Upcyled Easter egg bunting

My continuing Pinterest quest for more ideas on home made Easter decorations led me to this tutorial for an upcycled egg bunting.

Use some of my material scraps?  
Use cardboard from boxes that jam our recycling bin, anyway?  
Make a cute, versatile Easter decoration?  


Yes, please!  


I made my eggs much larger than the tutorial directs.  Right now they are hanging on the dining room windows but I might relocate them.  

The best part about the egg bunting is looking at the fabric scraps and reminiscing about where they came from... Little Lady's first birthday outfit, a quilt I made for my grandmother-in-law, Little Lady's baby quilt (before I even knew she was a little lady), and even a scrap from my bridesmaid dresses!  

Visit the site where I got the idea here.  


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Nursery rhymes - preschool fun with Humpty Dumpty

We've recently been reading our nursery rhyme books and Mini Me has a sponge-like memory for retaining them.  One day he cut out Humpty Dumpty sequence picture cards.  Together, we put them in order.  He made a few "mistakes" to see my silly reaction.  The most fun we had with this activity was speculating why Humpty Dumpty fell off that wall.  Mini Me hypothesized that he was laughing so hard and got so wiggly that he fell off.  He also thought Humpty was trying to wave at the horses and lost his balance.  I love his ideas!

Craft foam color wheel puzzle

 

From this site.
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A Year of ABCs: F with art, literacy, math

F is for flower stamps.
We used some of our cut pool noodles to make flower stamps (the ridged pool noodles look like flowers when cut).  Little Lady chose blue, purple, and red paint and had fun stamping the flower shapes.  

Later she used water color paints to paint a coloring page with flowers on it.

F is for fish books.
We have plenty of books with fish or about fish or even shaped like a fish, so we fully indulged during F week.  Our favorite fish book is Fidgety Fish and Friends by Paul Bright.  Fun!


F is for family cube.
I made a cube similar to our activity cube from A week, then developed a few photos to tape on each side.  A family cube!  I have several ideas about how we will use this, but for now, Little Lady rolled the cube.  We looked at the photo on top, said the person's name, then matched that photo to photos in a book from her babyhood.  She really liked it!

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Lenten Misconceptions

I've been teaching at a community college for a few years and have therefore had the opportunity to talk to a very wide range of adults: colleagues and students.  When they aren't listening to me yammer on in my Spanish classes, I like to chit chat with my students, learn new things, and see various perspectives of the world.  This spring, I've really noticed in my conversations and my eavesdropping or hearing bits of side conversations is how many adults (in my workplace, anyway) have misconceptions about the Lenten season.


This site and this one give good explanations of what Lent, Ash Wednesday, and the Lenten season entail. 
In sum:
Ash Wednesday marks the observance of Jesus' 40 day fasting and temptation in the dessert.  Christians are marked with ash on their foreheads as a sign of sorrow and humility.
The Lenten Season is the 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday.  If you do the math, you'll see that there are more than 40 days in that time period and so some denominations do not "count" Sundays as part of the 40 days of Lent.  The math could also be worked out to show that the Lenten Season ends when Holy Week (the week between Palm Sunday and Easter) begins.
During Lent, many Christians give something up as an exercise in self-denial and sacrifice, mimicking Jesus' sacrifice for us.  Many people choose to give up something that will be difficult for them to live without to truly experience the sacrifice.  Common things to give up include pop, sweets, TV, etc.


This is where I think the most misconceptions enter - giving something up.


Catholics and Protestants observe Lent and can choose to give something up.  Some people assume that if I am giving something up for Lent, I must be Catholic, which I am not.


Lent is not mentioned in any way in the Bible.  It is one of those Church-created rituals.  Lent is very important and it has many merits but one couldn't really defend Lent with Scripture (although denial and self-sacrifice are noted frequently in Scripture).


To observe Lent, a person does not really have to give something up.  Some people choose to add something beneficial to their lives as a way of preparing for the important Easter celebration.


For the first time in many years, I'm giving something up for Lent: chocolate.  My chocolate snacking was getting out of hand.  I've joked that since I can't reign in my chocolate eating on my own, Jesus is going to help me.  Of course, giving something up for Lent simply to benefit yourself health-wise is a bit silly.  (Almost) every time I want to grab something chocolate to snack on, I remember Lent and then remember that my itty-bitty sacrifice is nothing compared to the sacrifice of Jesus laying down his life for me.  Giving something up for Lent is a great way to prepare a penitent heart for Easter. 


Some years in the past, I've given nothing up for Lent.  Some years I've tried to add something good into my life.  Last year for Lent the kids and I began reading daily devotions at breakfast.  I suppose you could say I've "sacrificed" some table space to put our breakfast basket of children's devotion books and Bibles.  I'm happy to say that now, a year later, we still do daily devotions.  And (almost) every time I open our devotion book I think about our 2011 Lenten add-in, and Jesus' sacrifice for me.  Because of Him dying on the cross, I know I'll spend my forever in Heaven. 


To an outsider or even a less-than-informed Christian, Lent might seem like it's just ashes and dessert denial, but to me the Lenten Season is an important, reflective time to remind me of the big things yet to come... and the big thing isn't even Easter!  Good Friday is, hands down, the most important celebration of the liturgical calendar.  That was the day that someone pure and perfect died in my sinful place and because of that day, I'm all taken care of.  Denying myself a handful of M&Ms seems so small in light of an event so momentous.  And each time I stare wistfully at the chocolate chips in the freezer, I can turn my heart from that desire to thankful repentance.

Home made fabric frame

I am continuing my quest to add more holiday decorations to my stash.  We are enjoying the home made fabric rosette on the wall, and to add to our Easter decorations I made a very simple fabric frame.  

You will need: 

Strips of fabric

(I used scraps cut into about 2 inch by 12 inch strips.  I used pinking shears for all the edges). 

A frame

(I purchased mine for only $1) 

Modge Podge or white glue 

(I used the Elmer's glue and water paste from when we made our Mayflower Centerpiece) 

A wet rag to keep the mess a little under control

 

Apply glue to the section of the frame where you want to begin.  Starting with the end of one strip on the back side of the frame, start winding it around the frame.  You can wrap at whatever width and length you like.   I think thinner strips might look better so next time I will probably cut my strips around 1 inch wide.

You can see the glorious mess I made, but it cleans up easily.  
Keep wrapping the fabric around the frame.  You'll have to bend and tuck around the corners.  Just use more glue there and it will be fine.  You can change colors and fabrics to your liking.  

Immediately when the fabric is still wet with glue, put the glass in and make room for it with the fabric.  You may have to tuck and rearrange the fabric a little but it's important to do this when it's wet so the fabric can dry with room for the glass.  
Wipe the top of the frame with the wet rag to remove the glue clumps.  
The frame I used had those bendy metal pieces on the back to hold the glass in, and they were handy for propping the frame up to dry.

I had one fabric rosette left from the cross, so I made a couple more to add to the frame.  Now the frame and the rosette cross will coordinate nicely!

I hot glued the rosettes on and added a small bead in the center of each one.  

Ta Da!

Now the frame is ready for a special Easter photo to display.  I love the bright spring colors of the frame and the sweet memory it holds!

More Mixed-up Puzzles

Mini Me fell in love with this puzzle "game" not long ago.  

1.  Dump the pieces from several puzzles in a pile.
2.  Spread out the puzzle boards.
3.  Have fun putting it together by running, crawling, dancing the pieces from the pile to the puzzle board. 


One day we did this and Mini Me used the tongs to help him transfer the pieces.  
Pick it up from the pile.

Place it on the puzzle.

Whoops!  Dropped it!  (You can see our puzzle boards spread out in the photo).

Little Lady gets in on the action.

She likes to efficiently carry (hoard?) her puzzle pieces.  She beelined straight for the correct puzzle board, too.

When we are done, our brains and our bodies have had a good workout. 

A Year of ABCs: E with movement, music, science, Spanish

E is for elephant walk.
With our elephant puppets and our bodies we walked like elephants.  We stomped and tried to make long trunks out of our arms.  We trumpeted.  We sang our elephant songs.  We

The ingredient list for Christians

We are blessed with an insightful, energetic, wonderful minister at the church where we belong.  I typically learn something new and find something profound to reflect upon after hearing him preach, which is really saying something given my husband and I are simultaneously pew-wrangling two small children.


A few weeks ago, the most poignant thing I brought home from our church service was from the children's message.  I'm sure it was no coincidence that I was really listening to that message since both of our children were up at the altar, listening at Pastor's feet!


Pastor began the message by talking about chocolate cake (which seriously caught my attention).  He pointed out that we enjoy chocolate cake when all the ingredients are mixed together, but we don't like just each individual ingredient.  Who craves two cups of flour, right?


He went on to compare this to Martin Luther's position on what makes a Christian.  I can't find an online reference for this... maybe my search terms are incorrect... but Martin Luther said that God's Word, prayer, and suffering are the ingredients that comprise a Christian.  My husband and I joked later that day how that church service made us Christians.  We suffered through a small toddler tantrum, and prayed she would calm down quickly so we could hear God's Word!  Tongue-in-cheek aside, though, this ingredient list for the recipe to be a Christian is something that I have really been thinking about lately.


Christians need God's Word to grow in His Grace and knowledge.  The Bible is God's inspired word to us.  The Bible contains all the answers as well as all the mistakes (Have you ever noticed the magnitude of sin in the Bible?  Incest, murder, lying, stealing, double-crossing, hit men... it seems like every sin ever conceived of is addressed).  God's Word gives us examples on how to live a Christian life as well as encouragement to do so.  It admonishes us but more importantly, it lifts us up.  It's a guide - and certainly everyone needs a guide.  A true Christian needs a true knowledge of God's Word so that we can live according to His will for us.


Christians need prayer.  Prayer is our direct hot line to God.  It is a 24/7 means of communication for us to talk to Him.  God's Word tells us to pray often and with sincerity.  We can give thanks, make requests, and laud the glory of our King.  We can pray any time, any where, and reveal any thing.  That is a very open relationship!  


Christians need suffering.  When I first heard our pastor say this a thought flashed through my mind: "Yup, Christians always have to have it rough".  But that selfish thought quickly passed when I considered it more.  Christians need suffering to show us how much we need God.  We can't do anything without Him.  God didn't ever promise that laying down our lives to follow Him would be easy - or fun - but he did promise "never will I leave you, never will I forsake you" (Heb 13:5).  Don't all humans - Christians or not -  at some point suffer?  When we suffer, we are to turn to God.  How do we turn to Him?  Through prayer and God's Word. 


It's all intertwined - prayer, suffering, and God's Word.  Some of us have one or two of these "ingredients" but when they are all three working together, Luther says we become Christians.  Growing, stumbling, seeking-to-live-His-will Christians.

Complacency

I'm pretty cautious.  I rarely make sweeping declarations of grand intentions.  I'm not usually a heat-of-the-moment-make-a-grand-promise person.  I'm calculated.  Careful.  When I do resolve to do something big, new, or special, I keep it to myself and work on it a bit before the announcement comes out.  (I don't like to fail!)


However, I made a life decision a few weeks ago and I'm going to publish it here and make it official.  'Cause I still feel passionate about it and don't want to lose the fire.  Now I'm accountable.


From here on out, I want to be an involved parent; maybe even the slightly annoying, super involved parent.  I want to serve on committees and boards and volunteer.  I want to give of my time and show my children how important it is to contribute efforts to their school, their church, and their community.  I want to show them that it's desirable to spend time doing a good job on a task even if you don't get a paycheck for it.  I want to demonstrate the delayed gratification that comes... or may never come... from doing something for the good of the cause.  In order to be as involved as I want to be, I will need time.  Time that might not be available if I go back to work full time.  And I decided that, if it comes to it, I want to be the parent who gives time to the volunteer efforts instead of time in a job.  


Because, you see, parents these days have to work a lot.  And that 40+ hours a week sucks a lot of energy and, well, time.  Not everyone can volunteer.  If I worked 40 hours a week and had two kids to raise, plus maybe a commute, a household to maintain, and a marriage to enjoy, I couldn't give a lot of time.  I know a woman who does all those things and volunteers everywhere and I think she's better than Superwoman.  I know myself and I know that I couldn't do it.  


For me, in my new resolution, I want to give of my time instead of getting a big paycheck.  Not everyone can make that choice but I think maybe we can do it.  My husband - bless that wonderful man - is on board, too.


This new passion arose in a recent committee meeting at church.  I'm on our board of education and we were discussing how our Sunday School attendance is abysmally low.  Furthermore, we had a horrible time finding people to volunteer to teach Sunday School this year.  Our discussion of these concerns led into a frustrating vent about the lack of parental involvement in the public schools, also.  One parent said that in an elementary school of 400 children, only three parents were involved in the PTA.  


I'd like to think that the issue is that parents are simply busy and don't have time to be involved.  But the more I think about my past experiences with parents and being involved, the sadder I get at the parental complacency.  Many - though, thankfully, not all - parents seem to be satisfied with their lackluster contributions to the world, unaware of the deficiencies that exist: unaware that their time and talents are useful and needed!  So few people seem to give to the good of the cause, or contribute their time and talents.


Now, of course, parents can't do everything and give to everything and be everywhere.  If my husband and I can continue to make it work, I want to be the parent who picks up the slack of parents who simply don't have the time to be on the PTA or be a field trip chaperon or serve on committees.


The trick for me will be righting my heart and always remembering that I'm involved and volunteering because of the lessons I want to teach my children and the way I want to contribute to the community.  I must never become bitter at all the work I'd be doing while other seemingly complacent parents refrained from involvement.  After all, that would be a terrible lesson to teach my children!  I want them to see how it's important to give and contribute, even when it feels like you're the only one who cares.


So, my new resolution is still a passionate desire.  I still have some attitude adjusting to take care of as a precautionary measure.  But I'm pretty sure I'm okay with leaving a full-time job by the wayside; besides, I love my part-time gig.  I think I will be okay if my reputation evolves to be, "Ah, just ask Amanda, she'll do it."  I think I can make the time.  I think I can, I think I can, and I know I want to.  

And now it's official! 

What are your experiences with parental involvement?

Felt Easter chicks

I'm still working hard to make some new Easter decorations like my rosette cross.  Look at the cute little felt chicks I made! 

I found the original instructions here.
 
They are great instructions, but did not include any step by step photos and I'm a visual learner so I snapped some quick photos of the little chicks as I was making them.  Perhaps someone could use my photos in conjunction with the good instructions at the original site.  


The instructions on the site include a template to print and use.  All you need is felt cut according to the template and some embroidery floss.

First, stitch two french knots for the eyes.

Attach a little beak with a stitch in each corner.

Add the wings on the sides with a running stitch.

Start sewing the body pieces together using a blanket stitch.

Up one side... and down the other.

Fold the little tail and stitch it onto the back, then continue the blanket stitch.

Mid-way up the back of the chick, stop and stuff.  When he's full, finish the blanket stitch to the top.

That's it!  Now you can admire the little cuties.  

The original site does include some photos of the finished chicks and hers look so much cuter than mine.  I love my five little spring-colored chicks, though, and they are adding a lovely touch to my new Easter decorations.

Cleaning pennies

We really love to clean... even pennies!  

I lined up some dirty pennies, a bowl of vinegar, a bowl of baking soda paste, and a bowl of water.  

They dropped the pennies in the vinegar and swished them around.

They rubbed them with the baking soda paste.

They plopped them back into the vinegar and loved the fizzing effect!

They repeated this little assembly line over and over and over.

Look how much we cleaned and shined them!

After a good water bath, we had several clean pennies.  The one at the top was especially dirty and Mini Me worked hard to rub all that black stuff off Abe's shirt.  


This activity makes for a great science lesson (the acid and the base combine to form carbon dioxide), but for this time, we just had fun.... cleaning. 

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Pondering tantrums and poop

I've been reading some parenting books over the past several months.  As I try to point out to my husband, it's not that I'm looking for an instruction book or a recipe book for child-rearing, I'm just trying to get some fresh ideas and new perspectives.  When the boy throws tantrums, resists going to Sunday School, and becomes fascinated with the word "poopy", I need a little professional know-how.  When the girl throws tantrums, climbs everything but the walls, and repeatedly puts her hands into her poopy diapers, I need some other experiences to draw from.  Ah, tantrums and poop.  The stuff of mothering young children.  

Most recently I've read:
Parenting with Love and Logic - a great book based on the theory of raising your children to be independent and thoughtful from the get-go.  I think I need to buy this one and re-read it.
Loving the Little Years - a "you-can-make-it-through-the-tantrums-and-poop-years" pep talk with good insight.
Raising Cain - a fabulous book about raising boys that I've read every year since I started raising a boy.

Here are a couple of the most salient points that I'm currently pondering:
Throughout the young years, parents need to maintain a relationship of authority with their children (not power; authority).  It's how we teach and guide them.  But in the span of a long life, the years of parental authority (say, eighteen years) are much shorter than the years of parental friendship (the rest of our children's lives).  During those young years, it's important to remember that we will have a relationship that leans more toward friendship much longer than our relationship is one of authority.  What exactly does this mean as far as parenting little ones and maintaining authority with the promise of a life-long friendship?  I'm still trying to figure the details of that one out.  

Boys need their moms.  But I've never been a boy so I don't understand all the specific needs of a boy.  In what ways will he need me when he's a pre teen?  A teenager?  I need to re-read that book again....

If we teach our children to make independent, thoughtful, responsible decisions when they are little, we are providing them a solid foundation for making good decisions as teens and adults.  For example, if I teach my preschooler to be responsible about picking up toys, he should (in theory) have the intrinsic motivation as a teenager to take care of his homework using that intrinsic motivation.  I love the idea of building these "habits" of good character but at some moments I feel like it's a tall order.  It's easier right now for me to tell the children what to do and what is right than let them experience the discovery of learning on their own.

And a gem from a sermon at our church last fall that I just can't stop thinking about:
When I became a parent, my children took over every nook and cranny of my world and in return, my husband and I occupy every nook and cranny of their world.  Especially in these little years, we are their safety, their love, their familiar, their everything.
Someday they will grow up and we will occupy respectively fewer nooks and crannies of each other's worlds.  
Someday we will start dying and will not share the Earth together. 
But...
God is the one constant in our lives.  God is the one with us from womb to tomb.  Mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, husbands, wives... we don't all die at the same time.  The one thing with us for literally every second of our lives on Earth is God. 
And why would I not want my babies to start building a relationship with Him now?   They will be in His care much longer than they will be in mine.

A Year of ABCs: E with art, literacy, math

E is for ears and eyes.

We colored ears and eyes (and an Earth) on a coloring sheet I made and spent a lot of time pointing out each other's ears and eyes, as well as the ears and eyes on most of our dolls and toy animals.  

E is for Elmo's Colors.
Little Lady has really fallen in love with this book; a very simple one starring the Sesame Street characters with cutesy rhymes and lots of color identification.


E is for eight.
Little Lady is also really into counting.  She starts with "two" and only on occasion makes it to "three".  She does point to things one-by-one, though, and makes voice inflections as though she's counting.  We counted to eight a lot during E week: eight toys, eight carrot sticks, eight dots on the paper and so forth.
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Online Spanish activities for kids (of all ages!)

In a recent search for some new online practice material for my Spanish classes I found a gem of a site that Mini Me has quickly come to adore.  The the website created by the Instituto de Tecnologías Educativas which is part of the Ministry of Education in Spain, so it is as authentic as it gets.  

I was searching for practice activities for body parts in Spanish.  If you click to this website, it takes you to an English explanation of how to use the part of the website to practice body parts.  


This link will take you to the actual site.  

 You can get to the learning activities by clicking on different sections of the castle:

Main section with door - beginning activities with colors and clicking practice 
Dragon - animals and nature
Far left tower - playground
Left section of the top - art and music
Right section of the top - library and reading
Tower to the left of the main door - body parts
Far right tower - clothing and seasons
Ghost - a hilarious and creepy song about "Fantasmin", the friendly ghost who shows you around the castle. 
You can also click the sky to change the weather and hear the weather words.  


A cute little voice tells you the directions for each activity and it is 100% in Spanish.  It's awesome and is fantastic immersion practice.


If you don't know any Spanish, don't be afraid to play with this site or let your children do it.  Remember, it's designed for the preschool age group who are typically beginning computer users so there are a lot of pictures and simple games.  You'll be surprised at the Spanish that you and your child will learn.  Mini Me really likes using the computer for "that one Spanish game with the castle".  It is a pretty large website and might take time to navigate around, but it's so fun and will foster such fantastic language learning.

I'd love to hear about your experiences using the site, especially if you do not speak Spanish!  ¡Diviértanse!

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Home made fabric rosette cross

Easter is one of my favorite holidays and I have precious few decorations for the season, so I decided to make some new things this year.  I started with the idea of making a fabric rosette cross.  


I used  1/4 yard each of blue and green material as well as a little bit of white.

I cut the fabric into strips.  The green strips were 1.5 by 22 inches and the blue were 2 by 20 inches.  I didn't even measure the white strips and unless you want a set of rosettes that are all the same, you don't really need to measure.

I folded each strip in half, knotted it, and began twisting into a rosette, holding each turn in place with a dab of hot glue.  I started to make a photo tutorial.  

Then I realized that I didn't know what I was doing and it was a bit silly to make a tutorial during my very first rosette-making session!  You can check out the tutorials here and here.  I used a combined method of both to make my rosettes. Here are my first three: 

I got better and made 37 rosettes. 

I arranged them in a cross-shape and hot glued it all together.  

On the back I glued a strip of card stock for a little extra stability and a loop to hang on the wall.  

My sweet little cross isn't without meaning (other than the regular meaning of a cross).  Blue represents Heaven and truth.  Jesus died on the cross, truly sinless, so that we can enter Heaven sinners though we are.  Green represents life over death, just as Jesus triumphed over death on Easter morning.  White is purity and holiness.  There are three white rosettes in my cross to represent the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  


It was fun - and pretty easy - to make, and fun to look at!  It must also be fun to touch because I am constantly lifting Little Lady up so she can run her fingers over it.

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Syllable clapping

Mini Me is a wordy kind of kid.  He loves words and letters and .... talking.... and he also loves scissors so this activity was a great delight for him.  


First, he cut out an assortment of February and March themed pictures.

Using a lamb as our guide for one syllable words and a lion as our guide for two syllable words, we divided all the pictures into two piles.  To find out if the word was one syllable or two syllables, Mini Me clapped it out.  


"Kite.  That's only one clap!"
"Shamrock.  That's two claps!"

Clap by clap, he divided the pictures into the lamb pile or the lion pile.

When he had gone through all the pictures, he wanted to do more so I got some real objects and he clapped those out, too.  
Once all objects and pictures were divided, we played again.  We also played again after supper to show off to Daddy.  
A round of applause for Mini Me!