Let the Gardening begin

For Mother's Day my hero and the crew built me a raised garden bed. We used the plans from Ree, the Pioneer Woman's site. My hero built it with a little help from Iceman and Kodiak. Kodiak stained it for me with some mistint stain I found at Rona (it's kind of more purple than taupe but it does the job and I don't hate it). Turtle hauled away all the empty bags of compost, peat and zeolite. La Diva kept up on the laundry and other chores that day so they could get my gift completed. I'm so pleased with it and looking forward to getting my hands dirty. I've started some seedlings and also been given some plants by my neighbor. I was going to get a picture of it up today but my neighbor came calling and said I could help myself to some of her perennials. She's thinning out some beds. Now I have to figure out all that she has given me as she had forgotten most of the names. I have some iris and a pink rose bush for sure.

wordless wednesday

The Naked Egg

La Diva playing for her first music festival at the UofA

Good Friday... off to Love according to John play

The Naked Egg

We started this cool experiment on Friday. Iceman loves science experiments and he is quite thrilled with the whole thing. Next step will be to try and shrink the egg. It is very fascinating and easy to do so I thought I'd share it with you.

UPDATE: The shrinking egg is disgusting. It's not finished but it is not a pretty picture in the meantime.

Monsters vs. Aliens

We took the crew to see this in Real 3D last night. It was a funny movie and everyone enjoyed it from the biggest kid to the smallest (6 to almost 14). It has been a long while since I've been to a 3D movie and they certainly have come a long way. I was sitting next to Turtle and loved listening to him giggle... you know those unexpected squeals of delight that you hear often as a toddler but not so much once they get school age. It made the movie for me listening to him and seeing the sheer joy on his face. Each of the kids had a favorite character. Ice and Turtle have been reenacting bits of the movie all morning and trying the crazy 3D glasses on (made of plastic not cardboard and resembling the glasses worn by the President in the movie). We kept the glasses in hopes that the DVD has some 3D capabilities. The crew said this is one they would definitely want to add to our collection.

Where did the week go?

It ran away from me.... again.... this seems to happen a lot! The Hero was really busy this week with some major meetings which turned out to be awesome! I'm so proud of him! He works so hard and deserves every bit of recognition, success and respect that he is getting from his industry.

La Diva is trying out for air band again so she and her girls were practicing. Turtle was home yesterday with a slight fever and an awful cough. He's still hacking but feels great so I sent him to school. He's good about coughing into his elbow and if my healthy kid got sick it's likely because his whole class has been passing it around anyway. I had my nail appointment this week which is always a fun visit with my hard working friend. Add in normal chores, feeling a bit sluggish, school meetings and PTA responsibilities and the week is gone.

I'm taking the weekend off and will try to come up with some more interesting blog posts for next week. Have a great weekend everyone!

Sharing Christmas

Christmas Day at Gramma and Poppa's.

Christmas Eve storytime.... Twas the Night Before Christmas...
notice La Diva in her cap. She wanted curls for Christmas Day.

Story of Christmas from Luke, I think it's kinda cute that the Hero is reading
from his daughter's pink Bible.

The Pickle Finders for Christmas Eve 2008! They started working as teams last year and find it works to their advantage. They all enjoyed the pickle prize of Wii music.

Jesus' Birthday Cake. Turtle thinks Angel food is the best choice.

Spoiled Rotten

We've been busy taking it easy since Christmas. We had an awesome Christmas Eve and an enjoyable day with our extended family. The crew have been enjoying their new Wii games and we've been watching some of the family movies they got. The Hero and Kodiak ventured out on boxing day as bigfoot aka Kodiak needed new bindings for his snowboard. They ended up coming home with bindings and a new board because they got a killer deal. I had predicted that they wouldn't stop at bindings. lol The Hero is taking up boarding this year so he will use the board when he's taking his lessons during the week. Then they will have to wrestle for it when they all go boarding. heh!

After weeks of feeling awesome I've had a few days of weariness. I guess all the stress and busyness caught up to me. Oh well, I'm thankful for those good days and am no where near where I once was. I'm hoping I can hold it together until Dr. X gets back from Chicago in the new year.

I was royally spoiled by the Hero for Christmas. I'm still reeling at all the surprises that he was able to pull off. We had agreed that this year we would keep things simple and while I upheld my end of the bargain he went over the top. I feel like a Queen with all my lovely new things- from beautiful bling to my very own Macbook!!!! The Hero and I are going to take in some classes at Apple university so that I can learn all the tricks of my new toy.

We are so greatful for the many blessings that we have been given this year. The Hero's hard work and our sacrifice of his time these past few months paid off in early December with a big promotion and all that comes with it. We are not taking that blessing for granted considering the state of the economy. We are very thankful and were excited to be an even greater blessing to those who have less than we do this Christmas season. This year more than many before we were able to communicate the reason for the season to all of our children. It was awesome to watch them be more concerned about giving than getting. I hope that we can carry this spirit over through the new year with the crew and get involved in some projects throughout the year.

I'm not sure what our plans are for New Years. I think that we might fondue. We will likely stick close to home and keep it low key. We surely cherish our time together and are grateful that the Hero is essentially off work until the New Year.

Merry Christmas from the Hutch

We were asked to share our favorite Christmas memories by the Elementary school. When I asked the crew what they thought was the best Christmas they came up with the following:

The Hutch crew has spent many years living far from their family. During those years we were not always able to travel at Christmas and we only had family come to us a handful of times. We created many traditions to make the holidays special. When we asked the kids what their favorite Christmas memory was they said the times when we did not have to travel and could keep doing the things that are special to our family.

La Diva loves when Dad reads the story of the birth of Jesus from the Bible on Christmas Eve. The kids all crowd around to hear it and we have pictures of this special event from nearly every year. As they’ve grown older they take turns reading it or reading one of the books that have also become part of our traditions. We read “the Small One” and as a nod to Mom’s childhood we read her Hallmark Pop-up book of “Twas the Night Before Christmas”. She also likes that we get to open our ornament present on Christmas Eve. Everyone looks forward to finding out what Mom and Dad have found for him or her to represent the year. They will have quite the collection when they leave home.

Iceman likes finding the pickle hidden on the Christmas tree. A Pickle on a Christmas tree may sound strange to some but we hide a glass pickle ornament on our tree. The child that finds it will get the first prayer of blessing from Dad and gets to open the pickle present. The pickle present is a gift that can be enjoyed by all the kids and is usually a book, a board game, a video game or a DVD. Isaac can’t wait to see what the pickle present is this year and hopes that he gets to find it.

Turtle said that he likes the birthday cake we make for Christmas Eve. We’ve had several kinds over the years but his favorite is angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream. We light candles and sing “Happy Birthday to Jesus”.

Kodiak said his favorite part about staying home at Christmas is being able to stay in our pjs when we open presents on Christmas morning. His Grandma likes everyone to be dressed up in their Christmas best…. he’s a teenager and he doesn’t like getting up any earlier than necessary.

Other traditions at the Hutch during the Christmas season are for each child to do a shoebox for Operation Christmas Child, to help our community in some way by being involved in their Christmas program in some way and giving to those who are not as blessed as we are. We also celebrate the season of Advent by making a wreath and lighting a candle and doing a devotional each Sunday. This year we have a new tradition that uses a homemade Advent Calendar to help us to focus on the important things during this busy time of year. Each day has activities for us to do that range from “being kind to someone we don’t like” to “making popcorn and watching a movie as a family”. Of course we love all the food, the decorating and opening presents too.

We hope you enjoyed a peek inside the crew's favorite memories of Christmas. We wish you a blessed Christmas and a New Year that is filled with life's richest blessings of love, peace and joy! Enjoy your time with those you love.

Fostering a sense of community....

This year our children's school has taken a different look at the holidays in their group activities. The concentration has been on having an old fashioned Christmas and focusing on the simpler things. One of the key lessons has been giving over receiving and that gifts can be as simple as a smile, a hug or doing something kind for your classmate. Instead of sending gifts for the teachers they had asked that the students make a donation to one of 2 projects- backpacks for the homeless or shoe boxes filled with stocking stuffers for someone within our own community. There was not a big concert production this year but a carol sing where families were invited to join with the students to sing carols, share memories of a favorite Christmas and have a time of fellowship with hot chocolate and cookies that had been baked by the teachers. The teachers felt that it was necessary to take the focus off of finding a fancy outfit to wear, knowing full well how much of a hardship that is for some of the families and just showing their students and our community what fun can be had by just being together. I've been involved in some fundraising activities this week that had me at the school more often than usual and around some of the parents. I overheard some complaining to a dear teacher that they were hugely disappointed that there would be no stage at this event, no opportunity to videotape their child, no reason to attend the event. *sigh* The teacher tried to explain that they were trying something new and that for some families this would be one of the few moments where they could be together doing something like this. This person went on and on about how she wouldn't waste her time and how could she expect her parents to travel from another town for this. The point of the evening was completely lost on her. It made me so sad that all she cared about was a production to tape her child at. She was well dressed, as were her children and the prospect of not having an event to shop for was probably causing her much grief as well. We attended the event and while it wasn't a packed house like it is when they have to hold 2 seperate concerts for the school it was a decent turn out. The kids were well behaved (except a few who ironically belong to people who consider themselves to be "all that") and they were really into the night. It went a little long but most things run late around here and they had some sound and video challenges. I don't know that it fostered a huge sense of community because this is a place where people stick to who they know. As members of parent council and PTA, Troy and I did our best to talk to people who seemed left out of the group. Our kids preferred it over the normal school productions. They will have assemblies this coming week with a couple of classes at a time performing for the rest of the school. I wonder how many of the video tapers will show up for that.

Today was the day they handed off their shoe boxes and backpacks to the people from Christmas Elves. I think they were proud of what they had accomplished and I hope that some of the more fortunate children learned a little bit about giving and how blessed they are. Maybe they can pass that knowledge onto their spoiled parents who want what they want.

This week also marked the kick off of the breakfast program for the school. This is a project that is near and dear to the Hero and I. We, along with some dear people, worked hard and pushed through a great deal of ridicule and adversity to pull this off. Today was the day when all that drama paid off in a huge way. Since Tuesday each of the children in the school have received some breakfast on their assigned assembly days. Today the entire school was given some healthy muffins baked especially for them by our local bakery and a milk. They learned how this program came to be and that thanks to the generosity of a local business they will continue to receive funds through the coming year to keep this program going for some time. They wanted to have breakfast for everyone at the beginning so that the stigma of it being just for those that were lacking was removed. The kids now know that if they are hungry they need to only ask their teacher and food will be provided for them. The Hero was choked up talking about the project and many of the teachers had tears freely flowing. It is a really great thing what our dear friends have pulled together and the need is only going to become greater as times get tougher for many in our community. It was a good end to a project that came with a great fight. I'm so glad that we all pushed through and saw it come to pass.

School Pics

They arrived last week and I forgot to post them. Here you go.... my grown up crew.

O Christmas Tree

This weekend we decorated our Christmas tree... finally... the poor thing has been sitting in the corner nekkid for way too long. We have a slim tree for our current home and we had too many ornaments to decorate it with. So we went with the ones with memories over the color coordination. I did manage to sneak in a few of my copper sprigs, sprays and beaded garland. Otherwise it is very much a tree of memories with the ornaments that the crew and the Hero receive each year. We have enough fire related decorations to do a whole tree and when we have room for more than one tree we will do that.

We also made cut out gingerbread babies (that is what Iceman and Turtle insisted on calling them after we read Jan Brett's Gingerbread Baby) and sugar cookies. The crew had much fun decorating them. I'm pretty good on the making memories part but I'm not so great at capturing them on camera.

This week is a busy one so I don't know if I'll get on here very much. I'm trying a new treatment for my torment this morning... if I'm up to it after I'll let you know how it went.

A week in review....

Things have certainly run away from me lately. We've done some exciting things recently (well exciting for me anyway ;)) and I'd like to document them so bear with me while I ramble about our week.

Last weekend a colleague of the Hero's was in town for some meetings and brought his lovely wife along. The Hero has known him for many years but this is the first chance that I have had to meet his sweet wife. It was great to have some intelligent conversation and great company. We went out to dinner Friday night and then on Saturday attended an event with them.

Saturday night brought one of those moments that confirms many things that you know in your heart but are not sure if you are seeing things from out of your own love and appreciation for someone you love or out of something more unbiased. My heart was full of pride as I watched my Hero in his element. He has the respect of many in his industry and Saturday night made it so evident to me just how high they hold him in esteem. I'm so very proud of him and all that he has accomplished. He was asked to meet with the minister in charge of fire services for our province and make a presentation to other ministers. It was a wonderful social event and for those of us in Hazzard who aren't used to seeing firefighters shown gratitude and appreciation it was heart warming to know that it exists out there somewhere. Speaking of Hazzard, it was interesting to have confirmed, straight from the horses mouth so to speak, all we already knew about the situation with Cruella and her minions and their razing of our department. It brought me great joy to hear directly from the minister in charge of our heroes the direction that the fire service needs to be taking. It was not the least bit surprising to us to hear that everything that Cruella had pulled and claimed was true went completely against the direction our province is taking in regards to this area of service. I have to admit that after all our family has been through that it brought about some personal satisfaction but it also makes me even more fearful for those that we still care about that are on the department (they may be busy maligning the Hero and others like him but we still pray for their safety).

I can't remember if I told you all but I'm now on the executive for both the PTA and the Parent Council of our Elementary school. This past week was my first official meeting as such and with that came doing cookie dough orders and setting up another fundraising initiative for the school. It was good to feel useful and be around other people who genuinely care about the direction of our school. I'm looking forward to working with these women and the Hero (who is still Chair of PC). It looks like I will be administrating this new fundraising initiative for now and I hope that my body holds out for me and I have good days on those days that I need to work through all the paperwork. I'm also thankful for a sensible person to work alongside. We've lived in Hazzard for about the same amount of time and we've made about the same amount of friends here. LOL It's good to know it's the way of Hazzard rather than just me. She is a non-gossipy type person and a straight shooter so I think we will enjoy working together.

This weekend we got together with what is left of our fire department family. It was really great to see everyone again. I love that we still have such respect and warm hugs for each other. We had a fabulous dinner at a great restaurant and it was good to be in the company of dear ones again. We look forward to our next get together in the new year.

Today we are going to get the house set up for Christmas. We put the tree up yesterday to make sure all the lights worked and will get it decorated today. It's hard to get into the Christmas spirit as the weather has been unseasonably warm and we've yet to have snow that sticks. The crew is very excited about decking the halls and it should be a great family time together. The Hero jets off to the wet coast for a few days this week so it will be good to spend this day enjoying each other.

If you are still reading you are likely procrastinating something, are suffering from insomnia or are jacked up on caffiene. ;) I appreciate your visit to our life and hope that you take some time today to show those around you that they are appreciated. Do something that will bring you and those you love some JOY!!

Catch up

I'm in an upswing healthwise and with that comes playing catch up with my neglected house and jumping back into my family's busy life.  This past weekend we rearranged our living room, which involved shopping, building furniture (same piece twice- don't ask ;)), moving furniture, repurposing old furniture and making space for that repurpose required more cleaning.  Throw in a 4 day weekend, homework, cooking for Thanksgiving and you have a busy family.  We are pleased with our new set up and enjoyed our time together despite the busyness.

My RMT is still out and I've been seeing someone else in the wellness centre- it's a bit of a co-op situation with all of them having different takes on the way they offer healing to you.  I find myself doing spiritual battle with the lady I'm seeing now and I'm not finding the same level of healing through her hands. I look forward to having my therapist with her healing touch back soon.  I've been given a referral for a naturopathic doctor who has had some success with fibro.  As soon as I can figure out the Hero's schedule I will set up an appointment.

Iceman is having some challenges at school.  I met with his teachers last week.  I am pleased that they are on top of things early on and I hope that we can find a way to make this year a successful one for him.  He has some concentration issues, gets frustrated because everything is "so hard" and well... he is Iceman.    I'm proud of myself.  While I went right to beating myself up when I first got the meeting request I didn't let that consume me and am moving forward to do what I can to help Iceman succeed in school.

Kodiak and I are heading to Europe in 2010.  He is very excited about it and I figure it will be a great opportunity for both of us. I hope he's as enthusiastic about having his Mom tag along in 2 years.  He is already asking what kind of food they have in each country, what languages he should study, where can we find info about where we are going etc.  We will be visiting London, Paris and Barcelona.

La Diva has been having some girl drama in her life.  It really frustrates me and I hate to see her have to deal with this crap already.  She is a really compassionate child (and I'm not just saying that because she is my daughter) and hates to see people treating others badly.  Unfortunately that has made her a target and it is even coming from one she had considered her BFF.  I've done what I can and even had a meeting with the mom of her BFF.  Unfortunately it did little to ease my mind but gave me insight into this girls true character.  I don't have a problem with the family at all, in fact one of Kodiak's best buds is cousin and lives with them, however, our views on rearing children differ.  She thinks they need to learn that you won't be friend with people forever and I think that they are still children and need guidance in how to treat people you call BFF.  She basically said that if BFF can't see that La Diva is a good friend than maybe she needs to let her be on her own or with others so she can realize just how good she had it with La Diva.   I just hate seeing La Diva hurt and be a doormat for this kind of junk.  I'm trying to teach her that it's ok to be upset and to tell her friends when they hurt her, that she doesn't have to hold it all in and that she can, in a respectful way, express her feelings about how she is being treated.  She is used to everyone loving her and keeping the peace with all the drama queens.  *sigh*  We aren't even in Jr. High yet.  My heart hurts that she is enduring this already.

Turtle is loving school so much.  He is beyond thrilled that a classmate moved next door.  It's been such fun to watch him blossom from this shy little barnacle to a charasmatic leader.  He loves his teacher and is learning so much.

The Hero is in full swing of his super busy season.  Next week we lose him for the majority of the week to trips.  He is doing amazing and is finally getting some recognition from his company... looks like he'll be moving up the ladder again.  I'm so very proud of him.  He's becoming a bit of a "celebrity" in the industry as well. lol

The Hero's cousin was the first guy to be eliminated from SYTYCD-Canada last week.  I felt so badly for him, he was visibly shocked. I thought he did an amazing solo.  I did have a sinking feeling he might be ousted by default because I figured they'd keep the ballroom guy and knew Blake loved Dario. I am sure that Kevin will be richer for the experience and I am confident that he has great things in his future.  You can check out his journey here.

Back to School

It's first day of school at the Hutch.  Summer seemed to alternately fly by and drag on for us.  The past couple of weeks have been a bit painful with boredom setting in for the older 2.  I think we were all ready for school to begin.  Summer was fun but our family does better on routine and organization that seems to come with fall. 

 I did really well with my baby heading to grade 1, not even a tear from either of us.  Turtle really loves school and I know he is ready to be there.    He was a bit worried as his two best buddies will not be in the same class this year.  However, I was happy to see some of the really great boys in his room and when the Principal's kids are in the same classroom you kind of put aside any doubts that his teacher will measure up.

Iceman went off to his class before I had Turtle settled. The Hero got sidetracked by the VP on our way into the school, the joys of being Parent Council Chair.  When we caught up with him he was giving us the thumbs up because he'd tied his shoes without trouble.  This was one of his big accomplishments this summer.  He's known to give up when things are "too hard" but pushed through this challenge so he could wear his cool new Adidas runners to school.  I think that his teachers will be a good fit for him this year.  He has had Mrs. L the past 2 years for music and last year Mrs. F was his teacher for the extra help he needed for reading.  He is comfortable with both of them and they are aware of his challenges.  I'm praying that he will not be saddled with the bullies from last year in his room.  When we left him there was no sign of either so far so I hope that means they will be in the other class (a male teacher in that room that puts up with no baloney).

La Diva is familiar with her grade 6 teacher as she had her for Math last year.  She is looking forward to being back at school and starting all her activities again.  She was getting very bored towards the end of the summer.  She likes the social aspect of school a lot and works hard at her studies as well.  She flipped her hair and waved goodbye before we got to the school doors.  I hope that she has a great year without the drama of the mean girls.

Kodiak was anxious to get back and has enjoyed the past week with all of his posse back in town.  He is glad to not be the bottom of the school this year and is looking forward to what grade 8 has in store for him.  He was back into routine this morning too with dog walking and dishwasher emptying done without a reminder.  The Hero and I were left scratching our heads because this was not something he seemed able to remember during the summer.  heh.  

It is only a half day today so it won't be long before they will be back and starving.  I guess I should plan some lunch.    

Perhaps my lack of sleep of late has made me numb to that fact that all my bunnies are out of the the Hutch all day this year. It could be that I'm finally ready for a new season in my life to begin.

Last weekend of summer

It's the last weekend of summer around here. The crew head back to school on the 2nd. We will keep this weekend busy as usual. Tonight and Sunday night the Hero and I are heading to the World Championship of Chuckwågons. Saturday we are taking the crew to the Fort if the weather holds out. Monday we will take it easy and make sure everyone is organized for school the next day.

Have a great long weekend!

*Photo by Kodiak July 2008

Horton Hears an Egg Knocking

We had a really great long weekend. The Hero has had several trips away the last little while with several more to come. It isn't easy on me or the crew. We miss him and things are out of sync when he is away. We had orginally planned to sneak away this weekend so we could have some quality family time. The forecast was all over the map so rather than risk bad weather spoiling our plans we decided to stay put, turn off the crackberry (YIPPEE!!) and do what we wanted to do. You know how holidays can sometimes be filled with meeting the expectations of others, following agendas, driving, stress, etc. We chose to avoid that and just spend our time reconnecting and celebrating the gift of what Jesus did for us.

We really had fun this weekend and spent most of it just the 6 of us. We went to see Horton Hears A Who, did traditional things - coloring eggs, stootzing, eating hot cross buns, made new traditions- resurrection cookies, chocolate chip hot cross buns and a new story, reflected, laughed, kids played lots of soccer, discussed why we celebrate Easter, shared dinner with friends and most importantly enjoyed each other.

The Hero has to work tomorrow. The crew has another day off of school. We will need to get to our library books and home reading. I still hope to get a chance to watch the Passion of the Christ again. Kodiak has watched it with me before but La Diva finds it too painful to watch and the boys are too young to understand or see the brutality. Our lesson with the beating of the nuts was sufficient for them.

If you are looking for things to make with that leftover ham. Here are two of my favorites:


HAM AND BROCCOLI CASSEROLE

This is an easy and economical casserole. I often take it to potlucks along with copies of the recipe.

½ cup Miracle Whip
¼ cup milk
2 cups raw broccoli, chopped
1 ½ cups cheddar cheese, shredded
1 ½ cups ham, cubed
1 ½ cups cooked rotini noodles
½ cup green pepper, chopped

Topping: ¾ cup croutons and ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese

Mix together all ingredients except topping. Top with topping and bake @ 350F for 30 minutes.


HOT EGG N CHEESE ROLLS

Grammie always made these and they are so yummy. Great to make ahead and keep in the freezer.

5 eggs, hard boiled and chopped
1 cup cheddar or Velveeta cheese, cubed
¼ cup, celery, diced
1 tsp. Chopped onion
1 pkg. ham chopped
1 Tbsp. chili sauce or pickled relish
Salt and pepper to taste
Dash of chili powder, if desired
3 Tbsp. salad dressing aka mayo ;)
1 dozen hot dog buns

Mix all together and add salad dressing to moisten. Stuff hot dog buns and wrap in tinfoil. You can put back into the plastic bag the hot dog buns came in and freeze at this time. Put in the oven until the cheese is melted. Don’t use the microwave, they get soggy and you miss out on the crispy bun.

Easter Blessings

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

Preparing for Resurrection Sunday

It's been a busy day so far. We colored eggs this morning in preparation of our traditional "stootzing" (more on that tomorrow) on Easter Sunday morning. Then the crew set off to complete their weekend chores. I made Ina's Lemon Cakes for our dessert tomorrow. I can't wait for dessert they are so yummy. Also on the menu: ham with mango glaze, scalloped potatoes, roasted asparagus with parm petals, green beans and Art Smith's biscuits.

Tonight we are going to make Resurrection Story Cookies. I'll include the recipe in case any of you want to join us.

These cookies are made the evening before celebrating the Resurrection, and are cooked in a warm oven overnight so they will be ready on Easter morning.

You need to preheat the oven to 300 degrees (this is important--don't wait until you are half done with the recipe!)

3 egg whites
1 cup whole pecans
1 tsp. Vinegar
A pinch salt
1 cup sugar
A zipper baggie
A wooden spoon
tape
Bible

Place pecans in zipper baggie and let children beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces.
Explain that after Jesus was arrested, He was beaten by the Roman soldiers.
Read John 19:1-3.

Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 tsp. vinegar into mixing bowl.
Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross, He was given vinegar to drink.
Read John 19:28-30.

Add egg whites to vinegar.
Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life.
Read John 10:10-11.

Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own sin. Read Luke 23:27.

So far, the ingredients are not very appetizing.

Add 1cup sugar.
Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him.
Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16.

Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed.
Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus.
Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3.

Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper covered cookie sheet.
Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid.
Read Matthew 27:57-60.

Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF.
Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door.
Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed. Read Matthew 27:65-66.

GO TO BED!
Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed. Read John 16:20 and 22.

On Resurrection morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Resurrection, Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. Read Matthew 28:1-9

A few comments on this post......

If you haven't made Art's biscuits you HAVE to, they are to. die. for!! The Hero said if we didn't have guests he would have been hard pressed not to eat the entire dish. I doubled the recipe for company and served them with chive butter.

Our Resurrection cookies were not hollow this morning. I keep forgetting we are no longer in the desert climate we've become so accustomed to in the south part of our province. This is a relatively new home so it is very humid from the new wood. We also awoke to fog, add the snow still on the ground and you have tons of moisture in the air. We reheated the oven, turned it off and then put the cookies back in for a bit. After a couple of hours the were more hollow and able to be enjoyed. I didn't have pecans so we subbed almonds and they were yummy but needed a harder beating with the wooden spoons. We eventually added the meat tenderizing mallet into the mix to hasten the process. Iceman saved the lesson for the morning by remembering a book on his bookshelf called "Love One Another- The Last Days of Jesus" which told the story of Jesus' sacrifice and had a picture of the empty tomb in it. He did a great job starting off the reading of that story but turned it over to Kodiak when he became a bit overwhelmed by the size of the paragraphs.

A visit from the tricky Leprechaun

Happy St. Patrick's Day! We started the day with excitement from the visit of the trickster last night. This tradition was started last year due to Iceman's memories of the havoc the Leprechaun created in his classroom the year before. We were surprised that Ice was so enthralled with this creature as he's never bought into any of the other mythical traditions that so many families do for holidays - Santa, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, et al. have not been major players at the Hutch. So last year we decided to indulge his excitement and the Leprechaun made a visit to our home. Yesterday he was beside himself before bedtime with worries about what the Leprechaun may try to pull this year. His eyes sparkled as he shared his thoughts on the types of tricks that could be played. He was a bit disappointed when he discovered that it wasn't a statutory holiday and he'd still have to go to school.

The boys were not disappointed this morning. Iceman is a major detail guy and likes things to be in their place (except for his toys... how does one transfer the OCD to that part of his life??) which means he doesn't miss a trick. Upside down clocks, fish bowls in the wrong place, pictures moved or upside down, a box of rice instead of cereal on the table, gold coins, an Easter sign hanging on the front door where a shamrock had been all month, coats moved, packs on wrong hooks and yummy chocolate coins covered in gold. Iceman did not miss a thing. He shared the stories of the visit of the tricky one with his teacher and classmates. His eyes sparkled as he retold a few of the tricks during our parent teacher conference this afternoon. He was decked out in his green shirt and plastic green top hat too. Turtle gets to carry on the day tomorrow with a green shirt and a sparkly green top hot as he did not have school today. He was pleased to be able to share a shamrock shake with me today as consolation for him not having school on St. Paddy's Day. I think most of the tricks have been returned to normal, if not Iceman will be sure to draw my attention to something I missed.

The Hero and I snuck out for a pint and some wings as our nod to green day and tricks pulled.

88 years

Today is my Papa's 88th birthday. Explaining to the crew that great-Papa is 88 years old has been quite the feat, particularly with Iceman and Turtle. That is a mysterious number in their minds. Iceman just finished 100 days of school so he knows how far up into that countdown 88 is. They are in awe of this birthday milestone.

I've recently been reading about the history of my Papa's family. Someone from a branch of it has written a book about the experiences of the family in coming to America and finally settling in southern Alberta. It is fascinating and heart wrenching reading. My Papa's picture is in the book several times as he grew up in that same area. He was very well known for his musical talents. It was his grandfather that brought his family over from Russia. His mother had already lost a husband to the war and came with them in search of a better life for her and her son. It was here that she met my Papa's father and remarried. She is mentioned in the book quite often until her marriage to my great-grandfather and her departure from the family farm to another in the area. I imagine that the hardships experienced by our relatives are not far off of those experienced by my Papa and his family.

I was sharing with Iceman in his weekly journal about how one of his family members from way back created the croissant. I've always heard this story but never saw the lines of connecting this person to my Papa until I read this book. There is talk of an uncle who was working for a wealthy family in Alsace France and his creation of this wonderful bread. It was named croissant after him. The family name was Croissant (pronounced Croix-sent). The book speaks of my great grandfather's memories of this wonderful bread baked by an uncle back in Russia. He speaks of the oven built to cook their bread and the arduous process to bake it. He is remembering this wonderful bread while his own tummy is grumbling from hunger and he is doubting his decision to come and find a better life in America.

I've always joked that my affinity for bread was a genetic disposition and had little to do with self control. I have decided that I must try to make croissants. I've heard it is quite labor intensive. I think it would be a great thing to attempt in honor of our heritage. Anyone have a recipe to share?