Resurrection Rolls

The kids and I decided to honor Resurrection Day by making these delicious, yet educational snacks -- Resurrection Rolls.

Here is B, rolling his marshmallow (representing the body of Jesus) into butter (representing the oils used to prepare the body for burial), and cinnamon-sugar (representing the spices used in preserving the body), and wrapping it in the crescent roll (representing the linen cloth used to wrap Jesus' body).

After the rolls were baked in a 350 degree oven (representing the tomb) for 10-12 minutes, they were ready to be eaten -- much to the excitement of the children.  :o)

 Here, I broke one of the rolls open, where the marshmallow has "mysteriously" disappeared.

The "tomb" is empty! Jesus is alive! Praise be to God!

The children thoroughly enjoyed the fact that they were able to eat this craft project, too.  :o)

Even little C got in on the action.  Mmm...  A tasty object lesson.  :o)

Artists in the Making

Today for Art class, I decided to give the kids the assignment of drawing a specific object.  I told them to pretend that their hands were cameras, and they had to make a copy of the item in front of them.  I have to admit, I was a little surprised by their artistic ability.  All of them, in their own special way, made a very great picture.

Here was the "inspiration" that they were assigned to draw:

Here is what B (7 yrs) came up with:

Here is R's (10 yrs) interpretation:

H's (4 yrs) turned out to be more of an "abstract", but at least she tried...  :o)

Overall, I was very impressed with my little up-and-coming artists.  Now, to find a spot on the fridge to hang them...  :o)

Curriculum Giveaway from Veritas Press!

One of my favorite websites (http://www.raisinghomemakers.com/) announced a really incredible giveaway of some really incredible curriculum from Veritas Press!

The giveaway is for their Kindergarten/First Grade Phonics Museum Combo Kit.

What all comes with the Phonics Museum Kindergarten/First Grade Combo Kit?:

• Two years worth of curriculum – four sturdy workbooks – two student workbooks and two teacher’s manuals (kindergarten and first grade)
• The museum game board with game pieces
• 31 primers
• Puzzle piece letters
• Beautiful art covered flashcards
• Step-by-step Lesson Plans
• Deck of game cards
• CD with original songs to help facilitate phonics concepts

And... who doesn't like FREE???

Head on over to the Raising Homemakers website and enter for your chance to win this wonderful homeschool resource!  :o)

Baking Bread

Making bread from scratch is something I have wanted to do for a very long time.  I recently found a wonderful website that is dedicated to teaching young girls to become successful homemakers.  One of the lessons on the site was bread making.  And, since my littles are finally feeling better from their sicknesses, I thought this snowy day was as good as any for us to try it.  :o)

H probably had the most fun.  For a girl who loves being clean, she sure did love getting messy!  :o)




Kneading their own dough balls.  Notice little H with her face covered in flour.  :o)

All done rolling and shaping.  Now, for the baking!  :o)

Both loaves cooling.  We are so anxious to see how they taste!

The girls decided to baste their loaf with milk first.  It gave it a very nice color.  And very moist!
 

B chose to leave his loaf just the way the recipe called for.  The crust didn't turn out as golden as the girls' did, but it was still very moist and delicious.

The best part was getting to eat our tasty creations!  :o)



We had a really fun time together. Sure, it made a terrible mess in my freshly cleaned kitchen. But, the memories we made, and those flour-covered smiles are better than the cleanest kitchen in the world.  We will definitely be experimenting with more bread recipes very soon!  :o)

A Happy Sick Birthday

My sweet little H is turning 4 years old today.  She has been counting down the days for several weeks now.  She has been so excited waiting for this day to come.  And now, she is sick in bed with a terribly bad case of bronchitis.  All she wants to do is sleep.  She keeps asking if she is allowed to go to bed early!  (This never happens, by the way).  And, she is too sick to eat, so we aren't even going to make her birthday cake or have a party until she feels better.

We've tried to make the best of this terribly sad situation.  She gets to stay in bed all day (her choice, not ours), and watch as many movies as she wants.  :o)

Even as sick as she is, she tries to be a happy girl.  :o)



You can see on her face that she doesn't feel very well, though.  Poor little thing has no energy.  :o(

She tried to join the rest of the family for a while, but after a few minutes, she ran out of energy and completely zonked out. 

Sweet baby girl.  We will celebrate your birthday when you are feeling much better!
We love you!

Her Favorite Birthday Gift

My sweet R just turned 10 years old.  And her grandma couldn't have gotten a more perfect gift for her.  :o)

*NOTE*  For those of you reading this on Facebook, you will need to click this link to see the video.

Happy 10th Birthday my sweet, beautiful daughter!

Merry Christmas!

My children are so creative.  They wanted to do something special for everyone on Christmas, so they practiced this adorable little song.  They wrote it all by themselves, and performed it for me.  I thought it was so cute that I just HAD to record it and post it for everyone to see.

Merry Christmas from the RichFam!  (well... most of us, anyway...)   :o)

A "Bunny" for Christmas

For months and months our kids have been pestering us to get them a pet.  I would have agreed to a cat, but 2 people in our family have discovered they are allergic to them, so that idea is scrapped.  And I am NOT inclined to get something scaly, slimy, or creepy-crawly, so reptiles, amphibians and any and all invertebrates are also completely out of the question. 

The kids finally decided on a bunny.  They are small, they are soft to pet, and fairly easy to maintain.  So, Jay and I agreed... but with certain conditions.  They had to prove to us that they were ready, willing, and able to take care of a pet.

So, we came up with the "Pet Points" system.  100 points = a bunny.  Each day, the kids need to perform extra tasks (in addition to their regular chores), that will show us that they are mature enough to handle the responsibility of having a pet.

For example:

*  If they see a stray sock sitting in the middle of the floor, even if it is not their own, they should pick it up and put it in the laundry hamper.

*  If their little sister is struggling to put her shoes on, they are to help her (without being asked).

*  Putting others ahead of themselves, etc.

You get the idea...

At first, the kids asked us how many points they had to earn to get a dog.  Imagining the messes a dog can create in a house that I strive to keep clean and orderly, I cringed at the thought and told them they would have to earn 1,000 points to get a dog.  So, the kids figured a bunny was a more attainable goal.

Week after week, they have diligently been earning points towards a bunny.  But, week after week, they have also been diligently LOSING points for bad behavior.  Yes, my children can have bad behavior, too.  :o)  At the end of each week, they seem to have just about the same amount of points as they started with.  It has been a bit frustrating for them.

So Jay and I, seeing the roller coaster of earned and lost "pet points" day in and day out, decided that we would like to teach them a more important lesson through all of this.  The lesson of God's grace and mercy.

We decided to give the children the gift that they wanted more than anything... a DOG!

We have been so impressed with their effort to earn the "pet points" that we just could not stand giving them a pet that they were just "settling" for.  We wanted to give them the thing that they thought they could never attain with their points.  Plus, since this dog happens to be completely housebroken... I consider it a win-win.  :o)

And, as strange as it sounds, Jay and I really want to name this little dog "Bunny", since that was supposed to be the pet that they worked so hard to get in the first place.  We plan on giving it to them for Christmas... IF we can wait that long!!!  I REALLY want to give it to them early!!!  :o)

Free Books!

My husband LOVES to read.  So, when he learned that there was a way to get FREE books, he jumped at the chance!

He discovered a website called Book Sneeze (www.booksneeze.com).  It is a website dedicated to promoting Christian literature.  Once you sign up and join, they will send you a free book, in exchange for an agreement from you to write a 200-word review on your blog after you've finished reading it.  When you publish the review on your blog, they'll send you another book to read and review... FREE!

So, if you start seeing random book reviews on my blog, don't worry.  It's just my husband... doing what he can to get another free book to read.  :o)

Make sure you check out Book Sneeze and see if there's a book available on the website that you would be interested in reading... for FREE!   :o)

High Tea at the RichFam House

R decided that today was going to be the day that we celebrated High Tea at the RichFam house.  For a 9 year old, I think she did relatively well.  She had a linen tablecloth (even though it was a brown and orange one we use at Thanksgiving), linen napkins (purple and white with grapes), and china dishes (yellow, green, and plaid).  So, it wasn't exactly color coordinated, but she did her best.  The tea (which she made all by herself) was delicious, and she even thought to add small crackers and cookies for everyone (served on a Christmas platter).  :o)

The Happy Hostess and her Guests.

The Food.

H loved every minute of our Tea Party, making sure to speak in the most ADORABLE English accent.  :o)

Here's B, trying his best to be "proper" by holding his pinky finger out as he eats his "crumpet".  :o)




All in all, R has the makings of a gracious, beautiful hostess. She'll make a sweet little homemaker one day. :o)