We love having family traditions.  As we add children to our family and those children grow, we find more and more traditions that work for us.  It's time for our Easter tradition - Resurrection Eggs. We start the 12 days before Easter (this Wednesday) and do one egg each day. 

You can buy a preassembled kit at Christian Book Stores or online. 

We're cheap frugal.  So, we saved an egg carton, decorated it, bought some plastic eggs, and filled them on our own.  A basket with the eggs numbered would work just as well. 

We did a search on the internet and was surprised to find how many different versions are available.  We read through them and chose the items we liked best and the elements of the story that we most wanted to discuss.  Here are links to the sites we used:

Holy Easter Resurrection Eggs

Celebrate Easter:  Resurrection Eggs (Easy Fun School)

Resurrection Eggs Easter Story Day 12 Cullen's Abc's (Video)

After Easter, I store our carton away with the easter baskets.  We've been using the same eggs for several years. 

The littles are wide eyed with anticipation and the bigs are thrilled by the familiarity of the story they've learned by heart.

Yes.  I. Did.

Why?

I could tell you it is because it is so much cheaper or because I can get it exactly how I want it or because I don't have time to make an appt. or because I don' t have time to go to an appt.  All of those are true.  Partly.  But the real reason I cut my own hair was....... (Drum roll)

I was just in the mood to take scissors to my hair.  lol  What?!  That never happens to you?

My husband learned how to fix our clothes dryer by watching a YouTube video.  My reasoning:  Surely there are videos for cutting your own hair.  There are.  I used this one.

Doesn't the girl in the video have pretty hair?

The next day, my daughter snapped this pic of the chief and I.

I'm still presentable. 

P.S. I may have cut on it a couple more times since then. 

P.P.S. If you are under the age of double digits and reading, DO NOT TRY THIS!  Seriously. 

I've long been a participant in Works for Me Wednesday.  Sometimes posting.  Always reading.  I was so excited when Kristen contacted me by email to ask if she could feature one of my tips in the e-book. 

This is no ordinary e-book.  First of all, it is full of tips that will solve most any dilemma.  But best of all?  It is for a great cause! 

Regular price is $8.

It is so good!  It is so easy!  And what is Christmas without it?

Last year my lil' gals took over the fudge making responsibilities.  They are making some to give away this year as gifts. 

2 bags chocolate chips (12 ounce, we use milk chocolate but semisweet are fine)

1 can eagle brand milk

1 tsp vanilla

Pour all the above ingredients in a bowl.  Microwave for 2 minutes.  Stir until well mixed. Pour on wax paper.  Chill in the refrigerator until firm. 

Variations:  Dreamsicle Fudge.  Use white chocolate chips.  Replace vanilla with orange extract.  Microwave ingredients as above.  Remove from microwave.  Divide in half. (Work quickly!)  Add red and yellow food coloring to half to achieve desired orange color.  Swirl with white.  Pour on wax paper.  Refrigerate. 

Thanks to Pinterest, I saw this neat trick on Real Simple and it works!  We tried it out on Judah's beloved Cars DVD.  It has been his favorite movie since he was two.  Needless to say two year olds aren't very gentle with their favorite DVDs and Cars suffered many scratches.  After trying this little tip, the movie played straight through without skips or pauses!  Yay! 

So, to restore a damaged CD, apply a dot of non-gel formula toothpaste to a cotton cloth and rub in a straight line from the center of the CD outward, covering any scratches. Rinse off the toothpaste with water.

Check out Real Simple for lots more neat tips and tricks. 

Popsicle Molds!

Popsicles are so easy to make and taste even better because they're homemade!

Recipes we love:

Blueberry Yogurt Pops

1 cup of blueberry juice cocktail

1 cup of blueberries (cleaned and rinsed)

6 oz. of vanilla yogurt

Combine all ingredients in a blender.  Cover, blend on high speed 15 to 20 seconds or until smooth.  Pour into 8 molds (2.5 to 3 oz. each).  Insert sticks and freeze!  (Aprox 2 hours)  To serve dip outside of molds in warm water to loosen. 

We've also tried the Blueberry Yogurt Pops using other berries and other juices.  The combinations are endless!  

Our Other Blueberry Pop

1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

1 cup water

1/2 cup orange juice

3 tbsp sugar

1 cup vanilla yogurt

Simmer blueberries, water, juice, and sugar for 10 minutes.  Let the mixture cool for 20 minutes, then blend in a food processor until smooth.  Stir in yogurt.  Pour the mixture into molds and freeze.  Makes 8 (3 oz) pops.

Chocolate Pudding Pop

1 package of instant chocolate pudding

2 cups milk

1/2 cup cream

1/2 cup sugar

With a wire whisk, blend together pudding, milk, cream, and sugar.  Pour the mixture into popsicle molds.  Freeze and eat. 

This post is linked to Works for Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family and Homemaking Link-Up! Wednesdays at Raising Homemakers.

When May rolled around, we were really busy with local tornado relief, the chief was working lots, the chief went out of town more than usual, all the kids had dental appointments, we were working hard to wrap up our current homeschool year, I got really sick life happened.  I found myself kind of uninspired.  I love blogging but frequent blogging requires inspiration.  Whether it is a snapshot of the kids, a recipe, thoughts I am mulling over... No matter how long or short the post. Well, May found me just plain out of inspiration.  Then I remembered my beloved swipe file. 

I first posted about my swipe file in December 2009.  The term swipe file is derived from the advertising industry.  A swipe file is a collection of ads, headlines, promos, and sales letters that stand out from the rest. Keeping a swipe file is a common practice used by advertising copywriters and creative directors as a ready reference of ideas for projects.

Well copywriters are not the only ones who benefit from having a swipe file.  This is a great starting point for anyone who needs a little extra creativity.  My swipe file is a constant source of inspiration.   

I use a manilla folder for ideas I find in real life (magazines, photos, etc..)  I have a file on my desktop for online ideas.  I fill both with my thoughts, recipes, advertisements, magazine pages, decorating ideas, paint colors, quotations, scriptures, photos...  Anything that catches my eye and inspires me.

So, in my swipe file I found the inspiration I needed to continue blogging.  I am committed to adding more ideas to the file for the next time we are really busy with local tornado relief, the chief is working lots, the chief is out of town more than usual, all the kids have dental appointments, we are working hard to wrap up our current homeschool year, I get really sick life happens.

There is one very important thing to remember when using a swipe file.  We should never blatantly copy stuff and infringe copyright laws.  A swipe file is there to help generate ideas. To give inspiration for your own creative ideas.  Do you have a swipe file?  What sorts of things do you save in your file?

P.S.  As mentioned above, I first shared about my swipe file in Dec '09.  This is an updated repost of the original.  Beth, I just had to leave your comment cause I save hairstyle's in my swipe file too.   

Emily at the Anderson Crew posted a pic of her kitchen pennant banner in a recent blog post.  Love it!

I just had to have one for my very own.

So, I went to my fave store.  The Dollar Tree.

I bought three dish towels.  I cut a triangle from cardstock to use as a template.  I used the template to cut two triangle from each of the dish towels.  I was careful to cut the base or bottom of the triangles from the end of the dish towel.  I threaded jute twine through the existing hem of those dish towels using a large sewing needle.  Super easy.  Super quick.  Super cheap.  And I have fabric left over for another project.  Yay Dollar Tree!

This post is linked to Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family.

I can't stop making them.

I found the tutorial over at Maize In Montana.  It is sooooo easy.  To die for! 

I did make one addition.

Just to neaten up the underside of the frayed flowers, I cut a circle of fabric.   I folded the circle in half.  I placed the pin on the half circle and cut small slits where each end of the pin sits.  Then unfolding the circle I threaded the pin through the slits.  Hot glued generously and stuck on. 

Gah! I love these! 

This post is linked to Works for Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family.

Here's a simple tip that left me saying, "Doh! Why didn't I think of that!"

Instead of spending time sorting my silverware when unloading, I should separate it when loading the dishwasher. All the spoons in one, all the forks in another.  When it's time to unload the dishes, all I have to do is grab each section at a time. No more sorting!

Thanks, Hope Lester Ruggieri for posting this on your facebook status.  That tip was TOO-OOO good! 

This post is linked to Works For Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family.

Edit:  Somebody commented that the spoons tend to nest together.  So be cautious that they are getting clean.  Not been an issue with my dishwasher.  Someone else commented that this does not work for them because they prefer "child labor".  Haha.  Something is up with the comments.  Not sure where they are going. Sorry guys.