Pancake Tuesday, Mardi Gras and/or Shrove Tuesday

Our morning started with chocolate chip pancakes.

The kiddos and I sat down to these lovelies and added some butter and, of course, Daddy's homemade syrup.

After chores we had craft time. We made crowns and masks for Mardi Gras.

These are the boys' crowns.

Mimi got in on the action when she dropped of our King's Cake that we're having for dessert. I'll share pics of that later, she did a beautiful job of it!

This is a cat toy for Miss Merlin. I did some sewing in the afternoon. I'll show the fruits of that labor in a very near future post. Prissy cat didn't even care for her toy. It's stuffed with our last sprig of homegrown catnip. I put pretty, tantalizing ribbons on it. Humph!

This was our table for dinner. I got the coins and center piece at the dollar store. The table runner was one of the fruits of labor mentioned above.

I also took some time to work on our family faith wall for Lent. I got the Alleluia out so that we can bury it tomorrow, for Ash Wednesday. I'll post more about our family faith wall and preparing for Lent.

Well, that's our day! I'm off to have some King's Cake with my family. Have a lovely evening, Friends.
Blessings,
Kelly

Homemade Cleaners and What They Have to Do With Holy Weekend

Ingredients for Soap Jelly (taken yesterday, as you can see the sunshine on the bowl!)

Ingredients for homemade dishwasher detergent

Greetings on this cold, rainy/snowy Holy Saturday. Although I don't care for this weather, it seems a bit appropriate for the day, at least to my way of thinking. I can't help but wonder how the apostles and followers of Jesus must have felt that Saturday so many years ago. Aren't we blessed to know that tomorrow there will be rejoicing?!

So, you're probably wondering what in the world I mean by the title of today's post. (Then again, perhaps some of you are already familiar with the following concept!) In the past, Lent has been a time of Spring cleaning for both the soul and the home. (I couldn't find the specific sites about this, but if you Google "spring cleaning and Lent" you'll find some more info. there.) That being said, don't feel guilty or panicked if you haven't or don't plan on spring cleaning your home. You are in good company! I'm still playing catch up from when I worked nearly a month ago! However, with yesterday's sunshine, an impressive amount of money going out for the kiddo's baseball, and an urge to be more self sufficient, I looked up some recipes for homemade cleaners and detergents. 

I've been making my own laundry detergent for about a year now, and am very happy with the results. I got the recipe from the Duggar Family's site. I've only had to make it twice in the last year, and with it costing only about $2 to make a batch, it is well worth it! I ran out of stain remover, and rather than paying at least $2 for it at the store, I remembered the link to a recipe for homemade soap jelly for laundry stains. It's super easy and cheap to make! I used a one quart canning jar and it took about 3/4 of a bar. The one thing it didn't mention in the recipe is that you may want to stir it a few times as it cools. It separated into a bright yellow liquid with a cloudy white layer at the bottom, and I don't know if it would have jelled properly if I hadn't stirred it. I've yet to use it, but I'm confident!

I had also run out of dishwasher tabs. We use Cascade tabs with Dawn and bleach. After reading this, I returned the unopened bag I had bought and picked up a pack of pink lemonade. (I had the rest of the ingredients already). I doubled the recipe to nearly fill a 1 qt. canning jar. I added 4 packs of  pink lemonade Kool-Aid for the citric acid, and kept one out to clean the dishwasher. (Read this article to learn more about cleaning your dishwasher) Again, I haven't used it yet, but I've had to use borax and baking soda before when we'd run out of tabs, and was fine with the result. I think the addition of citric acid and kosher salt will "pump up" the results! I think I will also add a small squirt of Dawn to help cut grease because we use Tupperware plates and tumblers.  I'll let you all know how it works when I've used it!

My plans for Holy Week did not go as, well, planned! I was gone every evening this week either for a church activity or baseball practice. It seemed as though time flew by and there wasn't any extra to work on crafts or put an effort into special meals that would just get wolfed down before heading off the the field. Next year I won't hold off on the crafts until the end, and try to not book so much during the week. Of course, Lent and Easter were late this year, so baseball shouldn't be a factor for 2012. I'm obviously much better at planning than executing said plans!

Blessing for a Happy and Meaningful Resurrection Sunday friends. May it be filled with joy, love, family and His presence.
Blessings,
Kelly

Blessings for Palm Sunday and a Change of Plans

Our hand print palm leaf

My Holy Week folder

Blessings on this Palm Sunday! I pray you are all enjoying it. We had a lovely (and smooth running!!!!) morning before heading to church. I even had breakfast on the table before 7 and we were out the door early, even with a change in wardrobe for Mama!

We did a family craft this afternoon that was easy. We traced our hand prints onto green paper (we even got Merlin's paws with Wheels' help!) and after I cut them out I arranged and glued them onto a piece of poster board. I had to cut a couple of pieces of green to fill in some gaps, and then made a stem. With a gold Sharpie I wrote "Hosanna!" on the bottom. (and yes, I really used the cats' paw print!)

After getting the mail yesterday, I realized I was going to have to edit our Holy Week plans. The children's baseball schedules came in, and practices are starting this Tuesday! Some crafts are going to have to be simplified and perhaps nixed altogether, but I printed out some coloring sheets of the Last Supper, Crucifixion and Resurrection. (see the links on the left hand side of my blog) Dinner plans may have to be simplified as well, but I'm hoping to stick to my original plan with the exception of Mon. night. We'll be having pizza as I have to pick up pizza for the Northern Lights Youth Choir and deliver it to our church. It just makes sense, rather than making myself nuts trying to time our dinner, etc.

I made a folder to hold all of my plans, recipes, coloring sheets and some craft supplies. I had made a planner for the Lenten Season, Easter and Pentecost (see this post) but I found that I just wasn't using it. Once again, life just seemed to get in the way! I am planning on gathering everything together and filing it in this planner for next year, in hopes that I'll use it then!

Well, I've taken up enough of your Sunday! Many blessings and prayers that you'll grow closer to Jesus this week.
Blessings,
Kelly

Plans for Holy Week

The first section of our Easter lap book.

The second section of the lap book

Teddy Bear working on his "stained glass" cross

"Stained glass" crosses drying in the sun

Princess working on another "stained glass" craft

A beautiful sunset that I thought I'd share

Greetings to all! What a beautiful Friday we're having here in the Green Mountain state. It could be a bit warmer, but I won't complain. The snow banks are nearly gone, the daffodils are soon to bloom and the air is filled with birdsong.

As promised in earlier posts, I'm sharing the links and some tips I used to make our Easter lap book. In the first section, I typed and printed out John 3:16 to head it. Then using this page I made an activity using Velcro dots. The original is a bit small, so I scanned it and enlarged it to use in the lap book. I covered the pieces with clear packing tape to make them more sturdy and cut Velcro dots in half so that the kids can look up the Scripture verses and place the pieces in the right order. I also used this map, which I printed on card stock so that it could be folded open and closed. I thought it was interesting.  I made a puzzle (of sorts) from this sheet that I printed and covered using clear contact paper. Then I cut it into pieces. I made a little pocket for the puzzle pieces that closes with a Velcro tab. There are a couple of matchbooks in this section on why we use Easter eggs and more.

For the second section I typed out some of the prophecies from Isaiah and then the corresponding New Testament verses where Jesus fulfilled the prophecies. Then I printed out this book, assembled it and glued the back page to the lap book. I then typed out my own timeline of the last week of Jesus' life (from Palm Sunday to the Resurrection) and added the Scripture references. I used the table application from Microsoft works to make it nice and neat! So that's our lap book. I think it needs more, but for now, I think it's a great start.

Onto plans for the coming week. My visions of this Lenten season have not been realized due to my working outside of the home, numerous bouts of the stomach bug, and well, life just seemed to get in the way! I wanted this season to be filled with Scripture readings, meaningful craft times with the kids, new traditions, etc. Didn't happen; however, I can start fresh for Holy Week! With some planning and research, I think I can have a simple craft project for every day, as well as something special to eat for dinner or dessert. To start this process I made up a sheet on the computer (I am very visual- I have to have charts, lists, calendars, etc. on paper so that I can SEE them!) using the tables application, again. I have a column for every day from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, with a row for each day to hold my dinner menu, Scripture readings, craft project, what we have going on that day (Monday our church is hosting a  Northern Lights Youth Choir concert, Weds. evening Daddy and I have Alpha and Thursday afternoon Teddy Bear and Princess have knitting club). I also have a blank row for notes and reminders for that day.

Here is what I have so far:

Palm Sunday

 Peace Cakes (or Pax Cakes) : white cupcakes with white frosting, hand print palm frond craft

Monday

The day that Jesus cleared the Temple, Silver Coin pancakes (the money changers were driven out) and paper doves for a craft (people were selling doves for sacrifices and you can talk about the dove as a symbol of peace)

Tuesday

I've got nothing so far for dinner/ dessert! Water color painting on rocks (Jesus tells about the capstone being rejected)

Wednesday

Again, not sure about dinner/dessert

A prayer box or a potpourri craft (this is the day that Jesus was anointed with the nard from the alabaster box)

Thursday

A homemade bread (I have a recipe for pita bread) , a garlic infused olive oil to dip it in and grape juice to drink. A picture of the Last Supper for a craft.

Good Friday

homemade hot cross buns (They'll be different, as I don't care for the traditional recipe) and a magnet craft with foam crosses and flowers.

Saturday

No clue for dinner/dessert!

Hand print Easter Lilies

That's all I have so far. If you have any ideas or traditions you have in your family, I'd love to hear from you!

We worked on some "stained glass" crafts both Wednesday and today. I cut some pieces of colored tissue paper and we used watered down Elmer's to glue it down to tracing paper. I cut "frames" out of black card stock in different shapes. (Wheels had a race car and an egg, Princess had a heart. ) Today we did they glue, tissue paper thing and then glued it to the back of some small wooden crosses that I got at Michael's. The crosses were just so lovely, that I had to use them for a craft for the kids. It was fun and easy, and the crosses are beautiful. When we're done trimming the excess paper, I'll hot glue a ribbon to the back to make a sun catcher.

Phew! My hands are starting to cramp and no doubt your eyes are starting to burn from reading this (or you've fallen asleep because of the length!). It's time to get busy on dinner, so I'll sign off for now. Have a blessed weekend and Palm Sunday.

Blessings,

Kelly

Monday Musings

Our Family Faith Wall

Monday greetings to all. If you're in the same neck of the woods as we are, then it's cold, snowy and windy. Another snowday for Mama and the kiddos. I'll be honest, my enthusiasm for snow days is waning- o.k. it's altogether nonexistant! I'm longing for Winter to take her snowy, frozen mantle with her and be replaced with Spring's fresh and green.


I'm intending for this to be a sort post, but we'll see how that goes! ;)


As you could tell, I've changed my look! I wanted to wait until the first day of spring, (March 20) but I couldn't take it anymore! I'm feeling a need for change in my surroundings, so the blog was one of them. The first was our Family Faith wall. I had talked about my plans in a previous post, and here it is. I had had the same look since the beginning of Advent, so it was a definitely time for a "makeover". I even swapped out the wall sconces. Unfortunately it is difficult to see the middle frame, but it has a deep purple background with a wine colored cross. I'm not sure if I like this look or not, it could get edited!


Also not seen, or hard to see, is our Alleluia on the top of the secretary.Tommorow evening our family will "bury" the Alleluia. I made ours from scrapbooking paper and laminated it with clear contact paper. I was even able to fashion a easel back on it. I think this is a lovely custom for a family to practice. I have some other plans for our family faith wall for Good Friday and Easter Sunday that I thjnk will have visual impact, not just for the sake of visual impact, but hopefully to evoke emotion and understading of the Crucifixtion and the Ressurection.

Also in need of change was our Learning Window. I've made a maple syrup inspired banner and changed out our books. We've got shamrock window clings and some more changes to make there. We'll have some more spring, St, Patrick's day amd maple syrup books and items to put up there.

Well, it's been a long day, and I meant to have this posted this afternoon. It's now after 7 p.m.! Have a wonderful evening and a great Tuesday!

Blessings, Kelly

Planning........Part 2

Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established. Proverbs 16:3 NIV

My Lent, Easter, Holy Week Planner, my Lenten-Easter Journal and 2 books on the season.

Some purple papers, Scripture quotes and a purple candle for our family prayer altar.

Good Monday to you all! We're having nasty weather again, so it's another day off from work and school for Mama and the kiddos. I thought I'd take advantage of the time to share some more thoughts and ideas on planning for the Lenten season.

I was fortunate enough to have a couple of hours to myself yesterday, so I took the time to start planning for the Lenten season. This is only the second Lent that our family had observed, so some of the planning time was spent doing research on the web, looking mostly for family activities and ways to observe and explain the season with children. I decided that I needed a planner for our family plans for the season, so I changed the front cover from my Gardening/Outside planner (it was empty anyway and I have another binder to use!) and placed our An Easter Adventure  book in the binder and made up a cover page. I'll be putting activity pages, research, recipes, a calendar of the Holy days and brainstorming notes in this.

I also worked on my own personal Lenten journal/planner. I had started it last year, but hadn't gotten very far other than writing out some Scripture verses. For this year, I've started by writing out the dates of the Holy days, starting with Ash Wednesday. I wanted to commit to paper what I was "fasting" or giving up for the season. I decided to give up fictional reading material. (This may sound familiar to a friend of mine, who did the same thing last year!) My reasons for this is that I love to read, but tend to escape into my books, living vicariously through the characters. While I tend to read only Christian novels, (and have felt convicted on occasion or had a truth revealed to me) I feel the need to work on my own spirituality. So I will dedicate my reading time to studying in my Bible, reading the two books on Lent and Easter (see the box in the upper left-hand side labeled "Books on My Nightstand") devotional readings and a few other non-fiction books on prayer and other spiritual matters.

In the second pic up top are some papers I'm going to use to make some sort of Lent wall art. For Advent and Christmas I had Scripture quotes from both the Old and New Testaments concerning Jesus' birth that I had framed and flanked either side of another framed picture. I am going to do the same for Lent, only for the middle frame I am not going to use my usual tightwad clearance calendar artwork. I'm brainstorming for ideas. These frames hang above our secretary and I usually have candles there, so I will be putting some purple candles out.

So, there is the beginning of my plans for Lent. If you observe Lent, I encourage you to prayerfully consider making some plans of your own for the season. If you do not observe Lent, then I encourage you to learn more about this season and the Holy day of Easter.
Many blessings,
Kelly