Our Thanksgiving Tree

November 20, 2012 by 1 Comment

One of Jay’s favorite books is The Giving Tree. He loves that book. He loved it as a kid. And he loves it now. So much so that he is giving Lilla a copy for Christmas.

The title of that book started ruminating around in my head a few weeks ago and morphed into an idea for a different kind of tree. Instead of a giving tree, what about a Thanksgiving tree?

I found some white craft paper in the back of a closet and sketched a tree out and then Lilla and I colored it in. We cut leaves in various harvesty colors. And we tacked it to a wall in our school room.

This is a picture of day one. As you can see, it is a work in progress.

Every night, we each write something we are thankful for on a leaf and tape it to the tree.

And what started out as just a fun craft to do with the kids has actually really helped me. It has helped me to slow down.  Focus. Think about what I am thankful for.

I am not trying to squeeze my thankfulness in between other things. Between making lunch plates and sippy cups. Between diapers and hineys. Between discipline and dirty dishes.

Instead every night, I sit down for a few minutes and think about all the things I am thankful for.

And there is so much I am thankful for.

I am so thankful for my family. My dear husband, my children, my father and brother.

I am thankful Jay is feeling better. Not awesome. But a little better. And we will take what we can get.

I am thankful to have Lilla home with me all the time.

I am thankful for how great Bette is doing and all the progress she is making.

I am thankful that in my life, God is turning the bitter into sweet. That I feel different these days. Better. More joyful. Peaceful.

I am thankful I don’t have to cook this year for Thanksgiving.

I am thankful that the hardest things in life are often the greatest gifts.

I am so thankful we have clothes on our backs, a roof over our heads, and food in our fridge. God has given us so much, and I am thankful.

And I am thankful that God has put so much love – so much gracious, overflowing, unconditional love, from Him and others –  in my life.

 Lilla and I discussing what we are thankful for and making our leaves.

Happy Thanksgiving, friends! Hope you have a great holiday weekend and get to eat lots of yummy turkey!
Filed Under: About Me, Crafts, Holidays, Homemaking, Homeschooling, Life, Thanksgiving

Cursing Over Crafts

August 30, 2011 by 2 Comments

I have a dream. Well, maybe it is not a dream exactly. It is more of a I will if I can get it together and get around to it kind of thing. And it is to make our home school room cute.

 

Because that is apparently what you are required to do as a homeschooler. I think it might even be required by law. I am not sure. Because I haven’t finished filing our paperwork yet. But it must be in there, somewhere, in all the paperwork, the statement that your home school room must be cute.

 

Because that seems to be the general concensus among home schoolers, that an entire room, wing, or level of your house be devoted to homeschooling.

 

I wanted to install a huge bulletin board in our room. Or maybe even several huge bulletin boards. And cover them with designs and directions and maybe even some flag bunting. I was thinking PB Kids all the way.

 

But big bulletin boards are really expensive. And I couldn’t find any bunting that was quite right. I briefly entertained the idea of making my own bunting. But then I tried my hand at decorating one small bulletin board we already have. Nothing fancy. Just normal school stuff; day of the week, calendar, date, weather, etc.

 

But because I am an idiot, I decided to use the top of our trash can as a work space. Forget that there was a whole kitchen island right next to me to spread everything out on. Instead, I just plopped my paper and tape on the top of the trash can because that was the closest thing to the bulletin board.

 

But my stuff kept falling off. And my tape kept getting stuck on other things. And I said the F word three times. Which is what I do when I get really frustrated. And then I had to stop and repent for my profanity.

 

And this is why I hate crafts. I am not any good at them; I forget to plan properly. And I don’t use a proper work space. And then stuff gets messed up and I end up cursing like a sailor.

 

Thankfully, my kids were asleep.

Filed Under: About Me, Crafts, Homemaking, Life

How To Encourage Kids To Read

August 26, 2011 by Leave a Comment

A big part of our home school curriculum for kindergarten is going to be reading, particularly reading aloud. And I stumbled upon a great craft idea for keeping track of reading progress at Martha Stewart. Just make a book worm!

 

For mine, I used white and color card stock. I drew out freehand my worm, which basically looked like a big S, cut it out, and then cut it down into smaller pieces. I then laid all the pieces out so they were spaced properly and glued them down one at a time. And the result was a blue book worm.

 

To encourage reading, we will write each completed book in a space, starting at the top. The first one will be Mr. Popper’s Penguins, which we are reading now. When every 5th book has been completed, the title will be written on a green square, indicating it is time for a reward for a job well done.

 

I am excited to see how we do and about all the fun books we will read this year. And no, my book worm is not as good as Martha Stewart’s, but then whose ever is?

 

Happy Reading!

Filed Under: Crafts, Homeschooling, Reading

A Quiet House After A Busy Weekend

December 7, 2010 by 2 Comments
Lilla is at school, the baby is sleeping, and the house is so quiet. Praise God. We have both a ballet recital and a Christmas pageant and about ten other things to do this week before school gets out for Christmas break. I am really thankful for the quiet because I need to think and get caught up on some things after the busy weekend we had.
 
For some reason over the weekend, I decided to make an advent calendar, which is unlike me since I don’t care for crafts. But we don’t really do “Santa” at our house and I was feeling a little concerned that Lilla might be missing out on some of the fun on Christmas. I looked around the internet for some ideas for advent calendar, but they all required a trek to Michael’s for supplies and I didn’t feel up to it.
 

I brainstormed and came up with a way to make our own little advent calendar with stuff that we had on hand. 1 glass vase. Check. Red ribbon. Check. Red scrapbook paper. Check. I cut 25 pieces of paper and on each one I wrote a fun activity. Then I folded them up, numbered them and put them into the vase. Lilla gets to open one each morning until Christmas. Yesterday’s activity was “Make Popcorn and Watch A Movie.” She loved that. We watched Babe which gets funnier and funnier every time I see it. Saturday’s activity was “Go To The Home Depot Kid’s Workshop.” That was pretty fun too. Our calendar is working out well so far.
 
Bette spent a lot of time crawling around my desk and all over my feet wherever I was sitting or standing. She has a thing for shoes and is always underfoot. I am so afraid I am going to trip over her or step on her, but it is her favorite hangout place.
 
I also got my wrapping paper and ribbon organized. I decided to go with red this year. Usually I do gold or silver, but I was in a red mood this year. And we got the girls’ little tree up. We put all the sweet homemade ornaments on it as well as the gifts to and from their friends.
 
Sunday night we went to church and then to a party with both girls. I thought other kids would be there, as in years past, but I was wrong. It is always a little awkward when you are the only people at a party with children. But the girls were so good and looked pretty cute in their matching dresses so no one seemed to mind. We had a great time. We made some new friends and caught up with old ones. And afterward at home, we were all so tired that everyone went straight to bed!
 
Filed Under: Bette, Christmas, Crafts, Holidays, Homemaking, Life

A Family Valentine

February 17, 2010 by 2 Comments
I hope everyone had a good Valentine’s Day. This was the first year that ours was more of a family day as opposed to a couple event which was fun.
 
Lilla and I made Valentines during the Super bowl a couple weeks ago, including this one to give to Jay. It was technically for Jay, but I intend to store it away in the box I have for special momentos for Lilla. I like that it marks where she is right now in life – the size of her hands, her age, her writing skill. I have boxes for the both the girls and try to stay on top of putting things in them, but most of the time stuff just ends up stashed in my desk until I clean it all out and sort it and finally put it in their boxes. I am trying to do better though…
 

We planned on Valentine breakfast, so I set the table the night before with my red Ikea dishes from the Christmas tea party.

We each had a small gift and then I bought a big gift for Jay and Lilla.

Lilla checked out the presents while Jay made the chocolate chip pancakes.

She was pretty happy about her new Barbie.

Then I surprised them with a new ice cream maker. I had a whole plan to actually make ice cream at some point that day, but did not take into account having to freeze the bowl for 24 hours. So, making some is on our agenda for this week.
 

Jack Mike came by with oodles of sweet gifts.

A puzzle for Lilla and books for us, but the best gift of all was…

A pack of disposable cameras and photo album for Lilla to use when the baby arrives! It was very thoughtful, and I am sure Julie, Eliza, and Marcie were very involved in putting that gift together.
 
Only four weeks to go!
Filed Under: Crafts, Family, Holidays, Homemaking, Life, Lilla, Valentine's Day
«Older Posts