You know, the grouchy one you sometimes see, whose children you feel sorry for....well, sorry to admit it, but today that was me. A seemingly simple activity of going to the park for much needed fresh air/picnic/play time---took on a life of its own. I'll spare you the details, but trying to keep an eye on my 3-year-old monkey at a big downtown park and help my 6-year-old who really isn't feeling well but wants to walk everywhere, is not an activity that should be tackled alone---note to self. Anyhow, I got home, frustrated at how difficult simple activities can be for us, exhausted mentally and physically, and had this sweet card in the mail from my Grandma.
It was perfect timing to remind me that my little ones do bring me a lot of joy and beauty and pride.....and will give me many happy memories tomorrow (assuming I let them live that long!) Thank you Grandma Dotty! That sweet card & RyDaddy coming home and taking K-Rae out of the house awhile so Little Miss Mae and I could nap a couple of hours=a much happier Mama! Happy Mother's Day to all of you Moms!
Yes, this has been our past week and a half....poor little thing. In addition to her seasonal allergies and asthma acting up, she also tested positive today for strep throat, and has an ear infection on top of that...So in the past 12 days, she has been at school about a total of 5 hours....and I only sent her then because the allergist told us it was most likely her asthma/allergies acting up (wish that would have been so), but then came the fever.....and she got sent right back home from school....so the rest of that day was spent like this:
I love this tent! We may even use it outside at some point! I researched a lot of different types of beach/shade type tents before ordering this one, and we snagged an awesome deal: $58.95 at amazon.com, and it opens up like an umbrella! For sale here if interested: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002A966Z2
(No, I'm not getting paid by amazon, but I should as many things as I purchase!)
So I seriously set this tent up in about 30 sec. and then took it down in about 30 sec. I thought about having RyDaddy take a video of me doing that to post here, but then for the sake of saving some time, I decided to just post the video I watched before buying the tent. Check out the video below if interested. (Keep in mind I think I could beat this gal's time setting up and taking down though, and I would definitely use better music if I made this video myself!)
So, since Little Miss Mae hasn't been at school lately, we've been attempting to do school at home a bit (between dosing out her 8 different meds for all of the stuff going on with her currently and trying to keep K-Rae out of trouble too). Anyhow, the girls literally cheer for joy when I ring the school bell, and then rush to choose their "friend" (stuffed animal, doll, or in Little Miss Mae's case today, Sweat Pea Beauty finger puppet) to attend with them. Here's a quick clip from today....although K-Rae noted I didn't video the part at the end of her spontaneously belly sliding through the entire column of months cards....I guess I just didn't see that one coming and turned the movie off before that! What was I thinking?
Oh--and in case you aren't keeping up with your Veggie Tales characters, this is Sweet Pea Beauty--she really is too sweet! Both the girls love her!
And here she is having "breakfast" with all her friends, according to Little Miss Mae. I find it interesting how the vegetables eat burgers and onion rings for breakfast! Oh---and if you have or know young girls (ages 3-8) who haven't been introduced to Sweet Pea Beauty yet, here's a clip of her movie:
Photo credits: local photographer Vanessa Jergensen (Jergensen Photography)
www.jergensenphotography.com
Let me put a plug in for Vanessa for all you Grand Junction folks....
She was so incredibly patient with our girls and dog! We got digital copies of our portraits back in just one week and we are so pleased with the portraits! She was so friendly to deal with both in person and on email. We highly recommend her and will be using her again next time we decide to get professional photos!
That being said---enjoy the slideshow....I put it together so quickly for free using Kizoa--try it sometime! You may need to give the slideshow a minute to load, scroll over black line on the lower part of the photo for music/sound option and to play full screen.
Activity: Triumphal Procession Before church this a.m., we read John 12:12-13, the story of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. As we were talking about Palm Sunday, Little Miss Mae went to her bedroom and got her pom-pom---"Pom" Sunday, according to her! She took her pom-pom to church and waved it wildly during the "Hosanna" song. At church they gave the kids palm branches, so we had a triumphal procession at home too.
Day 2: The Children Really Know Him
Activity: Singing Praise Songs to Jesus with Friends
I tried to program Little Miss Mae's talker earlier today with the Hosanna song she loves....and somehow in the process of rushing to do this locked her talker on the songs page....We didn't figure this out until tonight, but her teacher said she sure sang a lot of Amazing Grace at school today. It must have taken some grace on her part to get through an entire day with only songs as a mode of communication! However, with all the singing, Little Miss Mae got a head start on today's advent activity. Our friends invited us over for the second night of Easter advent....worship and praise, and of course snacks and fellowship too! The girls were so excited all day about tonight's activity! Children are so uninhibited when they praise Jesus---He must smile down on them; we should learn from them....
Matthew 21:14-16
14 The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.
16 “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him.
“Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read,
“‘From the lips of children and infants you, Lord, have called forth your praise’?”
Even baby "M" stayed awake to participate! (Our friends' little girl---we'd claim her in a heartbeat though!)
K-Rae making a tambourine
I think K-Rae may have met her match.....
Not sure if she ate any of the chocolate or just smeared it all over her face!
Day 3: The Most Important Thing Activity: Loving each other
During Jesus' last days on earth, he knew his time was short, so he used this time to teach about some of the most important things...."Love the Lord your God with all your heart & with all your soul & with all your mind.... & love your neighbor as yourself." Matthew 22:37,29
For their ways to show love tonight, the girls chose to show love with their hearts.....K-Rae gave hugs, & Little Miss Mae used her talker to say "I love you."
RyDaddy agreed to use his strength and mind to show me love---by figuring out what is wrong with our stroller and attempting to fix it...thus speaking my love language of "acts of service..." for more about the love languages, click here: (Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman)($4.00 amazon.com---so worth it if you aren't familiar with the love languages)
For our story time tonight we read Let's Celebrate Jesus on Easter.This one is only $2.50 at amazon.com, and has been one of my favorites to use with the girls every Easter. I really like how this book talks about the fun childhood traditions of Easter....eggs, candy, new clothes, Easter baskets...
and uses those things to tie into what is truly important about Easter.
The first page says..."At Easter, I will decorate eggs with lots of bright colors....
but Jesus is the one who colors my world every day."
Jesus colored our world tonight....I sure love the sunsets here!
The heavens declare the glory of God." Psalm 19:1
Day 4: Jesus Teaches Us to Serve
Activity: "It's Time to Wash Feet," as Little Miss Mae said.
He wrapped a towel around his waist....poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples feet. John 13:5
Now that I, your Lord have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. John 13:14
( Yeah, I could get used to this!)
Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it....saying "Take and eat; this is my body."Matthew 26:26
Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them saying,
"Drink from it...this is my blood of the covenant,
which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." Matthew 26:28
(Only $2 from amazon.com...this one covers all the highlights of Holy Week from Palm Sunday to the ascension in a very child friendly manner), also available from amazon.com as a free Kindle edition!)
Day 5: Resurrection Eggs
Activity: An overview of the symbols of Easter
At MOPS we made a set of "resurrection eggs," basically a dozen plastic eggs and each one contains a symbol of the Easter story and a Bible verse that corresponds with the symbol.
I asked Miss Laci who was helping us out tonight, to go through the resurrection egg activity with the girls.
Well, our sensitive Little Miss Mae couldn't make it through the activity and just broke down crying.... understandably so...it is so sad what was done to Jesus, and humbling to know he endured that for me. Miss Laci just held her and let her cry awhile.
Despite the sadness, Miss Laci did manage to get some pics for our blog and I located a site that has ideas for the resurrection egg items, if you want to make a set yourself.Click here for Resurrection Egg List (scroll down through site, list is at end of page). As you can see, K-Rae thoroughly enjoyed the activity and was her usual rambunctious self!
Day 6: A garden, a cross, a tomb Activity: Creating a beautiful garden
Day 7: The Resurrection Story
Thank you Aunt Paula for sending us the magnetic resurrection story....it made a great culminating activity for our Easter week, and we were able to use it when we taught Sunday School a couple of weeks ago too! Anyone wanting to order a copy for next year can check out this link: Story of the Resurrection Magnetic Set
Silly girls at the end of a fun Easter Advent Week! Happy Easter! HE IS RISEN!
Six years old today....and what did she want for her treat at school? Cake pops! She had been introduced to these novelties by Auntie Sara earlier this year, and then found a picture of them and requested them....yes, 24 of them....how could I resist this smile....
So K-Rae helped me bake a cake....according to package directions.....We let that cool completely for a few hours.
Then we crumbled up that pretty cake and added a good glob of frosting (ended us using about 1/3-1/2 the tub) and mixed that in well.
We shaped the mixture into ping-pong size balls, and put them on a tray lined with parchment paper in the freezer overnight. Next day we melted 12 cubes of almond bark in the microwave, stuck sucker sticks in the balls, dipped them in almond bark and sprinkled on confetti type sprinkles.
You know, the grouchy one you sometimes see, whose children you feel sorry for....well, sorry to admit it, but today that was me. A seemingly simple activity of going to the park for much needed fresh air/picnic/play time---took on a life of its own. I'll spare you the details, but trying to keep an eye on my 3-year-old monkey at a big downtown park and help my 6-year-old who really isn't feeling well but wants to walk everywhere, is not an activity that should be tackled alone---note to self. Anyhow, I got home, frustrated at how difficult simple activities can be for us, exhausted mentally and physically, and had this sweet card in the mail from my Grandma.
