Easter Weekend

We had a great Easter weekend with lots of activities to do for fun and also to remember what the weekend was all about. We started on Thursday night by making tombs as a family.

I love this tradition because all the kids can do it.

The various ways we closed our tombs

The finished product.

Lauren's did the best this year. It stayed closed and was empty inside!

My favorite thing is that we then take the bread, pour some sparkling juice,

and do communion together as a family.

After we were finished, we put the 2 little ones to bed and watched "The Passion of the Christ" with the 4 bigger kids. It was their first time to see it, and it really impacted them. We were on the fence about whether or not to let Sam see it, but we decided to go ahead. It was powerful to watch and give them each a of visual of the story they have heard since they were little. It was especially meaningful to do it with them after taking communion. That will become a new tradition.

Saturday morning began with a special big breakfast of sausage balls, monkey bread, and coffee. Then we got ready to dye Easter Eggs.

Cody said he was "kickin' old school" and didn't want any of the fancy schmancy stuff that I bought to decorate the eggs with.

Here is his "flames" egg.

I found the cutest little kits at Target this year that I just knew the kids would love.

The first one was a "Pop star diva" set

The little diva eggs

Abby's monkey

It came with a concert stage, instruments and microphones for them to hold.

Here is an "Eggcellent" Concert

The other set was for "pirate" eggs.

Abby also got creative and made an Africa egg

The aftermath

Whenever this boy goes outside, you can always find him hanging out in the tree!

I saw a really cute idea the other day on a blog to do a mini marshmallow roast with tea lights and mini marshmallows. So the girls decided to make a campfire for their Diva Eggs.

"Cumbaya my, Lord, Cumbaya"

We took the idea a step further, used chocolate chips and Golden Grahams

and made mini s'mores.

Cody joined in on that fun!

They were so cute...

...and so yummy!

That afternoon, Sam, Isaiah, and Laila did an egg hunt with the Resurrection Eggs.

They each got to find 4 eggs.

Abby read the Scriptures for us as we talked through each one and how the items related to the Easter story

We forgot to do the Easter Story cookies this year. Our neighborhood had a cookout and by the time everyone came inside it was late. We will have to bring back that tradition next year.

Sunday morning began with the yearly Easter Basket Picture

Which then led into our Easter morning Scavenger Hunt.

They follow the clues, carry their baskets, and get treats along the way.

One of the stops included cards with money from Papa and Grammy

A hug break with Dad

3 different kinds of Jelly Beans in the bathroom

Gum in the dryer

There were 10 stops along the way with various treats and prizes.

We sat down to a breakfast of cinnamon rolls and leftover sausage balls and monkey bread.

We hurriedly got ready for church. In the process of it all, I forgot to take a family pic. For the last two years, I have not gone out and bought everyone coordinating outfits like I used to do. They all have clothes they can wear and the boys actually had matching shirts that Grammy sent at Christmas. The girls always have plenty of springy dresses to choose from. As they get older they are less thrilled about being all matchy matchy. So, we just made do with what we had. It was actually the smoothest Easter morning EVER!

After church, we came home. The day was unusually warm so the kids spent the afternoon outside preparing for a water balloon war, while I cooked a big ham dinner.

Once again, no pics. I guess I was all "pictured" out.

We will have to try to get a family pic on Mother's Day. That will be the next time I can convince them all to dress up for me.

It really was a great Easter. I am loving how our kids are processing this holiday more and more each year as they begin to grasp the significance of it!

Contentment

"Contentment is the direct fruit of having no higher ambition

than to belong to the Lord at His disposal."

Sinclair Ferguson

Yogurt and Mojitos

On Wed. YoYogurt had a great deal in celebration of its first Bday. $.99 for all of the yogurt and toppings you can fit in the cup. We could not pass that up. The kids and I headed there after school. When we got there, the line was like this:
I thought about it. We didn't have anywhere else to be. Everyone was excited. The weather was nice. So, we went for it. We actually only ended up being in line for 3o minutes. It was so worth it.

This child had every form of gummy item on his coconut ice cream

Laila couldn't finish hers

I did not take pictures of the other kids because that would be embarrassing in front of all those people.

Introducing: Princess Booty

I think she means "Sleeping Beauty" but that is not how she says it.

This along with a Snow White dress were given to Laila this week by the mom of one of Isaiah's classmates. Laila said, "Zack's mom is awesome." She was so excited.

Yes, we are fancy when we do our cleaning around here.

If my children tell you that they like Mojitos, please don't judge me. Let me clarify. Crystal Light has a new flavor called Mojito. There is no alcohol involved. It just takes kind of like a limeade.

Isaiah said to me today, "Mommy, you're not so angry this year." Translation: "This year" means "today" when he says it. I asked him, "Do you think Mommy is angry a lot?" He answered, "No", but I have to wonder. He and I have had some rough times lately. He just doesn't think the same rules apply to him as everyone else or he just wants to see if they are still going to be enforced. Either way, he has been spending a lot of time in various discipline situations over the last couple of weeks.

This weekend will be full of lots of Easter traditions. I am excited to see my older kids begin to grasp more of the true depth of the Cross and Resurrection. Isaiah has been wanting to talk a lot about Satan lately. I have the most interesting theological discussions with that little guy. I really want all of my kids to see the significance of this season and the impact it has on our lives.

All I Got

Today is this:

¹⁵ This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says:

“In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it."

And this:

Clinging to God's Word, "quietness and trust is my strength" and a little chocolate doesn't hurt either.

That's all I got.

Smoothie Wednesday

Wednesday mornings are smoothie days at our house. The kids know that they can count on me making smoothies for breakfast. Who knew making a smoothie could be so exciting?

We had a snow day yesterday after temps in the 70s and 80s for over a week. I am not really sure why they cancelled school. The roads were fine, but we were glad to have the day off. I went back to bed, the kids made hot chocolate, we watched a movie in the afternoon, and celebrated Ms. Julie's bday that night. (In case you don't know who Ms. Julie is, she is basically another member of our family!! Our relationship started off by her blessing us with babysitting the kids. After 7 years, she is a part of the Clapps. We couldn't let her bday pass without a family celebration!) The girls decorated the house with "Happy Birthday signs, and set up the table for a party.

We had stuffed shells for dinner.

(I didn't know Abby was hiding when I took this pic, little stinker!)

As I was giving Isaiah sauce on his shells, I spilled Julie's whole glass of water on her.

Happy Birthday!!

We had Brownie Delight for dessert and sang "Happy Birthday"

One of our bday traditions is to go around the table and share why the bday person is special. Some themes stood out with Ms. Julie. "She plays Wii with us, she gets us Sonic drinks with 'happy juice'(so as not to be misunderstood here, let me explain that according to Julie that Sonic puts 'happy juice' in their drinks during Happy Hour each day. She has taken the kids many times to partake in these delightful drinks.), she takes us to Garden of the Gods to hike, she has sleepovers with us, she takes us to the park, she takes us to her house, she keeps us so Mommy can go to her appointments, and (from Rick and me) she lets us go on dates and loves our kids the way we do."

One of Ms. Julie's favorite treats: Sweet Tart Jelly Beans

We love you, Ms. Julie, and are so glad that God brought you to our family!! We pray this next year is your best yet!!

Flashlight/Glow-in-the Dark Easter Egg Hunt

My friend, Jessica, does a flashlight egg hunt with her kids each year. She asked if I the kids and I wanted to join in with them. And, of course, we did! We added a new element that we saw on Pinterest by having some Glow-in-the Dark Eggs. Go here to see how to do it. I have to reiterate what is said in the blog post, be sure to use larger eggs. We did not and some of the glow sticks were leaking and the eggs were popping open. So, USE BIGGER EGGS!!!

We started the night by having the kids decorate colorful gift bags. They would later use these bags to collect their eggs in. Each of the older kids were allowed to invite a friend to come participate. Cody actually decided to help us with stuffing eggs and hiding them. We couldn't have done it without him!!

Lauren, Nichole, and Abby decorating their bags

Sam and Caeden

After we decorated bags, we made tombs. We wanted to have some spiritual significance to our time and take a few minutes to talk about the real meaning of Easter. I will say, that can be challenging with 13 children of all ages, but we did it!! We also wanted to wait until dark to begin the egg hunt.

Isaiah and Laila making their tombs

(Grands biscuits rolled out, put a marshmallow, Jesus, in the center, and close up the tomb.)

Jessica had the brilliant idea of writing their names on the tombs with edible marker so we would know which one belonged to each child(who wants to eat a tomb with someone else's germs on it, especially when 4 of those kids are Kindergarten and younger?)

Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes

The marshmallows melt away leaving only the grave clothes behind.

When you open the tomb, it is empty!!

Jesus is Alive!

It would be really great if I had pics of the Easter Egg Hunt, but unfortunately, I don't. We did it at a nearby park. I decided my little camera probably wouldn't work anyway, and I really wanted to enjoy the time with the kids. Laila also needed my assistance.

We had plastic eggs containing candy, water balloons, cute individual socks(In case in you didn't know, it is really cool to have mismatched socks these days. So, if you got 2 different eggs with 2 different socks, you would have a pair), and a silver egg and a gold egg each with money in them.

Cody and Jessica left to hide the eggs and I got this text, "Oh, no, the sprinklers just came on."

Hmmm, we hadn't thought about that possibility. Thankfully it was a park with lots of areas that weren't grassy to hide the eggs so we were still a go.

Each child was armed with a flashlight. We did not begin until it was truly dark and we let them go at it. Since some of the glow sticks wouldn't fit in the eggs, they also hid those.

It was so fun. We had over 300 eggs for the 13 kids so there were plenty of eggs for everyone.

Then, once the egg hunt was over, we came home and the kids were able to open all their eggs and trade things if they wanted.

It really was a lot of fun. Oh, and if you live in Colorado Springs, you have to check out Jessica's website. She has a business called "Sassy Sweet" and makes some yummy, creative treats. If you ever need someone to cater a party or bake a delicious and amazingly decorated cake or cupcakes, you have to give her a call!!