Crown of thorns tutorial

1. Collect or buy long sticks and soak them in hot water for 30 minutes for easier bending/breaking. I soaked mine in the bathtub and they hardly softened, but it helped a little. 
2. Tie them together in circles and overlapping each other. 

3. Arrange them as desired and tie them again to each other where needed. 

4. Use toothpicks or break off the ends of skewers, like I did. 

5. Paint them. I "mass painted" mine in a cup: rubbed them around in paint, then laid them out on a paper towel to dry. 

6. Arrange the toothpicks in your crown. It helps to have a plate underneath so you can move the crown afterwards. 

 

7. Admire your work of art! We are using ours this Lent as a sacrifice crown: we take out a thorn every time we consciously make a sacrifice, thinking of Christ. 

Three at the pool

We've started a new family tradition of swimming on Sunday mornings when we can. My swimmer husband is my coach. We are trying to prepare. He keeps saying, "come on, keep going.... labor will be 24 hours!" Scary. 

I am excited about how in a short while I can walk around in the kiddie pool (behind me) with our baby. I think baby swimsuits are the cutest ever. 

Video

I was on TV again! Well, YouTUbe. This time explaining whether Jesus really performed miracles or if they were just "stories".  This is the second of eight videos...

Baby gifts

My five-year-old student (actually, her mother) gave me a really special gift for our baby... handmade shoes, bib and a card made by my student. It's very special to receive handmade things. Her mother's site is this one: https://www.facebook.com/fitadevies.pt

She sells things. 

My students are getting anxious for the baby's birth and so am I, although I have nothing prepared. I'm counting on my next week of vacation for that. I feel social anxiety about being introduced to someone new. I have absolutely no idea what she looks like or is like... and it's a little scary. She is totally beyond my imagination. 

Baby shower

We hosted a coed baby shower (gasp!) ourselves (the horror!) and despite some complaints of "coed?", I must say it went pretty darn well. As my clever husband said, it was a way to introduce our baby and get our community rallied up for her. 

It included fun games like blindfolded diaper changing, baby jeopardy and a babysitting lottery. Our guests were super good sports and fun to have over. The most touching part was the "Dear baby" letters we had people fill out at the end and they were heart-warming to read. Out favorite piece of advice given to our baby: when in doubt, do it! 

These baby cookies were a gift from an attendee...