Not yet...

Almost all of the snow has receded by now and what remains should be gone by the end of this week. One thought that has hastened the coming spring is: "Its days are numbered"--which means "it can't snow forever because the spring is coming." So, as we bid farewell to the snow which has covered the ground since December here's a contrast between winter and summer. Sure, its not here yet, but it has to come sometime!

Day trip

Last week our family took a day trip to Racine, WI. Tucked away in a mall lies one of the treasures of the modern fast-food world: Chic-fil-a. We know, in the south they're seemingly on every corner, but there is only one in the whole state of Wisconsin. And sure, it takes about two hours to get there, but it's worth it...that sweet tea brewed to perfection, the crispy waffle fries...ahhh! After lunch, our next stop was the Jelly Belly jelly bean warehouse. We stood in line for more than an hour just to take a tour of the place.

We rode a little train around the warehouse while they explained how jelly beans are made. After the tour we each received a bag of jelly bellys. YUM!

And of course, no trip through Milwaukee is complete without stopping at another Southern delicacy--Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

Benja-cute

Here are just a few photos of Benjamin. He's such a sweet guy!
We are thankful that God has entrusted him to us.

A Modified Easter Egg Hunt

We had six inches of snow on the ground on Easter so we took our hunt indoors, the kids didn't seem to mind...

Holy Week Traditions, pt.3

These are some of the tangibles we used during holy week. This picture includes: three really large nails, a home-made whip, a crown of thorns, and a bag of money.

Each day we read Scripture and provided the kids with something to hold, like you see in the picture. Here's what we tried to do each day.


PALM SUNDAY--The triumphal entry (Matt.21:1-11; Lk.19:39-40)...artificial branches, rocks
MONDAY--The plot unfolds (Lk.22:1-6)...bread/cup, since Jesus observed the final Passover meal
TUESDAY--The garden (Mk.14:32-42)...a bag of coins to picture how Jesus was sold by Judas
WEDNESDAY--The first five trials:
before Annas (Jn.18:12-13,19-24), before Caiaphas (Matt.26:57-68), before the Sanhedrin (Lk.22:66; Matt.26:57-68), before Pilate (Lk.23:1-7), before Herod (Lk.23:8-11)...We used a stuffed lamb here, to talk about how Jesus was silent before His accusers
THURSDAY--The final trial before Pilate and the scourging (Lk.23:13-23; Matt.27:24-26)...a home-made whip and a crown of thorns were used
FRIDAY--The cross (Jn.19:16-24; Mk.15:29-38)...We used the baked hill and tomb (see the earlier post). We also used the three large nails. After walking through the events of the crucifixion, we took the figure representing Jesus from the cross and wrapped Him in a piece of napkin. Then we laid Him in the tomb, letting Noah roll the stone to cover the entrance.
SATURDAY--nothing...we just sat in a room, turned out the lights and closed the door to make it dark. This was to talk about how Jesus was dead in the dark tomb. We explained the Gospel and talked about why Jesus died.
SUNDAY--The resurrection (Matt.28:1-10)...When the kids came downstairs, the tomb was empty.

Of course, since our kids are all small, hardly anything went exactly as planned. For example, each night at least one of the kids would erupt into laughter or crawl under the table; someone would bump their heads and cry; or someone would...well, you get the idea. Each night the kids would hear the words, "Stop it or else!" But by God's abundant grace we're just trying to improve our traditions each year.

Holy Week Traditions, pt.2

"He is not here. He is risen, just as He said." When the kids came down stairs this morning they found the tomb we had made. The stone was rolled back to reveal only Jesus' burial cloths. When we asked the kids if Jesus was still in the tomb, Madison replied, "I looked, but He's not there."

Bummed

I think we have worn our camera out. Currently the pictures I've been taking are very dark. This bums me out because I love to take pictures and blog. Currently I'm using an old 35 mm to capture Easter pictures, but I think it is way too complicated to try to blog those. Anyway, we are going to shop for a new camera and I hope to have new pictures up soon. Until then I hope anyone who checks this regularly will have a joy filled Easter celebrating our Resurrected Lord!