amberdover

The High King Lives

Summer Crafts 2015 Part 2 August 19, 2015

In this post: Ocean crafts and study. Plus a shell study.

Hello dear ones, this Summer we used our crafts to decorate the homeschool room for the beginning of the year. We have a sea theme. So we got a head start. Here are pictures and you can find the links on my Pinterest at the end.

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Michael was given two big boxes of shells from my grandma and grandpa. He used them to decorate our homeschool room.

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He also made a shell notebook.

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He made necklaces as well and gave them to his buddies. Then Michael did a shell lapbook.

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Michael did an ocean animal lapbook. He checked out books on ocean animals from the library.

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I bought ocean paper and covered our school door and the area near the reading pool. I got the ocean creature cut outs from the Dollar Tree awhile back. I used bubble wrap to make the bubbles, and crepe paper for the seaweed.

IMG_2665 I stapled ribbon to shower caps to make the jelly fish. I hung blue and green crepe paper to make the room feel like it was under the sea. IMG_2668

Michael made these origami boats.

Leeland and I made this starfish with his feet.

The jelly fish are from Michael and Leeland’s hands.

IMG_2664 Michael made a crab, an oyster, and coral from egg cartons. I made coral from split pool noodles. IMG_2670

I drew the octopus and Michael splattered it with paint.

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Michael made a puffer fish using a fork (not pictured).

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We made socktopuses from socks.

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Michael and I put together this ocean diorama.

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We put foam stickers on the bottom of our flip flops and made these nifty prints. We hope to leave cool impressions in the sand when we go to the beach.

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God bless & remember the High King lives! ~ Amber Dover

PS: Michael’s Lego creation

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Fourth of July Crafts and Our Second Family Olympics 2015 July 17, 2015

Hello dear ones, I hope you are well. Two years ago we had our first Family Olympics. You can find the link here: https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2013/07/07/my-family-rocks-sunday-2013-family-olympics/

This year we spent Independence Day having our second Family Olympics. I also have July 4th crafts to share with you. Here we go :).

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We made 4th of July T-shirts.

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Michael and Chris tie dyed a red, white, and blue shirt.

 

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I used Leeland’s hand print and craft sticks to make this  U.S. flag onesie.

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Michael did a lapbook on the U.S. flag. Link here:

 

http://www.currclick.com/product/72074/United-States-Flag–Speedy-Lapbook

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Then Michael made me a red, white, and blue necklace out of beads.

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We also did a state lapbook. Link here: http://www.currclick.com/product/76669/United-States-Alabama–Speedy-Lapbook

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Then my mom came over for…
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Family Olympics

 

I really love this event and I can’t wait until the next one. We should really have winter Olympics as well. We began by making our personal flags to represent us in the games. IMG_2394

We used index cards to keep score. Here are the events:

    • Archery

Michael

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My Step Dad Kim

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Mom

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Chris

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Me

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Leeland

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    • Foam Sword fighting

Me and Mom~ This was fun, but a word to the wise…make sure you zip up the trampoline if you use it. When Michael and I were sword fighting he actually fell through the unzipped part of the trampoline screen. Thankfully he didn’t hit his head too hard. It was scary though.

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    • Airplane Toss

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    • Egg Race

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    • Sac Race

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Then just for fun:

    • Parachute games

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    • Michael’s 4th grade piano recital. He played The Star Spangled Banner and Amazing Grace.

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All of us won at least one medal, but Kim won the trophy.

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God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

More ideas:

 

 

Life with Baby: Baby School July 16, 2015

Hello dear ones! I’ve got another Life with Baby post for you. Don’t worry. I’m not trying to teach Leeland how to read already ;). Basically, there are different games you can do with babies to help their development and just to have fun. I get weekly updates from Baby Center: http://www.babycenter.com/baby . Anywho, they suggest games that go along with the baby’s development. They’re simple games like peek a boo and bicycling baby’s legs.

I set toys out. Leeland started grabbing things several weeks ago. So I offer him rattles and I attach chew-able items on connectable rings. I read baby books to him and I sing songs. I clap his hands together and play Patty Cake. I sing songs like Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, and He’s got the Whole World in His Hands.

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I put Leeland on his Boppy or a play mat for tummy time. He’s at the age where I can roll him back and forth to encourage rolling over. Anywho, this is normal baby play but I call it baby school because I have to remind myself to do these things. It’s been so long since I’ve had a little one. I wouldn’t have naturally thought to do some of these games. Here’s a good example: talking through a toilet paper tube in funny voices. I would’ve never thought of that on my own.

Oh, and we can’t forget nap time. That’s the best part of the day!
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Here are some more pics of “Baby School”:
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Don’t forget field trips!

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Big Bubba likes to read to the baby.

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Leeland likes talking to the baby in the mirror.

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How do you play with your infant? I’d love to hear your ideas in the comment section :). God bless and remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

More Life with Baby posts:

Cloth Diapers
https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2015/05/18/life-with-baby-cloth-diapers/

Breastfeeding and Baby Wearing

https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2015/07/01/life-with-baby-breastfeeding-baby-wearing/

Monthly Pictures

https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2015/07/08/life-with-baby-cuteness-overload/

Hacks

https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2015/07/23/life-with-baby-hacks/

Sleep

https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2015/08/11/life-with-baby-sleep-and-a-birth-shadow-box/

 

Catching Up with Michael July 8, 2015

Hello dear ones! I’m almost caught up on posts. So what has Michael been doing lately? My sweet 9 year old has had a busy summer so far. We’ve been catching up on school since our hiatus during pregnancy. The work has been light though. I’m working on another Summer bucket list. We’ve finally gotten out to volunteer again at the nursing home and feed the homeless. Here are some other things Michael’s been doing.

Riding his bike. Michael mastered his bike this year. I’m so proud of him.

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Swim lessons~ Michael can swim now but he still panics if he goes very far. So he stays in the shallow end. Maybe with more practice he will get better. Also we are able to go to pools for free now.

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Last Awanas Ceremony~ Michael recited two Bible verses and did really well despite his nerves.
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Karate

Michael’s bestie Liam had a martial arts party. We signed up for private lessons once a week. Michael has been in karate before but it was too big of a commitment financially and time wise. Plus Michael wasn’t mature enough then. Private lessons make it easier to keep with our schedule. The instructors are Christians and teach the kids respect and good morals. Michael’s really excited about learning again. Sadly, he has to start over with his belts, but maybe he will advance quickly.

Liam cutting his cake with a sword. Hannah is over to the right.

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Michael’s free first lesson

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Our homeschool group learned about nature at the Botanical Gardens.

Michael “eating” a tree cookie, and learning about the rings.

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Bird watching
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Then we had our End of the Year party, and the kids were given certificates from their moms.

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We took Leeland out to several places for the first time…like the museum.

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Kickball at the Church Picnic
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You saw Michael’s birthday party here: https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2015/03/28/michaels-spiderman-pajama-party/

Well, on his actual birthday we took him to Outback. It was his first time having the servers sing to him. He was really surprised.
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Playing Band Hero

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The park and spending time with Nana.
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Mailbox Club Bible lessons~ https://www.mailboxclub.org/index.php/lesson-signup-child

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Michael is adjusting really well to being a big brother. He helps me around the house and is very protective of Leeland. My compassionate lil buddy is growing up too fast. He’s starting fifth grade next year. It’ll be wild teaching fifth grade while keeping up with a busy baby. Somehow we’ll do it.

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Well, God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

PS: Check out some of Michael’s homeschool adventures: Start at these posts and follow the links to the rest in the series.

The Time Machine Unit (the 20th Century)~ Check out our homemade time machine 🙂

https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2013/01/08/a-late-crafty-monday-the-time-machine1900-1925/

Disney Countdown~ Weeks of Disney crafts, food, and fun

https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2013/06/10/crafty-monday-disney-countdownpinocchio-the-princess-and-the-frog/

Story of the World History~ Creation through the 1800’s

https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2013/08/27/crafty-monday-creation-the-flood-and-personality/

Pic of a kitten we found in our tree. She went to live in the country with my parents.

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James and the Giant Peach Study July 7, 2015

Hello dear ones! Michael did a study of the book James and the Giant Peach. Join me for a peachy craft and some Southern peach cobbler.

 

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Michael and I made this sun catcher using contact paper. I drew a peach and he filled it in with orange tissue paper and silhouettes from James and the Giant Peach. He made clouds from cotton balls. The birds are hanging strings.

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Michael also watched the movie. Now, here’s a recipe that we didn’t get a chance to make.

Southern Peach Cobbler

From the Odum Community Cookbook

by Jeanette Bass

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

1 cup self-rising flour

1 stick butter

1 can peaches (sliced with juice)

3/4 cup of milk

Melt butter in baking dish. Add sugar, milk, and peaches, mix well. Add flour and mix until well blended. Bake in 350 degree oven until top is golden brown. Serve with or without whipped cream; you can also sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

 

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Well, God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

 

My Family Rocks! Albany, Ga May 2015 July 1, 2015

Hello dear ones! My family took a trip to Albany, Ga and had a blast at the Flint River Aquarium, Ray Charles Plaza, and Turtle Park. We also saw Art Park and had ice cream at Cool Scoops. Albany has all the bells and whistles of a big city but with small town charm. Let me show you!

Albany

Albany is a hidden gem. We originally went for the Flint River Aquarium but when we got there we discovered a whole lot more. One day I hope to go back to fully explore the area. Here’s what we found:

The Flint River Aquarium~ We really enjoyed it here. It’s not as big as the Atlanta aquarium, but it’s not as crowded either. There was plenty to see and interact with.

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The Turtle Park~ A giant turtle, xylophones, and an awesome playground! What more could you ask for?

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The Art Park~ Art Park was sadly closed when we got there. We were able to look inside though. The park is a groovy place where graffiti is legal. Seriously, they encourage you to spray paint the walls! There’s some great works of art in the park. I can’t wait to go back to explore and to add my own painting.

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Ray Charles Plaza~ This memorial to the late Ray Charles is brilliant. It’s a fountain with his statue on top. You can hear Ray’s greatest tunes coming from the speaker. Piano keys surround him and there’s also raised keys on the sidewalk. It’s like walking on a giant piano! You can sit on an eighth note, and there’s a mural of the treble clef. Every musician should see this place!

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Cool Scoops~ Not far from all of this is a nifty little ice cream shop. The service is great and the people are super friendly.

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Have you ever been to Albany? What’s your favorite attraction? God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

 

White House Study

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Hello dear ones! Michael learned about the White House recently. Here’s a craft and lapbook for you. This would be a good study for Independence Day in the U.S.

First Michael did this short lapbook and learned facts about the White House.
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Link here:

http://www.currclick.com/product/72577/The-White-House–Speedy-Lapbook
Then he and I made the White House out of craft sticks.

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Inspiration here:

God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

 

Pentecost & Bike Safety June 23, 2015

Hello dear ones! We made a special dove painting for Pentecost this year. I’ve also got pictures from the Bike safety class our homeschool group did with the Columbus cops. Enjoy.

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• Pentecost Dove Painting ~ I was inspired by this similar painting on Pinterest:

Michael painted a sunset on canvas. Then we modge podged a dove silhouette, a Bible verse about the Holy Spirit, and words about the Holy Spirit on top.

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Pentecost in the New Testament is the time when the Holy Spirit came to live inside Jesus’ believers. Sometimes the Spirit is represented by a dove. He is our comforter, counselor, and healer. This was a special time because in the past only a select few had the Spirit visit them. No one had the Holy Spirit live inside them permanently until Pentecost.

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• Bike Safety~ One of our homeschool moms is married to a park cop. He rides a bike through the parks. So her husband and his buddies visited our group and gave a bike safety course. It was great.

The guys showed the kids the proper way to wear a helmet. One cop demonstrated what happens when you don’t wear a helmet and get in an accident. He used a cantaloupe to show this. We have Crazy Carl who doesn’t wear his helmet and gets smashed all over the floor. Then we have Careful Carla who always wears her helmet. She does fine in an accident.

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Then the kids watched a video on bike safety. They learned hand signals for riding in traffic. Michael volunteered to come up and show the signals he learned.

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Lastly, the kids got to hear the sirens on the cop car.

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Leeland hanging out.

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Well, that’s it. God bless and remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

 

St. Patty’s Day 2015 March 28, 2015

In this post: St. Patty’s food, scavenger hunt, decor, lapbook, and craft. 

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Hello dear ones! Here’s how we celebrated Saint Patrick’s day this year.

  • As you can see from above, we brought out our usual St. Patty’s decor. I let Michael set things up because I felt like I was going into labor that day (false alarm). You can see our family leprechaun and trap. We had Lucky Charms ready for breakfast, a book about St. Patty’s story, and this year an indepth St. Patrick’s Day lapbook.

You can find the lapbook here:http://www.currclick.com/product/1055/Saint-Patricks-Day-Lapbook

It has Catholic principles in it. We are not Catholic but we had an interesting conversation about praying to saints etc and what a Biblical saint is compared to the process of becoming a Catholic saint. As protestants, we don’t believe in praying to saints or talking to them at all. Also, we believe all Christians are saints and in the process of being sanctified. Anywho, the lapbook had great info about Ireland and we even learned some Gaelic. We talked about the symbols of St. Patty’s and how it’s celebrated in different places.

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Even the dogs got festive! Here’s Annabelle :).

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  • Michael made this rainbow chain with a pot of gold at the end.

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  • That morning, Michael had a St. Patty’s placemat with activities on it. I got this free printable from: http://www.thedatingdivas.com/holidays/st-patricks-day/top-of-the-morning-to-you-printable-placemats/

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  • Chris and Michael did this St. Patty’s Scavenger hunt that I got from The Dating Divas. I set up clues around the house. Each clue bag had an activity that had to be completed before they could move on to the next clue. They were simple but fun. Examples: Don’t Eat Pete (leprechaun version with Skittles), figure out your leprechaun name, and find all the gold pieces.

Scavenger hunt printables here: http://www.thedatingdivas.com/holidays/st-patricks-day/st-pattys-scavenger-hunt/

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  • Lastly, we ate our traditional Irish foods: Irish stew (beef instead of lamb) and Irish Soda Bread. Chris made the stew while Michael and I baked the bread. This has to be my favorite bread.

Recipes here: http://pocketchangegourmet.com/irish-soda-bread-recipe/

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/irish-lamb-stew/detail.aspx

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And I leave you with my 36 weeks pics (I’m actually about 38 weeks prego now. We’re praying that the baby comes soon though because he’s already bigger than Michael was at birth).

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God bless & remember the High King Lives! ~Amber Dover

St. Patty’s on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/doverette/st-patrick-s-day/

St. Patty’s past on my blog:

Trinity lesson/craft & big party with tons of Irish recipes~

https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2013/03/11/crafty-monday-st-patricks-day-celebration-with-the-homeschool-group/

String maze, Shamrock punch, & peg dolls~

https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2012/03/17/happy-st-patricks-day/

Leprechaun trap & t-shirt art~

https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2013/03/19/crafty-monday-prepping-for-st-pattys-easter-brazil-country-study/

St. Patty’s decor~

https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2014/03/29/st-pattys-day-2014/

Leprechaun hunt~

https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2013/03/25/my-family-rocks-sundaydates-with-our-son-hunting-for-leprechauns-pet-parade/

 

Lent Crafts part 2: Egg Study March 21, 2015

In this post: Egg lapbook, crafts, & treat. A unique resurrection diorama. Plus Lent decor and books.

Egg Study

Hello dear ones! I hope you are well. We’re enjoying the spring weather and waiting for our littlest to be born. A couple weeks ago, Michael and I did an egg study. It was a great way to gear up for Easter. Here’s how we did it.

  • Egg lapbook~ I used this egg study to make a lapbook: http://www.currclick.com/product/35574/Eggs–Two-Day-Study-Series

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  • We made egg treats. Our treat is a lil different from what I saw on Pinterest. You take oval crackers and put peanut butter in them. Then you dip them in white chocolate. I didn’t feel like dealing with the mess of chocolate, so we just used frosting with sprinkles. We couldn’t cover the whole cracker so they don’t exactly look like eggs. Still, the treats were yummy :). Nana helped too.

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  • We made a stained glass egg and cross craft. I drew a pattern on black construction paper. Michael cut it out and stuck it to contact paper. Then Michael tore bits of colorful tissue paper and filled in the gaps.

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  • Lastly, Michael and I put together this resurrection egg diorama. Michael mainly colored the Jesus and cut him out. We had two coloring pages. We shrunk the one for the diorama. Then Michael colored the big page for his dad. I finished the diorama. My inspiration came from a beautiful painting I saw on Pinterest. Links below & details on how we did this.

Coloring page link here: http://biblefunfactory.com/146/easter-coloring-sheet/

Painting inspiration here: http://fineartamerica.com/featured/i-am-the-resurrection-john-lautermilch.html

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I found these plastic egg containers at the Dollar Tree. I used one half to make the diorama. I glued gems to the bottom to keep the egg upright. I modge podged colorful tissue paper for the sky. I used sparkly white tissue paper for the clouds. I wanted a 3d effect so I bunched it up.

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I took the Jesus that Michael colored and glued him to a craft stick. I hot glued the stick to the gems and I added purple tissue paper for his robe.

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I wanted to make Jesus look like he was in the clouds, so I used more of the sparkly white tissue paper to cover the craft stick. Chris actually helped some too. He punched out tissue paper butterflies. I glued them all around Jesus, since butterflies make me think of new life.

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Lastly, I punched out white paper flowers and cut yellow stems. I rolled them up to make lilies and glued them to the rocks along with felt leaves. Then I punched out the word “resurrection” using my hole punch. I glued it to a white tissue paper banner and glued that to the top of the egg. This has to be my favorite Easter craft we’ve ever made. I like that it’s pretty original too. I had inspiration but the creation is our own.

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The diorama looks brilliant when the sun shines.
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Other Lent happenings:

I love the season of Lent and counting down to Easter. For our family it is a time of remembering the resurrection and taking a good look at forgiveness and grace. We have fun with decorations, special books, and crafts.

Here are the Easter books we are reading this year. I’m particulary enjoying the author R.C. Sproul. This is our first year reading his books.

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We have a fun time decorating. Many of these crafts you may remember from Easters past.

The Lord’s Supper & Jesus praying in the garden

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Resurrection set and new life tree (eggs and butterflies)
We actually lost the Jesus that goes to the set, but now that we have the diorama it makes it complete.

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We decorate with the usual springy things: eggs, bunnies, chicks, lambs, flowers, and butterflies…whatever makes us think of new life and the resurrection. In the pic below you can see the stained glass chapel we made awhile back.

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Our Easter village has grown.

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Here’s the stuffed Velveteen rabbit that I made last year for our study on chocolate bunnies. Some decor is just for fun though a majority of it revolves around the resurrection of Jesus.
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Many of the crafts hanging up on our armoire are from years past. We’ve got the Peep bunny chain, a Holy week chart, and a tomb craft.

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We bring out old lapbooks

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We have our Lenten devotions at supper time. You can see some pom pom bunnies and resurrection eggs that we made. Usually we hang the eggs on a tree but I didn’t find one this year. Instead I have them in a bunny dish that I won at a party.

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Well, I hope you have a blessed Lent and Easter! God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

Easters and Lent past:

https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2014/05/11/easter-sunday/

https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2014/05/11/easter-week-jesus-our-passover-lamb-easter-drama/

https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2014/04/19/the-importance-of-easter/

https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2013/04/01/crafty-monday-passover-the-lords-supper-and-the-resurrection/

https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2013/03/25/crafty-monday-charlottes-web-party-gearing-up-for-easter/

https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2013/04/07/my-family-rocks-sunday-chinese-date-night-easter-passover-celebrations/

https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2012/04/03/a-late-crafty-monday-resurrection-garden-coffee-filter-easter-eggs-mini-pies/

https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2012/04/09/more-easter-fun/

https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2012/04/04/extra-crafts-for-you-easter/

https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2012/03/26/crafty-monday-preparing-for-easter-celebrating-the-resurrection/

https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2011/04/20/thecraftbug/

Recent posts:

https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2015/03/01/ash-wednesday-2015/

https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2015/03/09/lent-crafts-part-one-2015/