Tree Skirt

My kids and hubby and I made this out of felt.  Coloring pages traced on felt and glued on with wiggly eyes, sequins, etc.!

Christmas Crafts

I can't figure out how to just post a picture on Pinterest, but I know I have lots of friends who love handprints, so I'm posting this tablecloth idea we started a few years ago.   My hubby and I did our handprints once as Mr. and Mrs. Santa, and then the kids put their handprints on each year as elves, with their name, the year, and their age! 

School days

I am working on a post about my feelings about school...it means fully exposing my heart, though, so it is taking some time...

Bible study for busy moms

Most of you know that my daughter started kindergarten this year.  That has obviously changed our daily schedule and routine tremendously!  Since she was a baby, we have always had a morning (or early afternoon if needed) Bible study lesson together, and I wondered how in the world we would be able to fit this in with the hustle and bustle of school!  Simply moving it to the afternoon wasn't an option, because we do family studies in the afternoon and evening with my husband, so I had to come up with an alternate plan. In the past we have focused mainly on stories and characters in the Bible.  For this study, though, I wanted it to primarily be an "application" lesson to her school day to give her additional ammunition for fighting against the fiery darts of the devil (Yes, he targets even our young ones to keep them from striving to please God!).  So, on day one of kindergarten we started a simple "program" that I believe will work for any busy moms trying to get out the door in the morning with school-age children.  Prior to that I took a few hours of my own personal Bible study and looked up and wrote down relevant verses dealing with how we should treat God, how we should treat others, and ways that we could be good examples to others around us.  Some verses I chose include: the Golden Rule, "love one another," "let your light shine," "do not worry," etc.   Each morning at breakfast (or during the car ride if we're having a really rushed morning), I read or quote the verse(s) to her, tell her where they are found (and let her find them most days!), and we discuss a way that she can use that concept during her day at school.   It is still a work in progress, and I'll admit that some days go more smoothly than others, but overall it seems to be working for us.  It gets our day started off right by focusing on God's word and what is really important in our lives, and it gives her practical ways to apply Christian principles in her daily life in elementary school.  If nothing else, it keeps our minds OFF of the negative emotions that can come from having to get up early and get moving! :)   I don't write this to brag about our daily Bible study (we have many ways to improve!!).  I am sharing this so that perhaps other moms who struggle with fitting things like this into their day might be able to take this and run with it.  I also would love to hear other suggestions that you have for making time to teach God's word to your children, no matter how busy your schedule is! 

Sing and be happy!

Everyone asks how my kids know so many worship songs.  It's because we sing them CONSTANTLY.  We try to learn at least one new one a week and we sing it over and over and over.  Sometimes it may just be one verse, but still we sing!  When they can follow along and participate in worship, they feel so much more a part of things...and it helps with behavior issues as well!  If you're like me and really can't carry a tune very well, it can take some work on your part, but it's worth it!  Also, pick up an a cappella CD of kids' worship songs and play it (and sing along) in the car, and you'll learn all sorts of things!  That's how we all learned the Judges, books of the Bible, sons of Jacob, and the list goes on and on.  If I can do it, you can do it, too. 

Miscellaneous

I normally won't post so frequently, but I'm trying to get "caught up" on things we've done over the past few months so that I can then just post as things come along. 

Deuteronomy 6: 6-9   "And these words which I commad you today shall be in your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.  you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."

Our fall lectureship series focused on the Armor of God.  In conjunction with that, we studied the pieces of armor at home.  I found various printables of the armor and we constructed our own "soldiers of Christ."  They are posted in our kitchen as a way to keep God's word "ever before us."

Another way to write them "on the doorposts" is to post verses around the house.  Here are a few we printed on removable sticker paper and put on the walls in our kids' rooms.  A friend suggested this, and we love it! 

Below is a picture of our kitchen wall.  My 3 year old's creative Wednesday night teachers made a page for each day of creation and decorated it.  The pages are now posted on the wall beside our kitchen table to aid us in reviewing the days of creation any time we sit down to eat.  Keeping things in such obvious locations around the house makes it easy to fit discussion of Bible things into our daily conversations effortlessly.

This is our most recent project.  We discussed worship and obedience this week and talked about the avenues of worship God has authorized us to participate in within the assembly.  We made a "mobile" with each of the 5 avenues of worship on its own shape.  I was proud of my kids for choosing a heart for sing because "you should sing with your heart to God!"  :)  The letters look interesting because my daughter has just learned to write "fancy" letters with dots on the ends of the letters.

Patience...

Please be patient as I get this up and running...I know it doesn't look fancy or exciting yet, and it may not ever!  :)

Let My People Go!

Our local congregation publishes a "family Bible study" in the bulletin each week.  It consists of 4 lessons regarding related subjects each week, and recently we've been in the story of Moses.  The kids and I do related lessons during the day to reinforce what we are learning, and then we do our family devo at night with Daddy.  Last week we need a hands-on activity to supplement the lessons, AND the kids were dying to play with playdough.  So...we combined the two!  Below are our re-creations of the Moses story, using playdough!

Panoramic view:

Baby Moses with Pharaoh's daughter and Miriam:

The burning bush and sandals

How will they know?  Aaron threw his rod on the ground...

Let my people go!  Moses went before Pharaoh and God sent the plaugues.  Here we have the frogs, darkness, water to blood, and dead livestock:

The doorposts covered in blood:

Crossing the Red Sea (courtesy of my 3 year old):

Manna and quail:

Mt. Sinai covered in gray smoke when the Lord descended in fire.  Moses is holding the two stone tablets. My 5 year old was proud of herself!:

Melting the golden calf over the fire:

Arts and Crafts and other fun Mommy stuff

I love arts and crafts.  Most people think I do them all "for the kids," but I'll let you in on a secret.  I love them myself.  They are relaxing to me, and they give me a chance to express myself in ways other than running my mouth (which I do more of than I should!).   I also believe that arts and crafts can provide powerful learning experiences for those involved!  The past week was full of arts and crafts and celebrations at our house, and I'd like to post a few of them.

I am originially from Louisiana, so Mardi Gras is part of my heritage.  My kids are finally old enough that I wanted to share some of that heritage with them.  I visited the Dollar Tree and picked up a few masks and some decorations and we got to work.  While we worked, I talked about my memories of Mardi Gras parades, king cakes, and school celebrations.  When we finished, it was interesting to see everyone's personalities come out in the their masks.  My daughter's was extravagant and fancy; my son's had primarily blue sequins (his favorite color!).  My husband decorated his with happy faces (his trademark), and mine was very patterned and symmetrical (I can't help it!).  A few days later (on Mardi Gras), we had a traditional king cake, and Daddy found the hidden baby.  It was a blast sharing this part of my past with them, and I think it created fun new memories for them as well!

Here's the king cake:

The week before was Dr. Seuss week.  My kids aren't in school yet, but we wanted to celebrate, because we LOVE reading and Dr. Seuss is a favorite!  Since that week has been dubbed "Read Across America" week, we printed off a map of the USA and read 50 books.  Each time we read a book, we colored in a different state and labeled it with the book title.  Without even realizing it, the kids were exposed to history and geography!  Not to mention all the topics in the books we read...  Funny thing is, we didn't read any more books than we do in a normal week, but calling attention to it made it "new" and "different."