Journals

It seems I am more motivated when we travel than when we are home, when it comes to fun school/educational stuff.

We have so much fun stuff planned for this trip!  But what I am most excited about right now is our nature/art journals.  Yes, I am merging the two.  I hope that we make entries each day on the nature side, whether sketching something we see, or journaling what we want to remember.  Also, I plan for us to do an art page each day.  I am using tons of suggestions from Art Projects for Kids – a favorite blog of mine!!

So, I invested in some new journals – the kind with blank pages.  I found our sat Hobby Lobby for a fair price, and no shipping!! 

So, I unhinged the spirally part on the back, took off the covers so we could decorate them and then cover them with contact paper to protect them.  Then I dug out some nature-ish paper, some stickers (from my scrapbook days) and we got busy!!

Crafty Christmas

So, while we are still trying to savor Thanksgiving, I am up to my elbows making Christmas crafts!

Normally, I am done about September, making Christmas crafts, this year I started a few weeks ago.  So, you can imagine how much fun I had recently spending half my day making some crafts!!

Going back to Pinterest, I saw this:

and loved it!  So here are a few of my versions :

Planning Time

It’s Wednesday in our week of “vacation” of sorts.  The other little girl who schools with us is on vacation, so we are taking a bit of a break too.   It is nice to get a break every now and then, especially to make you appreciate what you have!!

The extra time I have had has been spent researching a plan for November and December.  While we will keep on track with regular school in November, I wanted to incorporate something dealing with Gratitude and also with the history behind Thanksgiving.  I found a couple different things for these topics, but my favorite, and the one I think we will use is Attitude of Gratitude Lapbook.  It is a 12 lesson plan with some great ideas!! 

VBS Day 2 & 3

We are over the hump – Wednesday, that is.  We finished out 3rd day today with a couple fun crafts!  Our numbers have increased each day, which we love to see!

Yesterday, we made our “Beach in a Bottle” craft. 

 

We used water bottles, poured in about 1/2 cup of sand, a couple shakes of glitter, a handful of shells before moving to the liquid station.  At the liquid station the kids added some blue colored water and finished the project with some baby oil.  We then, hot glued the lids on (for many reasons that you can imagine) and voila! 

VBS Day 1 {FUN}

VBS is different at every church; each has it’s own rhythm, rules and schedules.  It can be so much fun working VBS and getting to know the other people helping out.  This week is VBS at FBC Malakoff, and this year I was fortunate enough to coordinate crafts!!

Day1 Crafts were wonderful!  The kids loved it, the teachers loved it and it went very smooth!

We took precut circles (1 inch) and had the kids stamp an image on them.  They, then, colored the image in and the back ground if they wanted with permanent markers.  After that, the modge podged the circles onto those flat clear marbles.  Once they put those 2 pieces together they moved to the glue gun station to glue magnets onto their creation.

Ours were of beach items like a crab, sea gulls, beach ball, and more.  But this picture is what they looked like.

They were great and everyone loved them!  Great summer craft for a hot day outside if you are looking for something!  A package of magnets, glue gun, bag of flat marbles, and some paper.  If you do not have small stamps you could let the kids draw something!

Here are some pics of our first day of VBS (including a few amazingly decorated rooms) :

		FBC Malakoff VBS Day 1 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Craft Time (aka Therapy)

I planned to make all our gifts this year – along with the not eating out in ‘11 – to once again save some money.  And today I needed some craft time as a sort of therapy.  When life is going as fast as it has been going, I really need to slow down and create.  It is weird but it really works for me, once I create it seems I am a bit better. 

As for gifts, I keep trying to find the unique gift to give and not just another snap purse, or tea holder, or mug rug (that is the gift this year though).  So, I decided to make something for a gift my mother-in-law is hoping to get.  I am pretty sure my father in law will get her the ipad she has been wanting, so I decided to make an ipad cover.

I love Mondays

I know I have said this before (maybe a couple times) but I love Mondays.  I love what they hold for the week – the promise of a new beginning, a new school week, new to-do lists, and fun things to do!

I also love that Ann Voscamp inspires us to offer our gratitude journal on Mondays. 

 

 

Today I am grateful for

0217~ friends coming to play

0218~ sitting on Sunday by the fire while I sew and my boys learn needlepoint

 

0219~ a surprise gift – a handmade rug from generations past (Thanks Uncle Kelley)

0220~ watching the Polar Express with children mesmerized and delighted (thanks Guardian)

(our Jesse Tree Ornament Holder)

0221 ~ finishing projects and not just starting new ones! :)

0222~ sparkling lights in the house and the school

0223~ chickens getting big enough to eat (almost)

0224~ boys with a heart to serve – before their time, but still precious

 

View Full Album

0225~ seeing Santa (for fun)

0226~making homemade ornaments

0227~ Mom’s night out – crafting, yummy food, and fellowship

 

0228~ finding an old chess board + a new-found chess set = chess games daily between 4 children

0229~ hot showers, peppermint tea, and tea tree oil for a sweet son having bronchial issues

0230~ a friend to tell me what I need to do for that sweet boy – see above {Thanks Jennifer}

0231~ spending an hour in the middle of the night with my sweet boy – feeling blessed to have him to spend that time with; peppermint teat to soothe a sore throat, sprinkled with lots of smiles

0232~ a warm fire on a cold morning – in the house and the school!!

playin’

We had some friends over today to play in this wonderfully cool weather!  It was the perfect day to make some pumpkin scones and some Butternut Squash soup.  I used THIS recipe for the scones and made up my own for the soup.

Butternut Squash Soup

1 Butternut Squash mash - (I halved it and roasted it for about 45 minutes, scooped it out and put it in the fridge for later)

1 large apple diced

1 onion diced

1 small pear diced

2 carrots diced

4 c chicken broth

 

I drizzled coconut oil in my soup pot – and sautéed all the veggies.  I cooked them until they were tender – then I added the chicken broth and brought it to a boil.

I added the squash (from the fridge) it was clumpy and stringy but that is okay, you will puree in a minute so do not worry about it.

After it boiled for a little while, I poured it into my blender (in parts) and pureed the entire mixture.

I was going to add milk, but we decided that it was great without the milk.

NOTE: I then boiled a box of noodles, added some butter, milk and cheese (like I would to make mac & cheese) then I poured the soup all over it.  This is similar to Deceptively Delicious or the Sneaky Chef – but my kids love knowing what it is and I do not have to sneak!

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After we ate, we decided to make some salt-dough ornaments too -

and I used THIS recipe after Jennifer saw the ones I made last week and was surprised by how smooth they were.  Here is a copy of it for you to try out!

 

Classic Salt Dough Ornament Recipe

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 cup water

Directions:
1. Mix salt and flour.
2. Add in half the water, then gradually add the remaining water.
3. Knead until the dough is smooth, this can take up to 10 minutes.
4. For flat dough ornaments roll out the dough on baking paper
Or be creative and make odd shapes and wreaths (takes longer to bake)

Create:
Use cookie cutters, cut-out templates, or just use your hands.
Dust dough with flour and begin to add details to the ornaments with a toothpick, popsicle stick, and knife.  

 
Don't Forget:
Use a straw to make a hole so you can hang the ornament.

Baking: Time varies based on thickness of ornament
Temperature: 325 degrees
Time: 1 1/2 hours - or until dry

Decorate: Let cool before you begin
Paint with acrylic paints
Glue on beads, buttons, or any fun accessory

Preservation: Making them last a long time
Coat with acrylic varnish when everything is dry

*** Color Variation Notes from our Visitors***
- Substitute coffee for water - great for gingerbread people - Thanks, Shelly
- Add food coloring to make dough a unique color - white, blue, red, etc...

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I do admit, both times I have made these ornaments I have done so  without the kids being involved, but this is so easy I would not mind doing it with them at all! 

All this fun on a dreary rainy day!  The only thing missing is a fire!  Hopefully soon…..