happy easter

happy easter everyone! we hope you have had a really fun and nice day.

here is what we have been up to today!...

after getting all dolled up (no pun intended)  in their new easter dresses and going to church, the girls came in to see that the easter bunny had brought lots of treats in fun little painted wooden baskets!

they each got a chocolate bunny, a cadbury egg, jelly beans, and a fuzzy chick!

of course they couldn't wait to have a sample or two of their candies :)  

then it was picture time!!! they look so beautiful in their pastels!!

 

after taking lots of group photos the girls were tired of posing and very anxious for the easter egg hunt!

each girl had to find two eggs.

how many hidden eggs can you find in these photos?

 they searched high...

and low...

...until all 12 eggs were found. then they opened them up. each egg had an item inside that represents a part of the easter story and a slip of paper explaining the meaning of their item.

felicity found egg number one. inside was a piece of a palm leaf representing the palms that were laid down for jesus when he came into jerusalem.

addy had egg number 2. it was a bottle of perfume because mary poured sented perfume on jesus' feet

egg number 3 was molly's and it had a piece of bread representing the last supper jesus shared with the disciples.

rebecca found 3 dimes in egg number 4 because judas betrayed jesus for 30 pieces of silver.

in egg number 5, found by kirsten, was a cross because jesus was forced to carry his own cross.

samantha had egg number 6. inside was a little crown of thorns representing the one they put on jesus' head.

molly's egg number 7 was a little felt garment because the soldiers parted jesus' garments and cast lots for his coat.

kirsten's egg number 8 was a nail representing the nails that pieced his hands and feet.

addy's egg number 9 was a sponge because they gave jesus vinegar mixed with gall on a sponge to drink.

samantha's egg number 10 was spices because they used spices to prepare jesus for burial.

felicity's egg number 11 was a rock representing the stone covering jesus' tomb that was removed.

and the last one was found by rebecca who was confused and disappointed when her egg was empty. i explained to her that she happened to end up with the most special egg because it represents the empty tomb. jesus had risen from the dead and it is his resurrection that gives us hope for a new beginning and reminds us that the worst thing is never the last thing!

christ has risen!

he has risen indeed!!

we have had a very lovely easter and feel very blessed to get to be together celebrating the resurrection of christ and all that he has done for us.

i think easter is most special holiday and is my second favorite, next to christmas. what's your favorite holiday? do you have special easter traditions?

well, we hope you too have been blessed this resurrection sunday!

gut yontiff

this weekend rebecca has been doing a lot of celebrating between passover and easter.

she has told us all about the seder meal she had with her family friday evening. then to teach us more about the meaning of passover we watched the old 10 commandments movie on t.v. last night. rebecca loves movies and was so excited to see this movie! she and her friend rose once had a conversation about how cool it would be to see moses spread the red sea in a movie...can you see it on the t.v. behind her?!

anyhow rebecca wanted to be sure we made a post for those of you who celebrate passover. we hope you are having a special and meaningful holiday.

Gut Yontiff!!

bff adventures: making palm leaf crosses

 today molly had a little gift for emily and deedee. she made them beaded bff bracelets.

emily's and deedee's have their names on them and "bff." molly made hers with both deedee and emily on it because she wanted one bracelet with both her besties' names on it.

molly + emily + deedee = best friends forever!

yesterday was palm sunday which is a very important day in the christian faith to celebrate when jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and all the people and children cheered and waved palm leaves and laid them down for him. palm sunday is also the beginning of the holy week which is when we remember all the events that lead up to easter. yesterday at church everyone got palm leaves and instructions on how to fold them into a cross. we thought you might like to give it a try! if you don't have access to palm leaves you can use another type of long skinny leaf or even buy artificial palm leaves from a hobby/craft store or you can try to use a really long skinny piece of paper or pipe cleaner. 

here are the instructions we were given at church: 

lets get started!

step 1: fold the palm about 1/4 of the way up. 

step 2: using the longer end (which should also be the skinny end) fold it to the side at a right angle. the fold should start where you think the arms of the cross would go.

step 3: now fold it back to the other side making one arm of the cross. 

step 4: and now we fold it back again going the other way, so now you have both arms. try to get them as symmetrical as possible. 

step 5: wrap the skinny end to the front and cross the intersection of the cross diagonally. 

step 6: wrap it around the back crossing the vertical bar under the arms.  

step 7:  come back to the front and wrap diagonally so now you have an X over the intersection of the cross. 

step 8: wrap it to the back and slide the skinny end into the loop made when you wrapped around the vertical bar in step 6. lastly, finish it by trimming off any excess that hangs beyond the bottom of the cross (we had enough excess that we were able to make a little one with it, but it varies on the size of leaf you use). 

this is what it looks like in the front when you are finished: 

this makes a beautiful and meaningful easter decoration. the best part is the palm will dry and harden so it will last as long as you treat it with care-- you can even keep it out all year round!

happy holy week from deedee, molly, and emily!! 

wilderness hike

 those of you wondering about my "the girls" tab, i am diligently working on it, or at the very least constantly thinking of ideas for it. i'm doing a photoshoot, like this one with kirsten, for each girl and creating a profile and profile picture for each girl... it's a lot of work and i want it to be well made and very creative. i want each girl to be precisely represented so you guys can get a clear picture of who they are and what they mean to me. sooooo... thank you for patiently waiting, trust me, it's going to be worth the wait... good things come when you wait!

mean while enjoy some beautiful photos of my precious kirsten in the woods. one of these photos will be her profile picture. i just can't decide which one represents her spirit and personality best, what do you think?

kirsten and i went on a wilderness hike yesterday. it was so good to spend some one-on-one time with her. kirsten and i have been through a lot together. she is my comforter when i'm sad-- she gives the best warm hugs and is always there for me! one time she got a broken leg and had to be sent away to the hospital! i was young and it was very heartbreaking for me to be apart from her. i was worried sick until she came back and was so relieved to have her back in my arms with a well healed leg! kirsten has the most loving and gentle spirit so i really cherished this peaceful and therapeutic walk in the woods. we don't get to spend enough quality time together in this way; i wish i had more time for it.

  

 can you see the waterfall in the background? it was so pretty and peaceful.

 these little purple wild pansies were everywhere!

 kirsten said she wants a bed made out of a field of wild pansies hehehe :)

stay tuned... my "the girls" tab will be completed soon-- so excited to share all that i've been working on with you!