Easter Week 2013

2013 Christ-Centered Easter Week did not let us down!  With some pre-thinking the week turned out wonderfully and I think we all were reminded the true meaning of Easter. 

Sunday

We kicked off Palm Sunday with our passover meal.  Last year we did this on Easter but we thought we would switch things up and do it on Palm Sunday this year especially since the sister missionaries were coming for dinner.  Much to the kids shagrin I decided it would be extra memorable if we all dressed up for the time period.  They grumbled and griped but I won in the end.

The menu is nobody's favorite but some traditions must live on.  We had:  lamb stew, lentil dahl, flat bread, tilapia, pomegranate juice, pomegranate infused cranberries, honey, dates, nuts, figs, beef jerky, and dried apricots.

Lucky for us it was also Grandpa Ken's birthday so we had to finish the night off with something everybody loves -- turtle brownies.  

It It was kind of neat to have our thoughts already around the ressurction and then to be able to celebrate Grandpa Ken's birthday at the same time.

Then we all wrote on the lanterns in memory and celebration of a great man!

This year I sent lanterns to all of Birch's immediate family so we were each able to do our own family celebration.  So fun that on the same night we were all celebrating the light that Grandpa Ken brought into our lives.

Monday

We did an experiment illustrating Christ taking our sins on him.  Great idea here

 Red food coloring was added to the water representing our sins.

Tuesday

We read the story of "The Empty Egg" and ate some jelly beans.

The Empty Egg
By: Author Unknown

Jeremy was born with a twisted body and a slow mind. At the age of 12 he was still in second grade, seemingly unable to learn. His teacher, Doris Miller, often became exasperated with him. He would squirm in his seat, drool, and make grunting noises. At other times, he spoke clearly and distinctly, as if a spot of light had penetrated the darkness of his brain. Most of the time, however, Jeremy just irritated his teacher. One day she called his parents and asked them to come in for a consultation. As the Forresters entered the empty classroom, Doris said to them, "Jeremy really belongs in a special school. It isn't fair to him to be with younger children who don't have learning problems. Why, there is a five year gap between his age and that of the other students."

Mrs. Forrester cried softly into a tissue, while her husband spoke. "Miss Miller," he said, "there is no school of that kind nearby. It would be a terrible shock for Jeremy if we had to take him out of this school. We know he really likes it here." Doris sat for a long time after they had left, staring at the snow outside the window. Its coldness seemed to seep into her soul. She wanted to sympathize with the Forresters. After all, their only child had a terminal illness. But it wasn't fair to keep him in her class. She had 18 other youngsters to teach, and Jeremy was a distraction. Furthermore, he would never learn to read and write. Why waste any more time trying? 

As she pondered the situation, guilt washed over her. Here I am complaining when my problems are nothing compared to that poor family, she thought. Lord, please help me to be more patient with Jeremy. From that day on, she tried hard to ignore Jeremy's noises and his blank stares. Then one day, he limped to her desk, dragging his bad leg behind him. 

"I love you, Miss Miller," he exclaimed, loud enough for the whole class to hear. The other students snickered, and Doris' face burned red. She stammered, "Wh-why that's very nice, Jeremy. N-now please take your seat."

Spring came, and the children talked excitedly about the coming of Easter. Doris told them the story of Jesus, and then to emphasize the idea of new life springing forth, she gave each of the children a large plastic egg. "Now," she said to them, "I want you to take this home and bring it back tomorrow with something inside that shows new life. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Miss Miller," the children responded enthusiastically-all except for Jeremy. He listened intently; his eyes never left her face. He did not even make his usual noises. Had he understood what she had said about Jesus' death and resurrection? Did he understand the assignment? Perhaps she should call his parents and explain the project to them.

That evening, Doris' kitchen sink stopped up. She called the landlord and waited an hour for him to come by and unclog it. After that, she still had to shop for groceries, iron a blouse, and prepare a vocabulary test for the next day. She completely forgot about phoning Jeremy's parents.

The next morning, 19 children came to school, laughing and talking as they placed their eggs in the large wicker basket on Miss Miller's desk. After they completed their math lesson, it was time to open the eggs. In the first egg, Doris found a flower. "Oh yes, a flower is certainly a sign of new life," she said. "When plants peek through the ground, we know that spring is here." A small girl in the first row waved her arm. "That's my egg, Miss Miller," she called out. The next egg contained a plastic butterfly, which looked very real. Doris held it up. "We all know that a caterpillar changes and grows into a beautiful butterfly. Yes, that's new life, too." Little Judy smiled proudly and said, "Miss Miller, that one is mine." Next, Doris found a rock with moss on it. She explained that moss, too, showed life. Billy spoke up from the back of the classroom, "My daddy helped me," he beamed.

Then Doris opened the fourth egg. She gasped. The egg was empty. Surely it must be Jeremy's she thought, and of course, he did not understand her instructions. If only she had not forgotten to phone his parents. Because she did not want to embarrass him, she quietly set the egg aside and reached for another. Suddenly, Jeremy spoke up. "Miss Miller, aren't you going to talk about my egg?" Flustered, Doris replied, "But Jeremy, your egg is empty." He looked into her eyes and said softly, "Yes, but Jesus' tomb was empty, too." 

Time stopped. When she could speak again, Doris asked him, "Do you know why the tomb was empty?" "Oh, yes," Jeremy said, "Jesus was killed and put in there. Then His Father raised Him up."
The recess bell rang. While the children excitedly ran out to the schoolyard, Doris cried. The cold inside her melted completely away. 

Three months later, Jeremy died. Those who paid their respects at the mortuary were surprised to see 19 eggs on top of his casket....... all of them empty.

Wednesday

We watched a sweet video about Christ's resurrection remembering the sacred name, life, and sacrifice of our Savior.


Thursday

This is always our family favorite -- we went Egging!  Idea found here.

Friday

Birch and I went to the temple and so Alysee was put in charge of the devotional.  She shared about Christ being crowned with thorns and then the kids made Crown of Thorn Cookies.  Recipe here

   Saturday

The morning started our early with a reunion of cousins as Sage and Mila drove in Friday night after the kids were already in bed. 

 Saturday morning we headed to a community Easter Egg Hunt -- one of those crazy ones with millions of kids.  Most of our kids were so worked up to find the prized golden egg that they had a hard time enjoying all the other colors.

 After all the kids had a great time playing at the park until Nate's soccer game started.

 Chloe was in Sage heaven.

I love this picture because it shows who wears the pants in this relationship. 

 

 These girls sure LOVE each other!

 Next it was off to Nate's soccer game.  It was a beautiful sunny day to cheer on our number one soccer player!

 Mila was happy to have Nate as her companion. 

For our nightly devotional we made resurrection cookies with the Andersens.  Recipe and story found here.

 

 

Saturday night after the kids were all in bed us adults snuck out and enjoyed some delicious frozen yogurt.  The yogurt was excellent but the company was even better.  We sure miss having Emi and Ryan so close!

Sunday 

We woke the kids up to the "Halliajuah" chorus of Handel's "Messiah" and the kids all ran in to check on the Resurrection cookies.

 The Von Trap Andersen Ladies

 Kind of a lousy picture of the family but we always take one on Easter.  Alex actually had been feeling really crappy so he came home early from church and had already changed his clothes.

 Sunday afternoon Ryan set up our family Easter Egg hunt.  Coop was pretty intense with his hunting skills.

 Chloe was in candy heaven.

 It's so great being an Aunti!  I tried my best to spoil Mila -- I gave her a bottle to use as her sippy cup while visiting, let her snuggle in bed with me, and listened to all her woes.

 Sunday afternoon we had a wonderfully full house with the Cox and Andersen families joining us.  I made my traditional bunny bread which was enjoyed with ham, funeral potatoes, asparagus, and pineapple.

 It was hard to see the day end for these three little ladies as it meant the Andersen's would soon be returning to Spokane and Chloe would be left pining over their departure.

 Our L.O.A. (Love One Another) Walls were full this year with lots of complements about each family member.  Each night after our devotional we all had the opportunity to write something kind about another family member on our windows.

I'd say it was another memorable week!!  We loved having company for the weekend!

How To Eat Fried Worms

While tucking Chloe into bed tonight she asked me if I thought her worm would be okay.  Today while doing some yard work Birch found Chloe a gargantuan earthworm which she has cared for all day long.  She bathed it with a squirt bottle, made it do exercises (which included swinging the worm around by one end), and watching it poop so as to determine which end was it's bum. 

"Yes, I'm sure your worm is fine," I responded to Chloe. 

Then she giggled and replied, "I kissed it [the worm] on it's skin."

BARF!!!!!  It took all my motherly awesomeness to let her smother me with kisses before saying goodnight. 

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

Every once in a while when I stop and think about how old Alex is getting it just blows my mind.  It's hard to believe that I have a high school Freshman.  It honestly doesn't feel like that long ago that I was a Freshman and was going to Stake Dances and seminary.  Alex is really a stellar kid -- he has had nothing but a 4.0 point for like his whole life, he gets up on his own for seminary each day at 5:30 am, he does his homework without being asked, has great taste in music (we share a love for good music), loves to dance, and is spiritually inclined.  Alex is passionate about baseball and was thrilled to make it on the high school "C" team this year.

Alex is a lefty which has proven to be lucky in both batting and pitching.  They have played three games so far this season and he has had some great hits.

 Alex's real love is pitching and this year he has been able to pitch part of each game so far.

 

 Birch was commenting when looking at these pictures how "violent" the pitching motion is.  I sure hope that his shoulder survives baseball.

 So far they have had an awesome season.  My favorite was the last game that they won 12-0 and with the ten home run rule the game only lasted five innings.

I've really appreciated Alex's coach as he keeps telling his team that he wants them to be "classy" ball players.  In the past foul language has been a nasty part of baseball (both the coaches and teammates).  It is so hard as a parent to want your kids to pursue their passion but also not wanting them to be around all the garbage that is sometimes apart of it.  

So bring on the sun, take away the wind, and let's get ready for some peanuts and cracker jacks!  

 

The Rightside On Steriods

This past month I've noticed that the Dittos seem to be rockin' their creative side of their brains.

 Tyler made these super cute cookie pops to sell at our recent Scout Benefit Dinner.

 I thought he did a great job...though I have to admit that we ended up buying half of them because the kids were so anxious to try them out themselves.

 Alysee wrapped up a huge project at school on Rattlesnakes.  She loved every minute of making her tri-folded poster and diorama.  She also gave a five minute presentation.

 

 A closer look at her rattlesnake diorama.

 Then the dreaded leprechaun traps.  This is Nate's trap; and while he generally had a good time putting it together it was not without some drama.

 Cooper decided that he didn't want to miss out on the fun and with Alysee's help he put together a trap as well.  

From my facebook post:
Not feelin' love toward the person that created the idea that kids every year have to make leprechaun traps. I know to be a cool mom I should relish in the inner creativeness...right now though, I am cleaning up yellow permanent marker off my countertops, little bits of tape and tons of cut up straws, and tears that their trap isn't as cool as they had mentally envisioned. And I certainly am not going to trash my house to show all the little messes that the leprechauns make...can't we just skip this holiday?? love, the St. Patties Day Grinch

 I do lots of graphic design work on a regular basis but rarely is it for our family.  I recently got the bug to bring a little sunshine to my kitchen/dining room so I got busy making some new curtains and artwork.

 The frames on over my sink window are a favorite of mine.  A super talented and dear friend of mine, Kim Greenfield does amazing photography.  Every couple of months I change out the pictures in these frames with something new for the season. 

 I mooched some fun ideas from online and made up some new artwork for the walls too.

 Birch often gets the organizing bug...and this time it was also creative.  The many skateboards and scooters are always a problem in our garage making it messy and hard to get around to the bikes. 

 Using some hooks Birch attached them to the wall to hang the scooters.

 Then I found this tool organizer from Home Depot and it works great to hang up all the skateboards on the wall as well.  I am IN LOVE with this project!

 

 Coop has always been a terrific artist and recently brought home his creative story that goes with this snowmobiling picture.

 I can't believe the progress Coop has made this year in his reading and writing abilities.  First Grade has really been a year of accomplishments for him.

 

 Coop just brought home his journal from school and Birch and I were totally impressed with his entries.  The following pictures are from Coop's daily journal.  One of the things that surprised us most is that Cooper has never seen the movie Star Wars.  He loves the lego sets and eagerly looks forward to watching the little Star Wars episodes that are on Saturday afternoon on TV.  His pictures of the characters and descriptions are incredible!

 

 Pretty amazing, huh!

 Lastly, Birch and I have done a couple of newborn photoshoots in the past month for friends.  We are not trying to expand our "business" but have really enjoyed sharing this learned talent with our friends and family.

Birch does the photography...I assist...I do the editing...together we ooh and ahh at the special moments we have captured!

Stay tuned for a creative project that Alex is working on for school creating something from recycled materials.  He is working on making a coat rack out of a donated old ski.  It's gonna be cool!

I have to admit that pulling out the old sewing machine wasn't as painful of an experience as I thought it might be.   My mom spent so many hours teaching her kids how to sew and I just haven't found the joy in it for the past decade.  Getting that right-side brain a little workout felt good, though!

Nate turns 9!

Seems like this past year for Nate has just flown by.  Nate was super excited to celebrate his ninth birthday and convinced us all that celebrating a day early would be best so he could have extra time with dad (Birch has Mondays off).  We picked up Nate from school Monday at lunchtime and we got to hang out, just the three of us for the rest of the afternoon. 

Nate is a real sweet kid.  He internalizes much of his emotions so sometimes it is hard to read him.  Nate chose to go to Sonic's for lunch and then we headed to Toys R Us to use his birthday money from Geoffrey, the giraffe and his own money.  Nate is a great at saving and earning money.  Nathan is a great student and always does his homework without complaining!  He is passionate about his competitive soccer team, being loyal to his friends, and is a homebody (he loves just hanging out with his family).

 Nate LOVES lasagna and requested a green salad, fruit, and bread to go with it.  

 One of the other things we did with Nate that afternoon together was go to Costco.  He got to pick out a special birthday dessert and choose Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches.

Pretty sweet presents!  Nate was elated when he opened up Grannie's gift and saw $10 tucked in the letter.  He yelled out, "Now I'm not poor anymore."  Earlier in the day, Nate had spent ALL his money at Toys R Us and certainly appreciated not being in the poor house any longer.

LOVE THIS KID!

Dr. Suess's Apprentice

I have a four year old that is obsessed with glue guns, being like her older siblings, and being goofy.

 Chloe has been hard at work on her diorama for the past couple of days.  Alysee was making one about rattlesnakes for a school project and Chloe decided that she needed to make one for preschool.  She found the box at church and then came home and started cutting, hot gluing, and crafting away.  Her original creation was a bit simpler and had a drawing of Dr. Suess's grave...you know since he died.  When Alysee got home from school she started assisting Chloe and waalaa...

...the "Cat in the Hat Next to Dr. Suess's Grave" was crafted.  This morning Chloe added Thing One and Thing Two.  She has only burned herself with the hot glue gun like three times.  By the time she is five years old she should be a pro!  On the back of the diorama she taped a paper plate that one side has a happy face and one side as a sad face.  Her plan is to ask her fellow preschool mates if they think Dr. Suess is sad he died or if he is happy.  Where does she come up with these things?

Birch and I were talking about the hurried pace that is often felt in our house..."hurry and buckle-up so we're not late,"  "hurry and get your shoes on," "hurry and brush your teeth," "hurry and get in bed," etc...This girl helps us slow down every once in a while and reminds us what is really important...F.A.M.I.L.Y!

I am often put in my place by this young lady. Yesterday Chloe and I were running some errands and she asked if I would take her home so she could get some of her own money and then she wanted me to take her to The Dollar Store.

I told her, "No, that wasn't in the plan for the day."

Chloe replied, "You'd be the BEST MOM EVER if you took me."

"I already am," I replied.

Chloe responded with much gusto, "No, Jane's mom [Aunt Julia] is the BEST MOM EVER."

Good thing I think Aunt Julia is pretty awesome too!