A Different Easter

A dear friend wrote this after erasing every activity from their family calendar.  Every activity and holiday, but Easter.  Easter can never be erased.  "He rose, He is risen, and He will come again.  That has not changed.  He has not changed.  And maybe He wants that for all of us during this time:  To watch our plans being stripped away until only He is left.  With room to ask Him to fill all the other days with ways He want to transform us into a blessing to share that eternal hope with others." - Ali

We are all missing the traditions from years past: the matching Easter dresses, the community Easter egg hunts, gathering with family for meals, even going to Target for Easter basket gifts.  But this Easter will be different, one that we will never forget.  It's ok to mourn the loss of the ordinary and expected, but to then turn the mourning into joy!  We have been given a gift of time, time to focus on the greatest story ever told!

Here are some links to ideas on how to celebrate this Easter season with joy!

If you are local and would like one of these Easter guides, I'd be glad to drop one off!

 - A Printable 15 Day Guide for Easter that we've used in years past

 - A Printable 2 day guide for this Thursday and Friday

 - Resurrection Eggs with a printable

 - Homemade Resurrection Rolls with a great explanation

 - Resurrection Rolls (with Pillsbury crescent rolls) 

Easter baskets may or may not be feasible or doable this year for some families, but if you're searching for online ideas, these are two of my favorite bloggers with great lists.

 - Preschool Easter Basket Ideas with Naptime Kitchen

 - Easter Basket Ideas for Outdoor Imaginations 

    with Over at Alicias

May your Easter be full of hope, full of joy, and full of expectation of what's to come!

Preparing for Christmas

The years that give us that extra week between Thanksgiving and Christmas are my favorite!  It's a week to prepare for the Christmas season.  Once December 1 arrives, the advents begin, the festivities fill our calendars, and sometimes Christmas just turns into chaos.  Silent and holy nights are few and far between.  But my prayer this year is for slower days, quieter nights, and a refocus on what's really important and why we celebrate Christmas in the first place.

As I look back over pictures of the past, the memories of little girls in matching pjs (which we might still do!), of giddy giggles opening our advent house doors each day, and family traditions that have changed a little each year, it all makes this mama heart ache and swell at the same time.  There have been peaceful years and truly chaotic years.  As I've thought more over this past month, "What should this year's Christmas look like?" much will stay the same, while some things will be different.  That sweet house with doors labeled 1-25 will be opened to reveal something simple for every day leading to the 25th (a Christmas activity or act of service).  This little house has been a blessing and curse over the years.  One year when I was determined to do an act of service with my girls every single day, I found myself yelling and frustrated because either their heart wasn't in it or I was hurrying to get something ready to give to someone "in need" with a fake smile and an exhausted heart.  But most years have brought so many sweet memories!

This year will have less filling our calendar.  Much of that is due to less extracurricular activities than in years past, but I want to take what's important to us and tweak it to hopefully work better.  As a homeschooling family, we have some flexibility to do this.  We began our school year early so we can intentionally take slower school days in December.  Lots of reading, crafting and baking!  We are trying a different family advent this year to continue to point our focus to Christ, and I'm really excited to do it along with our church family.  The first link below is the one we're using this year.

The Jesus Storybook Bible Advent Reading Plan

Unwrapping the Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp (another great Advent book that we've used for years)

Come Let Us Adore Him by Paul David Tripp

 

Now, none of this is intended to add guilt as I know we will miss days of reading as a family and there will be nights that I'll have to sneak the cards around inside our advent house to avoid Christmas shopping on a busy day and instead just watch a Christmas movie.  These ideas and links above and below are just resources to help,  not to hinder your Christmas season.  

Keep things simple!  If Cracker Barrel after a busy day of shopping is going to bring some calmness to your week, go for it!  If graham crackers and leftover halloween candy for "gingerbread houses" make for a nicer mama, then ditch the homemade gingerbread recipe.  Advent is a season of waiting for Christmas.  Waiting involves silently sitting sometimes.  

Below are several links to some great gift guides to hopefully help make even gift giving a little more peaceful this Christmas.  

A Gift Guide for the Homeschool

25 Gifts for Book Loving Kids (or Adults)

Dozens of Bookish Gifts for Kids

Several gift guides for kids (the explorer or inventor in your family)

The ultimate link! Stocking stuffers, gift guides for guys, traditional toys!
 

 Our fancy gingerbread houses (with Trader Joes gingerbread men to help)