Shutterfly Cards are the Bizomb.com!

So, I think Shutterfly has some amazing designs for their photo cards. There are so many to choose from; it's hard to decide. I always love to send out photo cards for our Christmas cards because I love receiving them and seeing how everyone has grown/aged in the past year, especially kids and those friends that live far away so you rarely get to see them.

One type of photo card that Shutterfly offers that I think is such a cool idea and a great alternative to the "family letter" that you receive with some cards, is the different timeline and/or list cards. With short, but sweet descriptions of the year's major events, these are much preferred over having to print out and fold and send an extra piece of paper with an extra long description. This top ten one is definitely my favorite!

They also have photo calendars that you can make, which are always great gifts for those people who already seem to have everything they want and are IMPOSSIBLE to buy for. I know lots of these, so I've given lots of photo calendars as gifts, haha. Another GREAT gift for those people: these photo books. I love giving these because you can make them so personal, and they are gift that will truly be cherished for years to come.

Advent Calendar Meaningful (+ cheap) Gift Ideas

I ran across this list today and thought it was brilliant. These are "gifts" to put in an advent calendar and then a mini lesson to boot.

Day 1- a quarter
- A quarter! This equals 25 cents. But 25 also stands for the number of days until Christmas, when God gave us His best present. Jesus told about one woman's gift and the way she gave it. Read Mark 12:41-44

Day 2- a piece of grape gum
- Grape gum!. Grapes make jelly and juice, raisins and wine. But Jesus didn't need grapes to preform His first miracle. Read John 2:1-10.

Day 3- a smiley face sticker
-Here's a smile! A smile usually expresses happiness. Jesus gave us many instructions to keep us happy. Read Mattahew 5:1-12.

Day 4- a few fish crackers
- Fish! Well, if you were surprised to find these fish, wait until you read the story today! Others were surprised to find fish, too. Read Luke 5:4-7.

Day 5- one birthday candle
- A birthday candle? As you know , we are getting ready to celebrate Jesus' birthday. However, Jesus talked about something else related to this candle Light. Read Mattahew 5:14-16.

Day 6- a small jingle bell
- You could make noise with this. But it would have bothered a certain man---until he met Jesus. Read Mark 7:31-37.

Day 7- two candy fish
- These would not go very far if you were really hungry! But Jesus could make much out of little. Surely He knew how to multiply! Read Mattahew 14: 13-21.

Day 8- two cotton balls
- These cotton balls would be helpful in a thunder storm, wouldn't they? We could use them for ear plugs to muffle the loud noise that thunder makes. But we know Someone who doesn't need cotton. Jesus can control the weather. Read Mattahew 8:23-27.

Day 9- a piece of road map
- People needing to use other parts of this map are in trouble! Don't you get lost today! Read John 14:1-6.

Day 10- a small piece of soap
- It's soap. Do you like to wash? Your hands and face? Behind your ears? Washing turn out to be a happy time for a man who met Jesus. Read John 9: 1-7.

Day 11- a few candy hearts
- Hearts. Wordlessly, they speak of love, don't they? Jesus spoke some commands about love. Read Mattahew 22: 37-40.

Day 12- a pin on button with a cross printed on it
- we use crosses as a symbol, representing Jesus. Do you know why? Read Philippians 2: 1-11.

Day 13- a small packet of salt
- Ordinary salt. Yes, Jesus related salt to us and our behavior. He also gave us some advice. Read Mattahew 5:13 and Colossians 4:6 (Notice that He doesn't recommend pepper!).

Day 14 - a small bag of sand
- Don't try to eat this ! It's sand. It reminds us that Jesus knows something about architecture, about buildings----and building lives. See His inscructions; Mattahew 7:24-29.

Day 15- a small artifical flower
- Flowers are pretty, aren't they? Jesus used flowers to teach us a reassuring lesson. read Mattahew 6: 28-34.

Day 16- a little box of raisins
- Raisins! Many children are given raisins instead of candy for a snack. That's because they are a health-promoting and delicious fruit. Jesus told us how we can produce good fruit. Read John 15: 1-5.

Day 17- a few flower seeds
- Jesus told a story about seeds that a man planted. Then He explained it, revealing its deep meaning. Read Mattahew 13:3-8 and Mattahew 13: 18-23.

Day 18- a sheet of musice taken from a pamphlet type Christmas carol book
- Christmas is just a week away! And here is an appropriate song. Sing it loudly! Read Psalm 100.

Day 19- a little stone
- A hard stone! Can you change this stone into a piece of bread? Do you think Jesus could? Jesus was asked to do just that. Do you know how He handled it? Read Mattahew 4:1-4.

Day 20- a piece of crumpled aluminum foil
- Try to smooth out this piece of foil and use it as a mirror. It's hard to see your reflection plainly, isn't it? Many circumstances are hard to understand, but someday everything will be clear. Read 1 Corinthians 13:12.

Day 21- one mustard seed placed between two pieces of clear contact paper
- The mustard seed is the smallest there is! When it sprouts, it grows into one of the largest plants! See what Jesus said. Read Mattahew 17:20.

Day 22- a tiny plastic dove
- We've learned the cross represents Christ, but do you know what the dove stands for? Read Mattahew 3:13-17.

Day 23- a swatch of wool cloth
- The thread that compose this fabric came from the wool of a sheep. Jesus called Himself the Good Shepherd. Do you know who his sheep are? read John 10:7-18.

Day 24- one blue marble
- A marble! Do you know what is sometimes called the "Big Blue Marble"? The world. God made the world for us. What does God continue doing to the world? And who is the world? Read John 3:16.

Day 25- a small photograph of a baby
- Isn't this baby cute? When he was born, he made a whole family happy. Jesus was born a baby, too. He came to make the whole world happy. read Luke 2:1-20. Enjoy your celebration today. Continue to learn about Jesus---and love Him forever!

Fabulous Giveaway @ Pure + Lovely

One of my friends at Pure + Lovely is having a huge giveaway here. It's for $100 gift card to their store!!! Do you know how amazing that is? Check out all of the loveliness over there. So many beautiful and original designs that I know anyone would love. Check it out!!

Swanky Danky 'do

So, I'm sitting here at a artist's and crafter's market, selling my Falootin stuff, and this lady walks up to look at my table. She looks at the flower beanies (a.k.a. swanky 'dos) and says "I know you young ladies like this look, but I can't stand to see a little girl and her sweet head covered up by this giant thing." Ummmm, thanks? So, I say, "well it's just the style right now." Her: "well I know it's just a fad, but I don't like it." Me: "the big flowers and bows are really popular." But you obviously won't be purchasing one today.

I mean, how could you not LOVE this:

I know it's a BIT over the top, but when better to be over the top than when you're a kid. And it's adorable. And adds an artistic flare in my opinion.

Chore Chart

My aunt gave me this chore chart recently. Giving the kids chores is something I've been tossing around in my head for a while. Of course, you want to wait until they're old enough so that they understand what's going on. I never had chores when I was a kid, and I never had an allowance. Not having chores is the one thing that my mom always goes back to and says she wishes she would have done differently. "You don't make your bed now because I didn't make you do it when you were little." "Having chores builds self-confidence.", etc., etc. And I have to say that I do agree with her. I really feel like having chores, some things that a child can do on their own, really helps build confidence in oneself. And, obviously, unless your child lives in a pigsty one day (or marries a slave), they're going to eventually have to learn how to do certain things around the house. So, why not teach them the proper way now? Sorry, these are just rambling thoughts, really I should delete everything all the way back to the sentence about confidence. Why are you still reading?? Thanks.

This is our first week. It's a bit of a work in progress, as I see what chores are right for the kids, and which ones might be too hard. So far, so good, though. They love to set aside a time during the day and "do chores." They practically fight over taking the trash out since they have to take turns with that one. They like to make each others beds. They love watering the plants. As you can see, the getting along part hasn't really happened yet. And by that I mean not having a fight all day. I might need to rework that one. I'm thinking that as they grow, the chores will grow and change with them. They love talking about what they'll get if they get so many stickers.

I've seen lots of cute ideas for chore charts. They have the basic ones like mine that you can buy ready made where you just write in the chores. I'm sure you've seen the even more advanced ones at Target, with all these different chore ideas on magnets and such. A cute idea one of my aunts did was making the chart out of poster board. Then she put velcro in each square, and the other side of the velcro on a bunch of pennies. Each time a chore was done, a penny got put in that spot. I think at the end of the week or something, however many pennies were on the board, that's how many pennies her son got. Lots of cute ideas!

Sorry, no pics. I haven't been posting lately because I've been waiting for pictures to add to my posts. I still haven't gotten any pictures put on my computer yet, but I was tired of waiting (and of seeing that picture of the worm from "The Labyrinth". Will add pics soon.

Getting the Garden Ready

I just saw this movie this weekend, and it was great. And this was one of the first pictures that google came up with when I typed in worm.

Today, the kids and I got out and attempted to dig up the garden, weeding the dirt and such. This turned into a balance beam contest and then quickly became a worm hunting party. One of the most fun things about kids is how they just run with their imaginations and do whatever they feel like next. Ok, sometimes it's fun, but other times it can be annoying. But let's focus on those fun times, shall we?

I think gardening and just generally playing in the dirt is a great earthy learning experience for kids. And it's fun for them because it's dirt. So, as it gets warmer, hopefully we will get to do this more.

Having a garden and letting kids participate is a great idea. They get to see a tiny seed, planted by them, turn into food that they can eat. I grew pumpkins last year, and it was amazing to me to watch dozens of pumpkins grow from just 5 tiny seeds.

May I Take Yo Order? Playdough Style

My kids could play with playdough for hours, and they do if I let them. They got a playdough hamburger/fast food station for Christmas. So, we have made a lot of hamburgers. Kids have such amazing imaginations, though, and we've made many other things too with this set. The great thing about it is that they are gaining many new skills from this activity. Probably more than I know. But they're learning counting, color mixing, many different fine motor skills, sorting, and more. I just love playdough. And the whole color mixing thing was hard for me. "Don't mix the playdough, you'll ruin it." "Why do I even buy these colors if you're just going to smash them together and make them all brown????"

BUT I got over it, because I've realized that when I restrict the kids on how they play with certain things (I mean restrict in a way that it hinders their imagination because I'm a bit particular about how things should be, like how I don't think playdough should be mixed) they just don't play with those things. And then, they sit around gathering dust, wasting money in the process because nobody's playing with them. So, playdough is cheap, and really, the kids basically get playdough thrown at them at every holiday event via gifts from kids at school. And when we run out, we can just make some more, and I can then write about it on here, telling everyone my own personal playdough recipe and how much fun it is to make playdough.

Here's a still shot of the kids at play. We really get into it and add new "tools" every time:



I also enjoy this activity because I have fun myself making perfect little hamburgers out of the untainted (yet) perfectly colored playdough.

Making Cake (and Kindness) Out of Lemons

I recently had a great idea that I still haven't followed through on. It's a service project that really is a general idea. I wanted to take my kids and give something to our neighbors just to show them some kindness or bring a smile to their day. What prompted this idea was a contest I won. On another blog, I won five of those Hickory Farms gift boxes that have smoked sausage and cheese and crackers in them. I thought it was great, but felt a bit selfish keeping all five to myself. Then, the idea hit me to give away the extras to our neighbors. They're all good country folks who I knew would appreciate the gesture. And what a great way to teach the kids a lesson in kindness. So......... that was a few weeks ago, I know I'm a slacker. Yeah, yeah, paved with good intentions, I know. But that's not the point.

This is a great activity that any one of us can do. Show kindness to our neighbors and teach the kids some morals at the same time. Since most of you probably don't have boxes of smoked sausage and cheese laying around, I've added a great cake recipe that can be substituted. Of course, anything could be substituted. It's all about paying it forward. Coincidentally, kindness was the lesson for my Bible class this week, and that is actually where this recipe came from:

Lemonade Cake

Combine 1 BOX OF LEMON CAKE MIX, 1 SMALL BOX OF JELLO BRAND LEMON FLAVOR INSTANT PUDDING AND PIE FILLING, 4 EGGS, 1 CUP WATER, and 1/4 CUP OIL in large bowl. Blend well, then beat a med. speed for 4 minutes. Pour into greased and floured bundt pan. Bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes. (don't underbake) Cool for 5 min. Prick cake with a pick completely through to the bottom all over the cake. Spoon lemony glaze (see below) over cake until completely absorbed. Cool 15 min. Remove from pan and sprinkle with confectioners sugar if desired.

Lemony glaze

Mix 2 SCOOPS COUNTRY TIME LEMONADE FLAVOR DRINK MIX, 1/2 CUP WATER, and 2 TB MELTED BUTTER. Add 2 CUPS CONFECTIONER'S SUGAR and blend well.

Now, that's the original recipe, but for this project, I would use small loaf pans and fill them 3/4 full with the cake batter, using as many as will hold the batter. And you probably won't have to cook them for as long, so keep an eye on them and test them at increments to see if they're done. Or you could actually use empty vegetable cans (the short squatty kind) and fill them the same as you would the loaf pans. These two methods would make many cakes for many people.

Rhythm: Slightly Revised

We had another recent "free" day, in which we were able to slightly revise our rhythm. And we did some really fun activities that kind of just came to mind as we were playing. I will share those in another post.

Wake
Cereal breakfast while watching "Mulan"
Chores/Clean-up
Snack and Bible story
Dance off
Lunch
Play
Nap
Dinner
Play
Bed

So, we're making progress. I feel like we utilized our time a lot better this time than our last structured free day. I say structured free day, because I'm all about taking a break and having a lazy day every once in a while.

As I add ideas of fun activities or projects to do, I'll probably write about some stuff that we haven't tried or done, so if you have any comments or suggestions of how to make something better or more fun, please leave them. And if you have any ideas of really fun things to do during the monotonous days of a stay-at-home-mom, please comment with those too. I mean, it can't be that hard, considering I've only written one post about this so far.

Painting with Poem, "The Moon"

I came across this great idea for an art project on a blog called "The Wonder Years." (I'm too lazy/short on time to link it, so google it) The idea is to get your child to paint a picture reflective of a specific poem. The poem I used was about the moon. To start off this project, I set up a sheet of paper for each child on the table (it was too cold to do it outside), and set out three brushes for each. Then I told them that the colors red, yellow, and blue were going to get together and play today. I used an empty egg carton to put their paint in, and told them to use one brush for red, one for yellow, and one for blue. Then I described the poem to them. I'm not exactly sure, but I think this type of painting goes along with the Waldorf method of painting.

I told them to paint what I described. I said things like, "What do you think the sky looks like behind the moon?", "The moon is big and round.", "The moon shines moonbeams down on the ground.", and "There is a tiny star beside the moon." I gave them time between each question or comment to paint it out. When they were finished I put away all the paint and brushes. Then I told them to look at their painting while I read the poem.

Here were the finished works of art:



The poem we used for this project was "The Moon" by Eliza Follen:

Oh, look at the moon she’s shining up there,

Oh, mother, she looks like a lamp in the air!

Last week she was smaller and shaped like a bow,

But now she’s grown bigger and round as an ‘O.’

Pretty moon, pretty moon, blow your shine on the door

And make all bright on my nursery floor,

You shine on my playthings and show me their place.

And I love to look up at your pretty, bright face,

And there is a star close by you and maybe

That small twinkling star is your baby!

They really had a lot of fun doing this. Now, it didn't go picture perfect, exactly how I'd planned, but that's how everything is with kids. The result of this exercise was a sweet painting that each child was very proud of. Afterwards, they wanted to paint more so I gave them more paper and said to paint away.

Our Day, Our Rhythm

One of my biggest challenges as a parent is stimulating my children in the right ways. Every day is a new adventure, and if you're like me, requires planning in order to get the most out of your time. As a rule, I choose not to sit on the computer or work on something that requires a lot of focus while my kids are awake. I want to be able to use the time I have with them to teach them and enrich them. Childhood should be magical, and I want to try my hardest to make it that way for my kids.

So, every day that we're not in school, I try to think of fun activities that we all can do together without overwhelming the kids. Too many days have gone by where the T.V. has been on the majority of the day. I get so mad at myself when that happens. In the past, I've tried to make out a schedule for our day, filling up the potential of that day. These rarely last, or even get followed on the day they were made for. I recently ran across another blog, though, whose author talked about making a rhythm for your day, rather than a schedule. I thought that made sense. Things seem to flow more when you talk about there being a rhythm.

And that's what's led me to start writing on this blog again, with a new goal in mind. I'm hoping mainly to help myself with my daily problem of what to do, but also find out new ideas from you and maybe help some other mothers figure out how to enrich their kids lives by using the time with them more effectively.

Now, I want you to know that I'm starting from scratch here. I'm the worlds worst at wasting time. I'm notorious for getting caught up in a daydream only to realize that I've been sitting on my bed for half an hour just staring at the wall and thinking. I've also been known to "check my facebook real quick" then end up an hour and a half later looking at pictures of someone I don't know. Senseless, I know.

But, we all have to start somewhere, right? So, here goes our recent "free" day. (By free day, I mean a day that we don't have school and have no specific agenda.) And I'm not putting times on here because it's a "rhythm" not a schedule, and I don't want anyone to see how late we woke up:

Woke up and had breakfast, scrambled eggs, while watching the tele.
More T.V., while I searched the internet for a fun project to do. (Hopefully this step will never again be in our rhythm because I realize this is something I need to plan ahead of time + I don't want to be on the computer while the kids are up as stated previously)
Painting project.
Bath (much needed after painting project)
Lunch
Movie
Nap
Dinner
Playtime with family
Bedtime

So, this is our typical rhythm as of now, but I'm hoping to make it much better, fine tune it, add more diversity to it, etc. Hopefully, I will get our painting project up soon.