Bringing Easter week to life, Part I

Easter is hands-down my favorite holiday.  Nothing compares to standing in the sanctuary with family and church family and singing of Jesus' victory over death and sin.  I want to blubber over with tears of joy/gratefulness/emotion every time.  Of course, all of the bunnies and chicks and pretty colors of spring just add to it.

I have no problem with said bunnies and chicks (and yes, I know the pagan origins), and we'll even be dying eggs later this week.  But I have always been at a loss with how to best share the true beauty and meaning of Easter with my kids.  Until this year!

It came to me on Sunday afternoon, and Greg and I decided to spend time each evening this week studying with our kids what the week of Jesus' crucifixion was like.  What was he doing each day of the week, knowing his death was only days away?

We are all loving our study and activities so much that I already know I want to do this again next year.  I also know myself: I could write it all down on a piece of paper and a)lose the paper or b)put it away and forget where I put it.  The safest way to record what we are doing is to blog it.  So here it is, Part I.  :)

Palm Sunday:

Read the account of Jesus' 'triumphal entry' into Jerusalem from Matthew 21, and from a story book.
Each child cut palm leaves from green construction paper.
They worked together to create a donkey.
We sang a couple of "Hosanna" songs, then laid our leaves in the floor for our donkey to walk on.  I wouldn't have been opposed to a paper Jesus to ride the donkey, but I'm pretty much just winging this!

Monday:

Our study began with a quick discussion of the Old Testament practice of sacrificing.  We named some of the animals that were sacrificed, then each boy made a paper dove.

We read on Sunday that Jesus was spending the nights this week in Bethany and traveling into Jerusalem during the day.  On Monday we read from Mark 11:11-14 about Jesus cursing the fig tree on the way into town that morning (important for Tuesday!).  We then continued in verses 15-19 about how Jesus cleared the temple of all the money-changers and sellers.  While we read the boys colored pictures of the story.

Tuesday

Tuesday started with the disciples discovery of the fig tree Jesus had cursed on Monday being wilted.  We made a quick note of that before going on to the rest of the lesson.
There is a lot recorded in the gospels of Jesus' teachings on Tuesday.  He spent time in the temple (where he was tested by the religious leaders) and on the Mt of Olives (where he taught his disciples).  We read 3 selections from all these teachings:
The question of paying taxes to Caesar - Matthew 22:15-22.  Each boy drew on a circle of paper what he thought a Roman coin might look like. 
The Greatest Commandment - Matthew 22:34-40.  We covered this partly because verses 37-39 are one of our weekly memory verses and the boys enjoyed hearing it in context.
The Parable of the Talents - Matthew 25:14-30.  As I read the passage from Matthew, we did our own re-enactment of the story. Daddy grabbed a handful of pennies and the boys lined up in front of him oldest to youngest.  I was the 'marketplace' where they did there trading and investing to double their money.  Except for Tyler.  He 'buried' his under the table and went back to working on his Roman coins. :)

We ended the evening with a discussion of how these three passages are related.  If we love God with all our "heart and soul and mind" we are going to surrender all that he has given us and serve him.  When we give him what is duly his (our life that he bought with his blood) we show him our love and are in return "good and faithful servants" to him.  

Each one of us is enjoying this time together in God's word and I think the readings and activities are definitely adding meaning to Easter week!  Can't wait to see what we pull out of a hat the rest of the week.  Thanking God for his inspiration and praying he blesses it!

Spring Breaking

To-do lists were long.  Tempers were short.  Spring break was dwindling.

The burdens of house-keeping and home-ownership were heavy, and the frustrations of parenting (x5) were mounting.

So we did the only sensible thing.

In a matter of minutes, we loaded everyone up and left it all behind.

First stop: the airport, to watch the crop duster land. 

 Then...

 picnicking,

 swinging,

 running, 

 reading,

kite flying,

 frog watching,

 more reading,

 jumping rope,

 ball chasing,

 pine cone exploring,

 and cookie sharing.

And after that, things were much, much better.

Life is good!

(Mr. Daniel slept through the whole adventure, which may have just been the best thing for all concerned!)

Allergy free diet update

Here we are, 10 days in. Thank you all for your comments on my original allergy post last week.

Daniel's skin is looking great!  It cleared up around the one-week mark and has only continued to improve.

Just today I can begin to notice his little nose not being snotty, and he seems to cough less.  But when he does cough he still sounds a little congested.

I haven't seen the poop results I am looking for, but it's still early.

As far as the concerns I had for myself:

Yes, I miss cheese and all things dairy.  And peanut butter.  I miss peanut butter more than I thought I would!

Yes, I get hungry often.  But I snack often, too, so I don't think I've lost any weight.  I've eaten a lot of chips & salsa, bean dip (made my own), and hummus (made my own of that, too).  I'm on my second batch of granola. :)

The only 'cheats' have been a little bit of mayo (made with eggs) and tonight I floured my meat before I fried it.  I'm so certain dairy is the culprit I didn't see those cheats as a big deal.  The biggest hurdle was our monthly fellowship meal at church Sunday.  

Breakfast hasn't been as hard as I thought.  I did eat beans one day, because I was going out and didn't want to be snacking and hungry later.  The other days I've been eating (instant) oatmeal.  I discovered cooking it with a tablespoon or so of pumpkin helps make it nice and creamy. :)  I prefer making my own oatmeal instead of using instant but since I'm already making the boys breakfast every morning it's so much easier to just use the instant.

For a chocolate fix I discovered that chocolate syrup (the kind for ice cream and chocolate milk) is dairy free.  Not bad poured over bananas with a spoon. :)

But even better than that was a recipe for dairy free fudge I had saved!  Woohoo!  Mine didn't set up, but I didn't really care.  It was chocolate!

And every mama needs chocolate, right?

4 Months

Yay! Four months is a celebration to me, of making it past the first 3 months.  Those first 3 months are a doozy, but once you are good and clear of those there are more fun & games than tears.  And even if you aren't quite there yet there is usually the promise of better sleep on the horizon. :)

We are all enjoying baby smiles and chuckles (we call them courtesy laughs).  Dale and Alan both love helping take care of Daniel, and he is definitely still Brooklyn's favorite baby doll. 

As I posted earlier this week, he's had some trouble that we attributed to allergies.  I've made some changes in my diet hoping to get him some relief asap.

Some of our babies have started solids this early, but Daniel doesn't seem the least bit interested, so the plan is just to continue nursing for now.  Most nights he still wakes up every 3 or 4 hours, but some nights he'll surprise me with a 5 or 6 hour stretch.  Naps are fairly predictable (with a morning, afternoon, and usually an evening) and (maybe? fingers crossed!) getting a little longer.

Happy baby days!

Quackin' Up: Science Day

Whoever decided to remove regular school work and make our Tuesdays science/art/extra day is a genius. Oh wait, that was me.  
The only thing is I didn't come up with that on my own; I've seen it done in lots of homeschooling families.  Genius points removed. Carry on.

Today was all science, and involved 3 quick and easy projects, all from ScienceBob.com.

First up was a lesson in vibrations and sound, demonstrated with "duck calls" made from straws.  This was a huge hit with my noise-making, Duck Dynasty loving boys.

Later we calmed (and quieted) things down by experimenting with static electricity.  The boys took turns combing their hair several times and then holding the comb near the water to see the water bend toward the comb.

Finally we made miniature "lava lamps" by filling a glass over half full of water, coloring it (just for fun) and then adding a layer of vegetable oil.

Then we plopped bits of salt (and later tried sugar) onto the oil.

The salt would sink to the bottom, bringing some of the oil with it.  The salt would then stay, while the oil rose back to the top.  Fun!

Do you have a science or art project to suggest for us?  Tuesday seems to come around fairly often!

Chicken. Fruit. Veggies.

I was talking with a friend this weekend that having 5 kids doesn't mean we've got everything all figured out.  We haven't cracked some parenting formula that makes it easy.  

You know why?  Because every child really is different.  Child two is different from child one.  Child three is different from children two and one.  Child four is different from three, two, and one.

Not surprisingly, Child five is different from all four that came before him.

After making our own observations (two months of a stuffy nose and skin problems), discussing them with a trusted family friend (and nurse), and doing a little bit of internet reading, we're convinced Daniel has allergy trouble.

He's exclusively breastfed, so that means whatever is causing his trouble has to be eliminated from my diet to be eliminated from his.

For the greatest chances of quick relief for Daniel, I have decided to eliminate all of the biggest triggers: dairy, eggs, wheat, and nuts.

This course of action certainly doesn't make me feel like super mom.  In fact, I've felt rather sorry for myself!  Self-pity will only make things worse, so I'm taking the first course of action that comes to mind with any of life's little happenings: blog about it!

Y'all have been with me for a liver transplant and all that entailed, the announcement and birth of 3 children, homeschooling, getting a dog, and countless tales of daily life.  Why not share this little adventure as well?

Starting today, I have completely cut all dairy, eggs, wheat and nuts.  Hopefully we'll see a difference soon in Daniel.  In a few weeks I will add each category back one at a time.

The wheat and nuts will be a pain (hello! no pbj's!) but I can work around it. 

I'll miss the eggs and will be a little challenged cooking some things without them, but again, I can deal with it.

But the dairy?  Ohhhh dairy how I will miss you.  Cheese, chocolate, sour cream, cheese, milk, butter, chocolate... the loss of dairy is where the whining rears its ugly head!

I love cheese. I really love cheese.  And chocolate.

*Sigh*

And here's the real kicker: I'm 95% certain it's the dairy causing sweet baby boy's problems.

I am hoping he will do great after I eliminate these things.  Then I fully expect to add back wheat, nuts, and eggs with no problems.  If that's how it goes down, I won't even bother testing the dairy.  

The good news is he won't be nursing forever, and he should outgrow this little allergy in a few years. I cooked dairy-free for over a year around 2009-2010 for other reasons, so for our main meal each day I'm not too worried about coming up with a plan.
As far as the blogging, I don't plan on whining and complaining.  But I thought we could  share some food ideas.

My biggest concerns are: 
1. being hungry
2. losing weight
3. what to eat for breakfast

I figure I'll manage to take of #1 just fine: Eat.  All the time, if necessary. :)
#2.... I'm looking for other fat sources besides dairy fats.  Plus I figure #1 will help too.
#3.  Breakfast.  I have always enjoyed savory for breakfast just as much as sweet.  Even though eggs are off-limits for now I am intrigued by the idea of beans for breakfast.  I've heard the idea several times and it's always sounded appealing.  So I'm picturing corn tortillas and beans for some mornings.  Oatmeal is another option.  And green smoothies with rice milk.

Do you have allergy experience?  Do tell!

Happy Birthday, Daddy Buffalo!

We love any excuse for a party around here.  Everyone should have a big family if for no other reason than to celebrate birthdays more often! ;)  In our household, we start a run at the end of August with Dale, followed by 1 in September, 2 in October, 1 in November, 1 in January, and 1 in February.

We celebrated Daddy's day with a fish fry!

Followed up with presents....

...and a lemon jello cake:

Depending on where you start counting, Daddy Buffalo is either halfway to 40 or halfway to 70.  ;)

But watching our little celebration tonight I thought to myself it doesn't matter what age you are, anyone celebrating surrounded by his children is a blessed man!