Easter is such an important and meaningful holiday to our family and to everyone, whether they realize it or not.  While the word Easter may come from non-Christian origins, the reason that we celebrate Easter is because it is now  recognized in  Christian religions as the designated time of year that we celebrate the Resurrection of the Savior, Jesus Christ, following his Atoning sacrifice.  
      This year we have taken on the challenge to remember, even more than before, the significance of that event in each of our lives.  The leaders of our church have especially suggested that this week, Holy Week, be a part of our sacred ponderings as we lead up to Easter Day, or Resurrection Day as some prefer to call it.  For the last month leading up to this Holy Week, I have pondered, studied and purposefully tried to keep my thoughts on how I could personally improve the way I Keep Easter in my heart.  Click Read More if you want to see how it has gone for me! Hopefully you will be inspired to purposefully strive feel the Spirit of this Holy Season! 

     I actually crocheted 11 of them.  You can find all different kinds of lamb or sheep patterns online.  I found this pattern on 5littlemonsters.com.  

     I also found Lindt Lamb Shaped Chocolates.  They are a good price on Amazon right now, compared to the grocery store price!  

     In the little bag of treats, I included the lamb chocolate, some Mother's Spring Cookies, and a Hershey's Marshmallow Egg.   I attached the bag to the ribbon on the lamb's neck, along with a little tag that I created using scripture messages.  You can print them if you would like to use them on a gift that you give for Easter.  If you don't have time to crochet lambs, the chocolate lambs given with the little tag would be sweet.  If you click on the image, you can print them from the pdf.  If you upload it to your computer, you can change the size.  

I won't be able to see some of my grandchildren on Easter, but I had some of them in my home over Palm Sunday.  I gave them their lamb gifts then.   I was able to explain to them why I had chosen those and we did a little lesson about the Atonement and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.  There is an excellent little play in The Friend magazine that worked really well with kids to teach them and keep them interested and involved. The included pictures are beautiful! You do not need to be a member of my church to use this magazine.  There is a pdf included to print the play from.

     2.  If you remember this post about the 40 Day Walk With Jesus, you may have printed off the 4 Gospels Reading Schedule that Lindsey created.  To those of us who have been in a group reading it together, she also created a Holy Week Bonus Schedule to finish us off.  I have loved keeping up with and studying these sacred scriptures as I prepare myself to celebrate Easter.  I have found new insights and understanding as I've participated.  With just a few days to go before Easter, it isn't too late to read along about the last days of Jesus' earthly life and what he has done for us. Try these scriptures:

• Wednesday-Matthew 26:1-16, Mark 14:1-11, Luke 22:1-6, John 12:1-11
• Thursday-Matthew 26:17-35, Mark 14:12-31, Luke 22:7-38, John, chapters 13-17
• Good Friday-Mathew 26:36- 27:56, Mark 14:32-15:41, Luke 22:39-23:49, John 18-19
• ​Saturday-Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20-21
• Sunday-Luke 24, Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi 11:1-17

       3.   In Mesa Arizona, about 45 minutes from where I live, there is an Easter Pageant put on by our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, that has been presented for 87 years on an outdoor stage.  It is the largest annual outdoor event in the world with a cast of over 400.  Over 100,000 people go and see it every year.  It is a beautiful production!  My husband and I, 1 of our sons and some of our grandchildren were able to attend this year on the Saturday before the beginning of Holy Week.  It was a great way to begin the week!  

         4.   As I mentioned, we saw some of our grandchildren early.  They were here on Palm Sunday.  We attended church together in the morning and there were beautiful Easter messages shared and music.  Then, I made an early Easter Dinner to enjoy with them.  I wanted to illustrate that Easter is a very special holiday and worthy of a holiday menu and the fancy dishes! 
       5.   We will be spending Easter weekend at Lindsey's house, celebrating together and also watching a very special General Conference from our church leaders on television.  If you would like to watch it, you can find the broadcast on byu.org, on YouTube, or online here.
       6.  One thing that I have loved is that Lindsey has been sharing an Easter Hymn each day for the last few weeks.  They have been performed by various artists and have all been beautiful.  Music always touches my soul. 

     This morning, as I was out tending my garden, I realized that my thoughts are staying more focused on the reason for this Easter Season!  I felt peace in my heart and gratitude for my little garden that I started all from seed and is now growing so well and is in the very beginnings of producing food for my family and I recognized that God's hand is in my life and in these things that I do.  As I focus on the Savior, it is easier to see the good around me and the role that I have in promoting the good news to the world.  Jesus lives and because of Him, we will live!  Have a wonderful, joyful Easter everyone! 
Love, Helen, Lindsey, Alicia and Madalynn! 

     Okay everyone, here is what happened!  Anita texted me and asked if I'd seen the deal for 18 pounds of grapes for the produce place for only $6.  I told her that I had but wondered what I would do with all of those grapes!  My husband and I could only eat so many fresh grapes by ourselves!  Then Anita, being the smart and talented woman that she is, mentioned juice or jelly.  "But,"  I replied, "I thought that you needed Concord grapes for that!  These are Red Grapes!" Guess what, we each bought a flat of grapes anyway, and do you know what happened?  Turns out you don't need only Concord grapes to juice them or make jelly!  I haven't made any jelly yet, but if the deal is still available, I may get more grapes for that adventure!  For today, if you click the Read More button, I'll tell you all about how I made delicious, sweet grape juice from Red Grapes! 

     I thought about designing labels for you, but I decided that we would probably be drinking up this juice pretty quickly, so I didn't bother!  I'll label the jars on the lids.  I'm really hoping to get some more grapes to make more juice, and hopefully some jelly as well! 

     Even though making this juice was a 2 day process, each part of the process wasn't really that time consuming.  It was just a matter of letting the juices drain from the pulp.  I'm so glad that I didn't let any of these sweet and delicious grapes go to waste!  Our family will really enjoy the "fruits" of my labors. 
​

     A few years ago, I posted about a tiny fairy garden that I put together using Dollar Tree figures for my grandchildren.  Believe it our not, those little figures still exist out in our backyard, though slightly faded,  for the kids to play with whenever they are here.  I just love the idea of these tiny garden additions.  They make my imagination run wild, so I can only imagine how they make a child's imagination go over the top!  
     Recently, I've come across various ways to craft your own Fairy Houses out of so many different supplies that you might have around your house.  I thought that it might be fun to challenge my grandchildren to create some fairy houses on their own and to send me pictures.  It seemed like a great project for Spring Break!  Well, what actually happened was something very different, so, if you will click on the Read More button, you will see what this project evolved into for me. 

     If you look online, you will find all sorts of ideas for creating a tiny fairy garden.  You can use popsicle sticks, old teacups, clay, and whatever else crosses into your creative mind!  
     I decided to use some of the colorful, marshmallowy air dry clay, which I wouldn't recommend because it sort of falls in on itself as it dries.  

Even though they didn't come out the way we pictured, we still had a good time making them.

     Another Grandson  and Granddaughter have a fairy garden spot behind their family's cabin.  They have purchased bits as well as hand built cabins and an apartment building built in their fairy community! 

     Then, I took a trip to the craft store and found that a lot of the fairy garden figures were on sale!  I bought a few to add to our collection.  They also had kits called Chia Garden Kits that had chia seeds to grow as the base of your garden.  I thought to myself, "I don't need a kit!  I already have microgreens like these at home!"  So, I purchased a few of the figures and set off.  (You can read about growing your own microgreens in a matter of days at that link!)  My greens were just the perfect size to use! 

     That was fun.  But then, I was reading through a church magazine that I subscribe to for my grandchildren.  This was the Easter edition and inside there was an idea for making the garden outside the empty tomb that included figures to cut out of the Savior, Mary Magdalene and an Angel.  I wanted to find a way to use them to teach my grandchildren about the true meaning of Easter and that was when I realized that I could also use my microgreens to create the garden outside the tomb.   

     I began by: 

• Cutting out the figures
• I backed the figures on cardboard or stiff paper.
• I used a small flower pot as the tomb.  I laid it on its side.
• I found a rock in my backyard to use as the stone that was rolled away.
• I arranged the tomb, stone and figures in my microgreens container. 

It came out like this: 

     The tomb may not be in proportion to the figures, but I love it anyway.  I simply used what I had on hand and I think that my grandchildren will love it, too.  
      Of course, you can always find other figures to use to make a more lasting garden.  For example, there are many Jesus figurines available now.  There are also many premade Empty Tomb sets that can be set up like a nativity.  I really liked the creation process of my own though. 
     We are finding ways to help our family celebrate Easter in more meaningful ways, just like we do for Christmas.  Afterall, both of these holidays are for celebrating Jesus Christ, His birth and his Resurrection.  We love Him! 
     All of the fun things like chocolate and eggs can have their place, but we want to remember who it is all about, aside from pagan rituals or other ideas, our emphasis is on the Savior of the World.

     Does your family have a meaningful Easter Tradition that you would like to share?  We would love to hear about it! 

    My apologies!  I originally called this project "What's In Your Wallet Wednesday," but it has consistently been more and more difficult for me to get my videos done by Wednesday, so I'm just calling it the "What's In Your Wallet" project and I'll be posting these posts on whichever day that I can! 
         I know that it has been a bit since I last posted a shopping trip to Dollar Tree, so today I am sharing the long awaited use of the Butter Beans from my first grocery shopping trip there, plus a few tips on staples that are available that you will be able to use to enhance your pantry at a budget price!  So click "Read More" and check out today's video and tips! 

Garden Products Update:
In this video about growing food from home, I tried out a few products that I purchased from Dollar Tree and I want to give you an update about those.  

1. Dollar Tree does have soil in right now!  Yay!  I show it in the video below!  Good price and good brand! 
2. None of the grow kits every spouted for me, so I would not buy those again!
3. The seeds did sprout, so those are a great buy! 

       On this Dollar Tree trip, I purchased 1 bag of the 2 lb. rice, 1 package of corn tortillas and 2 cans of kippered herring, which I forgot to mention that I found for $1.50 per can.  I love kippered herring.  I remember it from my youth and I don't get it often, but $1.50 seemed like a good price to me, so I treated myself.

The Video
I'm going to post the video, and then I will tell you more about the Butter Bean Recipe: 

      I looked up a lot of recipes using Butter Beans, and there are many variations.  Because I always say that first you should look at what is in your pantry before you shop, that is what I did.  I wrote the recipe accordingly, giving you alternatives to some of the ingredients that I used.  For example, I used bacon in my stew, but you could use that Spam-like luncheon loaf that Dollar Tree carries, or the smoked sausage!  Here is a list of ingredient exchanges for this recipe:

Can you think of other examples of what you would add?
      The butter beans look like a giant, yellow lima bean.  They are much bigger than I thought they would be.  The garlic, onion and bacon certainly add to the flavor of these already seasoned and hearty beans.