Fun stuff to do with kids

 

• make paper airplanes and see who's flies the best, does the most flips, flies the farthest, etc
• see who can make the longest paper chain
• use a paper chain to count down to the next big thing you are looking forward to
• make paper hats
• make paper plate masks
• play rock paper scissors
• do paper mache
• cut holes in the bottom of a cardboard box, and try to weave ping-pong balls through them
• tape record a letter and send it to someone
• play in a bubble bath
  

Prayers for my family

Heb 12:1  Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us...

Lord, teach Mikey to persevere in all he does.  Help him to run the race You have marked out for his life.  He often gives up at the first sign of difficulty, please don't let this characterize him, but work in his heart.  Lord as we seek to teach him perseverance, fill in the gaps that we miss and fix our mistakes when we fail.  Help us model perseverance in all we do.  In Jesus name, Amen.

Great giveaway!

Think pink and polka dots and organizational help...are you in? Head over to the Best Nesst for a great giveaway!

Fun stuff to do with kids

 

• make animal footprints out of cardboard and strap them to your feet
• get an ant farm
• make up an obstacle course and run through it with bean bags on your head
• bean bag toss
• bean bag basketball with pot in middle of floor, yard, driveway, etc
• blindfold someone and guide them around
• play follow-the-leader
• trace your body with sidewalk chalk and then decorate it
• make a shadow animal show
• play musical chairs
  

Prayers for my family

Pro 13:20  Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

Lord we just want to have some awesome fellowship with some of your awesome followers, lead us to the friends you would desire for us.  Let each of us have a friend who can sharpen us, as iron sharpens iron.  Friends who will stick closer than brothers, cords that cannot be easily broken.  and especially for Michael as he seeks to lead our family, Lord, provide him a like-minded friend for accountability.  In Jesus name, Amen.

Family Friday-ish

Yes that is me, with an H2! And I even got to drive it all weekend! At the beginning of June I took a very quick trip to Colorado for a girlfriend's wedding. Holly and I have known each other since the 5th grade, almost 20 years ago! I was so glad to be able to see her get married!

The line at the airport at 5:30 AM was very short, and I got to the counter, with my ID ready to go. The gentleman then informed me that I had no reservation...um...what?! I explained that I booked it online, and so he checked again...and there I was! Except I was booked on the 7 PM flight instead of the 7 AM flight that I thought I was on! I felt like such an idiot! So I was 12 hours early for my flight. Except the wedding started at 5p...bummer. Fortunately they worked it out for me and I got on another airline, just a little later than planned.

When I finally arrived in Denver, I shuttled my way to the rental car company. The lady and I had a lovely conversation, at the end of which she prayed for me and my family...right there at the counter...isn't that amazing? So I went outside to wait for my car, which was supposed to be the smallest, cheapest thing I could find on the Internet, and turns out she had upgraded me to the Hummer, and given me a discount so it cost less than what I originally planned! (Which is good because I had to shell out some extra dough for the mistake I made while booking my flight!) Is that awesome or what? I felt so cool all weekend long, driving around in that thing!

This is the beautiful bride and her groom. She planned a great wedding, everything was beautiful, the food was delicious, the favors were cute. Holly was gorgeous, one of the most beautiful brides I have ever seen!

This is Holly's family. Her grandmother has always been so little, and now that I am over 5 feet tall (5th grade was a long time ago!) she seems even littler, but as sweet as ever. Uncle Pete is blind, but it doesn't stop him from much! He has been a farmer as long as I have known them, can you imagine that, it takes some guts and stamina, neither of which he lacks. And Pat, Holly's mom. I am not sure she will ever know what an important role she played in my life. She used to come pick me up every Sunday morning and take me to church, after church she took us to the corner store and let each of us girls choose a soda and a candy bar. (I always chose RC Cola and a SKOR.) And then again every Wednesday night she would come and take me to Confirmation Classes. It was after those confirmation classes that I accepted Jesus as my Savior and became a Christian. Granted, I had a few rough years after that, and my walk didn't match my talk for another eight years, but I never forgot what I learned there. I never forgot how faithful Pat was, or how generous she was. God is faithful, God is generous, and I learned that from her example. Praise God for the friends he has given me along the way!

Here is a quick snapshot of Holly and I. 20 years later, and she still calls me on my birthday every year.

Tin can magnetic spelling game

After seeing these refrigerator magnets made out of tin can lids, (the link is to a blog, for a sweet young lady, please go leave her a comment about the adorable work she did!) the wheels started turning, exactly how I got from refrigerator magnets to spelling game I don't know, but this keeps my kids busy in church! I have made several sets of these now, the first ones didn't have felt on the back, just a bead of hot glue around the edge of the lid, felt is way cuter. Also these lids are cut off using one of those sideways can openers from Pampered Chef so the edges are not raw, and not dangerous (or barely dangerous). DO NOT USE CAN LIDS WITH SHARP EDGES...SOMEONE WILL GET HURT...IF SOMEONE GETS HURT, DON'T BLAME ME...PLEASE. If you don't have the nifty sideways can opener, use frozen juice lids, or email me and I will send you some lids, I have some extra...I won't tell you how many...it is embarrassing.


What you need:
felt, any colors
scissors
tacky glue
tin can lids
cups that tin can lids will fit into
modge podge
magnetic strips or magnetic paper
alphabet stickers and words or printed alphabet and printed words (I recently saw some of those little magnetic poetry games in the dollar section at Michael's that would be cute with this!)

Cut circles out of the felt that are about 1/4"-1/2" bigger than your lids.

Put a bead of glue around the (semi) exposed edge of the can.

Step 3 is to maneuver the lid down into a plastic cup, where the felt will be held in place OVERNIGHT! This way the glue has time to set up. If you take it out too soon the edges just peel away, but even leaving it in over night, the glue wasn't dry all the way. So step 4 is to take it out of the cup, and let the glue dry, I waited overnight again. Step 5, trim away the excess felt from the edges. DON'T trim the felt until the glue is dry.

Step 6 option one--using the magnetic strip, which is already sticky on one side, adhere your letters to the sticky part and then trim away the excess, cut each letter out individually and stick them to the top of one of the lids.

Step 6 option two--using the magnetic paper, modge podge the individual letters to the paper and then cut them out, and stick them to the top of one of the lids.

Also modge podge the words you have chosen or the sticker letters to the top of the other lids. And there you have it! I left one of the lids blank so the kids could make their own words. My friend Ashley suggested making a bunch of words out of the magnetic paper so they could switch the words in and out, which might keep them occupied longer.

Project Rating:
Supplies--I had everything on-hand. You can get magnetic paper at any craft store, it is kind of spendy, about $3 for one little sheet, but you don't use very much of it, so you would have plenty left over for another project.
Execution--I hate waiting for glue to dry...so that part was torture for me. But the rest was pretty simple.
Fun factor--It was fun because I had an opportunity to craft something!
Mess factor--Just scraps of felt to clean up, and glue off my fingers! The plastic cups had some glue on the inside, which peeled right off.
Teach the lesson--There was no lesson to teach this time, but the kids are quiet for about 10 minutes with it in church!
Side notes/learned by experience--the kid cups you get from restaurants worked great for stuffing the lids inside, because they fit perfectly inside the lip. Also the magnetic strip was easier to work with for the individual letters.

Other things to do with tin can lids:
Chalkboard paint magnets
More magnets, with vintage photos and clever quips, by Popnicute!
And more magnets, by Recycled Crafts...
Snowman craft, by Craftbits
Pictures with punched out nail holes, by Marlie's Creative Universe, these are Christmas, but you could do any holiday, or theme.
Purple people eater game instructions, by DLTK
Wind chimes, by Se7en
Turn them into ladybugs with felt and pipe cleaners for antennae
Make a magnetic clock for learning how to tell time
I also saw these somewhere with kids' school pictures glued in, and decorated...don't remember where.

Chicken Scratch or Dots and Boxes

My mom taught my sister and I how to play "chicken scratch" on a road trip from Kansas to Mississippi one summer when I was a kid. I have called it chicken scratch every since, but apparently the real name is "dots and boxes." Either way I liked playing it when I was a kid, and now I like to play it with my kids! Print a few copies and keep them in the car, use them at restaurants or in the doctor's office while you wait.
Chicken Scratch

Publish at Scribd or explore others:

Fun stuff to do with kids

• fingerpaint with shaving cream
• collect sticks and mud and build a bird nest
• write newspaper articles for a pretend newspaper (or for the family newsletter if you tried that one)
• let them vacuum the window blinds
• let them wash windows and mirrors
• clean out the garage in preparation for a yard sale, let them price their own items and keep the money they earn
• create a design box (copper wire, string, odds-and-ends destined for the garbage, pom-poms, thread, yarn, etc.)
• make family t-shirts, there are about a million different ways to do this
• build a house out of plastic cups
• eat popsicles

Prayers for my family

2 Co 12:9  But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.


Father, in comparison to You, I am weak in every way.  But because of Jesus' work on the cross, we can have Your strength.  Lord, as You provide us with that strength, also teach us to use it for Your glory, laying our selfish desires aside and doing Your work each day.  Let Your work for us also be the joy of our hearts.  In Jesus name, Amen.

Free chocolate!

You might remember this post. Where Hershey's chocolate and free came together...
The offer is good every Friday between now and the end of September, isn't that generous! We have gotten two coupons so far, and used them to get snacks to take to our free movie last week, and you are allowed to do it up to four times between now and September! Go get your free Hershey's chocolate bars!

Things I learned this week.

• If Mikey had a list of his favorite friends that are girls, Haley would be at the top of it! (just about melted when I heard him say that...)
• If you run out of baby wipes, toilet paper is not a good substitute, wet toilet paper is even worse.
• When little bitty boys decide to be brave, they don't always tell you about it first. So the first time Jeremiah jumped into the pool by himself, was really BY HIMSELF, no grown up to catch him. So Haley grabbed her floaty, jumped in after him and tried to pull him to the side...all on her own accord. I was not far behind her and was up to my chest in the pool, clothes and all, fishing out my purple-mouthed little man. (Just FYI, I was only a few feet from the pool, but I never expected him to do something so...brave...he is my little fraidy-cat!)
• Earth shattering news doesn't have to be earth shattering news, if the Lord is your rock.
• Movie theaters shouldn't show sexy, scary, rated R previews in movies like Kung Fu Panda, especially when they have invited the general public and their CHILDREN to come in and watch it for free.
  
• If you are potty-training and your son has an accident in his bed, you have to pull the sheets off, and if you get distracted before you get the new ones on....DON'T let him sleep in your bed at nap time. He will pee in your bed too.

Very sorry for the lack of photos of the kids lately, I just haven't been taking any. I will try to get back on track, before the grandma's start complaining! Hope your week was as wonderful as ours!

Fun stuff to do with kids

• cut up old magazines and make a collage with a theme, things you like, things you dislike, Christmas/birthday wishes, etc
• make a treasure map
• go on a treasure hunt
• make your own "fun stuff to do with kids" list
• let the kids plan a special activity for the family, make it free or give them a small budget to work with
• plan an imaginary trip to the mooN
• play dress up
• play dolls
• practice math facts
• make up a game for practicing spelling
  

Prayers for my family

Heb 11:1  Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Lord, please let us set aside anything we hope for that is not also Your hope for us.  I have faith that You are all I have ever hoped that You are, and even more so.  I have faith that Your word is truth, and it is all I need to live for you.  With that faith let our hopes be in line with Your word and Your will, and if they aren't then remove them from our hearts.  In Jesus name, Amen.

While we homeschool

People ask me a lot what the babies do while I do school with the older two kids.  Jeremiah usually sits with us and colors or plays little games.  And Ella...well she just runs around the house and gets into stuff, like this picture shows!  For my Babywise friends...yes, I know this would be a good time to do play-pen training...no, I haven't been doing it lately...I don't know why...this will be a good reminder to get back into it!!

Cereal box turned lunch box, or little girl purse, or whatever

We went to the park with some friends, and packed our lunches in these clever tote-boxes from Family Fun. As with everything I put on here, it was over-the-top easy. Just cut the flaps off, I tore them off. And cut out some handles...I used a box cutter. The one at Family Fun was modge-podged all over for a more decorative look. I just glued a piece of paper that each kid decorated themselves to the front.

Project rating:

Supplies--minimal, on hand

Execution--easy

Mess factor--few scraps of cardboard

Fun factor--too fast to be fun, but we got a lot of compliments on them at the park

Sidenotes/learned by experience--cut the handles at least 2 or 3 inches down from the top, and don't make them too wide, otherwise they tear out easily.

Fun stuff to do with kids

• decorate bikes and wagons and have a parade
• do the same thing, but invite all the neighbor kids to join in
• catch butterflies and let them go
• make a teepee out of blankets
• write in a journal
• play charades
• make up a story by drawing pictures
• make up a new Sunday comic
• cut pictures from old magazines and write a story
• do a secret service for a neighbor