I always love to see what other people are listening to on their playlists, so I thought I would offer mine as well. Here is a playlist of some of my favorite songs during Easter!
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Monday, April 2, 2012
An Intentional Easter and Easter Ideas
All of the Advent activities leading up to Christmas I wanted to do never happened. The sleep deprived state we were in for October and November was beginning to improve by the beginning of December, so I thought I might could get it all together. While I didn't get to the activities that I hoped I would in December, I do a have list going from last year with ideas from Pinterest and other people's blogs of activities that I would love for our family to do, Lord willing, in the fall and leading up to Christmas. So hopefully, now that I already have list going, I can, Lord willing, implement them at the right time this year. Now that I'm reflecting back on the activities I want to do, I realize I want them to be so FULL of anticipation! Anticipation for the birth of the One who would rescue us!
So fast forward a few months and I thought I would like to research family activities and devotionals for Lent and I just didn't. I wanted to spend time preparing our hearts for Easter. I wanted us to spend time with Laurel focusing on Jesus' life and WHY He needed to die. I want us to work with her on connecting the whole Bible as a story and that the whole Old Testament points to the Promised Rescuer, Jesus!
By clicking on the picture, you can read The Story! Can't recommend it enough!
We also love The Jesus Storybook Bible for that very reason!
Well then I saw a bunch of activities for the two weeks leading up to Easter...and then the 12 days leading up to Easter, and I still hadn't sat down and narrowed down the activities that would work best for Laurel and for our family this year. I just dropped the ball! I didn't want to just do something to do it and I didn't want to get so caught up in trying to make the activities with Laurel so cute and perfect that I would end up completely neglecting to really shepherd her and teach her why we do these things. I wanted MY heart to be right. I wanted OUR focus to be right. So I ended up kind of mixing and matching from different sites based on time constraints and materials.
Here is a list the Lent and Easter resources and blogs that had a great list of ideas.
This is an awesome post from one of my favorite websites, When You Rise. They have lots of great ideas for activities to really enhance and go along with different Bible lessons and stories. I saw that post right after I was thinking about how late I was in getting all of these things rolling. I loved it when Desire wrote:
That was me to a tee. I'm using some of their ideas during this week.
When You Rise also had this post today on an Easter memory verse and some Resurrection activities.
Ann Voskamp, author of _One Thousand Gifts_ has a great family activity for Easter...making a Grace garden. I would love to do this next year, but I was totally out of time this year. My friend Rachael did this activity with her family this year and has a great post here on what it looked like for their family. I love how Rachael writes:
"I tell our children (and myself) often that
We are the people of Easter.
We are.
1 Corinthians 15 tells us that
if Christ isn't resurrected,
we've wasted our lives.
our faith is useless.
Easter changes everything."
Ann Voskamp also has a free Easter devotional book
2 Teaching Mommies has great activities and lessons to do the 12 days to Easter. Obviously we're past the 12 day mark, but it's such a great resource and it can go along with lessons from The Jesus Storybook Bible which I like.
Impress Your Kids had a great series of 10 activities called A Sense of the Resurrection that incorporates our 5 senses!
Here is a great Easter countdown that focuses on who Jesus is. Laurel and I are a lot of these activities. We've been loving it!
Prayer of Hannah has an awesome list of Easter resources and ideas.
ABC Jesus Loves Me is a wonderful site for free preschool curriculum. Here is their page on Easter activities ranging from crafts to books to dvds to treats. Lots of ideas here! They have Miss Patty Cake's Eggstravaganza on their list. We LOVE Miss Patty Cake DVDs and this one is a great one for Easter.
I found this post today on Christ-centered Easter ideas for families.
Women Living Well has a post on making your own Resurrection eggs.
And for Bible reading during this week, here is a chronology of events of Passion Week.
Here is also a visual timeline for Holy Week
And of course you can't forget about that activities that appeal to the taste buds!
Cross cupcakes
Resurrection Rolls
Easter Story Cookies
Empty Tomb Treats
I also should mention that I thought Courtney from Women Living Well had a great post today with some words of encouragement and caution as we're seeking to keep Easter Christ-centered and making this a great day for our families.
Congratulations if you have made it this far! I wanted to have a list all in one place to refer back to for myself but I also wanted to list out what I had found in case anyone is looking for ideas! What other great ideas have you found?
So fast forward a few months and I thought I would like to research family activities and devotionals for Lent and I just didn't. I wanted to spend time preparing our hearts for Easter. I wanted us to spend time with Laurel focusing on Jesus' life and WHY He needed to die. I want us to work with her on connecting the whole Bible as a story and that the whole Old Testament points to the Promised Rescuer, Jesus!
By clicking on the picture, you can read The Story! Can't recommend it enough!
We also love The Jesus Storybook Bible for that very reason!
Well then I saw a bunch of activities for the two weeks leading up to Easter...and then the 12 days leading up to Easter, and I still hadn't sat down and narrowed down the activities that would work best for Laurel and for our family this year. I just dropped the ball! I didn't want to just do something to do it and I didn't want to get so caught up in trying to make the activities with Laurel so cute and perfect that I would end up completely neglecting to really shepherd her and teach her why we do these things. I wanted MY heart to be right. I wanted OUR focus to be right. So I ended up kind of mixing and matching from different sites based on time constraints and materials.
Here is a list the Lent and Easter resources and blogs that had a great list of ideas.
This is an awesome post from one of my favorite websites, When You Rise. They have lots of great ideas for activities to really enhance and go along with different Bible lessons and stories. I saw that post right after I was thinking about how late I was in getting all of these things rolling. I loved it when Desire wrote:
"I dropped the ball this Easter. I had grand plans of doing a bunch of meaningful activities surrounding the true meaning of this season and it didn't happen. I have lots of excuses, but the bottom line is, it's a week before Easter and until now I've been feeling 2 steps behind on life and had no plans nailed down. I came up with a plan that mainly uses supplies I have on hand and takes little to no preparation to execute."
That was me to a tee. I'm using some of their ideas during this week.
When You Rise also had this post today on an Easter memory verse and some Resurrection activities.
Ann Voskamp, author of _One Thousand Gifts_ has a great family activity for Easter...making a Grace garden. I would love to do this next year, but I was totally out of time this year. My friend Rachael did this activity with her family this year and has a great post here on what it looked like for their family. I love how Rachael writes:
"I tell our children (and myself) often that
We are the people of Easter.
We are.
1 Corinthians 15 tells us that
if Christ isn't resurrected,
we've wasted our lives.
our faith is useless.
Easter changes everything."
Ann Voskamp also has a free Easter devotional book
2 Teaching Mommies has great activities and lessons to do the 12 days to Easter. Obviously we're past the 12 day mark, but it's such a great resource and it can go along with lessons from The Jesus Storybook Bible which I like.
Impress Your Kids had a great series of 10 activities called A Sense of the Resurrection that incorporates our 5 senses!
Here is a great Easter countdown that focuses on who Jesus is. Laurel and I are a lot of these activities. We've been loving it!
Prayer of Hannah has an awesome list of Easter resources and ideas.
ABC Jesus Loves Me is a wonderful site for free preschool curriculum. Here is their page on Easter activities ranging from crafts to books to dvds to treats. Lots of ideas here! They have Miss Patty Cake's Eggstravaganza on their list. We LOVE Miss Patty Cake DVDs and this one is a great one for Easter.
I found this post today on Christ-centered Easter ideas for families.
Women Living Well has a post on making your own Resurrection eggs.
And for Bible reading during this week, here is a chronology of events of Passion Week.
Here is also a visual timeline for Holy Week
And of course you can't forget about that activities that appeal to the taste buds!
Cross cupcakes
Resurrection Rolls
Easter Story Cookies
Empty Tomb Treats
I also should mention that I thought Courtney from Women Living Well had a great post today with some words of encouragement and caution as we're seeking to keep Easter Christ-centered and making this a great day for our families.
Congratulations if you have made it this far! I wanted to have a list all in one place to refer back to for myself but I also wanted to list out what I had found in case anyone is looking for ideas! What other great ideas have you found?
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Updates on the Girls!
Now, that I'm returning to blogging, it's about time I give updates on the three little ladies in our home!
Miss Laurel. The big sister.
She is just a little over two months from being 4! I can hardly believe it! She loves being the big sister and that role suits her so well. I know she will keep the little sisters in line as they grow! She does. not. miss. a. thing. She loves preschool and I just love hearing about her day and seeing all of the crafts that she brings home. Her teachers tell me she is the first one to the craft table! (I can't say she came by that honestly, but I'm enjoying crafts so much more thanks to Pinterest.) She is an outside girl so this weather is just perfect for her right now. She LOVES being outside; it doesn't matter what she's doing. She is happy just to sit on the porch if we aren't able to go out there with her at the time. She loves playgrounds. She loves getting new library books. She loves helping in the kitchen.
And the little sisters....
Well, they are just bundles of sweetness! Their personalities are really very similar. They both are pretty easy going for the most part. Sometimes one laughs easier than the other, one naps better than the other etc. It really just depends on the week! They are some social girls though! Both of them are also fascinated with Laurel and watch whatever she is doing. There is generally not a lack of entertainment for them when big sis is around! They also both love sleeping with their head against the bumper! But as similar as they are, I love seeing their sweet, individual personalities take shape!
Miss Alexa.
She is pretty much a laid-back lady. She is a thumb sucker and you see it the most when she's tired and going to sleep. She makes fun high-pitched squeals. Her signature look is with her brows furrowed like she's trying to figure out what's going on.
Miss Lindsey.
Lindsey is generally a little more vocal. She's always making noise, particularly at dinner! A lot of times she is waking up from a nap early and crying because she just wants to be around people! Her signature look is with her eyes wide, an almost "deer-in-the-headlights" kind of look as she is just taking it all in.
And their mama? Well I'm enjoying spending my days with these little girls and and loving learning how to be a mama of 3! Well loving this learning process most of the time....there are many many sanctifying moments! Thankful that Jesus doesn't leave me where I'm at! I will have to say that one of the biggest differences with 3 is that I'm not feeling that we're not needing-well I don't desire- to get out of the house quite as much now! Part of it may be that I didn't want to take the babies much during the winter. It has helped a TON that Laurel goes to preschool 3 days a week and has been able to get out with grandparents or with Peter or I when the other is watching the babies. So I know that Laurel is getting plenty of time outside to get energy out. Laurel's at a good age where we're able to do more things together and we've gotten into our little own little routine at home and it's really a nice change of pace to a be at home more for this season. The other part of it is that taking all 3 to just go to the store for a few items is a lot of work! A trip to Target just about wears me out sometimes!
Peter works hard at his two jobs and we're so thankful for what a good provider he is for our family! Thankfully, Peter has been getting home a little earlier in the afternoons during the week and we are all loving it!
That's a little update on our family! Hopefully that catches you up a little bit from the long blogging hiatus!
Miss Laurel. The big sister.
And the little sisters....
Well, they are just bundles of sweetness! Their personalities are really very similar. They both are pretty easy going for the most part. Sometimes one laughs easier than the other, one naps better than the other etc. It really just depends on the week! They are some social girls though! Both of them are also fascinated with Laurel and watch whatever she is doing. There is generally not a lack of entertainment for them when big sis is around! They also both love sleeping with their head against the bumper! But as similar as they are, I love seeing their sweet, individual personalities take shape!
Miss Alexa.
Miss Lindsey.
And their mama? Well I'm enjoying spending my days with these little girls and and loving learning how to be a mama of 3! Well loving this learning process most of the time....there are many many sanctifying moments! Thankful that Jesus doesn't leave me where I'm at! I will have to say that one of the biggest differences with 3 is that I'm not feeling that we're not needing-well I don't desire- to get out of the house quite as much now! Part of it may be that I didn't want to take the babies much during the winter. It has helped a TON that Laurel goes to preschool 3 days a week and has been able to get out with grandparents or with Peter or I when the other is watching the babies. So I know that Laurel is getting plenty of time outside to get energy out. Laurel's at a good age where we're able to do more things together and we've gotten into our little own little routine at home and it's really a nice change of pace to a be at home more for this season. The other part of it is that taking all 3 to just go to the store for a few items is a lot of work! A trip to Target just about wears me out sometimes!
Peter works hard at his two jobs and we're so thankful for what a good provider he is for our family! Thankfully, Peter has been getting home a little earlier in the afternoons during the week and we are all loving it!
That's a little update on our family! Hopefully that catches you up a little bit from the long blogging hiatus!
Thursday, March 29, 2012
A year ago today....
A year ago today, we found out we were expecting twins!! Oh what a precious memory that is to us and such a reminder of God's provision, faithfulness, goodness and grace!! What a sweet, sweet day.
This is one of my first pictures of the girls in utero and it is so so precious to me!
And our sweet girls about a year later...
This is one of my first pictures of the girls in utero and it is so so precious to me!
And our sweet girls about a year later...
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Blog Under Construction!
Please excuse the mess on the blog! I am playing around with the blog and trying to update it some. I plan on returning from the blogging hiatus very soon! Stay tuned!
Thursday, November 17, 2011
1 month!
Alexa and Lindsey were 1-month on Sunday! It's hard to believe 1 month has passed! It feels like just as big a milestone for us as it is for them!
Alexa at 1 month
7 pounds, 12 ounces
Lindsey at 1 month
7 pounds, 6 ounces
Little sisters at 1 month!
I'll do an individual post on each of them soon, but for now, here are the things the girls are doing at 1 month:
-We were told the girls would "wake-up" around their due date (November 7th) and they certainly did! In the past two weeks, they've been a lot more alert and having more awake time than they had in the previous weeks.
-They eat every 3 hours during the day and had been going between 3 and 4 hours at night. Last night, however, they went about 5! Praise the Lord! (We keep them on the same schedule, so when one of them wakes up to eat, we wake the other up as well).
-We're starting to get some smiles out of them. At 4 weeks, I know that they both definitely smiled.
-They tolerate tummy time pretty well.
-They're starting to enjoy looking at their mobile and the things over their play mat.
-At 2 weeks, their umbilical cord stumps fell off.
-They are now both on medicine for reflux. We are anxious to see how much better they will feel with it!
-They LOVE to be held!
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