Celebrating Easter 2012

 I feel as though we've had a lot happening the past three weeks!  

I haven't been as organized as I'd like to be in planning family activities to draw attention to the week leading into Easter, but we did manage a few crafts and activities to help the kids understand and celebrate Christ's death and resurrection!

For Palm Sunday, the kids and I colored some pictures of Jesus' triumphal entry, and then we traced our hands on different colors of green paper, glued them to a popsicle stick and used stickers to spell Hosanna.  Then we found some great songs, both new and old, on YouTube and Vimeo to dance to and sing Hosanna!

Our Palm Sunday palm

Then we spent some time decorating hard-boiled eggs.  

I thought it would be fun to try this idea for Volcano Eggs, but it was a bit of a bust.  

The kids enjoyed it, but the eggs turned out quite pale, and the fizzing of the reaction between the vinegar and baking soda was anti-climactic.  Jeremy did try reducing the amount of water in the dye & baking soda paste, which resulted in a more vibrant color, but it was more difficult to paint with...  

 We had a family dinner at my parent's on Friday... and then again on Monday!  

On Friday Grandpa had hidden some eggs around the first couple of rows 

of trees at the tree farm, and the kids had fun trying to find them.  

I admit, I did raid their candies and ate all the chocolate and almond eggs (super yum!).

On Sunday, Jer and I hid some eggs for the kids to find.  They weren't filled with chocolate.  Instead we used this Easter Egg Hunt idea that has a printable coloring book to go along with the eggs that the kids find.  I loved how it talks about Jesus from Christmas all the way through his life to Easter.  It was a great way to talk with our kids about the importance of Easter and why we celebrate it the way we do.  Aria has been busting out some really thought-provoking questions lately about God, and I have to remind myself that she's only looking for a simple answer, cuz she's only five!  Well, almost six.  While we were driving home during spring break she asked how we know that God is real (because kids at school were saying that He's not).  Its really neat to see the wheels turning in her head and heart as she is owning her faith!

Christmas Trees and Such

My dad retired this past spring, and they are now reaping the rewards of their retirement plan... in the form of Christmas trees that they started planting in 2002. The Turner Family Tree Farm is officially open for business in Oyama, BC! We took a tree off the farm last winter, and here are some photos of our tree this year! I went out and picked a tree I liked in November, so that we could be sure to get one of the best. Mom and Dad have spent ours trimming and shaping the trees, and we couldn't be more pleased to have a tree farm in the family! They even have a "wrapper" for the trees so that they are easier to tie to the roof of your vehicle, it helps them travel well, and they're easier to take into the house!

Family shot!

This is the last picture I have with my parent's dog Belle. We got her in 1995, when I was in grade 9. She was such a fabulous dog, and just passed away this month. I'll miss you Bella!

I was taking photos of the kids yesterday, and Roscoe started to say cheese and made this goofy pose with his head tilted back! Every time I'd take a picture, he'd do this, so I couldn't get any natural shots at all! He must be picking up pointers from Aria because its super hard for her to give me a natural smile as well. What I've started to do with her is get her to tell me a joke (a three year old's version of Knock, knock or Why did the ____ cross the road), but as she's laughing at the end I can usually get some good pictures!
I stopped in at Walmart today to make an appointment FINALLY, to get Roscoe's one year old pictures done (only two months late!). Poor second-born child. Well, there's no reason to feel bad; at least its going to get done!
We took the kids to the mall yesterday so they could meet Santa, which we've never done before. Aria has been fairly Santa-obsessed this Christmas, and I figure, what's the harm? She'll probably only be this crazy for him for a couple years. I've tried explaining that Christmas is about Jesus' birthday, but she seems to think that means its Santa's birthday as well. So I said that Santa just likes to celebrate Jesus' birthday by handing out presents to everyone, because Jesus' birthday is SO important and exciting.
The other day when we came home from preschool she didn't want to close the front door. I asked why. She said so that Santa could come in. I explained that Santa doesn't come until Christmas Eve when she's asleep, and then he comes down the chimney. So she closed the front door, and promptly went into the living room and opened up the glass doors to the fireplace, so that Santa could get in! Funny girl! She's having a hard time distinguishing between the Christmas SEASON and Christmas DAY.

Cheese!