Easter Pics

Here are some of our Easter pictures. We never seem to get any pictures of the 4 of us. I guess we will need to go and actually get some taken. Ella felt like a princess in her Easter dress and Ethan has been wanting to wear his vest for 2 weeks now -- he finally go the chance to wear it and loved it. Thanks Nonna and Papa.

Make a Craft Monday - The Ocean

OK - yesterday was crazy so I am a little late. In the celebration of spring break I am posting a craft we did in Florida to represent the ocean. Again a very easy craft.

Supplies:

Blue Jello

Water

Glass bowls

Sea creature fruit snacks (sharks or fish)

Directions:

Make your jello according to the box. Pour into glass bowls. Let set for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Add the fish -- some will stay at top some will sink. Enjoy!!! Ethan loved "fishing" for the sharks. Whereas Ella just loved having that much sugar all at once.

Make a Craft Monday - Dyed Easter Eggs

Materials:

Hard Boiled Eggs

Vinegar (white)

Small bowls or cups

Water

Food Color

Directions:

Fill cups 1/2 full of water

Add 1 tsp of Vinegar for every 1 cup of water

Add drops of food color until you are happy with the color and then add 2 more drops.

Put Eggs in in cups

Let Dry -- to make a glossier egg - wipe with vegetable oil.

We made these eggs this afternoon with Melissa and her kids. Ella got a little messy - watch out for the food color -- it does stain.Ethan and Gavin just loved the coloring. It is fun to see you kids reach the age where they really start to enjoy friends. Ethan was so excited all day today that Gavin was coming over. He kept saying "Is it 4 yet mommy?" Have fun!!

Jelly Bean Prayer - Easter Craft

Red is for the blood He gave.
Green is for the grass He made.
Yellow is for the sun so bright.
Orange is for the edge of night.
Black is for the sins we made.
White is for the grace He gave.
Purple is for His hour of sorrow.
Pink is for our new tomorrow.
An egg full of jelly beans, Colorful and Sweet Is a prayer, a promise, A loved one's treat!!

Charlene Dickensen, 1997

Then put a jelly bean of each of the above colors in a plastic egg and tell of Jesus' love!

New Again

For those of you who have not seen this video - it is a must see. It brings me to tears every time I see it. With Easter quickly approaching we get caught up in Easter eggs and the Easter bunny. But we need to take some time and think about the real meaning of our Easter celebration. This was the time our Lord Jesus sacrificed His life for our each and every sin. He endured so much for us up on that cross and then 3 days later the miracle of all -- He was resurrected!! This video is depicted as Mary the mother of Jesus and Jesus. It is so touching seeing this as I look on as a mother. And to think Jesus, the one who loves me more than any other person, endured every twinge of pain to make me NEW AGAIN!! Praise Jesus.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh7icqR9zEY

Oh and stay tuned because Make a Craft Monday - we either be later today or tomorrow.

Irresponsibility

Last week at about 9:30pm we heard what we thought was a gun shot -- to our surprise there was an accident right in front of our house. The accident involved one car, one person, our yard, four trees, one for sale sign, and a few police men and fire men along with their cars and trucks. So the irresponsibility of one extremely drunk man caused this - although we all know it could have been much worse - thankfully no other person or car was involved in the accident. I have absolutely no tolerance for drunk driving. I know our world is full of irresponsibility which makes me realize how much of a responsibility I really do have in the lives of my two children. I was watching the news the other day and saw that 1 in 4 teen girls have a STD and 2% of 5th grade girls have one as well. WOW -- that is all I can say - it brought me to tears. So now my challenge is to figure out where God wants me to fit into this picture. I have a social work degree and would love to use it in a volunteer position. There are many organizations that help educate children. So my search begins. Hopefully in the next few months I will have decided where God wants me and where He can utilize me best. God has given us His Children for a short time and we need to do all we can to glorify God in what we teach them.

More Hair pictures for your voting.

So here are some more pictures of Ella's hair. It is not long enough (or thick enough) for a ponytail but here is our version of piggy tails. She really does not like this in her hair. So what is your vote - haircut or no haircut??

POLL: Haircut or no Haircut

So here is my poor little Ella -- 2 years and 2 months old and not a whole lot of hair. As of yesterday she has let me put this little clip in her hair. Otherwise she does not let me put anything in her hair. So here is the question - do I cut it, give her bangs, trim the mullet, or just plan leave it alone and endure the bad hair for a few more months before reconsidering a hair cut? Any and all suggestions are wanted.

Make a Craft Monday - Hand Print Flowers

Hand Print Flowers.

We made this craft while we were in Florida to thank our Nonna and Papa for all they did for us while we were there. Easy and Fun craft.

Supplies:

~ Construction Paper

~ Stapler

~ Green Pipe Cleaners

~ A Pencil

Directions:

~ Trace your child's hand on the paper (use bright colors for fun spring color). - I used orange for Ethan, pink for Ella, and Yellow for Faith.

~ Cut out hand prints

~ Use a pencil to curl the end of the fingers to make them look more like flower pedals

~ Curve wrist of hand print around the pipe cleaner and staple.

Like I said - super easy.

This would make a great Easter gift. Enjoy and have fun.

More Florida - Zoo and Sleeping

We went to the Naples Zoo one day. Not nearly as good as the Indy Zoo but it was fun for the kids non the less. Oh and it is completely overpriced. Ella was being a little spitfire the whole time so I did not get many good pictures. Here is Ethan and the Alligator. There were lots of alligators.Ethan loved "Baby" Faith. Here they are posing together at the Zoo.Ella being a stinker and running away as I tried to take her picture.
And here are the precious sleeping ones. It is so funny how they seem so innocent when they are sleeping. Ethan and Ella shared a room. That was a little bit of a problem because Ella has the tendency to wake up at 5:00 am and Ethan loves sleeping until 7:30. So when Ella woke up I had to rush in there as quick as I could to keep Ethan from waking up. He is such a good sleeper - he actually did pretty good.

Florida Trip!!

So for you loyal blog readers you may wonder where we have been -- well it has been sunny Florida. WE leave tomorrow so I thought I should at least post one blog about our trip because there will be lots to catch up on. Sorry for skiping the Make a Craft Monday but there will be one this coming Monday. I guess I was just to busy swimming, going to the beach, riding my bike, shopping at outdoor malls -- you know - the good stuff you can't do during cold Indiana winters. Here are a few pictures from our beach adventures. It was hard to get good pictures because they really liked hanging out near the waves and I simply did not feel safe letting them do that while I was taking pictures. Anyhow - they loved the beach this time around. I can't wait til this summer because they are both little fish -- swimming away like crazy.

Here is little Ella girl ready to get out and go to the beach. This is her "come on Mommy - lets go" look!Stay posted because when I get back there will be more sunny Florida posts.