HE is Risen!

The Lord Jesus Christ did not stay in the tomb.
He conquered death and sin ~ He is victorious!
HE is Risen!

He ascended up into Heaven where He now sits

at the right hand of the Throne of God.

One day, He will return to take His people to be with Him.

"And the angel answered and said unto the women,

Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus,

which was crucified.

He is not here: for he is risen, as he said.

Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead;

and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee;

there ye shall see him: lo, I have told you.

And they departed quickly from the sepulchre 

with fear and great joy;

and did run to bring his disciples word."

~ Matthew 28:5-8 ~

"And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them,

and said unto them, Peace be unto you.

But they were terrified and affrighted,

and supposed that they had seen a spirit.

And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? 

and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?

Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: 

handle me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones,

as ye see me have.

And when he had thus spoken, 

he shewed them his hands and his feet."

~ Luke 24:36-40 ~

"And he led them out as far as to Bethany,

and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them.

And it came to pass, while he blessed them,

he was parted from them,

and carried up into heaven.

And they worshipped him,

and returned to Jerusalem with great joy:

And were continually in the temple,

praising and blessing God.  Amen."

~ Luke 24:50-53 ~

Christ is Risen ~ He is Risen Indeed!

May we be found worshiping Him in spirit and in truth

on this Easter Sunday, and always.

Many Blessings,
Camille

By His Stripes

"He is despised and rejected of men;

a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief:

and we hid as it were our faces from him;

he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he hath borne our griefs,

and carried our sorrows;

yet we did esteem him stricken,

smitten of God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions,

he was bruised for our iniquities:

the chastisement of our peace was upon him;

and with his stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned every one to his own way;

and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."

~ Isaiah 53:3-6 ~

This prophecy was written about our Lord Jesus Christ

approximately 700 years prior to His birth.

It describes perfectly what He did for His people

when He suffered and died on the Cross.

This Good Friday may we rejoice in HIM!

Many Blessings,
Camille

Here I Raise My Ebenezer

Here I Raise My Ebenezer!

If you click on the link attached to the statement

above, you will find the meaning behind this familiar phrase.

How wonderful it is to recount the ways in which

our Great God blesses us!

He is eternally Good.  He does all things well.

He leads, guides, directs and graciously provides.

We have nothing to fear when we belong to Him.

How precious He is!

Lately, there have been situations we have found

ourselves in that were perplexing and trying.

We literally didn't know where to turn.

So, we stopped and waited.

We prayed and considered.
We sought the Lord for direction.

Then, always at the time when a decision

was required, the direction to move in was made clear.

By the advice of a physician, through new information revealed,

through the reading of the Word of God and prayer,
through the closing of a door or the opening of another.
How precious it is to belong to our Great God!

We have had many blessings in the past few weeks.
We have endured sorrows and heartache.
We have been stretched and tried.
And, we have seen the LORD meet 
our every need moment by moment.

He is eternally Good!

So, today, I raise my ebenezer.
I recount some of the ways in which we have been blessed.
And, through it all, I give thanks ~
To the ONE Who gives all!

I give thanks for...

~ Sparkly shoes found in a bin of hand-me-downs
for our little miss

~ Many new outfits to enjoy from that
same bin of clothes...what a blessing!
(Thank you *E* and *S* for sharing).

~ Sunshine streaming in through the windows
after many wet and grey days

~ A Dad for my boys who is willing to teach

~ Letting them be men

~ Two up a ladder...
and the work they were doing and what it meant

~ My clothesline re-installed...

and new-to-Emma dresses (from the bin) drying in the sun.

~ More things to explore and implement for the treatment of Crohn's
(I cannot recommend all of this book;
there are non-Christian ideas put forward within its pages
that must not be adhered to.  However, it has merit, it would seem).

~ New life springing forth and the promise of Spring!

~ The best book ever (of course, the Bible is first)... 
Highly recommended!!

~ A little girl was continually looking for a pair of
AirWalks to purchase (for the last two years or so)...
however, her Mum said they must be on sale
before they would be taken home.
They never seemed to be on sale.

Wouldn't you know it?
The BIG bin of hand-me-downs had a pair of AirWalks in it!
It wasn't a need, but the LORD graciously provided anyway.
They will have to be grown into, but, Emma is happy to wait.  :)

It is a refreshing habit to stop and consider
all that the LORD has done this day and in the days gone by.
When we notice them all in detail and praise Him,
we bring honour to His Name.

May He continually open our eyes that we might see.

Many Blessings,

Camille

Homemade Fudgesicles

Homemade is always best, right?

I've always thought so.  

My sweet friend *C* gave me this recipe last summer,

but, alas...I didn't have the appropriate equipment.

Aka ~ a popsicle mould.

When I searched for them, they were sold out.

The other day at WalMart I spotted some popsicle moulds,

and even though it isn't summer yet,

I snapped them up.

You know what I did then, right?

You guessed it.  I made fudgesicles.

Yes, I did!  :)

They didn't last long.

Yummy.  Nummy.  

Chocolately wonderfulness.

So, grab your popsicle moulds and get going.

Everyone in your home will thank you.

That is, of course, if they like chocolate.

If they don't, I cannot help them.

However, that would mean there will be more for you.  

Yippee!  :)

~ The Recipe ~

2 tsp Corn Starch

1 1/2 cup Whole Milk

1 1/3 cup Whipping Cream,  not whipped

1/2 cup Sugar 

1/3 cup Cocoa Powder

1/4 tsp Sea Salt

2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Bring all ingredients, except the vanilla,

to a boil in a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed saucepan.

Boil 1 minute, remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Cool completely and pour into 10 Popsicle moulds.

Transfer to freezer and wait until solid ~

approximately four hours.

Enjoy!

Many Blessings,

Camille

Deep Waters

A couple of precious friends are going

through deep waters right now. 

Where do we turn in times like these?

God's Word is such a comfort to the soul that trusts in Him.
The following verses have been a wonderful encouragement to my heart ~
May they be used to bless each one of you this day.

"Fear not: for I have redeemed thee,

I have called thee by name; thou art mine.

When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; 

and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee:

when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; 

neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

For I am the LORD thy God,

the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour."

~ Isaiah 43:1b-3a ~

May the LORD truly have His way in the whirlwind.

He is always and forever Good.

With Love,
Camille

**Image in this post courtesy of Calvin ~
Thank you my love.  XO

Challenge 6 - Easter

Another fortnight has come and gone before I know it.  I can't believe it's only two weeks until Easter!  So our challenge this time is to make and Easter Card and our sponsor is the wonderful Bugaboo Digi Stamps.

Everything That You Ever Wanted to Know About Bugaboo Stamps: A Short Essay

As if raising five children in the frozen land of the North was not enough of a challenge,Jodie Mackrell decided to dip her cold little Canadian toes into the world of papercrafting by opening an online store full of her illustrations. That was two years ago. TodayBugaboo Stamps is one of the leading companies in digital images, and we're still growing! From seriously snarky to sugary sweet to sublimely soulful all the way over to the other side of the super sexy spectrum, you're bound to find all that you need and more to create your paper projects. Jodie works very hard to provide New Releases and Freebies every week!

If your taste runs to rubber (and you know who you are), you can find Bugaboo Stampsstamps at Totally Stampalicious. And finally, join the Bugaboo Stamps DT for weekly challenges at Catch the Bug.

So the Design Team were given images to use and here's what they came up with:

Shirley

 

ALAN

VIV

 

CAZ

Michelle

 

Patricia

Lisa

Donna

Hopefully, that has given you a taste and you're raring to go with our challenge.  Now for some rules:

1.  Your card must be for a man or a boy.
2.  Your card must be new for this challenge and follow the theme set.
3.  Your blog post must mention cards for men and contain a link back to this post.
4.  You can combine this challenge with no more than 9 other challenges.

This challenge will run from now until midnight (GMT) on 31 March 2013.  Leave a link to your post (not just your blog) in the link list below.  If it's not there for some reason, leave a comment and  I'll add you in before the draw.

Weather Inspiration

We just wrapped up our big weather unit, and I wanted to share a few of my favorite activities/projects with you!  I tried to pick easy to implement crafts and experiments, because it has been so crazy busy trying to balance learning fun with my seemingly endless amounts of end of the nine weeks assessments!  

Art project idea:  Torn Paper Tornadoes

Using old magazines, I had my kids find pages with dark colors, but with different images/textures.  They had a blast tearing the magazines up and gluing them into a tornado shape.  They also picked out some funky beads to glue to their tornadoes--to represent the debris.  They all turned out so unique.  I think tear paper art might just be my new fave!

Science Observation Station:  Tornadoes in a Bottle

I bought a set of tornado tubes from Steve Spangler Science for super cheap, and made 5 or 6 tornado tubes for our science station.  I added tornado books and tornado photos too.  Each bottle had different "debris"--the one below had styrofoam beads.  This was a hit!  They were sad when I started to pack the bottles away at the end of our unit.

Tornado Reading & Research:  Twister Facts!

My students were really into talking about tornadoes, so I created a giant twister anchor chart using paint and silver glitter.  After reading and finding out cool tornado facts, they jotted down their new learning on sticky notes and added it to our twister!

EASY Science Experiment:  Air Bags

You can't learn about weather without learning more about air!  We talked about how air is all around us, but we can't see it--and that air does have weight.  To demonstrate, everyone was given a ziplock baggie and a straw.  The students filled up the bags with air, and could *see* that air was inside.  

Anchor Chart:  Hurricanes

We read The Magic School Bus Goes Inside a Hurricane, and jotted down all kinds of cool facts.  I compiled all the information we learned from the book into an anchor chart for display throughout our unit!

Hope you can use one of these ideas for your study of weather!   

Egg-tivities and a Giveaway!!!

Next week is Spring Break!  Hooray! So that I won't have a care in the world next week, I have been busy getting all of my center activities ready for the week after Spring Break--the week leading up to Easter!  Can you believe it is almost EASTER?  Seriously!?  Time flies, people!  

First, I am DYING over the adorable egg clip art by Nikki from Melonheadz.  Y'all...I shop more from Nikki than I do from Target--so, clearly, I have a clip art issue! 

Anyway, the egg-tivities included in this packet are perfect for stations.  I found some wavy Easter buckets and BIG fun eggs at the Dollar Tree!  Plus, I found very cute Easter stickers and toys...and I couldn't leave without buying a package of Peeps (you need a little sugar while you work)!

I have 8 different plastic egg "task cards"--which I used as labels on the wavy buckets.  Some are math themed--"How Many Eggs Tall Are You?", "Spill and Count",  and others are all about reading:  "Sight Word Egg Hunt", and some focus on writing and spelling:  "Magical Egg Writing Prompts"!  Each activity comes with a recording page.  

Here they are as I am getting them ready.  

The hubs probably just "LOVES" when I prep stations at home ;).

One of my favorites:  Easter Word Scramble!  

Other "egg-tivities" included are...

"Egg-stra" Silly Joke & Doodle Book!

 Egg Dude/Dude-ette Creative Writing Pages:

Science/sound activity: "What's in the Egg?", egg patterning, egg thumbprints (a great send-home keepsake):

Chick or Egg short i/short e egg word sort!

The 10th, 20th, and 30th to comment will get this packet for free!  

As always, thanks for reading, PEEPS!!!

*Please leave your email!*

;)

P.S. If you aren't one of the three winners, but still want some items for Easter fun, Egg-tivities is available for sale in my TpT shop! Just click the cover of the packet at the top of this post!  

Thankful Thursday ~ Hidden Joys

If we slow down to listen,

to see and to hear ~

Life reveals its hidden joys.

They are there.

Sometimes they hide. 

By paying attention to the details,

and counting the blessings,

we give ourselves the opportunity to praise.

It's a good thing to notice. To take stock.

It's a good thing.

This Thursday, I give thanks for the hidden joys.

For the things sometimes missed.

For the evidences of HIS loving care.

I give thanks for...

~ The wooden railway set up on the office floor

~ The way it winds around Howie's desk and reminds me that

a little girl still lives here

~ The birch tree next door that was taken down

due to the fact that it was dead in places...

and, that it was cut into chunks and free for the taking!

~ Calvin's willingness to stack it

~ The shed that my Dad built and that it is full once again!

~ That there was space for *extra* wood under the trees

~ A letter from our girl...posted secretly :)

~ Two games of Monopoly laid out on the floor,

and enjoyed for days

~ A dozen roses *just because*

This Thursday, may you see the hidden joys 

our Gracious Lord has blessed you with.

With Love,
Camille

It's a Puzzle ~ An Update

This Crohn's thing ~ It's a puzzle.

Just when things seem to be coming together and making sense, 

something else comes along to throw a wrench in the mix.

It surely has brought me to the end of myself.

It's also been used of the Lord to show me my heart.

What am I trusting in?  Really.

Very often, I am ashamed to admit,

it's a method, a diet, a supplement, a medicine ~

All these things rather than in the Great Physician.

He alone has all the answers.

When we come to the end of ourselves,

we begin to see HIM.  Really.  See.

His provision.  His sufficiency.  His perfect plan.

Surrendering to Him is always best.

It's necessary.  It's good.

And, it's a relief.

We don't have to have all the answers.

We just need to turn to the One Who does.

He is faithful.  He leads and guides.  He directs.

How Great HE is!

At the end of it all, all that really matters 
is where we stand with God.
And, where our soul will be for all eternity.
And, whether our sins are all forgiven.  Or not.
And, if they are, we can rejoice.  Truly.  In HIM.
In His provision of Grace.  His Mercy.  His Truth.

What He has done.

Austin seems to be doing quite well heart-wise.
We continually are thankful for this provision ~ 
the Lord is to be praised.
Yes, He is.  And, we do praise Him for these mercies.
We thank Him for the time He has granted.  

It is precious.

On the Crohn's front, however, 
Austin has not been doing very well.
Obviously, the heart is of utmost importance.
It's been a focus, medically speaking, for quite some time.
Now that it seems to be stable, 
 Crohn's has shifted into a position of prominence.
And, here we are at a crossroads again.

Each day.  Each step.  The LORD is Faithful.
We look to Him for the help, strength, wisdom,
and grace in the midst of it all.
We pray that the means which He provides will 
work in Austin's body to promote healing.

If that does not come,
we must remind ourselves of the Truths we hold dear.
This life is not all there is.
Health and strength this side of eternity is not all that matters.
Relief from pain and suffering is not always best.
Yes, we look for it.  But, if it is not granted ~

HE is still Good.

God knows what is best.
Whatever that may be, is what we desire.
By His grace.  For His glory.  Alone.

There is more to life than the here and now.  
That *more* will not be fully realised until eternity.
May God give us all the ability to live our lives
in light of this wonderful Truth.
And, may we patiently wait for His timing in all things.

HE truly does all things well.

Many Blessings,
Camille

**Image in this post courtesy of Calvin ~
Thank you my love!  XO