Resurrection Rolls - Easter!

Easter is this week!  I love Easter and usually fill my kids with Eater treats, stories of Christ and traditions.  However, this year I've really fallen short.  I'm lagging in all things this year.  But, I was at a MOMS Connection meeting last Thursday and one of my sweet mom friends mentioned resurrection rolls so I came home and googled it.  I found this link and we did it right away!  It really is pretty simple and you probably have all the ingredients to do it.  I grabbed my Bible and we got started!

Here's what you need:
1 can of Crescent rolls
melted butter
cinnamon & sugar
Large Marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Unroll the crescent rolls.  The rolls represent the cloth that Jesus was wrapped in.

Read Matthew 27:57-61
When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away. And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the grave.


1. The marshmallow represents Jesus.  Give one to the children.
2. Have them dip the marshmallow into the melted butter.  The butter represents the oil of embalming.  
3. Now they'll roll the marshmallow in the cinnamon/sugar combination.  These represent the spices used to the anoint the body.
4. Now wrap the marshmallow tightly in the roll, seal the marshmallow inside.  This will represent Jesus' body being wrapped after death.
5. Place the rolls in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes.  The oven represents the tomb.  Pretend it was three days.
6. Let the rolls cool.  After the rolls have cooled let the children open their rolls (cloth).  They'll discover he is no longer there!  He has risen! (The marshmallow has melted and the roll has puffed up)


Read Matthew 28:5-8

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you."
And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples.

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified.

You can go on to explain that he had risen from the dead, that no one had taken his body.  He appeared in person to Peter, the 12 disciples, and then to more than 500 people.  Rising from the dead proved he was the Messiah.

May you have a blessed Easter with your loved ones!

Make a Rainbow with your Kids

Have you ever wondered how to make a rainbow with your kids?  Here's an easy way to make one in your kitchen!  All you need is glasses, water, food dye and a spoon.

Step 1: Line up six glasses and fill every other glass about half full with water.
Step 2: In the first glass put 3 drops of red food dye and stir.
Step 3: In the third glass put 3 drops of yellow food dye and stir.
Step 4: In the fifth glass put 3 drops of blue dye and stir.
Step 5: Pour a little of the red and yellow into the second glass and you get orange.
Step six: Pour a little of the yellow and blue into the fourth glass and you'll get green.
Step seven: Pour a little of the red and blue into the sixth glass and you'll get purple.

Lastly,you can pour a little of each color into another glass and you'll get brown.

Now you've made a RAINBOW!

Now if it would just rain outside we could try and find a real rainbow.  I really want to capture a rainbow on film or memory stick. ;)

Kool-Aid Play dough

I remember when I was a child my mom made homemade play dough for my brother and I to play with.  I have no idea what recipe she used but it was a lot of fun to play with.  I don't know a child that doesn't enjoy playing with play dough!

February was my month to bring play dough to my daughter's pre-school class.  I'll be honest, I've never made homemade play dough before.  We've always had the store bought kind so I've never gotten around to making it.  Last week I had a note on her bag with a recipe.  We went to the store and picked out a few flavors of Kool-Aid (which my kids have never had before!).  My daughter wanted to make hot pink and she chose red for her brother.  We also picked up light pink but haven't made that one.  It was a lot of fun to make!  However, my daughter was slightly disappointed when when "hot pink" looked exactly like her brother's red.  Oh, well.  Live and learn.

Recipe for Kool-Aid Play dough

2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup salt
2 packages Kool-Aid
2 cups boiling water
3 tsp oil

Mix Dry ingredients
Add oil and boiling water

Play!

**I didn't read closely and did not notice it said 1 cup of salt.  I barely had enough salt to make two batches.

This play dough smells good, too. :)

Advent Calendar

I started reading an Advent book with my daughter a couple years ago.  Last year I decided I wanted to find a cute calendar to put trinkets and stuff in for the kids.  Well, I looked online and found a cute one but waited too long and decided to wait until the next year which would be now!  I searched etsy and found lots of cute ones but then realized I could make one myself.  Of course I waited until the week of Thanksgiving to get started and just finished it today.

First, I bought a new mini muffin tin (because I will be using the one I already have during this time period) with my 40% off coupon at Hobby Lobby.
Next, I cut out squares in four different Christmas prints.
Then I cut out smaller squares of red, green and white card stock followed by a Christmas sticker.

I started with number stickers and decided I didn't like them so back to Hobby Lobby I went to buy number stamps.  Before I stamped them all I attached magnets to the top and bottom of each square.  I bought the magnet roll at Hobby Lobby for $2.99.

I decided after I had already attached the magnets that I wanted to protect them so I could use them again next year.  The best thing I could come up with was to cover each square with packing tape.  Had I started my whole project earlier I would have taken them to Kinko's and had them laminated.  But, this works.

The finished calendar!

Some daily examples are:

2 Hershey Candy Cane Kisses

2 Chocolate Kisses

Activities to do:

Make Christmas cookies

Take treats to a neighbor

Make a Christmas card for a teacher

Make a Christmas card for a friend

Do a Christmas craft

Make a handprint Santa

Listen to Christmas music

Learn the song "The Three Wise Men"

Scriptures:

Joseph would care for Mary while she was pregnant. Matthew 1:24-25

Lots of angles joined in praising God! Luke 2:13-14

The wise men again found the guiding star. Matthew 2:9-10

Merry Christmas!  Happy Advent!

Painting Pumpkins

I meant to post this right after we did this craft but I forgot.  Oh, well.  This was so easy but yet so fun!  My kids loved it, especially my two year old son.  I bought a couple pie pumpkins - 2 for $4.  I gathered a few acrylic paints that I hand on hand.  None of them were Halloween colors but my kids didn't care.  I gave my daughter pink and purple and my son turquoise.  I gave them each a paint tray with a sponge brush and let them paint away.  This kept them busy out back for at least an hour.  I was loving it.  It gave my lots of practice time with my new camera lens! :)

Have a happy and safe Halloween!

After the paint dried I added a layer of Mod Podge and then my daughter added glitter to the pink and purple pumpkin but I forgot to take a picture afterwards.  

Candied Marshmallows

Yesterday we celebrated my daughter's 5th birthday.  One of the items I put in the favor bags was candied marshmallows made into lollipops.  I saw these in a candy shop and thought they'd be pretty easy to make. In fact, I didn't even do a trial, I just whipped them up on Friday!  Here's what you need to make them: Jet puffed marshmallows (go for the real stuff, not store brand), Wilton candy melts, sprinkles or decorating sugar, lollipop sticks, small clear bags, ribbon and wax paper.

1. Push the lollipop sticks all the way into the marshmallows and lay on wax paper.
2. Melt the wafers in a microwave safe bowl in 30 second increments, stirring between until melted.
3. Dip each marshmallow into the melted candy and then smooth the edges (I used a knife).
4. Immediately dip into your choice of decoration.
5. Lay on wax paper.
6. Once they are completely dry you can put the clear bag over the marshmallow and tie ribbon.

Easy, cute and yummy!

Linking to:

Cotton Candy

A few weeks ago we had a circus theme week.  One of the crafts we did was make cotton candy (non-edible).  My daughter had a friend over and they both enjoyed this easy craft!

We started the day off with a clown coloring sheet.

Rolling up the handle of the cotton candy also works as a telescope. :)

Spreading out some cotton.

Glue cotton balls onto the paper along with the handle.

Practice handwriting by writing "Cotton Candy" 

Ta da

To finish up the craft I served real cotton candy (found at Kroger).