The Easter Story Cookies

My mom sent me a recipe for Easter Story Cookies, cookies that you make where each step in the process represents the story of Easter, hence the name...

So the kids and I set out on our first batch:

Step one: Crushed pecans represent the beating Jesus endured after his arrest.

Step two: Vinegar, represents the sour wine Jesus was given to drink on the cross.




Step 3:Egg Whites, represent life, the life that Jesus gave for us.


Step 4: Salt, represents the tears Jesus followers shed when he died.

Step 4: Sugar, representing the sweetest part of the story; Jesus loves us and gave his life for us so that we could belong to him.


Step 5: Beat on high speed till white peaks form, representing how we are made white as snow through the sacrifice of Jesus.

Step 6: Fold in broken nuts, drop by teaspoons onto wax paper covered cookie sheet. Each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid.

Step 7: Put in the oven and seal with tape, representing after Jesus died and his body was placed in the tomb, the tomb was sealed.

Step 8: The next morning unseal the oven and take the cookies out, and enjoy!


A special surprise is the cookies should turn out hollow, representing the empty tomb, because HE IS RISEN!

LSU Tigers Take the Field

Maddox has started to wade into the sports arena a bit deeper. We started this winter with wrestling, and now that it is spring he's giving TBall a go, and he is having a BLAST! Brian and I and Brian's dad are coaching the little LSU Tigers, which is pretty fun for us too. Cecil accurately likened it to herding cats...

We have had 2 games so far and they have been so entertaining. During the first game, the kids were all pretty excited, and almost as clueless, even with several practices under their belts. There were kids playing first base running to second when the batter hit the ball, instead of staying there for the throw to first. We had kids afraid to touch the base because a girl was there. Kids went to the wrong dug-outs, kids leaving mid inning for the potty, kids running across the field changing their own fielding positions because "they aren't hitting it to me over here", kids tackling each other to field the ball, chasing the batter to first base with the ball. The other team even warmed up on the infield (which is a BIG no no in baseball etiquette...which I didn't know...). Every parent in the stand sheering and yelling "RUN!" "Throw it to first!"

And ALL the kids were smiling from ear to ear the whole time... which made the chaos completely entertaining...and maybe even worth the loss of my voice.

This week was our second game and we were much improved! (so much so that I actually had time to take some pictures.) I think the kids are actually understanding what a game is supposed to look like. Maddox has come out of his shell and seems to be the ring leader, team clown, and encourager. He is the loudest in the dug out yelling for his team mates to "smash it" or "hit a home run" and to "run fast". Tonight he even debuted the slide, and hit two bee bee's into the outfield. After he slid in to 3rd base and home twice, the other kids were starting to attempt it too.



Learned: Seeing kids who came to the first practice not even knowing how to throw a ball, now be able to field, throw, hit, AND run the bases the right way... pretty amazing.

Seeing my son shine, and become a kind strong leader... priceless!

The Help

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I enjoyed reading this perspective on 1960 segregation issues, focusing on black maids working for white women. Packed with heart touching stories, and appalling truths. Katheryn Stockett did an excellent job writing from three different perspectives, each with a distinct dialect and personality. Pervasive with the truth that what separates us is nothing compared to what unites us.



I was a bit worried that the ending would be a "happily ever after" or just as bad, leave me with a completely unresolved ending. Thankfully it was neither, it was a well written realistic ending, giving a realistic resolution.



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Jewelry Wall Art

I rarely wear jewelry, I have earrings that I wear 24/7 and my wedding ring. Occasionally I will wear a few pieces that I bought specifically for an outfit. It's not that I don't have other jewelry to wear, I do, its that I just don't think about putting on a necklace, or changing my earrings. I think part of this reason is all the jewelry I own is tucked in boxes inside drawers, and I just forget about it.

A few months ago I saw a neat display of jewelry in a store, it was pinned on plain cork board. Since then I have wanted to do something like that with all mine, I thought if I at least got it out where I could see it, I might actually wear it.

So here is what I did: (the pics are uncharacteristically blurry for my new IPhone..not sure whats up with that)...







This one is my favorite, it has the necklace and earrings I wore for our wedding, and the cuff links and pocket watch Brian wore.

Numbers

Numbers picks up where Exodus left off, the Israelites are making their way in the wilderness. There really isn't much change in the attitudes of the people, the are still complaining, doubting, and forgetting God's promise. "We are so tired of this mana... every day its mana! We want something else" they say instead of "Thanks for providing us with a miracle every day that sustains us!" So instead of obliterating them (like I might with my own kids by this time) what does God do... he sends them quail! This just further showed me how patient and loving a God I have.

Numbers, does just that, number (count) the people of each tribe. I didn't realize how many people there were in the camp; 603,550 was the number of males 20 years or older- those of fighting age. Because there were so many people, it required a lot of organization, which God outlined through out the book of Numbers.

The most well known story of Numbers is when they finally draw near the promise land and send scouts to report on the land. All but 2 come back with a doubtful report, saying there was no way they would be able to take over the land as the inhabitants were giants, only two said that with God on their side it they could do it. Once again these Israelites show doubt in their God who had lead their way as a cloud and a pillar of fire, sent mana every day, provided water from rocks, parted the Red Sea, decimated all of Egypt... and for their doubt they were not aloud to enter the land God had promised them, and they wondered the wilderness for the next 40 years.

It just made me think... how much am I missing out on, how much time am I spending in my own wilderness because of my own doubt?

I also didn't realize that neither Aaron nor Moses were aloud to enter the promise land. Here were the two people that were closest to God in the whole camp, the people whom God had chose to speak through, showed doubt in God (20:12), they too were denied entry to the promise land. The most amazing thing to me is that neither of these men threw their hands up and said "I Quit!" they continued to serve and lead the people, giving them instructions, until the day they died. How many of us continue to do our job well after we know we won't be receiving the reward we were promised?

(Disclaimer: I believe that the Bible is the living word of God, to me this means that what I receive, or gain in understanding, is meant for me based on my experiences and where I am at at this moment. I know when I read through the bible again some day, what I understood, or came to light for me this, year will most likely be different then what I discover then.)

Johnathan Livingston Seagull

Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Quick easy read, with a complex and deep meaning about the purpose of life.



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...which seems a bit reincarnation-ish. The idea of needing to learn something in this life, and if you don't learn it, you keep returning to the same level of life until you do learn it's lesson. Now, I obviously don't believe in this whole idea.

However, I do understand, and can see how the general idea of life being about learning, and we continue to encounter challenges that would teach us lessons such as pride, love, honesty, patience... until we have learned them. I know personally that I have encountered challenge after challenge that try and test my pride and patience, and the better I get at admitting my pride, or exercising patience, the fewer situations arise that challenge me in this area.

I also liked the way Johnathan Livingston Seagull wasn't content with the status quo, and challenged the boxes that his society placed upon him, and in doing so, he learned and found freedom.

Learned? I signed up for Goodreads.com a while ago and have since been writing my reviews here (taking a pic of the book downloading & uploading pics), then writing them again there... but I just found the easy way... so now all my reviews will first be written at good reads, then all I have to do is cut and past the link they give me, and voila! here it is with a picture and all!!! I love it when I figure out technology!