Kaylea Hutson's Blog, page 33

Easter Egg Fun

A few random pictures I snapped during the Easter Egg Hunt@ St. James Kidz.
I kinda spent more time talking with kids and parentsthan taking pics. (Fortunately, Marcia took a plethora of great snaps!)
But here are a few from my camera!










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Walking The Labyrinth

13 families representing 16 adults and 29 childrenranging in age from toddler (2) to teen (sixth grade)took part in today's Labyrinth event.
(20 other adults also walked the path throughout the day!)
Sisters, hanging out in the center of the labyrinth.. 
I snapped a few pics during the actual event with my iPhone.The pics aren't "prize worthy" but they let me discretely take pictures, while the kids were interacting with the labyrinth.
One of the families.Mom just posted on Facebook: It was amazing and the kids have talked about it all day.
It was a blessing to watch as the kids walked the pathin their own way.Some did everything "just" as it was written in the devo book.Others, well, got into their own groove and simply walked, ran, skipped or even ranalong the path.
Decorating his butterfly window cling. 
I think one of my favorite things/quotes came from a first grader, who I love being around, but let's face it - like every first grader, struggles a wee bit to focus on "serious" stuff.
He (with some prompting from his mom) told me that while he laid down in the center of the labyrinth, it felt like God was talking to him.
Lots of thumbs up - After the labyrinth.
Another parent told me her fifth grader has beenasking (even before the event) how to determine God's plan for his life.
So I'm on a quest to find the right thing to help him discover how God can work in someone's life.

Showing off his butterfly. He said the labyrinth was awesome!
Today was filled with amazing conversations, lots of joyand an unexpected peace.

I couldn't focus to walk the labyrinthBut I did sit. I was quiet.And I simply enjoy watching my studentssomething new and amazing.It was a great way to spend Good Friday.

Spending time in the labyrinth

Tomorrow is Good Friday, the day Christians mark the calcification of Jesus.

Tomorrow, for the first time, I'm trying a "spiritual formation" event.

It's my attempt - with the initial suggestion/idea coming from my supervisor - to have a wee bit of Jesus in the midst of Holy Week.

(Usually kidz ministry events this week simply revolve around egg hunts. - Yes, we're having a hunt, and we're at 3,500 plus eggs and counting!)

But the labyrinth, with it's five stations (six if you count the "after" stop), is different. It encourages students (and their parents) to stop, be reflective and try something new.

It encourages students to be quiet.

Frankly, it encourages me to be quiet and be still.

Maybe this event is more for me, than the kids. Hum.

Praying that this event is amazing and children (and families) are blessed tomorrow.

Blog Tour: Still by Lauren F. Winner (Review)

I became acquainted with Lauren F. Winner a few years ago when I found her spiritual memoir, Girl Meets God.

That book recounts her faith journey which includes being raised Jewish, a conversion to Orthodox Judaism (her mom wasn't Jewish, and the faith is passed through the mother), and then later, her conversion to Christianity.

Winner's authentic, honest and blunt writing style, along with her faith journey captured my attention.

So when her newest release, Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis, came across my path earlier this spring, I jumped at a chance to read it.

This memoir opens in the "middle" of Winner's spiritual life.

Her marriage has failed, her mother has died, and life isn't quite what she anticipated. But instead of turning away from her faith, Winner found herself turning back to church and to God.

Part of the book follows the church calendar, so Winner's essays use seasons like epiphany and lent to provide a unique rhythm to her writing.

I specifically enjoyed/connected with the essays written around Lent (maybe because I was reading the book at the start of the season).

In one, Winner jokes about what she would give up during Lent. A friend suggests she give up anxiety.

Another essay, focuses on busyness. I loved this quote: "Laziness might have been a problem for nineteen hundred years, but not anymore. Business is the new sloth." I appreciated how this quote - and the way Winner fleshed it out - made me think.

I've heard that some people have criticized Winner for being open about her struggles with her faith (and being honest about her divorce).

I am not one of those people.

I'm grateful that Winner is honest. I identify (and struggle) with many of the things she writes about. I appreciate the integrity she pours into her writing.

Reading Still has made me want to go back and pick up Mudhouse Sabbath - a book of spiritual practices for Christians which can be gleaned from the Jewish faith.

On a scale of one to five, I give this book a solid five. It's a genuine pursuit of faith.

About The Author
Lauren F. Winner is the author of numerous books, including Girl Meets God and Mudhouse Sabbath. Her study A Cheerful & Comfortable Faith: Anglican Religious Practice in the Elite Households of Eighteenth-Century Virginia was published in the fall of 2010 from Yale University Press. 
She has appeared on PBS's Religion & Ethics Newsweekly and has written for The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post Book World, Publishers Weekly, Books and Culture, and Christianity Today.

Winner has degrees from Duke, Columbia, and Cambridge universities, and holds a Ph.D. in history. The former book editor for Beliefnet, Winner teaches at Duke Divinity School, and lives in Durham, North Carolina.

Winner travels extensively to lecture and teach. During the academic year of 2007-2008, she was a visiting fellow at the Center for the Study of Religion at Princeton University, and during the academic year of 2010-2011, she was a visiting fellow at the Institute of Sacred Music at Yale University. When she's home, you can usually find her curled up, on her couch or screen porch, with a good novel.

Online Resources
Buy it at Amazon
Find it at Barnes & Noble
Check out Winner's Website: http://laurenwinner.net

Note: As a freelance journalist, I was provided a copy of this book by HarperCollins Publishers. This review was not influenced by a free book - just in case you (or the FTC) were worried about this detail.

Easter/Lent Resource: EasterHunt (Review & Interview)

A few days ago, I posted a cartoon about an Easter Egg Hunting App - because well, you know, there seems to be an app for everything.

Well, fast forward to last week. I found out that there REALLY is an Easter Egg Hunting App - EasterHunt.

Created by Jennie and David Smith (SquareSmith Inc.), the app lets kids (and their parents) hunt for 12 different eggs.

Each egg has a secret, puzzle like way to "crack it open." When cracked it features a devotional that tells a piece of the hey Easter story.

Developing EasterHunt
The app came about after the Smiths formed SquareSmith, Inc., to create smartphone apps.

Knowing how much their kids - ranging in age from 21 months to 11 years - go "bonkers" playing games on the iPad and iPhone, the Smiths decided to create an Easter devotional app that could be used by their entire family..

"We've used FamilyLife's "Resurrection Eggs" before with our children, and this year we were looking for something new," David Smith said. "We like the fact that when we tell our kids that we're going to start Easter devotions, they all come running, because of the excitement of opening an egg.

"We wanted to recreate that type of excitement with EasterHunt, and that led to the idea of first finding the egg, and then figuring out how to open the egg. We've found that these simple games and puzzles help settle the children down and provides a good lead-in to the Easter stories."

The app uses devotionals written by Emilie K. Eggleston (a recent graduate with a children's education degree).

"The big issue we've faced with other family devotionals is that they tend to be too long," Smith said. "We'd rather have our devotionals short and to the point, and can be used as a springboard into further discussions as a family- this makes family devotions much more interactive and more rewarding for all.

"[Emile] did an awesome job writing the handbooks that our two oldest have used at Bible camp. So she was our first choice as the author of the devotionals, and she graciously agreed to write them for us.

"Emilie is also planning on creating her own line of children's curriculum, and the "Easter Devotionals" featured in EasterHunt are just the start of her curriculum."

Smith said they chose to use the New King James Version of the Bible as the text for the devotions for two reasons: easy to read and be understood by children and a easy to follow quotation policy by publisher Thomas Nelson.

"Our desire is that parents would take the time to connect with their children this Easter using this app." Smith said. "We tried very hard to make it easy even for busy families to start doing devotions.

"We feel strongly that when parents connect with their children in their pre-teen years, those parents will have much closer relationships with their children in their teen years. If a child is allowed to ask their parents questions about Christianity when the child is young, then that child is more likely to be willing to ask questions when a teenager.

"So when we discussed the devotionals with Emilie Eggleston, we all decided that the devotionals needed to be written as stories, in a narrative style; with thought-provoking questions that could be used as discussion starters; and each devotional should be just long enough to get the point across, and not one word longer."

Smith said each of the twelve days of EasterHunt should only take around 10-15 minutes per day.

"Because the devotionals have a story feel to them, kids stay connected to them for a longer period of time," Smith said. "We've been reading the EasterHunt devotionals with our own children this Easter season, and have been pleasantly surprised at the questions they bring up after we finish reading.

"That being said, we have let our oldest kids play EasterHunt on their own, and we've heard of other parents letting their children play on their own- nothing wrong with that."

More About The App
Each time the app is used, the hiding spot for the eggs and the critters (also hidden behind items) are picked at random by the app.

"One "hidden" feature of EasterHunt is the fact that it is multi-touch enabled, which means that more than one child can tap around to find the egg,," Smith said. "This helps eliminate the "It's my turn!" melt-down at devotion time- up to five fingers can tap around to find the egg."

Ultimately, Smith said he has high hopes for the app.

"Our hope is that parents will look at devotional time as something that can be fun, not a chore, and that their reward will be rich as they see their children 'grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.' (1 Peter 3:18, NKJV)"

How It Works
The app opens with this screen. Once you start finding eggs, they appear in the basket.
You start "clicking" on the screen to find the egg.
Each egg has a "puzzle" to crack.In this case, you have to shoot the chocolate bunny at the egg to open it.
Once opened, a family devotion appears.If you want to preview the devos, click this link.
What I ThoughtI LOVE the fact that the Smiths have found a way to develop a Christian-based app, that combines multi-media learning and Biblical truths.
I thought the idea behind the EasterHunt was unique and cute. I am always looking for unique ways to tell the Holy Week story to the students I work with.
The possibility of recommending this to parents, well, drove me to find out more about this app.
With that said, here's a few other things I found, when reviewing the app.1) It may be because I have an "old" iPhone, but I struggled (along with a friend who tried) to open a few of the puzzles. Maybe that's a great thing - "solving" the puzzle will attract the kids. For me, it was a bit frustrating.
2) There's no way to "reset" the app. Once you find the eggs, you can only go back to search for them if you tap an egg in the basket. I wish there was a "reset" the app, so you could use it with multiple children. 
3) I was surprised that they picked New King James as the Bible used for the devotionals.Smith said it was because it's "easy" to read. I respectfully disagree. I probably would have picked NIV (New International Version) or NLT (New Living Translation). Honestly, I haven't really read the NKJV since college. I've just found other translations to be more user friendly. (Disclaimer: I tend to use NLT because several of my professors from Asbury Seminary were part of the translation team.).
4) The length of the devos also surprised me.Each devo is a full 8.5x11 page when you view it in a regular typed format. This means each devo is quite lengthy when read on the iPad or iPhone/iTouch.
Smith said he estimates it will take 10 to 15 minutes to really dive into the app. I'll be honest, the parents I work with don't have 10 to 15 minutes. I've pondered this. If I wanted to create a devo, to introduce the idea of a family devotion time, I'd keep it so it required longer than 10 minutes. In reality, five minutes is probably more realistic. 
I'd write the devotions to use an "economy of words," (a phrase coined by a friend), keeping it short, sweet and to the point.
I'd also break up the text. When you read it on an iPhone/iTouch, the text is in huge chunks. Maybe it's my newspaper background but short paragraphs are easier to read.
I'd probably write it to have a point, and then ask the questions - rather than embed the questions into the devotions. Again, I think I'd have a simple format that would be easy to use - regardless of if you are a newbie or veteran of the family devotion time. 
So ultimately, here's the bottom line. I give this app a solid three out of five.
It gets points for being creative and for providing a way to use "electronic" devices to teach Christian education.
I don't think it's an app to recommend to families wanting to "test drive" a family devo time because of the length of time needed to be successful.
However, if your family has tried (and succeeded) at having family devos, this will let you have something new to add to your learning arsenal.
EasterHunt is available in the iTunes store for $1.99.Find out more here
Note: As a freelance journalist and children's pastor, I am often provided with free copies of things for review. In this case, I was given a copy of the app by the Smiths. This review was not influenced by the free app - just in case you (or the FTC) were worried about this detail.

Easter Funny: Lady Gaga

It's Holy Week. Here's to all the gals who plan to show off theirinner Lady Gaga with some funky Easter Bonnets.
Happy Holy Week.Easter's coming!

Easter/Lent Resource - Easter In Eggs (Review)

If you have kids, or if you are like me and work with students, then you are most likely familiar with the Resurrection Eggs.

These are eggs which help tell the story of Jesus' experiences from Holy Week thru Ascension.

While the traditional forms of Resurrection or Easter Eggs use small objects, digital artist Jacque Larson has created a paper-pieced version.

Click here to see more!I love the eggs. They are simple, direct and show 12 different pieces of the Holy Week story.

In the kit (a digital download), you'll find:
--JPG printouts (ready to print directly) - two pages of eggs along with a third page full of the Biblical references.
--Individual PNG files of the 12 different eggs (to use in digital scrapbooking OR for use with your favorite desktop publishing program.)

Jacque has one other product - The Lenten Cross - which could work either as a road map for your 40-days of Lent journey, or a way to tell the "full" story during a Holy Week activity.

Click here for the detailJacque has other items in her store (click here) that could be used in a children's ministry setting.

Note: As a freelance journalist and children's pastor, I am often provided with free copies of things for review. In this case, I freely spent my money to purchase Jacque Larson's fabulous products. This review was not influenced by the purchase - just in case you (or the FTC) were worried about this detail.

Blog Tour: By The Light Of the Silvery Moon (Review)

In her newest novel, "By The Light Of The Silvery Moon," Tricia Goyer has not only captured the atmosphere and excitement of life on the Titanic, but also weaves in a "historical," yet classic retelling of the prodigal son.

In the novel, Goyer tells the story of Ameila Gladstone - a young woman who is journeying across the ocean in hopes that a pen pal she is introduced through her sister will turn into her true love.

When her cousin lands in jail the night before the voyage, Amelia gives his ticket to someone who seems to be down, out and without much hope.

Little does she know that Quentin Walpole is truly living the prodigal son's life. Broken and without much hope, Quentin thinks he's running away from England. Instead, he finds that he is really "running" towards his brother and father, who are passengers on the Titanic.

I'll be honest, I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy reading a book about the Titanic - I mean, we know the ending, the ship sinks.

But through strong dialogue, vivid images of life aboard this amazing structure, and a great story line, Goyer has crafted a book I truly enjoyed reading.

On the scale of one to five, I give this book a solid four. It's a fun, light read, but it's also historical accurate. The story has a depth that I enjoyed. I think if you'll enjoy it if.... you are a history buff, enjoy romance novels, or if you like books with a Biblical hook. Frankly, I think you'll enjoy it if you are just looking for a book to read on a quiet afternoon.

About The Book
(From The Publisher)
Amelia Gladstone's hopes are tied up in the Titanic--hopes for a reunion with her sister and an introduction to an admirer. But when she offers a spare ticket to a down-and-out young man, her fate is about to change.

Quentin Walpole is stunned when a sweet lady secures his passage to America--and even more surprised to find his wealthy father and older brother on board the ship. Suddenly Amelia finds herself caught between the attentions of two men, but who should she entrust her heart to? As the fateful night arrives, will Amelia lose everything to the icy waters?

About The Author
Tricia Goyer is the award winning author of thirty-two books including Beside Still Waters, Remembering You, and the mommy memoir, Blue Like Play Dough.

Tricia is a regular speaker at conventions and conferences and is the host of Living Inspired. She and her family make their home in Little Rock, Arkansas where they are part of the ministry of FamilyLife.

More info about Tricia: 
Living Inspired (http://toginet.com/shows/livinginspired)
and www.triciagoyer.com.

Share On Social Media
On Facebook
"By the Light of the Silvery Moon" by Tricia Goyer is out just in time for the 100 year anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic! In remembrance of this time in our history, Tricia has crafted a well researched story of love and second chances. Click to enter Tricia's Unsinkable Titanic HD Flip Camcorder Prize Pack Giveaway! AND be sure to RSVP for her Titanic Party on Tuesday, April 10.  During the party Tricia will have a special guest, give away lots of fun stuff  and announce the Flip winner! http://litfusegroup.com/blogtours/text/13465890/triciagoyertitanic.

On Twitter
Win an Unsinkable #Titanic HD Flip Prize Pack from @TriciaGoyer in The Light of the Silvery Moon Giveaway! Webcast 4/10. http://ow.ly/9KLRv

Online Resources

Follow The Blog Tour Here

It's A Contest!
Win an Flip HD Camcorder during @TriciaGoyer's Unsinkable Titanic Giveaway
and RSVP for the Tuesday, April 10 Titanic Party!

Celebrate the release of By the Light of the Silvery Moon with Tricia by entering her
giveaway and RSVPing to her Titanic party.



One "unsinkable" winner will receive:
Flip HD video Camera (Make your own dramatic saga!)Titanic movies from the ages {Titanic (1953) Unsinkable Molly Brown
(1964), Titanic (1997)} Secrets of the Titanic (Get the facts from National Geographic.)
And the Band Played On (Music Played on the Titanic.)By the Light of the Silvery Moon by Tricia Goyer (Be swept away in this
tale of love and courage.)Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on
Monday, April 9. Winner will be announced at "Silvery Moon" Titanic Facebook Party on 4/
10 . Tricia will be hosting an author chat (on Facebook and Live from her website) and giving away books, gift certificates and a book club prize pack! (Ten copies of the book for your small group or book club). During the live chat Tricia will have a *special guest* join her. More details coming soon!

So grab your copy of By the Light of the Silvery Moon and join Tricia on the evening of the April 10th for a fun chat, trivia contest (How much do you know about the Titanic?) and lots of giveaways. 


Don't miss a moment of the fun. RSVP today and tell your friends via
FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your
chances of winning.
Hope to see you on the 10th!Note: As a freelance journalist, I was provided a copy of this book by Litfuse Publicity Group.. This review was not influenced by a free book - just in case you (or the FTC) were worried about this detail.

OLW Blog Hop: March in Review

It's time to "round" up another month from the One Little Word class, taught by Ali Edwards.

My March assignment, well, didn't happen. I had good intentions, but I'm now officially behind.

I'm hoping to catch up after the marathon that starts today - known as Holy Week - that sprint from Palm Sunday to Easter!

But in the midst of getting ready for a mission trip with older elementary students  (last month's adventure) and Easter week activities, I finished Lauren Winner's new memoir, Still.


I'll have a book review this week. I love reading spiritual memoirs. In fact, I have the next one picked out already..... Flunking Sainthood: A Year of Breaking the Sabbath, Forgetting to Pray, and Still Loving My Neighbor 


So I guess I did rest this month - I spent time reading from my favorite genre. Hopefully next month, I'll be caught up on the homework from Ali's class.

You Probably Came From Here:
Melissa S - http://blog.mshanhun.com

You Are Here:
Kaylea - www.myscrappylife.com

Go Here Next:
Missus Wookie - http://www.mrswookieswanderings.blogspot.co.uk/

Blog Tour
Margie - http://xnomads.typepad.com/blog/one-little-word
Monica - http://scrapinspired.com/
Jill - http://jillconyers.com/
Jenn - www.studiojenn.blogspot.com
Kara - http://iwannabemewhenigrowup.blogspot.com
Cheri - http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com
Catherine - http://myview-catherine.blogspot.com
Nikki - www.inkyart.com.au
Cindy - http://www.cynthiacrysdale.com/
Lisa - http://backtoallen.com/category/one-little-word/
Donna - http://holimess.blogspot.com/
Coley - www.coleybelle.blogspot.com
Naomi - http://poeticaperture.com
Stephanie - http://playinghouseinmaryland.blogspot.com
Ruth - http://suburbansahm.blogspot.com
Eydie - www.whatwecreate.net
Janet - http://lifeinsideascrapbookroom.blogspot.com
Orange Gearle - http://orangegearle.blogspot.com
Amanda - http://scrappnbee.blogspot.com
Jen - www.jenritchie.com
Melissa S - http://blog.mshanhun.com
Kaylea - www.myscrappylife.com
Missus Wookie - http://www.mrswookieswanderings.blogspot.co.uk/
Cindy - http://seriousplay.typepad.com
Beth - www.thesingularlyordinary.blogspot.com
Tere - http://terecontodomicorazon.blogspot.com/
Kelly - http://mindingmynest.com
Heidi - http://mommy.heidimdavis.com

DIY Candy Cross Lollipops

I was really excited this week, to see a post on Catholic Icing, that used Jolly Ranchers to make your own cross (or flower) lollipops. You can see her original post here.

Laura and I decided to see if it really worked. It DID!

The Jolly Ranchers melted great. I might not center the "cross arms" directly in the middle of the center candy next time, but otherwise, in less than an hour, we had made 13 lollipops.

The original idea used Jolly Ranchers and Life Savers to make flowers - that's a future Saturday project!

Supplies: (Everything was available for purchase today at Walmart.)

Regular Jolly Rancher Candy
(The bag I purchased had green apple, blue raspberry, cheery, watermelon and grape. We had enough to make 11 full lollipops with the "five color" color scheme, and two "odds and ends" lollipops.)

Lollipop Sticks(Walmart sold them in packs of 25. You can also use wooden kitchen skewers.)

Aluminum Foil
(You'll use this to line the baking pan.)

Cheap Sandwich Bags
(Get the kind that "fold" close. - No ziplock closings.)

Ribbon
(I bought purple, so it would be a "color" of the season.)

A Cookie Sheet (or two)
(The bigger the sheet, the more you can do at once. The sheet we used comfortably made four at one time.)

Instructions:1) Preheat the oven to 225 degrees & line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Make sure it's "shiny" side up.
3) Sort your Jolly Ranchers by color. You'll need five candies per lollipop.

4) Unwrap your candies. Put the "middle" of your cross on the cookie sheet. Make sure you space them out enough so that you can build the rest of the cross AND leave room for the stick.

5) Put the pan with the middles into the oven to give it a little bit extra "melting" time. I initially put it in for 1 minute, but it ended up needing 2 minutes for it to get "melty and sticky" so the rest of the pieces will stick to it for the remaining steps.

6) Remove your pan from the oven (this is probably not a "kid friendly" step). Arrange the rest of the jolly ranchers around the middle one in a cross shape. I kind of "pushed" them into the sticky middle, to make sure everything "blended" well. (Again, next time I'll probably build the "center" a wee bit higher so it looks more like a cross and less like a "t".)

You can have a "random" pattern, or make them all the same. For our lollipops, we did green apple (top), blue raspberry (middle), cherry and watermelon (center) and grape (bottom).

Note: It really works better if you have everything unwrapped BEFORE you start the melting process. You have a bit of time to "squish" them together, but it worked best if I had everything ready for when the middles came out of the oven.

7) Place your cookie sheet back in the oven. The original idea/post said to heat for 5 minutes. It took 7 minutes for the Jolly Ranchers to melt together - and be pliable enough to insert the lollipop stick.

8) Lay the stick on the top of the candies and push down. I kind of shaped the candy around the stick. Because it was  so long, I went ahead and put it down most of the middle - so it would have extra stability. The original idea only called for the stick to be placed from the middle piece down.

9) Allow the candy to cool. When it's hard, you'll be able to lift it off the foil with ease.

10) Use the sandwich bags to "wrap" the candies. Tie it closed with ribbon. I used purple, because it is a color represented in Lent/Easter.

Enjoy!

I'm probably going to use these as fun treats for the tween Bible study. It would also make a great gift for teachers and/or volunteers.

Now ... we just want to figure out how to make a lollipop using hard candies and Nerds.....or maybe Skittles.... hum... hum...hum...