Hands-On Lent for Preschoolers: The Resurrection Cross

This is our son, then age 4, making his resurrection cross last year for Lent. We made a big batch of white playdough, then colored a few balls of dough for decoration. I let him fashion the cross, cut the hearts with a cookie cutter, and recreate the scene as he saw fit.

There is a candle for each week, but it's done in reverse of the Advent wreath, extinguishing a candle for each week leading to Good Friday. I think we lit the whole cross each week, then blew out the appropriate number of candles until Good Friday, when all the candles were extinguished. Jesus died on the cross, and the world was plunged into darkness. On Easter Sunday, all the candles were lit again, representing Christ's resurrection and the Light of the World.

The colorful lumps around the bottom of the cross were the people who shouted mean things to Jesus, according to our son. His four-year-old interpretation of the crucifixion scene brought tears to my eyes. The crown of thorns at the top was his idea, as well as the red (pink) hearts where Jesus' hands were nailed to the cross.

We'll definitely be repeating this tradition this Lenten season. For older kids, perhaps they could give something up for each candle they extinguish, one per week, lending lots of opportunities to talk about Christ's ultimate sacrifice. His love was so great, He gave up His life for us.

How do you learn about or celebrate this religious season with your kids?

My Wedding Night

No, I'm not continuing Karly's discussion from last Friday. I just thought I'd tell you a funny story. 

We had big plans to leave our wedding reception early, but you know how that goes. At 8:30 my friend Cathy, who coordinated the whole shindig, came over and said, "Y'all need to leave!" So we flew out of there amidst bubbles and hugs, went home for a quick shower, and drove to the Grand Floridian at Disney to begin our new life together. We got to the hotel about 10, checked in, and headed up to our room...which was being cleaned. Back down to the front desk, we were given another room, went up to that one, and...someone was working on the electrical panel next to the room. "Oh! You don't want this room," he said. "The air conditioning isn't working." It was the 24th of May in Florida. We needed A/C. Fortunately, nearly everyone who works at Disney is extremely helpful, so the maintenance man called down to the front desk for us. He then took us to our new room and let us in, since he had a master key. The good thing about this mess was that we got bumped up to the concierge level (I'm not sure what that means, but I'm pretty sure it's good) and had a room with a balcony where we could watch  the fireworks at Magic Kingdom each night. The bad thing about this mess was that we had to wait a while for the bellhop to bring our luggage up. Like 30 minutes. And we didn't know when he was coming, so basically we sat on the bed and stared at each other. 

It was a little awkward.

Until the bellhop left.

Movie Review

I love to escape.
Really I do.
I used to escape by drinking when I went out with friends. Now, I still love to go out with friends, but I've ditched the drinking part. It leads to too much baggage for me.

Another way to escape reality for a while is to watch a movie. It's so fun! I also love to read, but sometimes you just want to be entertained visually, you know?

Well, Mark and I have found a series of movies that we really like. The "Love Comes Softly"series.

I believe there are 6 movies so far and they are based on the books of the same name penned by Janette Oke. The director is Michael Landon, Jr., the son of Michael Landon from "Little House on the Prarie". Katherine Heigl is featured in the first movie of the series.

A movie review I read : These movies have that "Little House on the Prarie" feeling yet they conquer some serious challenges in the lives of the Davis family. The family seeks God to guide them in their decisions as well as comfort them in their times of distress and tragedy.

If you live in Lake Wales, the Blockbuster here has all of them except the 5th one (the 5th one is at the Blockbuster on Cypress Gardens Blvd). Movies 1 thru 4 are in the 99 cent section (as of a few weeks ago) and the 6th one may still be a new release.

These are the titles:
1) Love Comes Softly
2) Love's Enduring Promise
3) Love's Long Journey
4) Love's Abiding Joy
5) Love's Unending Legacy
6) Love's Unfolding Dream

Well, let me know if you know of any other great family movies. "Fireproof", "The Ultimate Gift" and "Facing the Giants" are well worth watching as well.

Things Fall Apart

I am just about always up for an adventure. I mean, isn't a trip to the Wal-Mart can be an adventure, right? Well, last week I convinced some other Motley Moms to go strawberry picking. And, it was a total bust. Apparently, because of the economy (I ended up calling the Florida Strawberry Growers Association) they are now waiting to open the fields up for u-pick until the very end of the growing season. They are trying to get most of the fruit to fresh market, explained the nice lady who answered. This, after we drove for about 1 1/2 hours with the kids strapped in car seats.


Aren't I an awesome friend? [Read:Sarcasm] Everyone was very gracious. They did not slap or yell at me, which I am sure I deserved. And we ended stopping at a big mall and letting the kids play on the playland area for a bit. But, it was not strawberry picking. And it was my fault. I suppose I should have "googled it" before we left. I last went strawberry picking 2 years ago in February...last year I was too pregnant and tired to even try.


On the way home, we all split up. The kids were all at different stages of tired and my own both napped for a bit (very abnormal for us). We did end up stopping at some second-hand and used furniture stored for a bit of searching. My kids are just used to my antics, I think. Mostly because I call just about everything (especially things they may not think are fun...like going to the Wal-Mart) an adventure. And, these days are some of my favorites. Nothing specific planned and we just get in the car and go.


We stopped at a little park for about 20 minutes and then stopped at a museum in Bartow. We looked at old pictures and decided we could have been pioneers. [Personally, I think we need a goat and some chickens, but I don't think that would go over well with my hubby, or our neighbors, or our church next door, or anyone but me and the kids.] We poked through some more antique stores and found a few little treasures.

I really did have a fun time. My friends, I hope you did, too. It wasn't what I expected, but it was fun. Now I am starting to think about a trip to the beach. And I was just reading this weekend that Florida is home to 100+ of the largest trees on record in the country. I think we may have to try to visit each one. Whatever it is, another adventure awaits!!

What adventures have you been on lately? Planned or unplanned? Which is better?

Happy Birthday To Me

My last full-time job was working as an accountant in the basement of our local hospital. It was a small office of about 10 women and our male boss. Most of the ladies had degrees in accounting while mine was in business management. I was one of the youngest in the department, so I was the low-girl on the totem pole in lots of ways. The ladies were all very nice, but they kept to themselves. They didn't want to share any of the fun accounting work, so I got to do lots of grunt work, as my friend Natalie called it; think Cinderella forced to work for the IRS. One of my actual jobs was the laundry statistic for the Medicare cost report. Most of the other girls were your stereotypical accountants and were not really outgoing. One of my first ventures in my new department was to learn everyone's birthdays, which were not usually recognized or celebrated.

I started buying birthday cards and passed the card around for everyone to sign. I was quickly given the task of social director for the department, which meant birthday cards and holiday food days. I started working in the office in August, and my birthday was in May. The first year I worked there, someone was kind enough to buy me a card in return - not that it's all about that. By my second birthday in the office, I was in the middle of numerous failed infertility treatments, and I recently had braces put on my teeth. I get canker sores a lot, and my mouth was freaking out about all of the metal inside it. It was a severe allergic reaction to say the least. On my actual birthday, all of my coworkers forgot what day it was, and I ended up at my doctor's office getting my canker sores burnt over with silver nitrate sticks. It was so painful that I had tears running down my cheeks.

I was so mad at all of my coworkers. Short of quiting, I didn't know what to do, so I called my Aunt Barb for advice. She has always been my rock. I remember once when I was a teenager she took me out to eat just to spend time with me. She told me that no one at her office ever remembered her birthday either, so she sent herself an anonymous cake. She even gave me the number of her baker. I called and had a strawberry cake with butter cream icing delivered the very next day. It was decorated with pretty roses and read, "Happy Belated Birthday! You're the Best!" It was kind of an inside joke because they all thought I was the boss's favorite, which I was not, BTW. Would he forget his favorite employee's birthday, after all? When the cake was delivered, I acted so surprised. I thanked them profusely and begged them to tell me who sent it. It was hilarious, and I never told them I sent it.

The next year for my birthday, they surprised me with a food day in my honor cake and all.

Hello!

Maria is out of town and she asked me to do Wednesdays but I forgot. So I am posting now. I am just wanted to show you all some of the work I am doing. I really enjoy photography and I am taking some photography classes. If you know anyone that is interested in someone taking their pictures for a special event let them know that you have seen some of my work. Thanks a bunch. Have a great week. God bless

Preschoolers vs. Teenagers

I'm really scared, ladies. I mean it. And here's why: I don't think we've even touched on the difficult years of parenting yet. There. I've said it. I'm not saying it's been easy so far; it hasn't. In fact, I had no idea how hard parenting was before I had kids. The first couple of months are a nightmare - no sleep, spit-up, poop shooting out at a high velocity, endless laundry, nursing, not feeling like you have any idea what you're doing...then toddlerhood comes with temper tantrums and childproofing everything and learning the word, "No!" Throw in stomach viruses, sibling rivalry, and potty training, and it ain't easy, folks. I've been having a particularly rough time with Ethan lately. He is so defiant! This morning he had to go to preschool and he refused to eat breakfast. He kicked me when I picked him up to take him to the kitchen after he flopped down on the couch and refused to move. We were running late and I hate to be late. I told him to go potty and when I went to check on him he was just standing in the hall. Then after he peed he refused to pull up his pants. Then he refused to wash his hands. Then he refused to get his teeth brushed. It was an endless battle. I am still so keyed up I think I could go running, and I hate running. 

But here's the kicker: We haven't gotten to the hard part yet. 

I know this because I have friends with teenagers. One of my friends at tae kwon do was telling us last night that he had to take the computer away from his 13-year-old daughter because she spent 14 hours straight on it. Didn't go to bed till 4:30 in the morning. He told her the limit was now 30 minutes and she openly defied him and stayed on for an hour. Then he caught her telling her mom, "I can't stand him! I don't want to listen to anything he says!" My other good friend recently found out her 16-year-old son has been smoking marijuana with his friends. She discovered this by reading comments on his MySpace. She had her husband go to the high school, check him out, and take him to get drug tested. She met them at the lab and cried through the whole ordeal. These are not "bad" kids. They make good grades, their parents are very involved in their lives, they excel at sports, they have a lot of friends, they go to church, etc. And they were punished for their actions. It's not like they thought they wouldn't be. The girl can't use the computer for 2 weeks and the boy lost his car, cell phone, MySpace password (his mom changed it and won't tell him the new one - isn't that awesome?), and privileges. I have one more friend who has a 15-year-old daughter who likes to go to the movies just so she can make out with boys. She is a good girl and all they do is kiss, but still! The thought of my sons kissing girls in a dark movie theater absolutely freaks me out. I hope they're afraid of girls until they're 25. Don't even ask what I would do if I found out my kids were using drugs or drinking. Because the answer is: I. Have. No. Idea.

So this post is a shout-out to my friends with teenagers. I know you like to laugh at me with my "problems" - potty training, the baby arching his back so I can't buckle him into his car seat, and stepping on Cheerios every time I enter the kitchen. Here's to you and your teenagers - to getting high, IMing until you're blind, and making out with boys. I'm afraid I have no idea how hard it's about to get!