Easter Fun

In the midst of the craziness that has been our life lately, I have been praying about and searching for ideas to focus our Easter celebration on the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.  I haven't been able to invest near the amount of time that I did during Advent, so I am praying for meaningful, clear ways to share the Easter story.  Here are a few of the things I have planned for this week!


Easter Egg Hunts: We will be hunting ALOT of eggs this week!  I love looking back at the origin of traditions and the origin of the Easter egg had nothing to do with a bunny (that never made sense to me anyway)!  They were meant to be a symbol of new life.  So we will hunt lots of eggs and talk about the new life we have as believers in Jesus Christ.  For our egg hunt on Easter Sunday, I am going to print and stuff the eggs with these cards and candy from Desiring Virtue.


Resurrection Eggs: I have seen these for several years and I love the idea of them, but I am not in love with all the little pieces inside!  I found this great printable on Pinterest.  It gives you the story without the pieces and the expense. :)

Hot Cross Buns: I am going to attempt making Hot Cross Buns on Saturday morning.  I love the idea of this being a Saturday morning before Easter tradition for years to come!

Empty Tomb: I also saw this on Pinterest and loved that it was so similar to what we did with the Nativity at Christmas.

Resurrection Cookies: We will be spending most of Easter weekend at my in-laws house.  I am excited to make these resurrection cookies at their house on Saturday night/Sunday morning since my mother-in-law is the one who first told me about them!


Since celebrating Advent this year, I have been more excited than ever for this Easter season.  I love the renewed excitement I feel about my Savior.  I love focusing on the truth that we serve a Savior that is ALIVE!  I am praying that each of you grasp the importance of that this week as you serve your families!

What To Do With The Rest Of The Year?

“Momma, where are you putting baby Jesus?” Drew asked, as I put away the nativity.  “We will put Him up and bring Him back out next year.” I replied.

“Momma, let’s listen to Christmas music,” he asked as we pulled out of the driveway.  “How about Veggie Tales instead?” I asked.  “No! Christmas music ... for baby Jesus’ birthday!”

Goodness have I been challenged by my little man over the last few weeks.  Have you tried to explain to a three year old why we only leave the nativity scenes out for one month of the year and why we don’t listen to “Silent Night” the other eleven months?  As I wrapped baby Jesus and put Him in the box amidst his questions, it hit me.  Is that how often I dwell on the birth of the incarnate Savior?  Once a year?  

Not only am I challenged by the amount that we focused and talked about Jesus in the month of December, but it has also caused me to stop and take a look at how much I am really teaching him about the Bible.  It is easy to use the excuse that he is three, but that just won’t work anymore.  As I put away the Christmas decorations, including the felt board we had done, I asked him to tell me the story and he did.  Granted, it was in the words of a three year old so every little detail wasn’t precise.  But he got it.  He knew that an angel appeared to Mary and told her she would have a baby.  Then he put Mary on the donkey and told Joseph they had to go to Bethlehem.  He then placed Jesus in the stable and brought the shepherds (who take care of sheep) and the wise men to see Jesus.  He then said, “Today in town of David, a Savior been born. He is Christ Lord.” Luke 2:11  He got it ... on a three year old level, but he got it.  And so did his momma.  These years are precious and they are few and that mind is a sponge.  What am I putting in it?

Mary on the way to Bethlehem.

So we will focus this year.  Focus on training and teaching.  My good friend Kim who did a lot of Advent activities with her boys is going to focus on a different story each month.  I am thinking we may tag along with that and keep up the felt board fun.

And we will listen to Christmas songs all year long if that is what he would like to listen to.  Besides, it will really never get old to hear him sing “Gloooooria, in exces e deo” from the backseat.

12:17 PM

Happy Birthday Jesus!

25 Days of Christmas: If At First You Don't Succeed .. Try Again!

I have learned a lot in the last few weeks about what works and doesn't work for teaching toddlers ... at least my toddler!  I mentioned in this post, that we planned on using a wooden Advent calendar.  I loved the way my cute calendar looked, but of course he was way more interested in getting the candy than reading the verse and I didn't feel there was enough repetition for him to really "get" what we were teaching.  I decided to go "old school" and make a felt board.  I went online and printed out characters and headed to the teacher supply store to have them laminated where I found this wonderful bulletin board set that I decided to use instead.  I was able to get felt and Velcro at Wal-Mart and our felt board was done!  We have really loved using this board.  We walk through the scripture each night and move the pieces on and off the board.  I have gotten over the fact that it isn't the most beautiful holiday decoration.  This works for us this year and next year may be a totally different story when I have two different ages trying to learn.

Our story pieces

The felt board

Mary riding on a donkey with Joseph to Bethlehem.  Of course this doesn't look quite right, but a 3 year old doesn't know that!

D placing the shepherds

And Baby Jesus

I have also see a few other ideas in the blog world that I think are great and that we might use next year!  This Advent Book that Grace Full Mama shared builds on the passage in Luke each day so that by the end of the month, the kids have mostly memorized the scripture.  I also love Truth in the Tinsel.  Each day you read the Christmas story from the  Bible and make a craft or ornament together.


What have you used to teach your children this year?  Do you have ideas for teaching toddlers?  Older children?

25 Days of Christmas: Gingerbread Nativity

Pinterest strikes again and we are going to make this one a Ramsey tradition!  Instead of making a gingerbread house, we made a gingerbread nativity scene. I went the easy route and we used pre-made icing and crackers instead of gingerbread.  I love this idea because you can be as creative as you want to be!

The graham crackers were small squares so we headed to the pantry and used Wasa crackers!

Tasting the sheep. :)

Daddy's donkey turned out great!

Showing momma where Joseph goes

Our creation!

Having fun with licorice

25 Days of Christmas: Nativity Floor Puzzle

I picked up this Christmas floor puzzle at Lifeway and it has been a hit!  D and I have put it together NUMEROUS times!  It has been a great way to walk through the Christmas story with him again and again!

Working on the border 

 Almost finished!

 Once you complete the large part of the puzzle, you place small pieces in

The finished product!  And one little boy who isn't feeling great. :)

What things have you found to help teach your children the story of the birth of Jesus?

Jesus Storybook Bible = Great Gift

"It's not a book of rules. It's not a book of heroes. It's most of all a Story. And Every Story Whispers His Name...The Bible as novel for kids."

Whether you are buying for one of your children, grandchildren, niece or nephew, finding a gift that they don’t already have or one that they won’t toss a side quickly is always a challenge.  I always love it when I can find gifts that will work for my boys in different stages.  We received the Jesus Storybook Bible from a good friend when B was born and I am in love with this book!  Of course we pray daily that the Bible will never be something our boys toss aside, but the best thing about this format is that I feel like it will grow with them.  We have several different children’s Bibles, but so far this is by far my fave!  

Right now at 3 years old, D is captivated by the pictures and we break up the stories into several parts to keep him interested and I can see him reading the Jesus Storybook Bible for himself in just a few short years!  If you are looking for a gift for a child, you won’t be disappointed with this purchase.  I have seen them at Lifeway and Family Christian and of course you can find them online.

8:22 AM

He's baaaccckk!!!  So glad to see this smile after several days of sickness!

Random Friday

Sickness: Pedialyte, mounds of sheets/towels/jammies, and Lysol: can you guess what has been going on in our house the last 24 hours?  Yep, a stomach virus.  Big brother has been a sick little boy.  I am hoping we are nearing the end and praying that little brother doesn’t come down with it.

Rangers vs. Cardinals: I love reading the Facebook status updates during the World Series.  Growing up in Arkansas, most of my family and friends are Cardinal fans since that is probably the closest MLB team to us and of course our Texas friends are Rangers fans.  It is comical to read the comments from the opposing sides.  Personally, I am pulling for the Cardinals, but I will admit that I haven’t watched a game of the World Series.

Motherhood Is a Calling: I ran across this article again this week.  When I first read it, I wrote these last two paragraphs out on the chalkboard in my kitchen.  It was especially good to read after battling the sickness with D!

"Live the gospel in the things that no one sees. Sacrifice for your children in places that only they will know about. Put their value ahead of yours. Grow them up in the clean air of gospel living. Your testimony to the gospel in the little details of your life is more valuable to them than you can imagine. If you tell them the gospel, but live to yourself, they will never believe it. Give your life for theirs every day, joyfully. Lay down pettiness. Lay down fussiness. Lay down resentment about the dishes, about the laundry, about how no one knows how hard you work.

Stop clinging to yourself and cling to the cross. There is more joy and more life and more laughter on the other side of death than you can possibly carry alone."

Have a great weekend!!

Lessons From a Week at Disney World

• Trying to teach an almost 3 year old to wait in a line for 40 minutes to ride Dumbo is impossible and can stretch the limits of anyone’s patience! “Stand up!” “Keep your hands off the chains.”  “It will be our turn in a minute.” Those are just a few of the MANY things I repeated during our wait.  He throughly enjoyed it and his laughter was priceless, even if the ride only lasted 3 minutes.

Riding Dumbo with my little man

• Baby Care Stations are AMAZING.  I ran across the Baby Care Station at Magic Kingdom and I am not sure that I could have survived our trip without them!  I was able to feed and change little man and even washed bottles at the station.  

• Grammy’s are essential to a satisfying Disney experience.  They hold babies, take little boys to the potty, get bottles ready, and just enjoy watching the joy on your kids faces as much as you do.  Don’t do Disney without one. :)

Grammy with her boys

• From backscratchers to measuring spoons, if you want to bring home a Mickey Mouse souvenir, you can find it.

• You learn something new every trip you take to Disney.  This time we discovered that character breakfasts may be a little pricey but they get you in the park before the big rush.  We also discovered that you can get a Fast Pass at Magic Kingdom to see Mickey, Minnie, and a few of the princesses. Fast Passes are amazing and minimize the stress of waiting in line!

• You can understand couples arguing at Disney even in a different language.  I may not have understand the actual words but I understood the emotions!  When you have small  kids and it is hot and you have spent 6 hours at the park, it is easy to get frustrated!  We walked past a couple at the Magic Kingdom late in the afternoon who were having a heated conversation in Spanish while looking at their map.  Their children were crying in the stroller.  It was hot and late in the day.  No translation needed.

Drew was fascinated with the park maps. :)

• Trips like this are lessons in how to turn lemons into lemonade, especially for this planner personality.  I feel like I experienced a “Growth Moment” several times on this trip when our plan didn’t quite work out as we had expected.  Instead of letting it stress me out completely, I was able to adjust adjust and move on.  Wow, that is so much easier than my normal response.  I am pretty sure my hubby would say the same thing!

We really did have a great time.  I will probably have another post to do after our 12 hour car ride home with two boys who are very tired!

8:50 AM

It's Mick Mouse!!!

Random Friday

• Yesterday was probably my most challenging day to date dealing with a headstrong toddler.  The discipline was frequent and tears were shed by both of us. In my short experience of being a mother, consistency is by far the hardest element of parenting to me.  It is so easy to want to let it slide at the end of the day when you are both tired.  I have learned the lesson in the past that if you let it slide, it makes it harder to deal with the next day.  This momma was exhausted when her head hit the pillow last night and grateful that His mercies were new today.

• One our favorite restaurants has these things called WikiStiks for the kids to play with at the table.  The come in different colors and you can bend them into different shapes. We made the boys glasses while waiting on our Sunday lunch.  That is about as crafty as their poor parents get, but aren't they just precious??

• Don’t forget to share your Growth Moments. You can email them to me and if you are willing, we will share them on R&R.  We can learn so much from each other’s experiences and it is amazing to see how similar our struggles and victories are.

• I saw this story on GMA yesterday.  I hate to tell Lara, but I was putting contact paper on my locker in the 90’s!  Granted, I didn’t have a chandelier or shag carpet, but my locker looked good!

• Have a great weekend!

9:59 AM

Pretend play at its finest. Mr. Bear and D taking a nap with paper towels as blankets. I think I could write a book on the adventures of Mr. Bear.

12:55 PM

What are strollers good for?  Carrying pumpkins not babies!

8:38 AM

The first of many wounds at the hands of his brother.  This time it was a flying train.

Random Friday

Watching TV together :)

I am feeling a little scattered today, so you get my rambling thoughts and a super cute picture to go with them

1. What I Didn’t Know About the Pill: Honestly, I struggled to put this post up. I had it done and edited for over a week before I ever scheduled it, but I knew that I needed to be obedient and share what God had laid on my heart to share with you.  The response was AMAZING.  Even though there weren’t many comments left on the actual posts, I saw numerous comments left on FB links to the post.  October 5th’s daily page view count was the highest to date.  It was a good encouragement to me to know that others were reading it.  Around lunch on Wednesday I ran a quick errand with the boys.  While we were shopping, I started getting a migraine.  It was my first one in several months.  For me, migraines are hormonal and guess what controls them?  Yup, you guessed it: Birth Control.  When I started feeling it come on, I had the strangest reaction ... I smiled.  It was a gentle reminder to me that obedience is hard.  A reminder that doing the right thing and being obedient doesn’t always mean sunshine and roses, but the peace of God is way better than sunshine and roses!
2. I survived a week with both boys by myself!  Hal has been out of town this week.  He was supposed to be back on Wednesday, but his trip was extended.  I know that he has to travel for his job some, but I sure HATE him being away.  I miss his help, but I just miss his presence more!  Big brother had a small meltdown on Wednesday night.  He was past ready to see his daddy.  I have bribed him with ice cream and french fries all week and this afternoon we get to pick up daddy at the airport.
3. Don’t forget to enter the giveaway for a GraceTag necklace.  Click HERE to enter. I love reading which necklace you would chose and why!
4. Have a great weekend!

Handful of Blessings and a Giveaway

I ran across a blog several weeks ago and I instantly loved the title: Homemaker by Choice. In a day where they have changed the name of Home Ec classes to Family Life and Consumer Sciences and it seems so taboo to use the word “homemaker,” I love that this is the title of Amber’s blog. Check out the site today and read my post “Handful of Blessings.” Amber’s resource page lists several of my favorite books on Biblical Womanhood including “The Excellent Wife” which I am reading now. 


I am also starting a little contest today. I will be giving away the necklace of your choice from GraceTags to one reader. Check out the items in the GraceTags Etsy Shop. I think this one is my favorite. It reminds me not only of the gift of my salvation but also that I need Christ every day.

To enter the contest:

• Leave a comment on this post and tell me which necklace you would choose and why.

You can receive additional entries by:

• Becoming a Fan of Rubies and Rewards on Facebook
• Follow Rubies and Rewards on Twitter
• Visit Homemakers By Choice and read the Handful of Blessings Post

The contest will end on October 10th at 12:01 AM (EST)  I am testing Rafflecopter as a method of doing giveaways.  Let me if it turns out to be too difficult!  Your name and email won't be published it is just so that I can contact you if you are the winner.  Depending on how you opened the page, you may need to click "Read More" below to make sure your entries are counted in the contest!

I look forward to hearing which necklace you would chose and why!

9:30 PM

I love sneaking into their room after they are asleep for the night.  This little man was down for the count!

Friday Fun: Crazy Things Kids Do and Say

After a week of digging into The Trinity, I thought we would have a little Friday Fun.  Of course I think that digging into doctrine is fun, but I am just a nerd like that!  Have you ever had an experience as a mom when you said or did something that you NEVER thought you would?  It seems like I have been having a lot of things happen lately.  

-The scene looked like this.

We were 95% potty trained on the little potty but refused to go on the big potty and refused to go in a pull-up if we were away from home. We were at a restaurant and he said he needed to potty, so I took him to the bathroom to see if we could overcome the fear of the big potty.  He was dancing around so I knew he really needed to go.  He screamed when I tried to sit him on the potty and it was way too tall for him to try and stand. I looked to the right of the potty and there was a trash can that was just the right height.  Yep.  I did it.  I let him pee pee in the trash can.  Since then, he thought standing up was cool and we are 100% little potty free.  Go figure.

-The conversation goes a little bit like this.  

D: “Look mom, a booger.”  

Me: “I see that buddy.  We don’t need to put our finger in our nose, but since you did, go   ahead and put it in the trash.”

D: “Okay momma, that’s a great idea.”  

Me: (I see him walk away and put the booger in his ear!) “D- we do not put our finger in our nose and we do NOT put boogers in our ears!”

Seriously, we have had this conversation more times than I want to admit! What in the world made him think that is where they go?????

So, tell me your story!  What have you said or done that you never in a million years thought you would ever do? 

Scripture Memory

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we have been working on Scripture memory with D.  We decided to start with, Genesis 1:1: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."  He is very excited to share his "berse" with you, so you might take that as a WARNING to turn your speakers down!