"If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." Galatians 5:25

Sensory Sand Bags

2012-02-06T15:30:00.001-05:00

This is an activity that I put together last June. However, I am thinking it would be a great activity to do for this time of year when we are longing for the feeling of sand and soil and even mud!

We had collected water bottles full of beach sand from our camping trip last summer. The type of sand we had the privileged of playing with is extremely fine and great for gluing to paper. Some sections of the beach had quite a bit of iron ore in the sand and made it a dark purple/almost black colour.

Back to June...while doing a science lesson on the absorption of water...I thought this would be fun to try.

This bowl of sensory bags/science bags was placed in the playroom window for a while and then on the kitchen table for another few days. We all couldn't keep our hands off of it.

They are simply made of two zip-lock baggies, one inside the other, and taped at the top.

Sometimes we had a surprise bug crawling through our soil that we could watch.

The water bags needed to be reinforced a couple of times BUT no big deal because it was only water!

After shaking up the beach sand and water bag, we could watch it settle and then separate to this (above).

All together we had: water, sandbox sand alone, beach sand alone, soil alone, beach sand and water, and soil with water.

So there you have it! Another idea for sensory, toddler time, science, or just plain fun for the long winter months.

ENJOY!

P.s. - Collect some sand this summer, if you get the chance! If you don't have any sand or soil on hand, go to a Home Depot or even a craft store for sand.

Pumpkin Muffins

2012-02-03T08:00:00.000-05:00

Even though we are past fall and looking forward to spring, I still love the taste of pumpkin and so do my boys. Their favorite pie is pumpkin pie and they don't mind pumpkin seeds to eat on the side. Mama is happy with that because:

Since I still had a container of pumpkin puree in my freezer from our garden this summer, I thought it would be a great idea to post about these delicious muffins that I am going to be making soon. Again, I am the mother of "Muffin-Monsters". Anyone who reads this post and has come for a play date already knows that if there are muffins in the room, my boys just cannot help themselves.

The muffin recipe is found at AllRecipes.com

I like to add a thick whipping cream on top with cinnamon.

Other recipes for pumpkin can be found at FoodLand Ontario.

So next year don't just carve those beautiful pumpkins...EAT THEM TOO! Enjoy!

Jesus Vs. Religion

2012-02-02T08:00:00.000-05:00

I had an awesome opportunity to share my faith with the ultrasound technician I had this week. We talked a lot about exactly what this video shares. I was sad that our conversation had to end but I was thankful for the chance to talk about Jesus with her and how He is SO much better than religion; in fact, he is the only way.

Just remember that the Church isn't suppose to be like a "country club", it is made up of the people and not the building - we are meant to, through the power of the Holy Spirit, heal the sick (physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually) and that isn't just on Sunday mornings.

Thank you Jesus that you enable anyone who desires to serve you to do your work here on earth.

Toddler Time Helpers

2012-01-30T22:43:00.001-05:00

I really wanted to produce a post that provided lots of resources for families with toddlers, specifically ages three and under. I tried my best to organize it and have it make as much sense as possible. Please email me OR comment if you have any questions, ideas, or even concerns. Enjoy!

Websites:

Homeschool Helper Online - I especially enjoyed their lapbooking resources and ideas. For more on what lapbooking is, check out my post here and here. Toddlers LOVE to see their own work and have it read to them, or to have their favorite things "published" into their very own lapbook. I have made a colours lapbook, alphabet lapbook, and spiders lapbook for our eldest that is now being loved and used by our second eldest son.
Starfall - This site is an absolutely free phonics site with lots of interaction! You can upgrade to add more programs but I only allow so much time for the computer and so far it has kept their attention. My toddlers LOVE it!

E-books:

"Preschool Activities in a Bag"
"Creating a Rich Environment and a Fun Place to Learn for Preschoolers" (Totally recommend this E-book and right now it is only $1.00 at "The Old Schoolhouse Store".)
Other E-Books on Early Learning offered by "The Old Schoolhouse Store".

Ideas from our home to yours:

There are certain things that are used often in our home for the toddlerhood years. It can change from season to season. In the summer we have a TON of water play outside, along with hours of sand play, and of course gross motor activities (ie. kicking balls around, throwing balls around, bouncing balls around...running, running, running....climbing, swimming, rolling, jumping, swinging, and on and on!).

The winter is a totally different story. With good winters, we play outside lots, making snowmen or snowhorses, forts, ice castles, snow paintings, tobogganing, and more. Since outdoor play is restricted, especially during winters like this, when there is little snow and lots of rain, we have to be creative inside. So here is a list of some of the indoor things we enjoy in the winter:

Playdough - Enough said.

A batch I made for the fall!
Beans - On really desperate days I even let them dump the beans in the playroom, on the rug, and go NUTS! They get out their kitchen set, bowls, trucks, cars, car station, and play for at least an hour. It has actually been a whole day affair at times with back and forth play.
Music - We can really dance up a storm in this house. I love YouTube for this because you can get SO MANY varieties of music and the kids love it! We have boogied to swing, classical, bebop, country, and much more! One thing the kids enjoy is to make instruments out of recycled goods and dance around the house with their homemade sound makers.
Blocks - My brother-in-law made three large bins full of blocks for our boys out of MDF. The boys will create for hours with these. I have seen their animals trapped in block cages, zoos, towers, bridges, etc. It is essential for open ended play (in my eyes) to have lots of blocks. These blocks are very inexpensive, as much as I love Melissa and Doug products, I like affordability.
Water + Liquid Soap + Kitchen Sink + Different Media = FUN! - Just this weekend I needed to keep my youngest two occupied and so I filled up the double sink at my in laws house with warm water and lots of bubbles. They played for a long time and would have played longer but Mama needed the sinks for dinner. I love giving them unique little things like: measuring spoons and cups, syringes, basters, whisks, ladles, cups, toy animals, toy people, boats, etc.
Bathtub time - Along with the water theme, I have used the bathtub as a means of having a break from bored toddlers, fighting toddlers, crying toddlers, pulling-at-my-leg toddlers, sick toddlers, and on and on. Not that it is a good time to leave and have a coffee break but sometimes it is just nice to see them interested in something new and focus on the play rather than on mama. Why not bring a coffee with you while you sit beside the tub and enjoy!
If you are ok with it, we have even brought up the food colouring and added blue, or green, or red to the water while the tap is running, just for a change. AND NO your toddler will not be dyed a different colour. Trust me, I have tested this out. Just make sure you use the "Clubhouse" variety and only add 8-10 drops to the running water to test the colour. AND if you aren't comfortable with colour, add bubbles. Once in a while bubbles are ok! For little girls, you shouldn't make it a regular thing - so I have heard.
Painting - I have searched out "mom to mom" sales, thrift stores, and garage sales for painting media - easels, paint brushes, no-spill cups, scrap paper, combs, etc. One thing I have LOVED is the huge roll of paper that a friend found for us. I am sure with some diligent searching/calling around you could find a newspaper company or paper business that cannot use a certain amount off the end of a roll and they most likely will end up throwing it into recycling anyways. If you get one of these rolls, cherish it and USE IT! Roll it across your kitchen floor, tape it down (we buy painters tape), and get out any plastic animals or vehicles you may have. Let the kids roll and stomp in the paint with their toys and then all over the paper. I am sure you'll even want in on the fun!

Almost naked painting is definitely an easier clean up.
"Ball Run" - Ok, before I explain what a "Ball Run" is, I have to give all the credit to my husband on this one. He is the one that found the materials at his workplace and then brought them home to show the boys what they can do with them. So, what you will need: balls small enough to fit on the track you are making but not so small that the children can choke on them, possibly some strong tape (painters or duct tape), large cardboard tubes (I mean really large), or the cardboard that they pack larger tool cabinets with to prevent denting of the product. Call any hardware stores (preferably big box stores like Canadian Tire or Home Depot). Really, the only other way I can explain it is to show you...

Forts - In the words of my husband, "who can resist forts?" Really, he is right! I love forts too. Sheets, furniture, and creativity (don't forget the flashlights and maybe a special snack).
Dress up - We created a dress up "chest seat" that we use to store the boys favorite cowboy gear, pirate costumes, fireman hats, tools and tool-belts, dolls and doll clothes, and the list goes on. Again, thrift stores, garage sales, and "mom to mom" sales are AWESOME for special finds in this area.

Tantrums still happen when your a "scuba-diving-fireman" in his pj's.
Audio books - These are WONDERFUL for keeping little ones occupied during snack or quiet time or when you need to work with another child. Make sure they are age appropriate (according to YOUR child's needs and interests) and fun to listen to! I always recommend that parents preview materials before introducing them.
Baking - Little ones love to help you with food preparation! Think simple, think yummy, and think less like an adult. Mess is ok, taste testing is ok, and perfection should go out the window! Just have fun! If you have the time, try to make a toddler friendly recipe to follow. This will involve pictures rather than words. A great example of this is found at: Kids Cooking Activities. or Teaching Learners with Multiple Special Needs.
All three boys excited to eat their home made pizza's.
Baking Soda Balls - This activity is for older toddlers that won't put things in their mouths as much and this activity is for mama's who don't mind a little mess for a little memory making and fun! You can also experiment with, what I call, "Treasure Stones".
Tea Party - Something that girls and boys love is the tea party idea. I have set up our coffee table in the playroom and let them have a little bit of water in a "tea set" to serve each other. Little cups, little plates, pretend food that slices when cut (all found at second hand places), table cloth, tea towels (for spills), and stuffed animals for extra company.
Cardboard Creations - Pictures are worth a thousand words and so the link will show you pictures of what we have created for our boys. Now please, don't get intimidated, just think about what children LOVE. Get together with another mom to create one, who would love to share it when you are done. Or have a date night with hubby and become kids again while you imagine, create, and add special touches to something for your children. You can collect from a number of stores for free and you don't even have to paint it! Just think, "It may take time and effort but it will pay when they have something special to occupy their imaginations!"
Sensory, sensory, sensory! - I found this great site that shows a ton of pictures of other people's sensory ideas for toddlers. Some might be considered for older toddlers but I am sure you will find something interesting for you little one.
Blanket Fun - Sometimes I will get out a sheet or a blanket and have my toddlers (even my eldest at 5 loves this) lay down on the living room rug. As we sing a song, or count, or just be silly, I will wave the blanket over their heads and then let it settle on top of them. They love the feeling of the breeze, the soft brushing of the material against their fingers and faces, and they love the surprise of when I will lift it off again. Make it fun and interactive. You may even find when you are folding your sheets from the laundry that your little ones will come running to you!
Fingerplays - Children are attracted to rhymes and using their hands to express themselves. Fingerplays are a GREAT way to incorporate both. You can search YouTube for fingerplays or just simply Google the phrase. You will find tons of them!
Big Helpers - If you have housework to do, let them help! Toddlers love to imitate what adults do. Now don't go giving them jobs involving cleaning products and plungers but do give them a tiny spray bottle with water and a cloth and let them wash your windows. Teach them how to fold face cloths. Let them vacuum a little. Wash dishes in the sink or a tub with them. If you have dolls, let them give the doll a bubble bath in a basin at the kitchen table. Show them how to gently hold the baby, wash the baby, and talk to the baby while they are being like a parent. You might want to get your camera out for this one - way too cute!
Get a Pet - Yes, you heard me correctly! Now I am not talking a high maintenance pet. I am talking something that takes little time and money but gives back to your toddler(s) lots of enjoyment. We brought our boys to a pet store to pick out their very own budgie one year ago. Max has been the best pet EVER. Hardly any maintenance, extremely cheap, not messy, stays in his cage and sometimes comes out for a cuddle, and sings beautifully. Our boys have taught him little tricks and just simply enjoyed his presence.

Go Fishing - I shared in my blog a while ago an activity that all my boys love, from the age of one and a half to five years. There is a little extra activity for toddlers attached to the "Let's Go Fishing" post on colours.

So there you have it....for now. I will be posting more "Toddler Time" activities on some "Homeschooling Mondays" here and there. For now, I just wanted to give a general outline of some of the resources we use and things we have come up with on our own. I hope that it has helped and I hope that you can enjoy some "Toddler Time" with your little one(s) very soon!

Juice That Is Perfect for Kids

2012-01-27T11:00:00.000-05:00

What can you make with oranges, carrots, a banana, and a beat? A refreshing, TOTALLY healthy, cup of juice that even the kids will chug! I borrowed my in-laws juicer, that has been used for many years, and started experimenting. Originally it was borrowed so that I could get my picky eater to have a healthier diet. Now it is a family request. This is our favourite so far!

Here are the ingredients mentioned above:

Look at that amazing colour from the beat!

After the carrots, oranges, and beat are sent through the juicer, take one banana and chunk it into pieces. Add the pieces to your juice and blend it with either a hand blender (what we do) or add everything into a standing blender or even a food processor. Blend away!

Then pour your homemade, delicious juice, into whatever glasses or containers would be fun to drink from (think of the kids).

Then listen to the lip smacking, slurping, sucking, and of course see the sweet little mustaches appear!

Don't be surprised if you are asked for more...so make sure you have lots on hand!

If you don't have a juicer, you can check out your local thrift stores (I have seen many at one time while shopping at Value Village and all of them seemed to be in fine condition. The highest price was $7 dollars). But if you are saving up for a good one and want to get THE MOST nutritional benefits from the veggies and fruit you are juicing, read this article first:

Janet & Greta Podleski's Blog (From "Eat, Shrink, and Be Merry")

Enjoy!

A Fine Balance

2012-01-26T11:00:00.000-05:00

I don't know about you but as a parent I can easily find myself caught up in every one else's parenting techniques, approaches, or ideas. Now don't get me wrong, I am not prone to buy the magazines off the grocery isle shelves because they have some new parenting trick that will work in as little as 3-5 steps; however, I do find myself slightly changing my approach on such things as discipline from week to week or month to month. Let me explain a little further. Children go through seasons and phases (as do most people) but it is during those times that (in the past) I have brought up the specific phase that we are going through with someone who is older and more experienced with parenting. Sometimes, I will talk with a handful of older/wiser woman during a "phase" and find myself trying all of their ideas at once, simply because I am not being confidence and definitely overly concerned. I have to admit sometimes I want issues fixed YESTERDAY. I have to say that most of these events happen when our oldest is asserting new independence (as a 5.5 year old going on 15) and I haven't quite experienced what he is "dishing out". I am sure MANY parents can relate.

With all of that said, I feel as though our family goes through its highs and lows as any, but I (my hubby included) am wanting more stability and consistency with our parenting tactics. Moreover, that we are not confusing our poor children with a new way of handling the same situation based on time, mood, or environment (home or out). We feel this especially after finishing another rough first trimester for our fourth bundle of joy on the way. Unfortunately, with the way mama feels during these 2-3 months, daddy becomes a bit of a single parent and the children get away with things they don't normally.

So, after a much needed dinner out at our favorite Vietnamese/Thai Restaurant, we hashed out a solid plan...actually better known as some family RULES. We are calling them Family/Team Rules because our older two boys understand this on the level of baseball or soccer and how the teams must listen to their coaches.

We came away feeling like we had a good start and are still in the process of perfecting our expectations so that they are not to high or too low. We also made the effort to write out what happens as a consequence if those rules are not followed - this is to keep us consistent with our discipline. And, children who know what to expect and have loving consistency are much more content.

A great site to check out for family rules or "House Guidelines" is at the Duggar's Website. I figure if they have as many children as they do, of all the ages they do, then they must have a system that covers most areas and must work well. We are simply using it as an aid in making our personalized (always in the making) set of Family/Team Rules. The fact that they love Jesus is the most important model.

Really, that is what it comes down to, trusting the Holy Spirit to guide us in our decisions, discipline, and devotion to our families! We pray for His guidance in our everyday moments with the children HE blessed us with.

The Infamous Recipe Binder

2012-01-25T11:00:00.000-05:00

Ok, so it is Wednesday and now that I am trying to get back on track with my blog I needed to post something on organizing. At first I was having a bit of a brain freeze because I couldn't think of ANYTHING for "Organize It Wednesdays". But then, it hit me! Ages ago I had started talking about organizing my recipes.
Well...I haven't finished it completely...and when I do I will share my results with you (probably next Wednesday).

Until then, check out this site on how to make a recipe binder.

From Squares to Tessellations

2012-01-24T11:00:00.000-05:00

Our Pastor and his wife celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in November and I REALLY wanted to give them something special for this wonderful occasion. Since this amazing couple has blessed us over and over again, I really wanted to bless them. I also learned how to quilt from nameless "lovely-wife", a very experienced and talented quilter. She showed me so much patience and gave me so much to work with time and time again. Everyone needs someone like that in their life! I feel blessed to have many people who teach and love my family and I, BUT in particular this one amazing woman has been a huge light in my life and her husband just the same.

What more could I give than a small quilt? And this is what I decided to make...

This basic pattern with borders later attached, and then....

chopped up and sewn back together, makes this lovely ditty - also known as a "Tessellation Quilt" or "The Twister".

I decided to name it, "A Beautiful Blessing" because of the beautiful blessing they have been to my family and I!

For a video on how to make this check out this YouTube video

Blessings!

Books We Love!

2012-01-23T11:00:00.000-05:00

Something I am thrilled about with my children is their love for good stories. Anytime Adam or I say..."who wants to read a story?" They all come rushing and sit as close as they can. All three boys (1 and a half, 3 and a half, and five) have their favorites but they will sit and listen to anyone's story that is being read. I think the older boys love listening and looking at the books that I used to read to them and so if the youngest is having some story time with daddy or I, they will sometimes drop whatever they are doing to come over and listen, too.

I know that they have developed this love because Adam and I have made an effort to make reading fun since early on (starting as young as 4 or 5 months). We read and cuddle, we read and laugh, we read and ask questions, we read and be silly, we read and notice ever little detail in illustrations, we read and use the new words we learn, we read morning, noon, and night. AND where we read makes it fun too. In the summer we go biking on a trail near our house, with our bike trailer filled with goodies: a blanket, snacks, and a good book. Half way to town we pull over, take a break, and read in the cool shade of a tree while listening to birds singing and the leaves rustling in the breeze. Sometimes the blanket might simply be set up in our back or front yard for a picnic and a good read. We have set up forts and tents and brought in piles of books. Before bed is always a huge hit with reading and so if teeth, pj's, and tidy up has been done well...we read LOTS of books.

Some other areas that we have encourage reading are:

Signing up for library program once a week. Each of our boys, in their different ages and stages, love the stories, the songs, the poems, the finger plays, and the interaction. It gives them a change of scenery and helps them practice sitting and listening for a length of time. It also encourages turn taking with the different activities presented by our WONDERFUL librarian.
LibriVox is a website that offers free audio books. We have downloaded a handful of nursery rhymes, poems, short stories, and some much longer stories for our boys and put them on our iPod. We take our iPod in the van for long trips and play these stories over and over again. We play the iPod stories in their room, for the older boys quiet time. We have even played the stories during a snack time or play time. I am constantly amazed how, in doing this, new vocabulary is learned and used, plus their love for stories just continues to grow.

Some other great sites for audio books are:

Let Me Tell You a Tale

Kara's Free Audio Books

iTunes (always search for "Free Children's Audio books")

NOTE: ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, screen/preview/sensor what you are letting your children listen to. DO NOT ASSUME that the stories are the same from the cute little book you read last night before bed with the wee-ones. Some of the original version have more content that would possibly scare or shock your child. My husband and I value true literature but some of the good stuff will have to wait until they are older.

Let them role play. We have a costume bin in our playroom and it is filled with odds and sods, costumes bought on sale and homemade, recycles this and that. Almost daily the boys (all three) dress up and pretend play some wild adventure. Often it has been of a story they have just heard and they are filling the role of their favorite character. I LOVE watching this as I pretend I am busy with something else.
Narrating. This is basically the children retelling you what they have heard. We do this sometimes over a meal time, usually supper when daddy gets filled in of the days events. Some other great ideas for narration are over at Simply Charlotte Mason. These ideas are great for non-readers, non-writers, readers, and writers.
Be wild and creative! I love watching children get into the story and I will often have to stop reading because the boys have question after question (due to excitement of the moment) about what is going to happen (usually answered with a, "we will have to wait and see what happens.") or just simply stopping to listen to their imaginations go wild, "Mommy, if I was there I would..." or "One, time I had a....just like [character's name]." And, this is usually said while hanging over the edge of their bed or bouncing on their spot.

So part of getting the children to this level of interest is:

Use inflection, volume, and silliness in your voice. You don't have to have a different voice for each character but even simply pausing in a moment can make them lean in a little closer. Go fast during exciting, thrilling, or wild parts. Act sad during moments of loss. Be happy and even smile during times of a character's celebration.
Ask questions. How would you feel if that happened to you in the story? What do you think is going to happen next? We all know how to ask questions!
Leave them in suspense. If reading a longer story, stop it at the peak of excitement or just when the character reaches a turn of events, or is faced with a problem. Older children will whine, beg, even cry at times to hear the rest of the story. Trust me, I know.
Remembering Nursery rhymes, see my blog example here.
Reading things that they are interested in. That speaks for itself. Sometimes, knowing that my boys are interested in certain things, we will borrow from the library books on their interest. Many times the books are above their level of understanding. On occasion I will read the book and explain as we go or I will just read a few new facts and we talk about the book. For example, my kids LOVE animal books. Just last week my middle guy decided he couldn't leave the library without a "Lobster and other Crustaceans" book. So we read one new fact from each page but more or less I wait until he asked me a question or we observed the pictures. All three of them gathered around and put their two sense in.

So with out further rambling...here are A FEW of our favorite books:

The Bible
Beatrix Potter books
Thorton W. Burgess books
Hair Maclary Series By Lynley Dodd
Have You Seen Bugs? By Joanne Oppenheim and Ron Broda (see others in link)
How Do Dinosaurs Clean Their Rooms (And others) By Jane Yolen and Mark Teague
Barbara Reid's Books
Reader's Digest - Animal Close-Ups Series
Curious George Books
Don't Dig So Deep, Nicholas! By Troon Harrison and Gary Clement
A Country Far Away By Nigel gray and Philippe Dupasquier
Goodnight Moon By Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd
Goodnight Gorilla By Peggy Rathmann
Guess How Much I Love You By Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram

We love living books and a list is provided here on Simply Charlotte Mason, as well as an

explanation of what living books are.

AND there you have it! Our soap-boxing on reading and how our family loves it! Now go and get a good book and read it with your family!

Motherhood Is a Calling (And Where Your Children Rank)

2011-11-21T19:18:00.000-05:00

Motherhood Is a Calling (And Where Your Children Rank)

Our Caterpillars

2011-10-03T17:20:00.000-04:00

Last summer we had been keeping our eyes peeled for monarch caterpillar eggs. Unfortunately, we never found any. However, THIS summer was different because while friends of ours were out looking for monarch caterpillars they found one extra caterpillar and one extra egg. They so kindly brought the extras over to us and so began our summer of caterpillar hatching and observing. We learned a whole lot!

Here are the pictures we captured:

A slideshow by Smilebox

We also found this AWESOME video on youtube for further learning.

To take our experience even further I decided that we should have a field trip to a Butterfly conservatory. It was so much fun going to this unique facility, like being in a jungle, and we truly enjoyed the experience more because of what we had learned in own home first.

A Look Back at Our Garden

2011-10-03T15:54:00.000-04:00

I wanted all summer long to update what our garden was doing in each of its amazing stages but never got around to it...there were just too many things to do and enjoy. So finally, I have our garden pictures!

NOTE: We are not expert gardeners but after three years of journaling our garden experiments, we have finally come to a very comfortable spot in our efforts. The kids have ALL enjoyed planting, watching, recording, and then harvesting.

Of course, the garden now looks pretty drab and is on it's last legs. We expect frost any night in the near future and with it the finalization of our gardening days...sniff, sniff. But we are excited to say that we have building plans for a small greenhouse this fall to start much earlier planting in March 2012. And, since we know more now than we did last year, I am hopeful that our gardens will be even more fruitful and fun next summer!

Enjoy!

Personalize a photo album

Has It Been That Long?

2011-08-14T11:41:00.000-04:00

I was in awe when I looked at the date of my last post! Can you tell we have been having a busy and fun summer? I have SOOOO much to share and I look forward to getting to it soon...BUT...I have something that is golden to the heart of homeschooling families. I found this as I was doing work for another blog (actually our homeschooling group's blog) and thought, "THIS is what I needed to hear today AND is something that EVERY mother needs to hear!"

I also thought that this was perfect timing (thank you Jesus) after a great conversation I had with an amazing friend of mine. We discussed the issue of letting go and being realistic with our views on homeschooling for our families. It can be very difficult to have an idea in your mind of what you want to see happening and realize that sometimes we have to let go and let the Lord lead us through the simplicity of learning, teaching, and discipleship. Everywhere we turn these days, the media (even Christian media) portrays these perfect, over achieving, brilliant, never sleeping, always loving, mothers. I can easily get myself in a rut of, "I am not doing enough, fast enough, well enough." Much of the time that I get into that mindset, I end up crashing and burning...or at least making mine and my families life miserable.

A big part of homeschooling, living the Christian life, and giving up the ways of the world is going against the grain and it can feel emotionally and physically harsh. But the rewards for obedience, the joy, the peace, the relationship with our Lord is far above and beyond the negative. It is one thing to know this and it is another to commit and walk this. That is why I pray:

Lord Jesus,

Help me to surrender my desires, my failures, my will, and cling to the plan you have for my life and my families journey.

Thank you for reminding me that I don't need to do it alone and that there is more joy in accomplishing your desires for our lives than our own.

Despite the worlds view on everything, you give us strength to walk the straight and narrow, against the grain, so that we can spread our wings and fly.

Until then, I ask for your help not to give up, even when I fall.

In Your Precious Name, Amen.

Birthday Cakes

2011-06-22T10:45:00.000-04:00

NOTE: This post was meant to be published last night. I was just about finished and the power went out; therefore, you are reading my Crafty Tuesday post on a Wednesday....just in case you were wondering.

We have a certain 2 year old turning 3 in about five more sleeps! We are all so excited! And, since this is the time of year that we start talking more about birthday cakes and who wants what kind of cake...I thought I would share with you some cakes that we have made for our three boys.

This first cake was made for our oldest when he turned one. Trucks and heavy equipment was where it was at! We couldn't go anywhere without a little finger pointing and yelling "TRUCK!" and when they were out of site, "Trucks all gone!"

For his second birthday we had a bigger shin dig for family and friends and decided to celebrate many of the birthdays that fall around the same time on the same day (big breath)...sooooo...we made a train cake and included each person by putting their name and a candle on individual train (cake) cars.

For his third birthday we asked him what he wanted for a cake and he said a "purple truck cake that is hauling timbits". What a creative kid!

Our second son received a dinosaur cake for his first birthday, since dinosaurs were a huge hit with him around that age.

For his second birthday we went simple. It was a busy spring and so a nice chocolate cake by the campfire was alright by him, as long as it had marshmallows!

And the most recent creation was for our third son's first birthday. I love first birthdays! The first taste of cake, or second, or third....especially considering how you fall in the birth order line (chuckle).

The 'M' is missing (below) since one of the kiddies couldn't WAIT to try a delicious birthday cupcake. Who can blame them?

I just had to add this in...a picture taken by my hubby, of our newest one year old eating his prize cupcake. Oh, the splendor! Oh, the sugar! Oh, the mess! Oh well!

Check back here next Tuesday for a cake that will make you squirm, a cake that my "soon-to-be-three-year-old" will absolutely love! I will also post the gift that I am almost finished knitting for his special day.

Bean Bin

2011-06-20T20:00:00.001-04:00

Our second oldest son LOVES sensory play! He begs his nana every time we visit for her to bring out her bin of dried peas and beans. He will sit there for quite a while with diggers, loaders, cars, trucks, and tractors just a diggin', scoopin', and loadn' up. It is so cute!

Because of this fascination with the dried beans and peas, I decided to bring home the idea. Not many people feel like making or buying a huge sensory bin for their house. I personally don't have any more space for one. So I did this instead:

I took my biggest pans and evenly filled them up with two bags of dried beans (you can find lots of dried peas, lentils, bean, rice, etc at any grocery store). I put them on a towel on the kitchen table and let my boy pick any toys he wished to bring in to his sensory wonderland. He will sit their for 30 -45 minutes sometimes just playing away. This gives me time to do school work with the eldest OR do other much needed projects. Not bad for a few bucks! When the play is over we store the beans in empty, recycled, ice cream tubs.

Simple, fun, open ended!

Banana Pops

2011-06-17T17:12:00.000-04:00

I got this idea from an amazing friend and family member! I love this girl to bits! She has such great ideas, she is a great mom, she loves the Lord, and she does a great impression of Beaker (from the Muppets - LOL)!

On her blog she posted a much yummier version of this snack (avec chocolate). I did not put chocolate on mine the day that I fed the boys this for snack but they still loved it.

I used melted peanut butter, honey, and Rice Crisp Cereal. Basically, you cut the banana in half after peeling. Stick the popsicle stick in the flat, cut, end and lay on freezer paper or wax paper. Melt your peanut butter and drizzle over the banana pops, drizzle honey, and sprinkle cereal. Now stick it in the freezer for at least an hour. Enjoy!

I love this snack idea because you can do sooooo many variations of the same snack.

Thanks so much for the idea Beaker! If it weren't for you and your awesome family having me over when we were little, my boys wouldn't know what "pigs in the hay" or "poop on a cloud" are. Oh, good times!

The Shed

2011-06-15T14:11:00.001-04:00

When we moved into our house we were excited about the shed on the property. Although, there were a few items, like the VERY HEAVY steel cabinet, that we had to get rid of that posed some extra work. However, over the years (and thanks to the help of some really awesome friends) Adam and I have been able to organize the shed and make a spot for garden supplies, winter supplies, sand toys, water toys, bikes, balls, and more...all in our quaint little shed.

It was last year that I asked Adam to build shelves for all of the toys. I really wanted to organized them so that the boys knew where things were (still having to ask to have buckets down so that we don't have toys ALL OVER the yard and chewed up by the mower).

Once again, I visited the much loved "Dollarama" and bought these awesome blue bins for sorting out the dinky cars, dinosaurs, little people, bigger cars and trucks, shovels and scoopers, and such. For the larger, heavier, machines (the boys LOVE) I just park them on the lower shelves for whenever they like. It truly makes clean up of the sand box and yard much easier when they know where things belong. All I have to do is pull down the blue bins, they sort out the toys, and I put the bins back up. When they are done playing and guided to clean up, they easily park the larger machines down below on the shelves.

I also asked Adam to make a ball bin with a little "pocket" to the side for our sporting accessories, like bats, nets, and rackets. I LOVE this little corner bin because we have lots of rolling items, of all sizes, that needed a place of their own.

The cost was next to nothing because all of the wood was leftover from the work we did in our attic before moving in. It may not be pretty but this mama is just happy for the lack of chaos when it comes to outdoor toys!

"The Non-Stop Knotty Knitter"

2011-06-14T15:52:00.000-04:00

"The Non-Stop Knotty Knitter" by Ruth Hearson is a book the boys have and we read quite often. It is about a grandmother than comes to visit her family and all the while she knits. She knits hats, scarves, mittens, bibs, undies, balaclavas, and on and on for the most interesting characters, beyond that of her family. It is such a cute book. At the end of the book there is a present for the child reading and when it is opened they discover a fun hat knitted just for them.

With that introduction...I would love to share the latest knitting project I have accomplished. It was fun, full of new techniques, and absolutely adorable on my son. (I will share the link for the pattern at the bottom of this post.) Please note the buttons, they are strictly to cover up my many mistakes when learning to "knit the wrap". I thought it would be a cute touch....

You can find the pattern at: http://www.justjussi.com/hats.htm

A Wedding Gift

2011-06-14T15:27:00.000-04:00

I have a love for colours, fabrics, textures, and just plain creating. Quilting feeds that love.

Here is a little something that I made for a very dear couple that just recently got married. My husband's brother met the most wonderful person and I feel so blessed to have her as a sister-in-law. I couldn't think of anything better to express our support and excitement for their marriage. So, after "borrowing" their pillow sham and getting ideas for colour matching...I made this:

"Can We Go Biking?"

2011-06-13T23:26:00.000-04:00

My eldest has been one with his bike since the nice weather started...rather, since the snow stopped. Rain or shine, hot or cold, the minute this boys eyes open and his feet hit the floor he starts asking, "can we go for a bike ride today?" And this Mama loves it! Not just because I share his love of biking (and would do it more if I could) but because I love watching him do something that he ABSOLUTELY loves! Every time he gets on his bike he learns something new - from jumping little logs... to lifting his front tire off the ground... to taking his feet off the pedals... to "look mom, one hand!"

I feel blessed that we live in a wonderful area to cater to his passion. Just this past week I decided that it was too beautiful a day to spend playing in the back yard and so we packed up our bike trailer full of lunch, snacks, extra clothes (you NEVER know what could happen), tools (in case of break down), our nature notebooks, and a fun Beatrix Potter selection, "Apply Dapply's Nursery Rhymes". Then, we were off to our local trail! The goal was to ride as far as we felt and stop along the way, whenever, for snacks, drinks, and a story. To my surprise Mr. Almost-Five-Year-Old, made it all the way to the next town on the trail....that was approximately 8 km. There was no complaints of hurting, wanting to stop, or can you carry me home. He just wanted to keep going. I was amazed and completely excited for him!

On top of that, I was affirmed once again in our decision to home school. Not only did he learn what he needed to that day but he was also able to work at what he is passionate about and feel good about his accomplishments. I loved that we could all enjoy the fresh air and exercise together. I will savor the memory of sitting on the trail that day: my one year old playing contently with sand and stones, sitting in the warm sun near by, while my four year old sits on one knee and my two year old on the other - all of us sharing a good piece of literature in the solitude of nature. No phone calls, no technology, no buzzing electricity, no interruption. Simply the sound of trees rustling in the breeze, the birds calling one another, the occasional buzz of a dragon fly racing past, and the sound of my boys laughing and playing. It truly was a great day!

Growing our Groceries

2011-06-10T22:14:00.000-04:00

I had posted a couple of months ago my plans for our gardens and miraculously the plans were far exceeded by what actually came to be. This is all thanks to the hard work of my hubby - who became very excited about the whole process and took off with it! I would have loved to share photos of all of us working the two Saturdays and parts of the week to get this done but we were battling time and stormy weather and my battery died on the camera. Seeing my older boys hauling straw around was too cute - they loved helping.

Basically, we measured out everything...the entire garden and the individual beds. Then we gathered up as much THICK cardboard that we could find and laid it down where our beds would be. The amazing soil mix Adam put together at the farm was wheeled in and dumped onto each cardboard section. We leveled out the beds, added some compost to the tops, and then laid out straw over every section of grass around each bed. Adam put up T-rails and chicken fencing to keep the critters out. He also added a wonderful gate for easier access.

Now I will share what we planted in each bed:

A - Flowers: Lupin hybrid, Snapdragons, and Zinneas.
Herbs: Rosemary, oregano, basil

B - Snow peas, sweet peas, and potatoes

C - Cherry tomatoes, large tomatoes, garlic (better next year), snow peas, potatoes

D - Broccoli, Cauliflower, onion, spinach, lettuce

E - Indian corn (fall decor), gourds (variety), small and medium pumpkins.

We are so excited about this garden and we check everyday for germination. We have been keeping a garden journal to learn from and plan better for next year or just for changing things up. It is recommended that you rotate the garden every year for nutrient usage and because we have recorded everything we shouldn't run into the "Oh, man...what was it we planted there last year" syndrome.

It has been awesome for homeschooling. Jack drew our seedling pumpkin plants in his nature notebook a couple of days ago and did a really good job. We have all enjoyed the plants themselves and the wildlife surrounding them. So far we have had way more robins coming around, more butterflies, some beautiful red cardinals, and fun insects. They will only increase in number and variety once things really start to grow!

This is our back raised garden bed that holds cucumbers and will eventually hold our succession planting of spinach and lettuce, as well as carrots.

Here are the sunflowers that my eldest planted all by himself. A little close for comfort but it is all a learning experience!

AND...I have to say, one of my favorite things we do, the pole bean Tepee. The entire thing should do really well this year. It is my third year doing this and I should have it down by now. I have been recording for the past three years what works and what doesn't and it seems that these plants are flourishing and should eventually cover the entire Tepee. It will make a great fort with nice shade and a source for snacking.

I shall update you on our growth and goings-on of the garden life in a couple of weeks!

An Amazing Man

2011-06-09T15:32:00.000-04:00

For the past three months I have been struggling with my emotions. Days of feeling really down, days of defeat, days of being...not myself. I have thought, during this time, that it was influenced by the constant cold of winter and rain in spring, the boys catching one thing after another (early spring) and being house bound, water by-law issues in town, and others I cannot quite share. As much as I am sure the above factors had a great deal of negativity, I think it was a good amount of postpartum (it amazed me to find out that even after a year postpartum can hit).

I cannot believe how difficult it is to simply think straight, feel physical well, and just enjoy a day when experiencing whatever it was that I was experiencing. However, this post isn't so much about all of that but it IS about the amazing man that the Lord blessed me with. I cannot count the number of nights in the past three months that Adam would come home to a pretty run down, dreary, did I mention down, and non-functioning wife, after a hard day at work, only to help me think up or even make dinner and take over for the rest of the night. He continued to encourage, support, pray, and wait. Over the years it never ceases to amaze me how hard working and consistent he is. How he can so gently takes over with the boys when I have no fuel left. How he makes me laugh and pulls my overactive brain back to reality time and time again. How he leads me to Christ during these difficult times and prays with me and for me.

I thank Jesus for my husband - my best friend.

knitting Tote

2011-06-08T11:30:00.000-04:00

Having just started knitting, I found it challenging trying to keep all my supplies together when working on a project. I saw that others were using actual woven baskets to keep their yarn in and others even used bowls. I knew that I needed something. Sooooo....I found a great pattern on The Purl Bee website for something called "Sew and Stash Baskets".

These material baskets are wonderful and could be used for many different organizing needs or even to put gifts in. Actually, that is exactly what I did. I purchased some beautiful red ceramic bowls for my mom for mothers day and made a "sew and stash basket" to put the bowls into. She loves knitting as well and so I figured it could serve as a gift wrap and a knitting basket for her.

I loved her "sew and stash basket" so much that I decided to make my own. However, I just couldn't stick to the pattern this time (a little quirk I have - same with baking and cooking recipes) I had to do something a little different...

...so I added a bunch of pockets to hold my supplies (scissors, gauge ruler, measuring tape, odds and ends, extra needles, cable needle, and stitch holder)...

...AND, some handles to pick up and go from house, to yard, to van. Wherever knitting can be done!

I think that next time I will use a heavier stabilizer. I used a mid-weight for this project but I think that a heavy-weight would be much better to hold all of the supplies inside.

Happy Sewing, Knitting, Creating!

A Little Something...

2011-06-07T21:35:00.000-04:00

For those of you who have read the title of this post and seen the picture of little booties, all knowing that I haven't been around the computer much...I AM NOT PREGNANT...LOL.

We have had a challenging and busy spring (mixed with some really awesome events: a very special wedding, the homeschooler's conference, our son's first birthday, and nice weather!). I will give an update on Thursday this week as to our "water by-law" situation and a bit more on the goings-on-of-my-life.

BUT, for now I will share this simple post on my latest love in the world of handicrafts - knitting! I made these little booties at the beginning of April and I found the pattern at the TLC website HERE.

For more GREAT sites on learning to knit check out these:

YouTube: type anything about learning to knit and you will find ample videos.
verypink.com: I LOVE THIS SITE!
KnittingHelp.com: This is new to me but very practical.

Just a Little Update

2011-04-19T14:35:00.001-04:00

I have received a couple of emails, a comment on the blog, and some phone calls as to why I haven't been blogging. I think I should probably give a bit of an update as to what our family has been up to and what we are going through at the moment.

About a month ago friends of ours lost their home to a fire. It was absolutely awful. Praise the Lord that NO ONE was hurt. However, it left my friend, her husband, three boys, and her mother, without a home for a little while until they could find a temporary residence. Adam and I felt led to help and get the community to help as well. So far the Lord has blessed and continued to work mightily in their lives. I LOVE how Jesus can take an awful situation and turn it around. We continue to pray for them!

Not long after that our boys started catching these awful viruses going around. The eldest had bronchitis, the middle man had two horrible inner ear infections, and the youngest (WHO TURNED ONE YEARS OLD TODAY!!!!) also had bronchitis. So now, four weeks later, we are just on the mend. Between the weather and sickness....(sigh).

In the midst of the sickness...we found out that our town is trying to pass a by-law that would force homeowners onto town water if they choose or need to get a permit for certain things around their home (ie, building permit, septic permit, even a fence....the fence, however, has recently been revoked). That is not the kicker though. They want the home owners in this area to fork up between $12,900.00 - $22,000 depending on the homes many variables. So, to make a long story short, we have been fighting this with a number tactics and there is big meeting at town hall tonight. There will be many angry, confused, and frustrated citizens of our town at this meeting. Adam and I have been given a great responsibility in all of this to help stand up for our "neck of the woods" and it couldn't have come at a busier time. Yet, we are trusting (between bouts of frustration, tears, overwhelming thoughts, and much prayer) that their is a purpose in all of this. I just hope that Adam and I can honor the Lord in whatever it is we say and do and glorify him in it all. I will be able to share more on the subject later.

Like I said this couldn't have come at a busier time. Adam is in the midst of spring work and has long weeks and long days. I am feeling overwhelmed with small things lately and so these larger items can feel quite overpowering...BUT...I keep clinging to Christ, the solid rock on which I stand!

I am thankful for moms and great friends during these times that I have been able to call up and de-load, have prayer, and get some good advice. Otherwise, I just might have locked myself in the bathroom these past three weeks, lol.

If anyone out there has read this and can pray for the following, we would greatly appreciate it:

Adam's grandmother has just past away this morning, the funeral is on Thursday, April 21. This is a sad thing for family. Loss is never easy. Please pray for healing of hurting hearts and ministry opportunities.
My Aunt Linda is in the hospital with some very serious complications after having battled with radiation and chemo for Lymphoma. They are not sure what is going on and I am sure that she and her husband are very scared and drained. Pray for healing!
This meeting tonight is huge and will have a great impact on our family and the community around us depending on what is said tonight. Pray for sympathetic counselors with open ears and hearts and that those of us who speak will say the right things that will impact the right people in the right way!
Nice weather....I know many a moms who need the sunshine and fresh air at the moment.

Thanks for reading, for praying, and for your concern. I soooo look forward to blogging again, on a consistent basis, when this all settles.

Cardboard Creations

2011-03-29T17:17:00.000-04:00

Something that my hubby and I have loved to do for our kids is to create play spaces. When our eldest son was around one-years-old we came up with our first "cardboard creation". We were living with my in-laws and had lots of space to play in. Since we were saving up for our own home we didn't go out and buy our son all the latest and most popular toys. We both shared the thinking that open ended toys, non-battery operated toys, and homemade toys were the best kind of toys anyways -especially at the age of one.

Our first project was a transport truck. This idea came about because our little guy LOVED trucks and his uncle drove one for a living. Everything was centered around trucks. He spent many hours, over a number of weeks, playing with this truck. He could sit in his fuzzy chair that we placed in the cab and he could get to his seat by opening the little door at the side. We also made the trailer open at the back so that he could walk or crawl in and out of it. He loaded it with many toys on many different occasions. At one point we cut shaped holes out of the side of the trailer and he would push through toy blocks that were different shapes, just like a shape sorter toy would require a child to do. All of this was made out of a fridge box and an oven box taken from Sears and paper tubes from Christmas wrapping paper. The rest is paint and duck tape.

Another creation we made was this clump of boxes. We got these sturdy boxes from a Big Box Hardware store during the spring when they were bringing out new outdoor furniture. I literally ran over to the team that was assembling the models of patio furniture and said, "are you going to throw those boxes away?" It was a pretty funny site seeing a pregnant woman trying to carry out these huge cardboard pieces to her vehicle....in the wind...blowing this way and that through the parking lot....hahaha. The things a parent will do for their children, lol.

Basically, we used plastic ties, tuck tape, and paint. We cut out door ways between each box into the others with steak knives (they work REALLY well when cutting cardboard - but be careful!). Each little compartment was painted a different colour and then inside we decorated the walls with pictures according to the outside box colour. For example, the yellow box had a yellow pillow and a picture of bananas.

This doozy of a creation was hilarious. Adam and I started the project late at night (as we sometimes do and make very funny memories), we came up with great ideas to add to the "BOEING 737" over the next couple of weeks. This "airplane" is constructed from a couch/sofa box. We used plastic zip ties, packing tape, and all the odds and sods we could find from our recycled centre. It was a fine flying contraption, complete with a "ball run" made out of dryer vent-tube, windows, treasure buckets, recycled keyboard (you need to key in your destination of course), and our favorite....Christmas lights in the ceiling.

Each cardboard box was sought after by first calling up a company and asking for the department that unloads items upon receiving. Most of the time they hold the boxes for people who call ahead. Great places to go are: Walmart, Sears, The Brick, Canadian Tire, Home Depot, etc.

Remember that most household items that you would normally throw away or recycle can be used. Be creative. An old paper towel tube can be a telescope to complete the ship you have made out of a fridge box cut in half length wise. An old sheet can be the sail, a tin pie plate the wheel, and an onion bag made into a net. The options are ENDLESS!!!!

NOTE: All of our "creations" are one of a kind, originally thought up, and made for our most favorite kids in the world.

Thinking About Sunshine, Warm Days, and Gardening

2011-03-28T14:08:00.000-04:00

I am getting so excited for the warmer weather! Just the chance to get outside, without winter gear, and get my fingers in the dirt will be wonderful. To see my boys running around the backyard, playing, imagining, exploring, and learning. Having our snacks outsides under our bright umbrellas at our picnic table and laughing at....anything.

Yes, I am in a day dreaming type of mood. Maybe it is because spring is proving to be just as chilly as winter and the house is still shut up with the furnace on. Or because the boys are sick with colds and coughs and I know that their bodies are longing for fresh air and long times of play outside. I know my body is longing for it....instead I am eating brownies and day dreaming during quiet time.

Ok...back on topic....sunshine, warm days, and GARDENING! Yes, I am totally and completely feeling the urge to go outside and plant seeds and get our gardens started! My hubby and I have big plans for this years garden and we cannot wait to get started. The trouble is that he starts "spring work" soon. Long days and long weeks, with not much else. That is all part and parcel in a job working with trees. So, this mama is trying to figure out how she can get it all together with three bambinos and do it frugally!

Here is my plan:

Large veggie garden in our side yard. - I am going to borrow a tiller and till some space up beside the house. Seeds are cheap enough and I will harvest seeds from what we grow this year for the next year. A hike in the forest will help us to find thicker pieces of sticks to use for our row markers and the boys and I can paint signs for what is planted in each row.
Two new raised beds in our back yard. - Adam is going to cut the cedar logs from the farm and if I have to dig and stack the lumber....I will! I am determined to get two more raised beds together for growing. Last year we did lettuce, carrots, pole beans, and a simple row of bulbs. I plan on much more this year for canning; which is another I am looking forward to learning!
Pole Bean tee pee up again. - Easy enough...get the ladder out and set it up. Fresh humus from the compost will be a great aid in and around the bottom where we will plant our pole beans. I cannot wait to see how beautiful this years tee-pee will look.

We shall see how it all pans out and I will be happy to post of the outcome! Until then, think sunshine, warm days, and beautiful growing gardens!

More on Spool Knitting

2011-03-22T12:56:00.001-04:00

Here is Sammy! Sammy is the result of teaching our 4 1/2 year old how to spool knit. He was very proud of himself for this accomplishment and I was thrilled that he enjoyed learning how to do it.

If you are looking for more information on spool knitting (also known as corking) check out my post HERE.

I would also like to refer "Corking" by Judy Ann Sadler, to anyone who is interested in taking up this handicraft with their children. Remember to check out your local library first before buying it - that is what we did!

Toddler Time

2011-03-21T18:27:00.000-04:00

I know that many homeschooling families look for good ideas on how to include their toddlers, especially while they are teaching older children. I have searched through blogs, read articles and even bought an e-book of good ideas for this exact reason.

Something that I will be sharing on Mondays for my homeschooling themes is "Toddler Time". Some of the ideas might be great ideas that I have used from other sources or things that I have come up with on my own. So, whether you are homeschooling or not, these ideas will hopefully help you with your wee ones. Remember that most of the ideas I share will be frugal and/or things that you will most likely already have on hand - I know that I appreciate sources with the same mentality!

For today's "Toddler Time" I am sharing something that I came up with really quickly right before sitting down with my oldest son. I knew that I needed something to occupy my 2 1/2 year old in order to have the quality time with my 4 year old. This is what I came up with...

Let's Go Fishing!

This activity is easy. Simply take a long stick (even from outside) or a piece of doweling rod and tie a string to the one end. On the other end of the string tape any large magnet (I used a leap frog letter magnet from our fridge). Below you will see cardboard cutouts of sea creatures that I created from cereal boxes that we collect. All you have to do is attach paper clips to the sea creatures and so you have something your magnet will be attracted to. I had these cardboard cut outs sitting in my school cupboard already and they served perfectly for this activity!

This fishing activity is great for eye hand coordination and for developing fine motor skills starting with the larger muscles.

Clothes Peg Colours

We already had these coded clothes pegs on hand from another activity. I quickly took a piece of cardboard (found from my recycled stash) and wrote the colours around the outside. I gave my 2 1/2 year old the board and the pegs and told him what I wanted him to do and he set to work happily.

This activity is GREAT for improving fine motor skill and learning colours.

Apple Boats

2011-03-11T13:56:00.000-05:00

The boys love apples and one day my hubby started to make "apple boats". They are simply apples cut in half and cored.

Last weekend the boys asked for a snack and Adam proceeded to make them each an apple boat. I, however, had a brain burst and jumped into action.

"Wait just a second hun!" I said to my husband. He could tell by the look on my face that I was up to something.

"What are you going to do?" He asked with an inquisitive look on his face.

"You'll see!" was my response.

It very quickly became like an operating room. There I was standing still over my "patient" - the apple on a blank plate. Adam, my assistant, standing by and grabbing from the cupboards whatever I needed to make this the snack of the century. The boys patiently waiting for something yummy to fill their bellies and here is their mother going crazy on a simple snack.

"CREAM CHEESE, I NEED CREAM CHEESE STAT!" (dramatization for effect)

"NOW FOOD COLOURING!"

"QUICK GET THE TOOTHPICKS....AND THE PEELER!"

My hubby puts up with a lot....so do my kids for that matter. But enough of the dramatic saga. Here is the snack that anyone can make at home. Here is the snack that gives snack time a little more fun and a bit of change.

I introduce to you, "THE APPLE BOAT! "

Smear together your desired amount of cream cheese with a couple of drops of blue food colouring.

Cut an apple in half and core it.

Smear your blue cream cheese very thin on a plate and place your apple boat on top.

Now add a toothpick in the boat and add a piece of peel for the sail. Graham crackers are used here for a dock and raisins for fish in the sea.

Be creative and make up your own type of snack scenery. Let me know and I will post the link on my blog next week for Food/Frugal Friday. Let's try to get LOTS of good ideas circulating!

Happy Snacking!

March Blahs

2011-03-10T14:04:00.000-05:00

I sit here, at my computer, feeling about the same as the day looks - dull and dreary. My body is very tired today. My eyes feel like they could close any minute. And my brain feels like it is on stand by mode. This could be partially because the boys have been sick this past week and not sleeping the best, which means that mom and dad don't sleep the best either. I know that where we are at mentally and physically is only for a short time and so, just as spring comes after winter, I know that our feelings of 'blah' will turn into a new and refreshing change of pace as well.

So with that in mind, I leave this verse:

Matthew 11:29
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Another HUGE Project DONE!

2011-03-09T12:14:00.000-05:00

We moved into our house in November of 2008, our second child was only five months old, and we had lots to do! Time, however, has passed by quickly and looking back we have done much with our property and home. I thank Jesus for this house. It has been such a blessing to us and a huge answer to our prayers. It hasn't come easily though, and it hasn't come with out lots of hard work (thanks to many who helped us prepare the house in 2008).

When we moved into our home we knew that we had little storage space and so we knew that we would have to be creative and come up with new ways to store things. Not long after we moved in, and my brain had lots of time to look around and dream up decor and such, I came up with an idea for storing toys in our playroom. I told my hubby and he agreed that the idea would work well.....but it would be lots of work. So now, after two and a bit years, I would love to share with you a storage idea and an organizing option that we came up with AND my MOST AMAZING HUBBY built it all. He is truly amazing!

BEFORE

AFTER

FIRST OF ALL....I know that not everyone has this option but there are TONS of other options that you can do ALL BY YOURSELF to organize toys in your play area. For example, my sister-in-law....well, she is amazing...but she doesn't buy the bins, she makes them herself. She made toys bins out of the big diaper boxes, covered them with plain paper, and then decorated the fronts of her new toys boxes with magazine cut outs of big flowers. They look great! This same sister-in-law made her daughter a play house...YES, an actual play house, that her two year old could go in and out of. It had windows, a door, and a roof. Again, it was amazing! She made this entire play house out of really sturdy cardboard. The structure she created was custom fitted into her daughters play area and was very solid!

I know that "Dollarama" and other dollar stores sell smaller bins for organizing. You can also look through garage sales and find older pieces of furniture that you can repaint. Old dressers are great options for crafts or toys. Always carry around the measurements* for the spaces you are wanting to use as toys areas and go thrift store shopping or garage sale hunting. Another great option is Kijiji.ca, they have all sorts of furniture being sold everyday. I enjoy looking in IKEA's "AS IS" section as well - basically the area that is reduced and there are always lots of great treasures!

Remember to keep your options open and don't be too picky, unless you are tackling a custom built project or have the money saved to buy exactly what you want. Most pieces of furniture can be redone (with a little time and a little money), so don't always judge a piece by its outward appearance. My hubby purchase a dresser for $15 at a garage sale that was white and more for a little girl. He brought it home, we repainted it blue, and put new handles on it. It now serves as a clothing dresser in our boys room. SO....ask yourself, "Does it fit my space? Is is solid? Can the kids use it easily or can I make it easy to use?"

*NOTE: I always carry around a little spiral bound book with paint chips for each room of our house and measurement so that I can easily refer to colours and sizes when looking for something to fit my home-goals.

Painting the Snow?

2011-03-08T15:05:00.001-05:00

Yes, that is correct...painting the snow is a fun thing for kids of all ages (2 and up). Simply take an old squirt bottle (honey bottles are what we use), add as little or as much food colouring as you wish (we put in about ten drops) and fill the rest of the way with water.

Then proceed to get the kiddies dressed and get outdoors. Find some of the fresh white stuff (that, by this time of year is highly overrated, lol) and squirt and paint until your hearts content.

For younger children, I recommend using a smaller bottle that is easy to squeeze, like an empty children's shampoo bottle.

Finally done!

2011-03-08T14:39:00.001-05:00

I am always SO EXCITED when I get a chance to work on something and be creative. I am even more THRILLED when I can accomplish (meaning: to complete, to have done, to feel in awe that as a mom I actually did it) something.

Well...today I have something to share that has given me great joy these past couple of weeks. I have finished a table runner that I found at thehappyzombie.com. Actually, the pdf pattern is a free download and I would love for you to easily get your hands on it HERE.

I enjoy the colours that she picked out for her pattern at "thehappyzombie" but I wanted something that match our...shall we say...modest abode.

Felt Board Fun

2011-03-07T21:10:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to share the newest addition to our play/school room. I have wanted to mount a felt board for a while now and so....here it is.

Our boys have a great little collection of felt board characters and scenery that has been found at thrift stores or made by yours truly (thanks to my Early Childhood College days). They absolutely love story telling and so this is the perfect addition to our house. I love it because it is another activity that can keep one boy occupied while I work with the other. It is also great fun for bed time stories to be told on or just plain goofing around. Why not just have fun, right?

I have to add that this cost us all of $10. The peg board under the material was free, found at the side of the road by my hubby on his way home from work. The material was on sale at Fabricland for $5.00 a meter...super cheap for fleece.

I think maybe next week I will post a felt board story, just for fun!

An Amazing Example...My Mom

2011-03-03T16:31:00.000-05:00

Some of you know that my mom was diagnosed with cancer last spring. She just recently finished many months of chemotherapy and two days after her last treatment she fell on a patch of ice and broke her wrist in two places. This lady has been through quite a bit. More than I am willing to write in my blog. Yet, my mom continues to smile, laugh, and encourage others despite her fatigue, nausea, and entire situation.

People that I have met, like my mom, who can praise and rejoice in the valley's of their lives can only do so because of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit. It is Him that sustains, strengthens, and supports. My mom will testify to this fact. She has had many people ask her why she isn't depressed and questioning God for her circumstances. Her response is simple and yet so profound, "Why, when He has done so much for me and continues to do so?"

I love my mom. I love that my mom loves Jesus. And, I love that she is such a witness to others during such a time as this.

Let's Organize Our Recipes

2011-03-02T15:33:00.000-05:00

Lately I am finding it really hard to get my brain thinking about lunch, dinner, and snack ideas. Mostly because I would rather be doing other things (play with the boys, go outside, watch my youngest learning how to crawl, etc) than standing in the kitchen for an hour preparing food for supper. When my brain gets like this, it is easy for me to forget feeding myself...not healthy...I know. But I never forget to feed my boys because I find great joy in seeing them sit at the table and say 'MMmmmmm' while they eat. There is something very pleasing in seeing my boys eat a good meal, fill themselves up, and get down from the table, ready to start playing hard. Yes, it might be easy to put aside the time I should eat because my mind is so driven to do something else BUT there is absolutely no way I can put aside the needs of the boys - especially when they follow me around saying, "IIIIII'mmm HUUUUNNNNGGGGRRRRYYYYYYYYY!"

SO....with that in mind, I am starting to organize my favorite recipes in a binder that I use a whole lot for cooking. My goal is to remember absolutely every meal/snack that my family loves, write it down, and go to that list every week for my menu planning and shopping list. This will make my life sooooo much easier.

It has been about two years now that I have been doing menu planning, with the awesome help of an E-book that I got absolutely free. All I had to do was go to http://www.econobusters.com/

and sign up (the link is at the top of their page). They have lots of GREAT ideas on their site, so it didn't bother me to sign up. I have found menu planning to be a wonderful thing for saving money and time. Now my goal is to compile all the great things we have tried over the two years and make an easy to pick from list. I think I am even going to organize it by seasons, since we are trying to eat foods that are in season and stop buying the out of season foods. I have even looked into a special program offered at a local farm that lets you buy their food that is always seasonal. It is like a fruit and veggie market but you buy points and according to whatever points package you purchased, that is how much food you are allowed to take. Once I get more of this in my brain I shall share what I have learned.

Until then, happy meal planning!

Banana Bread Times 2

2011-02-25T22:18:00.000-05:00

Banana bread has been something I have eaten and LOVED since a little girl. I used to love when my mom would bake banana bread...MMMmmmm....I can still remember how good hers was, probably my favorite.

I have to say that this recipe is the runner up. I got this recipe from my hubby's aunt who bakes lots of goodies that you won't soon forget after eating them. I asked her permission to share her recipe and she was all for it. So thank you Aunt Tina!

What I love about this recipe, besides the fact that it is soooo delicious, is that it makes two large loaves at once - super cheap and easy! I decided the other week that I would purchase those reusable loaf tins, since they were on sale, and make many smaller loaves. In fact, I made a double batch (of this double batch) and had eight loaves. One batch I followed the recipe and the other I added cranberries. They were both scrumptious!

Banana Bread Recipe:

Dry Ingredients

3 Cups flour

2 Cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

Mix all dry ingredients together, very well, in a large bowl.

Wet Ingredients

1 Cup undrained pineapple

3 eggs

1 1/2 Cup canola oil ( I use 1 1/4 olive oil believe it or not)

2 Cups mashed banana (about five medium sized bananas)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Mix all wet ingredients together, very well, in another bowl. Then, pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Do not over stir!

Grease TWO large loaf pans and bake at 350 degrees F. for 60 -70 minutes.

Jesus Is Amazing!

2011-02-24T14:00:00.000-05:00

I haven't done a few weeks of posts for "Walk in the Spirit", these past Thursdays, for a couple of reasons. Mainly, it has been because I have been working on posting my "story" or testimony. Yes, the story of...well...pretty much my life. Some of you that read these posts have known me for years, some for months, and some for only days. I would love for you to know how Jesus has worked in my life and made himself real to me.

I don't think it is right for me to always post about crafts, homeschooling, and the like, when really the only thing that is the center piece of my life and the thing that keeps me going during those REALLY challenging times, isn't really a thing at all - it is Jesus. Not to say that my life is soooo difficult or that I have faced devastating hardships (I pray I never do), but that as any mother knows, we all have our days of frustration, lethargy, and down times. It is during those times that I choose to follow Him and lean on Him for patience, energy, and strength. He NEVER disappoints!

I remember years ago, I would kind of roll my eyes at people who talked like I do now and think that they were nuts. Oooooh, how funny life is. Now I am one of "those people" that I use to think were so extreme and so overly-passionate. Yet, there was something in them that I desired to know and experience. The way they talked about Jesus was like they REALLY did know Him. I claimed for years that I knew him too and I truly believed that my life was in Him and for Him. But I couldn't help but feel that my prayers hit the ceiling and went no further, that my expressed faith was weak and was lacking the faith the Bible talked about. It wasn't until I had an experience with the Holy Spirit that caused me to change my mind, my faith, my way of life - I'll never go back.

I hope that at some point you will find the time (since you might need a while) to READ MY STORY. I would love to hear yours as well. Please comment and please let me know how Jesus has changed your life. If you are even feeling as though you desire that same relationship with Jesus, let me know and I can help you learn what I learned. If you have a prayer request, feel free to share and I will be praying for you.

Handicrafts - Early Knitting

2011-02-21T15:56:00.000-05:00

I think that it is so important to teach children handicrafts and not just always throw crayons, cotton balls, and glue at them to create things. I know that for my boys, these kinds of arts and crafts only lasts for a few minutes anyways. I am not completely discounting that kind of craft idea but I do think it is more important to teach children life skills in handicrafts. More often than not I have seen boredom and a lack of care put into the crafts that these little people are doing. Sometimes they will finish a craft just to appease the adult trying to get them to do it.

With that in mind, I have been attempting to start handicrafts with my children. One weekend when my mom was visiting she taught me the beginnings of knitting. Since I have been learning how to knit, I have been asked and asked by my four year old to teach him how to knit. He LOVES ropes and string and spends a lot of time tying things together and making knots; therefore, I could see that he was really intrigued as he watch my mom teach me. For weeks he would ask questions and watch. Finally, I felt that there was enough interest and so I watched a "YouTube" video on FINGER KNITTING and decided to show him how to do it.

I am amazed that he actually did it and loved it! Here is a simple video of him showing off his new skill:

The only problem with the finger knitting was that he couldn't put it down and come back to it later. My mom reminded me of a handicraft I did when I was young, called spool knitting (also known as corking or french knitting). I continued to research and found that we could make our own spools. There are many different variations, some with five pegs, some with four, some with two. I saw this really great video that demonstrates how to spool knit and I loved their spool so much that I made my son his the same way (Instructions on how to make later in this post).

Before you leave thinking, "there is no way my child can do that!", please be encouraged because I was leery at first but my four year old proved that he could and he LOVE IT! When I asked him if I could record him using his spool knitter, he was excited. He even (on his own) decided that he would take on a teacher's role to show other boys and girls how to spool knit (he likes to call it "corking"). The video isn't the best quality, but it is cute!

There is another video of a little boy spool knitting with an easier type of spool, you can watch it HERE. I will give simple instructions on both below.

Making Your Own Spool Knitter

Something I forgot to mention in the video, was to bend the paper clips back a little bit. This just helps with the tension and keeps the wool on the spool.

How to get your popsicle stick spool started:

I hope that this post was informative and inspiring! I would LOVE it if you would share ANY fun handicrafts you have done in the past or recently.

Move over Dairy Queen!

2011-02-18T13:39:00.000-05:00

If you are like me, you love ice cream! We love it so much in our house that we often make our own with a handy little, previously owned but never used, Hamilton Beach ice cream maker that my mom gave to us. Little secret....she found it at Value Village....gasp! That's right, keep your eyes peeled when looking through those second hand stores and you will find treasures galore!

Along with ice cream, my family LOVES ice cream cakes. Buying these tasty treats from the grocery stores or better yet, Dairy Queen, can break the bank. So, I would like to share with you something that I make in our home that will most definitely meet that ice cream cake craving and keep some extra cash in your pocket.

I would like you to meet, "The Ice Cream Pie!"

You will need:

1 1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs

3 tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup melted butter or margarine

chocolate syrup (I used Hershey Syrup)

tub of "Cool Whip" or the no name brand

container of chocolate ice cream

container of vanilla frozen yogurt

Cocoa Powder

What you do:

Combine the graham cracker crumbs and sugar; mix well. Add melted butter and mix until crumbs can be pressed firmly against the sides and bottom of a pie plate holding its shape. Drizzle chocolate syrup over the pressed crumbs, as shown. Put in freezer for at least an hour. (Note: I take my vanilla frozen yogurt out now. Scoop about six large balls of the yogurt into a bowl and let the bowl thaw for approximately twenty minutes.)
Once the pie crust has been frozen, place the softened frozen yogurt in the middle of the crust and gently spread evenly over middle of the crust with a spatula. Put back in freezer for a half an hour. (Note: I take out my next layer of chocolate ice cream and let soften just the same as the frozen yogurt was.)

3. Add the softened chocolate ice cream to the top of the frozen yogurt and spread evenly. Let sit in freezer for a half an hour. Do the same as above with your last layer, the "cool whip" layer.

4. When your final layer goes on, you can drizzle more of the chocolate syrup and sprinkle cocoa powder lightly over the top. In the past, I have even used my potato peeler to peel the long side of a milk chocolate bar, adding chocolate decor to the top. Yummy and beautiful!

Try different variations. Use caramel or butterscotch instead of chocolate. Maybe do this pie exactly the same but add melted peanut butter to the top of the pie crust before your chocolate drizzle. MMMmmmmm!

Budgeting Envelopes

2011-02-16T15:15:00.000-05:00

My hubby and I have used the envelope method in our budgeting for years now and love it! However, our envelopes don't last long because they are just cheap, paper, envelopes. When we do our shopping, we find that the envelopes we take out the most are constantly needing to be replaced. So, after visiting a site last year that shows how to make nice envelopes that last longer...well...I finally got around to making some. Check out my post from last year, HERE.

First of all, you know that you need new envelopes when these are the best ones you have:

Take whatever size envelope you prefer and carefully take it apart.

Next, trace the undone envelope onto the back of a piece of scrapbook paper.

Now, cut the traced image out. It should look something like this:

I put the original template over the new flat piece that was cut out, followed the fold lines, and pressed.

Write whatever you need on the face of the new envelope or add whatever stickers you have printed off to label your envelope. I went simple and just used permanent marker.

Next, lay the face of your envelope down on a piece of mack tack or clear shelving paper (found at most dollar stores, it comes in rolls) and rub on to the sticky side. Then, press the flaps down by rub out from the middle to avoid bubbles or creases. Also, check to make sure you bought the REALLY sticky stuff. I tried this with one type of "mack tack" and it all peeled off - not sticky enough!

Once you have the envelopes all flattened out on the sticky plastic, cut them out. After they are all cut out, fold them and attach the three sides with small pieces of packing tape along the edges. Packing tape is always ultra sticky. Just don't tape down the top flap of the envelope since you will obviously need that to open and close often. I suggest using adhesive velcro circles (found at "Dollarama" in the craft section) or eyelets and string, for opening and shutting your envelopes.

Mine are almost done, as with most things mommy... it might take a while but it is well worth it! Wink wink. Just thought I would share another organizing tip from our household. Enjoy!

There is Still Time for Ice Castles

2011-02-14T16:32:00.000-05:00

The boys and I had another great year for "Ice Castles" or as my post last year called them "Rainbows in the Snow". This is a WONDERFUL activity for children who love to be outside AND for teaching colours, patterns, grouping, sizes, and on and on. We even dug for them after a good snow fall as if they were buried treasure. So much fun!

Check out my posts on how to make them HERE (part 1) and HERE (part 2).

Two Thumbs Up!

2011-02-14T16:06:00.000-05:00

I wanted to find another activity that my boys consider enjoyable and yet teaches them or inadvertently builds on a skill they need. This activity not only did the above but got an "I love playing with those mommy!" When this happens I am a very happy mama!

This activity involves four square pieces of cork (found at the dollar store, two for $1.25) and a little jar of thumb tacks. WHAT??? THUMB TACKS????? Yes, thumb tacks. This is an activity that you will have to supervise. Maybe even count out the number of tacks you have before starting. I learned a very important lesson, from a wonderful teacher, while in college and that is that children are capable of much and just because it isn't something we normally give them to play with, doesn't mean they cannot experiment with a little help and supervision. Make it a teachable moment. Talk about responsibility with small items and why you need to be careful with tacks. Trust me on this, I have a fear of thumb tacks. After stepping on one as a teen and having to pry the flat tack out of my heal, I have had bad memories every since. Ask my hubby, if one drops on the ground I get a little panicky, lol.

But seriously, this activity is GREAT for fine motor development, pattern making, creative skills, and so much more. It is another open ended charm for your children that cost all of $5.00.

Loving the Lapbooks

2011-02-14T15:41:00.000-05:00

Both my boys have a duo-tang that is made just for them, filled with pages that are age appropriate. From songs, to rhymes, to science, and much more, these books are cherished by my children because they are personalized and filled with information that they enjoy! Isn't that what learning should be all about?

These lapbooks are simple. AND PLEASE do not let your brain go down the road of, "BUT I can't draw!", "I am NOT creative!", "I don't have the time!" The three statements made above are LIES. I remember growing up and my mom would draw stick people for me and I LOVED it! If drawing terrifies you that much, cut and paste from magazines or print off pictures. Really, you don't even have to draw if you don't want to. Both of my boys have poems or rhymes or songs in their books and I can just print the words out in different colours and paste a picture underneath that corresponds to the information being read.

In actual fact, the whole point of a lapbook isn't to show off artisitic talent or lack there of. It is to have your child(ren) on your lap, or at least near you, and enjoy reading, learning, singing, and pointing out what they LOVE to see, hear, and play. Note: if your child is a real mover and cannot sit still for a book, get them to pick a page and then use actions or march around the room together, retelling the information. Tailor it to your child.

All of this is for the sake of your child's interests, in one fabulous book that you have personalize for them. They will feel so loved and you will be amazed what learning takes place - I assure you!

This is one style of lapbook that I have shown. There are many others. If you are interested in learning more, please check out my post here on lapbooks and follow the web links. Happy Lapbooking!

Something to Dream Up....Way Up!

2011-02-14T15:20:00.000-05:00

My boys LOVE blocks! Besides the many different kinds of blocks that we have, the boys Uncle Pete blessed them with many more. He graciously cut up, I am sure, close to 200 blocks from a type of faux wood (not sure of the name at the moment). I love these blocks he made them because they are all the same size (3.5 inches by 1.5 inches and flat) and colour - it leaves much to the imagination, very open ended.

As much as the boys build various structures from there imaginations with these amazing toys, I find that just like us, they sometimes need a little inspiration. What better way to inspire them than to give them a taste of actual architecture. Hence, the reason why I made a cork board display in their playroom showing actual architecture around the world.

With our "Building Board" the boys are given a chance to see different styles of structures. They get a taste of different cultures, time periods, and new ideas to try for their own buildings. AND THEY ARE LEARNING ALL ALONG THE WAY.....mwahahaha. I know, I am sneaky.

Since they have really enjoyed the new pictures to look at, I thought it only fair to post some of their masterpieces and imitations of actual structures. My two-year-old rebuilt the Eiffel Tower and my four-year-old learned where in the world it was located. It also led to their Aunt coming for a visit and discussing her trip to the Eiffel Tower and explaining that there are stairs and an elevator to take you to the different levels of the building. They then proceeded to look up "You Tube" videos of people visiting the tower and on and on. I find it all so fascinating!

Frugal Field Trips

2011-02-11T20:06:00.000-05:00

I just had to share what the boys and I have been doing for fun with our homeschooling. The unit that we are working on is "People in my Neighbourhood" from the "Come Sit By Me" series, which I LOVE. Last week we learned about firemen and fire safety and this week was all about Police men/woman and staying safe. Next week we are discussing the bakery in town and the final week of the month we are learning about the Post Office workers.

With each sub-topic, I thought that contacting the appropriate people for a little visit would be great! It is a suggestion in the book to go and visit local places. I thought for sure it would be difficult to get an "ok" from these places to visit, especially with the little ones that I would be bringing with me, but everyone was friendly and very accommodating.

I did make sure to call ahead of time and book all of these visits before our new unit started, so really the contacting wasn't difficult it was just the remembering to do it that stretched my brain. I think what was so special, besides the fact that these visits were free and extremely full of learning for the boys and I, was that we were the ONLY ones there. We didn't have to compete with groups of people asking questions, waiting in line to see things, or try hard to take pictures. It was so nice!

We had a complete sensory visit at the fire station with hands on learning of the different trucks, gear, and special tools. The boys flicked switches, pressed buttons, asked question after question, touched everything in sight, listened intently, turned on lights, and were overall in awe of the life of a fireman. It was awesome to watch.

Todays tour of the Police Station was even better. It was an extensive tour of their amazing facility. We had the chance to sit in a cruiser, sit on a OPP motorcycle and turn on the lights, take breathalyser tests, try on handcuffs, see the jail cells for each kind of prisoner, see guns (that was a huge hit for our four-year-old), meet detectives, and so much more!

Next week we are visiting our local bakery and seeing how and what they make....MMMmmmmm, I cannot wait! We of course will stay and eat a treat afterwards.

I have to say, I am thrilled! So, if I can offer any frugal advice today...look into what kind of behind the scene visits you can take in your neighbourhood. Most of these places are excited to have children interested in what they do and would love for you to learn more.

Places to visit:

Fire Station
Police Station
Bakery
Post Office
Bank
Large or Small Grocery Store (check out the different sections, sometimes the meat/fish have lobsters to look at)
Farmers Market
Local Farm
Hardware Store
Arena (ask when the Zamboni comes out so you can watch)

The options are....ENDLESS!

The Clean Up Predicament!

2011-02-09T20:07:00.000-05:00

Not too long ago, we were facing a beast in our house. This particular beast was called "Toys-every-where-I-walk-a-saurus"! I am sure you have had this beast in your home a one time or another as well. I found myself standing on the fence with two ways of thinking about this so called "beast". Sometimes it was cute and fun and full of free spirited appeal. At other times it was annoying, dangerous, and down right mind boggling.

"Boys, you have to clean up now please," I would say in a lovely, sing song, voice. (Note: there is some dramatization added for a more pleasant read on a somewhat serious subject, wink wink.)

Five minutes later...nothing. Which would lead to, "Boys please pick up your toys."

"Okay, mommy, I will do it!" our two-year-old would say enthusiastically. However, he would immediately go and pick up something else and begin to play. Meanwhile, the four-year-old attempts to put a few things away and then proceeds to fiddle with something else he has stumbled upon.

As I feel my patience beginning to get a little thinner and the beast becomes that annoying presence, I say, "If you boys cannot clean up your mess, you will be sitting on your beds for ten minutes!" Unfortunately for them, that is exactly what happened.

Thinking that after their ten minute penalty they would come down and willingly dance around the playroom, joyously putting away their toys, with great smiles on their faces, was a bit of a romantic notion. Really, I would have been happy if they would just put away something...anything...maybe the huge pile of dinosaurs that is right next to the empty bin...involving no sorting...no finding...just dumping them in! BUT NOTHING!

By this point I had had it. Frustrated and totally annoyed was my status. Theirs, was "wondering-play" with no thought of cleaning anything, with an occasional smile or glance my way. It was like I had said nothing AT ALL!

Then it hit me...though still frustrated, more at myself by this point. I looked around and realized that after a couple of months of "mommy, could you please bring the such and such toy down from the attic", I had failed to sort and put some toys away. It seemed like a fun filled playroom to me...easy to clean...great for play. But man, were there a whole lot of choices. In fact, there were too many choices, which meant too many things to clean up. I was the one to blame. Not the boys. I had forgotten that they don't need that much to play with to have fun. AND they definitely are too young to be responsible for so many items in their playroom.

With a deep breath I began to sort, pick up, and pack away a large amount of toys to go back to the attic. I told them exactly what I was doing and why. I also mentioned that if they could show me, over the next week, that they could clean up the toys that we left in their playroom for play, I would bring down one item to replace another one.

The funny thing was that they didn't cry, complain, or fuss. It was like this overwhelming room that they were being asked to clean up was now more manageable and a relief to them. I realized that it had become a beast to them as well and they were glad to see it gone.

I think that sometimes as adults we think that the toys are soooo much fun that we forget who is really playing with them and who are the ones that need to be responsible for them. My philosophy is that children NEED to be taught early on to take care of their things and to put them away when finished. They need to see how their toys are their responsibility and it helps out the whole family when they do their part. It teaches them the basics of organizing - a great skill for many of us to learn! If I am always cleaning up for them, what do they learn? They learn that mommy will always do it for them. However, we are their helpers and we aren't much help to them if we overwhelm their senses and abilities.

I try to keep in mind some important points when it comes to their toys and belongings:

What are MY EXPECTATIONS and do THE CHILDREN KNOWexactly what they are?
Are my expectations AGE APPROPRIATE?
Have I SET UP (where?) and MAINTAINTED (organized areas) an environment for them in which to play?
To go along with the last point, do they know where EVERYTHING GOES? Everything should have a place!
Are they bored with the OPTIONS and so just dumping things out for fun? (Please know that I am not saying to go out and buy new toys but rather rotate the ones you have, even if it is a small amount. OR make toys for your children out of common household items, making sure they are child appropriate and safe. Check out MakeBabyStuff.Com)
Do I have TOO MANY RULES that they cannot remember each one?

Recently, we have made the rule that toys must stay in the playroom. It is a big enough area for them; however, they can always ask to bring toys into the living room or other rooms but it is something that needs to be asked about first. Toys (even small amounts) can begin to spread into each and every room of the house, which isn't always safe (especially under foot when cooking).

So, before you run into the dilemma that I had with the toy beast, remember who is in charge. Of course children should pick up their toys but ask yourself, "are there too many?" Don't let the "messy-beast" fool you!

Batik for Kids

2011-02-08T21:36:00.000-05:00

Batik is a form a fabric painting that is used in many parts of the world. For true Batik, wax is used to separate paint from fabric and make beautiful designs that are common for the culture that is creating it. For a video of some gorgeous Batik painting click here.

This blog post is a simple way for children to create Batik fabrics at home. Even children two-years-old will enjoy the art of Batik with a little help.

Here is what you will need:

White or cream coloured fabric (preferably cotton)
Fabric or acrylic paint (do not wash final product if using acrylic)
Flour and water
Paint Brushes
Old shirt, to protect clothes
Plastic bag or sheet to protect surfaces
Honey squeeze bottle (with smaller, cone, nozzle - "Billy Bee Honey" container is best)
square, flat, piece of wood and some brad nails

Here is what you do:

Mix the flour and water to make a runny dough. Pour the flour and water mixture into the honey bottle using a funnel or put into a bag and snip the corner of the bag, squeezing the mixture into the honey bottle. Note: if little fingers find it too difficult to squeeze the mixture out of the honey bottle you might want to add a little more water to your mix. Screw the top back on the bottle and set aside.
Stretch out the fabric by tacking the fabric to your square, flat, wooden board. NOTE: If you don't have the materials to do so, use masking tape instead and tape down the corners onto a protected surface. The nailed materials are just easier for smaller children.
Let the children paint patterns free hand onto their fabric or trace an existing drawing, done by crayon or pencil, on their material. Leave the dough on the fabric to dry overnight. When dry, use paints to cover in the areas in between the dough lines.
When everything is dry the fun part can begin! Let the children pick the hardened dough off the material and see their batik artwork emerge. The fabric beneath the dough will still be white/cream.

I did this for the first time with my eldest when he had just turned three. He wasn't into crafts much at all but he LOVED to paint the puffed and hardened areas of dough. He didn't want to pick it off and so this is what he made....

I have had it pinned up in his room now for a year and a half. I love it because it is one of the first things he really created on his own and enjoyed painting. Remember to let them decide what they would like it to look like. I call this a "Reverse Batik" since the dough wasn't picked off AND the paint is hardly on the fabric but rather on the raised pieces of dough. I think it is beautiful!

Teachable Moments Beyond The Books

2011-02-07T21:35:00.000-05:00

Great friends of ours recently blessed us with a gallon of cream. Yes, you read correctly! One gallon of beautiful, fresh, cream. Since we love to make ice cream in our home, that was the first thought that came to my mind when I saw this huge jar of cream. However, we couldn't start making anything with all the cream until a few days after receiving it and so it wouldn't have worked well for ice cream. Although, butter was still an option and that is exactly what we did! It was such a fun time for my hubby and I. We made this butter through redirection of little fingers wanting to try it all, every step of the way, and sometimes through the chaos of unexpected events (cream churning and become butter instantly causing butter milk to pour out of our mixer, down the cupboards and onto the floor. We laughed till we cried when our friend, who gave the cream, called at that exact moment to ask how it was going). It was a time of learning and memory making!

I see that it is so important to try new things as a family so that learning can take place on every level and for every age. The boys were able to learn how cream from a cow can become butter and watch it in the making. Adam and I were able to learn exactly how to make butter and even put a few batches of garlic butter in the freezer for later use. We now have fresh butter and garlic butter and BOY is it GOOD!!!!

If you want to try making butter at home watch this VIDEO and then try it! And hey, if it runs down your cupboards....just laugh and keep going...we did and look what we ended up with!

Bread and Milk Tags with an Egg Carton?

2011-02-07T20:21:00.000-05:00

I am always brainstorming up different ways to teach my boys basic skills. I sometimes come up with things that work and sometimes I come up with a "flopper". My thing is, "you never know unless you try".

The other day I was looking for something that would create a lesson but also keep my eldest occupied while I finished off something in the kitchen. I gave him an egg carton and a pile of bread/milk tags that we have been collecting for ages. I keep the tags for math counters, pattern makers, and small sorters. This particular day I wrote the numbers 1 -12 in the egg carton cups and asked him to place that same number of tags into each cup. For example, the first cup said "1" and so he was to put one tag in that cup, the second cup said "2" and so he was to put two tags in that cup, etc. He was busy with that for a little while but when he said he was done, I asked him to count all the tags out from the entire carton. That kept him busy for a short time. I did end up helping in the end, but it was fun!

I am all about activities like this because they promote learning AND they can keep the boys occupied for even just a few more minutes while I finish off a job that needs to get done. They also prove that something as simple as these few items, that most people would have in their homes (start collecting, wink wink), can reach the same goal that very expensive, "educational " toys/games claim to do.

So start collecting those bread/milk tags and egg cartons. Just think, you don't need to do numbers, you can also use the cartons for letter recognition. Write a different upper case letter in each cup and cut out matching lower case letter to match up. OR how about colours for the younger children. Colour the bottom of the cups a different colour and find small toys in the same colour to match up. The options are...yes...I say it all the time...endless!

Banana Mountain or Rice Crispy Mountain?

2011-02-04T21:05:00.000-05:00

The title of this snack is yet to be agreed upon between my two boys. However, they both agree that it is good! They can call it whatever they want, I am just happy that it is healthy and they eat it up like hot cakes.

Simply enough, take whatever fruit your child loves and add honey and rice crispies. Make a design (ie. a happy face), a mountain, a pattern, or piles of fruit and cereal with a puddle of honey. I think that the bottom line with this snack is that the combination of fruit, honey, and something crunchy makes it delicious! You could even replace the cereal for crushed up graham crackers. The options are endless.

Sticky Buns...MMmmmm!

2011-02-04T20:46:00.001-05:00

I learned a very fun tradition from Adam's family when I was blessed to become a part of it. Sticky Buns! That's right, a delicious dessert made of bread and ooey-gooey-goodness! This particular recipe is made for Christmas morning breakfast and we have done it with our family over the past two years. Should it be a surprise to me that the boys love it? It has sugar in it. They of course need to have some healthy things first before we eat our sugar loaded meal. We stick a single candle in our sticky buns and sing Happy Birthday to Jesus before opening gifts. That has been our small tradition so far.

What I love most about this recipe is that it is easy. Frozen dough balls that are placed in a prepared bunt pan for the night and rise until morning. How easy is that!

Here are the ingredients:

1 Cup brown sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/3 Cup butter melted

20 frozen dough balls (ask your local bakery or grocery store bakery for the dough balls)

Directions:

Lightly grease a 10 inch bunt cake pan.
Place 1/2 frozen dough balls into pan and sprinkle with 1/2 brown sugar and cinnamon mixture. Pour 1/2 melted butter over the top. Place next 1/2 of frozen dough balls and then next 1/2 of brown sugar and cinnamon mixture and rest of butter.
Stick in oven (do NOT turn oven on) and let rise over night at room temperature. Note: I usually prepare mine at 10:00 p.m. and we bake it around 7:30 -8:00 in the morning. So, roughly a 10 hour rising time.
In the morning preheat to 350 degrees F and bake for 25 minutes.

I DARE YOU to eat just one!

Blessings!

2011-02-03T20:18:00.000-05:00

This picture was taken a year ago and when I saw it in our files, I began to walk down memory lane of last year at this time. We were excited because spring was coming and so was our newest addition to the family - baby number three! The little man you see in the picture here has grown so much this past year - so too has his older brother. And now we have our third little one who isn't so little any more either. Time goes so quickly!

All I really need to say for this post is, thank you Jesus for our children. They truly are a blessing!

The Front Hall...A Continuation.

2011-02-02T13:55:00.000-05:00

Some of you may remember me posting last year my attempts at organizing our front hall. The purpose was to make everything more accessible for the boys and their friends, less time consuming for the family, and simply put, less thinking for us all. However, I still found that the front hall was crammed and frustrating for the boys and I during the day. It was difficult when we had company over because the closet area took up so much space and left very little room to open or shut the door.

After staring for quite a while at this front hall, in shear frustration, because of it's shape and space, I had an idea! My idea was......demolition!!!! I brought up the idea with hubby to knock out the closet and put up hooks for coats, a small shelf for our mittens, hats, etc, AND a bench seat system for our shoes and boots. He thought it was a great idea! Now it was just finding the time and extra help. But, praise the Lord, it all came together!

We now have a WONDERFUL area for everyone and I can even fit the stroller in the front hall with out it being in the way....at least not too much.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

The bench seat shown is temporary while hubby makes a new one that has cubbies in it for all of our footwear. The shelf shown beside the door and the hook racks were all made by Adam. He is also making a little umbrella box to go beside the new bench seat closer to the shelfs. Once the benches are made we will be making cushions for the tops to make the seats a little nicer on the bum.

I look forward to having some free time now to make either a huge sign to decorate the empty areas above the hooks or simply find neat items during some thrift shopping.

Just a couple of things to note:

The front door was an OLD oak door that had only a crescent window at the very top. Adam cut out the middle and bought a new window insert for under $100. So, if you have a door that is still in good shape do not go and buy a new one for a fortune. If you have friends that can help you with the cutting, buy a window insert! You'll save a ton of money! We also sanded and stained the door since it was an awful colour of yellowy-orange. Yuck.
Another great find was at "Carpet Barn" in their remnant section. We bought the area rug for the front to keep wet and muddy footwear on. It was a bit of a nightmare while making it fit only because we missed a step in cutting it out ourselves (we couldn't afford to have an installer come and do it and figured we could tackle it). BUT praise the Lord it all came together in the end and saved us a ton of money once again.

Moral of the story:

Learn new ways to make things work and ask around before buying anything!

Feather Pen, Aka Quill

2011-02-01T22:02:00.000-05:00

Since my boys are boys and crafts for them are more along the lines of paper airplanes, finger painting, and being creative with their mashed potatoes, I thought I would share this for Crafty Tuesday.

It is simple. Just cut off the very tip of the quill (hard part of the feather) on a 45 degree angle so that the hollow part of the quill is exposed. Dip into food colouring and there you have it!

My four-year-old LOVED learning that this is what people used a LOOOONG time ago to write letters instead of pens, pencils, markers, crayons, or computers (haha). In fact, he called me into his room during quiet time to show me a picture in one of his Bible story books of a man using a feather pen, he was so excited. I love when they make connections like this.

Word Cups

2011-02-01T20:28:00.000-05:00

Both my husband and I love reading to our boys. I could give you a ton of information of why it is important to read to your child(ren) (even babies) but instead I would rather show you some fun activites that you can do to make reading fun for your beginner reader.

First of all, let me say that our four-year-old has been learning to read since last year and it has been so amusing! I think that it is fun because we make it fun. We don't push. We don't get him to practice for long periods of time, maybe 15 minutes. AND we don't give him much, what I call, brain candy for reading material. We believe very strongly in good literature. We especially LOVE living books and poetry.

It blows me away how much our wild two-year-old loves to recite poetry and nursery rhymes that he has memorized. As surprising as it can be at times, it only makes sense. It goes along with their development and what speaks to children. They don't need simple words all the time. In fact, children desire to have new and interesting words thrown their way in fun stories and poems. They love words that rhyme. Text that is rich in variety and creativity draws them more to a life and love of reading.

BUT here is the catch...the one introducing the literature NEEDS to be enthusiastic about it too! Who wants to listen to "Little Miss Muffet" in a sad, mono-tone, fashion? NOT ME! I want to hear it like this:

Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet (said gently, with a smile)
Eating her curds and whey, (again, gently, with a smile)
Along came a spider, (look beside you as if spider is coming, even use your hand as a spider)
Who sat down beside her (look concerned and raise voice, and jump that spider beside you)
And frightened Miss Muffet away (loud shrill voice, jump up and run away, and then LAUGH!)

Isn't that more fun? I know my kids eat that stuff up like candy BUT it is so good for their brains. It is like feeding them broccoli but they eat it like it is chocolate. What parent wouldn't want that? It feeds those little neurons and aids in proper brain development!

Once you have given your child a love for reading by introducing them to good literature and participating with them in stories and poems, you set them up to learn the basics of reading themselves. They will have a desire to learn just simply by having fun listening and acting out literature that they hear.

Word cups are basically little cups (I use old Tetley Tea containers because I love the size, I love the lids, and I love recycling) that are filled with words from the same word family. For example, one cup might be the "at" cup and so you would put several words on individual pieces of paper like: cat, rat, sat, fat, mat, etc. Another cup might be the "ag" cup and you could use the words: bag, sag, rag, tag, etc.

For each word that you put on a piece of paper and into your cup you must also add a little item that represents that word. In my son's "at" cup, I had the word "cat" and so I added a tiny little toy cat. These items need to be small if you are using tiny containers or cups. But I tell you, it is so encouraging to see him getting out his word cups because it is fun FOR HIM!

Word Cups are from "PLAY 'N TALK - Preschool, Primary, and Remedial Reading"

What Do Pirates, Markers, And Maps Have To Do With Homeschooling?

2011-02-01T14:01:00.000-05:00

I strongly believe that FUN and LEARNING should go hand in hand. For example, my boys LOVE to play pirates. With pirate play comes all sorts of fun things like sword fights (controlled, under the shoulders, sword fights...smirk), buried treasure, great costumes, boats, maps....(sound of record screech). Yes, MAPS!

While the boys were playing pirates one day, I remembered that I had taken some free maps from our township office's tourist area. I asked the boys if they would like to have a map of their own to draw X's on so that they could remember where they had buried their treasures. Since they did already have treasure boxes (wooden treasure boxes with a little gold latch, only $2.00 - I couldn't resist!) full of shiny rocks, sea shells, small toys, and even some little coins, they were THRILLED!

I think they marked X's on their maps for a half an hour on the kitchen floor and then continued to hold them while they played for another half an hour. These maps have been great fun! We have had practiced holding our writing tools to make the X's, practiced writing the letter X, and are continuing to learn about features of a map. Still big concepts but LOADS of fun!

Landlubber, this Mama is excited! No Scallywag's allowed swashbucklin' in this Pirate fun!

Simple Smoothie Snacks

2011-01-28T14:47:00.000-05:00

(cookie recipe)

This is a simple post on a snack that my boys LOVE! Smoothies are so versatile, I think that we have a smoothie at least four or five times a week. The nice thing about smoothies is that you can mix them up, no pun intended. Here are some homemade versions that we use:

Strawberry Banana
Blueberry Banana
Mixed fruit (pear, peach, banana, raspberry)
Chocolate Banana (liquid chocolate like "Nesquick" OR chocolate ice cream

I cannot really give any recipes because I make it up as I go and according to whatever ingredients I have. I always have a fruit (usually banana), yogurt, and milk as the base ingredients.

Sometimes in the summer I even freeze these mixtures and make popsicles. I use the dollar store popsicle molds to make ours. The kids LOVE them!

Here are some great sites for making your own smoothies:

All in all just remember to be creative and try new things!

What's For Dinner?

2011-01-28T14:26:00.000-05:00

So the other night I was humming and hawing over what to feed my family. Ever had a night like that? After reading some bloggers ideas, I came up with this:

Use the dough recipe, posted not long ago, called "Puff-Button-Buns". Once the dough has first risen, roll it out in a long and fairly wide rectangle. Smear (as much or as little) ceasar salad dressing over the majority of the dough, but not the edges; leave about an inch of dough free from anything for proper sealing. After the ceasar dressing, I then smeared spagetti sauce. After the spagetti sauce I put a mixture of cooked ground beef, sauteed onions, and mozzarella cheese over the smeared sauces (don't you love my cooking lingo - I think I could write a recipe book. Look out Julia Child, hahaha). Remember to leave the boarder of your dough free from any food and sauces.

Now that the filling is in, I folded the dough over the filling and pinched shut. Usually I fold the two longest sides together and then fold in the smallest flaps at the ends. Once it is sealed, well enough, carefully flip onto a cookie sheet and put into the oven to rise for another half an hour.

After the second rising, I took out this huge hunk of yummy and brushed it with olive oil and sprinkled Parmesan cheese, parsley flakes, and a touch of garlic powder. Throw that baby back in the oven and cook at 350 degree F for about half an hour.

PRESTO! Now remember, IT IS VERY HOT! Especially for little ones. Now, if I remember correctly this does actually have a name: Stromboli. Mine probably isn't true Stromboli but it sure did get two thumbs up from my hubby!

A New Perspective

2011-01-27T20:15:00.000-05:00

Do you ever go about your day and realize that your attitude stinks? Or at least that you have been choosing to let the pressures and pursuits of life bog you down? I know I have.

Last night at our house Church meeting MANY things hit me like a ton of bricks. I have been truly to relaxed about ministry in my life - ministry with other people, that is. I have also been putting many things ahead of my relationship with the Lord and my family. You see I always have this nagging thought that I am suppose to be good at SOMETHING... ANYTHING. I enjoy doing many things and many of those things I want to be incredibly good at, to the point where I am known for what it is that I do. Confused yet? I even go as far as to think that I should be earning extra money for my family...you know...help out around here a little more (smirk). Maybe I could sell quilts, make knitted hats, write books, write curriculum, have a blog that becomes SO famous that people actually read it, lol.

All of these thoughts, are just that. Thoughts. I know that I am a highly motivated person who enjoys to do many things. But where is it that these thoughts becomes lies that I start believing? Like, if I did start to get super good at something, maybe I could make money off of that super good thing, and give more to my family.

The truth of the matter is, I do enough already. When I start allowing these thoughts to enter my mind and ponder more and more about them, to the point of the thought becoming a hopeful reality, I am feeding an invasive species. That's right, you read me. Just like an invasive plant or animal that has an actual, proper, place in the world but that gets relocated at some point, by mistake or by foolishness, and starts to grow in its non-native environment. What happens? It takes over. In the same way, these simple innocent thoughts, dreams, and goals, I am sure have a place in my life at some point. BUT if I push to hard or allow them the time and space at this point in my life, they take over, destroy, and choke out the important things that are actually healthy for me and need my attention.

If I focus my heart on what the Holy Spirit wants me to do, I see that it is simple.

Mark 12:30

and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.

It is simple really...everyday I need to turn my thoughts over to Him and allow Him to show me what is important. And that my friends is not what the world sees as important.

Books, Books, Books....I LOVE Books!

2011-01-26T14:59:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I think it would be wonderful to have my hubby home all the time just to make and build things for the house....like bookselves...wall to wall bookshelves! I have a weakness for books and good literature. Because of this fact, I have accumulated MANY books and now need to find more space for them.

I also love organizing and so all of our books are not in one place. Children's books have their place and within the children's books are many topics, from automobiles and machines, to nature, to dinosaurs, to Christian topics and Bible stories, and on and on and on. One of the types of books we have gathered many of are the little books and board books. I decided to use Dollarama's wonderful woven fabric baskets to organize our collection of these little treasures and place them in the perfect spot, right beside our two year olds bed in his cubby area. Many times I will find him curled up on his bed with his blanket and a bunch of books. The love for books is apparently contagious in our house, lol.

Microscope Fun!

2011-01-25T19:44:00.000-05:00

Our oldest son got a microscope for Christmas from his grandparents and has had SOOOOO much fun with it! He collects little "specimens" from all around the house and sticks them to the slides in his kit, then views them under his microscope. He uses the little tweezers, scoop, plastic knife, and clear "poker" to pick up, gather, disect, and move around whatever he finds. So far he has collected crumbs, dog hair, a tiny fly (fruit fly, I think), and a spider.

The COOLEST, so far, has got to be what comes with the kit. A little container of Brine Shrimp Eggs. We followed the directions on how to hatch the eggs. Amazingly enough, by putting a tiny bit of the eggs into the petri dish, submersing in water, adding a dash of table salt and leaving in a well lit (warm) place, they hatch! These little eggs are the size of the tip of a pin! I don't know who loves this stuff more...me or the kids?

Hairy spider! Totally not my thing! Here is to the sake of education.

Eggshell Mosaic

2011-01-25T18:37:00.000-05:00

We truly involved ourselves in the realm of birds, right down to the very art of it all. Eggs were the topic of one week and so we created "Eggshell Mosaics". Talk about fun! Pushing the coloured shells on to the glue-smeared paper and hearing/feeling the crickles, the crackles, and the crunches was truly a sensory sensation.

It was easy too! I simply took a piece of thick paper and cut it in half, one for each boy. Then folded each piece in half. I gave them the glue on a plate (with a stick for smearing), the coloured eggshells on another plate, and the paper card already folded.

The eggshells, if you are wondering, were easy as well. I boiled four eggs for 8 minutes. I cooled them, dried them, and peeled them. I divided the shells up into three groups and put each group into a little glass bowl; I then added a couple of drops of food colouring to each bowl. Mix and voila! I let the food colouring dry for a few hours on the shells before having the boys glue them to the cards.

Schedules are Essential!

2011-01-23T18:42:00.000-05:00

I was asked by a very good friend of mine to post our newest schedule. I have to make mention that we have had many "schedules" in our house over the past two years but it wasn't until I read, "Managers of their Homes" by Steve and Teri Maxwell that it made sense to me what our schedule COULD be.

I have the problem of thinking of too many things to do at one time and then wanting to do all those things in one day. If my lists weren't getting done I felt like a failure or unsettled in my person. I know MANY moms who go through the same thing. It isn't that we need a schedule because of a lack of motivation, it is more like we need the schedule to tame our motivation/perfectionism. Personally, it requires me to throw my cleaning and/or my organizing frenzies to specific alloted times of the day; therefore, giving me peace of mind and discipline to do more focus things with the boys, family as a whole, or for myself.

Since we have used the schedule maker by Steve and Teri Maxwell I have to say that there is more peace, laughter, and fun in our house. There is definitely less stress, fighting (between siblings), nagging (from mama), confusion, or needless busyness. I so enjoyed the fact that I could see other mother's schedules in the book and how they run their homes. It gave me the opportunity to pick up on good ideas and change some of the false thinking I had, like giving myself 1 hour a day (during the daytime) to sew or read while they are having their quiet time instead of the many other endless duties a mother has.

It does take discipline on my part as mother and on their parts as children but it is working GREAT! I think the hardest part in my discipline is getting myself to bed a decent hour (since I am a night hawk) and waking up earlier than the boys to start my morning routine. As difficult as it can be a times, I see that it is the best for all of us!

At the same time I must note that the schedule is just that and NOT the master of our house - our Master is Jesus and He decides what our days should look like. With that thought, if there are needs outside of our schedule, the schedule can and will change, but other than that we stick to the schedule and we all benefit from it!

Some things to note about our schedule:

C.S.B.M stands for Cyndy Regeling's Curriculum called "Come Sit By Me".
Matti's Schedule can be considered "Still in the Making", he changes his schedule sometimes weekly but the older boys stay pretty consistent.
Habit Training is an idea from Charlotte Mason's Homeschooling philosophies. It keeps in mind that we cannot train children in school work and teach them how to learn until they have good habits put into place first. Our boys learn some good habits through helping mommy do housework and learning how to do certain jobs by themselves. Jack - Makes his bed, sets the table, helps with laundry, etc. Will is learning along with Jack but is first mastering simple things like helping others, sharing, dressing, sitting still during meals, listening, cleaning up his toys, etc.
Zone work is my area of the house that needs doing. Each day of the week I clean a different room or set of rooms in that 1/2 chunk. Zone work only happens if there isn't a need to work with the boys on Habit Training.
My goal is to be baking more on Sunday's to prepare food for the week: snacks, breads, even some dinners. Nice for the cost of things AND for a couple of nights of not having to cook.

And so here it is:

P.s. The "NOT AN OPTION" at the bottom here refers to 11:00 not being an option for bedtime!

P.P.S Our copy of "Managers of their Homes" is purchased through "The Learning House".

"Puff-Button-Buns"

2011-01-21T13:54:00.000-05:00

This recipe is a hit with my family - as far as dinner delights are concerned. My boys definitely take after their mother when it comes to having an addiction to breads. I have been called a "Bread-a-holic" in the past. In fact, one of my fond memories of being young was getting, what I would call, "Puff-button-buns" with a meal. Any dinner roll that was smooth on the outside and soft on the inside was considered a true "Puff-button-bun".

This recipe is EASY and can be used for many different dinner, lunch, or breakfast ideas!

White Bun Recipe:

Ingredients

1 Cup water

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil

3 Cups all purpose flour

2 tbsp milk

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp yeast (or one small pack of fast acting yeast)

Directions

1. Put all dry ingredients into a bowl (minus the yeast if using a bread machine); use a whisk to slowly mix ingredients together.

2. Warm up water in microwave for 1.50 minutes (depending on how hot your microwave is, maybe try it at 1.00 minute to start). If too hot you will kill the yeast and if not warm enough you will not activate it. If you want to use a thermometer to check, it should register between 80 and 90 degrees F.

3. Put all wet ingredients into mixer and then add dry ingredients. Note: If using a bread machine, follow the directions for adding ingredients. Typically they have you add wet ingredients first, then dry, and then making a little "hole" in the top of the dry ingredients to add the yeast. This just ensures that you don't add the yeast too soon because some machines won't start mixing and kneading until 8 - 15 minutes after pressing start.

4. Once your wet and drying ingredients are together start the mixer. You shouldn't have to add any flour at this point. Once it seems that the dough is firm and mixed enough by the machine, take it out and knead by hand for a few more minutes. Add a dusting of flour to the counter ONLY if the dough starts to stick to the counter.

5. Put the dough ball in a slightly greased bowl and cover with a lose fitting plastic wrap. I always cover the bowl and plastic wrap with a dampened tea towel to give that perfect moisture level for rising - it works every time!

6. Turn on oven to 170 degree F for ONLY four minutes; then turn off. (I do this to get the perfect temperature in our chilly kitchen for rising bread.) Place bowl in oven for 1/2 hour (keep light off in oven). Once dough has risen, take out and make palm sized dough balls. Add about five or six dough balls to a round, greased, cake pan. Let rise for another 1/2 hour. (Don't worry about turning the oven on again, just simply rise uncovered in the pans.)

7. After second rising brush olive oil to tops of buns, add 1/2 cup grated cheese, 1 or 2 cloves of garlic minced, and sprinkle desired amount of parsley flakes. Bake in oven for 15 - 20 minutes at 375 degrees F.

Let the bun eating BEGIN!

Bird's Nest Snack

2011-01-14T20:40:00.000-05:00

I thought it would be a great idea to follow one idea in our curriculum that had to do with our stomachs and tasty food. You can never go wrong with something tasty!

Quick, easy, and yummy all in one is always a great thing with little ones! This was definitely a treat for all of us.

Use a regular "rice crispy bar" recipe and add as little or as much cocoa powder as you like to make the chocolaty brown colour AND add a heaping tablespoonful of peanut butter for more flavour (unless allergies suggest otherwise). Press the warm mixture into a greased cupcake or muffin tray, with either wet or greased fingers for easier handling. Don't forget to leave a hollowed out middle. Let sit for about ten minutes to cool and take shape. Add a large marshmellow in the middle to represent the egg. Note: if you want to get really technical with what type of bird/egg it is, you can die it with food colouring and even add speckles with sprinkled cocoa powder or use the edible markers for cakes and icing decorating.

HAVE FUN!

2011-01-06T19:07:00.000-05:00

Resting In Him

It is a beautiful thing to see my children so incredibly relaxed and peaceful to the point where they fall asleep in the arms of their daddy.

I cannot help but be reminded of the fact that this is how we should be with our Heavenly Father - resting and at peace with who He is, knowing that His arms are wrapped around us too.

2011-01-03T19:31:00.000-05:00

A New Year and a New Beginning

I am excited to say that I have found a GREAT curriculum to use with the boys. We are thoroughly enjoying the work of Cyndy Regeling - "Come Sit By Me". Even though my goal is not to stay "Unit Based" in my approach to teaching, it is something we all love for the mean time. Charlotte Mason is more of the approach (I think) that we will be using. The CM philosophy of teaching and learning starts more around the age of 6 and is incredible. Since, darling 4 year old, is so TOTALLY geared up to start with "school" we are doing Ms. Regeling's curriculum for now.

Just before Christmas we learned about cycles: hibernation, water, and seasons. Both the boys were thrilled with the stories for each theme and I have to say, I am too. Being a Canadian Curriculum that mostly promotes stories that are Canadian was actually quite refreshing.

We are now working on the topic of birds. After our first day of discussing what kind of birds we know, how God created birds in the beginning, and some fun poems and finger plays to do with birds, we are raring to go!

I am happy to have something that is easy to follow and planned out (somewhat) for me so that my over excited and enthusiastic brain doesn't try to go in a million directions at once and become extremely frustrated. I tried the route of putting the curriculum together myself BUT let me tell you, someone that is an "A-Type Personality" doesn't do well with too many choices. This way I can read the good ideas Ms. Regeling has and either add or take away - whatever works for us!

If you are interested in this curriculum, check out this site:

http://www.canadianhomeeducation.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=UNCSBM1&Tp=

I did not actually buy this book but instead was lent Volume Two by a friend at just the right time! I know that you can purchase it used at Homeschool curriculum sales and even online if you surf around a little.

2010-06-14T07:33:00.000-04:00

Learning in the Garden

One thing I love about spring is new growth, the beginning of life, and experimenting in the garden. I love watching seeds grow into these beautiful masterpieces of life. God is amazing! What better place than a garden to teach children. We have learned so much this spring from creating our own gardens and watching them grow so much already.

Here we have our "Snow Pea Tee Pee". It is really easy to make. All you need is a ladder, 9 bamboo poles about 10 feet tall/long, twine, fine but strong rope, snow pea seeds. The purpose of the Tee Pee Design is so that the children can run in and out of the structure and eat the snow peas off of the vines while they play. I am hoping that ours gets thick enough to create shade inside for those hot summer days.

Note: we lay down thick cardboard in the middle of the Tee Pee and then put mulch on top of the cardboard. This way there is no weeding necessary! Also, this picture was taken early spring and so there is little growth. I look forward to showing our Tee Pee mid summer to show the changes.

Here you can see the plants growing so nicely already! These beautiful white flowers turn into the snow peas and boy are they sweet.

Here are our first pickins of the season. They were delicious in our salad last night and I think that they tasted so good partially because we grew them and there is something very satisfying about that!

Here one of the boys is showing what they love most about the snow peas. Peeling them open and eating the peas. Most of the snow peas, when full grown, have tiny peas inside but sometimes you can get the baby ones with rather large peas. They are fun to split open!

Not only have we learned about growth of vegetation and how good it tastes but we have gleaned knowledge from the little lives around the plants we observe. Here is one of many tiny garden spiders we have found and since Jack has taken an interest in spiders, and has made a lapbook about spiders, he could identify this as an "Orb Web" because of it's circular shape.

We have grown other things around our property as well. In this garden we have gladiolas, lettuce, carrots, pole beans, and another type of flower of which I have forgotten - that is the problem when you get carried away with seed, lol. (I cannot wait to eat the lettuce!)

Here is the beginnings of our pumpkin patch. I really hope it works. We did it a little differently from what we researched because our ground here is rather awful. If it works I will be posting the growth and hopefully successes of beautiful pumpkins for the fall.

Another thing that we have learned much from is our bird feeders. The three of these were purchased at the dollar store and simply hung on doweling with rope. They are filled with "finch seed". We have, at times, had 20-30 beautiful yellow finches. Thankfully, hubby had a field guide to identifying birds from college - it has come in so useful with all the different birds we see around our town. I personally love that the boys can watch the birds out their playroom window. Many times I will come in to a quite room thinking that they must be getting into "something" and there they are quietly watching the birds eat from the feeders.

World's BEST Homemade Play Clay!

2010-06-09T16:46:00.000-04:00

My boys love sensory time and they LOVE play clay ("playdough"). When I got this recipe, from my mother-in-law, when Jack was really little, I couldn't believe how great it was. It actually turned out. At first the whole "cooking" part of it scared me but it was well worth the test. We now have a family favorite recipe for fun!

Ingredients:

1 cup white flour

1/2 cup salt

1 cup water

2 Tbsp oil

1 tsp cream of Tartar

food colouring

Directions:

Mix dry ingredients together and whisk well. Mix wet ingredients together. Add wet to dry and mix well. Add to a saucepan and cook on Medium heat. Stir continually until texture becomes like thick mashed potatoes. Put play clay chunk onto counter (or any flat surface) and knead for two minutes until smooth and cooler in temperature.

Some fun things to note:

Always keep your eyes open at garage sales and mom sales for bags of cookie cutters and gently used "playdough" toys. These items can be very expensive when bought brand new. We have a whole bin of fun playdough items from sales and they are great for those certain "pull-your-hair-out" days.
Items from around your house that are great to use are:
- garlic press
- rolling pin
- plastic animals (to make footprints in the dough)
- measuring cups
- birthday candles (kids love to make their own cakes and sing happy birthday)
- Popsicle sticks
- straws (long or cut into sections)
- pencils for older kids (flatten out the dough and then write letters in it)

Remember, just be creative and don't be afraid to try something new. It might just be your families next best thing!

World's BEST Pizza Crust

2010-06-06T10:59:00.000-04:00

My mother-in-law so graciously gave me a subscription to "Taste of Home" magazine. It is a GREAT magazine with awesome recipes that aren't too difficult and the ingredients are typically what we buy.

This recipe is simple and absolutely awesome, just like something from a professional Italian Pizzeria.

Ingredients:

2 pkg. active dry yeast

2-2/3 Cups warm water

4 Tbsp. olive oil, divided

2 Tbsp. sugar

2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1/4 tsp. garlic salt

6-1/2 to 7 cups all purpose flour

1 Tbsp. cornmeal

Directions:

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in 2/3 cup warm water. Add 3 Tbsp. oil, sugar, salt, oregano, garlic salt, remaining water and 5 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.

Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down; divide into two portions. Roll each into a 15-in circle. brush two 14-in. pizza pans with remaining oil; spring with cornmeal. Transfer dough to prepared pans; build up edges slightly. Bake at 425 degrees for 5 minutes.

Add sauce and toppings to crust and bake for 15 -20 minutes or until crusts and cheese are lightly browned.

YUMMY!

2010-06-06T10:49:00.000-04:00

Going Fishing!

The other day I was wondering what to do for a snack. I somehow came up with this creation.

Ingredients:

Fishy crackers ( a treat in our house)

Cream cheese

Blue food colouring

Directions:

Simply add a couple of drops to desired amount of creams cheese. Mix well with spoon. Add mixture to a plate and spread out flat. Place fishy crackers around cream cheese mixture. Voila!

2010-06-06T10:35:00.000-04:00

Homemade Bread

I absolutely LOVE bread and homemade bread is the perfect addition to almost any meal. This particular bread is something that the boys and my hubby love. It is pretty much an egg bread and so delicious. In our house it is usually made as a companion to a warm dinner and used as toast and sandwich bread the next day. Honestly, it doesn't live to see the light of two days - it is gobbled up!

If you are interested in making this bread then you can check out this site:

http://www.tammysrecipes.com/challah

It is a GREAT site and I have used lots of ideas from it!

Don't forget to check out the website from Tammy's Recipes that shows how to make the bread into a braid or the Challah Six Stand:

http://chaitimeblog.wordpress.com/2006/09/03/video-braiding-a-six-strand-challah/

ENJOY!

2010-04-30T14:49:00.000-04:00

DELICIOUS!

Easy as pie but better than pie! This dessert has been in our family (Adam's and mine, that is) since we got married. It is refreshing, light, and absolutely yummy!

Simply layer the following in a clear bowl or container:

Angel food cake

Banana or Vanilla pudding

Fresh fruit (we love the strawberry, raspberry, peach, blueberry, combo)

SKOR Bar broken up (we hammer the bar while in the package and then sprinkle it)

Repeat layers as much as desired or as much as you have available.

ENJOY!

Newest Addition, Precious "Carrot"

2010-04-27T14:08:00.000-04:00

I have to laugh when I read the title to this blog. My eldest thought that we should name our third little guy (his youngest brother) "Carrot". It wasn't until we suggested Matti that he said, "I like Matti, that would be ok."

So finally, I am more than happy to say that our little bundle arrived a week ago and he is doing fabulously! We praise Jesus for him and the experience of his labour. We prayed for a smooth and safe delivery and that is exactly what we got....along with a gift that words cannot do justice to.

Before he was born the boys made a mobile for him that I wanted to share on this Crafty Tuesday. (Side note: I am not going to be blogging everyday but when I get the chance I will definitely post something fun that we are doing or have done.)

Directions for simple mobile:

You will need:

three baby clothes hangers, string, 10 old CD's, ribbon, stickers, permanent marker, and hot glue gun.

What you do:

Before hand, glue the CD's together with shiny sides out, so now you will have five double sided CD's to work with.

Have the little ones stick their stickers all over both sides of the CD's you give them.

Use one hanger to hang the other two off of and then string your CD's from the balancing points that work best for you!

Decorate with fancy ribbon or string and accent with black permanent marker. Since a newborns sight is minimal you really want contrasting colours. Black and white are the best colours to use and it will help your creation really stand out to the little one that will be enjoying it.

2010-03-22T08:27:00.000-04:00

Think Simple!

Well, I am back. It has been a couple of weeks since blogging and I feel ready to get back in gear. We shall see how long it lasts, since I am about to deliver our third bumpkin in about four weeks.

I just wanted to share a couple of things that I have picked up at second hands stores that were under $2.00 that I have used with Jack during his quiet times/homeschooling moments.

The first picture here shows a game called Mencala. He is a little young to play the actual game but I use game board for him to sort, match, and fill however he wants with marbles, glass beads, or...again...whatever he wants. It helps with counting, fine motor skills, sorting, patterns, and more.

Adam and I also found a little scale for Jack. He has been playing a computer game lately that involves weighing games. The game required him to find the lightest or heaviest of a group of items and weigh them. Since then he has been obsessed with scales and so we were thrilled when we found this little dandy!

So much fun for so little money! That is what it is all about. There is no need for expensive items to teach children, especially at this age.

2010-03-05T14:32:00.000-05:00

Applesauce Muffins

My boys absolutely LOVE muffins! I call them "Muffin Monsters" and of course they love being called that too. If I am honest with myself, I am a "Muffin Monster" as well.

The muffins in the picture above are straight from my kitchen, made especially for a playdate this morning. We were graced by three lovely little ladies (who were adorably sporting their skirts for their Friday Skirt Day today) in our home. Jack was the gentlemen server as well as the gobbler of muffins. I turned my back for one second, during snack clean up, and there was Jack (and Will) picking at muffins in the tin and eating them....even AFTER they had three already! I had to laugh, the girls were so tiny and delicate and full after what seemed like eating a crumb and a slice of fruit. There were my boys stuffing their faces. (Even now as I am writing this, William is saying "Eat Eat Eat".

So with out further adieu here is a great muffin recipe:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

12 - cup muffin tin, greased or paper-lined (I found it made a little more than twelve)

1/2 Cup butter or margarine (Or even Olive Oil for a healthier choice)

1 Cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 Cup all purpose flour

1 Cup whole wheat flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

2 cups unsweetened applesauce

1. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar. Blend in eggs and vanilla; beat until light and fluffy.

2. In another bowl, combine all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add to butter mixture, a little at a time, alternating with applesauce; mix well after each addition.

3. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until muffins are firm to the touch. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to wire rack.

ENJOY!

2010-03-04T15:32:00.000-05:00

Valleys to Mountain Tops and Snowstorms to Luscious Leaves

I cannot help but feel excited and renewed when I look out the window this week and see the beautiful sunshine, walk in the warmth of it's rays, and breath in the air of a waining winter. I completely understand that it is possible to have more winter storms and chilly weather BUT let's get positive and remember that spring is just around the corner!

There have been days during the winter months (I am sure you can relate) that felt dark with the shorter days, cold with the winter winds, and just down right depressing with the lack of fresh, warm, air. In those days, I found it difficult to be positive and even happy at times.

When I was thinking about this today, I realized how much the winter months are just like the Valleys of our lives. Dark, cold, and depressing at times. I was talking to a woman at Church last night who is just coming out of a valley in her life. It was exciting to celebrate with her in answered prayer both for an inactive tumor that she has battled with in kemotherapy before and for a restoration that is happening in her sons life. Praise the Lord for His hand in our Valleys and Mountain tops - He NEVER leaves us!

2010-03-03T17:43:00.001-05:00

Organizing Toys

One thing that Adam and I both agreed on when looking for our house, was that it had to have a room that we could call the "playroom" for the kids. In our house, most people would use this as a dinning room. I have to say that I would love to have a "dinning room" but eventually the playroom will also be our homeschool room. We decided that a playroom was necessary because we wanted the kids to have an area to call their own. A place that they could play, create, and mess around in; while, mommy and daddy have their space. We do not keep many toys in the boys room and so I wanted a nice spot to keep filled up with great toys for them and their friends.

We do not have many electronic toys and the toys that we do have (and this is where my Early Childhood Education gets the better of me) are sorted and organized into different areas. I have to say, as much as it sounds obsessive compulsive, it is great for the children that use the playroom. They know where things are to take out, they have the proper space to set up play projects, and they know exactly where to put things away. Something, that is great to do, is label younger children's toy bins with word pictures. For example: if you have a dinosaur bin, find a picture of a dinosaur and attach it to the outside of the bin for the children to see.

Below I have some examples of what we do in our home for organizing toys. PLEASE DO NOT think that the room looks like this all the time (organized that is) OR that you need to have a full room in order to create the same functional play ideas.

Here the boys are having a nice picnic with the velcro food from the food bin. In a separate bin there are plates, bowls, cutlery, serving utensil and the like. It is easy for them to take out the items and they know where they go back when mommy says, "Time to clean up!"

Here is another piece of furniture that we bought (brand new) from IKEA because we knew how handy it would be and extremely functional. Each bin has a different theme: food, dishes, large vehicles, small vehicles and machines, dinosaurs, animals, and people. I love that it is tiered for other items to go on top.

On the large shelf of the play room I have added some toy options near the bottom that the boys can reach. The very bottom has our puppets and finger puppets.

Here is the bookshelf that Adam made for Jack when he was little. We wanted something that was easy for him to take books off of and put back on. The cubby area holds puzzles that I change over every month. Each shelf has a different theme: alphabet books, number books, dinosaur books, books about "new baby" coming, and more (the other side is full of shelving too). This bookcase even has storage inside that Adam created...very sneaky...you cannot even see the hidden door to the inside. I change books over every once and a while, as well as the puzzles, because the boys are such book worms and I don't want them to get board with reading.

This bottom shelf holds blocks, building items, and other wooden toys. Oh, and Mr. Potato Head. The cardboard pieces that you see below are corner protectors that come from a huge toolbox in packaging. We use these for building lots of different things!

I took a class at school that talked about the importance of displaying children's work, it was very neat. When my mom found these frames I couldn't help myself. I painted the frames to match the playroom and voila!

These AWESOME creatures are from the dollar store! I bought a bunch of them as Christmas presents because the boys were both so into bugs.

They come with a bug chart that tells you what each bug is...for those of us that aren't entomologists (a studier of bugs).

The bugs go in this basket (also from the dollar store) that matches the decor of the playroom on the lower shelves for them to reach. I put a bug book beside it for them to look through while looking at their collection of creepy crawlers. The book was purchased for fifty cents at Value Village.

I would have to say that 90% of the items we have in the playroom are from thrift shopping, garage sales, or presents. This kind of organizing is affordable and totally doable, even for the busiest, most frugal of us.

Creativity

2010-03-02T14:21:00.000-05:00

I think that a lot of parents get mislead by the term "crafty" when really they should be more concerned about being creative. I am going to have a small soap box moment here.

You do not need to be "crafty" to be "creative"!!!!!

So what, you cannot knit, sew, paint, OR make brilliant birthday cakes with your children, let alone the stuff Martha Stewart does. BUT, you DO NOT have to be "crafty" to let your children play with something that they don't normally play with because they are interested (as long as it is safe!) - that is being "creative". I think that being creative is more important that being crafty and here is why:

Creativity:

Is open ended, not close ended. You can be more creative with a box that you can with an electronic toy; thus, giving you and your child more opportunity to work together and think about the possibilities of something, rather than always playing/using an object how the manufacturer directs.
Whether you think you are creative or not, you can still have fun trying and your children will appreciate your efforts more than you know! It is great to make memories!
Thinking outside the box with your children, or family, will make you smarter and you will be amazed what comes from such thinking. For example: take a blanket and ask your children to use it differently than a blanket. Give them ideas. "It could be a boat, a parachute, a car, a cave, a plane....".

A lot of people do not realize that they are already creative. You don't even need creativity to be crafty because a lot of crafts just require the skills to follow directions. Most people don't think that they are creative because they haven't practiced or been given the right opportunities to be creative - or their ideas have been shut down too often. This whole left vs. right brain stuff is non-sense in my eyes when it comes to creativity. Sure, some people are more creative than others but it doesn't mean "the others" are void of creativity -does that make sense? Basically, I think, everyone can be creative.

Here is an example of letting the creativity "flow" and it was almost completely led by my 3 year old.

After making a mobile (a craft I will share next Tuesday), for baby boy number three on the way, my three year old was playing with the left over baby hangers. He knew that I had a bunch more upstairs and asked if he could play with them. I brought them down and he began to connect them together until they were too long. He then asked, "Mommy, will you hang this up for me?" So, I hung them in our archway to the playroom and he continued to hang more and more and more and more...in all different ways. Once he was finished he announced, "I made a Christmas Tree". From there he proceeded to hang and balance his little animal figurines from the hangers. The focus was intense (lol) and the time spent on this "Christmas Tree" was off and on for the rest of the DAY. He loved it and I loved watching him concentrate. Surprisingly, it was all done with patience (as many animals fell to the floor when little brother would walk by) and persistence.

This is creativity. I only credit myself on this project for saying "yes, you may play with these" and the rest goes to my 3 year old, who is a good example to all of us of what true creativity is and what we should remember when being creative:

Try something new and not care what others think (adults are awful for this - too concerned about what others think. We are just accountable to the Lord and that is important to remember).
Be patient and persistent.
Enjoy the experience!
Leave it and come back to it when you need a break (on the bigger projects of life).
Allow others to help (Jack asked me to hang it when it got too long, then his creativity could expand and continue).

Definition of Creativity from Answers.com

"Ability to produce something new through imaginative skill, whether a new solution to a problem, a new method or device, or a new artistic object or form. The term generally refers to a richness of ideas and originality of thinking."

Rainbows In the Snow (Part Two)

2010-03-01T14:30:00.000-05:00

(To see Part One click this link)

Last week we actually got outside to make our rainbow castles! It was exciting for many reasons; we were feeling better, we finally got some fresh air, AND we were able to see how the ice worked as we built towers, and castles, and just simply experimented.

My 3 and a half year old loved it and so did my 20 month old. Of course, it was easier for my 3 year old to pick up the ice and so I helped out the younger much more. But I would rate this an excellent winter activity for children from 20 months to teens. Teens, of course, would need more and probably some BIG containers to work with. Even older children (starting around 3 and a half and up) would love to do this activity after discussing igloos. Or if someone was throwing a winter party they could stack the ice blocks around candles in the snow and they would glow beautifully at night! I really want to try that one!

Anyhoo...there you have it! Hopefully you can have fun with this one too!

2010-02-25T21:52:00.000-05:00

Homemade Hummus...Easy, Cheap, Soooo Good For YOU!

(Photo from: the daily green)

"INGREDIENTS

2 cups black beans, rinsed and drained well
1 cup chickpeas, rinsed and drained well
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons tahini (sesame seed paste)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil

PREPARATION

1. Puree the ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste."

2010-02-24T17:14:00.000-05:00

Some GREAT Organizing Ideas From Style At Home

"Getting and staying organized isn't easy. If you're struggling to conquer clutter once and for all, our simple 99 organizing tips should help get you started.

1 Use old baby-food jars to hold spices. Stash them in a drawer upside down so this recycling trick looks sleek, not cheap.

2 Store all your instruction manuals in one binder in the kitchen or pantry.

3 Collect your takeout menus in a binder. Or stuff them into a Ziploc bag and stash 'em – where else? – in the fridge or cupboard.

4 Use a cardboard six-pack container to carry condiments from kitchen to deck in BBQ-casual style.

5 Keep a tray or basket on the kitchen counter where kids can drop off permission slips and adults can put mail requiring immediate action. A second tray can handle lower-priority paperwork.

6 Don’t waste time constantly topping up cereal-sized food storage containers with dog or cat kibble. Use a metal trashcan to store one bag at a time in rodent-proof style.

7 Use a recharging station to keep your cell phone, MP3 player and other portable device cords untangled and your gadgets fully charged.

8 Can’t find fresh garlic or onions? Keep them in clean knee-high nylons. Hang in a cool, dry place.

9 Post a sheet of paper on the fridge and note groceries and supplies needing replenishing. On grocery day, just grab the sheet and go.

10 Reduce spoilage of fruits and veggies by “rotating” your crops. Put new ones underneath ones that were already in your crisper.

11 Use small jam jars to hold cotton swabs, balls and other essentials inside your bathroom vanity drawers.

12 Use an old wooden stepladder to hold bath and hand towels.

13 Cut the amount of time you spend going from linen closet to bathroom by installing extra towel storage via a hotel-style double towel bar.

14 And a stash of bath towels rolled inside a basket helps, too.

15 Store kids’ bath toys in a fine-laundry bag. Hang from the faucet 'til fully drained.

16 Use a shower organizer and just the basics: mild shampoo, conditioner and a body wash.

17 Stash extra shower products in plastic caddies – one per family member.

18 Keep cleaning products in a caddy, too.

19 Post a sheet of paper in the bathroom and note bathroom supplies that need replenishing. On grocery day, just grab the sheet and go.

20 Assign teens and tweens their “own” towel sets by colour. Sorting laundry becomes super-easy and sharing-aversive kids are content.

21 For the living room or family room, get an ottoman or bench with hidden storage under the seat.

22 Large woven or wooden baskets stash clutter effectively, so stock up.

23 Got kids? Get large tubs that can be used to deploy toys – and quickly move them out of living spaces when company’s coming.

24 Don’t hold on to magazines. Just rip out any pages you want to keep for future reference, keep in a file folder, then recycle the rest.

25 Toss dirty socks into mesh fine-laundry bags. Orphaned socks will be a thing of the past."

All found at: http://www.styleathome.com/organizing/organizing-ideas/99-low-cost-organizing-tips/a/1806

Check out the rest of the 99 ideas at their site.

Rainbows in the Snow (Part One)

2010-02-22T07:36:00.000-05:00

So, I have had this idea since last winter but it was only until this winter that I got my act in gear. My idea has been sitting out in the cold freezing, waiting for our hands to create and have fun for a week now. However, my eldest is now sick...AGAIN! It has been a long February for sickness in this house. Thankfully, no one else has caught this awful stomach bug that has been plaguing my eldest for five days now. I look forward to when he is well so that we can go outside and build our "Rainbow Castles" in the snow.

Here is what you do:

Collect any and all plastic containers you can get your hands on. For example: Yogurt containers (all shapes and sizes), cottage cheese containers, sour cream containers, etc. Lay them all out on a big surface; put a few drops of food colouring in each and then fill them almost to the top with water. Once they are all full put them outside to freeze. It is that easy!

I am hoping to display "Part Two" of this post (the playing part) next Monday. I really hope that everyone is healthy and well by then!

Sweet Potato Soup

2010-02-19T16:50:00.000-05:00

My family loves this soup! I found it in one of the WONDERFUL cookbooks that Adam bought me called, "Better Food for Kids" by Joanne Saab. The great thing about it is, even my picky eater eats this soup and Adam (hubby) asks for it weekly. It is cheap, EASY to make, healthy (great source of beta carotene), and one of those cozy meals for a chilly day. We usually have a homemade bread with it and a salad - it really hits the spot!

Ingredients

1 Tbsp Vegetable oil (we use olive oil)

1 small onion

6 cups chicken stock (we use one box of Campbell's sodium/fat reduced broths)

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, warm oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and saute for 2-3 minutes or until onions are soft and translucent. Add chicken stock, sweet potatoes, nutmeg and pepper. Cover and bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

2. Remove soup from heat and, in batches, puree soup in a blender or food processor until smooth. (We use a handheld blender that does a marvelous job and blend it right in the pot that it was cooked.) Return soup to saucepan and heat to serving temperature.

I love to garnish the bowls with a little cheese or sour cream dollops. It would also be great to make my own chicken broth but I haven't quite gotten to that point yet. I try to remember that the Campbell's broth does contain "msg" and so our family only uses these broths once in a while and stays away from other "msg" containing products like crackers, chips, sauces, soup mixes, and canned soups. Check the labels and don't be fooled if they don't write "msg" on them, companies will write "spices" and that will usually mean "contains msg". Everything in moderation!

Oh, and there is a difference between "YAMS" and "SWEET POTATOES" but I don't think it will make any difference in the soup other than moisture content. Good sites to read about the differences are:

2010-02-18T16:53:00.000-05:00

Wonderfully and Joyfully Made

Sometimes it can be difficult to be happy with how life is going. However, it never ceases to amaze me how the Holy Spirit can still fill us with "the Joy of the Lord" during those same difficult times.

After making these Joy Birds with the boys and thinking about the actual meaning of "JOY" from teaching them, I think of people in my life who just radiate the Lord's Joy during times of extreme hardship. I have many examples of others who have suffered greatly through persecution, trials, and tribulations and yet still go on strong with the Joy of the Lord. These people prove time and time again that the Holy Spirit is stronger than what the enemy can throw at us and what sin can mess up.

1 Thessalonians 1:6 says: "And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit..."

Praise the Lord for his strength, guidance, and JOY during times in our life that we cannot stand on our own!

2010-02-17T13:30:00.000-05:00

Organizing the JUNK

One thing that I love to do is collect certain items that most people would throw away or recycle. Recycling is good! But sometimes I find treasures for crafts and even great uses for around the house out of the recycled items we have.

For about a year now, I have collected:

tin lids from frozen juice containers
tin cans (all sizes)
glass jars (all sizes)
plastic containers (from hand cream, yogurt containers, baking soda jars, etc)
paper towel and toilet papers rolls
cereal boxes broken down
old paper that is blank that others garage sale or give away
tea containers from Tetley
bread tags
and more!

Knowing that I was going to collect these items for crafts and such, I wanted a good spot to organized them and have them easily accessible. Though it isn't the nicest place in the house, behind the basement door is where I keep my stash. We have a built in "shelf" that is HUGE and had lots of space, so I decided that it would be the best. It is ugly back there and I will warn you before you see the pictures that we live in a house that is OLD! The foundation is from 1875!!! Though, you are not seeing the actually basement, you will be seeing the beginning of the basement (the top of the stairs). Scary stuff. LOL.

One of the best things you can do for areas like this is to go to the grocery store and find the stackable boxes or to a shoe store and ask for any shoe boxes they can give you. I have often used these types of boxes for organizing things in the attic or basement. If you have the time, you can even wrap them in pretty paper, modge podge them, or simply cover them in fabric and then use them in any area of your house - GREAT for children's rooms! I would love to buy those beautiful boxes from IKEA or purchase plastic bins from Walmart or Zellers for everything but they can get expensive. It also depends on what the need is. I am not about to store our winter boots and year-round shoes in shoe boxes. Some bins just need to be bigger!

If you want a GREAT resource book on crafting with items discussed above, check out this book:

Found at: Amazon.com