Resurrection cookies

Tonight we made Resurrection cookies. As we make the cookies we learn all about the Easter story, of God's love for us, of Jesus death and burial, and tomorrow morning we will learn about his resurrection.....all while baking cookies! Here are pictures of our evening and the story...and tomorrow we shall post pictures of our cookies for you :)

What you need: 1 cup whole pecans, 1 tsp. vinegar, 3 egg whites, pinch salt, 1 cup sugar, ziploc baggie, wooden spoon, tape, Bible.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees

Place pecans in baggie and let children beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces. When Jesus was arrested, He was beaten by the Roman soldiers. JOHN 19:1-3

Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 tsp. vinegar into a mixing bowl. Jesus was thirsty on the cross, He was given vinegar to drink. JOHN 19:28-30

Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Jesus gave His life to give us life! JOHN 10:10,11

Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. This represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers and the bitterness of our own sin. LUKE 23:27

So far, the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1 cup of sugar. The sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him. PSALMS 34:8 and JOHN 3:16

Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. The color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus.
ISAIAH 1:18 and JOHN 3:1-3

Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper covered cookie sheet. Each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid. MATTHEW 27:57-60

Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Jesus' tomb was sealed. MATTHEW 27:65-66

GO TO BED! We may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed. JOHN 16:20 and 22
On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. We will find out what happens tomorrow morning!!

New dress

I've been wanting to make matching dresses for the girls for awhile. I finally finished up the one dress today and was excited to see how it looked. She tried it on and the material got caught in the zipper. I mean really caught!!! I tugged and pulled and finally got the zipper up towards the top but she has to wiggle herself in and out of the dress to get it on and off. I was sooooo frustrated!!!! Hubby came home and looked at the dress and within a minute....the zipper was free :) Oh my hero. Now I wonder if I can get baby girls dress done in a day so they can wear them for Easter Sunday??

New look

We went and had our family pictures done today and I love the fresh, spring look so I thought I'd continue that onto my blog as well. The kids did really well. I wish we could have gotten all the pictures!!! I took every precaution for baby girl not to get spit up on her clothes before picture time....I dressed her when we got there and put a bib on her until we were ready to take pictures BUT I didn't take precautions not to get spit up on me!!! *smile* All down the front of my shirt...fortunately it dried while we were waiting for them to set up :) Oh well!
Hubby got a call back today from his interview. It's a no-go :( We were both disappointed but we also know that it is just a closed door....we're not meant to go that route. We wait on the Lord! We know that He will continue to meet our needs.

Another interview

Hubby had another interview today. He says it went well....they showed him around, talked about the position, talked benefits and salary a little, met with several people, and will get a call back with a decision. I don't know what God has in store, but we just wait and pray for His will!!

The many faces of my boy

Trying to take pictures of a 2 year old is tough! I just want one good smile :)

Our trip 3

First off, hubby doesn't think anything will become of this job offer. It sounds like they have interviewed other people for the position that meet more of the job skills necessary. So we just wait to see what God has in store :)

As for the rest of our trip, we spent time catching up with family and friends. We had a nice visit with the kids great aunt (my Aunt L!) and then we were off to see their great-grandparents for an afternoon. Hubby always enjoys going down and walking my grandparents property. He thinks it is so gorgeous and prays one day to have a similar set up such as that! We were able to get some 4 generation photos and it was wonderful seeing my grandparents play with their newest great grandchild. Great grandpa used to work for the railroad and the kids like looking at all his trains! Several years back he even made a life size train and track in his backyard which I enjoyed a couple times growing up :)

We also met with friends which have children the same age as ours. It is so funny watching the kids interact with each other. They also gave us bags of clothes filled with coats, shoes, summer and winter clothing! We don't have to worry about his wardrobe for the next year or so! I have never seen a boy get so excited about new clothes before....especially the spider shirts. Thank you guys :) and praise the Lord! Here is a picture my friend took of the kids. We then finished off our visit with a surprise birthday celebration for moi a few weeks early....what a yummy cake!! It was such an enjoyable trip and short lived but greatly needed.


A few more pics of our trip....

Our trip 2

The next day the kids along with Daddy, Grandpa and their cousin, went to the Sugar Bush to see how maple syrup was made. Some fun facts for you: did you know that maple syrup is a low glycemic food and that 2 tbsp of maple syrup has the same antioxidants as 2 tbsp of broccoli? Cool huh! Here are some pics of their field trip and some of the kids taken during our visit. More about our trip tomorrow!!

Cousins

Our trip

First I want to give a prayer request. Tomorrow hubby goes for a sort-of job interview. He's been on his own for almost a year now and things are really slowing down. A little too much!!! A co-worker he used to work with was talking to a company which is looking for someone with alot of hubby's skills. Hubby will go meet with them tomorrow and talk about the position. Although he enjoys working from home, we live month to month wondering if the bills will be paid....which is a little stressful :) God has been so good to us and has met our every need....and if He is opening up an opportunity for full time work, that would be great!

So onto our trip!!! It was a very enjoyable and relaxing time. The kids enjoyed their time with grandparents, great-grandparents, aunt/uncle and cousins, great aunt and friends. Our first big outing was to an Iroquoian Indian village called Ska-na-doht. We have been studying explorers and Native Americans in History, so it was nice to be able to actually see how some Indians lived rather than just through pictures! We finished off the day taking the kids to the place where Mommy and Daddy had their first date and where we got engaged (on the same bench in Springbank Park).

Here are some pictures of Ska-na-doht.....more about our trip later :)

Animal hides

Longhouse - 50 people would live in 1 longhouse

inside the Longhouse

temporary shelter built while traveling

bench where we had our first date and where hubby proposed

look what God has given to us 12 years later!!

Home again

Back home from our trip to see family in Canada! What a great week we had. I've got some fun stuff to post about but need to get a little organized around here first :)

Vacation

We are enjoying our vacation time in Canada visiting family. We will have lots of great pics to post when we get back. The kids have been able to do some fieldtrips while they are here which has been really nice. Our trip was long but very smooth. We were on the road for 17 hours but all the kids did really well, especially the baby!! She slept the entire way with stops for nursing every 4 hours.....no crying at all :) Hopefully the trip back will be just as enjoyable! We have a fieldtrip today and hopefully will see the kids great grandparents tomorrow. Our time here is always so short, but we pack alot in and make some great memories!!

Pretty in pink

Puzzled again

I know I talk about puzzles alot....but I really think they are great and inexpensive learning activities for the kids! Our little guy (2 years old) is now a pro at them. We have picked up several 25 piece puzzles and he loves them!! (especially the Crazy Critter puzzles shown below of the animals) He can whip it together in several minutes. Our 4 year old has been doing 100 piece puzzles and will get to move up to the 150 piece. Our 7 year old is now onto 300 piece puzzles and I'm amazed at how quickly she gets chunks of it done! I was so interested in the current one she is doing, we've been spending some mommy-daughter time together at the table :) The funny thing is, they put them together and 15 mins later they want to do it all over again. Here they are busy at work......

Finally home

A very dear man has finally gone home to be with his Saviour. At the age of 93, Pastor Fred Howard had touched many lives and led many to Christ. He officiated my parents wedding, baptized me, encouraged me to become the church pianist and then organist of our church, and officiated at our wedding. Under his teaching I learned much and he led by example. Although he will be missed among us, we rejoice at his homegoing!!

Pic of the day

Such a doll...3 months old tomorrow!

Fountain fun

Last night we had fun.....with chocolate! A little too much chocolate I think :) The kids had a ball dipping their strawberries in the flowing gooey delight as you can see by their chocolate covered faces!
There's a few pictures of the other 2 as well.

Another giveaway

Posting another great giveaway! Visit Life in a shoe to enter. I've entered for some beautiful fabric to make matching dresses for the girls :)

http://inashoe.com/2010/03/giveaway-marie-madeline-studio/

Where'd the week go?

Has it really been almost a week since I've blogged. Goodness!! Life with 4 little ones sure does change things :)
First, I hope Grandma N had a good birthday! Hope to come see you soon. We are planning our trip to Canada which I'm excited about. The kids are excited and keep asking is it time yet???? It's been over a year since we've been there, so we are all looking forward to our trip!

In schooling news, things are going well. The kids have been having a good attitude lately and focusing on their work. Here, we don't have required testing for homeschool but I really wanted to find a way to test the kids on my own here at home. I found these great diagnostic tests and our daughter completed her end of year test. It gave me a really good idea of the areas we need to work on and how well she is doing. http://www.edudps.com/dpa.html

On the home front, we are all doing well. No one is sick right now....yay! After all those colds we had, I sure hope we have a nice break and stay healthy for awhile. Baby is getting bigger and bigger everyday. Everyone loves her plump cheeks and double chin :) She is staying awake alot more now too throughout the day. Sometimes that poses a little more of a problem with schooling since she would rather be toted around in my arms all day. We've also put our bird feeder back up so you may see some bird pictures again :) So far our cardinals and titmouse have been spotted (along with the unwelcomed squirrels!)
That's about it for now.....a quick update!