Peepy Science

In an attempt to rid our house of excess sugar (aka Easter candy) I hastily threw together some Peeps-themed science experiments.  I love how dual-purposed homeschool activities can be!

Get rid of sugar - check.
Introduce basic science concepts - checkity check. 

Using these websites as my inspiration (peepsresearch and geekmom), I set up the following simple experiments with the kids.

1. Soaked a peep in water to see if it would dissolve
2. Melted a peep in the microwave (watch closely or it will explode! ours lasted about 30 seconds)
3. Cooked peeps on the stove (the melted results of which I mixed with butter and rice krispies to make peeps krispie treats)
4. Lit a peep on fire

Peeps are really just marshmallows with coated with dyed-sugar.  And marshmallows are pure sugar.  So these experiments are more about sugar than anything else.  


I also remembered quickly as I started explaining the properties of sugar to the kids that they are still only 5 and 3. They just need to know that sugar gives a burst of energy and then crashes (visually displayed in the peep-lighting-on-fire experiment).  It was an excellent visual for making the case to less sugar intake and more protein intake in a stable diet.

We had the most fun watching the peep grow and almost explode in the microwave.  You've gotta try that!  Just take care not to let the peep explode.  Unless you enjoy scraping off dried hardened marshmallow that is. 

I experienced that first hand -- not on the microwave walls but on the sides of my pot.  In melting the peeps on the stove top I neglected to watch them carefully and went off to do something else.  The peeps burned creating not only an awful smell but a horrible dried layer of marshmallow goo.  :(  Thankfully boiling water did the trick to remove the crusty burned peep remains.  And I had 1/2 a bag of marshmallows in the cupboard to throw into our peeps krispies treats in place of the charred mess. 

I'm not an eater of peeps.  Way too sweet for my palate.  But I certainly enjoy the cuteness and mystique surrounding peeps candy.  Have you seen the Washington Post's annual Peeps diorama contest?  Hilarious!

God's Wonderful Surprise

In preparation for tomorrow's big celebration, check out this fabulous video based on the Jesus' Storybook Bible's rendition of Jesus' resurrection. It's a captivating and encouraging little video -- what power our God has!

God's Wonderful Surprise

Preparing for Easter

Easter is coming alive in our household this year!

We made an Easter mountain again this year following Noel Piper's instructions. The kiddos painted it, we found sticks and a tomb-closing rock in the yard, Chloe dug up some toy pirates to be the guarding soldiers and I fashioned disciples out of pipe cleaners. We've acted out the events of Easter week several times now and it's brought the story to life!

Tuesday evening we observed a very simple passover. Very simple. I'm talking wheat pita bread and cups of grape juice here. The kids ate while I read a short account of Jesus' celebration of the passover with his disciples in the upper room. Then Matt and Chloe used various blocks to build an upper room for our pipe cleaner people.

Though our homemade visual aids have been almost silly in their simplicity, I know through our kids' eyes the immense truths of Easter are becoming slightly more comprehensible. And these family traditions we're creating are not only enjoyable but invaluable as we plant seeds of faith and truth.

This year we added another element to our Easter preparations. We made an "I'm Sorry" box using Ann Voskamp's idea which she posted over at A Holy Experience. Each time one of us does something worthy of saying "I'm Sorry" we write it down on a slip of paper and insert it into the box.

I envisioned this exercise as a helpful one for Chloe. Most times she is truly a sweet sweet girl and we often praise her for her good behavior. I thought this box would be a much-needed reminder to Chloe of her short-comings and need for a Savior. But in the process, God showed ME my own faults. Pride, impatience, anger, and lack of compassion reared their heads as I wrote out my own "I'm Sorry" slips. As a mom, it's ridiculously easy to identify the mistakes in my children and to correct them forgetting that I'm just as faulty.

Of course the crowning lesson will come on Easter morning. That's when we toss the box full of our mistakes into the garbage can symbolizing Jesus' complete forgiveness and washing away of our sins. Hallelujah!

"I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, And I will not remember your sins."
(Isaiah 43:25)

Since Chloe loves to sing with me (and I realize music is a stellar way to teach) we've been learning a hymn together for Easter. She and I sing it together most nights together before bed. The Power of the Cross, written by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend, is vivid with imagery in its telling of Jesus' death and implications.

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And what holiday would be complete without sugar cookies?

The princess girly-girl in me thrives on the extra-special pageantry involved in preparation for Easter Sunday morning at church. Unfortunately, we can't afford to go dress-shopping for a big foo-foo Easter dress. Instead I've taken to making Chloe a new dress each year for Easter.

And this year CLIVE gets a matching tie. We'll see how long he keeps it on . . .

And yes, I realize I'm a huge cheesy nerd for forcing my kids to wear matching outfits.

If you're still with me after that monstrously long post, answer me an Easter-y question. What family Easter traditions do you have and/or how do you make Easter meaningful?

We made it!

Whew! Today was quite a busy day for our little family. Believe it or not I only got two photos of our adorable Easter-dudded darlings this morning. (Don't worry ma, I'm going to dress them up again and do an Easter reshoot.) Both the kids looked extra sweet this morning and the nursery workers uttered a unified "Awwww" when they saw Clive in his blue striped tie and pants.

As we scrambled to get out the door this morning on time I thought to myself, "No biggie. I can snap their pictures after church." No way that was happening! Our church was bursting at the seams today and we made a mad dash for the car after picking Clive up from nursery.

The title of this post refers to our endeavors with Chloe in church this morning. I expected our church worship service to be exceptional this morning as they planned a full orchestra, choir, and special soloists (the Gettys) to celebrate Resurrection Sunday. I REALLY wanted Chloe to experience the special music so we let her sit in the service with us. I prepped her with what to expect and we even practiced the Getty Easter hymn See, What a Morning for the past two weeks so she would be able to sing along. Chloe did fine through the singing and even the first 20 minutes of preaching. Then she got restless. But she made it through!

How many of you keep your kids with you through the service?

Our pastor did a great job this morning addressing the evidence of the resurrection of Jesus. He pointed out that there is an abundance of historical, rational and empirical evidence showing that Jesus did indeed rise from the dead. But, our pastor noted, the radical change in the disciples' lives affirm that Jesus was truly who He claimed to be. They began as confused cowards and became bold proclaimers of Jesus. (Pastor Begg said it way better than I'm summarizing here and honestly I didn't hear that much since I was focused on keeping Chloe occupied and quiet.)

I invite you to listen to our service this morning via this link. The music was stirring and the atmosphere was joyful as we celebrated the hope we have in Jesus!

A happy happy Easter to all of you!

Egg-stravaganza

I got a bit snap-happy today as the kids hunted for Easter eggs. There's just something indescribably adorable about little ones discovering eggs and I delightfully strove to capture their cuteness on camera.

After a yummy breakfast of pancakes (you have GOT to try this overnight pancake recipe), sausage, and fruit Matt sneaked outside to hide eggs in our yard. Matt excels at hiding things creatively and did a smashing job making the kids really search for their eggs.

As in everything Chloe and Clive approach things from completely different perspectives. At first Clive excitedly grabbed the eggs and put them in his purple basket. After three eggs, that got old. He then decided the eggs looked very much like balls and wanted to be thrown. And then he stepped on his eggs. What a BOY.

Chloe enthusiastically galloped around the yard looking and snatching up eggs. She ran as fast her little legs could carry her towards egg after egg. Apparently she was too excited to notice that she wasn't competing with anyone else for the treasured eggs. :)

The cutest part was when she found the one egg I had purposely left empty. We've been listening to the cd A Very Veggie Easter all week and doing lots of other Easter teaching activities so she knows exactly what that empty egg signifies. She opened it and cried out, "Mommy, look! He is not here, he has risen!"

Then after lunch Chloe and I ventured out to our city's annual Easter egg hunt at a local park. What mayhem! I've never been to a community egg hunt before and though it was well organized the zillions of kids present made me dizzy. Thankfully there was a fantastic (if not crowded) playground nearby where we could play a bit before the egg hunt began.

So misleading to call it an egg hunt. More like an egg free-for-all. They split up the age groups by year and then drew a large circle in an open field. When the announcer said go, the three year olds all clamored inside the circle to pick up the goodies. In a matter of seconds all the Easter loot was collected by grabby preschoolers. Surprisingly, no one was injured and Chloe gathered a good haul of candy.

Because of the egg-stra excitement today and added sugar intake Chloe didn't nap this afternoon. And this mama is TIRED out. I'm off to bed early so I can be prepared for the big celebration tomorrow. Don't want to be left with egg on my face. I'm no spring chicken you know. :)

(Sorry, the more tired I get the funnier dumb puns seem to be.)