Resurrection Biscuits

This year we decided to do our "resurrection" biscuits the weekend before Easter (or Palm Sunday). Saturday morning we went on our annual helicopter-dropping Easter egg hunt with our friends Chris & Lisa, and unfortunately my camera battery was dead. So, hopefully I'll post some pictures of the event sometime if she emails me hers. Anyway, that evening we went to church at the Worship Center and learned about Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. I learned that the day He arrived was the lamb-picking day for Passover. I wish more churches would pass out palms like our old church did for worship, but I realize I'm just a creature of traditions. 

Sunday morning, Joshua put on a Burger King crown that he found among his toys (he never throws anything away!). We decided it didn't really matter if he wore it for our activity. 

We told the story of Jesus coming to earth and the boys named some miracles that He did while He was here (calming the storm, feeding the 5,000, healing the sick, etc).

We then talked about how Jesus died on the cross for our sins (the things we do wrong) and shed His blood for our forgiveness so that we can draw close to God again. After He died, His body went into a tomb with a big stone rolled across.

We placed the marshmallows in the tombs to represent Jesus' body.

Caleb LOVES marshmallows. So, he also ate a few. Is that like taking communion when he eats Jesus' body? Just kidding!

Joshua said this year, "Mom, I think that the marshmallows melt into the biscuits and that's how the 'body' disappears?" How did he get so old?!?! I told him not to ruin it for his brothers. After all, this was a lesson (and breakfast!). He agreed. I still remember him saying at three years old "Jesus is ALIVE! Jesus is alive! And...He ate the marshmallow out of my biscuit?!?!? That wasn't very nice of Jesus!!!" Haaa!!!

For those of you reading this for the first time, we used Pillsbury Grand Biscuits (the big ones) that are butter flavored. You open them and place a large white marshmallow inside (any other color won't completely go away).

We closed the tombs by pinching them shut, folding one half the biscuit over and pinching the sides down to represent the stone going over the cave. Then I sprinkled them with some cinnamon and sugar.

We set the oven to 15 minutes at 350 degrees (which was what the package said).

Then as the biscuits were baking, I read to the boys from our Easter Story book by Patricia Pingry. It's a great one for kids this age.

Then we set the table for breakfast.

We asked the boys if Jesus was still in the grave or if He was alive. His body was represented by the marshmallow. Was it still there? Caleb took the time to really look...

No, His body wasn't there when His friends came to look. He is ALIVE! Death couldn't hold Him down. He rose from the dead! And He's coming back for us! By His stripes we are healed; He made a way for us to go to the Father. Hallelujah!!!

Shawn enjoyed his biscuit breakfast and the family activity. :)

Ryan also ate breakfast well. I think he's saying "Yea!" below as we talked about Jesus being alive.

Later that night as we gave them a bath, I let them reenact the wind and the 'waves' as Jesus calmed the storm in the boat with His disciples. There were other activities I should have done to represent Easter, but I know that we're not limited to this time of year. We can continue to talk about the wonderful miracles of God all year long!

Why do you look for the living among the dead? Jesus is not here! He has RISEN!

My devotions on Good Friday included Isaiah 53 about why Jesus died for our sins. It's worth the read! Here's the link: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+53&version=NLT

Go, Giants!

We got an email from Joshua's coach for T-ball this Spring. He is officially on the "GIANTS" team.

Practices will be held at Nitrauer (yeah!) on Friday nights and games on Saturdays should be at Stoner. Awesome! He is excited to play. I hope he enjoys it!

In honor of baseball season, Mamaw made the older two boys these baseball sweaters.

They both like them. Caleb liked his so much, he wore his to church. And with it, you'd never know the tie was super short (ending just below where the zipper starts). I thought he looked so handsome, though! Thanks for the presents, Mamaw!

Happy 6.5 Year Birthday, Bean!

Joshua turned 78 months old - exactly 6.5 years - on Monday, March 18. It was a rainy day and cold, so we waited to get his pictures taken until Wednesday, the first official day of Spring. When the photographer said it was his turn to get pictures by himself (after taking some of all three boys) he gave her the expression above. I LOVE it! That is SO Joshua - full of life and energy and fun!

He also has a great smile, though, too! He has four adult teeth so far, all on the bottom. They are extremely crooked as his mouth isn't big enough for the adult teeth coming in. The dentist said we'll need braces, but he'll need to grow some more before we can even start thinking about them.

Speaking of growing, we bought him a size 8 "bacon" shirt for food week at school. Each child was asked to wear a food shirt, and I found one cheap at Kohl's (which I may have already posted about). I assumed that it might be a little big, but it was the only one I found. It fit him perfectly! I was surprised. He fits size 7 pants well, and the 7/8 shirts that used to be far too huge are now about right. I can't get over how tall he's getting! I had his feet measured, though, and they are still about a size Youth 1. So, he can still wear his sneakers just fine. Mamaw bought him a new coat and a bigger backpack (thanks so much) since both of his things were getting too small. We are SO ready to be done with coats, though, and hoping that it will soon feel like spring.

We just had snow here again on Monday, where I walked Joshua to school and back as the white stuff fell. After lunch, I laid Ryan down for his nap and took the older boys outside to play in it. Joshua actually helped me roll some of the snowman we created and built a little castle beyond just throwing snowballs. They had fun!

I helped out in Joshua's classroom yesterday, and again I'm impressed with how well my little man is doing in school. I ended up helping the kids who were falling behind, and I know how easily the items come to Joshua that these kids were struggling with. I'm glad he enjoys school and making friends! He also loves to go to the gym and "exercise" or play with his friends. He loves physical activity!

Joshua is SO funny! He seriously keeps us laughing, and I wish I would take more time to write down some of the things he says that crack us up. One thing he does is make up his own words. For example, he said "I'm going to go 'skadoosh' over here." We liked it so much that we've been using it. But then he said something about a 'skadoosh bag' that didn't sound so nice to us. Where does he get this stuff? On the other hand, he loves to watch videos of older 'kids' playing video games that show him the shortcuts and how to pass certain levels. And we have to monitor them because some are fine and others don't use the nicest language when they're losing.

Joshua LOVES his electronics - he enjoys playing Wii, iPad, DSi and any games like that. I had a talk with him about moderation, and he seems to understand that playing some is okay and playing too much is not. He reminded me of our video on temptation, which made me realize that he did understand what we were talking about. I'm continually impressed by his recall and how much he gets our talks. He is truly growing!!!

But as much as he is growing, I still look at his face sometimes and realize that he's still so little. We are constantly telling him that he's the oldest, he's the older brother, he needs to set a good example, etc, etc. But, he's still such a little guy with his smile and long eye lashes and an impressionable mind. May we continue to help him as he transforms into a young man! We love him so very much!!!

While Joshua can read on his own, he still enjoys hearing books. He also loves to wrestle, but he enjoys snuggle time too. I love times that we get to play as a family. It's a little hard when Joshua and Ryan are so different in age and abilities. But, the older boys try to be aware of Ryan and help him. When Ryan looks at books, he'll often point to something in the book (like a bigger dog or something he likes) and call it Joshua. I remember the Bean doing that and saying "Daddy!" I love how much the younger boys admire their older brother.

There is more I could write, but this is good for now. Happy 6.5 year birthday, my love!

Somebunny Loves Easter!

Last Friday, Mamaw & I took Caleb and Ryan shopping for Easter outfits for the boys. We ended up with these little outfits for the boys. Are they not SO adorable?

Yesterday, I took the boys to JCPenney's to get their pictures taken in their outfits. They were too cute not get some professional ones taken. My favorite was above and I put them all in order of the ones I liked best to least. They were all pretty good, though!

We'll wear these outfits again next week already! We have Palm Sunday this week in March and then the last weekend is Easter!

The studio had a prop of an Easter basket and eggs. The photographer asked Ryan to get in, but he would have none of it! This one of them smiling was still cute, though!

The pants with their suits was a little big, but their khakis worked just fine! It was the bow ties that made me fall in love with them anyway!

Here were some collages the woman did. I rarely buy them, though, because of the price.

More basket pictures!

 And Ryan loved climbing on this ladder. If Joshua wouldn't have blinked in the second picture, I would have liked it better. So I combined them in the next photo.

Ryan was DONE by this point. It looks like he's laughing and the boys are looking at him, but he's really throwing himself backward in a fit. Not my favorite even though the photographers thought it was hysterical. ???

Happy Easter, friends and family!