Dedicated to Aunt K.K.....

For the last two weeks J#1 has been learning about Japan and Japanese culture in school. I instructed him about Haiku poems and sent him outside to come up some words for his poem. He chose our little peach tree as his subject. We actually came up with two poems here they are....

When I look at it
I think it has a heart
I feel happy


Weak, green, little
Is helped being alive
Thriving in the sun

I thought he did awesome for his first attempt at writing poems. Who knows maybe I have a poet on my hands :)

Wordless Wednesday...He wanted to clean the toilets.

A shoe....then love...

Yesterday after church we went to lunch with some friends. We were done eating and the kids were getting restless and J#1 kept throwing J#2's shoe around or hitting him with it. They were told several times to settle down. Then of course there is always a point where you look back and think "we stayed just a little too long". J#1 again takes J#2's shoe and tosses it, but this time there are people sitting behind them and it lands directly in a guy's plate!! Mechanic Man went right over and apologized and got J#1 and talked to him and had him go over and apologize. Mechanic Man even asked if he could buy him another dinner, the man said no and MM took J#1 back to where we were sitting, but this time right next to him.

After about a minute the man came over and told MM that he appreciated the offer of another dinner and asked if he could talk to J#1 for a second. He sat down and told him that he was not mad at him and that there is a place to throw things and play which is outside then there is a time to be quiet and play calmly. He really was very sweet about it then asked J#1 if he could buy him a cookie. So he did.

Afterwords, we left and in the car I explained to the boys again about inside behavior and the fact that I believe that man was a Christian made a difference in how he responded about the shoe incident. I told J#1 that even though he wasn't O.K. with a shoe being thrown on his food, he still showed kindness and gentleness and love toward J#1, which can only come from God. Because he could have gotten very angry and yelled, but he didn't. Then I tried to explain to him how sometimes he doesn't show the love of Jesus towards others. That sometimes we get so mad and we want our way, but that God tells us to love one another.

Then, of course, I start thinking about how we can be like that. We get a "shoe" thrown at us and it lands in the most inappropriate places. Maybe it is words, attitudes or actions of someone towards us. Do we act humbly and loving back or do we demand what is ours. I'm not saying that there are not times when something is wrong and should not be called out, but there are times we just think about ourselves and not take into consideration the circumstance of the one doing it. That man took the time and the extra step to come love my child with his words so that J#1 didn't feel so bad. I don't think this is a lesson soon forgotten by the whole family.

Volcanoes....

Today in J#1's school we learned about volcanoes. So we did a little experiment.

I had J#1 make a volcano from clay, which as you can see all of our clay was lumped together. It made for a very colorful volcano.
What is up with the faces that J#1 makes? I'll have to save it for another post..

Almost forgot J#3, he has to get a pic with the volcano, too.

We put the baking soda in the middle and then I let him pour a little vinegar in it and...

Viola we have eruption!!

They thought this was the coolest thing ever. Have I mentioned lately how fun it is teaching my children at home :)

Judging the Book by It's Cover....

I don't watch American Idol or much of the reality talent shows that come on, but when I have caught them it always amazes me at some of the rude looks and comments that some contestants are given when they first walk out. Strictly being judged by the way they look or how they might talk. Well, I think this lady shut the mouths of the judges and they will probably think twice about doing that again.

I actually cried, I must be hormonal or something.

J#3 not "eating" the cookie...

I told J#3 not to eat the cookies so he didn't. He just licked them :)

Also, some of you were interested in the Resurrection Cookies here is a link to the recipe.

Easter Weekend 2009

We had a great Easter Weekend. We hunted eggs on Friday.

Here is J#3 getting ready to hunt in our backyard by himself.

His older brothers hid all the eggs for him.

Check out the glove he just had to wear. I don't know what it is about gloves, but he loves wearing them even if there is only one.

Friday night after J#3 went to bed it was time for the other two to hunt the eggs in the dark with flashlights. This is the first time we did this and it proved to be a challenge for them and they loved it!

Saturday night we made Resurrection Cookies. If you have not done this it is a recipe for these cookies while using the story of Jesus on the cross and resurrection. When you put them in the oven you turn the oven off and tape it shut to "seal" it as Jesus' tomb was sealed. This really bothered J#2 he didn't want tape on the oven because tape does not belong there. You can tell he has picked up on the rule "use things as they are intended".

The next morning we took the tape off and for some reason I didn't get a pic of the cookies. But they were hollow or empty inside like Jesus' tomb was. They were yummy and a special treat to have with breakfast.

On Easter Sunday we went to church and we were to have a baptismal service. It was just beautiful all the testimonies of how Jesus' has changed the lives of these people and that the love of the "church" his people had touched many lives. I cried and cried next time I will have to remember to bring tissue with me and a package of new underwear. Only because there were so many people who were so moved by what they heard that they had not planned on getting baptized, but decided right then and they did not have a change of clothes. They just got in the water. Everyone was scrambling finding pieces of clothes that they had extra of to share. But of course no one had any extra "essentials" :) Wow, still amazes me when I think about it.

After church we ate at Olive Garden, what a treat. Then headed home for our tradition of the treasure hunt. I buy each one a small gift and wrap it then I set up 6 plastic eggs with clues in them so that they can go from clue to clue until they find their prize.

J#1 reading his first clue.

They got to help J#3 with his.

Then the prize. They talk about this for days before and after it is a great memory for them. I hope you all had a great Easter as well and celebrated that Christ has Risen indeed!