Good Friday.

Last night my G girl got VERY upset before bed. I had a hard time claming her enough to find out what the problem was. My mind always jumps to something terrible. I fear someone has hurt her or she has done something she is very sorry for. Once she was calmed enough to speak she expressed her fears. She said, "I wish I didn't have brothers, so that you could love just me."
Of course my first comment was to inform her that that was her sinful, black heart that felt that way. That her brother J is her best friend and she would be so very sad without him. Then I got to share with her the wonderful gift God has given mothers. The ability to love another child without taking any love away from the others.
As my due date comes closer I am flooded with memories of fears I had right before I had J boy. I remember desperately holding onto G the nights before his arrival and thinking "She wouldn't be my baby anymore." I remember thinking "I don't want this new baby to take the place she holds in my heart."
However, these fears and lies that I was feeding myself were washed away completely. God has truly given us the ablility to love our children equally and unconditionally.
Having children has taught me more about the Father's love for us. How much Him giving us His son was truly sacrifical. How I would be unwilling to give my children for a righteous man much less my enemy. How He doesn't love me less when I fail him daily. He just looks at me and sees the image of His Beloved Son in whom He is well pleased.
I understand G's fears. She if feeling better today. She is assured of my love and she understands greater that my love is unconditional just as God's love is when we place faith in Jesus' finished work on the cross.
I am so thankful for the Cross!

Resurrection Rolls

I once made a pan of brownies that I thought marshmallows would be yummy in. So I mixed them in the batter and threw them in the oven. When the brownies were done they were full of holes where marshmallows once were. That is when I discovered that if you bake them they will...disappear!
I have read this idea somewhere else, so it is not original to me but I love using this idea of disappearing marshmallows to demonstrate to a child that the Tomb was empty on Easter morning!
We will be making Resurrection Rolls this Easter:

Ingredients:
One can of crescent roll dough
8 large marshmallows (or one for each roll you’ll be making)
Melted butter
Cinnamon sugar
Bible or Easter storybook

Assemble rolls and read the story:
1. Read John 19, spend the week before reading John 12-18 with your kids.
2. Unroll the crescent rolls. Explain that this is like the cloth they wrapped Jesus in.
3. Give your child a marshmallow and explain that it represents Jesus's body… all white and pure because He was without sin.
4. Roll the marshmallows in the melted butter. This symbolizes the embalming oils.
5. Roll the marshmallows in the cinnamon sugar. This is like the spices used to prepare his body for burial.
6. Wrap the marshmallow in the crescent roll cloth, pinching the dough together securely. Don’t worry about the shape so much, they’ll taste the same no matter how you roll or bundle them. This represents how they would have wrapped Jesus’ body in burial clothes. I like to brush them with more melted butter, but it’s not necessary.
7. Put the rolls in the oven (symbolizing the tomb) and bake for the amount of time specified on the crescent roll package.
8. While the rolls are baking, read John 20:1-18.
9. Open the tomb (oven) and remove the rolls. When they’re cool enough to handle, break one open and discover what happened to the marshmallow. Jesus is risen!

Hillbilly baby.

Just a picture I thought I would share from the past week. It was Hillbilly Days in Pikeville, KY. I thought it was fitting I take a picture there, barefoot and pregnant.

My Hubby!!

I am my husbands #1 fan. However, I am also one of his sheep. I am blessed to be able to sit under his preaching and teaching at Grace Baptist Church. In the last 8 years I have learned more about Christ and His finished work on the Cross than I did in all the years of Sunday School and Church and youth group and conferences combined. I know you think I am biased but he is a WONDERFUL preacher. He is truly been gifted with the spiritual gift of teaching. Now you can see for yourself. He has put his sermons on the Internet and you can be blessed by them too.
Go to http://www.sermon.net/. In the little search area type Andrew Smith or Grace Baptist Church.

Resurrection Cake

I am getting my ideas together to make our annual Resurrection Cake.
We will be making it a little different than last year but my kids are very excited about this project. In the past we have done a two dimensional cake but this year we are planning on making it 3D. We will have to get some yummy candies and cookies to decorate with but this is always a fun project that gets my family talking about Christ and his FINISHED work on the cross.
What do you do with your family to celebrate our Savior raising from the dead?

Easter Hat.

As a child my mother MADE me wear an Easter hat and gloves. I went along with her wishes and didn't buck against her wishes till I was in 6th grade. I remember vividly going to pick out my Easter dress and her wanting me to get a hat and gloves. I remember telling her girls my age didn't wear hats and gloves. She didn't agree. When we got home I pulled out the trusty JC Penny's catalog and said if she could find a girl my age with a hat and gloves on I would wear them. She couldn't and that was the end of my hat and gloves on Easter.
Now that I am the Mommy of a precious baby girl, I MAKE her wear hat and gloves too.
I think this is because deep down I want to wear them again myself. I think that was the driving force behind my mother's desire for me to wear them too. I love going to tea parties and wearing hats and gloves. Somehow it makes the occasion feel more fancy and special. I was browsing the web and noticed that the future Princess, Kate Middleton wears hats quite often.


I wonder if I could get away with wearing one on Easter this year?!
We are going Easter dress shopping tonight and I wonder if G will still want to wear one too. She is very girly but she does have a strong opinions on what she likes and what she doesn't. I will try to use my motherly influence to keep that hat and gloves on her for another year more.

History lesson

I think my daughter missed out on the last part of a history lesson.
We were in the car and we had a friend and her son following us in their car. J asked "why is D (we will call the son D) sitting in the backseat?" I told him that it was for his own safety and that that is why he sits in the backseat too. G added to my answer with "Brother, kids and colored people sit in the back." She was so matter of fact about it.
I was in shock!!!
She learned that in the past "colored" people were forced to sit in the back while we were on a train ride in FL. We actually sat in the "colored" car. I guess we forgot to tell her that this is no longer true. However we did communicate that it was not right and that it was people's sinful hearts that made them make these rules. I spent the car ride explaining the "end" to that history lesson.

Thrifty Site

Smashion is going to be a new obsession I can tell. I am truly on a thrift kick right now. Our local thrift store has pretty amazing deals and I have gotten some great high end skirts with the tags still attached over the last few months. I also found my sister a beautiful camel suede coat to make a purse out of for only $0.50. I just heard about this website today and just took a quick peek at it (OK I spent more like an hour looking at it). The prices might not be $0.50 but I saw some really cute things for really cheap.
Am I the only one obsessed with thrifting? I get excited about finding really great things really really cheap. I think they know me by name at the local shop. But hey I agree with the Duggars "Buy used, save the difference." However sometimes it isn't even used stuff, sometimes it is just pre-owned. (Do I sound like a car salesman calling them pre-owned?)

HE IS FREE!

Danny Pye has been realeased! God hears the cries of His people! God is so good! You can read about it here.

Pray

How blessed we are to be in the USA! We think that just because we are not suffering in physical ways for the Gospel that no one else is. Out of sight out of mind. However, our missionaries are SUFFERING FOR THE GOSPEL! Please pray for Danny Pye and his family. Here is his story.

4D UltraAWESOMEsound

I had my 32 week ultrasound yesterday and the technician did some of the photos in 4D. It was absolutely amazing! I am in awe at the mind God has given us to be able to invent a machine that lets us peek into the womb and see our unborn children. It is overwhelming looking at the life inside of me and being able to say, "He looks like his siblings." I see how fearfully and wonderfully made he is.
I told my hubby last night that no matter how uncomfortable I am and how "ready" I am for this to be over I know there is a prize waiting for me at the end of this 9 month process. I am anxious to hold my prize in my hands and see what God's hands have made secretly inside of me.

A different pillowcase dress.

I want to make one of these!!!! It is so precious, so simple, so girly. A nice fresh take on a pillowcase dress. I am on the hunt for pretty pillowcases. Maybe this will be G's easter dress.