Never to young to be a Cowboy

I have been going through and cleaning up files on my computer and came across these pictures of the kids. Their love for our horses just melts my heart. I'm SO THANKFUL that our kids can grow up riding and that they love it so much! It's so fun to watch our 3 year old, he just LOVES LOVES LOVES putting on his cowboy hat and his boots no matter where he is going :)

Ashtyn and her horse Punky

Ashtyn, doing what she loves, Barrel Racing!

The kids and I were watching old videos and I came across this one from last summer. 
Ashtyn (5 years old) barrel racing her horse Punky. He was run in barrels in the PRCA rodeo until he was 6.
I am so proud of my baby girl! Her determination amazes me and he strength and courage just fill me with so much  joy!
Here is a video of her barrel racing at local horse show :)

Menu Board

I have finally found something that works so great for our family with my weekly menu planning!

These menu boards were SO easy to make and a lot of fun too!

I have really enjoyed doing my weekly menu planning (saves me time and money) and the family enjoys seeing what we will have for dinner. The kids love to put the choices up on the board. They think it is so awesome that they are helping out! :)

What You Need:

Cookie Sheet

Chalkboard Spray Paint (I bought mine at Walmart) * You will only need 1 can

Chalk

Ribbon

Drill & Bit (to drill holes through the top of cookie sheet)

White Card Stock Paper

Scrap booking Paper

Lamenting Paper (I bought the self adhesive sheets at Walmart)

Magnets

Scissors

Glue

Permanent Marker

What to do:

1. Spray paint the inside of the cookie sheet (LET DRY)

2. Print your Menu Selections on the Card Stock Paper

3. Cut out card stock menu items

4. Glue to scrap booking paper and cut out

5. Apply lamenting paper

6. Cut out and use hot glue to attach magnets to the back

7. Use a permanent marker and write the ingredients needed to the back of each Menu item

8. Use the chalk to decorate your boards the way you would like!

We hope you and your family enjoy this as much as we do! :)

Resurrection Eggs- The Real Story of Easter!

We LOVE to celebrate Easter! But with all the culture celebrations, eggs, the bunny and candy it becomes confusing to children. I wanted to teach my children the REAL meaning of Easter and when they were asking to do an Easter Egg hunt this seemed like the best way possible.

WHAT YOU NEED:

*Egg Carton

*Plastic Eggs

*Items listed in eggs:

  -Palm Brach or blade of grass

  -Cotton ball with perfume on it

  -Cracker

  - Three Dimes

  - Thorny branch (crown of thorns)

  -Toothpick (cut and glue into the cross)

  -Nail or push pin

  -Dice

  -A q-tip

  -Few whole cloves

  -Small Rock

 *Scissors

*Hot Glue Gun

ASSEMBLE

Egg #1 -Palm Brach (or blade of grass, leaf)
Msg: Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. The people that loved Jesus waved palm branches
Passage: Matthew 21: 1-11

 

Egg #2 Cotton ball with perfume on it
Msg:  Mary poured expensive perfume on Jesus' feet
Passage: John 12:2-8

Egg #3 Cracker- a small cracker to represent the pass over bread
Msg: Jesus ate the Last supper with his friends His Disciples
Passage: Matthew 26: 17-19

Egg #4 Three Dimes
Msg: Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver
Passage:  Matthew 26: 14-15

Egg #5 Crown of thorns. A small thorny branch or a single large thorn
Msg: Soldiers placed a crown of thorns on Jesus' head.
Passage: John 19:2

Egg #6 Cross made from a toothpick
Msg: Jesus carried his cross that he died on
Passage: John 19:17

Egg # 7 Nail or Push Pin
Msg: Jesus was nailed to a cross and pierced in His Side.
Passage: John 19: 18, 34

Egg #8 Dice
Msg: Soldiers parted Jesus' garments and cast lots for His coat.
Passage: John 19:24

Egg #9 A q-tip
Msg: They gave Jesus vinegar mixed with gall on a sponge to drink
 Passage: John 19:29-30

Egg #10 A few whole cloves
Msg: Spices to prepare Jesus for burial.
Passage:  John 19:40

Egg #11 A small rock
Msg: The stone covering Jesus' tomb was rolled away
Passage: John 20:1

Egg #12 NOTHING.
Msg: The tomb is empty . He has risen!
Passage: Luke 24: 6-7

We first read the Easter story before looking at the eggs. Our children are young (6, 3 and 16 months). It really helps if they have the story fresh in their minds! Then we hid the eggs, the kids found them and put them in order 1-12.

They opened the eggs and remembered the parts of the story!! They were SO excited that they could relate to the Easter Story with the items in their eggs.

It just filled my heart with joy watching them and seeing how they remember what we read and even the last egg.. that was empty (I wasn't sure how they would react.. but they were SOOOO EXCITED and they figured it out right away that it was empty because Jesus rose from the dead and went into Heaven for us!!!)

Also you can print bible verses and place them inside each egg, our daughter who is 6 was able to understand but the younger 2 aren't quite there yet so they enjoyed looking inside the eggs and listening to the story! :)

We have hid the eggs and told the story so many times this week in preparation for Easter and it is so awesome to watch the kids be able to tell each other the real meaning of Easter!

I also found a few other neat ideas on Finding Easter in Bunnies and Eggs here!

We hope you enjoy this as much as our family has! :)