I saw this idea for a resurrection garden on We are THAT Family, and LOVED it, but I didn’t get started in enough time to make it the way they did with grass seed and actual grass growing. So here is the procrastinator’s version for anyone else who wants to make one but can’t get grass growing in 36 hours in time for Easter!
We made two. This one is a small version, and we used it as a gift for an elderly neighbor who had a stroke last week. (She loved it, by the way!) We purchased small river rocks and large river rocks (for the stone by the tomb) because the rocks that one can find around our area are really ugly. We used some artificial grass/moss/green stuff type vase filler that I had on hand instead of live grass, and it really turned out cute! I used a little bit of tacky glue to hold the grass onto the dirt. Better than just laying it on there, but this is not a “forever” craft… The white in the photo is the glue still wet – we had to take a photo quickly and then leave to deliver our resurrection garden so that we could visit our neighbor before her family came over for dinner.
We made a larger one (10″ terra cotta saucer) as a centerpiece for Easter dinner.
The boys really enjoyed helping with these resurrection gardens, and ours will be fun to display on Easter Sunday!
Here’s an idea for a quick and easy game for kids who are learning to read! I cut out Easter egg shapes from construction paper, and then cut them in half to look like broken eggs. I wrote parts of words on the egg pieces, and Gresham had to match them up to spell the words. For our eggs, I used words that have consonant blends at the beginning, since that is what Gresham is working on right now in his Explode the Code book (book 2).
It’s always fun to do something that goes with the season, and boys love the chance to move around while doing school!
We listened to Beethoven’s 5th Symphony back in November, but I wanted to include another of Beethoven’s symphonies in our Lunch with the Composers listening!
Beethoven completed his 7th symphony in April of 1812, so exactly 200 years ago! (And I didn’t even know that when I chose this piece!) Symphony No. 7 premiered in December 1813 at a concert to benefit soldiers wounded in the Battle of Hanau. The symphony, with its patriotic feel, was very well received by the people of Vienna who were tired of Napoleon’s occupation of Europe and who were hopeful that his demise was soon to come. Many people then (and now) especially love the second movement, and it is often performed on its own without the rest of the symphony.
Sound Wave Activity:
Here’s a fun activity to go with this week’s music – a project to demonstrate sound waves and how our ear drums work! Beethoven was actually deaf when he composed this music. It is not known exactly what caused his deafness, but it was something that got worse over time, so he was probably not completely deaf at the time of writing this symphony. Even when he could not hear, he could feel the vibrations from his piano and other instruments.
Sound travels in waves, which cause things to vibrate. When sound waves hit our ear drums, they vibrate, which causes three tiny bones in our middle ears to vibrate. These bones send vibrations along to our inner ears, where vibrations are carried along to our auditory nerves, which send messages to our brains!
You can have your kids build a quick model of an eardrum by stretching a piece of trash bag over a plastic cup and securing it with a rubber band. Add a sprinkle of salt to the top of the cup, crank up this week’s music (you’ll have to wait for the loud part), and watch the salt dance on top of the trash bag! The sound waves are making the trash bag vibrate, just like our ear drums vibrate. The salt helps us to “see” the vibrations!
So baby Jonathan is definitely struggling with silent reflux. I posted a few weeks ago about getting his reflux diagnosed, and I was pretty apprehensive about how it would affect him (and us!) because of our experience with Owen. Jonathan will be 3 months old next week, and last week at the pediatrician, he was still in the 50th percentile for weight! He continues to have a good appetite overall, even though his feedings are definitely affected by the reflux (mainly choking and not being able to eat much at a time).
The other big issue has been positioning. Owen was a really happy baby considering how much reflux he had. Jonathan, on the other hand, has been more demanding. From the beginning, he absolutely hated his bouncy seat. It seemed to cause him actual pain, and the feeding specialist that we have worked with said that that position does in fact cause more reflux. I can’t lay him flat on his back because he spits up every time in that position, so I was left with either holding him or putting him in the swing. Our feeding specialist recommended the Res-Q Wedge, and I must admit, I was less than enthusiastic after seeing the price tag! However, I decided that I could not hold Jonathan 24/7, so I bit the bullet and ordered one.
We LOVE it!!!
By the way, I am not getting any sort of payment for recommending this product – I just really love it and want to let other parents of refluxers know about this option!
Look at the happy baby!!!
(Who says kids need to be jealous of the new baby? Jonathan is the STAR around here!)
A little “patty cake…”
The whole wedge can be flipped over, and Jonathan can be in it on his tummy on the other side. Babies can sleep in it in either the back position or tummy position, but Jonathan sleeps so well in his crib that we are leaving well enough alone. It is nice to be able to do “tummy time” with him and not cause him to spit up, though!
This wedge is specially designed by medical professionals and is a class 1 medical device. Most insurance plans will pay for it. Ours doesn’t because my husband’s company specifically opted out of that coverage. Oh well, it’s money well spent!
We found that it helps to build the entrance and exit to the maze first, and then fill in the middle. I was impressed with the maze that Aidan (age built!
After finishing his maze, Aidan decided to make his go up to different levels! He also added some Star Wars guys (of course)!
Owen (age 2) insisted that I take a picture of his “maze” too, so here it is!
When boys have too much free time... bad things happen! This site is your source for ideas and encouragement as you amuse, occupy, teach, train, and mold the exuberant sons in your life!
I saw this idea for a resurrection garden on We are THAT Family, and LOVED it, but I didn’t get started in enough time to make it the way they did with grass seed and actual grass growing. So here is the procrastinator’s version for anyone else who wants to make one but can’t get grass growing in 36 hours in time for Easter!
We made two. This one is a small version, and we used it as a gift for an elderly neighbor who had a stroke last week. (She loved it, by the way!) We purchased small river rocks and large river rocks (for the stone by the tomb) because the rocks that one can find around our area are really ugly. We used some artificial grass/moss/green stuff type vase filler that I had on hand instead of live grass, and it really turned out cute! I used a little bit of tacky glue to hold the grass onto the dirt. Better than just laying it on there, but this is not a “forever” craft… The white in the photo is the glue still wet – we had to take a photo quickly and then leave to deliver our resurrection garden so that we could visit our neighbor before her family came over for dinner.
built!
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