Breakfast, Snacks and Lunch
And lest you think that the fanfare means that there is anything fancy here, I'll just go ahead and clear that one up for you. There isn't. Nothing fancy and nothing all that difficult.

We often mix and match foods for breakfasts, snacks and lunches around here. You might see a muffin for any of the three or sometimes a quesadilla for breakfast even though it is a standard lunch. Here are a list of our favorites in categories, but please remember that there is quite a bit of sharing between those categories going on.

BREAKFAST:
1. Eggs. We eat a lot of eggs because they are quick, filling and very easy. I mostly scramble them but occasionally I will fry them or make an omelette. We might even have a boiled egg for breakfast now and again. We have tried different egg casserole dishes, but we usually just come back to the quick scramble.

Olivia's Apple Sauce Muffins
3/4 cup oil
1/4 cup flax seed
1 1/2 (+ or -) brown sugar
1/4 cup pureed veggie (I had some pureed carrot frozen and threw it in.)
2 cups of non-sweetened apple sauce
3 cups whole wheat flour
2 t. baking soda
1 cup old fashioned oats
(You can also add in several finely chopped apples if you like)

Mix all ingredients together and scoop into greased or papered muffin cups. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Makes 24 muffins.

Enjoy!

2. Muffins. MUFFINS, and muffins! My quickest go to are the above Apple Sauce Muffins but I also turn often to the Chocolate Flax Seed Muffins and the Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins .
(Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins
3 cups wheat flour, 2 cups pumpkin, 12 oz. chocolate chips, 4 eggs, 2 1/2 cups sugar, 1 cup oil, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 cup water, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt Mix all ingredients. Spoon into muffin cups. Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.)
In case you need further inspiration here are a week of muffins for your enjoyment! Muffins are a great breakfast, lunch and snack item. Sometimes, I'll get inspired at breakfast but not have enough time to really get muffins done before breakfast, so I'll mix them up while I'm scrambling a few eggs and stick them in the oven while we eat our breakfast. Then they are done right after breakfast and ready for those mid-morning "I'm Hungry"s.
3. Breads of all kinds! Here's another list with some muffins and some breads to help you on your breakfast way.
4. We also like smoothies for breakfast. I usually mix fruit (the key is to freeze the bananas so you don't have to dilute the smoothie by adding ice) and yogurt and fruit juice, but sometimes I'll throw in some spinach or another veggie. Sometimes the leftovers get made into yummy popsicles!

5. You can use the same idea to make a kind of "ice cream" for breakfast by just blending the bananas on their own. It's very yummy with some cocoa or some chocolate chips blended in with it.
6. And then there are the breakfast cookies. Some days you just need a cookie for breakfast, you know?!

LUNCH:
1. I have to admit that snacks and lunches are often all the same thing around here. At snack time you might have one snack, but at lunch you might have five snacks together that will give you your protein and vitamins and starch. Here are some great packable lunch ideas that use both the snacky items and the standard (or not so standard) sandwiches and roll-ups.

2. Dips are a favorite lunch around here as well. Hummus, guacamole and salsa all add nutrients as well as fun to lunch.

3. More than any other lunch, we love quesadillas! There is nothing like biting into a warm buttery quesadilla filled with mozzarella. I don't know why we've settled on that cheese for quesadillas, but there is nothing else that can compare right now. We melt the butter in our pan, butter up one tortilla and pull it out, put another tortilla down, sprinkle on a generous amount of mozzarella and then add the previously buttered tortilla to the top. After the bottom is browned, we flip to brown the top. We cut the quesadilla into triangles with a pizza cutter and enjoy as quickly as possible!

4. Magic Bread makes its way into lunches (and snacks and breakfasts) as well. We use it for sandwiches or cheese toast or just butter it and have it on the side.

5. And of course there are the trusty old leftovers. I try to include those into our lunch menu whenever I can.

SNACKS:

1. Nuts, edamame, fruit rubber, crackers and peanut butter--the normal quick go-to kid-friendly snacks.

2. Granola Bars: I can't believe how easy and yummy these are! 3 cups quick-cooking oats, 2 tablespoons melted butter and 1 can sweetened condensed milk. Mix in about a cup of any add-ins you'd like: dried fruits, nuts, chocolate chips, old-fashioned oats, etc. Then spread on parchment paper and smooth top and edges to make a rectangle. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes--letting the top brown means that your granola bars will by crunchy, keeping it light means that the bars will be chewy. Allow the granola rectangle to cool and then cut into bars.

3. Very occasionally I will bake a cake and then we have a nice thick slice of it for snack. My favorites are this Cinnamon Swirl Cake

or this Deep Dark Chocolate Cake from the Hershey's website. (That link is for a list of ten yummy chocolate cakes.)

4. Muffins (see above.) and more muffins (see above)

5. Pretzels, chips (rarely), crackers, hummus, etc.

6. Cheese or fruit or veggies from the fridge. When I know we'll be eating a junky or starchy kind of dinner, I often will close the pantry for snack time. "Only fridge items!" The kids know that means an apple or a cheese stick or some carrots and sweet peppers. Or I might just lead them toward the oranges or bananas on the counter.

What are your go-tos for breakfast, snack and lunch?

Happy eating!

P.S. Stay tuned for an exclusive yummy desserts post coming soon.

What We're Watching

2013-04-23T12:18:00.001-07:00

Update time...

If our tv is on lately, then it's a safe bet one of the following will be showing:

Yep, we're still hanging out with these guys. Phineas and Ferb continues to be a clever, engaging and funny show that our whole family enjoys.

The Bible (on the History Channel) is definitely worth a watch. It does endeavor to stay faithful to the Book it describes, and no amount of taking in that book can ever be enough! The hubby and I have enjoyed watching and discussing how they chose what to show and what to skip over.

I think we've decided not to share it with the kids now--there is nothing questionable in it, really, it's just that there are some very hard things to deal with in the Bible, and we would rather deal with through the text instead of visually right now.

The hubby is reading the kids The Lord of the Rings and I love the fact that it sparks many discussions about true heros and how Aragon or Gandalf point to Christ. But when the hubby began talking about showing the kids the movie, I balked. It's scary, right?! But the more they read and discussed and begged, the more I relented and so we are now two movies into the series. When they are done reading Return of the King, we will all watch the third movie together. And yes, there have been quite a few times when I have hidden the 5yo's eyes, but the family time and the beautiful visual to put with what they are learning through the reading outweighs the negatives, I do believe.

And if regular programming tv is on this time of year, it's probably the Cardinals! We watch whenever we can get the game. I love how happy this makes the hubby and the boy and I love that our family has a common love.

Alas, we are now done with Alias, but the hubby and I thoroughly enjoyed watching this series together. If you like the spy thriller kind of show, it's definitely for you.

When your tv is on, what's usually showing?

Yes, Let's Eat! Part 1

2013-04-18T17:45:00.003-07:00

It's been quite a while since my last post about every day menu items. I posted a bunch of recipes in the 100 Ways to Celebrate Easter, I talked about freezing avocados, and on Valentine's I posted pics of our favorite pancakes (heart shaped, of course!) but it's been since January and growing lettuce and making soup that I've actually posted what we're sustaining ourselves with around here.
To be honest, I haven't posted much about our food because it's been mostly the same things. We eat a lot of meals that fit with the old remixing chart I made up a couple of years ago

Pick a meat, pick a starch, pick a veggie and mix and remix...

When remixing, I often use my own sauce starting with a roux (butter and flour) and adding milk and cheese and chicken stock, etc. Our favorite it pasta and creamy cheese sauce. My secret ingredient is Greek Yogurt--added at the very end like you would add in sour cream. Greek Yogurt pretty much makes everything better.

We eat stir fried veggies and/or rice and lots of Mexican, mostly from this list of 10 Easy Family Friendly Mexican foods.

And then of course there are the picnics and lazy nights where I use the magic bread to make some easy sandwiches...

Lately I've made lots of egg salads and chicken salads for those sandwich kind of nights (just another form of remixing, really--add eggs and mayo to anything and it becomes a salad!)

And then we eat a lot of yummy but mostly boring grilled meats or baked chicken, etc.

We almost always add a couple of yummy veggies or a salad to our meal, frozen green beans or broccoli or peas. Or I saute zucchini or bake some brussel sprouts.

I know it's nothing exciting, but just looking back at what we've eaten these last few months, I am so grateful! We eat well and never have any need and don't have the least bit of a clue what hunger is like.

So, happy cooking and happy eating!

(Stay tuned for Part 2 and 3 of this post containing or favorite breakfasts and our go-tos for lunches and snacks.)

Horse Show

2013-04-16T15:52:00.002-07:00

Have I mentioned that we have been crazy-busy lately?

On Sunday our busy-ness took us to a farm, lovely even in the light rain and the chilly air, where we watched the oldest compete in her first horse show.

She won a second and a fourth place ribbon. We are so proud of her!

Two of her "classes" had patterns of movement that she had to memorize.

Yay, oldest! Great job!

Wizard of Oz Week

2013-04-12T12:56:00.000-07:00

This week Monday went very much as usual: Horseback riding, running errands and teaching ballet.

And woven in with that the kids put their Monday work on their clipboards, carried it around with them, and pretty much finished it up.

But when I woke up on Tuesday and looked over the coming week, I realized something was going to have to change!

There was no way we could do our clip board work and lessons for each day as well as get everything else done.

Tuesday Eat breakfast, have Daddy read history while kids color history coloring sheets, get the youngest out the door with Daddy and the friend we take over to Mother's Day Out. Make sure the youngest and the Daddy have lunches. Pack lunches for the rest of us and get us out the door to The Wizard of Oz play put on by a local theater.

(Very awesome.)

Realize that we have time to eat lunch at home, so take lunch home, inviting friends who need a place to eat lunch to join us. Then go with those friends to the boy's first batting practice.

(Also very fun.)

Return home to meet the youngest as she is being brought home by another friend from her Mother's Day Out program. Invite that friend and her daughter in for play time and tea.

When she leaves to pick her oldest up from school, answer e-mails and prep dinner, slap hands with the hubby as he comes home from work and head off to an Acupuncture appointment. Return home with just enough time to finish up dinner, serve dinner and eat dinner before the hubby leaves for a meeting.

Get kids into bed.

Collapse.

See? No time for lessons or written work!

Wednesday: Skip history so that breakfast is leisurely and hubby can leave for work early. Rush around getting all supplies and lunch packed up, and then head off to pick up friends and meet more friends at the Aquarium for a little class on turtles.

(I taught it.)

Then off to the Y for a walk with a friend and home again in just enough time to rush off to a dentist appointment for all three kids. They all read to me or to themselves while the other ones had their appointment.

Then they had about a thirty minute rest before choir, church dinner and Kids Clubs at church. Momma and Daddy have choir during that time as well.

Home again and happily, to bed.

Thursday: Breakfast, history with Daddy, and off to MDO for the youngest. Then a good little table learning time mostly focused around The Wizard of Oz. Review our memory verses, catechism questions and geography songs (Kathy Troxel), answer discussion questions about the play, read about the Frank Baum and discuss the character. Have each child pick a character and write a short essay about him.

Have a friend for tea,

go to speech class for the big kids/play date for the youngest,

take dinner (made in the crockpot) to a friend who had a baby and hold their baby and love it and talk about babies and spend way too much time just relaxing with that baby in my arms...

home for dinner (because baseball practice got rained out)

and bedtime.

Friday: glorious Friday! We usually have a wonderful art class at 12 with neighbor-home schoolers, but it is cancelled today so we are FREE!

So I drew this Wizard of Oz Math Board Game

(we roll 2 dice and then answer a math fact card that corresponds with the kind of problem indicated on the square. The youngest won btw.)
And we played school.

--pattern blocks

--Scrabble

and lots of enjoying the cool but beautiful weather.

So there you have it. All my excuses for not doing regular home school this week.

But that is the beauty of home school.

All of that crazy running around was teaching us many things.

And that, I do believe, is the definition of school.

Happy Schooling!

Women's Retreat

2013-04-10T04:34:00.001-07:00

On Friday I made two loaves of bread, chocolate drop cookies and salad for twelve people. I took a walk with a friend, went swimming at the Y with the kids, packed my bags and showered and made myself presentable. I washed and folded two loads of clothes and picked up the house. Oh, and I spent about an hour cleaning out the van.

And I did all of that before 3:00.

And the reward for my labors?

This.

A weekend retreat with the women of our church at a state park about 3 hours away.

Priceless.

Amid quiet times and beautiful views, I got to fellowship with some wonderful amazing women from our church--some of whom shared their stories during the weekend meetings.

Like a woman who has been a PE teacher for 30 years, and was diagnosed with MS 25 years ago just before her husband left her with 2 little girls to care for.

And can I just tell you that, though her left arm doesn't work and she has to "turn on her leg" so that electric shocks can help her move it to walk with her walker,

she is the happiest and most beautiful woman I have ever met.

And yes, she is still joyfully teaching young children how to stay active and play for God.

And before and after hiking and climbing stairs around an amazing waterfall (you can only see a tiny part of it here) we heard heart-changing messages about discovering life-lies and taking off the clothes of the old man and putting on the grace-given clothes of a new creation in Christ.

I'm still slowly working through all that I learned.

And I came home tired and weepy and incredible refreshed.

Praise the Lord for truth spoken and fellowship enjoyed.

How to Make a Sailboat

2013-04-04T14:10:00.000-07:00

Remembering last year about this time...

It was all about sailboats!

Since I'm on the sailboat theme this week, I figured I would just stick with that.

(See yesterday's post for my plan for sailboat cupcakes)

Today's sailboaty theme is building one!

Again, taking much inspiration from my pinterest Sailboat Board--

Building a paper boat is easy, but what really made this work was using the maps. This is a great use for old atlases (poor unused things).

Ours have a mast made out of a skewer. After making the boat, add a bit of hot glue about 2 inches from the flat end of the skewer. Stick the skewer up through the center of the bottom of the boat and pull through until the glue catches on the paper hole--Hold steady for a few seconds while the hot glue hardens.

My blue sails are doubled and I made them by cutting blue copy paper twice the size of what you see--it's easiest to cut out a straight triangle, then fold in half and cut the curved bottom. The blue sail is wrapped around the skewer and glued using a little hot glue near the skewer and elmer's stick glue over the sail.

The red sail is secured using a thin line of hot glue.

The small red flag is doubled and wrapped around the point of the skewer. Secure it to the skewer with a tiny bit of hot glue and add a little elmer's stick glue to the flag to hold it together.

The hot glue makes the boats pretty sturdy.

Our fleet of boats will serve as decoration for a sailboat baby shower I'm helping with on Saturday AND they will make perfect little party favors.

Again, stealing ideas from pinterest pins, I filled my boats with candy lifesavers and added in some peppermints to stick with the color theme.

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originally posted Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Camping

2013-04-02T04:55:00.001-07:00

Last week our family traveled to south FL to camp and visit friends. Our first campsite was in O'Leno State Park. We were scheduled to go for two nights, but we opted out of the thunderstorm that was coming through the first night and left a day later. We loved hiking at O'Leno and setting up our campsite. We didn't love the fact that I forgot matches and starter for our fire. : )

A borrowed lighter and some newspaper later, we warmed our spaghetti and ate our first round of campfire s'ghetti. It was easy (warm up frozen ground beef, jarred spaghetti sauce and already cooked noodles in cast iron dutch oven) and this will be a meal I'll do again while camping.

See the large gator on that log?

This is the "end" of the Sante Fe River--it disappears under ground here in the park and reappears 3 miles later.

On the way to visit friends, we stopped at a small park right before the beautiful Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

While visiting friends, we explored some of the beaches nearby.

And yes, it was quite cold (especially on the beach) in South FL at the end of March. We told our friends if they ever got tired of warm weather, just have us down to FL to camp. The cold weather seems to follow us when we camp.

The cold (50s) weather did not keep us from enjoying every part of trip, though!

Second Campsite in Jonathan Dickenson State Park

Cardinals Spring Training

Beach in Jupiter, FL

100 Ways to Celebrate Easter

2013-03-17T18:46:00.002-07:00

It is the observance of death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, the celebration of the conquering of death, the remembering of His substitution for our sins...
Happy Easter!
There are so many, many ways to celebrate this wonderful time! Please don't be overwhelmed by the bulk of ideas here. These range from elaborate prep to two-minute commitment. Some of them are specifically for children, but all of them point to the true meaning of this holiday and hopefully bring us closer to the Resurrected One!

Read the Scriptures

1. Read from the Bible about the holy week day by day on the week before Easter. This plan from YouVersion makes that easy.
2. Read through the Gospels during Lent with this plan.
3. These Easter devotions lead you through Lent with Bible readings.
4. These devotions take you through the major events of Christ's life. Another good plan for theweeks before Easter.
5. Read Isaiah 53.

But He was wounded for our transgressions,

He was bruised for our iniquities;

The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,

And by His stripes we are healed.

⁶

All we like sheep have gone astray;

We have turned, every one, to his own way;

And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

6. Read about the first Passover in Exodus 11, 12 and 13.

Your lamb shall be without blemish...Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight.

7. Read Matthew 27 and 28.

8. Read Mark 15 and 16.

9. Read Luke 23 and 24.

10. Read John 18-21.

The ways to incorporate Scripture in your Easter celebrating are pretty much endless! Be sure to leave your favorite Easter scriptures in the comments!

Sing Hymns!

Or, if you're not feeling particularly musical, just read their beautiful words.

11. Not All the Blood of Beasts #242 in the Trinity Hymnal This one goes well with reading about the first Passover (#6 above).

12. Praise the Savior Now and Ever # 243 (all of the hymn numbers are from the Trinity Hymnal)

13. He Was Wounded for Our Transgressions #244

14. Man of Sorrows! What a Name #246

15. O Sacred Head, Now Wounded #247

16. Ah, Holy Jesus, How Has Thou Offended #248

17. Tis Midnight; and on Olive's Brow #249

18. Throned upon the Awful Tree #250

19. Beneath the Cross of Jesus #251

20. When I Survey the Wondrous Cross #252

21. There is a Fountain Filled with Blood #253

22. Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed #254

23. O Jesus We Adore Thee #255

24. There is a Green Hill Far Away #256

25. Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted #257

26. Sweet the Moments, Rich in Blessing #258

27. Hark! the Voice of Love and Mercy #259

28. Were You There? #260

29. What Wondrous Love is This #261

30. O Come and Mourn with Me Awhile #262

31. Lift Hight the Cross #263

32. Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross #264

33. Come Ye Faithful Raise the Strain #265

34. The Day of Resurrection! #267

35. Welcome Happy Morning! #268

36. Good Christian Men, Rejoice and Sing! #270

37. Sing, Choirs of New Jerusalem #271

38. O Sons and Daughters, Let Us Sing! #272

39. Jesus Christ is Risen Today #273

40. Thine Be Glory #274

41. The Strife is O'er, the Battle Done #275

42. Up from the Grave He Arose #276

43. Christ the Lord is Risen Today #277

44. That Easter Day with Joy Was Bright #278

45. Christ Jesus Lay in Death's Strong Bands #279

46. Christ is Risen from the Dead #280

47. I Know that My Redeemer Lives--Glory Hallelujah! #281

48. Life Up, Lift Up Your Voices Now #282

49. Alleluia! Alleluia! #283

50. This Joyful Eastertide #284

51. Jesus, Lord, Redeemer #285

52. Worship Christ, the Risen King! #286

53. Morning Sun #287

54. Jesus Christ has Triumphed Now #288

Tell the Story

55. We love the Jesus Storybook Bible. What better time to read the stories of Jesus's life (or the whole Bible--that is point--that it's all about Him!) than before Easter?
56. Here's my own simple retelling of the Easter story.
57. Tell the story with Jelly Beans. (!!!)
58. Make your own set of Resurrection Eggs and use them daily to retell the story of the death and Resurrection of our Lord. We've done this, and we love them! We've even been known to hang them on our Jesse Tree to make an Easter tree! (added bonus: cheerful Easter decor)
59. Watch The Prince of Egypt to start a discussion of the original Passover and then lead in to a discussion of how Jesus is our Passover Lamb.

Eat the Story
60. Tell the story as you make these wonderful Easter Cookies. Each step in the baking process tells a bit of the story and the end result? Empty cookies! Just like the tomb!
61. Make your own Matzah bread--bread that figures heavily into the Jewish celebration of Passover. As you make the bread, tell the story of Jesus' death: he was beaten, pierced and bruised (look at the "bruise" spots as you take the matzah out of the oven.) Then anoint your matzah with oil! The matzah is a perfect example of how the Jewish Passover points to the dead and resurrected Messiah.

62. A hugely meaningful part of our Easter preparations the last few years has been a celebration of a Seder Supper. Here are the foods and litany that we use during our Seder. You can use your homemade matzah (see #61 above).

Here are the foods used for the Seder meal. Feel free to incorporate these items into your meals around Easter as a way to teach the Easter story.

"You shall teach them diligently to your children,

and shall talk of them when you sit in your house,

when you walk by the way,

when you lie down,

and when you rise up."

Deuteronomy 6:7

63. Grape juice or wine--There are traditionally four cups of wine/grape juice that will be used throughout the meal. These are the Cup of Sanctification, the Cup of Deliverance, the Cup of Redemption, and the Cup of Thanksgiving.

64. Romaine Lettuce Salad--After we dip the celery into the salt that symbolizes the Israelites tears, we will pause to eat a salad. The dipping of the vegetable into the salt water could also represent the way that the Israelites dipped the branches into the blood of the lamb to spread it over their doorposts.
65. Matzah bread--Matzah is an unleavened bread that refers to the fact that when the Israelites fled Egypt, they did not have time to let their bread rise. Leaven stands for sin in the Bible, and getting rid of leaven is a big part of the week of Passover. The Matzah bread is a beautiful picture of our Savior, the Bread of Life. He was perfectly sinless. During the Seder meal, the bread is broken, as our Savior was. Matzah bread is traditionally both pierced and striped, as our Savior was before He was crucified. Making Matzah with the kids would be a great way to prepare for the Seder meal both practically and spiritually.
66. Matzah Ball Soup--This would be a good place to pause for the soup made of crushed matzah bread. My mouth is watering just thinking about the combination of the broth and dough!
67. Steamed radishes--After we have tasted the horseradish, which is bitter herbsto symbolize the Israelites bitter enslavement, we will have our steamed radishes. In one of the Christian Haggadahs I linked to above, this is said to also be a reminder that sin can be our bitter enslavement.
68. Haroset is a mixture of apples, raisins, and honey that symbolizes the mortar that the Israelites used to build for the Egyptians. Charoset (HahROset) is a very kid-friendly part of the meal, and this was the whole idea for the seder meal--it is a way to teach our children about the beautiful truths of our faith.
69. Zucchini-stuffed Chicken--During a traditional ceremonial seder, no meat is tasted. A "shank bone" is displayed on the plate to show that a lamb was the central theme of the original Passover. Since there is no temple now, Jews cannot sacrifice a lamb. This bone is spoken of in the meal but not eaten. For a Christian Seder meal, you could display a cross for this bone or use a regular bone. After speaking of the lamb that had to die during the original Passover, the true Lamb of God is a natural subject. Jesus, our Lamb, was crucified for our sins so that we might have eternal life. After this discussion, the chicken can be eaten. (And it gets in my recent infatuation: zucchini!)
70. Deviled Eggs--Hard boiled eggs commemorate the sacrifice of the lamb in the temple. Now they are a symbol of the new life brought by the Lamb.
71. Matzah Rolls--The matzah bread is eaten several times during the meal. If you would like more than the crackerish matzah, you could try these matzah rolls.
72. Chocolate Torte--An unleavened chocolate cake has finished off our Seder meal in the past. (Gotta get that chocolate cake in there, you know?!) Perhaps the dessert could be prefaced with talk of how sweet the Gospel story is--we are saved out of our sin to a sweet relationship with our loving Savior, Jesus, the Passover Lamb.

Decorate with the Story

73. The Easter tree presented above (#58) is only one way you can incorporate branches or a tree into your Easter decorations and celebrations. Ann Voskamp has a lovely Easter tree with cards that walk your family through the Easter story. This is great when your kids are ready to graduate from the Resurrection Eggs!

74. Another Voskamp idea is to plant an Easter garden. This is a reminder of the garden of Gethsemane and of Christ's struggle the night before he was crucified. It is also a peaceful and beautiful decoration for your home!

Candles add to the beauty of this simple potted garden.

75. These Easter Lilies are both a craft and a decoration. And they have some great Easter lore around them as well.

76. Are your Dogwoods blooming? There is an Easter myth for them and their blooming branches would make a great decoration for your Easter table!

Color the Story

Finding the real story of Easter is a bit hard amongst all the coloring pages of bunnies and eggs (not that bunnies and eggs aren't loads of fun!) but here are a few that could be used for your studies leading up to Easter with your children.

77.

78.

79.

80.

81.

82.

83.

84.

85.

And a Few More...

86. Have you heard that the History Channel is running a series called "The Bible"? The hubby and I began watching it last night. It's pretty good. Watching these would be a great way to take in a good bit of the Bible in ten hours.

87. Reading the Bible in novel form is a very interesting way to get the whole of the Bible in a very chronological way. One thing I loved about this is that some of the stories that we read in the Bible are separate because different people wrote them, but really they overlapped quite a bit. The Book of God gives you a sense of that overlap.
88. We're still talking about how to celebrate Easter here, remember? For me growing up Easter baskets were a big part of the day itself. I really want my kids to have the day center around Jesus (not that Easter baskets are bad!!) so when we do gifts, we usually do something like new Bibles. This year they are getting piano music of great hymns that they can play themselves! I'm excited about these gifts:

Easter Crafts

89. Here's a Resurrection craft for you and the kids that makes the story of Christ's resurrection visual. You could pretty easily translate this into other parts of the story as well.

90. This blogger has a Scripture reading, memory verse and small craft for each day in the week leading up to Easter.

91. I love the idea of mixing a da Vinci art lesson with Easter week as well! This blogger has drawn out Jesus and each of the disciples from da Vinci's The Last Supper so that your kids can color them and cut them out to place around a table.

92. Think simple for crafts as well! How about collecting leaves and talking about the palm branches that were laid down for Jesus when he rode into Jerusalem?

93. How about printing out a week calendar with boxes and labeling the days of the week and filling in one thing Jesus did on that day leading up to Friday on the cross and Sunday's resurrection?

94. Candles are a good way to mark the passing of time--Putting out seven on Palm Sunday and lighting one more each night at dinner is a good way to prompt discussion on what Christ was doing on that day and on what will come in the days of Holy Week that are ahead.

95. Cut out crosses, decorate your refrigerator, talk about the seriousness of the cross. Cut out tombs, open the stone door, talk about how they are empty!

Last but Not Least

96.. Slow Down...We're going to try that this year with a camping trip. It will be interesting to do our Easter devotionals around the campfire when there is really nothing else that we can do! I'm loving that!
97. Go to Church...Our church has Holy Week services that are just wonderful! If your church doesn't have a service, ask around and see if a friend's church might! At our church these services are a quieter kind of worship--on Good Friday the service ends with the lights going off little by little until only the Jesus candle is left burning while the congregation leaves in silence. It is very powerful.
98. And on Easter morning there are usually sunrise services or special services at different churches. Get involved! See if you can help with the music or the youth or the Sunday School. It's amazing how teaching a lesson will really make it sink into your own heart!
99. Talk about Easter with your kids at random times. See if they have thoughts about it at bed time (they always have a lot to say at bedtime!) or in the car or while you're waiting at the doctor's office.
100. Pray! and Pray some more! Pray for those who do not know the wonder of a Savior who laid down His life for the lost! Repent and ask for increased faith and obedience to take the depth and wonder of Holy Week out into the coming year.

Please leave me your wonderful ideas in the comments...and

Happy Easter!!

(I will be taking the next two weeks off from blogging. It may take you two weeks just to read through this post! I will be praying that you all have a wonderful, Christ-filled holiday!)

Kervens is Home!

2013-03-13T12:43:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to announce that they boy I wrote about

Here

and

Here

and

Here

is...

HOME!

Home with his forever family.

Home with his brothers and sisters.

Home with his neighbors and adoring fans.

Home with his momma and daddy.

It has been such (such) a long journey for them

but here they are

whole

and

complete.

Thank you, loving Father!

IKEA, How Do I Love Thee?

2013-03-11T08:35:00.000-07:00

Let me count the ways:

1. Entryway organization is made easy with EXPEDIT 4-squared shelf with 4 $5 cloth boxes as drawers.

($40 for shelf and $20 for drawers = $60)

2. Instead of plastic drawers (see below) EXPEDIT 8-squared shelf neatens up the oldest's under her bunk space. We also used those $5 boxes as drawers for the oldest's clothes and storage.

($70 for shelf $30 for drawers = $100)

The oldest's clean under-the bunk space.

3. Instead of (broken) plastic drawers for the boy, he now has 3 of the $5 boxes in this EXPEDIT 8-squared shelf. The other three boxes are awaiting baby clothes. (i.e. Adoption!--We don't know when we'll be chosen, so it's good to be ready.)

($70 for shelf and $30 for drawers= $100)

4. On the other side of the boy's and baby's closet is a $20 computer desk that I don't think ikea carries anymore, but it's perfect for the sewing machine.

5. My new white dishes!

($20 for a set of 18--6 large plates, 6 small plates and 6 bowls)

6. No drip candles from ikea are wonderful!

($8 for 20)

7. I also couldn't find this one when I just looked for it on the ikea website, but we bought this at the beginning of the school year--table and 4 chairs were $129!

After putting together both of those 8-squared shelves this weekend, I can truly say that I have nothing but respect for ikea furniture. Sure, you have to put it together yourself, but if they made it any easier, it would be magic. I put both of the (pretty big) shelves and popped and zipped all the boxes together in just a couple of hours. Some of their pieces are wood "product" of course, but compared to other stores' inexpensive furniture, theirs is more sturdy, more well made and in my opinion, more attractive.

When you add all of our expenditures up, we have spent quite a bit of money at ikea over the last year, but again, I can tell you, every dime has been worth it!

Happy shopping!

DIY Spa Day

2013-03-07T08:11:00.000-08:00

I had a few hours to myself over the past few days, and one of the items on my ToDo was a few little spa treatments. I'm pretty bad about taking care of my skin and hair because of my efficiency idol--ok, it's really because of my laziness, but I figured that with hours to get things done, this should take some priority.
So I went on a little hunt on Pinterest and I found a few diy treatments that were super quick and easy and that my sorely depleted pantry had all the ingredients for. (Yes, grocery shopping is on the ToDo as well!)
So here's what you need:

An hour
Honey
Olive Oil
Salt
Sugar
Brown Sugar
Baby Oil (or use olive oil)
Hot water
Some kind of lotion

And here's what you can do:

First up, HAIR: For an easy moisturizer for hair measure out about 2 tablespoons of honey and 3 tablespoons of olive oil into a bowl. Heat for 20 seconds in the microwave. Carefully (it might be hot!) work into all of your hair. Leave on hair for 30 or 40 minutes.

Second, FACE: For exfoliation and pore shrinking, combine equal parts salt and honey and gently massage onto face. Leave on face for 15-20 minutes.

Third, FEET: Sugar, brown sugar and oil combine to make a great foot scrub. Combine equal parts sugar and brown sugar and add just enough baby oil/olive oil to make a paste. If using olive oil, feel free to add a few drops of vanilla as well. I used my favorite scent in baby oil.

After letting feet soak in hot/warm water for about 15 minutes, massage foot scrub into feet focusing on the heel. Rinse off, and feel the difference! (BONUS: your hands get scrubbed as well!)

Shower off hair treatment and face treatment. (And bathe as usual.) Then apply lotion all over--I used a coconut oil cream that a dear friend made for me. Especially apply the lotion thickly to feet and then immediately put on socks. Leave the lotion treatment on all day! P.S. I also used the coconut oil as a moisturizer for my face, on recommendation from the friend who gave it to me. It felt great after the exfoliation!
If you have time, treat any acne or blemishes with tea tree oil for a few hours before applying makeup.
Happy spa days!

Creation Museum Part #3

2013-03-04T08:43:00.000-08:00

After we were done with the museum on Saturday, we took a drive through Cincinnati. It is a beautiful city with the river and the different areas of town being on different elevations.

I was particularly taken with this one building that was on the other side of the beautiful bridge pictured above.

The building itself extended the curves of the bridge up into the sky.

There was a lot of decorative work on buildings--you can't see it well, but this building has a huge lion's head on a decorative awning at the top.

The youngest napped right through our little self tour of the city and then we woke her up to eat at a restaurant near the stadiums. We finished up the day with a treat of frozen yogurt and then we went back to our hotel for an actual night of sleep.

The next morning we packed, breakfasted and headed home.

This was a great two day trip! Total cost for 2 nights in a hotel, indoor waterpark, museum tickets, 7 meals (for 5 people) and gas was around $500. What we actually got--the learning by experience and the great family time--was priceless.

Check out

Part #1

and

Part #2

of our trip to Cincinnati!

Creation Museum Part #2

2013-03-02T08:34:00.000-08:00

Ok, so remember yesterday when I said the kids had three hours at a water park and still were too keyed up to go to sleep until 10pm?
Well, that didn't keep them from being ready and rearing to go at 7am the next morning. So the daddy read to them while I got ready and then we all headed down to the hot breakfast provided by the hotel. After filling our tummies we headed to the main event
The Creation Museum
This was such a great place! If you're at all interested in the science of creation, this is a place you'll want to walk through slowly. And if you have kids, you're going to be constantly torn by the way they excitedly want to run ahead and the way you want to read every word. We were that family, but I think we did well--We'll want to come back when the kids are older, but for the most part, we were able to study and read and keep up the pace.
Oh, and by the way, instead of the $90 we would have paid, with the coupon, we paid $40 for our family. We also spent the extra $14 for the Snakes Alive show.

One part of the museum is dedicated to Noah and his experience building the ark. There is a large room where you can see wax figures working on the ark and how the wood and pitch were used to make a water tight boat. There is also an interactive room where you can put together puzzles and "ask" a wax figure of Noah questions that he really answers! The Creation Museum is now raising money to fund building a life-size ark! They will build it there by the museum. I'm looking forward to seeing that.

In the petting zoo, our favorite animals were the Alpaca. Their funny inquisitive faces really won us over! There were also

camels!

and a Zorse and a Zeedonk as well--to exemplify that animals can mate within a species and create hybrids, but animals can never be created cross species (example: mating a cat and a dog and creating a new species is impossible.)

We were fascinated by the colorful snakes. We even got a family picture holding one of the pythons!

I definitely recommend the Creation Museum in Cincinnati, OH!

Check out Part #1 of this little adventure HERE.

Creation Museum Weekend Part #1

2013-02-28T04:36:00.000-08:00

Last weekend our family took a little homeschooling trip. I'm hoping it was the first of many learning and exploring trips our family will take.
After hearing that the Creation Museum in Cincinnati, OH (actually it's right across the river in KY) was offering homeschoolers a discount for the months of January and February, I thought, "Why not?" and began researching the opportunity. Here's what we came out with:
On Friday as soon as my husband was able (around 10:30am) we hopped in a neatly packed car and headed toward Cincinnati. We enjoyed the beautiful drive and the kids used the time to watch a little Magic School Bus science on the human body as well as play a bit on the Kindle. After a packed lunch (something like these) and a quick dinner ($16 at Wendy's) we stopped at our first destination: a BIG surprise for the kids.
CocoKey Indoor Waterpark!

Turns out that Friday nights are a special deal--from 4pm-9pm the cost is $10/person. So we took the plunge and it was well worth it! There were four large water slides that looped around outside the building--2 for tubes and 2 body slides. The daddy and the big kiddos went straight for these. The youngest needed a little build up. So we started with those small yellow slides in the second picture, worked our way to the wading pool kid slides and then she was ready for the smaller tube slides--

And that blur is my usually afraid but steadily growing up youngest!

And then there was of course the huge bucket (2nd pic) that dumped every 20 minutes or so. That was always fun.

But the best part? Definitely the hot tub! It had a little doorway to outside in the 40 degree weather, so that you could escape the noise and crowds for a while and just sit in the hot water with the sky above you.

I also tried out one of the tube big slides, by the way, and really enjoyed it. It was a mild and exhilarating ride.

After CocoKey, we headed back to our hotel. We were able to get a reduced upgrade, so for about $100 a night, we got a suite with two rooms. I thought the kids might crash from being at the water park for three hours, but no such luck. They were very wound up and eventually went off to sleep around 10pm.

Stay tuned for part 2...

Moxie Jean

2013-02-27T04:18:00.001-08:00

I have discovered a wonderful secret! You no longer have to spend hours tagging those old kids' clothes for those consignment sales! You are FREE!
(Can you tell that tagging was not my favorite pastime?)
Moxie Jean is your ticket out!

And what is Moxie Jean? Well, it is a brilliant online consignment shop. It only accepts the best brands and the best quality. But the best part? No tagging.
If you hop over to Moxie Jean's website, you can "order" a free mailer bag. Just put it in your cart and check out--there will be no cost.

Once you receive that, stuff it carefully with your best kids' clothing. Take it to the Post Office or leave it for your postman. The postage is already paid.
Then, in a timely fashion (I know because I've already done it once and two more mailer bags are sitting on my counter ready to be filled.) you will receive an email with a list of the clothes Moxie Jean will accept from your mailer bag and the amounts that they will give you for each. Any clothes not accepted will be donated.
After that you have an option: You can use your newfound funds to buy clothes on Moxie Jean or you can ask them to cut you a check. And then it's done. Simple as that. You receive a check in the mail. Hoorah!

Happy NOT tagging! And happy shopping too.

(All these thoughts and opinions are mine and mine alone. I didn't receive a cent from Moxie Jean for sharing all of this with you--I'm just excited that there's something like this out there. And I guess I'm a little tiny bit upset that I didn't think of it myself.)

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Freezing Avocados

2013-02-19T04:16:00.000-08:00

Did you know you can freeze avocados?

And since avocados were $.33 at Aldi (!!!) a few weeks ago, I felt like it was a great time to give this a try!

Most of the time Aldi's avocados are pretty firm, so I let mine sit on the counter in a pretty little bowl for a week. Then I got industrious. I scooped out all the wonderfulness of the avocado, mashed it well and added about a tablespoon of lemon for each avocado.

Then I filled some baggies with enough for guests and some baggies with only 1 1/2 avocados for just our family. I closed the small baggies carefully, pushing out any air and then put all the little baggies in a big baggie.

We've already pulled out a family sized portion and let it thaw on the counter before mixing it with salsa to make some yummy guacamole!

I could also use this as an avocado mayo for sandwiches or mix it with pasta as a very healthy sauce.

Avocado makes pretty much anything better!

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