A Weight Watchers Christmas :)

This year, my parents blessed me with a few months of weight watchers membership, as well as lots of WW goodies and books to help me reach my goal! That may sound odd to some of you, but I have come to cherish my weekly meetings as a time when I can put my own needs in an important place and take care of myself so that I can serve the Lord longer and  be here for my husband and children. I am a firm believer that this program can work for anyone willing to make the effort.   15 months into the program I am still at "only" 30 lbs lost, but add that to the pounds I lost pre-kids, and I'm down a whopping 60+ from my highest weight! The first 30+ I have maintained for 9 years. I have another 12 to 14 lbs  to go to reach my goal, and I am determined that this will be the year to get those last stubborn pounds off!  I have learned so much about myself through this journey, and I look forward to the lessons that will come this year as well.  I have also learned a lot about patience!!

In addition to this, we are starting a new eating plan at home for my son's hyperactivity and some other medical issues both kids are facing.  My super-picky husband is even on board (as long as I don't make him eat veggies!), so I will be blogging about that more as we get it underway.  I am still waiting on some reading material to come in before we take the final plunge, but we have talked to the kids about it quite a bit.  When I told them WHY we were doing it (I approached it from a health AND behavior standpoint), my daughter incredulously commented that she had NO IDEA what we ate could change how we acted!   They both seem excited (although apprehensive) about the changes.  We already eat "mostly" healthy, but we are going to work to cut out any artificial colorings or additives and to add in a few nutrients or supplements we make be lacking.  I'd love to hear any input others have about eating for good behavior and optimal health! :)

"After" picture for 100 reasons to be thankful!

I promised an "after" picture of the turkey discussed here:  http://craftykeeperathome.blogspot.com/2013/11/100-reasons-to-be-thankful.html

My son had no trouble with this.  He could have added another 100 things. My daughter really, really struggled.  Thankfulness is hard for her, as she is very concerned that by saying she is thankful she might accidentally "lie" if it's something she doesn't LOVE.  It was a good learning experience for all of us, and by the end, we were really having to dig deep and think about our many blessings!

Spies in the Promised Land

My pictures have been in the memory card black hole, so I haven't updated my lessons in a while.  These will not be in order, but here we go!

Before I share a Bible story each week, we review previous weeks using our word wall.  I am always impressed by how much the kids remember!  Also, I try to make them think about our current story and have them make predictions or draw conclusions based on what we already know about God before I share the full story.  The more they "own" the story, the more they remember!  :)

When we study Numbers 13 and 14, which includes the story of Joshua and Caleb's faithful report, I ALWAYS make sure to have a "milk and honey" snack.   We talk about how God promised a land "flowing with milk and honey," and the kids struggle to picture that figurative language.  So, after we talk about how that means it would just be better than they could imagine, we break out the milk and honey.  This year we got boxes of vanilla "Tru Moo" milk (YUM!), pretzels dipped in honey, and raisins to represent the grapes the spies carried.   Because I teach Sunday morning class, I try to keep any relevant snacks somewhat healthy so the kids aren't wired when they go to worship in the auditorium.  :)

Following the story and our snack, we review using our word wall, which I have posted about previously.  We focus heavily on how Joshua and Caleb trusted God (and had "faith) and the others were influenced by the unfaithful spies to not believe God's promises because of what they could see in the land before them (and had "fear").

Our next activity depends on my current class.  Sometimes we do "quilling" and make grapes from curled purple paper.  Other times, we just glue purple circles onto paper to make large bunches of grapes.  This year, we traced their handprints on construction paper and put "handles" on them to fit around their hands.  On one handprint for each kid, we wrote "faith," and on the other, "fear."  We talked about different parts of the story and they raised their hands that said "faith" if we talked about Joshua or Caleb and "fear" if we talked about the others.  Then, I gave them different scenarios that might happen to them, and they had to choose if what I told them showed "faith" or "fear."  Here, we focused on obedience.

I use the reproducible story from the workbook that goes with this:  http://www.amazon.com/Young-Readers-Bible-Bonnie-Bruno/dp/0784705054/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1388433954&sr=8-2&keywords=young+reader%27s+bible

(Note:  I could not find the workbook for sale online anymore.  Perhaps it is out of print?)

I do NOT recommend this book as a substitute for using the Bible, but it does have some good "easy reading" stories to encourage confidence as the kids find words and read on their own some.  We frequently do activities at the beginning or end of class where they have to find and circle important words in the story. I  always brag on how well they are "reading" when they do this successfully!

Good-bye, 2013!

Although I find it hard to believe that 2013 will end in just a few short days, I must confess that I am not all that sad to see it go!  What a year it has been for our household!  In the past 12 -15 months, we have had to replace several major appliances, we have had multiple car issues and repairs, and, just this week we found out we have to have a WHOLE NEW ROOF AND Mold removal and repair.  UGH!  Add that to grad school tuition and multiple unexpected medical expenses that keep piling up on top of our fragile one-income budget, and things are a little stretched around here!.   Here's to a better 2014!

All that being said, there are some things from 2013 that I wouldn't trade for all the prosperity in the world.  I am so thankful for my sweet family.  My kids, although very opinionated and stubborn, are such a blessing in my life!   I am thankful daily for the chance to be their mommy, even on days that I want to pull my hair out from the squabbling and questioning. :)  I keep reminding myself that the very stubbornness that tries my patience will one day make them good ambassadors for Christ.  Their refusal to back down from arguments with Mommy or Daddy will strengthen their ability to refuse to back down from challenges from those who would belittle their faith or beliefs later in life.  I am thankful for a messy house, a messier car, and sticky fingerprints on freshly painted walls because that means that we LIVE here, not just exist side by side.  I am thankful for 810 hew legos strewn about the living room because it means my kids are using their creativity to explore and build and think.  I am thankful for in-laws (on both sides) who help any time there is a need.  I am thankful for my husband of almost 13 years for his patience, his willingness and ability to provide for our family, and for his rock-solid faith and support when this crazy woman just can't take the stress anymore and I need a shoulder to catch my tears.   I am thankful for a church family that comes out in droves to support us when we ask for help for a difficult family situation.  I am thankful for my precious kindergarten Bible class.  So, in a way, here's to a 2014 that has big shoes to fill...size 2013!  :)

Happy New Year, Friends!

100 Reasons to be Thankful

Given that I am no longer on Facebook, I have not had the chance to see (or participate in) the "What I'm thankful for" posts that always surface around Turkey Day.  However, I do like to use this time to reflect on giving thanks for the blessings that God has bestowed upon me and on my family.  We also like to use this time to redirect our children towards gratitude and thankfulness rather than the usual "gimmes" that can  bubble up during the holidays.

Our preacher challenged each member of our congregation to list 100 things he/she is thankful for between last Sunday and Thanksgiving day.  The idea is that the first several (or 50 or 70) will come pretty easily, but then it will require a lot of thought and consideration and will really pull out the deeper aspects of gratitude. 

We decided in our house to do this both individually AND as a family.  We have one child in particular who has a very difficult time with gratitude.   The normal attitude is one of aloofness and ingratitude, and we struggle constantly with instilling appreciation and thankfulness.  It seems that the more kids have to be grateful FOR, the less appreciative they become.  That is part of the reason we completely purged our house of "stuff" and have instilled the "one in, one out" rule.  (But, I digress...that is another post for another day!).

The picture at the top of this post is our "thankfulness" turkey.  If I counted correctly, he has 100 feathers.  Between now and Thanksgiving Day, each of the 4 of us will add 25 reasons to be thankful to our colorful turkey.  I will TRY to remember to post an "after" picture later this month. 

A sneak peek of yesterday's contributions:  A good house to live in, a faithful husband, a Christian wife, and tacos.  :)  Stay tuned, and may we all remember to give thanks where thanks is due, to our Almighty Creator.

Baby Moses/ Moses and the Burning Bush

The kids always know the story of Baby Moses pretty well by the time they get to my kindergarten class, so we do this lesson pretty quickly.   We read the story straight from the book of Exodus and they always love hearing about the princess finding the baby.  We also emphasize Miriam's role and I try to impress on the students that Miriam was young, and yet God could use her in his greater plan.

In conjunction with this, we study the burning bush.  When my class is calm enough, they take off their shoes just like Moses did, and when we say "this is holy ground," we talk about ways they should act to show respect to God.

We made a Moses lapbook to help the kids remember the story of Moses, and we add to it with each part of the story.  By the end of the lessons on Moses, they can retell the story to their families.  I will post a picture of a finished lapbook in a few weeks when we complete our Moses unit.

This time, for the burning bush, we had a fun "review" activity.  Our memory verse has been "But without faith it is impossible to please Him..."  Heb 11:6.

The kids came in to find this bush, which seems to want to stay sideways on the screen.  :)

Each of the colored "flames" had a word of the memory verse.  On a black piece of posterboard I wrote the verse in white crayon.  The kids had to go to the bush and find each word of the verse and tape them under the correct word on the posterboard.  With each word, we'd repeat the ones we'd found.  For instance, student #1 found "But,"  student 2 found "But without," and so on.

While most of my kids can't read yet, they could match up words.   They begged to play it again, but we ran out of time.  I think it would be a good way to do memory work from time to time, with different visuals.  

Moses and the Plagues

Last week we studied Moses and the plagues of Egypt.   Each student has their own pizza pan (from Walmart, less than $1).   For the plagues, I printed and laminated a set of assorted pictures of the plagues for each kid and put magnets on the back.   As I told the story of the plagues, they could add them to their pizza pans.  After each plague, they held up their popsicle stick with "Let My People Go" on it, and we said it in a very deep sing-song voice.  Then, I'd ask what they thought Pharaoh said, and they'd flip their popsicle sticks around and yell, "NO!"  We went into varying amounts of detail on each plague, and they were grossed out by frogs in bread bowls and lice everywhere. 

We also talked about the Passover some, but all they could think about was blood on the doorposts, and they were totally grossed out.  I found it somewhat amusing! :) 

We added to our Moses lapbook as well with a small flip book of the plagues, which they colored. 

My American Girl

My sweet girl is eight years old now!  How can that be?   It seems like only yesterday that we brought her home, but it was EIGHT YEARS ago!  Wow.  Speaking of, I need to get to work on her annual birthday letter.   For those of you who haven't heard about that tradition, every year on or around my kids' birthdays, I write a letter to them about the memories of the past year and my thoughts and prayers and plans for their futures.   I keep all of the letters for each kid in a big envelope, and I plan to give it to them as adults.   We haven't decided whether that will be when they graduate high school, graduate college, get married, or move out.   I always thought as a kid that I wish I had known my mom as a person when she was raising us, so I am hopeful these letters will give my kids a little insight into who Daddy and I were (are?) when they were growing up.   I list a few struggles and happy times from the year as well as some encouraging words for later.  

Anyway, I digress.  Today was our American Girl birthday party.  I thought it turned out cute, and the girls all had a blast playing with their dolls. 

My daughter wanted us to use red stars as her theme, in conjunction with American Girl's motto to "follow your inner star."

My mom made an awesome photo prop to look like an American Girl box, and the girls stood behind it to make it look like they were IN an American Girl box!  I will try to get a picture of the whole thing without one of the kids in it...

The Cake

We set up a doll "pampering" station with salon chair and....

a "bubble" bath.

A friend loaned us this cute banner!

We decorated jars with ribbons and straws for party cups.

Miniature cups with pink buttons hot glued on for the dolls' "tea cups," and doll cupcakes. 

Pampering station

Each of her dolls got a shower towel wrap (and she got one to match!), and I sewed one doll-sized turby twist.

Doll sized sandals (just foam and ribbon!)

Reversible "salon" cape

Other side of the cape.

contents of the party favor "doll pampering kit"

facial cloths

foam/ribbon spa sandals

sleep masks (felt and elastic)

miniature bath pouf and laminated "cucumber slices" for pampering, as well as a doll headband

Joseph and Review

We did 5 lessons on Joseph for VBS this summer, so I didn't want to spend a TON of time on Joseph this time around, unless the kids didn't remember much.  So, they showed up to class and found this:

We called it our "mystery lesson."  I started asking review questions about our previous lessons we have covered in kindergarten, and with each correct answer, they got to remove a puzzle piece of their choice.

As they uncovered the picture below, they got to guess which Bible story it was.   When all the pieces were removed, we had this:

They were all so excited that they had figured out it was Joseph, and then they had to tell me what all the pieces of the picture meant about Joseph.  Ex:  Stars and moon bowed to him in his dream, sheaves of grain bowed to him, 12 sons of Jacob, colorful coat.  I was AMAZED how much these kids remembered from VBS in August!!!  I told their teachers last night how impressed I was! :)

Next, I had some rebus stories about Joseph, so we "read" them together.  They get so excited when they can "read" with me!   Although I have to admit, this class reads pretty well already for just a few months into kindergarten! 

Finally, we made stand-up paper dolls of Joseph with different "coats" he might have worn during his life.   I will scan the original later and post it.  I have NO IDEA where it came from.  A friend found it in her stash somewhere and shared it with me. :) It doesn't say anywhere on it where it came from. :(

During VBS we used this file folder lapbook to tell and review the story of Joseph, but I didn't use it this time because we were only spending one lesson on the story as review. The blank spot on the front flap is where we put their name on a "cartouche" (Egyptian nameplate) with jewels. 

Jacob and Esau

I love teaching this lesson!  :)  This year I combined it with Isaac and Rebekah meeting each other.  The story of the servant asking for the right woman for Isaac to be the one to give water to the camels always makes the kids laugh.  We imagine how long it would take to carry buckets of water for camels, and one of them always says, "Why didn't she just turn on the water?!"  Love it!!

I'm still tweaking the Isaac and Rebekah part of this lesson.  This time I used a worksheet I found online that "traced" the journey of Rebekah to Isaac and had pictures along the way to help the kids retell the story.  It was okay, but not my favorite.  I would love ideas to make this story more hands-on and engaging for little ones.

But...Jacob and Esau!

To start with, the kids make playdough "pots."   In the pots, we put dried lentils, which historians seem to think is what Jacob's "pottage" was made from in the story.   The kids love the sensory feel of the playdough and lentils.  

Next, we start telling the story, with plenty of emphasis on Jacob's deceitfulness and how "silly" it was of Esau to treat his birthright so lightly.   When we get to the part of the pottage, I whip out some cooked lentils for a taste test.   I am always amazed at how many kids LIKE them!!!!   My co-teachers and I always crack up at them chowing down on lentils for breakfast!  :)  But, it makes it more real to them.

Later, when we talk about Jacob "stealing" the blessing, we pretend to put on hairy goat skins and we pretend to smell like we've been in the field.  For whatever reason, the kids really "get into" these stories.

Finally, I have accumulated various pictures representing Jacob and Esau...and I admittedly now have no idea where they came from, so I will not post them here, but if you want a pdf let me know...

We fold a black sheet of construction paper in 1/2 and they have to glue the correct pictures with the correct brother.  Again, repetition is key to their remembering!  They end up retelling the story while creating their page.  The pictures are fun and colorful, so they engage the kids.

Bible Word Wall

We have a bulletin board in our classroom that I use as a "Bible Word Wall."  Each week I print off and laminate a few words from that week's story, and we add them to our word wall.  I try really hard to use clip art images that somehow represent the story as a visual reminder.  Each week we can quickly review previous lessons with the word wall.  At the end of each class I show the words for that week and have the kids tell me why I picked each particular word.   It helps them retell the story in their own words, which cements it in their minds! 

Here are some samples:

Job

I have never taught Job in my kindergarten class, but this year we tackled it, and I think the kids really enjoyed it!   :)

We started class with this as the kids were coming in (early):

I wrote Job on a page and the kids "traced" the letters with stickers.  We put it in their scrapbooks.   It wasn't much, but it worked on fine motor skills and helped them focus on sounding out the word. 

Next, we read this book:

A Patient Man from Uz

For what it's worth, the books from this company are fabulous!!  We have all of them, I think, and my kids love love LOVE them!

As we tell the story, we emphasize that, no matter what, Job loved God!

For our hands -on activity, the kids each drew their favorite parts of the story on some scratch art postcards I got from Oriental trading here:  Scratch Art   For what it's worth, scratch art can be used in SO many ways, and the kids always love it. 

Finally, I printed off some coloring pictures about Job that I found here:  Job and laminated them with magnets on the back.  Each kid got a set to take home for story sequencing.   I was amazed how much they got the concept that "No Matter What, Job Loved God!"  By the end of class, they were all shouting "But....Job Loved God!"  

Every week we have "word wall" words.   I hold up a word and the kids have to tell me what it has to do with the story.  In later weeks, we can quickly review all our stories by going over our word wall, and it helps them learn to read and recognize Bible words.   I try to use a picture that represents the story in some way.  For instance, here is a picture of the ones from this week using a "whirlwind," since the Bible says God came to Job in a whirlwind.