Teaching Shapes {part one}

This week we have been working on our shapes. Thing 1 was already familiar with his shapes, so this was not brand new information.

When first introducing the shapes, we started out with the basic shapes; square, triangle, circle, diamond, and rectangle. I used shapes that are plain white, with a black outline, so that I could isolate the concept of "shapes".

The first activity that we did was cutting and pasting shapes.

You will need:

Basic Shapes Print Out

Glue (I pour it into a small cup)

Q-tip (spreading the glue)

Sheet of construction paper (something that is not white)

I cut out the shapes (if you child is older you could allow him to do it himself), because I wanted them to still resemble the shape that I was teaching!

I showed Thing 1 one shape at a time. Handing him the circle, saying "This is a circle". Then allowing him to trace the circle with his fingers. Then he glued the circle on the paper, using the q-tip to spread the paint. Once he pasted the circle on the paper, we traced it again, saying "this is a circle".

We continue this with all of the shapes. When he had finished gluing all of the shapes, we went back and talked about and traced each shape again!

The finished product:

He glued all of these without any help from me!!! I'm a proud mama!!

Here are a few tips for teaching shapes to small children:

Teach one concept at a time (resist the urge emphasize the color AND the shape)

Say the name of the shape, while the child traces the shape.

Keep it simple (there's no need to talk about how the square is made of of four right angles just yet)

Adoption Profile Book

We just finished our adoption profile book, and it should be in production as I type! If you are not familiar with the adoption process, the profile book is like a Family Album on steroids. You include pictures of your family, friends, church, and home. You include some facts about things that you like to do as a family, and things that make your family yours. Yeah...its a pretty big deal!

While putting the book together, there were times that I felt that I was "marketing" our family. Part of you wants to make sure that your book is "better" than the others. God quickly dealt with me about those feelings. Adoption isn't a competition. If anything we are united with the other families by a shared calling. We should be praying for each other as we go through this process. God is the one who places children in families, not a birth mother or agency.

The most difficult part of creating the profile book was writing the "Dear Birth Parent" letter. It's so hard to write to someone that you have never met, that will be making such a life changing decision (for ALL of the people involved). You want to convey your gratitude and respect for this woman who put her child's life above her own, but I don't think there are words that can even do that. I found myself looking for examples of other birth parent letters that couple's have written before. But in the end, after much prayer, I just had to write from the my heart. I trust that God will use my words to whoever it is that is carrying our child.

So that's where were are now. The book in production. It should be at the agency by the end of next week, and they will begin showing it to the mothers.

Waiting to Adopt

While I was pregnant with Thing 2, my husband and I began to feel a strong calling to add to our family through adoption. We began talking about it, praying about it, and searching out what God's word says about adopting. We knew we felt like we should adopt, but once we began studying scriptures about it, we knew we were going to adopt.

We shared the news with a few people. Some were supportive and others were what some may call "realists", providing reminders that "adoption is expensive", "there's so much paper work involved", and my favorite "you don't know what your going to get" (yes we do....it's called a CHILD)! When God calls you to something, all of those things become irrelevant. We didn't (and still don't) have a plan perfectly written out, step by step, before us, but we had enough.

We knew that we were supposed to adopt, so we began to act on what we did know. We began searching out our options, which ultimately led us to domestic adoption (within the country) from a private agency. We prayed, researched, and received confirmation about a specific agency, made the call, and began the process. There was paperwork to complete, classes to take, books to read, questions to answer, and checks to be written. Amazingly, none of this was overwhelming. I think that it could have been, but knowing that God was in this, allowed us to see the big picture. It allowed us to see that little hand wrapping around our fingers instead of stack of papers to fill out. We saw a child being raised to fear the Lord, instead of bouncing in and out of foster homes and prison. We saw the promise of life, instead of money leaving our bank account. God showed us the eternal picture, and that was enough to act on.

Now we are just waiting and expecting. It's sort of like being pregnant....except we don't know the due date. What's a due date anyway! My first was a week early, and my second was two weeks late. Due dates don't really tell us much as we want them to. Psalms 68:6 tells us that "God places the lonely in families". Thing 3 will be added to our family when God sees fit. We don't need a due date. For now, we are just waiting. Waiting and praying for our baby and the courageous woman who chose to give him or her life.

Our ways are not His ways

I hear giggles coming out of my bedroom, and hear a little voice saying, "tail, tail". I know exactly what that means. Thing 1 is "playing" with the dog. By playing I mean squeezing, wrestling, and tail pulling. Our dog, Caesar, is a 9 pound, hairless Chinese Crested that scared of his own shadow. He will literally go flying across the room at the mere sight of a plastic, grocery bag.

While I know that Caesar is not very likely to bite or nip at the boys for playing rough, he is still a dog. So, I go into my room, and get Caesar, and let Thing 1 continue playing. Thing 1 was a little upset about this. (on a side note: he "used his words" instead of throwing a fit. this is something that we have really been working on lately). He didn't understand why I took his wrestling partner from him.

This got me thinking. How much are we (grown ups) like this when it comes to our own lives. Sometimes God keeps something (or takes something) from us for our own good. We become like whiney little toddlers, fussing and complaining, when God was doing this because He loves us. Isaiah 55:8 tells us, "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways", declares the Lord".

Our thoughts and our ways are so different from God's thoughts and ways. We don't know what He is up too. We always know what He is protecting us from, or preparing us for. So, next time God keeps something from me that I really want, I will try think about this, and realize that He has something better for me. Hopefully, I'll "use my words" instead of throwing a tantrum, and trust God to work in my life.

Getting Crayon out of Clothing

PLUS

EQUALS....

a

great

big

mess

If you have kids, or just really like to color, you have probably done this or will do this in the future. You know...wash and DRY something with a crayon in the pocket, leaving a very colorful surprise for you when you open the dryer door.

It has recently happened to me...TWICE. you would think I would have learned the first time. But who REALLY has time to check all of the pockets when they are doing the laundry. I'm doing good to DO laundry period!

The good news is that you don't have to turn all of those clothes into rags for dusting. You can get it out with simple combination of things you probably have around your house already.

1 cup of white distilled vinegar

1 cup of borax

Laundry detergent (i just used the correct amount for the load size I was doing).

I let the washer fill up and let it soak for several hours, and then let it finish its wash cycle. All of the crayon came out!!! If you are wondering, there was no vinegar smell left behind either.

And....borax is like the superman of house hold cleaners. You can do just about anything that with stuff....it even removes urine smells fabric {great during the potty training phase}!!!

not forgotten

Dear Blog,

I know that its been awhile...but I have not forgotten you! I've just gotten a little one track minded. I seem to be having some problems multi-tasking. I'm preparing for my first craft show this weekend, and have pushed you to the side. I'm sorry.

Ha Ha...but in all seriousness I really do have an issue with get everything done when I get a little busy in one area. It seems like if the house is clean, I can't find time to do my monogramming. If I'm busy with monogramming orders, then house seems to suffer. Especially the dreaded (dun dun dun) LAUNDRY!!! But I am getting a handle on things. And one area that I am proud to say does not suffer is my little ones! No matter what the state of the house is...or how busy I am with other things, reading, tickling, cuddling, swinging, and playing are always on the top of the list, because those are the things that are going to be important 20 years from now.

And...thanks to my very wonderful, very type A husband, I am learning to be more efficient! He even took off from work for a day to help me catch up on some things. (He also made me a great breakfast, hung pictures, cleaned, and made me crab cakes for dinner). love him.

so...how do you manage the various areas of your life?? kids, cleaning, work, spouse, friends?? it seems like there are never enough hours in the day.

who knows...who cares

you know you're a mom when...

you look down at the wet spot on your pants and you don't know if its water, or spilled milk, or something from the baby's diaper, or spit up, or part of your toddler's potty training accident, or clorox, or part of the lunch that you fixed earlier,....and you're not even that concerned about figuring out which one it is.

Strawberry Shortcake

Fresh strawberries are one of my favorite things about the spring! When I found this recipe for strawberry shortcake, I couldn't wait for a reason to try it!

It turned out GREAT!!!! {even if I did make it myself}

Using the real whipped cream is what really makes this cake so good. There is a huge difference between the real thing and store bought whipped cream, and its so easy to make. I just poured it in here....

and turned it on. { I added tbsp of powdered sugar just to sweeten things up}

In about 5 minutes I had fluffy, yummy, homemade whipped cream!

The shortcake was for a Thirty One party that I was hosting. If you don't know what Thirty One is check it out here

They have super cute and functional gifts like this....

this....

and all of this...

front door decor

Since it's spring now, I decided that it was time to put away my fall wreath {which i put BACK up after I took my Christmas wreath down}! Then I realized that I didn't HAVE a spring wreath! So you KNOW what that means.....

Time to make one!!!!!

So, I made this...not super "springy", I know.

But it has a big bow {finally got to use that Bowdabra my mom got me for Christmas}, with polka dots {love them}, tule {to bring out my inner ballerina??}, and a hint of zebra ribbon.

It also has a polka dot monogram {essential in the south}.

And it matches this.....

and this.

Learning through Painting

Here is another cheap kids craft for you...

I wanted something that we could learn about shapes, numbers, colors, and/or letters. For less than $4.00 I created some stamps for Thing 1 to use with paint. The great thing about this activity, is that it can be adapted for many age groups and learning concepts.

I bought some cheap kitchen sponges at Target. They were $1.77 for a set of four. I probably could have found them cheaper at a dollar store, but I was in a hurry, and $1.77 is pretty cheap, so I went with it! I decided to get two packs.

I wanted this activity to focus on teaching shapes. Since I really wanted the star to look like a star, I found some toys that he already owned that I could use as a stencil.

Then I placed the toys on the sponge. I put them close together so that I could get the most out of each sponge. Yeah...I'm cheap like that. I traced them with a marker, and then cut them out.

We had a few sponges left over, so I was able to make the numbers 1-5 as well. I traced these from a puzzle and cut them out.

Let the fun begin!!! I used acrylic paint from Michael's. It some that I already had, and it's non-toxic. He had never painted before, so it took him a few minutes to figure things out!

This activity quickly went from stamping to finger painting to a toddler than looks a little too much like Poppa Smurf!

It was messy! But well worth it!

Little Boy's Bow Ties

I'm determined to find things that I can make for little boys! Boy's mama's need crafts too!!! We can't do hair bows, but we can do BOW TIES!! Let's go....

You'll need:

1 piece of ribbon cut to 11'' (angle one end, and heat seal both ends)

1 piece of small coordinating ribbon cut to 2.5'' (heat seal ends)

thread and needle

glue gun

elastic cut to measurement of child's neck

Lay large ribbon right side down with straight edge to your left.

Fold straight edge over a little less than halfway (5 inch mark on mat), then fold the rest of the ribbon over so that the angled edge meets the other end the ribbon (folded side on left).

Pinch the ribbon in the middle

Tie a knot in your thread, and sew in and out a few times. Wrap thread around center several times, before tying a knot.

Turn bow over, so that the angled edge is facing up (this will be the back of the bow tie). Place a dot of hot glue in the middle of the tie.

Place the middle of the elastic on the glue. Wrap the 2.5" ribbon around the middle of the bow, put a dot of glue on top of the elastic and press one end of ribbon down. Wrap the other end around and glue.

Close ends of elastic by hot gluing or sewing ends together!

The finished bow tie will look like this....

Of course I had to make one for Thing 1 and Thing 2! Perfect for Easter Sunday!

***always monitor children closely while they are wearing the tie due to the elastic around the neck***

FUZZIES!!!!!!!

We're not really into toys that are made just to entertain children. You know...books that read themselves and instruments that play that play a song with a push of a button. Toys should encourage a child to be creative and solve problems in addition to being entertaining!

You hear people say all the time that kids always like the box that the toys came in more than they like the toy itself. Yet, parents continue to dump hundreds of dollars into flashy toys. Why?? Kids REALLY do like the the box better!!

So think outside the Leap Frog when it comes to children's toys. You probably already have things around your house that your children would see as toys. I got some craft pom poms for Thing 1. I put them in a box and gave him his new "toy". When he opened the box you would have thought it was Christmas! He took one peak inside and screamed "FUZZIES"!! So, we've been calling them fuzzies ever since!

He has SO much fun with these! There is a lot of learning wrapped up in these fuzzy little pom poms.

We practice learning the names of colors and sorting the fuzzies by color.

You can also create patterns.

But the most popular is probably throwing the fuzzies. He has so much fun with these! We are constantly coming up with new ways to play with the fuzzies.

One of the best things about fuzzies.....they cost less than $3.00! You can beat that! Fun, educational, AND cheap!!!

We're always looking for creative, unconventional toys. Any ideas???

homemade play dough

Thing 1 is getting to the age where he needs some new activities. As a kid I loved play dough! So I thought he would too! Instead of buying it, I decided to make it...because I have real issues with buying things that I could make instead. I'm just like that. Making play dough is really no different than cooking. If you like to cook, you probably have all of the ingredients in your kitchen already.

This is what you will need:

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon oil
• 1/4 cup salt
• food coloring

Mix all of the ingredients, except for the food coloring (I just mixed mine right in the pot so that there would be less to clean). Once you have it mixed pretty well, add the food coloring. Stir over medium heat, making sure to scrape the bottom.

It will start out pretty runny, but don't freak out. Keep stirring and it will firm up quickly. Stir until you start to see the dough come away from the edges of the pan and it starts to become difficult to stir.

Plop it out onto a floured surface and knead it until it is smooth like play dough.

***Be careful b/c it is still pretty hot at this point. If you are doing this with your children, be sure to knead it until it is cool enough for them to handle it***

Once you're done, you can store it in air tight containers, or plastic bags!!!

This will make about 6 oz of play dough

baby steps

I stumbled upon some information that may change my life.....well maybe that's a little dramatic. It will really make things easier! I have major issues with laundry. MAJOR!! Even with my cleaning schedule, I really have a tough time keeping laundry from piling up. Yesterday I found Mama's Laundry Talk an entire blog devoted just to laundry! Check it out. If you have a question about laundry..."mama" has an answer. I really liked her post about laundry routines. That's where I seem to have the problem. I don't know whether I should do it all on one or two days, or do a little everyday. She highlights different laundry routine scenarios. After reading and thinking, I am going to try Scenario #1. Have a set amount of laundry to complete by a set time. So I am going to go with 2 loads by 12:00 and see how that works! She also stepped on my toes a little with the concept that laundry isn't "done" until it's put back where it belongs! THAT'S where I have the issues! I get it washed just fine, it's folding it and putting it away that I have the issues with!

I found some more life changing advice from the former "messie" Sandra Felton. I first heard about her when she was on Focus on the Family. She has some great organizing and cleaning advice for people that she calls "messies". A "messie" is someone who just doesn't get it when it comes to keeping things neat and organized. Someone who despite their efforts, seem to be spinning wheels in these areas. She even offers a 12 step program for recovering messies! I think I really identify with this lady!! She has lots practical, small steps that you can take to keep things in order. Some of my favorite are the "30 second rule" (if it takes less than 30 seconds to complete a job, do it immediately), and "Stow as You Go" (put things back where they belong when you are finished using them). Two simple steps that I can stick to that I think will really make a difference.

My new home management goals:

1. Wash, fold, and put away 2 loads of laundry by 12:00.

2. Make bed each morning

3. If a job takes less than 30 seconds to complete....DO IT IMMEDIATELY

4. Put things back where they belong

If these things don't work, maybe a little inspiration will!

so NOT super mom

Recently, while I was fixing supper, Thing 1 was sitting at his little table coloring, and Thing 2 was in his crib napping. I starting thinking to myself how "together" I had everything! The house was clean, the boys were clean, Thing 1 was occupied in a fairly stimulating activity instead of watching TV, and I was going to have supper waiting on the table when my husband got home from work. Come to think of it, I think I might have even managed to take a shower and put on make up that day! Wow...I really had it together! I must be really getting the hang of this "mom" thing...or so I thought. Until I turned around to see this......

All over the couch!!!

This brought me back down to reality real fast!!!

Proverbs 16:18 does tell us: Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

It might sound a little dramatic. I know that crayon on the couch is hardly considered "destruction", but I it was enough to cause me to check myself! I don't want to fall into the trap of pride. I'm so thankful that God was able to use this to bring me back down a little. I think it's easy to take pride in something when you feel you've put a lot of effort into it and you begin to see results. So many times we want to give our worries to God, yet we are not so quick to give him the glory when things are going right! I think this was God's subtle way of letting me know that I am NOT in control. The good times and the struggles are all equally His.

But.......come to think of it, we were getting kind of tired of this couch anyway. We've been wanting to do a something a little different! But I was thinking something more along the lines of some new toss pillows or something! Maybe something more like this....

It helps me.....

It's funny how once you have kids, doing things that used to be very simple suddenly require a lot more planning. Take running errands for example. What used to be as simple as jumping in the car and taking off, now requires a few more steps. It used to be that I just needed to make sure I had my wallet. Now I have to make sure I have my wallet, at least four diapers, wipes, and a few changes of clothes. That's just for Thing 2. Thing 1 needs a change of clothes, a few pull ups, crackers, and a cup. Gone are the days of just jumping in the car!! I am by NO means complaining. I am loving every minute of being mommy to those boys!! It's just funny how things change.

I made a little discovery shortly after Thing 1 was born, that made grocery shopping a little easier. Most people will drive around Walmart looking for the parking place closest to the store. However, when you have small children and groceries, being close to the store is pretty irrelevant if you still have to walk half way across the parking lot to put your cart back (assuming that you actually DO put your cart back). Instead of trying to find the closest spot to the door, I try to find the spot that is closest to the place that the carts go. That way I can put my groceries in my car, buckle the kids in, and put my cart away. This way I don't have to decide between leaving the kids in the car alone, or walking across the parking lot carrying a baby car seat and holding a two year olds hand.

This may seem trivial, and it's something that I would have never even thought twice about back in the days when I could leave the house with just a wallet, but it is something that makes my life just a little easier.

Cleaning Schedule

Okay..so its been FOUR months since I had a baby. It's time to get back on track! About 3 months before he was born I created a cleaning schedule, and it really was working quite nicely. I had two or three "chores", for lack of a better term, each day in addition to the daily upkeep of the house like doing the dishes, cooking, and such. As a stay at home mom since I don't get "off" work at a certain time, I often find myself doing housework throughout the day. When I was sticking to my schedule I was able to do my work for the day and not feel like I had to clean the house all in one day. The house was staying spotless relatively clean and once I finished the day's job I felt free to do other things.

• Monday- Bathrooms and Laundry
• Tuesday- Mop Floors and Vacuum
• Wednesday- Dust and Kitchen
• Thursday- Clean Thing 1's Room and Wash Windows
• Friday- Clean Thing 2's Room, Mop, and Vacuum

My goal now is to stick to my schedule and not fall behind. When I stopped doing i before it was not a conscious decision. I just missed a day here or there and ended up off track. Oh yeah...and I had a baby. That's always a good excuse, right???

So now I'm going to get back on track and get my work done so that I have more time for the important things like stacking blocks, playing with fuzzies, tickling babies, and spending time with my husband when he gets home!

Who Knew???

You probably did, but I just found out! Now I have to figure out how to celebrate! I love crafts and making things but I have some real issues when it comes to finishing things. I'll start things and then look across the room and become completely distracted by something else. It took me about 3 months to make window treatments for my kitchen that could have been finished during nap time.

I made moses basket bedding for my sisters new baby, and waited until the day before my mom left to see her to even START it! I have some real issues people! So... to celebrate, I think I will go figure out what projects are laying around waiting to be finished and actually finish them. I think I'll start with these.

To Do:

1. Finish Moses Basket Hood (no I didn't completely finish the bedding)

2. Monogram Towels for Master Bath

3. Hang Paper Lanterns above Crib

4. Redo Cork Board in the Nursery

I've confessed. So please hold me accountable! I'll post pictures as I finish!! Maybe I'll finish these before the month is over, so that I can start some new projects I've been putting off!