Things we did in April 2014 Part 2

More snapshots into our April.

 Dying easter eggs

 Dinoguy playing baseball

 Holding a Passover Seder dinner with friends

 My birthday cake

 Bathtime!

 Swinging outside!

 Seeing the Texas longhorns on a run

 Loving this baby

 Going to an 80's party and dressing up in silly clothes

 Easter egg hunt!

 Easter lilies!

 Sweet sweet baby

 Fixitman's birthday cake

Hatching butterflies. There is a chrysalis, a new butterfly drying its wings and one eating orange juice in this picture.

 Going to Galveston beach with friends

 Baby still had to nap!

 Sand play!

 Seaweed and sandcastles

 Dinoguy was always in the ocean

 Becoming braver at the beach

 Digging a giant hole

 Filling it with water

 Hard work at the beach!

My girlfriend and I take a selfie

 Trainboy had more soccer games!

Baby found his feet were tasty

Running the BlueBell 5K with friends and my brother!

Wearing tutus is for awesome people.

It was a busy, fabulous month!

Celebrating Easter all week

Dying Easter Eggs 2013

It's almost Easter. In fact it is Holy Week and I want to do some nice activities with my kids to help them remember our Savior and learn about the significance of His actions this week. It is a little late to be planning but I made a simple plan for each day this week, trying to bridge the interest levels of my kids and incorporate family traditions and favorite activities. My goal is to celebrate and teach but keep it low key and reasonable.

The first thing I'm doing is downloading the Easter All Week booklets for the scriptures and simple summaries of what happened each day of this week. We did these before but it has been a few years and I doubt my older boys will remember.

Then in addition to the scripture readings, for my younger kids I'm reading an Easter themed story each day and for all of the kids we'll have a simple activity. While I wish I had started with something yesterday on Palm Sunday, I think it'll be okay to start today.

The books are ones I have in our personal library or have borrowed from the local library. I got ideas for books from this list.

Monday 
Book – The Little Duck by Judy Dunn
Activity – Plan of Salvation puzzle

     Scripture Reading from booklet

Tuesday 
Book – The Legend of the Easter Egg by Lori Walburg
Activity – Jerusalem Temple coloring page

     Scripture Reading from booklet

Wednesday 
Book – The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes by Du Bose Heyward
Activity – Shaving Cream Egg painting 

     Scripture Reading from booklet

Thursday 
Book – Little Bunny’s Easter Egg Surprise by Jeanne Modesitt
Activity – Dye Easter eggs

     Scripture Reading from booklet

Friday 
Book – My Easter Basket and the True Story of Easter by Mary Manz Simon
Activity – Passover Themed Meal

     Scripture Reading from booklet

Saturday 
 Activity – Resurrection Rolls 
Book – Petook, An Easter Story by Caryll Houselandero  

      Scripture Reading from booklet

Sunday 
Book – I feel my Savior’s Love, Artwork by Greg Olsen
Activity – Family Easter Egg Hunt 

     Scripture Reading from booklet

  
 The Resurrection Rolls are a family favorite and are pretty simple. I've not done a Passover themed meal before, but using the ideas linked above I think I can do a simple one for my kids.

Well that is my plan for the week. What fun things are you doing with your family to celebrate Easter and teach about the Savior this week?

February 2014 Activities

February activities at our house included taking pictures of baby, dentist appointments, Fixitman deciding if he wanted to keep his beard, a violin concert, Valentine's day, a Blue and Gold banquet and baby being blessed. It was a busy month.

My room has become quite popular since I'm always trying to retreat to there to nurse in peace and quiet.

Kids just want to be with me!

This is what nursing looks like a lot of the time...paparazzi and extra kids everywhere.

One month of beard growth. It's got a lot of red in it!

Shaved it to lamb chops and a van dyke. Looked awesome. Still drove him nuts.

He decided to go back to clean shaven. It's easier to kiss anyway.

Dinoguy played in a violin concert at the beginning of February. He did awesome.

Watch the video. He's good!

Making valentines for a homeschool co-op party. Princess was writing her own name on the cards!

Helping Little Guy add plastic bugs to his cards.

Does your dentist have video games in the waiting room?
(No cavities this time for anyone! Hallelujah!)
(And yes, we went to the dentist on Valentine's day AGAIN. I didn't plan it that way!)

My edible minions from my sweetie.

My decorations for Fixitman's office on Valentine's day.

So clean!

Vinegar egg experiment with Trainboy - removes the shell but the membrane stays intact.

Holding a sleeping boy. He has grown up so fast.

Trainboy and his Fleur-de-lis cake for the Blue & Gold banquet

Look, Dinoguy was dressed up as an Indian for a cross over ceremony!

Baby loves his fingers!

Sweet smiles for me!

New favorite shirt from his Aunt

Holding up his head so well

It's true!

The baby blessing pictures will be another post. But here's one picture.