Joyfully Weary

Last week I met a mom friend and her kids at one of those inflatable play places. When we got there we were the only ones in the place so we let our kids have free reign of the two rooms. We walked around watching the kids and chatted as they played. A couple of our kiddos talked us into going down the big slide. Our kids were having a ton of fun and were obeying the rules. an old picture, from a previous excursion After being there for a little over an hour and a half we sat down on a bench to talk. We noticed that a few other families had started to come in. It was now a little past lunch time so we gave our kids a five minute warning. Then we started talking and lost track of the five minutes. All sudden a dad came up asking if we had a boy wearing green. My boys were in purple and yellow so I said no and didn't think anything of it until a couple minutes later when the dad became visibly upset and shouted "I guess that little sh*t is here all by himself!" It w...

I've debated about sharing difficult/awkward stuff like this on my blog, but this past weekend when talking to a friend, she laughed and sighed, "I am so glad my boys aren't the only ones." My kids are amazing and I have complete faith that they are going to grow up to be some pretty outstanding adults. There are times though that parenting them is hard, and just simply a struggle. see they are amazing...when I look at this picture I'm convinced I'm the most blessed mother in the world.  One such area is my boys aversion to using the toilet. I kind of thought I was a bit of a rockstar parent, all my children were potty trained by two and half. It wasn't a struggle, we didn't follow any programs, it just happened. Then I started discovering urine in drawers and corners.  In their defensive, we live in an old home, so we only have one bathroom and it's on the second floor. Their playroom, on the other hand, is in the basement. I partly blame Je...

A couple weeks ago, while subbing at the child care center, I spotted some 3D folded paper art and decided I had to try it with my boys. We changed it up a little bit, using paint chips instead of construction paper. The thickness of paint chips hold shapes better and all the colors add to the fun.  Our Supplies: construction paper, tacky glue, scissors, paint chips Step 1: cut paint chips into strips Step 2: zigzag/accordion fold strips (this is optional, we left some pieces unfolded and used them to make arches)  the accordion folds are a lot of fun on their own  this was a great fine motor exercise - it took mini man a while to catch on but he finally got the hang of it Step 3: put a drop of glue on both ends of your strips Step 4: place strips in desired positions  Our finished work: mini man's big buddy's  This activity was a lot of fun and is defiantly one we will do again - I think it would...

E arlier this week the boys asked to make cornstarch goo. This is a classic science experiment: when combined, cornstarch and water create a  non-newtonian fluid - having properties of both a liquid and a solid - but we make it simply because it's fun and messy.  supplies: tins, cornstarch, water, liquid water colors (or food coloring) spoons. mixing their colors pouring in the water. we use approximatly 1 part water to two parts cornstarch - i let the boys play  with the consistency and if too much water is added the excess drains off pretty easy. mixing it up i love how mini-man is always checking to see how big buddy does things little strainers are perfect for cornstarch goo i left the room for a minute and they got out the play-dough toys and straws?! the straws actually turned out to be a pretty cool tool.  messy but worth it This kept us busy for almost an hour. It tends to get messy but it c...

When planning our January preschool theme (winter), I really wanted to do something with ice fishing - I knew it would catch the boys' attention. I ended up putting together a little ice fishing game that helps them practice letter and numeral recognition.  my little fisherman     "fishing hole" supplies: sturdy shoebox primed white with hold cut out of the middle, white glue, glitter, fake snow, and a foam brush *an x-acto knife works great for cutting the hole 1- brush a thin layer of glue over box 2- sprinkle with glitter and fake snow 3- let dry  fish supplies: pdf available  here , scissors, stapler 1- print fish out on card stock 2 - cut out one set of letters and number fish, leave the other set intact as a matching card.  3 - place two staples near each fish's mouth *i originally planned on using paper clips instead of staples but we didn't have enough - the staples wor...

Every year we like to drive around and look at Christmas lights. It's fun to see how creative our neighbors are and it's a great excuse to have popcorn and hot cocoa for supper. This year however we added a twist. Inspired by our pastor's family, we decided to hand out little rewards to our favorite houses.  Each of the boys made a card which we then attached to small box of chocolates.  supplies: construction paper folded in half, paint, glitter, sponge cut in to light shapes dip sponge in paint and press on paper sprinkle glitter on wet paint  mini man's card big buddy's card Inside each card we wrote a short note thanking our winner for decorating and explaining that their lights were a favorite.  We also included Isaiah 9:2 which prophesies the birth of Christ The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;  those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness on them has light shined. mi...

In our family Santa isn't really a part of the Christmas season. We do not have any strong feelings against Santa Claus, we just decided that he wasn't going be something we included in our family traditions. There are so many things husbandie and I love to do during Christmas time, so our energies simply go elsewhere - there just isn't time left for Mr. Claus. This year, however, Big Buddy started to express interest in Santa so I decided to teach him about St. Nicholas.  The book The Legend of St. Nicholas has been a great resource. Not only did it explain who St. Nicholas was, but a boy in the book (also named Nick) learns from St. Nicholas's example and takes great joy in giving gifts to others.   Every year husbandie and I buy gifts for a few less fortunate children and this year I decided to include the boys. I explained to them that they were getting to be "Santa" for some other children. In order to be Santa though, Big Buddy insisted...

One of the small delights of a real tree is finding all its pine cones. The boys had a great time collecting them while helping trim our tree. They also made the observation that pine cones are very similar in shape to pine trees which lead to the idea of creating our own little Christmas tree farm. close up of the trees our supplies: small styrofoam tray, pine cones (i sprayed them with primer the night before), tongs, paint brushes, and green paint (with some blue and white thrown in for a quick color mixing lesson) we used the tongs because big buddy prefers to keep his hands clean mini man is fine with messy hands but still gave the tongs a try then he remembered messy hands are what makes painting fun - you can also see that while i almost always make him wear a smock, pants are optional :)  sponge painting the tray   once dry we added the pine cones. some could be pushed through the tray, others required glue  i used the gl...