These are some of our favorite Easter resources for our family.  We really like the countdown to Easter.  We like to make either thes resurrection rolls or cookies: http://www.my.homewithgod.com/mkcathy/holiday/resurrectionrolls.html

http://www.annieshomepage.com/resurrectioncookies.html

We always dye eggs and that is so much fun.  Sometimes we use natural dyes like spinach for green, beets for red, cabbage for purple, tumeric for yellow, coffee or tea for brown, blueberries (frozen) for blue...(they look like robin's eggs) ..it is very fun...  Other years we use the shrinky dink type wraps and old fashioned food coloring with vinegar.  That is our favorite.  Each girl gets a dozen eggs to color and we usually boil a few for Mom and Dad:) 

We often make our own sets of resurrection eggs.  It is very fun to do this.  One year I had a neighborhood party and let all the kids make their own set of eggs.  http://www.easyfunschool.com/article2110.html

www.easyfunschool.com/NamesJesus.doc  This is another great unit study either at Easter or Christmas.

These jelly beans and carrots are really cute: http://www.annieshomepage.com/jellybeansandcarrots.html

While the flooring was being worked on...the girls and I spent a few nights in Phoenix in the hotel...it was fun and we went to the Botanical Gardens one day after we were done with our school work....We have been studying pollination and flowers in science so it worked out perfectly.  We have a membership to the gardens and try to go their as often as we can.  They give the children a board to help them identify the butterflies when you go into the house.  We are working on planting some vines and bushes in our garden to attract butterflies.  We also get to see the Chihuly glass again!!!! 

Everyone spent the night at grandmas and grandpas the night before Easter....because of the house remodel so things were a little different..the girls were able to make the resurection cookies at our home-school co-op this year so that was great!  After going to church on Sunday morning, the girls and Martin and I came home to a nice Easter lunch at grandma's and everyone went through their Easter baskets.  They were so cute this year!  I found these at World Market. The girls usually get a small amount of candy and some fun things in their basket.  We dyed three dozen Easter afternoon and had fun hiding them for a few days.  This year they get the Velveteen Rabbit DVD, a new set of resurection eggs, some Easter egg wraps, markers, colors, pencils, and some lip gloss....and some veggie tale seeds to plant in our garden.

I will add some of the Easter activites we do and the Easter books we read later...

Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time.  ~Laura Ingalls Wilder

I saw Mama kissing Santa Clause....As a child, I loved Christmas Eve, Christmas and actually, the whole month of December! I have always loved the holidays so much!  We always went to church on Christmas Eve for a Christmas candle lit service with beautiful Christmas Carols and communion.  I especially always loved to hear the song "O Holy Night" sung.  I even had it sung at my wedding.  After church, we would come home and mom would have a prepared a great Christmas Eve appetizer meal and we would put out cookies and milk for Santa and go to bed anticipating the next morning.  Christmas morning was always so exciting as we would run to the tree and see what Santa had brought!  All the Santa gifts were unwrapped and just waiting for us in our own "piles".  Our stockings were full of fireworks, bathroom supplies, and oranges, apples, nuts, tangerines, and always a pineapple!  All four of my grandparents would arrive early in the morning with all sorts of cakes, candies, and cookies.  Christmas is full of special memories for me.

We have very similar traditions in our family now.  We usually go to church on Christmas Eve and then ride and look at lights.  All through the month we have focused on the coming of Christ.  We usually put our nativity out on Christmas Eve and place white paper sack luminaries in the front yard which represents the welcoming of Christ.  We do put out gifts in the morning from Santa...tjust like how it was when I was a little girl ... little piles for each girl and one for mom and dad!  The stockings are filled with fruit and nuts, new toothbrushes etc...and one special gift like earrings.  The girls all know who "Santa" really is yet, it is still very fun.  Sometime in the month we have read books on the orginal St. Nicholas and done some of our own secret Santa ... ing...  ourselves....now it is special time for the girls everyone is very excited about the wonderful day and gifts from Santa and from Mom and Dad and grandparents and from eachother.  We have so many Christmas traditions....it makes the whole holiday period such a special time....and everyone is so thankful, for Jesus Christ, coming to earth fully God and fully man so He could then die for our sins and become the ultimate gift for us.

Our four beautiful daughters on Christmas morning....

CHRISTmas Eve we went out to a special neigborhood that decorates their houses with lights.  There were lots of people there and you could just walk through the neighborhood on the sidewalk.  It was so cheery and fun.  At the end of the street is a pastors house who has his backyard turned into a "Walk Through Bethlehem".  It was very nice with the whole Christmas story told in scriptures from the birth of Jesus to his reserection from the tomb.  It was marvelous.  We thanked them very much for such a ministry.  After that we headed home and ate our Christmas Eve dinner and drank eggnog.  We put our Nativity Scene in the front yard and lit about 50 lumanaries.  We had our "Happy Birthday Jesus" flag flying with a light on it...and we think the yard looked wonderful and pointed to the birth of Jesus. After lighting all the candles,  Daddy read the Christmas story from Luke and then the "Night Before Christmas".  Then we were all given a gift to open at once.  Yeah!  Our christmas gowns.  Everyone looked so Christmassy going to bed and the next day. 

Here are some pictures of our front yard and our entry to our home.

Lighting lumanaries....Throwing out some reindeer dust in the front yard...aka...oatmeal with bird seed and sugar crystals ... they made this one night while we were in MS with Nana and Papa and cousins....

Our "Happy Birthday Jesus" flag....

Our Christmas tree...always so fun to go out and get the Christmas tree for the year...this one was perfect...Thanks Dad!

Lighting the Nativity...

When I looked out at 3am our yard looked so quiet and peaceful with the nativity, the lumanaries still burning and the Happy Birthday Jesus flag waving in the air.  It was a beautiful Christmas Eve...

Bartholomew's Passage:  A Family Story for Advent .... Arnold Ytreeide

One Wintry Night ....Ruth Bell Graham

The Gift ... Jan Haley

The Steadfast Tin Soldier ... Hans Christian Anderson

The Legend of St. Nicholas ...A Story of Christmas Giving...Dandi Daley Mackall

The Crippled Lamb ... Max Lucado

The Legend of the Christmas Tree ...The Inspirational Story of A Treasured Tradition .... Rick Osborne

The 12 Days of Christmas...The Story Behind a Favorite Christmas Song...Helen Haidle

Who Was Born This Special Day... Eve Bunting

Elsie's Christmas Party .... A Life of Faith ... How to Plan, Prepare and Host an Old-Fashioned Christmas Party

The Night Before Christmas ... Clement C. Moore

Santa Are You For Real?...Harold Myra

The Gift of the Magi ... O. Henry

The Very First CHRISTmas...Paul L. Maier

Josie's Gift .... Kathleen Long Bostron

Santa and the Christ Child ... Nicholas Bakewell

Polar Express....Chris Van Allsburg

My Christmas Collection... Three Favorite Stories..The Legend of the Three Trees, Santa, Are You For Real? and The Tiny Star

The Legend of the Christmas Stocking ... Rick Osborne

We Believe in Christmas...Karen Kingsbury

Saint Nicholas...The Real Story of the Christmas Legend..Julie Stiegemeyer

What Can I give Jesus ... A Christmas Message for all Ages...Cheryl Kirking

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at co-op this year.  Everyone brought a lovely dish and we had a long table filled with all the great Thanksgiving food and the trimmings.  This year the girls dressed up as Pilgrims.  They looked so cute!  Grandpa and big sissy were able to join us for dinner.

Afterwards the girls performed their worship dance they had been practicing for the past two months.  It was very lovely.  It was to the song ... This is the Air I Breathe... Thanks to Miss Donna and Miss Patty for teaching the class.

We have one daughter whose dress is itching and she does not want to be taking pictures!   hmmmmmmm....

Today we celebrated Grandparents Day after church.  It turned out really fun and nice.  The girls made this strawberry trifle. Yummy!  It was two angel foods cut up in bite size pieces.  Layered with vanilla pudding, fresh strawberries and raspberries, and then topped with Cool Whip! 

We also had roasted  lemon rosemary chicken with roasted onions, garlic, artichoke hearts, and mushrooms and green beans and whole wheat french bread.

The girls made cards, pictures and certificates for their grandparents.  We also had some family tree forms for the girls to fill out to with their grandparents and hear some family history and some of their heritage. 

My parents and my granddaddy live out of state and so for them we sent e-cards today and the girls are making special gifts including books and placemats!  The books we found were from www.enchantedlearning.com (search under grandparents)  Here is a description of the books:  A short book for early readers with phrases to finish, questions to answer, and pictures to draw.  We will be going to visit them soon and we are planning to do a grandparents lapbook when we are there.  I found it at www.currclick.com and it is listed under "Grandparents Interview Package".  Also, my mom is planning on doing the Sugar N' Spice unit study by Marmee Dear and Company with the girls when we go "home" over the holidays.  I am so excited about his unit study with Nana!http://www.theoldschoolhousestore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1269  

We also will be reading about grandparents this month.  We are reading Through Grandpas Eyes by Patricia MccLahlan and Song and Dance Man by Karen Ackerman.

The website for the official Grandparents day is found at: www.grandparents-day.com .

Here is the site where we got most of our ideas for activities:

http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson136.shtml

We also enjoyed Annie's Grandparents Day page at www.annieshomepage.com and we found the ecards at www.akidsheart.com .

But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon those that fear Him, and His righteousness unto children's children.  Psalm 103:17.

Children's children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers.  Proverbs 17:6

 Happy Grandparents Day!