a seaside kind of day

we took a little day trip over to seaside today... my sweet friend mara had the day off and wanted to spend it there with some of us and our kids. she had me at "sno-cones"...


and not just any sno-cones. she is carrying my wedding cake sno-cone in her right hand and her key lime pie sno-cone in her left hand. mmmhmmm...

she also had me at "grits a ya-ya", which i devoured so quickly that no camera had a chance of documenting the delight of that dish. thanks to google, here's what i'm talkin' about...


while hallie did somersaults after my yummy lunch and dessert, the kids did this...


and this...


and oh yeah, they had some ice cream too...


thanks to my zoom lens, i sat way back on a bench in the shade and spied....


not sure what caroline was saying, but they were listening!


when our shade disappeared, we headed to our other favorite spot...


we enjoyed this beautiful day with beautiful family and friends! (and brandy, you too! you are becoming a pro at evading my camera!)

starting off smiling...

happy monday! if these silly cousins won't make you smile on this monday morning, i think you should just go back to bed. :)

and here's one with ethan in there for nana.


have a great week!

easter 2012

after a big breakfast with our church family and a beautiful worship service on resurrection sunday, we spent easter lunch at the home of our friends, paul and brandy. brian's parents and my mom joined us for the wonderful lunch and just as wonderful fellowship. (and we were missing jeff, kristie, and karina, who were out of town!) thank you, paul and brandy, for blessing us with your hospitality and friendship!!!

i don't have many pictures from easter because this very pregnant mama is big. and. tired. but i did manage to snap a few of my kiddos in their sweet easter clothes. i am so very thankful for these three precious blessings... and to hear them sing, "Christ the Lord is risen today!" is an even greater blessing!


i only took a few of ethan before he ran off to play football with daddy, so this sleepy-eyed one of my 6 year old is the best i have from that day. he really needs to stop growing.


caroline was itching to swing, but she humored me as i snapped away for a few minutes. i love this beautiful dress on my sweet 5 year old!


there is never a dull moment with this 3 year old. amelia surely keeps me on my toes, but she also keeps me laughing at her latest phrases and ideas. her most recent creation is her ipod made out of play-doh. :)


and caroline finally got to swing.... i am in love with this spot in my friend brandy's backyard. i think i've snapped pictures of somebody on this swing every time we've been there.


my mom got some good baby-holding practice with brandy's sweet baby, naomi. isn't she a beautiful baby?? i'll give you $10 if you see this baby without a bow in her hair. :)


speaking of babies, these kids are so ready to meet their baby sister! easter weekend marked 1 month to go till sweet hallie's due date... praying april flies by at mock speed!

resurrection rolls: an easter breakfast

it's been a few years since i shared one of our favorite easter traditions: making resurrection rolls for breakfast! we usually make these on the saturday morning before easter since sunday mornings almost always find us running late... we also enjoyed a huge easter breakfast with our church family this morning, so making our resurrection rolls the day before worked perfectly. here's a peek into our morning:

these kids are just a little excited about resurrection rolls! the ingredients are simple: crescent rolls, marshmallows, butter, cinnamon, and sugar.


each child gets a triangle of crescent roll dough. the dough represents the linen cloths that Jesus was wrapped in.
dip a marshmallow in butter. the marshmallow represents Jesus and his sinless life, and the butter represents the oils of embalming. (this year, we brushed the butter on the dough, and it was a lot easier. you'll see the marshmallows in a minute...)


sprinkle on some cinnamon & sugar. this represents the spices used to anoint the body.


there's the marshmallows! (i highly recommend the order you see pictured... much simpler for little hands.)


don't worry-- everybody got a turn!


when you're making two batches of these things, mommy jumps in to speed things along.


but i let them help with the marshmallows. :)


wrap the marshmallow TIGHTLY in the crescent roll. make sure you bring the sides up & seal the marshmallow inside. this represents the wrapping of Jesus' body after death.

and keep a close eye on that 3 yr old.


time to go in the oven! (it's a lot more fun if you have a big 'ole flower in your hair, by the way....)


place in a 350 degree oven for 10-12 mins. the oven represents the tomb. pretend like it was three days!

when the rolls have cooled slightly, the children can open their rolls (cloth) and discover that Jesus is no longer there, HE IS RISEN! the marshmallow melts and the crescent roll is puffed up, but empty. (see top picture.)

in theory, the rolls are supposed to look like this one...


but a lot of ours came out of the oven like this... with melted marshmallow stickiness oozing all over the pan...


it's ok, though... the marshmallow (Jesus) is still gone. and the kids are still amazed. :)


(and these big kids reminded me of some little children i once knew...)

this is such a fun and delicious hands-on reminder of Jesus' glorious resurrection!
i pray your resurrection sunday was a blessed one! stay tuned for pictures from today.

good friday, indeed!

today, we are praising God for the gift of Jesus' sacrifice for us! that friday didn't seem so good to Jesus' friends when He was hanging on the cross... but OH! it was a good day! it was the day that He took our burdens, the day He who knew no sin bore all of our sins on the cross.

one of my favorite children's praise and worship songs expresses the joy of good friday... here is the first verse, then click on the video to hear my kiddos and their friends sing the rest.

who can say, "i have made my heart pure, i am clean from my sin?"
no one's blameless in God's holy eyes...that's why the Savior came....


what a reason to rejoice! we look forward to celebrating our risen Savior this weekend! we're kicking off tomorrow with one of my favorite easter traditions.... i can't wait to make resurrection rolls in the morning with the kids!