Overheard:

Emet: Yessa, (his word for Elijah) you boke my heart.

Elijah: Ha ha, you don't even know what that means.

Emet: Yes I do. You boke my heart!

Elijah: Well, where is your heart then?

Emet: Right here in my tummy!

(Picture from here.)

Countdown to the Derby

Elijah's Cubscout Pinewood Derby is this weekend, so he has been working on his car (with his father's help, of course.) Needless to say, all the boys are excited by the upcoming race. And I'm excited that they're excited.

Pipe Cleaners=$1 , A Day of Imagination= Priceless

Win an Etsy Shopping Spree!

Don't forget to vote in the Best Handmade Kids Sweepstakes over at Etsy! You could win a $350 Etsy shopping spree, and you'll get to see some of the best handmade kids stuff! Perhaps you'll even find an early Christmas gift or two.

Yes, these are some of my favorites, no, they are not all the ones I voted for. It's hard to choose...and you'll just have to decide on your own what to pick!

Oh, the wonders of Spring...

Let's Make Paper Airplanes

There are not many sweeter things than a father teaching his sons correct paper airplane folding techniques.




It makes me want to buy them this book or any of these.

Resurrection Cookies

I've been wanting to make these cookies with the kids for a couple of years now, but something always happens on the day before Easter and I never get around to doing it. This year is no different because Emet is throwing up, so I sent the big boys to their grandparent's to keep them from getting it. Here's the recipe if you wanna try it:
Ingredients
1 cup whole pecans
3 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 pinch salt
Directions
1. Read the whole recipe before beginning, try to do together Saturday night before Easter Sunday.
2. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
3. You need: Mixing bowl, Wooden spoon, Bible, Zipper baggie, Waxed paper, Cookie sheet, Tape.
4. Place pecans in zipper baggie and let children beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces.
5. Explain that after Jesus was arrested, He was beaten by the Roman soldiers.
6. Read John 19:1-3.
7. Let child smell the vinegar.
8. Put 1 tsp into mixing bowl.
9. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross, He was given vinegar to drink.
10. Read John 19:28-30.
11. Add egg whites to the vinegar.
12. Eggs represent life.
13. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life.
14. Read John 10:10-11.
15. Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand.
16. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl.
17. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own sin.
18. Read Luke 23:27.
19. So far, the ingredients are not very appetizing.
20. Add 1 cup sugar.
21. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us.
22. He wants us to know and belong to Him.
23. Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16.
24. Beat with a mixer on high speed for 11-15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed.
25. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus.
26. Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3.
27. Fold in broken nuts.
28. Drop by tsp onto waxed paper-covered cookie sheet.
29. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid.
30. Read Matt.27:57-61.
31. Put cookie sheet in the oven.
32. Close the door and turn the oven OFF.
33. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door.
34. Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed.
35. Read Matt. 27:65-66.
36. Go to Bed!
37. Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight.
38. Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed.
39. Read John 16:20 and 22.
40. On Resurrection Morning open the oven and give everyone a cookie!
41. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite.
42. The cookies are hollow!
43. On the first Resurrection Day, Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty.
44. Read Matt. 28:1-9.
HE HAS RISEN! HALLELUJAH!
recipe by Dianac.

Toys, toys

I've been trying to take pictures of toys laying around because if I find a nice photo it makes me feel less out of control about the total chaos that I am always battling around here. Mess can look nice too...right? That's what I've been trying to convince my clean and neat self so that we can live compatibly in the same body. Because clean and neat will never occur in this house for more than five minutes...and that's o.k.

Chimchar

Did I tell you that Elijah LOVES Pokemon? Well, his birthday was full of pokemon; games, cards, books...and cakes. This is supposed to be Chimchar, Elijah's favorite.

Spiderman?

This is the way we sent Elijah to school today.

It's "book character" day.

I must've done something right!

Elijah said, "Mom, could we please have something healthy for snack?"

This is amazing! What kind of kids am I raising?

He lost his top tooth.

This is a huge milestone in the developement of my baby. Those two top teeth matter so much in the way they look. I remember when Kaleb lost his, and then all of a sudden he looked so different...but still just as cute, just...older. I'm happy but also sad.

A Safer Way to Play

Ever nervous about what is in your child's paint? Now you can make your own. Check out Nashville Green Mom's recipe for all natural finger paints or her recipe for all natural playdough.

The Three Boys

I was tagged by Carrie to write 8 things about my kid. Since I have three, I'll do three things about each of them. (Yes, I know that adds up to nine things, but I can't very well do a third thing about them.)
Here goes.

About Emet:
1. He has an obsessive fascination with Blue's Clues. He found this day calender at my mom's house and has been carrying it around/sleeping with it for two months.
See the resemblance? If you don't, Emet certainly does (he also never forgets the pencil/crayon that goes with.)

 

2. He is hopelessly addicted to his pacifier.

3. The highlight of his day is when his big brothers come home from school.


About Elijah:
1. He had the whole "Blue's Clues" thing going on too, but now that obsession has transferred to all things Pokemon.

2. When the camera comes out, Elijah is ready to pose.

3. He is either very quiet or very loud. There is no adjusting the volume!


About Kaleb:
1.His favorite thing to do before he goes to bed is read... and he gets quite upset if Elijah is making him not be able to concentrate.
2. The rest of the time, if he can, he will be making noise.

 

3. He made a cool fort in the backyard using old stuff that we had lying around back there. The boys play "Survivorman" in it.

Alright, that's it. Now I tag Kristen, Erin, Rachel, Jana and Jessica. (and anyone else who wants to do it.)

Baby shoes

I picked up these adorable handmade, leather kangaroo baby shoes for a gift. They're from Minitoes on Etsy. Baby feet, you gotta love 'em.

Happy Birthday Kaleb!

Since Kaleb turns 11 today, I thought I would write 11 things that I love about him.

1. He loves to read and he goes through at least one novel a week.
2. He stands up for kids that are being made fun of at school.
3. He knows more about animals than I do.
4. He has confided in me that his goal is to get a full scholarship to collage.
5. He loves God and he is always asking questions and reading his Bible to further
his knowledge about who God is.
6. He loves his brothers.
7. He has listened to me read out loud: several Alice in Wonderland books
(two by Lewis Carrol and at least three by other authors), six Harry Potter books,
The original Peter Pan, The Chet Gecko Series, The Hardy Boys, Eragon, The first
four Chronicles of Narnia, and lots and lots of other books.
8. His job is to feed the dogs and he does a great job.
9. We just received his achievement test results and he scored well above advanced
in every single category.
10. He has been faithfully practicing his saxophone and he is getting better and
better at it.
11. He loves our family and he prays for us almost every day.
Well, there's eleven things. I know I could think of a lot more. I love Kaleb so much, not just for his achievements (but I am proud of those) but because I know his heart. He desires to be the man God made him to be and to get to see that worked out in his life on a daily basis is such a huge blessing for me. I love you Kaleb!

The Saturday Party

Tomorrow is Kaleb's birthday. We had a family party on Saturday and Kaleb got to invite a friend to spend the night. My Dad's parents were here from Indiana, so they also got to join in on the fun. In fact, it was Grandma who made the Angel Food Cake!
A couple of months ago Kaleb had decided that he wanted a Harry Potter First Year party because he was turning 11 and that is how old Harry was when he got to Hogwarts, so I had planned to do wands, brooms and the sorting hat etc., but about a week before the party, Kaleb said, "Mom, I'm not so sure about a theme this year." I said, "What do you mean? What about Harry and turning 11 and all that?"
"I'm just getting older, you know." he replied.
So, the theme went out the window, but Kaleb said he had a great time at his party (and we had a treasure hunt, because he's not too old for that!)

Uh Oh

My husband has been painting for a show this month in his new studio. The baby loves his new studio and is constantly trying to spend as much time as he can in there. The room is not entirely baby proofed, so if you spend anytime around my house, you will often hear the words "Where's the baby?"

He fell in to a wet palette of paint the other day. Luckily Seth was in there to rescue him (and all of our stuff and the new room from paint damage.) Good thing for Emet, this is the shirt he was wearing:

Sax Player in the Family

My oldest son has decided to join the band at school and play the saxophone. He got his instrument last night. He is very excited.

The Boys

My big boys got their hair cut this weekend when they stayed with their Mimi and Papa (my parents). They look so handsome. Now we can see their sweet (and sometimes not so sweet) faces!