Way Up High in the Apple Tree...

I LOVE the country life! Perhaps because I grew up rural, perhaps because I adore nature and feel closest to God when I'm immersed in His marvelous creations, perhaps because it puts materialism in perspective, perhaps because the noisy kids can run around and be crazy and it is easily absorbed into the great canopy of a wide open sky....

Whatever the combination of reasons, I find fall harvests really bring me joy!

This year our annual trip to Lynds for Cortlands and Jonathans (our favorite combo for apple sauce) was sans Eric. He was in Boston for a RadOnc Conference. Poor guy missed the fun! I was a little worried the kids might make it stressful without Eric there, but I didn't have any escapees. :) We had a great time!

 There was some drama about climbing trees, but once we got past the first hurdle of squalling tears and "I can't! Don't make me!" (which was an interesting accusation considering she ASKED me to help her climb the trees multiple times!), Gwen realized she was more than capable and became our veteran tree climber! She was so proud of getting the highest, sun-kissed red apples from the top boughs.

 Emmett couldn't actually pull them off. He needed help. Right after I snapped this shot he gave up and proceeded to pick up semi-rotten ones off the ground. 

 Caroline only picked one or two for our bag. She designated herself as the bag-sitter and worked on devouring this (and other!) huge apples.

 Gwen was very pleased with herself and her haul. 

 Gorgeous fruit. 

 Emmett has two apples in his hands, see that? And he ate them both down to the core. He kept coming back and plucking good apples from our bags (our bag-sitter Caroline didn't even notice!) once he realized they were superior to the ones on the ground. He was pretty sure we were collecting them just for him!

 Gwen perched up on a branch. These are her go-to shoes for school and outdoor play. They kind of make me chuckle. 

Sibling snuggles. These two usually fight, so I love the rare moments when I capture their contentment together. :)

We had a great time and made delicious apple sauce from our haul! I am going to miss Lynds. This was our last visit. 

I'm not old

Do birthdays make you feel old? Remind you of your aging? Send you down memory lane? Make you wish for other years? I feel like my birthdays have become less significant to me as I've gotten older. I still love celebrating my children's birthdays, but mine are just... well... I just don't feel compelled to have all the pomp and circumstance for my own day. (Mother's Day, on the other hand, has become a much bigger deal to me!...)

Eric scattered little collections of flowers and post-it notes of love throughout the house so I'd find them when I got up. It was a wonderful surprise that kept on surprising me as I'd discover each new vase! Even when I thought I'd found them all, they just kept appearing! Best one was the laundry room. :)

I had a great birthday with a fun workout in the morning, well-behaved kids, a nice piano lesson with Gwen (I'm her teacher this year and my lessons are hit and miss in their awesomeness), time to work on some sewing, treats brought over, socializing with friends when collecting children from a playdate, City Barbeque deliciousness, and Graeter's ice cream with the gals after bed time. It was a wonderful day!

Birthdays are so interesting because you are celebrating an event you had little to do with successfully accomplishing (we should all give my MOM presents on my birthday!). You are also acknowledging your aging. But you know, I've never felt older on my birthday. And I still don't. I still feel like I'm 24 not 34. (Okay, I don't feel 14 and certainly not 4, so I guess I can measure SOME change!)

Here are a few things that keep me feeling young:

CREATE. I love to make things. Add to the beauty around me. Sew it, bead it, paint it, sing it... I just love to create! Above is a lace tee I made from the lace I had leftover from the wedding dress. Not enough for front and back, so I added a floral pattern for contrast on the back. I LOVE it! My new favorite shirt!

 DANCE. I love to move, to feel the music, to push my body and not be bored while doing it! I get the best workouts when I'm dancing because I push to the end of the song instead of talking myself out of as many reps or slacking off my intensity. Can't slack off when that beat is driving me! I love music and I love having a good time with my friends! I am so happy that I get to teach a "Zumba" class (I'm not a licensed instructor, so technically I can't call it that) once a week!

 EXPLORE. Eric and I are doing monthly stay-cation dates this year. We have had so much fun traveling around the world culinarily! I look forward to visiting some of these destinations for real some day, but in the mean time I'm happy to just explore from a distance!

 MOTHER. My kids keep me on my toes. Keep me busy. Keep me searching for new things and new places and new books and new ways to experience the world. I love seeing simple things through their eyes. Things I take for granted are kindled anew and become magical! Mothering gives me opportunities to help lil ones learn how to cope with imperfect moments (Emmett was not happy for this picture, but I still love it).

 LET GO. I am not always so good at this, but I try to not worry as much. To just enjoy living and not stress about what other people think of my house, my parenting, my financial choices, my occupation choice, my clothes... or my dance moves. These moments are when I can look back and know I was truly, blissfully happy! Photo cred goes to Breanne Weston Photography

 LEARN. I have a voracious appetite for learning new things, whether it be new places and cultures, or history, or skills. I love to read and non-fiction has moved up to my favorite genre of late. Best non-fiction reads of the summer? Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, and In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex. And 2 others I read last year that were also fabulous: Horologicon: A Day's Jaunt Through the Lost Words of the English Language and The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and their Epic Quest for Gold in the 1936 Olympics. There is so much to learn and eating it up all keeps me young! Best learning is hands-on and we loved our sight-seeing this summer!

 LOVE. Oh, how can I express. My Eric keeps me young. Our love keeps me young. Our intimacy keeps me young. I. Absolutely. Adore. This. Man. We celebrated 10 years just recently. It was an exquisite excursion!

LAUGH. My mom once told me, "if you can laugh at it, you can live with it." I see the wisdom in this and have tried to find something happy or quirky in every day to keep the stress and worry from creeping in. It works wonders for keeping our family happy!...I will admit that this is soooooo much easier to do when Eric is around. He just makes me laugh so easily! He knows how to diffuse my angst like no one else!!!

 I don't have any great pics to illustrate the remaining things on my list. But I am quite certain that SERVE and FAITH belong there too. Whenever I start to think I've got a lot on my plate, I think of someone else I know whom I've had the opportunity to serve. and I remember to count my blessings. And most definitely my faith in Christ gives me hope and purpose, providing the joy to each day that makes life so wonderful. Without faith all the above things would become dull and lose their luster. Service and faith both keep me young because I remember I am more than myself. Keeps everything in perspective and helps me to appreciate each day. 

 nah, 34 isn't old. Not when I've got my wonderful family around me to keep me young! Happy birthday to me!

Holy Week with Children: Daily Lessons and Activities

I've compiled the 'perfect'  Holy Week lessons/activities for children! 

(Perfect for our family at these ages--- 'Perfect' is so fluid a term...)

I thought I would share my compilation with all of you! 

I've mentioned before that I love teaching my children. Easter is one of those holidays that is tremendously secular unless YOU bring the Truth into your home. I'm passionate about doing this and for Easter the past couple years I've been gathering teaching ideas* to make this week truly remarkable for my family. 

*Note 1: I've borrowed other blogger ideas and I owe particular credit to We Talk of Christ We Rejoice in Christ for the original inspiration. I've made it my own, but I definitely used her blog as a jumping off point! 

Here's how it works: 

Every day I have a devotional time with the kids. We use this layout of Jerusalem (a 2-page spread) and move a little picture of Christ with sticky tack each day to show His path through the week. We sing songs, read a scripture, and discuss an application question for their lives.

We put coordinating pictures on the wall each day to build a 'timeline' of how Christ's final week was spent. Some of these pictures are Gospel Art pics, others are from a stash of religious art I've collected from Friend/Ensign magazines. 

THEN we do the activities below to go along with the day! So here are the activities:

Saturday (one week and one day before Easter)-

• Plan of Salvation review and what Christ's role is in the plan. 
  

I made the one above by combining free illustrations and my own creations too. 

Palm Sunday: Triumphal Entry

• make paper palms
  
• or check out this blog for more amazing Palm Sunday ideas!

Monday: Purging the temple (teach about temples, our bodies, and/or repentance/baptism)

• play outside and then take a bath
  

Tuesday: Miracles and Teaching at the temple (parables and widow's mite)

• decorate Easter eggs using the Christ color theory sheet
  

Wednesday (actually occurred on Thursday)**: Last Supper and washing of disciples' feet

• Passover Feast
  
  
   Emmett wanted in on the unleavened bread! (He snatched it right off Eric's plate and swung it around triumphantly before attacking it)
  
  
  
   garlic and cumin rubbed roast lamb

eaten together the lamb and arugula (bitter herb) is truly spectacular!

**Note 2: The lessons follow each other in chronological order, but you'll notice that Wednesday's events actually occurred on Thursday. That is because the Gospels are very quiet about how Christ spent the Wednesday before Passover. And because Thursday has so many important lessons, I didn't want to gloss over anything. Splitting the subject matter into more than one day seemed appropriate. If you want to be sure you are teaching correct history, be sure to point this out to your children or feel free to put it all on Thursday. 

Thursday: Garden of Gethsemane and Christ's arrest

• carnation red stain experiment

Friday: Peter's denial, trials, the Crucifixion and the burial

• toothpick crown of thorns  and overnight meringue empty tomb cookies (don't open the oven til Sunday)
  
  

  Caroline crushing walnuts

 

 scriptures alongside recipe instructions--- my advice? NOT by the mixing bowl unless you like batter splatters on the Word of God!

Gwen beating the meringue--- she is becoming an actual helper in the kitchen these days! (as opposed to the little 'helpers' we love to have cooking with us but struggle to find a job for them--you know the kind I mean)

Saturday: no picture. Talk about the Spirit world and Jesus' teaching there. Review the Plan of Salvation. Talk about missionary work. 

• Easter egg hunt with golden egg for Christ (1 golden egg per child with picture of Christ inside)
  

This year we are using gold foil Cadbury eggs with a tiny picture of Christ taped over the candy logo for each child and one BIG golden egg filled with candy and a picture of Christ--- lesson? to SHARE with others once you've found the Lord! Gwen found it this time and was an eager 'missionary' as she zealously distributed "Jesus candy" to the family. :) Found that giant golden egg at Target.

Sunday: Christ visiting Mary, the Empty Tomb, Christ appearing to Apostles

• open the oven 'tomb' cookies (see Friday above)

• Easter lily craft.
  

Monday after Easter:

• serve honey and fish for dinner (ha! I know this should be served on Sunday to reflect the post-Resurrection meal Christ shared with his apostles, but... Yeah right! We're having ginger-thyme pork loin roast on Easter Sunday!...so I am actually planning this tradition for the day AFTER Easter for our Easter review)

• FHE review Easter (using ALL the eggs from the whole week-- see below)

• FHE: Atonement lesson (Brightly Street free printable PDF)
  
• marshmallow empty tomb rolls
  

The evenings of Wed-Sunday is when we open the corresponding Resurrection Eggs 

There are tons of these out there! Some have free printables too. I have a set from my mom that actually has 15 eggs instead of the usual 12. You have to sort through which ones correspond with each day, but it creates a nice evening recap of the day's lessons.

In the evenings we also watch the Bible Videos that correspond to that day's lesson and give the kids a chance to share with Daddy the things they have learned that day. This way they learn from teaching AND he gets to participate in their testimony-building experiences even though he's gone when we do the learning activities.

 If you are interested, I have a printable that lists the days/activities on one 8x11 sheet for easy preparation that I am happy to email to you. Just leave your address in the comments! 

I hope you all enjoy Easter week as much as we do!!! Share your Holy Week traditions in the comments!