It's a Dinosaur Birthday Party!

Romp-pomp-a chomp!

Many of you may have a Wiggles song in your head after reading my title :)

Don't worry, this is NOT a Wiggles party!

This weekend we celebrated Keston's FOURTH birthday!

Keston wanted a DINOSAUR birthday party!

Fun, right?!

We chose to have it at a park to accommodate more people - especially those with children, and hey, it's AUGUST - so one would assume it would be great weather. Well, the weather was super chilly & breezy for August :( Blaahhhh!! Setting up at a park with those conditions was extra hard.

But I still wanted to show you the decorations that we DID choose to put out.

I had trouble finding dinosaur decoration anywhere - except online...which doesn't help since I plan everything so last minute. So we used our printer, our imagination & my husband cut up a cardboard box to give the signs a rugged look. His muscles & ideas are SO helpful!

Here is our dinosaur crossing in the yard, to welcome our guests!

Pretend there are lots of green streamers hanging down like vines...that was the plan before the wind arrived.

Some of the cutest dinosaurs I've ever seen attended Keston's party!!!!

My friend Christina brought a Dino-mite Dino-Melon to the party! 

SUPER CUTE IDEA!!!

We also had Strawberry Spinach Salad at the party, which is always a HUGE favorite every time I've served it. Recipe coming tomorrow!

 AND we served the Frito Corn Salad that I recently posted. 

Here's the recipe: 

http://sisterseesisterdo.blogspot.com/2012/08/frito-corn-salad.html

Now here's what I'm wondering...

What foods do YOU like to serve at parties??

Getting Ready for Easter - Resurrection Buns

"He isn't here! 

He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. 

Come, see where his body was lying."

Matthew 28:6  

Our family LOVES Easter! As Christians, we celebrate Easter because of the life God has given us through Jesus' death & resurrection! It's the GOOD NEWS :) God sent his only Son, Jesus, to live a perfect life, & to die for our sins. His death is what gives us life & without Him we are nothing...

In our home we want to intentionally teach our children who God is & how He loves them unconditionally. We want them to understand what sin is, and what God's forgiveness is & how they can receive it through faith in Jesus. And through our own actions we want our children to see the fruit of His Spirit working & living in us.

When we tell the Easter story in a way our children can grasp, they are completely capable of understanding the message of Easter. 

This little activity is an AWESOME way to share the Easter story with ANYONE!

Can you guess what my family did today??

We made Resurrection Buns!

Last year, one of my besties did this with her little boys & I was very excited to try it with mine this year.  It's really a miracle that I remembered it! 

I'm sure many of you have seen this done or have done it yourself. It's such a fantastic idea!!

 As I held up a large marshmallow, I told the boys to pretended it was Jesus.

Then we talked about the things that happened to Jesus before he was nailed to the cross 

(beaten, spit on, yelled at).

We talked about WHY Jesus had to die (It was prophesied, He was THE ONE, He was perfect).

Then we talked about what Joseph did to Jesus' body after he was dead (Matthew 27).

This is when we put melted butter (embalming oils) on the marshmallow & rolled it in the cinnamon sugar mixture (burial spices).

Then we wrapped Jesus up in the crescent roll dough (burial clothes).

Then we baked them for 10 minutes & pretended it had been 3 days. We talked about how Jesus' friends must have felt (sad). We read the story out of their Children's Bible...

and then...went to look in the tomb...

 "He's gone!!!!! He's not dead anymore!"

How do you celebrate Easter with your children?! 

Do you remember any traditions from when you were little that made an impact on your life? 

I hope this Easter is special for all of you & your families!!!

OXOX,

Julie

Fruit is good for monsters.

My blogging days have been very few lately. If you're friends with me on facebook you can probably have read my updates, seen my pictures & know why I haven't been on the computer much. Three days in a row there has been a 3ft monster in my house. And no matter how consistent I am with our routine or with discipline, it has just been one ROUGH road!  I just finished the book The Strong Willed Child & it's as if the Lord is putting me to the test. And from this test I'm learning that no matter what knowledge I have about good parenting, I MUST rely on the Holy Spirit to help me mother my boys. I MUST. Without him I am a terrible mother. I am a defeated mother. I can't do it.

Galatians 5:22-23 "But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!"

See, that's all I need to prove my point!
...and now I'm hungry for fruit. maybe i'll go whip up some apple crisp!

Something BIG happened this week! Insta-Friday

What a SUPER week!!

Want to see what we’ve been up to?

*I didn’t get any pics of Andy’s birthday. That whole day was a whirlwind, but he did have a GREAT birthday! I made him the most amazing apple crisp. An Amish recipe. Best ever. I swear.*

Okay, here we go – My week via cell phone pics…

I thought I’d start with this one. (Try to ignore the stylish plaid backdrop..ha!) Eli gets left out of a lot of instafridays…mostly because he doesn’t hold still AT ALL when I try to take his picture & we all know how good phones are at taking actions shots…

Look at him though! He’s so cute & getting SO big! He’s almost 18 months old. That’s insane. He’s my baby!

Big Bro/ Baby Bro

Middle Bro sweeping my room. Such a great helper!

Is it bad that Eli already knows what to do with the TV remote?

Something BIG happened this week!!

No crazies, I’m not pregnant…

WE BOUGHT A VAN!

This story probably deserves it’s own post, but in a nutshell Andy & I feel so humbled that God would provide something so GREAT at a time when we SOOO didn’t think we had enough $$ to buy a van…because we wanted to pay cash for it. We sold our Chevy Uplander in the spring to pay off our school debt & become completely debt free. That meant we’d have to manage with 1 vehicle…a car…all summer long…with 3 car seats & very crammed space…Oh, and no tinted windows. Do you realize how hard it is to tote babies around with sun in their eyes? Umm yes, I was known as Ghetto Blanket-in-the-Window Lady all summer long.  But this is what stepping out in faith looked like for us. We both knew it’s what God was leading us & telling us to. (Dave Ramsey might’ve had a something to do with it too…tehehehe)
        
Can I just say this thing totally blows that Uplander out of the water?! The simple things like ummm TINTED WINDOWS…HelLoooo! And a Thermometer – CD Player – Compass – and Extra Leg Room have me GIDDY! Then, throw in heated seats, power sliding doors, seat memory & I just want to cry! I feel so BLESSED that God would give us this much! I’m so thankful!
Why not just throw a Flooded Backyard Party & let my kids play in it, right?!

 
Super-fun time! It rained A LOT & our backyard flooded for a day. It was really no big deal…Especially since Caleb & Keston got to play in it. They were in heaven. Andy & I heard them talking about it as they were in bed that night. I hope they never forget that day. It was awesome!

I hope your week was super too!

And since I shared a personal part of our financial life, do you want to share something with me? What’s the most extreme thing you’ve ever done to save money?

Have a VERY FUN weekend!

I’m linking this post up to Insta-Friday at Life Rearranged. SUCH a great blog! Even if you don’t link up…or blog at all for that matter, I still suggest you wander around over there.

Caleb’s Art Gallery

Our Caleb is a great little artist. I am so proud of him! He’s 4 1/2 & LOVES anything creative. He’s a lot like I was when I was little...

    

We have Caleb’s artwork ALL over our house. Some are displayed & some are just laying around. One day I asked Caleb to pick his favorites & we would find a way to put them in his new room. 

So I took the jute-string & hung a line above his bed. Then I attached his favorites artwork with a clothespin. He was so excited & so proud of it! And at the rate he’s going, I’m going to have to find a place to hang another line soon…maybe between his windows. Yep, definitely going to have to do that soon.

Yep, definitely going to have to do that soon. preschool starts this week.

Insta-Friday

This is something new & fun for me! It’s called Insta Friday @ Life Rearranged,  where I post the pics I took with my phone throughout the week! Yep – my week in cell-phone pictures!!

I’ve enjoyed seeing other bloggers’ Insta Friday posts so I decided that had to jump in too!

Here we go!!

I knew we should’ve named him “Bubba”

 

Swinging at the park together after a lunch picnic

 

This week Caleb picked out his backpack for preschool. I surprised him by filling it with fun school things like colored pencils, paper, stickers…ya know, fun stuff that preschoolers really don’t need,  He was PUMPED about the goodies & drew me this picture – it’s a dinosaur with a hat on, but I think it looks like Donkey from Shrek. Yes, my 4 year old is an amazing artist. I know this. I’m not bragging. It’s a fact!

More artwork from my 4 year old. He made a sign to put on our kitchen cabinet to keep his baby brother out of it. Eli loves to open this door & empty the shelves. This is a drawing of Eli with an “X” over it!

Cracks me up!

Looks like Caleb is Mr. Popular this Insta-friday!  He had to have his 1st filling done this week. He was a champ! His dentist is pretty awesome though so that helps a ton! He’s like a real life Goofy

A new smile & new shades from Dr. Kyle!

A GREEN Birthday for our 3 year old!!

Pardon me while I gush but I can’t believe that it’s been THREE years since Keston joined our family. He was so itty bitty & C U T E when we brought him home!!!!!!

Just look at him!!

Well since then the boppy has been exchanged for a toy story pillow & a blankie but he’s still the same cute & cuddly fireball!

As you may have read in my recent Word-full Wednesday post, Keston was very sick on his birthday. We made the most of his day with gifts & green decorations. HE IS OBSESSED WITH THE COLOR GREEN!  Unfortunately there wasn’t really a party. His fever was rather high all day so we cancelled on most of guests…sad, right?! His grandmas still came though!

New SHOES! He wanted these SO bad b/c they were black & green. I was shocked that he was SO pumped about getting shoes for his birthday! He also got a John Deere Tractor/Semi Hauler, a new BIKE, books, Geo Trax Farm, Hopper Ball,  Animal back-pack & some other things too. The kid has been playing nonstop since he’s been better.

Here’s the tractor cake his Grandma made for him! She does such a great job & I am so thankful! She even colored the cake batter green!

While Keston took a much needed birthday nap, I decorated a little. It was done on a whim & I think it turned out so cute!! All I did was wind thread around the ends of the tied balloons & strung them across the room. (Don’t look at my curtain-less windows…my youngest nearly strangled himself in them too many times so they had to go…for now.)

Watching Keston grow another year older is so bittersweet. He’s so cute, curious, independent & my is he CUDDLY when he wants to be.  His mouth never stops running & the things he says are SO CUTE & often unbelievably FUNNY. I can’t imagine how I’m going to feel when he’s much older than THREE.  I suppose I’ll probably cry a lot missing his little days…and I’ll certainly pray even more than I’ll cry, I know. Actually, I spent a great amount of time this past year doing both of those. I’m looking forward to Keston growing out of the terrible twos. I refuse to accept that threes will be worse. Don’t tell me that…I might hit you with a die-cast tractor & then stop on your toes while I scream at the top of my lungs like a three year old. Hmmm…are you wondering how I KNOW three year olds do things like that? Pray for me people…

Maybe I’ll link this up to some parties this week…I slacked last week & I miss the party scene.

 Check out my party page