Telling the Easter Story to Children

Today in children's church they discussed the last supper. There was an actual crown of thorns in a glass display at the welcome desk at church. Morgan calls it the crown with the pokies.  We talked about how the people made Jesus wear it because they were making fun of him and that they did not believe that he is our king. We have gone over the Easter story and the boys just watched a video called The Awesome Story of Jesus. Ok, and get ready to cry... the pic above is Gabriel and Morgan pretending to the be the cross and Jesus. I didn't realize how difficult this is to explain to children. In a nutshell they have been told that Jesus died and came back to life so that our sins can be forgiven and we get to be in Heaven with God. Jesus is alive today. Sin was explained as when we do bad things like be mean or lie. But, that God forgave/forgives us and that is what Easter is all about.


I'm hauling out all of the children's Bibles and we are looking at the different pictures and stories that relate to Easter. The kids really side tracked me when they started talking about our dog Bali that died on Christmas. They kept asking me when Bali was going to come back to life. I told them that Bali is in Heaven with God.

Gabriel told me that he thinks that "Jesus is cool". I was really worried about explaining this to them because I didn't want them to be scared. But, they really like the story and there was A LOT of emphasis on the fact that Jesus came back to life. I also know that they will be discussing the story at children's church during the service. So, I wanted to go over it with them before Sunday.


We have about 10 different children's Bibles.  Here are our three newest ones and they are our favorites for the four year age range. 

This one is both Morgan and Gabriel's favorite. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0781444039 It has pictures like icons inserted in the text and the adult points to the picture so the child is actually reading alongside the adult.  The kids think that it's a lot of fun and remember the stories.  Thanks Allison for turning me on to this book.

The Jesus Storybook Bible is good because it isn't just a random collection of stories.  It ties every story to Jesus.

My ABC Bible Verses is great because it focuses on character traits.  It also teaches the ABC's by starting with a verse, followed by a modern story about a child's dilemma.  Then, it has a follow up question section and a short prayer.  Each section is a two page spread.  So, it's a really easy add on to story time at night since it's so quick.

Good luck to everyone looking to explain the heavy issues to sweet young minds!  And, happy Easter to everyone!

Sounds from the Bathroom

So, my child is afraid of Pinocchio.  Or "Nokio" as Morgan puts it.  But, it's not this one.  Nope.
It's this creeptastic little number that my unknowing yet good intentioned husband let my sweet baby watch.  So, now Morgan is scared of all puppets with "Nokio" being the scariest of all.


Here's what I heard coming from the bathroom this afternoon.
Morgan (while sitting on the toilet... pooping): Andres, if you see a puppet in here you kill him and punch him in the belly and flush him down!
Andres: ohhhhhhhh!
Sound of potty flushing

Morgan: Bye puppet!
Andres: Bye puppet!
Morgan: I need some privacy!

Trying to Wear Out the Kids

We’ve been to a lot of fun stuff over the past month.  I need to remember to take more photos.  I got a new phone.  RIP old phone.  And, it has a ton of complicated photo settings.  Hillary, I need your photographic expertise!

Joshia turned four.  His birthday cake was nothing short of amazing.  Jeff made the whole thing from scratch.  He made EVERYTHING including the netting, fish and rocks.  It was a pirate themed party and the boys found buried treasure in the sandbox.

This happens twice a year.  I drag everything out of Morgan’s closet and it’s out with the old and in with the new.  I lucked out this year.  Almost all of his shorts from last year will work for this year.  I guess those diapers really take up a lot of space!

Andres is huge reader.  This is from one afternoon when he didn’t want to go down for a nap.  He didn’t complain about it.  He just wanted a zillion books in the bed with him.  Sweet baby.

We spent a morning at Allison Leonard’s house.  She is so on the ball with her educational games.  The children are all playing a listening game.  Andres can barely see above the table.  But, he wanted to be included.

We took Clifford Bustard Woo Woo Cox to the dog wash.

Clifford (Morgan’s name choice) Bustard (Gabriel’s name choice translated by Morgan.  It’s supposed to be Buster) Woo Woo (Andres name choice)

Did I mention this is a girl dog?  She already about 15 pounds heavier than in this picture.

I think that this is the morning that Melani Broomfield brought her kiddos over for a playdate.  The boys are cuddling.

The boys all love story time at the library.

Then we stopped by the pet store to spend YET MORE MONEY on Clifford Bustard Woo Woo Cox.

This is what happens when you are trying to housebreak a dog.  I guess it makes sense to Morgan!

Morgan had his four year old checkup at the doctor.   Look how chilled he looks… like a little man.  He is in the 75%-90% at 41.75” and in the 50%-75% at 31.1 lb.  He’s long and lean!  He did great the whole appointment.  It helped that his friends were there.  The nurse told him that the shots were super heroe shots to make him into a strong boy.  He cried.  It was sad and then the four of us got ice cream.  Ice cream seems to make a lot of things better.

The boys found a puddle in the park.  And of course I’m the “cool” mom.  I let them go at it and get totally covered in mud.

Notice how much bigger Clifford Bustard Woo Woo is.  You can’t see this.  But, I have her leash actually threaded through my belt loops and attached to me.  I don’t trust her to not knock down the kiddos.  She’s like Dino from the Flintstones!

Our church park finally has picnic tables and benches.  Yea!  I foresee many picnics there.  The kids all love this house.  They like to put each other in jail.

Today we went to Paradise Pond and then on to the Grapevine Botanical Gardens for a picnic.  Notice how Andres lined up all these cars.  He was loving it because he didn’t have to share for a long time.  The older boys were off in other parts of the play place.

Morgan said that this is what a policeman looks like.

Gabriel is a Texas knight.

The boys were pretty good at the rock wall.

This contraption is so cool.  It’s like a giant spider web.

Andres is pointing out the giant (like 2 feet) koi in the pond.

I just love pics of cute little backsides!

This is what happens when you tell a child to smile.

Awwweee…. brothers.

… and Morgan.

 

They ran off into the woods to pretend to hunt.

I couldn’t resist this pic.  The older boys told Andres that he wasn’t a Power Ranger.  I guess that is devastating to a 2 year old boy.

Here they are pretending to be Power Rangers.

This is a pic of a sweet dry baby before meeting up with the fountain.

Gabriel kept screaming, “I’m wet!”  But, he wanted to go in the fountain.  Ha!

Everyone road home in their underwear.  It’s been a great day.  The boys have already asked to go back to the spider web park before we even got home.