He is Risen...

"He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay."
~Matthew 28:6

Happy Easter!
He is Risen!!

it's friday...

“It’s Friday. The disciples are hiding and Peter’s denying that he knows the Lord … but Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. Jesus is arrested in the garden where He was praying … but Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. Jesus is standing before the high priest of Israel, silent as a lamb before the slaughter … but Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. Jesus is beaten, mocked, and spit upon … but Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. Those Roman soldiers are flogging our Lord with a leather scourge that has bits of bones and glass and metal ripping his flesh … but Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. The Son of man stands firm as they press the crown of thorns down into his brow … but Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. See Him walking to Calvary, the blood dripping from His body. See the cross crashing down on His back as He stumbles beneath the load. It’s Friday … but Sunday’s  coming.

It’s Friday. See those Roman soldiers driving the nails into the feet and hands of my Lord. Hear my Jesus cry, “Father, forgive them.” It’s Friday … but Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. Jesus is hanging on the cross, bloody and dying … but Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. The sky grows dark, the earth begins to tremble, and He who knew no sin became sin for us. Most Holy God, who will not abide with sin, pours out His wrath on that perfect sacrificial lamb who cries out, “My God, My God. Why hast thou forsaken me?” But Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. And at the moment of Jesus’ death, the veil of the Temple that separates sinful man from Holy God was torn from the top to the bottom … but Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. Jesus is hanging on the cross, heaven is weeping and hell is partying. But that’s because it’s Friday, and they don’t know it, but Sunday’s coming!”

(from a sermon by tony campolo)

"But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed."

Isaiah 53:5

spring and easter activities...

a few more activities for the preschool crowd today! don't forget to check out the other posts in this series for more crafting fun and free printables!

CLICK HERE FOR DAY ONE - dot-to-dot bunnies, hunting for letters, and scrap paper eggs.

CLICK HERE FOR DAY TWO - m&mgraph, spring memory, and bird's nest recipe. 

CLICK HERE FOR DAY THREE - free printables for teacher/classmate gifts, ABC eggs, and marshmallow print bunnies.

today's first activity features plastic eggs. we love doing activities and crafts with these, because they are SO cheap and easy to find in stores. in years past, i've bought them after easter and they were so greatly discounted they were practically free! this activity was fun for both girls although laney was more into just shaking the eggs - which is fine - it's still working on her awareness of objects and sounds around her.  libbi did a great job of matching the sounds and it was fun to see what she THOUGHT was in the eggs before i showed her the key. ;)

Sound Eggs:

 

Some-Bunny Prints (make great cards for family members!)

the girls loved making handprints and decorating the bunnies. i happened to have some buttons in the craft closet so we used those for eyes and noses, but you could really use just about anything! or have your use crayons/markers to make the face on the bunny. libbi was able to draw the mouth on her bunny and help glue down the additional features, but i had to assist laney. and of course, we had to add bows to our bunnies! ;-)

finally here are a few more activities that we've tried and/or plan on attempting in the next few days. let me know if you have any questions, comments or suggestions! i hope you've enjoyed the spring and easter activities for the preschool crowd as much as we have!! 

toddler crafts and {free} easter printables...

so....i slacked off a little on my easter craft posting, but hopefully this post will make up for it. see also: lots of free printables ;-)

(Links for printables at the bottom of this post....)

the first activity featured today is:

ABC eggs...and more!

(link to printable at the bottom of this post)

 

 

next up is an activity using one of my favorite materials.... marshmallows! they're cheap and easy to work with, plus they smell good. ;-)

marshmallow print bunnies:

and finally for today, a sweet treat for friends! i put this in with the "preschool activities" because your child can help you put these treats together OR you can make them for your littlest loved ones. we made some for preschool friends, neighbors, and sunday school teachers. FREE PRINTABLES at the bottom of this post!

first up, bunny tails (aka marshmallows). there are two different labels that can be used. they are made to fit over a sandwich sized ziploc bag. (i just stapled mine on each side). once you print out the labels (there are 3 to a page) you fold it in half, sandwich the bag in between the label, and attach! easy as pie! we made a few with the "bunny tails" label and a few with the "special treat..." label. we also alternated between jumbo sized and mini marshmallows. both work fabulously! as you can see in the picture, libbi signed her name on the back of label so her little friends will know who the bunny tails are from.

these are a fun treat for any age! 

i also made some printable labels that we used on her teacher gifts. 

there's a "generic tweet easter" 

a "girly tweet easter" 

and a "hoppy easter"

these labels are 2inch circles that have 12 per page. i printed mine on cardstock and cut them out. sometimes i print them on adhesive sheets and use my round and/or scallop 2inch punch to cut them out and use as stickers. the possibilities are endless!

one final (FREE!) printable is the "happy easter peeps" snack bag label. these are much like the bunny tail labels in that they're made to attach to a sandwich/snack size ziploc bag. you can fill the bag with a few peeps and ta-da! a perfect treat for sweet peeps :) 

i hope you enjoy these activities and printables. as always, feel free to use and share as you please, but remember they are for personal use only!

tomorrow will be the last day of spring activity posts...lots of fun ideas coming your way!! :)

LINKS:

ABC EGGS

BUNNY TAILS VERSION ONE

BUNNY TAILS VERSION TWO

HAPPY EASTER PEEPS

TWEET EASTER LABELS

TWEET EASTER GIRL LABELS

HOPPY EASTER LABELS

tiny dancer...

libbi had her last day of winter session ballet/gymnastics on thursday. they did a little "exhibition" to show off all their skills for the parents. it was just about the cutest thing i've ever seen in my life. i apologize in advance for all the pictures, but there's just something about my precious girl dancing her heart out and tumbling without a care in the world that makes me get a little camera happy.... so, i'm sorry for the picture overload (but not really) ;-)

see what i mean? total cuteness.

this one just kills me. i'm sorry libbi, but i couldn't resist. bless her heart with her little skirt tucked up in the back ;)

i'm no ballerina, but i'm pretty sure the karate kid move is not a ballet skill....but she sure looks graceful doing it. :)

a few more of her signature moves...

receiving her "ballet ribbon" 

and lest you worry that sister wasn't there....never fear. she was quietly lurking in the background just waiting for her moment to shine. as soon as libbi and her class lined up to head out to the gym for the gymnastics portion of her lesson, laney jumped right up and said, "MY TURN!" 

we made our way to the gym and it was like christmas morning for laney. i usually spend the majority of our hour at ballet/gymnastics keeping her OUT of the gym. now that she was actually allowed to go in, she didn't even know what to do with herself.... so she just copied libbi. ;)

see libbi run. see laney run.

see libbi jump. see laney jump.

once libbi and her class made their way over to the bars, laney began to venture out a little...

 she slowly made her way out onto the mats, keeping a close eye on the audience; daring someone to stop her.

and you know what they say, "give 'em an inch and they'll take a mile." 

truer words were never spoken. 

libbi was awarded her gymnastics ribbon and we were SO proud of all her hard work! she loves gymnastics and ballet and we love watching her learn and seeing her experience a sense of accomplishment. 

and while we were clapping and congratulating libbi on a job well done, there was one small person that decided to to capitalize on her brief moments of freedom...

can you blame her? :) 

even though she was otherwise occupied, i know she is just as proud of her big sister as we are! we love our tiny dancer! 

**you can find her precious ballerina clip (and many others!) at polkadot posies. they're offering 13% off your purchase with the code bliss13 from now until 3/23**

spring crafts & free printables...

today's activities feature two of my favorite things... free stuff and food! :) 

what could be better than that?! ;-)

if you missed yesterday's post featuring a dot-to-dot bunny, scrap paper egg, and an educational egg hunt, click HERE for all the details.

now, on to today's projects...

first up, an m&m graph! my girls love, and i mean loooooove m&m's. i think laney would live off of them if we let her. and i'm pretty sure she thinks it's borderline abusive that we don't allow her to have m&m's as a meal. ;)

anyway, the m&m graph uses m&m's to help teach math skills. of course, you will probably want to make sure you have some extras on hand.... learning can work up quite the appetite! 

Easter M&M Graph (FREE printable at the bottom of this post):

(link to graph printable at bottom of post)

Easter/Spring Memory and Patterns: (FREE printable at the bottom of this post)

libbi loves playing "memory"... she doesn't love playing by the rules - ha! but she still loves playing just the same. these memory cards are a great way to reinforce following directions and to work on recall skills. we also used these cards to work on making patterns. some of them we glued down to another piece of paper, others we just practiced making on the floor over and over (and over and over....). this activity was a little advanced for laney, but the cards were a great way to work on her vocabulary. she enjoys saying "egg" (she says, "A-gg") and "bunny" every time she sees a picture of one. 

 

(link to FREE printable at the bottom of this post)

Bird's Nest Recipe (FREE printable at the bottom of this post):

the final activity in today's post is a fun recipe! libbi enjoys helping me in the kitchen; laney just enjoys the fruits of our labors. ;-)

this is an easy recipe that is perfect for little helpers!

PRINTABLE LINKS: (click on the text to open link)

M&M GRAPH

EASTER MEMORY

RECIPE CARDS

as always, feel free to email me if you have any comments or suggestions. and please let me know if you have any trouble with the links! 

tomorrow's post will feature a few more fun and educational projects for the preschool crowd! 

easter and spring for the preschool crowd...

i'm so excited to share some of the fun things we've been up to! you may have read yesterday's post where i explained that this week would be dedicated to spring and easter activities for the preschool crowd OR maybe you just stumbled upon the blog today and have no idea what i'm talking about! :) 

if so, click HERE for the details on this week's lineup. 

now, let's get started, shall we? 

DOT-TO-DOT BUNNY:

if your kids are anything like mine, they love glue. and they love marshmallows. actually, libbi loves marshmallows AND glue. laney just prefers glue. ;-)

making the dot-to-dot bunny combined both of these things and my girls were in heaven! i just freehanded the outline of a bunny onto a piece of construction paper, but i'm sure you could find some clip art on line if you didn't feel comfortable drawing your own. my bunnies weren't perfect (in fact, at one point, libbi asked my why i was drawing cats) but hey, they got the job done. 

Scrap Paper Egg:

this was a pretty simple activity that didn't require much preparation or clean-up (sounds good to me!) i had some old scrapbook paper in my craft closet, but you could use any type of paper for this - even solid colors! 

apparently we do our best crafting in our jammies ;-)

Hunting For Letters: 

this activity has two different versions and many extensions and/or modifications if you so choose. libbi (3.5yrs old) was able to do all of them and enjoyed even the "simple" version that i created for laney. laney was mostly able to follow the directions for version 2 of hunting for letters with a bit of assistance. 

Hunting for Letters...version 1 is the more advanced activity. 

Hunting for Letters...version 2 is the modified activity for younger children or those that may need more assistance. 

an example of eggs from "version 1"

an example of a collection from "version 1." libbi drew the egg labeled "blue" so she found all blue things to collect in her basket. 

examples of "version 1" collections (right) and "version 2" collections  (left)
libbi chose the letter "P" so she collected mrs Pots, a Potato, a Plate, a slice of Pie, and a Pot.
laney chose the color green so she found all the eggs labeled "green"

examples of eggs from "version 2"

hope you enjoyed day one of spring activities for the preschool crowd! please feel free to email me if you have any comments, questions, or suggestions! come back to tomorrow to see what else we've been working on. happy tuesday friends and happy crafting! :) 

*don't forget to order your easter placemats...click HERE for all the details.

and TODAY is the last day to enter to win the $50 minted giveaway. click HERE to enter!!