Resurrection eggs

I purchased a set of Resurrection eggs yesterday for our family to use during Lent. The kids really got into the advent wreath and reading the Bible passage and lighting the candles. They seem to be at that age where they find it interesting and are old enough to take it seriously and be respectful and listen when we read bible passages. We need to do this more often and I thought the resurrection eggs would be a great activity for us AND get us to do more bible study/reading with the kids. I only wish I had done some internet research prior to my purchase. If I had done my research I would have found the following great sites to guide me in making my own egg set! :( It seems pretty easy to make these. SO, if you decide to make your own here are a few different versions.

http://blog.wantingwhatyouhave.com/2009/03/make-your-own-resurrection-eggs.html

http://www.easyfunschool.com/article2110.html

http://www.rainbowcastle.org/resurrectioneggs.html

http://www.smithsroom.com/resurrection_eggs.htm

http://stretchmarkmama.blogspot.com/2009/03/make-your-own-set-of-resurrection-eggs.html

http://www.econobusters.com/?p=1044

Picture hanger, valentines display, memo holder craft idea

I came up with this idea for a memo/valentines/photo holder to to make in Ryan's Kindergarten class during their Valentines day party. I adhered and sanded the paper to the stick, glued on the clothes pin, drilled the holes and strung the wire on one side, punched and stamped the letters for each child then bagged and labeled the beads and letters for each student prior to going to the party. At the party the students used the glue dots to adhere their name then strung the beads and we attached the wire into the second hole in the stick. The craft took about 10 minutes for the kindergarten students to complete. The complete instructions for this are described below the blurry photos :)





To make the photo/memo holder you will need:
free paint stir sticks
some scrapbook paper,
paint sample cards,
staz on ink,
alphabet stampers or scrabble times ,
a martha stewart circle punch,
wire,
beads
small clothes pins,
Modge Podge
Clear Craft glue
Drill with small drill bit
Glue dots
sand paper or file


I started out by tracing around the paint stick onto scrapbook paper. Then I cut out the shape and modge podged it onto the stick. Once it was dry and stuck on the paint stick I used sand paper to rough up the edges and take off any excess paper. Then I used my ink pad to "ink" the edges and front to make it look distressed. Once that was done and dry I used scrabble tile letters to add a name to the paint stick. On the class project I didn't have enough tile letters to spell all the children's names, so I simply used my Martha Stewart circle punch to punch out paint chips. I then used my stayz on ink to stamp a letter onto each circle to spell a child's name. I found the stayz on permanent ink worked best and didn't smear once it was dry. It did, however take a few minutes to dry so I recommend leaving the circle flat for a little while after you stamp the letter. I used glue dots to let the children adhere their circles to spell their names. To make this little craft into a picture hanger (or valentines display hanger) I used clear craft glue to adhere a miniature clothes pin at one end of each stick. Using a VERY small drill bit I drilled a hole at each end of the stir stick and strung floral wire into it and wrapped it around. The students then strung beads on the floral wire before we wrapped the other end.

The students used their fine motor skills to string the The students used their fine motor skills to string the beads, adhere their name circles and use the clip, as well name recognition and spelling to place their names on the stick. Plus they finished with a really CUTE craft! The best part for me was that I had all the supplies on hand (except the paint stir sticks that I had to ask for)!

Allie finds a way to dress for EVERY occasion! On this particular morning, she insisted on wearing her princess crown to preschool

making heart crayons

For Valentines day, Allie and I took a bunch of old and broken crayons and recycled them into pretty crayons to give to classmates! We used a silicone mold to make cute heart shapes. It was a quick and easy way to make use of our excess crayon stash. We then made cards on the computer that said "valentine you make my world colorful" complete with a pretty heart in the center to affix the crayon onto. The pictures above show my assistant and I working on our project. I did learn (after the project was over) that if you soak your crayons in cold water first it makes taking the labels off MUCH easier! Something to remember for next time! :)

Catching up - Allie & grandpa going to daddy/daughter dance

Jeff had a Basketball game in January and was unable to take Allie to one of the two daddy/daughter dances she will attend this winter. SO, grandpa graciously agreed to fill in as Allie's date for the first Daddy/daughter ball! Grandpa bought Allie a beautiful corsage and they both dressed in their finest dance clothes for the occasion! Grandpa even carried Allie to his car so she wouldn't get her pretty dance shoes wet on the snowy/moist driveway. Prior to the dance grandpa took his "date" to the local mexican restraunt for some chicken nachos and burritos. Then they went to the big Event! They both had a blast and Allie is still talking about it almost a month later. She and grandpa danced and although she was worried grandpa would dance funny, he kept his promise to her and danced and nicely as he could the entire time! They shared cookies and punch and enjoyed fast and slow songs. Grandpa even requested that the DJ play single ladies (a favorite of Allie's).

Where did January go!?!?!

Where did January go! It has been a long time since I posted anything here!!! We had a busy month to start of 2010. Allie attended her first friend birthday party and had a good time, Jeff & Ryan went to MANY Red Raven basketball games and both kids had really great weeks at school. Both kiddos participated in the Catholic schools week activities and celebrations in January that included special masses at church, PJ day at school, lunch with families and a special concert by the students. Hoepfully I can post some more photos and details about the above mentioned January events and activities as well as some special activities our family enjoyed during the past month!

February has arrived and we have been blessed to have a Valentines visit from Grandma & Grandpa. The kiddos have enjoyed a few days with Grandma & Grandpa. Jeff and I got to sneak away for a nice early Valentines dinner on Friday while grandma & grandpa enjoyed a little Valentines celebration with the kiddos that involved a BBQ dinner and a movie!

Today Allie attended a Junior dance clinic with the college dancers. She had to work really hard for 2 hours to learn the routine with the girls then they all performed at half time of the basketball game. She did a wonderful job at staying focused (which for a 3 year old can be hard) the ENTIRE time! :) She seemed to have fun and was did a wonderful job performing even though she was tired. She was the youngest girl there with all other girls being at least 1st or 2nd graders and older.
Allie working on her Valentines at preschool

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