Making Resurrection Rolls

Today we made resurrection rolls. It was an idea I saw right after Easter last year and I have kept it bookmarked for an entire year because I did not want forget to incorporate it into our Resurrection Day traditions. They were so much fun to make and they truly were amazing. It is a great illustration of Christ dying, being buried, and raising from the dead.

We used canned croissant dough and cinnamon. Seth was super excited because it also involved marshmallows, a favorite of his.

We kept two croissant triangles together to form a rectangle. Then we put the marshmallow inside. The marshmallow is supposed to represent Christ wrapped in linens.

Next we sprinkled some cinnamon on top for extra sweetness, but to also represent the spices/oils that were put on Jesus.

Then we rolled the marshmallow up which symbolized Jesus being put in the tomb.

Here were the rolls before they were baked.

Then the amazing thing that happens is the marshmallow melts but the croissant keeps its shape, so it becomes the empty tomb. When you cut into it...

you can see that HE has risen!!! Happy Resurrection Day!!!

Books and Crafts for Celebrating Easter

I thought as a reminder to myself and possibly to help others I would compile a list of Easter books and links to crafts that we are using to celebrate this year and hopefully in years to come.

Books
Some of these books I have had for years and others we have just added to our collection this year. I am always on the lookout for meaningful Easter and Christmas books so I am sure the collection will grow even larger over time.

The Parable of the Lily by Liz Curtis Higgs

The Story of the Resurrection Eggs: Benjamin's Box by Melody Carlson
The First Easter by Carol Heyer
My Easter Basket: And the True Story of Easter by Mary Manz Simon
The Story of Passover by Francis Barry Silberg
The Easterville Miracle by Melody Carlson

Several years ago I purchased a set of the Resurrection Eggs that you can buy at almost any Christian bookstore. I have had them in my stash of crafty stuff for a long time and we decided this year we would incorporate them into our Easter celebrations. I numbered them so that they would be easier to identify each day. Next year though I think we might move the items that are inside the eggs into numbered boxes and do something extra special with them each day leading up to Resurrection Sunday.

Here are some of the resources for ideas that we have tried to incorporate this year or hope to use when the boys are a little older.

Potato Tomb LandscapeWater Color Cross PaintingResurrection Rolls (coming tomorrow)

He is Risen! Tomb Cake (will do this one this year if there is time)

For Future Years
Handprint Palm Branches for Palm Sunday (I just wish I had seen this idea sooner.)
Printable Easter Set
Last Supper Printable Set
Holy Week Banner
White Carnation/Red Dye
Lamb Name Cards

Good Friday 2011

We have been learning about the resurrection and reading different Easter books during our family story time before bed all week long (more on all that soon). With today being Good Friday, we decided to do a few things to remember the ultimate sacrifice that our Jesus made for all of us. First we made a Potato Tomb Landscape, an idea I got from a blog called Impress Your Kids.

Seth filled our dish with dirt.

Then we cut into a potato to make an opening in our "tomb."

We added rocks, twigs to make a cross, and some greenery for some trees. Seth was not interested in taking a picture with me or the tomb, but that's what happens with a 19 month old.

Here is our Potato Tomb Landscape:

Then after naptime, we did some watercolor painting. I drew three crosses on a hill with a sharpie marker and let him have at it. He did pretty good with his first time using watercolor paints.

Tonight we went to an Agape Dinner and Good Friday Service at church. It was nice end to a very special day.

Seth's Big Boy Bedroom

Seth's new bedroom is finally complete! I have to say I think it is my most favorite room in the whole house. Here's the new big boy bedroom:

The headboard was found by my mom at a Consignment store for $10.00. The bedding and planet mobile (which is no longer available) came from Pottery Barn Kids. The bedding in my opinion was pricey, but hopefully since it is high quality and not babyish it will last for a long time. The light blue sheets, navy bedskirt, and navy curtains came from Target.

Here's what the bed usually looks like, but it's so nice to be able to easily hide the bed rails.

On one side of the bedroom, Seth has a new craft area. The table came from Essex and was actually a console table that we cut down. After some bargaining we were able to get the table half off for only $34.99. I love that it is not a typical children's craft table.

We can raise the leaves and it becomes longer for more work space.
The chairs came from IKEA for $12.99 a piece.
Above the table is a bulletin board that I had in every one of my classrooms. I always painted the cork every year and added a different ribbon to the edge. It is such an easy way to add a pop of color to a space. We have been putting all of our crafts from Toddler Time at the library on it with gigantic sized thumb tacks that I found at the dollar store.
Right below the bulletin board (and high enough that Seth cannot easily reach these) are four metal buckets full of all WASHABLE art supplies. The buckets came from the Target dollar bin and they are hung using Command hooks. The buckets hold washable watercolors, paintbrushes, crayons, preschool scissors, and washable glue.
Sitting on the craft table is a craft paper roll and holder from IKEA. The foam puzzle originally came from Pottery Barn Kids but I bought it still in the unopened package for a dollar at a local consignment sale.

On the smallest wall in the room is the bookshelf from the nursery. It holds the fish tank, a lamp, clock, and picture of Seth's 3-D ultrasound. Above the bookshelf is one of my favorite pieces in the room. It is an alphabet poster that I found on Etsy. I am in love with it!

Next to the closet door is the magnetic dry erase board that used to be hanging in the nursery. We hung it low so that it could be even more functional. If you know me at all, you know that all I love for decor to be functional. Next to the magnetic board is a basket that holds some blocks and a few small toys.
Above one of the doorways, I sat some chipboard letters that spelled out Seth's name. I modge podged them with coordinating paper for fun and instantly Seth loved pointing to his name.

So here's a look at the entire room
(standing from the doorway leading to the living room)

(standing from the doorway leading to the hallway)(standing by the closet door)
It's been super fun to decorate Seth's new room.
I hope he enjoys his big boy bedroom for many years to come!

WKU Baseball

Last night we went to our first baseball game of the season. We weren't there to support the Hot Rods though. We were there routing for the WKU Hilltoppers! It happened to be one of the few games that the local university team plays at the minor league baseball stadium. So sporting our red we enjoyed a wonderful and absolutely beautiful evening at the ballpark. This year, Seth was intrigued by all the sporadic music and people clapping. He would dance and clap, only he would be about 5 seconds later than everyone else.
When he wasn't being passed around to all of our new friends in our fellowship group who were sitting all around us, he was snacking on vanilla wafers or fruit snacks or some other food.

He especially loved admiring his new friend Eliza. They kept giggling at each other and giving each other hugs and kisses. It was just too sweet!

Seth stayed awake during the entire game. Toward the end when it was way past his bedtime, he started to zone out a bit, but as soon as things started getting exciting in the 7th and 8th innings he would perk up to show his support. WKU ended up winning against the University of Kentucky with a score of 11 to 8. Go Hilltoppers!

Ducks and a Milkshake

Today we spontaneously decided to go feed the ducks at one of the local parks. We gathered some old bread and loaded up. Of course on the way we stopped to get a half-priced milkshake from Steak 'n Shake that we could also enjoy.

We tore our bread into lots of pieces once we arrived at the park.

We fed lots of ducks, geese, and birds.

We sipped on our milkshake as we observed the birds...

and sipped and sipped and sipped. Yum!

Sweet memories.

Soaking Up Life

How has so much time slipped away? It feels like just yesterday that we revealed "little's" gender, but it's been over two weeks! We have been soaking up all of life's wonderful moments, enjoying sporadic beautiful weather, and spending time with people we love. We have been grilling out, swinging in the backyard, playing at the park with friends, and getting rid of more stuff.
Since finding out that "little," who will now be known as Silas, is a boy, I have been going through clothes and baby stuff. I know I have plenty of time, but it's just so exciting to get everything ready for another baby. Since Seth's room is almost complete, I have been going back and forth about changing a few things in the nursery (mainly the curtains). A change would be nice, because I absolutely adore changing things, but it wouldn't be necessary, so we'll see.
In the last week or so I found some adorable robot fabric that is now ready to be sewn into a blanket for Silas. If you have been around for a while, you might remember that a blanket was one of the first things I wanted to make when I found out that we were having Seth. The urge has hit me again, and I can't wait to get started on it.
Then this past weekend my mom came up to BG and then we headed north to the IKEA that is just outside of Cincinnati. We were on a quest for some craft table chairs for Seth's new room (the finishing touch). We found them and lots of other things while we enjoyed the day together. Seth sure did love seeing his Nana, too! So while the blogging has been at a standstill for the last two weeks, we have been having a blast.

Revealing "Little's" Gender

Today was the big day! We found out Little's gender. Not that it really mattered one way or the other, but we were anxious to find out so that we could know how to plan in the coming months. I had been thinking during the whole pregnancy that Little was a girl because I have felt so different this time around. Turns out my motherly intuition was completely wrong and more than likely thrown off by some of the MS symptoms, because we are having a BOY!
We learned that Little is measuring about 20 weeks and 1 day putting a new due date around Aug. 23. Not that it really matters too much either since the delivery will be scheduled about 10 days before that, but everybody always asks about a due date. We weren't able to get one of those cute profile pics today so we will have to go back in a couple of weeks to try to get one. So until then we are left with a somewhat freaky, but I still think cute, picture of a face skeleton.
Before we could reveal the news to everyone we had to have a small REVEAL party at our fellowship group tonight. Our friend Julie mentioned having a Reveal party a couple of weeks ago and so we baked a cake to reveal the gender just for her.

Since Bryan and I already knew the gender (because it wasn't like a typical reveal party where the parents find out too), we let her do the honors of cutting into the cake.

She was so excited and that made us even more excited!

We are so blessed and can't wait for our "little" baby BOY to make his debut!