Today I am going to review the Tacky the Penguin books.

Written by Helen Lester and Illustrated by Lynn Munsinger

My mom read the Tacky books to me when I was little, and I always laughed a lot. Tacky’s mischievous personality always looks like he’s going to get the other penguins in trouble; but miraculously, he ends up saving them. The other five penguins, Goodly, Lovely, Angel, Neatly, and Perfect always do things perfectly right and exactly the way orderly penguins should do things. However, Tacky, well–he’s a different story! At the end of every book, Goodly, Lovely, Angel, Neatly, and Perfect always discover that Tacky’s “an odd bird, but a nice bird to have around.”

Mommy review:

I was introduced to these books about 13 years ago when I taught second grade.  A c0-teacher of mine loved children’s books and was always finding ones I had never heard about. One day, she walked into my room, and said, “I found these books. They’re a lot of fun. Do you want to borrow it and read it to your class today?” So I did, and I was hooked. Many teachers all over the country read Tacky books to their students, especially in the winter months when penguin crafts are being done or the letter P is being taught. I was able to accumulate a few of them when I taught, (even though I can only find two today 🙂 –books get carried around to every room in our house!)  There are at least eight other Tacky books that have been written by Helen Lester and illustrated by Lynn Munsinger. A couple of obvious reasons for liking these books is that both children and adults find them amusing and they are books that are easy for children to relate to. In today’s world, when many children’s books are written with an underlying motive of making children feel okay with being different, these books also give a sense of accepting others who do not necessarily fit into their peer group. Tacky does not do everything the same way as his penguin friends–he does not fit into the penguin mold. But at the end of every story, the other penguins are glad he is around as he somehow gets them out of a jam or helps them win a competition because others like his differences. In saying all of this, his differences are never mean or sinful. He is just an odd bird who is clumsy yet friendly and enthusiastic.

Helen Lester and Lynn Munsinger also write other children’s picture books. My personal favorite is Me First! In our house, we call the book “Who Would Care for a Sandwitch?” in a sing-songy way. The first time we read it, we laughed so hard. If your child is going through a “me-first” stage, this is the perfect book to read to him. These books are available in many stores and on-line, and many local libraries have them available to check out.

Another Easter has come and gone. All the hair fixing and getting into pretty dresses–at least for us with our four Creative K girls–is done.

The deviled eggs are eaten.

My sister made these–aren’t they adorable!

The desserts are gone.

Our carrot cake

Our cracker/peanut butter lollipop

So Easter is over, right? NO!! That is not right! If you are a believer, everyday is Easter! At least the reason for Easter–the knowledge that Jesus died for our sins, that He was buried, and that He rose again so that every person could be delivered from their sins if they believe–is true every day! Since today was the international celebration of Easter, that fact was brought to the forefront of many people’s thoughts and minds. We do give our kids some candy; and we do decorate some eggs;  and at Grandpa’s and Grandma’s house, the kids do have an Easter egg hunt. Those are some fun memories we make. But how can we keep in our children’s minds the REAL reason for Easter? I know there are many creative ways we can show the importance of what the true meaning of Easter, but here are a few ways our family tried to prepare our hearts:

• 

  Resurrection Eggs

  We have family devotions, and normally our children each pick out a Bible story one night a week that they want read to them from the millions of books we own (slight exaggeration!). Five kids = five nights of devotions = perfect! (We don’t do it on Wednesdays and Sundays as we are in church those nights.)  The last couple nights of devotions, we  have used the resurrection eggs for devotions. Each child gets to hold an egg, and when we get to the Scripture that goes along with their egg, we read the passage, and they get to guess what they think is in the egg. Then we talk about how that was a part of the Easter story. There are objects such as a donkey, coins for 30 pieces of silver, a piece of leather to symbolize the whipping Jesus received, and the last egg is empty for the empty tomb! There is also a booklet comes with the eggs to tell what passages of the Bible could be read with each egg and a description of what each object symbolizes.

• We sing songs about the cross or death of Christ and about His resurrection. Every night after our devotions, we let each child pick a song they want to sing. Many times the songs are choruses like “Jesus Loves Me” and “Twelve Men Went to Spy on Canaan”; but before Christmas and Easter, we have them choose Christmas and “Easter” songs. We have a couple of hymnals with us that can help them in their decision-making process. What great words we find in these old hymns that lift our hearts and inspire deeper love for Christ and what He did for us!

Take for example the words of the first three verses of The Old Rugged Cross:

1. On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
the emblem of suffering and shame;
and I love that old cross where the dearest and best
for a world of lost sinners was slain.
Refrain:
So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,
till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
and exchange it some day for a crown.

2. O that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,
has a wondrous attraction for me;
for the dear Lamb of God left his glory above
to bear it to dark Calvary.
(Refrain)

3. In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine,
a wondrous beauty I see,
for ’twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,
to pardon and sanctify me.

Or how about the lyrics of  the first verse of At the Cross:

Alas! and did my Savior bleed
And did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head
For sinners such as I?
Refrain
At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light,
And the burden of my heart rolled away,
It was there by faith I received my sight,
And now I am happy all the day!

And then there are the triumphant songs that are so fun to sing at Easter such as Christ Arose!

1. Low in the grave he lay, Jesus my Savior,
waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord!
Refrain:
Up from the grave he arose;
with a mighty triumph o’er his foes;
he arose a victor from the dark domain,
and he lives forever, with his saints to reign.
He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!

2. Vainly they watch his bed, Jesus my Savior,
vainly they seal the dead, Jesus my Lord!
(Refrain)

3. Death cannot keep its prey, Jesus my Savior;
he tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord!
(Refrain)

There are so many more! We enjoyed singing these songs together as a family.

There are also wonderful songs that can be played in our homes that will encourage us to think on what Christ did for us. I am not one who always has music playing in the house. Sometimes, it is just seems like more noise to me; and with five children, the last thing I need is more noise! However, I did play one CD a few times this past week, and this is the song that really spoke to my heart as I anticipated Easter:

Here is Love

Here is love, vast as the ocean, Lovingkindness as the flood, When the Prince of Life, our Ransom, Shed for us His precious blood. Who His love will not remember? Who can cease to sing His praise? He can never be forgotten, Throughout Heav’n’s eternal days.

On the mount of crucifixion, Fountains opened deep and wide; Through the floodgates of God’s mercy Flowed a vast and gracious tide. Grace and love, like mighty rivers, Poured incessant from above, And Heav’n’s peace and perfect justice Kissed a guilty world in love.

Let me all Thy love accepting, Love Thee, ever all my days; Let me seek Thy kingdom only And my life be to Thy praise; Thou alone shalt be my glory, Nothing in the world I see. Thou hast cleansed and sanctified me, Thou Thyself hast set me free.

In Thy truth Thou dost direct me By Thy Spirit through Thy Word; And Thy grace my need is meeting, As I trust in Thee, my Lord. Of Thy fullness Thou art pouring Thy great love and power on me, Without measure, full and boundless, Drawing out my heart to Thee.

• We go to church where others will also teach them about Christ. For the last two weeks in Wednesday night church, the children’s pastor has taught the children about what Easter truly means. So Joshua, my 4 year old, has been walking around the house the past two weeks, sporadically saying, “Easter isn’t about candy or Easter egg hunts. It’s about Jesus dying on the cross for our sins and rising from the grave on the 3rd day!” It’s so cute to hear!

So Easter is not over!! We had so much fun singing the “Easter” hymns–which are really hymns for all year long– that we will continue to sing them in our family devotions. May we ever keep in front of us the wonder and excitement of what Christ did for us; and then serve Him out of love and gratitude.

I Corinthians 15:3-4

For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;   And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

Link for the Resurrection Eggs

Today is, of course, the Saturday before Easter, so there are many “things” that must get done. Last night, I was exhausted, so I turned in early for me. I stayed upstairs after getting all the children bedded down, did a couple of surveys that I make a little cash from, and then went to sleep by 10:30 p.m. This morning I woke up without any aid by 6:20 a.m. and went to a couple of grocery stores and was back home by 8:00. I love shopping early! There is no accident waiting to happen in the Valli’s parking lot early in the morning. (It is always crowded by 9:00 a.m. on Saturdays and a little scary to find a parking spot.). Then I put the groceries away while I also hard-boiled the eggs. We always color eggs before Easter, and then most of them get made into deviled eggs for the Easter dinner.

Some of the supplies needed for decorating eggs.

In my Easter decoration bin, there were some old tablets that needed to be used for the coloring. Then I pulled out some rubber bands, a white crayon, glue sticks, some colored sand and glitter, and some stickers that are used to mount pictures for scrapbooking.

The children colored the eggs first using the crayons and rubber bands at their own discretion.

After they had dried, the three oldest girls put photo stickers on some of their eggs and rolled them in the glitter and sand. I had seen this idea on facebook with round stickers on white eggs, and the eggs turned out cuter than ours; but the girls didn’t care. They had fun doing it all. They also enjoyed rubbing glue from a glue stick on and then rolling the egg in the glitter.

So the Easter eggs were a success; then they ran off to our neighbors to watch Cinderella with their friend who is turning 5 today! Now I need to get busy making desserts for my mom’s house tomorrow. The desserts are always my responsibility, and I try to do something a little different every year. Pinterest had some really cute ideas–did I ever tell you that I love Pinterest and all it’s ideas? I am  not original at all–but I can follow directions, provided they are not that complicated. I do have boards on Pinterest, if you would like to look at them. They are under the name Creative K Kids. I also have to run out to look for Easter shoes for my oldest. The rest have shoes that had been bought from garage sales or given to us by very generous people down through the years. Maybe later, I can get back on and share my desserts. Hopefully, they will turn out well! What are your plans for today? I would love to know!

Have a good day preparing for Easter, and save some time to prepare your hearts as well!

Last week was spring break for our brood, and we hosted our first-ever sleep-over for Kaylin and Karis. To tell the truth, we are very careful about sleepovers, and we have rather strict rules about where our children can go overnight. Therefore, our girls have never had a sleep-over. Our family is good friends with another family that has three girls the ages of my girls; but they attend a different church and school, so we do not see them that much. The girls were able to attend our prayer service on Wednesday night and sleepover so the girls could play together on Thursday. Now, as the  momma hosting the sleep-over, I felt that the girls should have something crafty to do, but I had been very busy leading up to the sleep-over. I also was babysitting that morning, so I wanted something quick ad easy for me to put together. I remembered seeing a pin where they had taken masking tape, taped off the child’s name, and the child then finger-painted over the tape. The tape gets removed later after the paint dries. So that’s what I decided to do for the girls.

Here is Kaylin’s version of the play date:

“I have some really good friends that I don’t get to see often. My mom called their mom, and we got to have a sleepover. They came to church, and then they came home with us. The next morning, we wanted to do a craft, so my mom put some tape on pieces of white cardstock. The tape spelled our names. We finger-painted over the tape; and when it was dry, we took off the tape, and our name was on the paper!”

Here are some pictures of our thrifty and fun activity!

Names are taped off, and painting is ready to commence!

Look at my hands! And this is after we washed them!

Let’s finger-paint some more! Best friend hand prints!

All done!

Materials needed:

• Size of cardstock or construction paper that you need. I just used 6″ x 12″ cardstock paper (I divided some of my 12″ x 12″ paper in half.)  You could have it the size of a picture frame–probably at least 8″ x 11″–and then frame it afterwards for their room.
• Paint–I have washable tempera paint that we used.
• Masking Tape
• Newspaper to put under the project
• Containers to hold the paint–I used Styrofoam plates. (Or metal pie plates would be good.)
• Kids to paint!

Cost:  For me, $0–I already had all the materials! Yay for thrifty fun!

Today I am going to do a review about Pippi in the South Seas by Astrid Lindgren.

This book, Pippi in the South Seas, is about a hilarious girl named Pippilotta Longstocking. She is a red-headed girl who wears shoes so big she could fit two of her feet in them. Her father, a chief of an island in the South Seas, takes her and her two friends, Tommy and Anika, on a visit to the island of Kurre Kurredutt. They are in a for a big adventure! When Pippi plays marbles using real pearls with the island children, two crooks named Jim and Buck attempt to steal the pearls. Pippi handles them in an unforgettable way! She single-handledly outwits them and throws them into a little boat, and they are happy to escape with their lives. I like reading the Pippi Longstocking books as they are a fun read. The author is very creative.

Mommy review:

I told Kaylin to pick any book she wanted to review and to write up a review for today’s blog post. This is what she picked. I thought this was an interesting pick as she read these books probably more than a year ago; and this book, like last week’s book, is one that I read as a child. In fact, this book is the exact book that I read in my much younger days! The cover is off, and the book shows much love (or wear!)  I do remember as a child thinking that these outrageous books were humorous. Pippi can do things that no normal child could ever do; and her actions are so extreme that every child that is reading the book would immediately pick up on that fact. As I flipped quickly through the book tonight, I noticed how often Jim and Buck were said to be cursing. The book never says any curse words; it just said that they were cursing. As a child, I never picked up on that at all. I find it interesting how I read books so differently now that I am an adult compared to how I read them as a child. I do not believe that it was necessary for the author to put in that her villians were continually cursing to make them appear to be “bad guys,” but I still think that the books would be fine for children to read. As I have not read these books recently, I honestly could not say if they teach many moral values. I do remember that Pippi was kind, and that honesty was honored. Have fun reading!

This book is available on Amazon, and probably other websites as well.

http://www.amazon.com/Pippi-South-Seas-Astrid-Lindgren/dp/0140309586/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1364362943&sr=8-1&keywords=pippi+in+the+south+seas