Better late than never!

Our Feb and March....

Bella-Bean
Anthony cracks us up. It's not unusual to find him sleeping this way.

Grace wanted to feed Bella and wanted a picture of it. First a "normal picture" (not shown) and then a "funny face picture." I chose to post the funny face picture because those are my favorite. :)

I really wanted to have little Lenten lessons this year for the kids and myself. I found some ideas on a few great homeshool blogs. It was great to do these with the kids and to talk about Lent together. Grace really got into it. It was very special and makes me excited about homeschooling her next year.

Here is Grace placing the toothpicks in our "crown of thorns." We made salt dough, braided it up and made it into a circle. We talked about how the Romans, made fun of Jesus being the King of the Jews and how they place a crown of thorns on His head. We touched the tooth pics and talked about how it must have hurt Jesus to have them on his head. We talked about times when we hurt Jesus.

The goal was to do enough good works and sacrifices to take out a thorn and have all the thorns out by Easter.

We probably should have put more thorns in because the kids were very diligent in doing good deeds to take out a thorn for Jesus. :) It was so wonderful! We'll do it again next year.

I also let the kids taste the dough because it tastes awful and salty. We talked about how when Jesus was on the cross and asked for water and they gave him vinegar instead. It was really neat to see Grace's response and her thoughts on how He must have felt.

Painting the crown

We had extra dough so we made hand prints and painted those for fun. Grace picked pink and Anthony picked, "darkish, bluish."

(Below) Grace Coloring the Lenten Calender. We started on Ash Wednesday and counted out 40 days, not including Sundays. Jesus fasted for "40 days and 40 nights" in the desert before He began His public ministry (Mt 4:2). It was really neat to talk with Grace about this time and why we have Lent and why we sacrifice, fast and pray.

We also made a Lenten wreath this year. (I'm getting crafty people, watch out!) We have the Easter Candle in the middle, 5 purple candles that symbolise Christ's suffering and reminds us of our sins. The pink is for Laetare Sunday. Laetare means "Rejoice" in Latin. "Rejoice with joy, you that have been in sorrow." This is the midway point in lent.

The rocks in our "wreath" remind us of the time Jesus spent in the desert and how Lent is our time for fasting and prayer and "going out into the desert."

We light a new candle every Sunday and when Easter arrives and Jesus has Risen all the candles are lit, showing us that Christ's light has come into the world and that we are no longer in Darkness.

While Grace and I were working on the calender, Anthony was sitting comfortably in his "cage" playing with his airplane. This has become a regular activity for him. He moves all the pillows to one couch, piles them up, makes a tunnel and calls it his cage. Oh and I can't forget the blanket, it's a staple to his "cage."

Our finished calender and Our "Lent Box" The kids put toys that they wouldn't play with in Lent and they get to bring them out at Easter. Grace also wrote on a piece of paper that she was giving up the computer for Lent and put the paper in the box. She didn't ask to be on the computer to play games all Lent! So precious!

This is where I find Bella most of the time. Sneaking food from the pantry... and she is not happy when you take it away from her!

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3-11-10
Today Grace tied her shoes for the first time all by herself. What a big girl!!!

She tied her soccer shoes and was so proud. They light up, when she runs and kicks the ball! :)

Her soccer starts today and she is extremely excited. It can't even be contained. Her excitement is bursting and we're so excited for her. I hope she likes it as much as she thinks she will!! :)

3-18-10

"Mom, do you know what I like best about soccer? When soccer's over and we get to have treats." -Grace

A pic of Grace on her first day of soccer practice. She has recently informed us that she does not like soccer. On to the next sport! I'm thinking she'll probably love VB like her Momma! :) We'll see...

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Anthony will wash dishes anytime you ask him too. He's ALWAYS very happy to get his hands wet.

Rolling dough for our Irish Cheese cake muffins on St. Patty's Day

Grace is Mamma's big helper! Great job doodle bug!!

In the making....

Finished Irish Cheesecake Muffins! Thanks Gran!

We made Leprechaun puppets

This is usually what happens when Anthony tries to hold Bella. He loves it and she wants to escape his loving arms probably because they're holding on too tight!