The Easter Story in an Egg Shell

 

Now that Thing 3 is almost 3 months old I'm hoping to be able to post a bit more often.  That is, if my brain isn't sucked right out of my boobs, which happens every day.  I think it should be a bonafide diagnosed disease.  Can I hear and Amen!

Here is an idea that is better late than never.  It is totally fun!  Wait for it...wait for it...

The Easter Story hidden within a dozen plastic eggs!

Brilliant!  I've never hated anything that comes out of an egg.

Easter has kinda been an uninspired holiday for me.  Which is kinda ironic considering the meaning behind all the fluff.  But for some reason I've kinda lacked creative energy around this hippity-hoppity holiday.

(Can I say kinda just one more time?)

Enter my mom.  She cut back on the candy this year and instead has organized a hunt with "Resurrection Eggs" for all her grand kids.  Thank you mom!  Any time I can take a bit of sugar out of a holiday without removing the fun I rejoice.

Apparently Resurrection Eggs have been around for a long time but this is the first I've ever heard of them.  I love the idea, though.  You basically open an egg a day for the 12 days before Easter.  Each egg has a small symbolic treasure and a verse telling part of the Easter story.  My mom is varying from the tradition and having the grand kids hunt the eggs on Easter Day and then she will tell he story while having the kids take turns opening up the eggs .  That works for me!

So even though this is a last minute post and you can't do the 12 day version you could do a quick DIY project and still be able to hunt Resurrection Eggs on Easter.  I normally try to do something during the Lenten season to help my family think just a little about the death and resurrection of Christ but this year with an almost three month old and two older boys I just didn't have it in me.  Thanks once again, mom, for filling the gap!

(Will there ever come a time that I don't need my mother?)

So here are a few sites for you that have either instructions for DIY eggs or ones you can buy for next year.  My mom bought her eggs, and a set for each grand kid family.  Lucky me! :)  And her eggs came with a downloadable activity book for the kids.

Have fun and happy Easter!

Kristen

ps. I'd love to see how your eggs turn out.  What creative spin can you throw on it?


http://wantingwhatyouhave.com/2009/03/make-your-own-resurrection-eggs.html

 
http://shop.familylife.com/p-1717-resurrection-eggs.aspx

 This is a sight that has DIY ideas
http://www.rainbowcastle.org/resurrectioneggs.html

 This is a fun site in general with a great little blog series on Easter. 
http://whatsinthebible.com/2011/04/13/resurrection-eggs-craft-project-for-easter/

A Mad Lib Valentine!

 

We've been busy around our place lately, mostly with the addition of a new baby!  Hence, the reason why I haven't been posting.  But when Thing One got a Mad Lib pad as a reward for moving up a level in his homeschool readers I thought a Mad Lib would be a perfect post for Valentine's Day.

One night at dinner we filled in the blanks to one of the Mad Libs and then read it back.  Not only was it a great tool for practicing such things as adverbs and nouns it was hilarious fun.  When we read a story that involved a store called "Cuties R' Us" we couldn't stop laughing.  It was a great family story activity and it brought back tons of childhood memories.

I actually thought I'd write one of my own and then I stumbled across some freebies at ClassroomJr.com.  It was too perfect to pass up.  So click HERE and enjoy a trip down Memory Lane with your kids! 

We actually printed off these three different Valentine Mad Libs and put them on cardstock and Thing One wrote a note for each of the kids in his Writing Class.  They've been doing Mad Libs for fun in his class and we thought this would be a unique and easy homemade Valentine.  Got to love unique and easy!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Kristen

Story Challenge: That's Good! That's Bad!

Your Challenge:  

Tell a "That's Good.  That's Bad."  story with your children this week.  Report back by commenting on this post and tell how it went.

Story Tip:  Try this game on Christmas Eve when kids are having trouble sleeping.

Tonight at dinner we played a new story game.  It was brilliant!  We came up with it on the fly.  With two boys and one on the way dinner discussion can often be about bodily functions, body parts, or just plain fighting.  It can drive the Bug with Black Spots and I crazy.  We try to come to the table prepared with a good question or topic for discussion.  Tonight we got talking about books and somehow a story that the boys really enjoy came up.  It’s called “That’s Good, That’s Bad” by Margery Cuyler.  The boys clearly enjoy this story.  We decided to make up our own version of the story at the dinner table. 

Reading the book would be a great idea for your family.  They will get the idea much quicker with the book.  Margery Cuyler, the author, has actually made a series of these books.  Our Favorite is the original story shown below with the yellow cover and the zoo animals.  However, being that it is the Christmas season making a story similar to the "That's Good, That's Bad on Santa's Journey" would be a good tradition to start.  After you read the book make your own story using it’s format sometime when you are desperate for sanity.  I’m thinking a car trip or waiting for an appointment or even dinner in a restaurant.  Everyone can join in.  Even our four year old joined the fun.  We were a little worried about his contribution but he came up with some pretty creative things, which made it even more silly and enjoyable. 

Here’s how it goes.  Have an adult start the first game so the kids get the idea.  That adult starts the story by saying “There once was a …. (boy, girl, mom, dad, monster, bear, etc,...) Who…..(did something with a positive outcome.”  At the end of this short positive one liner everyone exclaims, “Oh! That’s good.”  The next person to go says, “No!  That’s bad.”  He or she then adds a negative line to the story that describes a bad thing that happens to the character.  At the end of this one liner everyone exclaims, “Oh!  That’s bad.”  The next person then says, “No!  That’s good!”  And on and on until the person who began the story ends it with a positive line to which everyone responds “Oh!  That’s good.”  Then the story beginner says, “No!  That’s Great!”  And the story is complete.

Enjoy!
Kristen