I hope you all had a great weekend. We are now entering the first full week of spring and I hope some where out there it feels like spring.
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This week the blog is dedicated to the celebration that is Easter. If you celebrate I hope I can give you some fun facts or ideas to try out. I am gearing this towards teaching kidlets about this week and its significance in the church and also in the life of Christians.
If you do not identify with the term Christian then maybe this blog will help you understand this holiday for the Christian church.
So without further ado lets talk about a few things.....starting with:
Resources
I am going to go out on a limb here and say that a good resource is something we probably have in our homes whether we practice our faith or not. Some of us got one upon confirming our faith through baptism or just because we graduated high school or college. Its a book called The Bible. In case you didn't know that miniseries is based on a book.
Now I'm going to be brutally honest and fess up on myself. I'm not a Bible reader. As in I do not pull out one of the six we have in our home and just start reading - ever. I cannot think of something any more boring than reading the Bible word for word day in and day out. Does this make me a bad person? No. It makes me an honest person. I do however have a nifty app on my smart phone that makes reading the Bible a little more easier and relatable.
Tip one: Before you teach you have to learn.
I downloaded The Bible app many many weeks ago. I have been doing daily devotions from the catalog it offers. Let me tell you there are a blue million options available in this free app. You can pick your language style and you can pick what version of the Bible you prefer. I'm not much on the King James language because I really am not too in tune with my thee's, thou's, and thar's. But I am in tune with common every day jargon and guess what....I can read it in common language! (For those of you who condemn me on my NIV choice - you aren't supposed to be judging so cut that out).
For Easter I read the 7 day devotion and lesson plan for Easter. Technically, I was supposed to start it yesterday but I started it Sunday a week ago so I could wrap it up on Palm Sunday.
Here's the deal....
If you want to teach your children about the biggest event in the Christian faith (Easter) you better understand it before you start blabbing away. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all have accounts of the story of the death and resurrection. They all differ in small ways. Download the app and read the accounts. It will seriously take you about ten minutes each day to get through each disciple's account. It will also bring it all to life for you in a different way than a movie.
Here's a link to The Bible App
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I know kids are brilliant these days. Their techonological skills are pretty insane. However, books are a great way of getting a tangible message to kidlets.
I have a great book my five year old and I have been using to talk about and learn about Easter with. We checked it out from our local library but you could purchase a copy and get great use out of it. The book is titled: Easter and the author is Gail Gibbons. This book is great for those preschoolers up to about second or third grade. It is a picture book and discusses the following:
1. A very basic history of Jesus
2. A good discussion of Jesus' trip to Jerusalem and his destiny (the Easter story)
3. Easter symbols
4. Celebrations of the season prior to Easter
5. Traditions for the time of Easter (food, eggs, bunnies)
This book is a well rounded teaching tool for this week on the calendar. I believe it is very important that kids see the entire cake and not just a few large slices when it comes to such a large holiday. There is no negativity in this book it is all very on point and positive!
Here's the book and a chance to order from Amazon click here!
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I have to go ahead and mention this or I will be failing you on the whole Easter thing.
The Easter Bunny...ok I am going to be honest I detest this whole idea. I mean hello - Alice in Wonderland is the product of a drug induced writing frenzy and now we have the White Rabbit bringing all the kids some chocolates, video games, chicks and ducks, etc. It just makes no sense to me. (I know the history of the Easter Bunny and it wasn't due to an opium fest....)
I do love Santa but I do not love a giant rabbit hopping to my house. Seriously, contemplate this - you are in your yard with your kids and a giant rabbit - I mean six feet tall, big rabbit teeth, in a blue shirt comes hopping towards you?! After you dirty your undergarments you'd be moving about 120 to get the kids inside, lock the door and find a weapon to destroy the beast with! Plus if you live where I do then you'd need a truck to take it to the taxidermist.
So what do we do at my house about the Easter Bunny?
Ok he visits. I am shaking my head right now. He doesn't bring much. Here's why - he's ridiculous and pretty soon my kid will understand a big rabbit is a little odd. I think she's already caught on. BUT because she is five years old and because she gets excited he's allowed to leave a little something.
This year he came a week early and left a big something. (You will catch on I am not the EB)
Yes, this year Mr. EB brought us a goat. The funny thing is Santa was supposed to bring it but Santa got drunk and missed the farm. So Santa emailed Mr. EB to bring it this past Saturday - out of the blue.
Brownie loves animals. Brownie loves goats. Brownie used to have a whole pasture full of goats. Brownie is thankful for animals. Brownie didn't need a surprise of an animal though. So now Brownie has a surprise of an animal.
My little girl was thrilled to pieces. So Brownie had to get over feeling angry and enjoy the thrill in the little scream of joy that the child gave and the shriek of terror the goat bleeted out.
Meet Molly Lolly:
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| She is a cute little girl who has an important job. |
So here's the deal. Don't make Easter be about the bunny. The Bunny is a fun side to the main meal. Here's how I taught my little girl about the bunny....
The bunny brings you something fun to play with or eat but Jesus is who gives you the best thing and that is love. You'll get tired of that toy and that candy will be gone as soon as you eat it but you'll never lose His love or my (mom and dad's) love. It goes with you forever.
At five years old that works.
I haven't promoted ole EB very much in her life. She doesn't ask for things from the EB. She doesn't think much about him until the kids at preschool talk about him. I have an easy row with the EB and Easter.
On Easter, this year, she will receive a special present from her dad and I. This year we have decided to give her her own Bible (and I have a feeling it will be pink....) and a necklace. She's getting a cross necklace because this year she has shown me a lot. She knows exactly who Jesus is and she is beginning to understand what He did and does for us. He's not exactly to the caliber of Barbie yet to her but He is important to her.
Her nanas and aunts can get her all the chocolate and crap. Just remember mommy likes Cadbury Eggs. The reduced calorie ones...hehe.
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Our first soccer match of the year was this past Saturday. We totally enjoyed the balmy 30 degree field. The kids were super cute and there are a lot of talented kiddo's out there. I had a great time watching and didn't even need the chair I packed.
They don't "keep score" but our team had two and the other team had none. So you can figure that one out. They all did a great job - both teams!
Saturday afternoon the sun came out and the temperature shot up to comfortable degrees. We enjoyed the outside. The babies played in the wagon while I pulled them around the driveway three hundred times - good exercise, not complaining!
Sunday was nasty, cold, yucky. After a trip to church and a blood letting on my ears, I went with my mom to see my uncle at the hospital. I'm not sure if you know what MG is but it is a horrible disease which causes your muscles to weaken to a grave state. Read up on it here.
When we returned home the fam and I loaded up to make a Lowes and Walmart run. I smell some paint in my all too near future. I have a lot of idea books sitting in my livingroom now as well....ohhhh my!
Tomorrow I'll have a recipe for you. I'm doing quick and healthy meals Monday-Thursday for dinner. We'll have two for beef, one for chicken and one for pork.********************************************
Be good to each other-
Brownie
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