Passion Walk (by Hannah and Sophie)

Before dinner on this Easter day, Hannah and Sophie led us on a Passion Walk of their own creation.  Hannah created all the artwork (which she has been working on for several weeks as a big, secret surprise) and also wrote all the stories except one (which was done by Sophie).  They used one of their children's bibles as inspiration.  Charles and I were blessed by this gift from our daughters, so I'll let their work speak for itself.

The Cross

The Soldiers Threw Dice

The Cave That Was Jesus' Grave

Risen from the Dead

The Holy Spirit

Christ is Risen, Christ is Risen indeed.  Alleluia!

Freak March Snow #2

About a week and a half ago we had around a foot of snow, on March 6th, to be precise.  We hadn't had much snow this winter, so it was embraced and then we all were ready for spring.

Someone didn't communicate that to Mother Nature.  Yesterday it snowed for most of the afternoon, took a bit of a break for part of the night, and we woke to around 5 inches this morning and another day off school.

Our snowy house

Lego creations made earlier this morning

The scene out the back door

Playing school

Forced them outside to play

Looks like they had fun in the end

3-Day Juice Cleanse

What you see pictured about is approximately half of the produce that I consumed in juice form over the last three days.  Lately I've found myself eating unhealthy more often, and I decided about a month ago that I wanted to try a juice cleanse.  I thought it would be a nice way to get my eating back on track and have some fasting time during this Lenten season.

So I found this plan online, which is based on one from Joe Cross (the guy who did a 40-day juice fast in Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead).  And then I ordered a juicer from Amazon, a Hamilton Beach that was rated as a CR Best Buy.  Friday evening I filled my cart at the grocery store with more produce than I've ever bought at one time, and then had fun finding places to stuff it in my refrigerator and a cooler.

I was worried that I would be constantly hungry.  Normally I need to eat my calories in order to feel satiated.  Surprisingly, I never really felt too hungry until the final day.  One reason for that is likely that the recipes for the first two days of fasting added up to around 1500 calories per day (for the whole foods going into the juices), whereas the final day was just under 1200 calories.  Some of the recipes made up to 3-4 cups of juice at a time, so I would drink on them for awhile and before long it would be time to whip up another juice.  Most of the recipes were surprisingly good, though there was one with fennel that I drank half of and threw the rest out because I really did not care for it.  I took light walks the first two days, though I didn't get any exercise on the third day (the one with fewer calories).

I found myself feeling tired throughout this cleanse.  I don't know if it's because I was drinking juice only or because I wasn't getting my usual energizing workout or because this weekend also happened to be the weekend that we spring forward for daylight savings time.  At any rate, I lost a couple of pounds, which was something else I was hoping for as a result of the cleanse.  I found the experience to be much better than what I was dreading, though I am looking forward to my bowl of oatmeal this morning!

Little C Turns the Big 0-1

Two weekends ago we were blessed to be able to drive to Durham to be a part of my nephew Carter's 1st birthday party.  Driving 4+ hours each way (all in one day) is not how I'd choose to spend most days, but you only turn one once!

My sister did an awesome job with the party.  She served a delicious pork barbeque for lunch, along with homemade mac and cheese and a healthy salad.  There was a monkey theme to the party, which was reflected all around the house and in the birthday cake cupcakes.

We bought Carter the cutest little outfit that included blue corduroy pants, a plaid button down shirt, and matching sweater.  It is a size 2T, so it will fit him later, especially since he is a little small for his age.  We also found a fun Mickey Mouse coloring/activity book for him to grow into.  The girls decorated his wrapping paper with a birthday cake that Hannah drew and lots of color that Sophie added.  Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures of the gift or wrapping paper.

Enjoy these pics from the festivities:

Kelly, Jon, and Jon's step-dad in the background

Playing with one of Carter's toys.  He had one ball that he really loved to hold!

Carter's new wagon that the girls pulled him around in

Birthday cupcakes decorated beautifully

Monkeys guarding the banana chips

Fun Snippets That Don't Fit Anywhere Else

"Oh, I am a child, but I'm much smarter than other children." --Hannah

"I'll be there in 13 blinks of an eye!" --Sophie

Sophie wearing a dolly bonnet

Two birdies sitting in their nest with their blankies

The scene found on Sophie's bed one day

Pattern day

Rolling down a hill while Hannah is in gymnastics class

My handsome husband

Beach Day, Science Fair, and Monster Cupcakes

Sophie was part of the Beach Day committee at school this year.  The students got to wear beach attire to school, eat their lunch on beach towels, and play beach-themed games.  Sophie was excited to contribute these fun beach cupcakes:

The EMES/EMMS science fair was several weeks ago.  Hannah did a project about how long it took various candies to dissolve in water.  This was the first year that she did an individual project rather than a class project.  Here is her (almost) finished display board:

And here she is telling the admissions counselor all about her project:

Sophie's class did a very similar project, in which they saw how different liquids affected candies.  Here's Sophie with her class project:

This past weekend we made cupcakes just for the fun of it.  Hannah had been wanting some chocolate pudding filled ones (a first for me!), and Sophie had been wanting to make monster cupcakes for awhile.  So we made one batch of vanilla cupcakes.  Hannah's got the pudding treatment, along with chocolate frosting and sprinkles.  Sophie's got cream cheese frosting, decorated as "monsters" by Sophie herself.

I started teaching Hannah's Sunday school class this past Sunday.  I will be rotating weeks with another teacher, three weeks on and three weeks off.  Our lesson this week was on choosing God over things.  I took some of Hannah's cupcakes and some of Sophie's for snack in Sunday school and allowed the students to choose which they would rather have.  Overwhelmingly Sophie's monster cupcakes were a hit!

Soup and Arts Fest

Well, I knew it had been awhile since I posted, but I didn't realize it had been since January!

This past Saturday was the annual EMS Soup and Arts Fest.  This event is a highlight of every year.  The art teachers (K-12) display student work, area restaurants donate delicious soups, and students display their many other musical and artist talents.  This event raises money for the various arts programs that we have at school.  Attendees pay $10 to sample various soups, eat homemade bread, and enjoy decadent desserts prepared by the Family and Consumer Science classes.

From EMES, 2nd graders recite original poems (which Hannah did last year and Sophie will do next year), and the 3rd-5th grade choir sang a song.

The elementary art teacher also displays the students art work, and it's always so wonderful!  This year each student got to choose three pieces to share.  Here are the girls pieces:

Hannah: The Ballerina on Stage

Hannah: Fall Tree Silhouette

Sophie: Complimentary Colors (in UVA blue and orange, no less)

Sophie: Overlapping Shapes

Sophie: Scratched Lines

Hannah: Self Portrait