the Renewal of Every Spring & our winner!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the little garden giveaway! Sonja said...
I just found your blog this morning and love it. I look forward to reading more in the future.

Thanks Sonja! I hope you do continue to visit! & make sure I get your address so we can ship off your little garden!

In other news, we've been spending our time this week getting ready for Passover. It's a big holiday for us, and the build up is half the fun! Over the past month we've been careful about the things we bring into the house from the grocery store because in a few days we're purging all the leavened items from our home to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread..

While planning is important to avoid throwing out loads of leavened items, the actual act of cleaning our house in a way that removes every last crumb, or shred of 'chametz' is such a physical way of representing a spiritual state. We clean it up, throw it out ,and wipe our hands of it; it represents a renewal of spirit and a cleansing like no other. It's such a story of salvation. Leaven represents sin, and the idea that leaven is permissible throughout the year with this one chance at true purging just reiterates the expectations of the Creator. To know us so well--and how like leaven our sinful nature permeates our lives; Passover gives us this opportunity to purge and really represents the grace we all depend on, the opportunity we are offered to just throw that away and start fresh. Sure, the leaven will return, but in the upcoming week we will focus on life without leaven--life free of the crumbs in the corner or hidden stashes in the back of the freezer, which we always find at some point during the week we live without it, more great imagery...


Anyway, it's a special time of year for most right now, even if it's just spring cleaning. This change of season resonates renewal and I welcome that! Are you feeling a renewal coming?

Hedgehog Rolls Are the Cutest Snack Ever.

We did play a little with heart related things today.

(naomi loves copy work and I NEED to point out what a wonderful day I had with her. perhaps she's beginning to turn the corner and return to comfort).

We even found these coloring pages to tie in our main focus with love & valentine's.

In a book in which I was hunting out our Monday baking day option in, I came across the following project. We had so much fun making these little creatures--it will be hard to eat the last one! But, baking them again will be NO problem.

They just kept getting cuter...

and cuter....

cuter still...

irresistibly adorable.

To make your own? Just make your favorite roll recipe (a yeasty one). 

1. Roll the dough into balls about the size of a large lemon 
2. brush with a milk/egg wash 
3. pinch and squeeze one end to form the face
4. snip about 1/2 inch deep with scissors at a 45degree angle from the back side.
5. Add the cranberries/currants/raisins/etc (make certain to press firmly!)
6. Bake according to the recipe, and delight your kids, family and friends! Naomi kept trying to think of good reasons to have a party just so we could share them. Surely we'll think of something, beyond just the rolls, sometime!

And--if you're already celebrating love today, Annette--you have another reason! You win the giveaway! Just make sure I have your address and I'll ship it out pronto.