Holy Week Calendar

This is a special week in our family. It's a week of reflecting on the greatest gift we've been given - salvation through Jesus Christ. In order to rightly focus on the week and the significance of the upcoming holiday, we're using a Holy Week calendar. Each day, beginning yesterday with Palm Sunday, we read and remember the events that led to Christ's death and resurrection. I didn't do this last year. Instead, we just read about the events from Boo's bible. I wanted to do something more hands on this year and my friend, Shannon, told me about doing a calendar. She gave me this handout with specific ideas that she got from church. I love it! I've modified it a little and you can too.

The idea is that you read through the scriptures that tell the accounts of Holy Week. Then, assign different events {in sequence} to each day of the week leading up to Resurrection Sunday. For each day, we're reading the accounts in scripture, singing relevant songs, doing a corresponding craft, and going over a related memory verse.
If you're curious, here's the breakdown for our week {mostly based on the handout my friend gave me}...

Sunday
TOPIC: Palm Sunday
READING: Mark 11:1-11 and Luke 19:28-44
CRAFT: construction paper palm leaves
MEMORY VERSE: "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" Mark 11:9
SONGS: "Hosanna!" by Hillsong, "Hosanna! {Blessed is He Who Comes in the Name of the Lord}" by Michael W. Smith

Monday
TOPIC: Jesus Clears the Temple
READING: Mark 11:12-17
CRAFT: construction paper table cutout with pennies taped on top
MEMORY VERSE: "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations." Mark 11:17/Isaiah 56:7

Tuesday
TOPIC: Teaching at the Temple
READING: Luke 19:47-48
CRAFT: scrolls made out of paper and two sticks
MEMORY VERSE: "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." Psalm 119:105
SONG: "Thy Word" by Amy Grant

Wednesday
TOPIC: Praying for Anything and Remaining Watchful
READING: Mark 11: 20-26, 13:32-37 and Luke 21:34-36
CRAFT: trace child's hands to represent praying hands; watchtower or eye to represent remaining watchful
MEMORY VERSE: "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be ours." Mark 11:24

Thursday
TOPIC: Communion, Garden of Gethsemane, Judas' Betrayal
READING: Mark 14:17-26, 32-35, 43-50 and Luke 22:14-23, 39-53
CRAFT: saltine cracker and construction paper cutout of goblet; sack of coins
MEMORY VERSE: "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me, yet not my will, but yours be done." Luke 22:42

Friday
TOPIC: The Cross
READING: Mark 15:16-39 and Luke 23:26-49
CRAFT: 3 popsicle stick crosses
MEMORY VERSE: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." Luke 23:34
SONG: "When I Survey The Wondrous Cross" by

Saturday
TOPIC: Laid in the Tomb
READING: Mark 15:42-47 and Luke 23:50-56
CRAFT: construction paper tomb and stone
MEMORY VERSE: "[Joseph] came from...Arimathea and he was waiting for the kingdom of God." Luke 23:51

Resurrection Sunday
TOPIC: Resurrection
READING: Luke 24:1-12
CRAFT: folded linen cloth and a picture of an angel
MEMORY VERSE: "He is not here; he has risen!" Luke 24:6
SONG: "He Lives!" {lyrics by Alfred Ackley}; "Christ is Risen" by Matt Maher

I love this concept of a Holy Week calendar. It would be great done on felt too. Maybe I'll try that for next year. And the great thing about this calendar is that it's depth can grow as your child grows. It would be wonderful to incorporate other events from Holy Week as the kids grow: the woman anointing Jesus with perfume, a Seder meal and its significance, Jesus washing the disciples' feet, Jesus talking about his return, etc. Also, you could read a greater amount of text and compare the different gospel accounts. We plan on just reading from one book each day, though I listed both Mark and Luke for many of the days.

Do you have any other suggestions for songs or crafts? The crafts were primarily based on the Family Time Training handout I linked above. I'm terrible about thinking of songs, so these were just the first ones that came to my head. No doubt there are dozens of others that would be great. Also, I don't have all of these songs, but I searched on YouTube and was able to find most of them so we could sing along with the music.

I'll post a picture of our completed calendar next week.

Sic 'Em!!

Go Bears! I'm so excited and proud of my college team.

We're cheering them on right now as they play Duke. How awesome if they made it to the Final Four!

Sic 'em!

What We're Up to This Weekend

We're in the process of converting our office to a schoolroom. Nothing fancy. No big, dramatic makeover, just a re-purpose of sorts. We've found that since we got a laptop last year, we rarely use our office. And we've needed a separate place to do school time - not that we're very structured at this point. But I've noticed how much better the kids respond to "learning time" when we're in a separate area of the house. I also was sick of going here, there and everywhere for our school supplies. Some were in the basement, others in the dining room, and still some in the office. It'll be nice to have everything in one place.

Here's what it looks like now.
I'll be sure to post "after" pictures when we finish. We're mostly rearranging things and don't plan to spend much money on it. It's a room you can see into as you enter the house so I don't want to the look of it to change much. No bright primary colors. Here's hoping we can wrap it up this weekend.

Sorry I've been a total NaBloPoMo slacker!

Flashcards

I know flashcards aren't for everyone. But Boo really enjoys them. And I like how portable and handy they are. We've taken them on flights before and I've been amazed at how long they keep him preoccupied. I picked up several of these packs of flashcards from Target's $1 Spot last year. I think it was around the time summer started. The topics vary and they're pretty great cards for how cheap they were. We have the presidents, global landmarks, numbers, "same or different", and the alphabet. Last year we used the alphabet and numbers a lot. Now, we use the others. I pull them out sometimes during breakfast and I go through them as the kids eat. The Noodle likes identifying different pictures on the "same or different" cards. Boo really likes the same/different cards. They're a great way to encourage attention to detail and get him accustomed to making observations. We look at same colors, same numbers, same number of sides on shapes, different sizes, etc.

He also loves learning about the presidents and landmarks. Of course, each picture of a landmark leads to 5o questions about it. But it's a productive way to pass the time when the kids are s.l.o.w.l.y eating their breakfasts.

Do your kids like flashcards? Do you have favorites?

Green {Spinach!} Smoothies

I saw on No Time for Flashcards that Allie had made green smoothies for her son before. She sneaks spinach in them. Brilliant! The boys love smoothies and I figured I'd try it with lunch today.

The green smoothies were a hit! I just used what I had on hand and it turned out to be a great combo. I didn't measure anything but I'll give you approximations if you're curious.
1/2 cup lime sherbet
1/2 cup fresh pineapple
1 1/2 cups ice cubes
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup plain yogurt
2 cups fresh spinach

I've been looking for ways to add more veggie servings during lunch. Spinach isn't exactly Boo's fave. I've cooked it so many different ways and still he's usually hesitant. Although I made this salad the other night and he ate more than I expected. I think the key is chopping the leaves into pretty small pieces.

Anyways, the smoothies were such a success that I think I'll be doing this more often. And next time I think I'll add even more spinach. You really couldn't taste it at all. And I didn't sneak it in - I told Boo what I was doing. I told him to watch while I blended it because the spinach makes it extra green. He thought that was cool.

I know it wasn't the healthiest smoothie in the world given the lime sherbet but at least it had veggies in it! We poured the leftover mixture into our plastic popsicle mold. We'll be ready to enjoy these outside later this week....after the snow storm is over of course.
For more smoothie recipes, see the blog that Allie showcased the other day: The Year of Green Smoothies.

Sunday Snickerdoodles

The boys and I made snickerdoodles this afternoon. This was our second time making this recipe, and it's officially at the top of our favorite cookie list. I found it on Smitten Kitchen a while back.
It's a great cookie to make with kiddos. Boo helped measure everything and is captain of the Kitchenaid {stand mixer} in our kitchen. He also rolled all of the balls of dough in the cinnamon sugar mixture himself.
My only adjustment to the recipe is to use salted butter and omit the additional salt. That's just because I don't typically keep unsalted butter on hand.
If you're looking for a good snickerdoodle recipe, try this one. It's delish!

Quiet Room Time

I started having the kids spend quiet time in their rooms a couple months ago. It's been such a great routine for all of us. We do "quiet time" mid-morning, after breakfast and before any plans of the day.

Boo, my 3 1/2 year old, sits on the bed in his room and spends his quiet time "with God". Now, we haven't introduced structured times alone with God for Boo yet, although he's definitely at the age where he can do that. I wanted him to first get used to the idea of just having a time where he can quietly sit, talk to God if he wants and "read". Since he's not reading yet, his time "reading" really means going through a stack of bible books under his bedside table.

Honestly, I was a little surprised at how well he's taken to this routine. He usually looks forward to it, rarely says he doesn't want to do it, and will often stay in there longer than I expect - over 15/20 minutes. Sometimes he'll pray and read his bible books the whole time. Other times he'll only spend a few minutes doing that and then look through some of the other books on the shelves in his room. Sometimes he tells me what he prays and talks about. It's really interesting to hear and I love that he's learning to have his own relationship with God.

For The Noodle, quiet time is different. He's only 18 months old and the focus of quiet time for him is just that - quiet time. A time for him to play independently in his own room. It took a good week for him to get used to playing alone like this and I kept the time short at first - about 10 minutes. The first few times he cried on and off the entire 10 minutes. But he learned with repetition what to expect and now he enjoys it.

He takes books off of his shelf and looks through them on the chair. He'll often dump out his stuffed animal basket and find a friend to share his time with. I love peeking in on both of the boys while they're sitting/playing quietly. It's so sweet.

Please ignore the gaping hole in The Noodle's door. We're switching out the handles.

I usually put the gate up in The Noodle's room. I started this at the beginning so he wouldn't come running down the hallway for me. I could probably take it down now since he knows the drill but it's a good visual cue for him.

As for me, I use the time to take a shower and get ready. I like to wake up before the kids to have my own reading/quiet time. I've tried the reverse: showering before they wake up and quiet time while they're doing theirs but it just didn't work as well. I don't know about you other mamas, but trying to get ready while your kiddos are underfoot, having to discipline, watch out for them, etc. was a challenge. They're happier and so am I. And they seem to play together so much better when they've had a little time to themselves.

I've heard that there are several books out there that recommend quiet times like this for kids. Do you do anything like this? What do you do differently?

Beautiful Berry Tart

I found this recipe several years ago on Epicurious.com and it's one of my go-to's for a fancy summer dessert. I may be getting ahead of myself thinking about summer desserts already but the last few days of warm weather here have helped get me ready. Never mind that we're expecting up to 8 inches of snow tomorrow. That's March in Colorado.

But back to the tart. It's a White Balsamic Custard Tart with Fresh Berries.

White Balsamic may seem strange but the vinegar reduces substantially and lends a subtle but delicious flavor to the custard. I buy the Alessi brand of white balsamic {which I haven't had much trouble finding at most grocery stores} and have even used their Raspberry Blush Vinegar for it before. Yum. The crust on this tart is wonderful - it's like a shortbread.
A suggestion for making your berry tart look like those glistening, gorgeous ones you see in the dessert cases at Whole Foods is to glaze the top of the berries before serving. To glaze, just heat up some apricot jelly in a small bowl and brush on the top of the berries. Go easy on the glaze, you don't want it to pool on the custard, just give the berries a little sheen.

This photo is with the glaze. The others were taken before I added the glaze.

This dessert is a family {and friend} favorite and I have to keep it out of hands reach. Especially since it's covered in all of those yummy berries!

The Couch

That's where I've been the last two days. I've been hit badly by some weird stomach bug. So sorry to be out of touch, hopefully I'm back in the swing of things soon.

Preschool Co-Op: Learning the Calendar

My preschool lesson today was partially focused on teaching the months of the year and days of the week. We also did a couple St. Patrick's Day crafts.

For the calendar portion, I wrote out the months of the year on our dry erase easel. We read them all together and counted how many months are in a year. Then we went through each month, talking about what holidays occur when and what seasons each month fall in. I had cut out a few construction paper symbols that corresponded with various holidays and the kids stuck them on the months where they belonged. They also labeled which month their birthdays are.

I read Calendar by Myra Gohn Livingston. It's a brief and basic illustrated book that walks through the months of the year. We made observations about each month's illustration: whether the kids were wearing shorts or coats to determine what the weather was like, etc.

We watched a days of the week song. It's really simple but the kids liked it enought to want to watch it twice.

I pulled out our calendar and the kids correctly identified which month it is. Then we went over the days of the week again and the kids told me things they typically do on each day: Sunday - church, Monday - preschool, etc.

The rest of the time we spent doing St. Patty's day stuff and talking about who he was.

Ruffled Scarf

When I was visiting with friends in January, we all decided to make this scarf. {By the way, if you haven't heard of Ravelry, it's a great site full of knit and crochet patterns, many of which are free.}

I made it in Berroco Ultra Alpaca. I like the way it turned out but wish I would have made it a little shorter than the pattern suggests. It's really long. I also did only 3 ruffles on each end instead of 4. The ruffles really weigh down the scarf so I'm glad I omitted some.
My friend, Em, made another ruffled scarf with the same yarn and color and I love the way it turned out. You have to pay for the pattern for this one, but I think it's adorable. Here is a picture from the pattern...

Photo credit: Laura Chau, Cosmicpluto.com

I'm working on a hat with my leftover yarn. It's from Boutique Knits and I first saw it here {sized down for a child}. No doubt by the time I finish it the weather will be too warm to wear it but at least I'll be set for next year. I think the bulk of my knitting from this point out will be for baby girl. So many fun projects to choose from!

Enjoying the Weekend Weather

We've had beautiful weather here this weekend and it's been so nice to be out enjoying it. It makes me excited for Spring and Summer. I'm looking forward to all of the dinners outside on our back porch, eating yummy in-season fresh fruit and playing outside with neighbors in the evenings. It's funny how people disappear here during the winter. I remember when we first moved here from Texas. We moved in the summer and enjoyed meeting our neighbors during those warm summer and fall months. Then, everyone went into hibernation. I wasn't used to people holing up in their houses for several months. I remember seeing people out and about again in the Spring and was so relieved it was warm again!
Anyways, some summer treats are on my mind as the weather warms up. Pavlova is one of them. Boo has already been requesting it. I like to wait until the berries are in season here and make it with fresh-picked berries from the farm. Yum! But I'm not sure if I can wait that long.

What things are you looking forward to this Spring?

Takin' Notes: Maternity Edition

I thought I'd link to a few pregnancy related sewing tutorials I've found on blogs lately. I actually just finished a refashioned maternity top and will post about that soon. But until then, here are some tutorials for making some of your own maternity clothes.

Maternity Skirt Tutorial at See Mommy Sew.

Photo credit: See Mommy Sew

DIY Maternity Pants by Megan Nielsen.

Photo credit: Megan Nielsen

Maternity Yoga Pants by Make Baby Stuff. These look so comfortable. I've got a stash of clearance jersey knit that I think I'll try these with.

Photo credit: Make Baby Stuff

Cookbook Notes: The Best Make-Ahead Recipes

I love checking out cookbooks at the library. Sometimes I reserve titles that have been recommended to me or that are recently published. But I often just pick up books that look good. The Best Make-Ahead Recipe is one of those books and boy was it a good find.
I knew it had to be good since it's from the editors of Cook's Illustrated, the same people that do the show America's Test Kitchen on PBS. They're great!

Anyways, the cookbook is full of recipes you can make ahead {obviously!} to either refrigerate until dinnertime or freeze for later. Perfect to avoid getting dinner ready after the kids wake up from naps. We all know how that goes. And you'd be surprised the variety of recipes: from stuffed plum tomatoes and make-ahead mashed potatoes to 24-hour omelet and chocolate souffle. A chocolate souffle that goes from freezer to oven?! Amazing! I haven't tried that yet but it's on my list.

Here's what I've made so far...

Overnight Sour Cream Coffeecake {see above pic} - it's dense but good. Perfect with coffee for sure. And I love that you can assemble it, streusel topping and all, and pop it in the freezer until you're ready to bake it. Great for having company in town!

Flank Steak Stuffed with Spinach, Provolone, and Red Pepper Pesto - Oh my goodness, yum! We ALL loved this one and it will for sure be repeated. Such great flavor.

Overnight Yeasted Waffles - These were good but I don't think they'll become my standby waffle recipe. They turn out crispier than other waffle recipes I've tried and had a little too much of a bread dough flavor.

Breaded Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Ham and Cheese - Mmmm. These were delicious. According to the recipe, I made my own breadcrumbs. It made such a difference. The breading was light and crispy. The recipe includes several variations for filling: Goat Cheese and Thyme, Gorgonzola with Walnuts and Figs, and Mushroom and Provolone. I opted for the kid-friendly Ham and Cheddar Cheese but will definitely try the others. It's a great recipe.

Besides a ton of great recipes with tasty variations for each, the cookbook is full of helpful tips and explanations of how the recipes were tested. That's what I love about Cook's Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen. They're so thorough and really do test the recipes over and over again to get the recipes perfect. They have other cookbooks similar to this that I plan on checking out soon.

I'll do more Cookbook Notes here as I try recipes from cookbooks I check out at the libary and those I already own. Hope you find them helpful.

The Scales are Shifting

We found out last night that we're having a baby GIRL! We're so thankful for a healthy baby and are really excited to add a little girl to our family. Now I won't be quite so outnumbered! And talk about changing gears. It's hard imagining a little baby girl growing in my tummy after two boys. I think it'll take a while to get used to it but I couldn't be more thrilled. I'm looking forward to making a ton of girlie {or is it girly?} stuff: baby legs, bows, pink blankets, dresses. Yay!

As for the gender reveal, we went with our original dessert plan. But thanks for the suggestions - there were a lot of great ideas!

We just went to Chili's because we had the kids with us and were meeting the Good Doctor after work. We gave the manager an envelope with the gender results and ultrasound enclosed.

Here it is after we opened it later...

We decided regular molten chocolate for a girl and white molten chocolate for a boy. When the manager brought out the regular chocolate dessert we were so happy I think the Good Doctor hugged the guy. The waitstaff got pretty into it and even all signed a card {albeit a birthday card} congratulating us. The kids are really excited about having a baby sister but were initially more focused on gobbling down the dessert than celebrating their sister.It was such a fun way to find out and I'm glad we waited until the evening to celebrate together.

Eat Your Veggies: Fondue Style

I try to introduce a wide variety of foods to my kids. They like most things, but obviously some they're not big fans of. Or as Boo sometimes tells me, "Mommy, I'm not wild for asparagus." He he. Sorry, bud.

In introducing them to many types of foods, I've found that serving them prepared in different ways often helps them warm up to some of their least faves. Muffin Tin Monday is a great opportunity to give them things they'll usually hesitate with.

I've been wanting them to try eating more raw veggies lately. So last night, I dusted off the fondue pot and fired it up. Talk about getting them interested! They were excited as soon as they saw it. They each picked out their colored fork, I gave them raw carrots, raw broccoli, and apples cubes to dip. They loved it.

Boo's never really liked eating broccoli raw but he ate all of it last night. Everything's better with cheese, right? The Noodle needed a little more convincing but was more eager than usual to swallow it down.

Food can be such a struggle with kids at times. It's nice to change things up a bit now and then. So maybe try bringing out the fondue pot {or just a microwave safe bowl} for dinner sometime this week. It's a nice variation from the usual.

As for fondue recipes, I've used this one from All Recipes before and it's good. I omit the spinach and green onions. Last night I just used up leftover cheeses in my fridge: gouda, swiss and mozzerella. I shredded them, poured in 3/4 cup of milk and a 1/2 teaspoon of cornstarch, mixed them together and left covered in the fridge until dinnertime. I heated them up in the fondue pot when we were ready to eat.

Oops. I missed a day {yesterday} of NaBloPoMo already. Sorry!

White Chocolate Orange Bread Pudding

I posted the recipe to my white chocolate orange bread the other day. I had a little mishap with one of the loaves. I tried making it in a specialty pan and it didn't come out smoothly. I was left with a pile of bread pieces.I decided to make bread pudding with my mess. So here's the recipe born by accident that turned out deliciously!

Ingredients:

1 loaf white chocolate orange bread
6 eggs
2 3/4 cup whole milk
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 cup cream
1 tsp. vanilla

Cut the bread into 1" cubes.

In a bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients {everything but the bread}.
Place the bread in a greased 9 x 13" casserole dish.
Pour the milk and egg mixture over the bread.
Cover and chill for 2 hours.

Bake the bread pudding uncovered at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until puffed and golden. Serve with ice cream. Yum!
My boys {all three} devoured this.

A Fun Outing

Last weekend I was at my annual Girls Weekend getaway with dear friends from college. We've been doing this ever since graduating 7 years ago and it's something we all look forward to every year.

This year was hosted by one of the girls in Houston and she creatively themed it "I've Never". {Every year we have a theme. We're super cheesy like that. We even have a name for ourselves, the Cupcakes. I know...cheese. But we love it.} Here's the back of our shirts. Matching shirts was a first this year. Another I've Never.Anyways, we did a bunch of stuff that most of us have never done: wear a bridesmaids dress again, tour an ice cream factory, take a self defense class, learn to crochet, etc. One of the "I've Nevers" was at a place called Water 2 Wine. That's what this post is about...I'll spare you the details of the rest of our weekend.

Water 2 Wine was so much fun. You can make your own wine blends there, but it takes 8 weeks before you get your wine back. Instead of that option, we chose to bottle wine.

After a tour of the facility and an education on the wine making process, we tasted 8 different wines of our choosing. Everyone wrote down their favorites and we each voted for a red and white we liked.

We tallied the votes and then gave the owners our selection. They brought out the large jugs of wine and taught us how to sterilize the bottles, fill them, cork, label and foil.

Sterilizing.

Filling.

Corking.

It was a neat process and we all had a lot of fun.

Em designed gorgeous labels for our bottles. She's so talented!Water 2 Wine is a growing franchise that has locations in California, Colorado and Texas. It's a great venue for a wedding shower, girls night out, or birthday. You can drop in just for casual wine tastings or for as much as making your own wine blends. We had a blast so I thought I'd share it with you.

Is it tacky that four of us posing in this picture are pregnant? No worries. We had a "spit bucket" at our table to dump all of the wines in after we had our tiny tastes.

And thanks for all of the great ideas for finding out the baby's gender. I'll let you know next week what we do.