Project Play Outside!

Well, we did it.  We got rid of tv!    For several months we've been discussing it, and over the weekend, our dish box broke.  After calling to order a new one and finding out we'd have to pay to have it shipped, etc., we took the plunge and canceled our account.   What a relief! I feel like a huge stress has been lifted off of me.   The money we were pouring into the television was taking quite a toll on our budget, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to find anything appropriate for the kids (or us!) to watch, so we really were throwing the money down the drain.  I hated the struggle of having to be so diligent every time the tv was on, and it was sucking my family in for way too many hours!  I couldn't justify paying all that money to bring garbage into my home.  We have always had strict time limits for tv for the kids, but during the summer (and while I'm in this boot!), it was so tempting to let those guidelines slide and for the kids to end up spending way too much time in front of the screen. I want my kids playing outside this summer!  They need sunshine! They need fresh air!  They need to just be kids and play play play!!!  Project Play Outside needed a catalyst, so here it is!  Our biggest hangup was sports, for which we haven't really found a great solution.  However, for us, the pros for canceling the satellite far outweighed the cons (namely, baseball).   We did subscribe to netflix for the summer (to ease the transition and to catch up on some movies and old cartoons the kids will enjoy), but it's so nice not to have the tv blaring all the time now!  And, I can't wait to get the bill and see the savings! :)  I'll keep you posted on how Project Play Outside goes!

Everything in its place

One of my big mommy-challenges is finding a way to display my kids' artwork in a meaningful way.  We've tried bulletin boards, fridge doors, tape on the walls, etc., and nothing really worked for us.  Enter Pinterest, and a million and one ideas for kids art displays.   The other day I lucked into some scrapbook frames on sale at Michaels and picked up a few, along with some colorful clips.  Not sure if it would work, I hot-glued the clips to the outside of the frame and hung a piece of artwork in the clip.   Instant, changeable art frame!   Almost like a miniature gallery.  :) Then I put stickers in the border of the frame spelling out each kid's name and had my husband hang them in the kitchen.  Now we can change out artwork effortlessly as often as the kids want, and they feel like it's framed and special! :) If only every problem were so easy to solve!

I am your robot friend.

The other day, the kids were playing together and running around the house with plastic buckets on their heads pretending to be robots. (Don't ask, just applaud the imagination!)  I suggested they put faces on the "robots," so they pulled out some construction paper, scissors, and glue sticks.  Voila!  Robots!  They've been wearing them around the house singing a song they heard on Nickelodeon.  "I am your robot friend, I'm here to help you."  Hilarious.

Journal pages, part 3

These are a few more "specialized" pages.  :)  Enjoy!


Prayer Journal #1

Prayer Journal # 2

 Summer Reading #1

Summer Reading # 2

Summer Reading #3

Free Write

Goodbye, Kindergarten!

It's official.  I'm mommy to a 1st grader!  I'm not sure whether to cheer or cry!   It seems like such a huge milestone has been passed! :)

More journal pages

Here are a few more.  They are nothing fancy! :)

Journal page 6
Journal page 7
Journal page 8
Journal page 9
Journal page 10

Summer Journals

My daughter's kindergarten teacher was great about finding ways to challenge her and keep her interested.  One thing she did that really helped my daughter to flourish was to give her journal prompts for writing and drawing.  My daughter asked me to come up with some for the summer.  This is not my forte, but here are a few we are going to start with at first.  Feel free to use or edit them!  Please let me know if they don't work...I'm very new at this!

Here are the few I have so far:

Journal page 1
 Journal page 2
Journal page 3


Journal page 4
Journal page 5

Thankful for grandparents!

Yesterday was a hard, hard day for this Mommy!  I woke up about 2 am with the dreaded stomach virus.  It's running rampant at school AND among our church family, so I suppose it was inevitable that at least one of us would get it.  My first thought was, "Oh, no!  I'll miss field day!"   I was devastated, and dreaded telling my sweet girl when she woke up, but there was no way around it.   I was S-I-C-K, all capital letters.   For this hands-on mom, it was the hardest thing to send her off to such a fun day without me.  She was SO disappointed when I woke her up and told her I couldn't go, but Daddy recruited her to fix breakfast for her brother and herself, and to be "mom" for the morning.  She got cereal ready for both of them, picked out his clothes for him, and made sure they were ready for Grandma and Grandpa.  She is usually so dramatic when things don't go as planned, but not this time!  She took it like a big girl, and rose to the challenge.  I was SO proud!   How can my baby girl be that big?? 

Grandparents to the rescue!  My husband called his parents (at 5 am!) and asked them to get here, pronto, to take little miss (and brother) to school and to stay all day for field day.  They obliged, and even showed up with a bag of powerade for me.  My parents also came to school and spent the day with my two kiddos and my dad even took video to share with me!  I was SO sick that I forgot to send a camera or video camera. :( All 4 grandparents took the kids to luck at McD's!   Then, about the time I expected the kids home, Mom called and said they were headed to her house and Daddy could pick them up on his way home from work.  THANK YOU GRANDPARENTS.  YOU SAVED THE DAY.

Now, prayers are going up steadily that, if the rest of them get it, they at least hold off until after kindergarten graduation tomorrow...she has her heart set on everyone being there, and Daddy even took the day off.   I am, at least, thankful I got it FIRST so that if anyone else gets it, I can take care of them without being afraid of catching it! 

On a good note, she had a blast at field day and even won a few ribbons!  :)  Thank you to the school staff for planning such fun events!

Countdown to summer!

On the way home from school today, I realized that, in one short week, we would be driving home for SUMMER.  My hubby has to go 2 more days (for work days), but my daughter gets out of kindergarten on TUESDAY! 

I must confess...I have mixed feelings about summer!  One one hand, the idea of 24/7 family time for 10 weeks makes my heart SO happy!  I have hated every minute of sending my girl to school this year (despite a great teacher and staff that is so welcoming of parents!), so the idea of having her with me all the time makes me smile.  And, being able to spend every waking minute with my husband definitely makes my day!  I am so blessed that my husband has a job that allows him to be home for so much family time.   It will be nice to share the parenting load some for a few weeks so that I can recharge.

On the other hand, the idea of 24/7 family time for 10 weeks makes me nervous!  I am the kind of mom who needs some "personal space" and "me time" occasionally.   When summer comes, I can throw that idea out of the window!!  Plus, it totally sends our daily routine into chaos.  My husband tries so hard to NOT throw us out of whack, but just having someone else home changes things.  And this is our first summer with TWO of them not used to being in the daily routine.  I'm interested to see how things go!  I do have a short anniversary trip to look forward to, as well as a 6 day trip with my in-laws to see some cousins on hubby's side for a graduation, and, of course, there's always Bible camp!   10 weeks sounds like SO much time, but I know that it will fly by!  I'm looking forward to making so many new memories, which I hope includes at least a few mornings of sleeping past 7. :)

I'm curious...what's your favorite thing about summer?   How do you make the time special but productive at the same time?   Do your kids have "brain drain" over the summer?  How do you combat that? 

The Best Advice

I'm trying to answer questions I've gotten from friends about how we do things here.  Let me preface this by saying that we are in NO WAY experts or perfect at this.  We stumble and trip DAILY in our efforts to raise our children, and there is no advice that works for every child, parent, or family.  But, here are some of the best pieces of advice we've ever been given by older church members who have "been there, done that."  I am commenting on how we implement them, but they all came from other faithful members of the Lord's church.


1.  Talk about God and His creation and His word constantly.   Place it around your house in visible places, and make everyday moments teachable moments.  Sound familiar?    That's because God said it first in Deuteronomy 6:4-9.   

⁴ “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!^{[b] 5} You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
⁶ “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. ⁷ 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. ⁸ You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ⁹ You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

How do we do this in a practical sense?   We have Scripture posted all over our walls, in picture frames, on coloring pages, etc.   We bought some printable sticker paper and typed up verses for the kids (and ourselves) and posted them on the walls.  They are removable, even if you leave them on for months (or years) at a time.  I'm amazed how many Scriptures my kids have learned from those without us ever "officially" teaching them those Scriptures.  

Also, we talk about everything we see and how it relates to God.   Is there a rainbow in the sky?  Talk about Noah and his faithfulness to God.  Talk about God's promise to him and how it still applies today.   Talk about how only 8 were saved in the ark because they were the only ones obedient.  Talk about how in today's time, the only ones in the "ark of salvation" are Christians who have been obedient to the gospel.  The chances to teach are abundant if you just actively seek them. 

2.  Choose your important battles early and stick to your guns.   

A friend once told us that it is incredibly important to decide what is (and isn't) worth battling over.   He told us to choose which battles were our most important, to set guidelines as early as possible, and to never EVER give in on those.  Here are a few of our most important ones.

A.  Show respect in God's house and during times of worship and Bible study.     Our children have never, ever been allowed to run, play, or goof off in the church building.   That doesn't mean they have never TRIED, but there have always, always, ALWAYS been consequences for it.  My kids are just like everyone else's.  They will test us, try us, and see how close they can get to the line we've drawn in the sand.  But, we hold firm.  This means no climbing up the stairs by the pulpit, no running through the halls, no ring-around-the-rosey in the foyer, no climbing over, under, or on the pews, etc.  This is really important to us, so we started it when they were born so that we never had to answer the question, "But why did you let me do it as a kid?"   

This respect also applies to how they must act during worship.  We never brought games or toys to worship (with the exception of teethers as babies) for our children, because it wasn't a battle we wanted to fight later.  With my daughter we brought Bible story books for her to look at or relevant coloring pages that went with the lesson, but with my son we just had to make him sit because he canNOT be quiet when he sees pictures and stories!!  This is personal preference, and everyone must make their own decisions, but for us, this was very important.  Even when we do Bible study at home, they must be attentive, quiet, and respectful.  We fight this every day and every time we study, but each day we get closer to our goal of training them to be respectful worshipers of God.

Thirdly, our kids have never been allowed to wear anything but their best to worship services, gospel meetings, VBS, etc.   For us, there is no distinction between Sunday morning and Wednesday night services, and even when they were babies, they wore "worship" clothes instead of rompers, etc.  Sometimes it was inconvenient or impractical to do so, but I have (to this point) never heard, "But why can't I wear jeans, shorts, etc. to worship just this once? "  We have church clothes and other clothes.  Period.


B.  Modesty   - This is huge for us.   I didn't grow up with a Biblical understanding of modesty, but the longer I am a Christian, the more important I realize it is.  We attend a Bible camp in the summer as counselors (and can't wait for the kids to go!), and that camp has a dress code for all participants.  Shoulders to knees, all must be covered.   At first it was just a "camp code," but the more we study and learn, the more we realize how founded in Scripture it is, and how that should be a Christian's standard at all times.   What is appropriate at camp is no different than what is appropriate elsewhere.  So, our kids have had that "dress code" from day one.   Modesty is so, so important in today's world (as it has always been) when physical appearance is so widely admired in society.   Children in the church MUST be taught how much God desires purity.   For our family, this means that our children do not wear short shorts and our daughter does not wear spaghetti straps, short skirts or dresses, skintight clothing, or one-piece bathing suits.  Our son does not go around shirtless, even in the heat of summer or when playing in the sprinkler.  Both kids wear swim trunks and sun shirts.   As babies, they did not go out in public in onesies.   We don't ever want to hear, "But why was it okay when I was a baby."  Now, my daughter has even gotten to the point that, when we go shopping, she passes by the inappropriate outfits without question.  I'm sure the day will come that she will want to give in to the worldly view of fashion, but hopefully we will have instilled a sense of modesty, purity, and propriety that will win out.  



C.  Obey your parents - This is unquestionable.   Our kids are expected to obey first and ask questions later.  This is NOT something we have mastered, but we strive diligently (and daily) to make this a reality.  We have never tolerated backtalk or disobedience.  That is NOT to say it doesn't happen.  It does!  My kids do not "submit" well, but they always know is is not approved of in our house.   They may choose to test the limits and reap the consequences, but they know what is expected.

D.  Set few rules and make them count.   We have very few rules in our house, but the ones we have are absolute.

E.  Attend services faithfully.   It is our goal to be present at the church building every time the doors are open for members to gather together.  Worship attendance is never questioned here.  My kids know that every Sunday and Wednesday we will be at services, no matter what else is going on.  Even on vacation, we do not miss.  Ever.  Unless there is an emergency or sickness that prevents us from being there, we will be there.   This alone is not enough to make sure our kids stay faithful, but it will undoubtedly go a long way towards instilling the importance of worshiping God. 

F.  Love your spouse.  The best gift a mom or dad can give their children (other than teaching them about God) is to love their spouse.   Make time for each other separate from the kids.  You are a team, working together to point your arrows to the bullseye.  You must be a united, consistent front for your children.  They will learn so much from the love you show each other.



So, these are some simple ideas others gave us that we try to use in our daily lives.  I hope you benefit from them as much as we have.

Kids Corner

I want to have a way to (sometimes) post my kids' thoughts on things.  They are both extremely verbal, and sometimes they come up with the funniest things!   I'm not sure the best way to do this.  I made another "page" called Kids Corner and thought I could do new posts that way, but I can't.  So, I tried setting up a separate blog and linking it to this one, but I'm not sure that's best, either!  Those of you who blog regularly, what do you think is best?  Have a totally separate blog?  Or just post on this one and tag it accordingly??   I'm so confused as to the best way to do it....

For now, here's today's post from my 4 year old boy:  This time it's in my words, but my goal is for it to be in his words (or my daughter's words) when they comment.

His side: (age 4)

Last night I started yelling for my daddy to come in my room (while I was supposed to be sleeping).   I had just figured something out, and I needed to share it right away!!  Daddy came in to see if I was okay, and I was bursting with excitement! 

"Daddy!"  I yelled, "My legs are so long!  Do you see how long they are?  They go all the way from my waist to my feet!  Wow!!!"

Daddy smiled, because some things just don't need a response....

Thank you, Teacher!

It's teacher appreciation week at my daughter's school, and we are very thankful for her kindergarten teacher!  She's really been helpful this year and has made sure my daughter stayed challenged, but not with "busy" work.   So, here are a few things we made for her this week.  One is a "school supply cake."  There are a bunch of much fancier ones online, but we've given stuff throughout the year to help in her classroom, so these were some basics.  The tag reads "Teacher, you take the cake!"

The other is an "A+ teacher" page with all the kids' signatures on it.   The A+ part is the size of a 4X6 pictures so if she wants to replace it with a class picture, she can.  And, if she wants a new picture next year, the page we framed will fit in a regular scrapbook.

Bubble King (or Queen)

Here's a fun, silly game we play from time to time when the weather is icky or we just want to stay inside.   If you have nice furniture or floors (we don't!), you may want to move this outside with a patio or lawn chair, but I think playing it inside is a large part of its charm.  Bubbles are fairly harmless to carpet and other furniture, as long as no one spills the whole bottle!  We usually use the tiny bottles like they sell for wedding favors.  

Have one person hold a bottle of bubbles and sit in a chair (throne) facing everyone else.  This is the "king" (or queen).   The other players (the royal "subjects") sit on the floor/ground either flat on their bottoms or on their knee, about 3-4 feet away from the one in the chair.   Sitting on their knees can make it a little easier, but for those of us who are no longer quite so little, sometimes that's hard! :) 

When the game begins, the "king" starts blowing bubbles slowly.  The other players try to dodge the bubbles by ducking, leaning, etc.  The only rules is that they can NOT take their knees or bottom off the ground.  If they are sitting on their knees, they can raise up a little bit off their knees as long as BOTH knees stay in contact with the ground.    If you come off the ground, or a bubble hits you, you are out for that round.   The subjects can also try to blow the bubbles back at the "king" or fan them at him with their hands, as long as they don't touch the bubble!   When all but one subject has been hit by a bubble, he or she becomes the new king.  OR, if the king is hit by a bubble, he must switch places with whoever blew the bubble at him.  

Clear as mud?!  Good!  Go have fun!

Strawberry freezer jam!

We have a garden.  A BIG one.  The best part is, my hubby works hard in the garden, and he doesn't even EAT veggies.   I never doubt that he loves me when I see him out there working hard to till, plant, hoe, etc., just for me.  (Well, and the kids, but he started it just for me!)

A few years ago I talked him into helping me dig up our (UGLY) flowerbeds that had been left here by the previous owners.  We put new dirt in and replaced the UGLY plants with strawberry plants.  It took a while to get the strawberry patch going, but last year we got our first good crop.  This year we've already had a good batch come in, so today my daughter and I made strawberry freezer jam!  Here's the recipe we used:

http://www.freshpreserving.com/recipe.aspx?r=299

Step 1:  Pick strawberries (or, better yet, if you're in an air boot like I am, let your 6 year old pick them!).  These are just a few.  We had 3 large tupperware containers full.

Step 2:  Wash thoroughly and hull them.  Here's a trick to hulling them easily.  Take a plastic straw and poke it in through the bottom of the strawberry.  Push it gently through to the top stem area, and the hull and stem pop off quickly and easily!

Step 3:  Check for any bad spots and cut them out.  Overripe fruit makes soggy jam.  Then mash strawberries in a single layer, using a potato masher.

Step 4:  Measure out appropriate amount of strawberries and set aside.

Step 5:  Dissolve desired amount of fruit pectin in unsweetened juice.  We used no sugar added apple juice because it's what we had.  Whisk it into the juice GRADUALLY.  If you dump it all in at once, it clumps.  TRUST ME.

Step 6:  Bring juice and pectin mix to a hard boil over medium heat.  Once it is boiling hard enough that you can't stir it down, allow it to boil hard for 1 minute, and then remove from heat.   

Step 7:  Immediately stir in fruit and stir vigorously for 1 minute.  Add desired amount of sugar.  We used about 1/2 cup sugar per batch.  I wanted to make NO sugar jam, but the kids like it with a little sugar, so we compromised. 

Step 8:  Ladle into clean freezer jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace for expansion. I love these stackable freezer jars made by Ball.  They are plastic with screw-on, reusable lids.  They thaw quickly when you remove them from the freezer. Note:  A canning funnel is a huge asset for this step, but is not absolutely necessary.  If your 6 year old is doing the ladling, though, DEFINITELY use a funnel!  My daughter did every step except for stirring the boiling pectin/juice mixture while it was on the heat, mainly because she couldn't safely reach it. 

Step 9:  Place jars in refrigerator for about 24 hours (no more) and then transfer to freezer when set.   If you have any leftover that did not fit in your jars, you can leave in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.  When you're ready to use the jam, set it in the fridge for a few hours to thaw. 

Step 10:  ENJOY your jam, knowing exactly what your family is eating!!!

ABC Bible Stories

My son and I worked to come up with this list of Bible stories we have studied as a family.   We tried to come up with something for each letter of the alphabet.  We may have more, but these were the ones we came up with first.  My friend has me on an "ABC" kick. :) 

Also, some of you have asked how we have structured our family Bible times.  If you have specific questions, comment on here, and I'll do my best to answer them!  I'll try to post some examples of "topic calendars" we have used.

A- Abraham, Abel, Absalom, Ananais ,              Aquilla, Ahab, Adam, Aaron, Abednego

B- Barnabas, Bathsheba, Barak, Balaam,            Boaz, Balak

C - Cain, Caleb

D- David, Deborah, Dorcas, Delilah, Daniel,      Darius

E- Elijah, Elisha, Eve, Esau, Esther

F- Felix, Festus

G- Gideon, Gamaliel, Goliath, God

H- Hannah, Hosea, Hagar, Haman

I- Isaac, Ishmael

J- Jesus, Joshua, Jezebel, Jacob,

Joseph, Jael, Job, Jonah, John,                        Jeroboam

K- Kings (there are a ton!), Kish, Korah

L- Leah, Lot, Lydia, Laban, Lydia, Lazarus,        Luke

M- Mary, Martha, Matthew, Mark, Moses,          Mordecai, Meshach

N- Naomi, Naaman, Noah, Nicodemus,                 Nebuchadnezzar

O- Othniel, Orpah, Obadiah, Obed

P - Pharaoh, Paul, Potiphar, Pilate,                       Priscilla

Q- Queen Esther, Queen of Sheba

R- Rachel, Rebekah, Reuben, Rahab, Ruth,       Rehoboam

S- Saul, Solomon, Satan, Sarah, Shadrach

T- Thomas

U- Uzza, Uriah

V- Vashti

W- Woman at the well

X- Xerxes (also called Ahaserus)

Y- Young ruler (the rich one), Yahweh

Z- Zacchaeus, Zechariah, Zephaniah