Bedtime Books

Every night, after the kids and kitchen are cleaned up, teeth are brushed, prayers are said and pyjamas are on, we all squish onto our couch for songs and bedtime books. We take turns for who gets to pick the song. We have gone through times where we sung a string of 'Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam' multiple evenings in a row and none of us mind one bit. And then the kids each get to pick a book. Since Atticus is working his way through his second chapter book (a bit more on that another time. He is just following along as we read it and looking for words he knows); so his pick is most always Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Milayla seems to go for variety in her pick and tonight she chose the Gingerbread Man.

Well, each and every time that little gingerbread man put his hands on his hips to say "you can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man!, that little lady of ours put her hands on her hips and giggled. It was sweetness I wish I could bundle up and open up again many years down the road as I am sure, no matter how much I enjoy further stages of parenthood, my heart will always miss these early years.

And as we closed the book to the silliness of the gingerbread man being outwitted (and eaten!) by the fox Atticus asked, "Why did the fox eat the gingerbread man?". To which I replied, "well, he was a cookie. Wouldn't you want to eat a cookie, too?". And without missing a beat Atticus said, "Yeah, but not one that moves!".

We all laughed.

I love laughter. I love questions. I love the sparkle of curiosity that shines through Atticus and Milayla's eyes. I love seeing how their love for books and music sparks interest and questions into so many other areas. And it all reminds me why we put that time aside every night to cuddle up on that couch to sing songs and read books. It's to spend time together. It's to learn more about each other. To learn more about the world. And, perhaps most importantly, to strengthen the foundation of our family. Time can't be turned back and so it's important that we invest the time now, to enjoy it together, and plan for the future family we hope for. And I strongly believe these little bedtime traditions are strengthening our little family for many years to come.

Easter Weekend - Sunday

I love Easter Sunday. We typically start things off with a few scriptures, watch a video about the resurrection and then get into our Easter outfits before sitting down for a special (yet simple) Easter breakfast. This year we stumbled upon a breakfast dish that we are calling Pancake bread that won some big favour around here (with everyone except Milayla). It is made with chickpea flour (no sugar, no oils and vegan). It was brilliant as I just needed to mix the ingredients and throw it in the over and it baked while I got ready for church. So much simpler and easier than pancakes. Then we topped it with plenty of fresh fruit and it was the perfect low-effort, tasty, special breakfast. But enough about food endorsements... :)

It was plenty of fun capturing the kids' smiles on Easter morning as they were all dressed for church.

Oh man, I love that smile. So gorgeous!

And this little boy is just growing up so fast. The other day he declared that he thinks he is too big for baths and it's time for him to just have showers. When I asked him why he replied (in his deepest possible voice) that "he is a big boy like Daddy". 

And just in case you are thinking that these cuties are always all smiles, I just want to document that that is not the case. 

 That photo makes me laugh. Milayla wanted cuddles. Atticus didn't. Enter Atticus pouting and Milayla crying. All was forgiven within seconds of the photo being taken though. Good kids. They have their disagreements but they work through them pretty well for how young they still are.

Church was lovely. We have a new family that moved in and the wife is very talented at playing the viola so we were blessed to have a beautiful piece played by her along with some lovely talks.

After church and nap, it was time for Easter Family Home Evening. We decided that we wanted to focus on the idea of following the example of the Saviour; making choices he would make so that when we are resurrected (like he was) we can live with our Heavenly Father again as an Eternal family.

There was a path of footprints that made their way around a good majority of our apartment. Some of those footprints had a heart on them. When we stepped on a foot print that had a heart we could turn it over and read an example of a way that we can follow our Saviour. 

 The footprints finally came to an end at a picture of the Edmonton Alberta Temple (which is the temple that Jason and I were married in) which led us to the talk about eternal families and how important it is to follow the Saviour and to make good choices. I'm not always sure how much of these things are really sinking in as I know some of the concepts can be a little tough to simplify, but without fail, the kids show at another time and place that they not only heard the lessons but they also understood and remembered them.

Following Family Home Evening we had a little bit of prep work to do before our company came over for Easter dinner. The kids helped set the table while I made sure that everything in the kitchen was cooking.

Easter dinner was an absolutely lovely time, complete with an impromptu testimony bearing about The Saviour, reading the Living Christ, and singing 'I Know That My Redeemer Lives' (which sounded quite lovely as Atticus passionately conducted us through all four verses, though I may be a tad biased).

It was just a small group of us but the reverence and spirit of the evening was very special. We were so glad that we had the opportunity to invite others into our home to share in the joy of Easter as we celebrated the good news - He lives!

Easter Weekend - Saturday

Saturday is the day we use to fill up with the activities that are a little less symbolic. This year that meant easter baskets, egg hunts, last minute errands and a nice dinner with some of our friends. 

The kids woke up to their new Easter outfits and baskets. 

My goal this year was to make a sweet-free basket that the kids would love (because, let's face it, they are going to get a plethora of sweets from plenty of other places - and trust me - they did). And they definitely loved their baskets, which made us pretty happy too!

**For those who are looking for ideas for next year, the baskets had wooden puzzles, new notebooks and pencils, spelt pretzels, raw fruit bars, Jip & Janneke raisin boxes (a serious source of excitement around here, probably because it is a rarity since we need to buy them in Holland), dehydrated fruit snack packs and a new scripture case for Atticus. The kids were stoked!

Then once we had breakfast and all were dressed the kids went on a little egg hunt (which I would have loved to be outside, but the weather just was not in agreement with that idea).

Milayla tried to get a head start on egg-hunting :)

The kids loved the hunt but what was inside the eggs needed a little bit of explaining.

I think the kids were expecting to find chocolate (as was in the eggs on the hunt we did in Holland), but instead they found coloured slips of paper which left them a little puzzled. It wasn't until we explained to them that each of those papers were a special outing to make as a family they they got excited. The outings really cover a large range of activities but we worked on picking things that would be above and beyond the outings that we typically go on and we were happy to see the kids light up for several of the ideas. The plan is that we will select one of the outings to do each week as a family. Thus far, it has been a huge success!

That night we had a group of friends over for an Easter potluck dinner. It was a huge success. It was so great to catch up with everyone, get to know some new friends better, and to cuddle the newest addition to our group (an adorable little baby girl). The kids literally melted my heart when they put on their bunny ears and went around giving everyone a piece of the candy that they had been given throughout the weekend from our friends and neighbours. There was absolutely no thought about the diminishing candy amount in their basket as the smiles on their faces kept getting bigger with each candy they gave out. I love those kids and their little golden hearts. The potluck dinner was definitely a high light of our Easter weekend and we are so grateful for all who were able to come and contribute to the success of the evening. 

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A post about Easter Sunday coming soon :)

Easter Weekend - Passover and Good Friday

I love Easter weekend. It is always filled with so many good things (and I'm not talking about the chocolate overload and seemingly endless sweets). We work pretty hard to come up with and plan the best ways to spend the Easter weekend. Each year things have been tweaked a little bit more to find the balance that best suits our family and our situation for that particular year and how to best facilitate the kids' discovery of the real meaning behind the Easter season. We feel really good about how this year went.

For 30 days beforehand we counted down as we worked our way through The Living Christ. And during the week before we had a small little lesson and activity each night for that particular day in the last week of Christ's life. The things we taught were quite simple, but I am still amazed and how much the children grasp about Easter and I am so looking forward to building on that knowledge throughout the year and again next year.

On Thursday we held a small passover dinner. Last year we did the full seder plate. This year I felt concerned about doing the full Seder plate (as is traditionally done in the Jewish religion). My concern was that it is a very time-honoured and meaningful tradition in the Jewish faith and I was worried that my attempts could not possibly do it justice and that it would be disrespectful. So, at the last moment I made some tweaks and tried to simplify with a focus on the Savior, his atonement, and the sacrament (which, really, is a large portion of the Jewish Seder plate anyway).

We invited our friend, Mark, over for the dinner and everything went quite well.

The Passover Dinner acts, in a large part, as our official welcome of the Easter weekend. We talk about the last Supper, Jesus praying in Gethsemane, and the importance of what he was willing to do for us. We try to keep the night simple, focused and enjoyable.

On Friday we went for our Easter walk to look for symbolism of the Savior and signs of spring. It was quite strange to still need to bundle up to go out for our Easter walk (not exactly typical weather for the end of March). We also stopped by to wish our neighbours a Happy Easter as well.

I love this picture. While Atticus and I are working to give Milayla kisses, she is busy reaching for the chocolate bunnies that our neighbours had just gifted the children with.

 I was a little hesitant that we would see many signs of spring with how prolonged winter has been here this year but the kids did an incredible job catching every little flower bud, bug, colorful eggs or even chalk drawings of wishes for spring time.

And you know the winter here was abnormally long when people are trying to protect their trees from the elements...

 Between thorny bushes, new flowers, dead tree branches and a few other treasures we found plenty of opportunity to talk about the Saviour naturally. It was a great opportunity.

Then it was home to work on colouring our Pysanky eggs and our Easter Story book.

 The kids are so proud of their eggs and book. Both are on display in our home (even still) and I think its going to be a little while longer before the kids are ready for them to be put away with the rest of our Easter decorations. Just as well, I like the extra color that they give our monochromatic color scheme anyhow.

And with that, I must post about the rest of our Easter weekend another time as I need to wake some adorable children from nap :).

Easter is nearly here

Did you know we are only one week away from Easter? Well, actually, if you are like many families out there, you will probably have some special events going on this coming week like we do.

We love Easter around here. We count down to it starting 30 days prior as we read through progressive sections of The Living Christ (which we memorized a couple years back. And we got the idea and the free printables for the easter countdown here). All sorts of Savior-centred music fills our home more every day. We focus our family scripture study on the Saviour, the atonement and the resurrection and what exactly that means for us. We sing more (which Atticus pointed out to me is not such an easy feat as we sing a lot around here). We make bouquets of lillies. We watch video clips of the Saviours ministry. We slow down more. We simplify (at least, we try!).

I love Easter because it is where the feeling of Christmas emanates from. "There would be no Christmas if there was no Easter. The fact that he was resurrected gave credibility to his whole life's mission, and that's the essence of it." (President Gordon B. Hinckley). Easter is where testimonies are fueled, faith reaffirmed, miracles concreted, and a truer realization of eternities realized. My soul seems to yearn for Easter; to revisit the garden, to stand before Christ on the cross, to celebrate that glorious Easter morning and, most importantly, to remember that he did it all for us in an act of unselfish love. 

I feel a deep sense of gratitude to my Saviour for what he did for us so that we could live with our Father in Heaven again. Yet even with my gratitude, my service, and my testimony I know that it will never be enough to repay the sacrifice he made for me to become my Redeemer. Though, even with that in mind I will continue to thank him and do my best to live my life in a way that is representational of my gratitude (and there are certainly some days where I need a merciful hand extended to me from my Saviour more than I would like..). 

As Jason and I try our best to create a home (and experiences) that will plant seeds of testimony into the fertile soil of our children's hearts I pray that those seeds will take root, and that wonderful memories will be made; not memories of the crafts we did or the food we ate but rather of the feelings we felt and the love that abounded for each other and for our Saviour. It's a large order, I realize that, but I know that it can happen if we give it all we can and put the rest in His hands, our Saviour and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

We hope everyone has a wonderful Easter Week; celebrating the life, death and resurrection of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. 

To help you get into the Spirit of this coming week, please listen to this song below. It is from one of our favorite CD's from composer, Rob Gardner, that we love to listen to, particularly at this time of year. The CD is called 'Lamb of God'.

 Enjoy!

Pumpkin Carving

I know this is a little late, but I am still playing catch up with getting all of our trip photos online as well so things are in a bit of a jumbled mess.

Seeing that Halloween isn't really celebrated here, we have typically endeavored to do our own little family activities. Since last year's pumpkin carving was a lovely success we decided to give it another go this year. The day started off heading to market to pick out a pumpkin.

Milayla has been quite in love with this puzzle for the last few weeks and trying to get her out the door without it was an interesting feat. We probably would have let her take it if she would have been able to hold it while wearing her gloves.

Once bundled up and out the door, it was off to market. (check out Milayla's wonderful smile in the photo below. It's her most recent smile and we love it!)

 Despite the weather being a bit chilly (we nearly ran to market just for the sake of warming up) the sun was shining and we had gorgeous blue skies. It really couldn't get much better for end-of-October weather.

BRIGHT!

There was no shortage of squashes but pumpkins seemed to be in a strange minority since the last time we were there. We ended up finding one, smallish pumpkin and headed back for home.

Once home, Jason got the table ready while Atticus set to work trying to find some inspiration for our pumpkin. He consulted a very reputable source :) .

Then it was time for Mommy and Milayla to draw on the face.

Then the boys happily went to work cutting open the pumpkin...

scooping out the insides...

(they certainly enjoyed themselves.)

And while Jason took over for the cutting out, Atticus eagerly snuck nibbles of raw pumpkin while Milayla and I snapped away with the camera. 

And in no time, the pumpkin was finished! (there are certainly some advantages to picking a smaller pumpkin)

 We headed into Atticus' room to light it for the first time as it was still extremely bright out. The kids could not wait to see it lit up.

 TADA! Did we do a good job matching the inspiration from the book?

After we finished ooing and awing, Atticus gave his best attempt at blowing out the candle before he had a little fatherly assistance.

 It was sure a fun activity and we displayed our pumpkin proudly until he started to go the way that all jack-o-lanterns go. He at least made it to Halloween Day for our little get together with friends (more on that later).

Hope everyone had a great Halloween!