The Combs Krewe

Today I made our Easter cake using a friend's idea. It's an empty tomb cake! And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled the boulder back and sat upon it.His appearance was like lightning, and his garments as white as snow. And those keeping guard were so frightened at the sight of him that they were agitated and they trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, Do not be alarmed and frightened, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, Who was crucified. He is not here; He has risen as He said [He would do]. Come, see the place where He lay. Matthew 26:2-6 Here's Laura's instructions for how to make it: You make a regular chocolate cake and pour the batter in a bundt cake and cook according to the recipe. Take the cooled cake and cut it so that you have 2/3 of the cake on one side and 1/3 on the other. Take the larger piece (2/3 of the cake) and put it in the middle of a cake ...

Easter is not about colored eggs or bunnies or cute little yellow chicks. But I like all those things any way. So here are some pictures from around our house of our "spring" decorating: The baker's rack... Our table... Shelf decor... The view out my balcony door... Fridge art by Ryland and Jathan... Today we did talk about the true meaning of Good Friday and Easter. Tonight and tomorrow I'm hoping to do some snack crafts thanks to a couple of ideas from our on-campus homeschool coordinator. Pictures of those to come!

Keeleigh is my rock star. She's so creative and artsy and loves reinventing her style constantly. Her room is a perfect reflection of her (current) personality. The walls are magenta, the furniture is black, and the bedding is rainbow zebra print. Right now Keeleigh's nails are painted bright blue and her socks don't match. And today she got to add one more facet to her colorful personality. We've dubbed it crazy hair. Here's a before shot: And here she is perking up after the foil was placed in her hair. Inside that foil chemicals were bleaching her hair out preparing it for the next step! Can you see what color Keeva is applying there? Yep, purple! After the purple she put some blue chunks on top and voila! Keeleigh is even cooler than before! About two seconds after this picture was taken she ran outside just beaming ready to show off her hair to her friends! So glad she likes it. Rock on, sister girl!

When Keeleigh and I saw how to turn some old t-shirts into a cute new rug in last month's Family Fun magazine, we knew we had to try it! First we gathered some colorful t-shirts from the SWAP shop and Keeleigh cut them into strips. Then she used her hula hoop to weave them together. It took a little trial and error to get the tension just right. But before long at all Keeleigh had a super cute rug for her room! Now I want one! So feel free to donate your old shirts to us! = )

Recently a friend posted on her blog about the differences between some "showcase" homes and more shall we say "lived-in" homes. = ) Technically my apartment is a showcase home. When potential students visit the seminary our home is one that they tour to get an idea of what the living space is like. I'm happy to say that usually people love the way our home looks. I know it's not because we have a lot of fancy, expensive stuff (my SWAP shop furniture collection is growing, after all!) but more likely it's because I've made it a place that I love. I am not afraid of color--just ask my purple couch. I also lean toward the country side of style which always feels nice and homey. But style won't get you anywhere on showcase housing day if you're house is messy so with three kids and counting, it's a good thing I know how to clean up and FAST. More than one person has asked me, "Is your house always this neat?" My answer is always...

Ever since Jathan discovered that people eat animals he's been asking exactly which animals are suitable for eating. "Do we eat birds?" "Do we eat wolves?" "Do we eat sharks?" And so on and so forth throughout the entire animal kingdom. He finally asked, "Do we eat bugs?" I mentioned that, yes, some people do eat bugs and that maybe we could visit the Insectarium so that he could try a tasty, tasty bug. Yesterday we finally go to go! After church we hit Popeyes where everyone devoured their chicken. BTW the one on Canal is cool because it's cafeteria-style and you can choose your items ala carte meaning if your child wants two biscuits then by golly, she gets two biscuits! = ) Jathan cracked us up saying, "This is so good. Good, good. I love chicken! I am so full!" Ha ha. After Popeyes we headed to the Insectarium, where the kids were absolutely enthralled to look at different insects for the next couple of hours. We saw big, me...

This morning the kids and I did something a little different. We visited an unveiling ceremony at a Buddhist temple to get a look at a 4-ton Jade Buddha. This particular Buddha is the Jade Buddha for Universal Peace and was carved out of an 18-ton jade boulder found in Canada. It is on a world-wide tour and has already been viewed by millions of people. According to a Times-Picayune report , "The purpose of the tour is to inspire joy and give people around the world, regardless of their religion, the opportunity to reflect upon the meaning of peace." There were some opening comments (in Chinese and English, thank goodness!) and then the Jade Buddha was dramatically unveiled amid clanging bells, firecrackers, and the oohs and aahs of the crowd. After the unveiling they released balloons and pigeons which in some strange way felt spiritual. Sitting there amongst amazed people some of whom had devoted their entire lives to this, I could definitely understand how people could fe...