Stephanie's Mommy Brain

Valentine's Day Children's Books

2012-02-02T06:00:00.000-05:00

Valentine's Day is just around the corner so I picked up a few Valentine themed books from our library. We've enjoyed reading them aloud and I recommend you read them, too!

Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown

Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown by Charles M. Schulz is basically the old Charlie Brown Valentine's Day video in book form.

Charlie Brown is confident that this will be the year he receives a Valentine's Day card. As the story goes along his confidence wans and eventually he realizes no one sent him a Valentine. Poor Charlie Brown!

I really like the way that old Charlie Brown movies are also made into books. The entire movie is included so you don't miss your favorite parts. Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown is laid out like a comic strip so it's visually attractive to young readers.

I loved introducing my kids to Charlie Brown and his friends. Hopefully I'll find this book at a used book sale this year.

The Valentine Box

The Valentine Box by Maud Hart Lovelace is a sweet story about a little girl, Janice, who is new in town. She dreads her class Valentine's Day party because she's afraid no one gave her any valentines. I won't spoil the story but I will say the ending is happy and cheerful.

This is the first book I've read by Maud Hart Lovelace. When I opened the book to read it I recognized her name as the author of Betsy-Tacy, which I've seen mentioned on other blogs but have never read.

So, I know almost nothing about Maud Hart Lovelace. I don't know if this is a typical story for her or different from her norm.

The thing I find most interesting about this book is the illustrations. While the storyline is your typical new girl story, the illustrations show Janice as an African American child in a class of all Caucasians. The words of the story in no way address the difference. The black and white illustrations make the difference very subtle and I doubt my children even noticed.

The Valentine Box was published in 1966 during a racially turbulent time for our country. I wonder if the illustrator, Ingrid Fetz, was trying to make a point through her drawings or if the story as a whole was intended to make a statement. If you know the history behind this book, I'd love for you to share in the comments.

Cranberry Valentine

Cranberry Valentine by Wende and Harry Devlin is a cute story about a confirmed bachelor, Mr. Whiskers, who begins receiving unsigned valentines. Being a confirmed bachelor he is very concerned that someone has set her cap to catch Mr. Whiskers!

I'll not give away who has sent the valentines but in the end Mr. Whiskers is relieved to learn that he was never in any matrimonial danger.

You may recall we read Cranberry Thanksgiving last fall. Cranberry Valentine is part of the same series and centers around the same three characters. Like the other book, a cranberry cake recipe is included at the end of the story.

I'll definitely keep my eye open for the Cranberryport series when I visit a used book sale! And recommend you do the same!

What books have your been reading? Any good Valentine's Day books?

Linked to:

L.M. Montgomery Challenge 2012 Wrap-Up

2012-01-31T06:00:00.000-05:00

January has flown by! And now it's time to wrap-up the L.M. Montgomery Reading Challenge at Reading to Know.

I'm sure you, and my friend Carrie, are all glad that I'm finished reading Montgomery books.

The Montgomery Books I Read

I accomplished most of my goals for the Montgomery Reading Challenge.

I read and reviewed: Mistress Pat, Magic for Marigold, and The Story Girl. But I didn't get to the illustrated Anne book that I wanted to read with my kids. I'll put it back on the shelf and pull it out again next January.

I also wanted to watch Anne of Green Gables with my children. We did that as a Family Night and you can read about it on my new blog, Everyday Family Living.

What I Learned

I learned a few things about myself by reading these three books.

I learned that I do not enjoy long flowery descriptions. I'm not sure if this is the result of social media or if it's just my personality to want an author to get to the point.

I am a grown up. Duh, right? What I mean is that Montgomery writes from the imaginative carefree perspectives of children. Adults in her books though not the enemy are seen as overbearing, too practical, and only concerned about their responsibilities. By her descriptions I am an adult. Which is probably why I find it difficult to enter into her imaginative worlds.

I'd rather read my friend Carrie's reviews of Montgomery's books than the actual books. Reading Carrie's posts makes me want to read the books. They make me want to like Montgomery's books because Carrie enjoys them. She see so much delight and fun in them that I just don't see.

One Montgomery book a month is about my limit. I think part of my difficulty this year is that I read 3 Montgomery books in the span of 3 weeks. It was too much for me. I'm going to have to remember that next year.

I'm glad I participated in the L.M. Montgomery Challenge and I'll do so again next year if Carrie hosts it. But I'm also glad it's over.

Are you are "grown up" or do you enter into the magic of Montgomery's books!

Menu Plan Monday :: January 30, 2012

2012-01-30T06:00:00.000-05:00

Last week was super busy!

We had our normal 2 extracurricular activities plus a field trip and a play date. Then we all visited the dentist. We ended the week with a fund raiser dinner for my daughter's American Heritage Girls troop.

Thankfully this week is much slower. The only extra thing we have on the calendar is a Cub Scout lock-in for Friday night. My hubby will be sleeping on a gymnastic tumble floor with 20+ little boys while I enjoy the comfort of our bed. Poor guy!

We've put our new 2012 budget in place this week.

I now have $650 a month to spend on food, toiletries and household supplies. I've also switched to a cash only spending system. My hope is that using only cash will lower my spending. I'll let you know how it works.

With all of these factors in mind, here's my meal plan for January 30 - February 5, 2012.

BBQ Chicken, Baked Potatoes, Steamed Carrots

Frito Pie: Frito's, Chili, Cheddar Cheese

Lemon Pepper Salmon, Steamed Broccoli and Carrots, Rice

Turkey, Baked Potatoes, Salad

Chicken Pot Pie, Fruit Salad

Chocolate Chip Pancakes and Scrambled Eggs

Much of this is coming from my freezer.

The chicken is frozen and leftover from last week's roasted chicken. The chili is also frozen and leftover from last week's meal. And the turkey is frozen and leftover from Christmas (gotta use that up before it gets freezer burn).

What's on YOUR menu plan this week?

Want to read more January menu plans?

Linked to:

Menu Plan Monday @ OrgJunkie.com

GROW Weekly Goals 1.27.12

2012-01-27T06:00:00.000-05:00

It's time to check-in on my goals again. And once again I'm not where I wanted to be.

But, I have reasonable excuses. I spent 3 days last week in bed with a migraine. This week my husband worked nights and was around during the day. Both of those threw off our daily routine.

How did I do the last 2 weeks?

Here are my goals for January 15-21:

Faith

1. Read How to Study Your Bible for Kids with Will Tuesday - Friday.
2. Made to Crave online study.

Marriage

3. Nightly Face-to-Face with Joel.
4. Plan February date.

Mothering

5. Read aloud 4 books.
6. Plan family nights for January and February.

Health

7. ~~Switch from hot black tea to hot herbal tea (no sugar)~~. (The major cause for the migraine.)
8. Go to bed by 10:30 PM nightly. (Managed this a couple of nights.)

Savings

9. Set up cash envelope system. (Will do this weekend.)
Blog

10. #SITS31DBB (SITS Girls 31 Days to a Better Blog).
11. Share my new blog (EverydayFamilyLiving.com).
12. Snowman and Anne of Green Gables activities.

I think part of my problem is that I'm trying to make several major changes to our routine (Bible studies and reading) and it's too much. So I'm going to step back and focus on some smaller items for the next two weeks.

Faith
1. Read How to Study Your Bible for Kids with Will Tuesday - Friday.

Marriage

2. Plan February date.
3. Schedule babysitter.

Mothering

4. Begin reading Little House in the Big Woods.
5. Plan family nights for February.

Health

6. Get routine blood work done.
7. Go to bed by 10:30 PM nightly. (Managed this a couple of nights.)

Savings

8. Begin using cash envelope system.

Blog

9. Launch my new blog (EverydayFamilyLiving.com).
10. Write and schedule February's blog posts.

That's my plan for the first 2 weeks of February.

How are you doing with your 2012 goals?

Snow Children's Books

2012-01-26T06:00:00.000-05:00

SNOW!

We finally had our first measurable snowfall last weekend! It couldn't have been more perfect - started Friday, continued through Saturday, and cleared off for sledding on Sunday.

Unfortunately warm temperatures and rain melted away our 8+ inches of snow on Monday. But that's OK. We had fun sledding and now we're having fun reading aloud books about snow.

Our Snow Book Read Alouds

Perfect Snow by Barbara Reid is about 2 boys who have to go to school on a snowy day. They are a little distracted during class just waiting for recess to play in the snow.

When finally released, one boy builds a fort while the other boy builds snowmen. During the second recess the boys join forces to build a fort made of snowmen.

The illustrations really make this book! A note in the book says "the color illustrations were made with Plasticine that is shaped and pressed onto illustration board. The drawings were done with ink and watercolor paint."

According to Wikipedia, Plasticine is a non-drying clay often used in clay animation. Hmm.. interesting.

The author of Perfect Snow did a great job of using Plasticine to give her illustrations a 3D feel. They make the book visually interesting and fun to read.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Snow Company by Marc Harshman is another fun book. A blizzard descends on a farming community and Teddy's family takes in 3 stranded neighbors for the night.

Losing electricity just adds to Teddy's enjoyment of the evening as he listens to his retired neighbors tell stories of past snow storms. The end of the evening turns into a fun sleepover as Teddy's mom makes sleeping pallets for the neighbors close to their wood burning stove.

I love the simplicity of this story. Neighbors helping neighbors in a time of need. Older generations sharing oral history with younger generations. Snow Company is a sweet book to help children understand the value of community.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

White Snow Bright Snow by Alvin Tresselt is a classic snow children's book. We follow the postman, the farmer, and the policeman as a snow storm arrives in a small town and blankets everything white. Children happily build snow forts and have a snowball fight while our poor policeman ends up in bed with a cold.

First published in 1947 the story and illustrations have a mid-1900s feel to them. My copies (yes, I inadvertently bought 2 at a used book sale) were first published by Scholastic in 1988 so they are thin paperbacks.

I love reading classic books with my children. There's just something about the simple wording and illustrations that has stood the test of time.

In honor of our first Snow Day I am giving away one of my copies of White Snow Bright Snow.

To enter, leave a comment with your email address on this post before February 2, 6 PM Eastern. I will randomly select a winner and notify her by email.

For additional entries subscribe to Stephanie's Mommy Brain and like the Stephanie's Mommy Brain Facebook page. Be sure to leave separate comments for each entry.

Linked to:

A Rambling Mommy Brain

2012-01-25T06:00:00.000-05:00

Do you ever get where your brain is full of thoughts and plans and activities you want to do but you just can't seem to move it all from the thought level to the action level?

That's where I'm at right now.

My brain is full.

I've brain-dumped until I almost need a list for my lists.

I have thoughts about: our snow storm this weekend, my Cub Scout den meetings for the rest of the year; our Cub Scout Blue and Gold Dinner next month; our family budget; ways to cut expenses for groceries, clothing, household supplies and homeschool curriculum; books I want to read with my kids; our home school activities; play dates to schedule; a whole month of blog posts to write; launching my new blog EverydayFamilyLiving.com; guest posts to write; ebooks to tell you about; and..and..and..

My list goes on and on.

Will and I sledding down a hill.

There's so much that I WANT to do that I don't know where to start. And so I do nothing. Instead I watch TV or browse through Pinterest or check Facebook. Those are all fun activities but they won't help me reach my goals.

Speaking of goals, yesterday I found out I'll be speaking at the RIGHT (Rhode Island Guild of Home Teachers) annual conference. My workshop will be:

Mom Confidence: Equip Yourself to Care for an Infant/Toddler While Teaching Your Older Kids.

When it comes to homeschooling, toddlers and infants often bring a whole new challenge. In this session we'll tackle questions such as: when do we get school work done? How do I keep the Baby from distracting my Big Kid? And how do I keep my Toddler out of mischief? Learn real mom tools and tips for homeschooling with an infant or toddler in the house.

Ellie "reads" to Sam while the Big Boys do school work.

I'm super excited for the opportunity to speak about homeschooling. I'm a little nervous to speak to other home school moms! Speaking at least once this year is one of my goals for 2012. It'll be fun to check that off.

So, I warned you in the title that this post rambled. I think it lived up to the title. And now that I got all of that out of my system, maybe I can write a couple of posts that DON'T ramble.

Thanks for reading! And I'd love it if you shared how you solve the problem of a brain full of thoughts and not knowing which to act on first!

The Story Girl by L.M. Montgomery

2012-01-24T06:00:00.000-05:00

The Story Girl by L.M. Montgomery is about a group of children, all cousins, who are growing up together. One of the girls is called "The Story Girl" because of her knack for entertaining the other children with stories. The book follows the children through their adventures and many of "The Story Girl's," well.., stories.

Good grief! How many times can I write "The Story Girl" in one paragraph?!

This is the latest book I read for The L.M. Montgomery Reading Challenge at Reading to Know. After reading 2 other books for the challenge this month I've concluded that reading multiple Montgomery books back-to-back is not a good idea for me.

I know my friend, Carrie, loves Montgomery and I've honestly tried to love her, too. But The Story Girl nearly did me in. Honestly, I only made it half way through. I just couldn't finish. For me, that's huge! I always finish books and movies, no matter how bad they are.

Unfortunately, 3 books with flowery descriptions that go on-and-on were just too much for me. I guess I'm too practical, kinda like Marilla in Anne of Green Gables.

I'm not a huge fan of The Story Girl but I'll turn it over to my daughter one day. Though I WILL be sure to read along and discuss it with her because the theology in this book is a little warped. I don't want my daughter to be confused by the misinformed ideas that Montgomery presents.

Poor theology aside, if you enjoy Montgomery then you'll enjoy The Story Girl.

It's probably good that this is the last Montgomery book I read. Given this review and the ones I wrote of Mistress Pat and Magic for Marigold, I'm not sure Carrie would be friends with me after another less-than-favorable review.

Tell me, are you a Montgomery fan?

Menu Plan Monday 1.23.12

2012-01-23T06:00:00.000-05:00

This week is going to be a little crazy at the SMB house. We have an activity planned for Tuesday through Sunday so I need quick and easy meals.

So what are we eating January 23-29, 2012?

Chili, Cheddar Cheese, Crackers, and Salad
Roasted Chicken, Potatoes, Carrots and Homemade Biscuits
Lemon Pepper Salmon, Steamed Carrots and Broccoli, Rice
Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
Homemade Pepperoni Pizza, Salad, Pineapples
Turkey Spaghetti and Salad
Chocolate Chip Pancakes and Scrambled Eggs

What's on YOUR meal plan this week?

5 Simple Home Organization Tips

2012-01-19T06:00:00.000-05:00

Not all home organization projects have to be huge, like decluttering a kitchen, to help our homes run smoothly. Simple tricks and techniques can also go a long way in making home life easier.

Here are 5 easy tips to help you organize your home:

1. Shopping List on Refrigerator.

I keep a notepad on the side of my refrigerator. When I (and my husband) see we are running low on an item I write it on the notepad. Then as I write my shopping list I include the items from the notepad. It isn't a fail proof system but it works most of the time.

2. Toilet Paper Unwrapped.

I store unwrapped stacks of toilet paper under my bathroom sinks. This keeps the toilet paper where it will be used. I also don't have to wrestle with the plastic wrapper while sitting in an awkward position!

Now that my kids are a bit older they know where the toilet paper is and how to change the roll. Which means there's one less thing I always have to do.

3. Sheets Folded Together.

I fold matching top sheets and fitted sheets the same way so they are the same size. Then the final fold of the top sheet encases the fitted sheet and pillowcase. This keeps sheet sets together and easy to find in the middle of the night when a child wets the bed or has a tummy bug.

I also store sheets in the bedroom closet where they will be used. This frees up space in my hall linen closet. And keeps the clean sheets handy if I see the ones on the bed are dirty and need to be changed.

4. Over-the-door Rack in the Closet.

My master bedroom closet has wasted space between the sliding doors and the edge of where our clothes hang. The doors are cheaply made and would never support hooks. For years I thought about how to make use of this space. At one time I hung up plastic stick-up hooks but those didn't last long under the weight of my husband's workout clothes.

Then a few months ago I bought over-the-door racks to go on my children's bedroom doors and hold coats. Unfortunately the boys' bedroom door was the wrong size and their rack didn't fit. As I thought about where to use the rack I suddenly realized the rack fit over the closet door perfectly. Now my husband has a place to hang his baseball caps and workout clothes!

5. Plates, Bowls and Cups in Bottom Cabinets.

I store my everyday dishes in a bottom kitchen cabinet that is traditionally used for serving dishes. My children (ages 3-8) are old enough to set the table, pour their own cereal, and get themselves a drink.

Keeping the dishes in cabinets they can reach allows my children more independence and reduces the number of times I have to wait on them.

Do you already use these tips or is there one that's new to you? Are you working on any home organization projects? Please share in the comments.

Linked up with Hearts at Home:

Magic for Marigold by L.M. Montgomery

2012-01-17T06:00:00.000-05:00

Marigold Lesley is an imaginative little girl in a family full of unimaginative grown-ups. We meet Marigold, and her clan, 4 months after her birth and follow her until she's about 10 or 12 years old.

I liked Marigold well enough. I felt sorry for her when Young Grandmother refused to allow Marigold to visit her lifelong imaginary friend. I also commiserated when her boy playmate abandoned her for a new boy in the neighborhood.

I found Magic for Marigold by L.M. Montgomery kind of boring. Long on flowery descriptions but short on a developed story line. Montgomery just kind of rambles around. I felt like she couldn't make up her mind what kind of character she wanted Marigold to be. At times the little girl seems strong-willed and at times she seems fanciful and dreamy.

I don't mean this to be a negative review. I really didn't dislike Magic for Marigold, but I didn't love it either. It's just an .. {shrugs shoulder} ..eh. OK book. If you have some time on your hands, headed to the beach or on vacation, pick it up and be amused for a couple of hours.

Did you have an imaginary friend like Marigold?

Menu Plan Monday 1.16.12

2012-01-16T06:00:00.000-05:00

This week I'm trying a new soup recipe. I found it in The Everything Soup, Stew and Chili Cookbook that I downloaded from Amazon for free (I don't think it's free now). I'll let you know if we like it.

What else are we eating during January 16-22, 2012?

Curry Chicken with Rice
Roast Beef with Carrots, Potatoes, Gravy and Homemade Biscuits
Pasta Fagioili with Italian Sausage (new recipe)
Shredded Beef Tacos, Flour Tortillas/Corn Shells, Cheddar Cheese, Fruit Salad
Homemade Pepperoni Pizza, Garden Salad, Pineapples
Chicken Pot Pie and Garden Salad
Chocolate Chip Pancakes and Scrambled Eggs

What's on your menu plan this week?

GROW Weekly Goals 1.14.12

2012-01-14T06:00:00.000-05:00

Remember the awesome goals I made for myself 2 weeks ago? Yes, the goals that I HAVE YET TO FOLLOW. Well, it's time to report on my progress.

Faith
1. Read How to Study Your Bible for Kids with Will Monday - Friday.

Marriage

2. Plan our January and February away dates. Schedule babysitter.
3. Weekly at-home date.

Mothering
4. ~~One-on-one with Ellie for haircuts.~~
5. Plan Sunday's Family Night activity.
6. ~~Start 100 Read Aloud book list.~~

Health
7. Go to bed by 10:30 PM nightly.
8. Eat 3 servings of veggies a day.

Savings
9. Make a new budget. (My husband has taken over this task.)

Blog
10. ~~Write down launch plan for new blog.~~
11. ~~Write and schedule 9 blog posts for SMB.~~
12. ~~Enjoy my SITs Girls feature day on Friday~~.

Hmm.. after striking through a few things it looks like I did manage to complete a few tasks last week. I'm feeling a little better about my goals now.

Here are my goals for January 15-21:

Faith

1. Read How to Study Your Bible for Kids with Will Tuesday - Friday.
2. Made to Crave online study.

Marriage

3. Nightly Face-to-Face with Joel.
4. Plan February date.

Mothering

5. Read aloud 4 books.
6. Plan family nights for January and February.

Health

7. Switch from hot black tea to hot herbal tea (no sugar).
8. Go to bed by 10:30 PM nightly.

Savings

9. Set up cash envelope system.

Blog

10. #SITS31DBB (SITS Girls 31 Days to a Better Blog).
11. Share my new blog (EverydayFamilyLiving.com).
12. Snowman and Anne of Green Gables activities.

Hopefully the coming week will see more progress than this week!

What steps did you take this week to meeting your 2012 goals?

Welcome SITS Girls!

2012-01-13T06:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome SITS Girls visitors!!

I'm super excited to be featured on the SITS Girls blog today!

If Stephanie's Mommy Brain is new to you, or you are a subscriber who usually reads through email, I invite you to poke around a bit and get familiar with the blog and me.

Start Here.

I suggest you begin with the About page. It's recently updated and includes a glimpse into the early days of Stephanie's Mommy Brain. I can't help laughing every time I look at the family picture on my About page. Obviously we don't take ourselves serious all the time.

Keeping It Real.

If we did, I would have never posted about how we moms always seem to discuss the poop and pee habits of our children. Why do we do that?! Worse yet, I showed a picture of my children's disgusting bathroom habits. Why did I include a picture?!

{Quickly moving on to something more pleasant!}

Let's Meet in Person.

I'm super excited to attend my first blog conference this year. Back in November I won a ticket to Bloggy Boot Camp with a post about a messy life moment. I can't wait to spend a whole day talking about blogs with women who think blogging is as fun as I do. If you are at the Philadelphia conference I'd love to connect in person!

Why wait? Let's Connect Now.

Thanks for stopping by today. Before you go, subscribe to the Stephanie's Mommy Brain and like my Facebook page so we can support each other now.

How to Organize Kid's Toys

2012-01-12T11:00:00.000-05:00

It's hard to find the ONE thing you want in this toy boxes.

Toy boxes eat toys like dryers eat socks.

I know I put all the parts in there but somehow I can never find all the matching pieces. And in the process of looking for the matching pieces my children like to empty the entire toy box onto the floor.

I've learned it doesn't have to be this way. You CAN have organized toys if you follow these guidelines.

Sort and group toys. We have Lincoln Logs, Tinker Toys, Thomas the Tank Engine trains and tracks, cars and trucks, miniature princesses, etc. You get the idea.

Store each group in a square lidded container. (In other words, a plastic tub.) When purchasing your tub consider how big your collection will eventually be. If you are just beginning your Thomas track collection don't buy a small tub. Buy a medium tub to grow into.

Label each tub and lid. If you have non-readers print a photo of the toy and use it as your label.

See through tubs help non-readers. Labels help babysitters.

Stack the tubs in a corner or closet. If you are concerned about how the tubs look, buy tubs in matching colors.

Find new homes for old toys. Sometimes children receive toys as gifts that they lose interest in pretty quickly. DON'T clutter your home with these toys. If he hasn't played with it in months or asked about it, quietly find a new home for it at the Salvation Army.

Throw away broken toys. Yes, I understand most of the Transformer still works but that one piece keeps popping off and you keep picking it up off the living room floor. It's broken. It really is OK to throw it away. Unless this is your child's most beloved toy, but that's rarely the case.

Store puzzle pieces in plastic bags. Has your child ever pulled a stack of puzzles off a shelf? If so, you know the nightmare of trying to work 10 puzzles with the pieces jumbled together. I place each puzzle's pieces in a zippered plastic bag then all the bags go into a tub.

Plastic drawers are a great way to hold small items.

Clean up the toys. All the organization in the world won't help if your child doesn't return his toys to their homes. We have clean up at least twice a day - before we begin our school work and before supper. This keeps me from tripping over toys in the middle of the night and my children know where to find the toy they want to play with.

These are a few of my favorite toy organization tips. What is your favorite tip for organizing toys? Do you use a toy box or some other system?

Linked to:
Works for Me Wednesday

The Best Time Management E Book!

2012-01-11T06:00:00.000-05:00

After my first child was born I discovered the beauty of a regular routine. Back then my routine consisted of feeding baby, changing baby, playing with baby, and occasionally sleeping. As my first baby grew and changed so did my routine.

Today there are no babies in my house now but there is a routine. I've found a regular routine reduces the number of decisions I have to make each day. It also helps my children move easily from one activity to another.

Occasionally I get in a scheduling rut. For whatever reason a routine just won't work for me anymore and I won't have any motivation to make a new one.

That's what happened to me about a month ago. Our routine just didn't seem to flow and I started flying by the seat of my pants. THAT always gets me in trouble! We ended up eating out a lot, school work didn't get done, and the house was a disaster.

To help pull me out of my lethargy I read books and blogs about organizing or time management. In December, I bought Tell Your Time, a GREAT little ebook about time management.

Tell Your Time by Amy Lynn Andrews is only 30 pages long and currently costs $2.99. Amy packed a lot of valuable information, tips and inspiration in those 30 pages!

In Tell Your Time, Amy shares how to identify your roles and purposes. Then she explains a system for including in your day the steps necessary to accomplish your purposes.

Amy's time management system is based on the classic envelope money management system. Instead of dollars and envelopes, you manage time and activities. Instead of "telling your money where to go" you tell your time where to go.

I love that!

By the time I finished reading Tell Your Time I remembered why I schedule our day and was inspired to create a new our daily routine.

If you are a time management newbie, or a veteran looking for fresh motivation, I strongly recommend you buy Tell Your Time today!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

Mistress Pat by L.M. Montgomery

2012-01-10T06:00:00.000-05:00

Patricia Gardiner is the mistress of her ancestral home, Silver Bush. She loves every inch of the old house and gardens.

She loves it so much she can't bear the thought of leaving. Even if it means she'll be an old maid, though she could have virtually any man she wants. Seriously, she turns down at least 5 marriage proposals that I can remember! Who has that many marriage proposals?!

{Spoiler Alert!} In the end, Montgomery has to burn down the old home in order to force Mistress Pat to finally marry the love of her life and move to the other side of the country.

Mistress Pat is ... escapist fiction. It was a good choice to read while on vacation but it's not a book I want to re-read any time soon. Mainly because Pat annoyed the heck out of me. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for being sentimental about a house, as you'll see in a minute, but to refuse 5 (or was it 6 - I lost track after awhile) marriage proposals because you love a house is taking things a bit far.

Part of me really does understand Pat's love of Silver Bush. I have a similar ancestral home, lovingly called "The Farm."

Early in their marriage my maternal grandparents bought the land and house just up the hill from my grandpa's ancestral home. My mom lived her entire childhood there. As a child I visited my grandparents at The Farm and knew every nook and cranny of their small home, 2 barns, 2 chicken houses and "the bottoms" (a valley behind the house).

I sat on a porch swing in the same spot with my grandpa!

After my grandparents died my mom inherited the house and part of the farmland. Today she and my dad live in the 60+ year old house.

Back in July my family took a road trip to Arkansas and visited The Farm. For me the house is filled with memories of too-large Christmas trees, a kitchen drawer full of candy, and cut-throat canasta games between the grown-ups after my brother and I went to bed. Everywhere I look there are precious memories.

I'm glad I read Mistress Pat by L.M. Montgomery. It's not a book I'm going to say you MUST read but it's a fun book if you have extra time on your hands.

Do you identify with Pat's love for her home? Does you have an ancestral home, too?

Menu Plan Monday 1.9.12

2012-01-09T06:00:00.000-05:00

I have been planning menus off and on for about 10 years. I've used a variety of methods, planning guides, and worksheets. I've planned by the week, 2 weeks and month. I've included every meal and snack in my plan and I've planned just our supper meals.

After all my different systems I've learned that the best menu plan method is the one that works NOW. If your current system isn't working or you are bored with it, change it up and try something new.

My current system is to plan for the entire month. I downloaded a free customizable 2012 calendar and fill in each day's supper meal. I also make a note of any special plans next to the date. This helps remind me if I need to start supper earlier than usual.

All that to say: if you are new to meal planning, don't give up! Keep trying until you find the system that works for you.

So what are we eating at the SMB house January 9-15?

Chili, Cheddar Cheese, Salad and Crackers
Roasted Chicken, Potatoes, Carrots and Homemade Biscuits
Lemon Pepper Salmon, Steamed Carrots and Broccoli, and Rice
Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup (with leftover roasted chicken)
Homemade Pepperoni Pizza, Salad and Pineapples
Turkey Spaghetti and Salad
Chocolate Chip Pancakes and Scrambled Eggs

What's on your meal plan this week?

Linked to Organizing Junkie.

4 Simple Home Organization Projects

2012-01-07T06:00:00.000-05:00

Is "get organized" one of your goals for 2012?

I like to start a new year off with an organized home. We've been rearranging shelves on books and labeling toy tubs this week. Not really exciting stuff or anything to show you.

But, I do have a few past projects to inspire you to reach your 2012 home organization goals. I've explained a few organizing tips in each of the posts in case you are an org newbie.

Organize a Pantry

Organizing a Pantry with Wire Shelves. I LOVE wire closet organizers but they make keeping small things contained a challenge. I use two different kinds of baskets to solve this problem.

Organize a Junk Drawer

How to Organize a Kitchen Junk Drawer. What are you collecting in your junk drawer? Apparently I like to hoard fast food condiment packets! This project only took about 15 minutes and produced great results.

How to Make a Finance Binder

How to Make a Finance Binder. Filing cabinets don't work for me so I keep all of our receipts in a binder. The binders keep our finances organized which helps us save money in the long run.

Declutter Your Kitchen

Decluttering My Kitchen. Four years ago I realized that my kitchen cabinets held too much stuff. So I decluttered. I threw away cracked bowls and gave away items I rarely used. I loved the results.

What home organization projects are you working on this month? Please tell us about them. Or better yet, share a link to your project so we can admire your hard work!

Linked to:

Works for Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family

GROW Weekly Goals 1.9.12

2012-01-06T06:00:00.000-05:00

Earlier this week I shared my 6 goals for 2012 and my one word theme for the year - Grow.

Because I am a terrible procrastinator and need accountability, I am going to blog 12 of my bite-sized goals each week and report on my progress.

Here are the little goals for January 1-5:

Faith
1. Read How to Study Your Bible for Kids with Will Monday - Friday.

Marriage

2. Plan our January and February away dates. Schedule babysitter.
3. Weekly at-home date.

Mothering
4. One-on-one with Ellie for haircuts.
5. Plan Sunday's Family Night activity.
6. Start 100 Read Aloud book list.

Health
7. Go to bed by 10:30 PM nightly.
8. Eat 3 servings of veggies a day.

Savings
9. Make a new budget.

Blog
10. ~~Email SITs Girls info for my SITs day.~~
11. Write down ~~blog goals~~ and business plan.
12. Write down launch plan for new blog.

I am not off to a stellar start. The laundry got done, kids got feed, and some school work happened but that's pretty much it.

However, I accomplished a lot for Stephanie's Mommy Brain. Check out my new about page! I also tweaked the layout to (hopefully) make site navigation easier. I also wrote and scheduled a bunch of posts for this month.

Since I didn't accomplish much this week many of my goals are carrying over. Here are the goals for January 6-12:

Faith
1. Read How to Study Your Bible for Kids with Will Monday - Friday.

Marriage

2. Plan our January and February away dates. Schedule babysitter.
3. Weekly at-home date.

Mothering
4. One-on-one with Ellie for haircuts.
5. Plan Sunday's Family Night activity.
6. Start 100 Read Aloud book list.

Health
7. Go to bed by 10:30 PM nightly.
8. Eat 3 servings of veggies a day.

Savings
9. Make a new budget.

Blog
10. Write down launch plan for new blog.
11. Write and schedule 9 blog posts for SMB.
12. Enjoy my SITs Girls feature day on Friday.

Hopefully the coming week will see more progress than this week!

Did baby steps did you take this week to meeting your 2012 goals?

How to Home School with a Toddler in the House

2012-01-05T06:00:00.000-05:00

In September 2008 my oldest child started kindergarten. It was a momentous day for us. I think our school day lasted a whole hour back then. Partly because that's all the attention span he had and partly because I had a house, 2 year old, and 3 year old to look after.

One month later we added a newborn to our home and our home school went on unofficial vacation for a couple of months!

Thankfully by the time September 2009 rolled around I had learned a few lessons in managing 4 small children, a home and school!

Create a routine.

A routine is really a habit for the order of your day's events. Our morning routine is:

get up,
eat breakfast,
change clothes,
make your bed,
brush your teeth,
straighten up your room,
do your chores,
do your school work,
play until lunch.

Once a routine is established then everyone knows what to expect. This cuts down on disagreements with older children.

It also means mom doesn't have to think about when to do the different parts of a day. Not having to make decisions when you are sleep deprived is a good thing!

Also, the above example is our current routine. Our routine with an infant looked a lot different. You will want to create a routine around feeding and nap times.

This is when things get tricky. How you handle the infant/toddler/preschooler during school time really depends on your family dynamics, the age of the child, and your child's level of development. I've used a variety of methods.

School during nap time.

I am a firm believer in getting infants on a sleep, eat, play schedule. Knowing that baby would be asleep from 10-11 AM every day gave me a predictable hour to do school with the big kids.

School with baby close by.

I never did the baby wearing thing. I have nothing against it. It just isn't me. So when we had school while baby was awake, I put him close by in a bouncer or exersaucer. We could see each other but he entertained himself with toys.

School with baby/toddler in another room.

When I learned baby #2 was on the way I toddler-proofed my firstborn's bedroom. I made the room as safe as possible, included a toy tub and some books and put a gate on his door. It's the only way I survived that first trimester!

I used the same baby gate when I needed to do school with my oldest and my toddler was getting into things. I gave him toys, books, and a sibling to play with in his bedroom. Baby/toddler was safe and happy while we accomplished school work. And my children learned to play together without me in the room.

School with a toddler in the room.

As toddlers become more aware of their surroundings they want to do school just like big brother. There are tons of creative ideas for doing this.

Coloring books or preschool workbooks just for the little guy. My now 3 year old was over the moon to have his own books and pencil bag this year!
Busy bags. Basically these are small plastic bags that contain fun but educational activities. Just google "homeschool busy bags" for more ideas than you could ever use!
Give him manipulatives, Lincoln Logs, or building blocks to play with on the floor.
A tub filled with rice or oatmeal and some miniature cars makes a great indoor sandbox.
If your school room is the kitchen run a little water in the sink with bubbles and let him play with spoons and cups. Just be prepared to clean up the mess.
Or let him "organize" your pantry. Keep canned goods and plastic spice bottles low so he can stack them on the floor. It's good practice for eye-hand coordination.
Include him in the lesson. My little guys have always joined us to read science and history lessons. They don't always understand what we are reading but they like to sit on my lap and look at the pictures.

Homeschooling with infants, toddlers, and preschoolers in the house is possible. It just requires a little planning and flexibility.

What tips do you have for homeschooling and caring for little ones at the same time?

Linked to:
Big Family Friday at Holy Spirit-Led Homeschooling
Works for Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family

L.M. Montgomery Reading Challenge 2012

2012-01-04T06:00:00.000-05:00

Every January my friend Carrie hosts a L.M. Montgomery reading challenge at Reading to Know. Her goal is to influence everyone to read books by or related to L.M. Montgomery all month (that's my interpretation of her goals).

Not sure who L.M. Montgomery is? Think Anne of Green Gables. Ah.. now you know her!

Pretty much anything goes for the challenge, except the final 2 Anne movies. Carrie believes they are heresy so link to those at your own risk!

A quick search through my archives revealed that this is my 4th year to participate in the L.M. Montgomery Challenge. Here are some posts from my archives:

Wow! I didn't realize I had read so many of Montgomery's works. So what am I reading this year? (Edited to link to my reviews.)

I'm also planning to involve my kids in the challenge. At a used book sale this year I discovered Troll Illustrated Classics: Anne of Green Gables. Knowing that Carrie's Challenge would come in January I giggled to myself and quickly handed over my quarter!

We will also watch Anne of Green Gables and enjoy tea time. Our tea may not be exactly like Anne's but it will be fun!

Those are my plans. I can't wait to read what everyone else has to say about Montgomery!

What's your favorite Montgomery book?

Saying Good-bye to a Season of Motherhood

2012-01-03T06:00:00.000-05:00

There are no babies in my house.

No tiny diapers. No bottles. No middle-of-the-night feedings. No pacifiers. No tiny shoes. No diaper blow outs. No sweet baby's breath. No swaying side-to-side during a conversation to keep a baby asleep.

The baby-toddler stage of my mothering journey officially ended in October when Samuel turned 3 years old. A season of my life is done. Over.

In all honesty, I miss it. Yes, mothering babies and toddlers is HARD. It is all about survival - yours and the baby! But it's also very sweet and very basic. Food, clean diapers, and lots of snuggles are all baby needs and wants. It's physically exhausting to meet those needs 24/7 but it's also very fulfilling to know I am the only one who knows how to make baby most comfortable.

I know that our decision not to birth more babies is the right one for us. Four c-sections in 5.5 years is not easy. Homeschooling big kids during the day, nursing a baby at night, and wrestling with crazy hormones is overwhelming. Mix in fatigue and joint pain from rheumatoid arthritis and you really have the potential for disaster.

My head knows it's the right decision. My heart isn't so sure. My heart keeps whispering, "No! Don't let this sweet season of life end so soon. Just one more baby."

While my heart struggles to catch up with my head, I remind myself that no diaper bags, no naps, no strollers, and no cribs brings fresh adventures, different kinds of sweet moments, and fulfillment in not just surviving but enjoying our growing relationships.

One season ends and another begins. Eventually my heart will embrace this season of life, probably about the time we hit the tween years. Heaven help me!

Has your season of life changed recently? Were you excited or scared, happy or sad about the changes? Share your thoughts about the seasons of motherhood in the comments.

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Menu Plan Monday 1.2.12

2012-01-02T06:00:00.000-05:00

I took a sabbatical from menu planning for most of 2011. My waistline and bank account show the results of my time off! Since two of my goals for 2012 are health and savings I'm getting back on the menu planning bandwagon.

Here's my meal plan for January 2-8, 2012:

Curry Chicken with Rice

Roast Beef with Carrots, Potatoes, Gravy and Homemade Biscuits

Ham and Lentil Soup with Cornbread

Shredded Beef Tacos, Flour Tortillas/Corn Shells, Cheddar Cheese, Fruit Salad

Homemade Pepperoni Pizza, Garden Salad, Pineapples

Chicken Pot Pie and Garden Salad

Chocolate Chip Pancakes and Scrambled Eggs

What's on your menu plan this week?

6 Goals in 2012

2012-01-01T06:00:00.000-05:00

I'm often asked how I "do it all." I laughingly reply that I don't sleep but the truth is I generally have a plan.

I NEED a plan, otherwise I feel distracted and run around meeting the most urgent needs without feeling like I've accomplished anything. I don't like that feeling.

This year I'm planning with purpose. Using customizable goal setting forms from Money Saving Mom I wrote down 6 priorities for 2012.

1. Grow my faith.

I feel like my spiritual life became stagnant during the last couple of years. Have you ever seen a stagnant pond? It isn't pretty. If no water runs in or out of a pond then algae and slime eventually takes over. Plants and creatures calling the pond home eventually die. It's pretty gross.

That's where I feel right now. Nothing fresh coming in and nothing fresh going out. Just... there.

To change this I plan to regularly read my Bible and pray, participate in an on-line faith-related study, and read books that encourage my faith.

2. Grow my marriage.

In May 2012 we will celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary. 15. Wow! It doesn't feel that long!

So our names aren't added to anyone's prayer list let me be quick to say my marriage is in good shape. We have our share of disagreements and miscommunications but we're good.

However, I find that my marriage often takes a backseat to carrying for young children, homeschooling, and other responsibilities.

To change this I plan to have weekly at-home dates, monthly away from home dates, daily talk time, and start planning our anniversary celebration.

3. Grow my relationships with my children.

I realized recently that my mothering has been very focused on training and teaching. That's only natural with infants and toddlers, and homeschooling. My job as mom is to teach them to brush their teeth, clean their rooms, and how to read.

But 10 years from now when Will leaves for college I don't want him to say, "Thanks for teaching my algebra, mom." I want him to say, "Thanks for making me feel loved."

To focus more on loving/enjoying my kids and less on teaching/training I plan to have regular one-on-one time, read aloud together daily, plan weekly family nights, and read books related to parenting, mothering or home schooling.

4. Grow physically healthy.

This is your typical lose weight goal but it's more than just that. I have learned that when I'm exercising and eating healthy foods my rheumatoid arthritis is better controlled. I feel more energetic and less joint pain.

I haven't exercised in several months and I've been eating junk since November. The result is I feel like a stuffed sausage and my joints hurt. Ugh!

To change this I plan to exercise 3-4 times a week (hello, 30 Day Shred), eat healthy food, and sleep 8-10 hours a night.

5. Grow our long-term savings.

We have several long-term dreams: own a farm in Texas and my husband leave corporate America.

As we discussed our dreams this fall we realized that accomplishing them will result in big lifestyle changes. First, a Texas farm will require a larger mortgage than we have now. Secondly, leaving corporate America will result in a pay cut.

At this point in our conversation our Dave Ramsey and Crown Financial Ministries training kicked in: when you plan to make a life change that results in less income, spend the time leading up to the life change as though it had already happened and put the surplus money in savings.

To make this happen I plan to make, spend by, and track a budget based on our projected reduced salary; use a cash envelope system for spending; and deposit our projected surplus from each check into savings.

6. Grow my blogs.

This kinda goes along with our dream of my husband leaving corporate America. I need to earn an income to help make that dream happen. And I need to earn that income without leaving my house so after 4+ years of blogging I'm hoping to turn this from a hobby to a career.

To make this happen I plan to start a new blog focused on playing and learning as a family; post on a regularly; find a sponsor so I can attend Bloggy Bootcamp (I won a ticket from the conference sponsors a few months ago), and write an ebook.

My One Word Theme

I've noticed around the blogosphere that people are taking a single word as their goal or theme for 2012. My word is "Grow." A better word might be "discipline" because that's what it will take to accomplish my goals but discipline sounds a lot harder than grow. {smile}

What is your word for 2012? Do you have any goals for the year?

Linked to:

Homemade Toy Wooden Gun Tutorial

2011-12-19T06:00:00.000-05:00

Trying to look like serious Minutemen.

My children begged to buy wooden toy guns on our trip to the Springfield Armory earlier this fall. While supporting a National Park is a worthwhile use of our money, doing so at $20 for each gun (times 4 children) was a little too much for my hubby's frugal nature.

He declared he would make each of our children a homemade wooden toy gun. Last month he made good on his promise. He also included our children in the process.

Here is our homemade wooden toy gun tutorial (these make a great gift for the little boy in your life!):

Step One:
To make 4 rifles and 4 revolvers you need one 12' long - 2x6 and four 48" long - 3/4" dowels.

Step Two:
Draw your gun template on cardboard and cut out.

Step Three:
Cut 2x6 into 4 equal lengths.

Step Four:
Trace cardboard templates onto 2x6 pieces.

Step Five:
Carefully cut out toy guns. Drill holes in trigger area and use to carefully cut larger hole.

Step Six:
Fill any holes with wood putty and sand, sand, and sand some more.

Step Seven:
Mark center line on the top of the gun and carefully use a router to cut a groove for the dowel barrel. Or you could stop here and call it good.

Step Eight:

Cut dowels to desired length. Sand, sand, and sand. Cover groove with painter's tape and spray paint the stock brown. Leaving one side plain, spray paint the barrels (dowels) black. Repeat paint until you have the desired finish.

Step Nine:
Run a bead of wood glue down the groove and position dowels in groove.

After a couple of weekends of working on the project with your children you should have homemade toy wooden guns that look like this:

My children love playing with their toy guns!! We've reenacted the Revolutionary War and been held up by bank robbers many times. In fact, one cute little bank robber (whose gun is taller than he is!) woke me up last week by pointing his gun at my bed and yelling "stick 'em up!"

This was a simple project that my husband had a lot of fun working on with our children. Do you have any homemade toys at your house?

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The Little Drummer Boy Book and DVD

2011-12-18T06:00:00.000-05:00

The Little Drummer Boy by Ezra Jack Keats is the classic Christmas lyrics in book form. It tells the sweet story of a poor boy who has nothing tangible to give the infant king.

Instead he gives the only thing he has - the gift of playing a song on his drum.

Who can resist this story?! Especially children who love to "pa-rum-pum-pum-pum." I dare you not to sing the song as you read it!

The Little Drummer Boy version illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats is my favorite. The pictures are full of texture and draw the reader into the story.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Did you know there is a classic The Little Drummer Boy movie?

I didn't know about the movie until last Christmas when we bought a set of classic Christmas TV movies. My children watched it a couple of weeks ago and it's cute.

The story line is a little different from the classic song. The boy is forced to become a drummer and is not happy with his profession until he plays for the Newborn King.

I wouldn't buy the movie on it's own but as a part of a bundle, it's worth having.

Do you own any copies of The Little Drummer Boy?

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How the Grinch Stole Christmas Book and DVD

2011-12-17T06:00:00.000-05:00

"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store.
"Maybe Christmas . . . perhaps . . . means a little bit more!"

How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr. Seuss is one of my all time favorite Christmas children's books!!!

Our family reads the Grinch so often during December that we can all quote almost the entire book.

We love the book so much we even carried it on the airplane to read as we flew to Texas earlier this month. I'm not sure our fellow passengers appreciated our read aloud but we certainly had fun.

Why do we enjoy How the Grinch Stole Christmas? Well, it's fun to read the book with emphasis and change our voices. It's also a wonderful story of redemption. The Grinch's heart grows "3 sizes" as he learns Christmas isn't about all the trimmings and packages.

We also enjoy watching the movie. NOT the Jim Carrey version. {shudder.shudder.} We like the original animated How the Grinch Stole Christmas movie. I think the Carrey version adds grown-up and potty humor that doesn't have a place in this wonderful story.

If How the Grinch Stole Christmas! book and DVD aren't in your Christmas collection I highly recommend you add them today!

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Christmas Carols for a Kid's Heart

2011-12-16T06:00:00.000-05:00

I smiled today as I listened to my children sing Christmas songs while cleaning their rooms. Nothing is sweeter than hearing my 8 year old sing "Joy to the World" at the top of his lungs.

It's important to me that my children know the old Christmas carols. But it is becoming increasingly difficult to hear traditional Christmas songs. Even Christian radio stations and churches today choose contemporary arrangements instead of the traditional ones.

Christmas Carols for a Kid's Heart by Bobbie Wolgemuth and Joni Eareckson Tada helps me teach my children traditional Christmas music.

Christmas Carols includes 12 different songs in the book and on the enclosed CD. Each chapter contains a brief narrative describing the related scripture verses and the history of the song. The authors also wrote out all of the words to the song so we can sing them correctly with the CD.

I truly love this book and accompanying CD! I highly recommend you add it to your Christmas children's book collection (you should also buy the other books in the series!).

Have you taught your children traditional Christmas carols?

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Christmas Tour of Homes 2011

2011-12-15T06:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to our home!

My 4 children and I started celebrating Christmas right after Thanksgiving. Here are a few snapshots of the Christmas activities and books we've packed into this month so far.

Decorating our Christmas Tree

After my husband carefully put the lights on our tree I pulled out all of our field trip/ vacation ornaments to hang up. While unwrapping each ornament the kids and I talked about where we bought it, who we were with and what we saw on each trip.

Remembering the last 2 years through our Christmas ornaments was a lot of fun! Buying ornaments from our field trips and vacations is one Christmas tradition we'll have for a very long time.

Making Kid's Christmas Tree Ornaments

Seeing all of our field trip ornaments inspired me to make new memories with my children. So this non-crafty mom really got her craft on the first couple of weeks of December!

We made spiced dough ornaments, hand and foot angel ornaments and candy cane reindeer ornaments. Now our little Christmas tree is really overflowing with ornaments!

Building Graham Cracker Gingerbread Houses

Not all of our crafts have been ornaments. My children begged to make gingerbread houses this year so we made individual graham cracker gingerbread houses. I'm not sure which was coated with more frosting - the graham crackers or my children. Either way building with frosting and decorating with gum drops is delicious fun!

Learning the Nativity Story

Our Christmas crafts and books have been fun but the real reason for Christmas is celebrating the birth of Jesus. I want my children to understand and remember the Nativity story so we've been reenacting the Nativity with storytelling blocks, Little People figures, and finger puppets.

We also have nightly family devotions using A Jesse Tree Journey. My children listen as my husband reads aloud the scripture passages and corresponding thoughts. Each child takes a turn hanging the nightly ornament on our tree. A Jesse Tree Journey really is a sweet way of remembering the real meaning of Christmas as a family.

Well, that's just a peak at what we've done this month. I love the saying "it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful" because that describes the Christmas celebration at my house. Our decorations are few but meaningful. And our crafts are messy but memorable.

What have you done this month to celebrate Christmas?

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Linked to 2011 Christmas Tour of Homes.

5 Creative Ways to Teach the Christmas Nativity Story to Children

2011-12-14T06:00:00.000-05:00

"I guess I don't really understand what Christmas is all about. Can anyone tell me what the true meaning of Christmas is?"

"I can, Charlie Brown," Linus said. Then he stepped to the front of the stage, and he quietly told the story of Christmas, the day the baby Jesus was born." -A Charlie Brown Christmas

I spend a lot of time each December teaching my children the story of the birth of Jesus. As Christians, the story is important to our faith so I really want my children to know and understand what happened.

To help them remember the story I have used 5 creative methods (as in, not reading the Bible) to tell the story.

Nativity Finger Puppets for Elementary Students

My oldest son (age 8) is starting to think the Little People are kind of babyish. Thankfully he still thinks our finger puppets are fun.

We bought our set when he was a baby, which is a good thing because good ol' Amazon has finally failed me. A thorough search of the internet has not produced a single place where you can buy our set, but there are plenty of other finger puppet Nativities you can purchase.

I like using the finger puppets because they are unusual and fun for little hands. They also require audience participation since my 10 fingers are not adequate for all the characters in our reenactments!

Story Blocks for Visual Learners

Years ago I purchased Bible Storytelling Blocks. Nine blocks are used to tell 6 different biblical stories. Each block has one illustration for each of the stories.

You can use the blocks in a bunch of different ways. Children can put the blocks in their box like a puzzle. You can hold up each block for kids to describe the part of the story they see. Or you can tell the story and hold up the corresponding block.

Bible Storytelling Blocks are especially wonderful for visual learners who need to SEE what they are being told.

Side note: There only seem to be 3 sets of the storytelling blocks I own available on Amazon, so I don't think they are produced any more. Keep your eyes open for them at used curriculum sales and Goodwill!

Homemade Christmas Play

Last year we spent an early Christmas with my husband's family. My mother-in-law organized all seven of the grandchildren to put on a homemade Christmas play. She bought costumes but you could easily make them.

My kids loved putting on a play! Well, the 3 big kids did. Sam wasn't so sure about his role as the donkey but he looked really adorable.

Little People for Toddlers and Preschoolers

Children learn by repeating what they've been told during play time. That's why the Little People Christmas Story Nativity Scene is so perfect.

Our set (the manager scene, wise men, and shepherds) live in a basket by our Christmas tree. My children pull the basket out almost everyday and reenact the Christmas story with the sturdy plastic figures.

I really like that my preschooler can play with Baby Jesus and the Angels while my ceramic Nativity set from Thailand stays safely out of reach!

A Charlie Brown Christmas Movie

I would have never thought to use a secular video to teach my children a Bible story. But one day my oldest son (age 8) just started quoting the Biblical account of the birth of Jesus. When I asked him where he'd learned the verses he said from our Charlie Brown DVD. Imagine my surprise!

Linus quotes the verses from the book of Luke after Charlie Brown asks if anyone can tell him the true meaning of Christmas. After watching the video a few times all of my children could quote pieces of Linus' monologue.
It's definitely not a traditional way of memorizing the story of Jesus' birth but it sure is fun!

I hope that my children could answer Charlie Brown's question like Linus did. I want them to understand the real meaning of Christmas isn't "peace on Earth" but that Jesus was born on that day so he could die for our sins. Using these various methods have helped my children remember and understand the Nativity story.

What are some creative ways you teach the Christmas story to your children?

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The Best Christmas Carol DVD Version :: The Muppet Christmas Carol

2011-12-13T06:00:00.000-05:00

One of our favorite family Christmas traditions is to read aloud A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. It's a small book and quick to read but the best part comes AFTER we've finished the book.

That's when we watch The Muppet Christmas Carol.

I LOVE this movie. The Muppets add a touch of humor to the story. (Light the lamp, not the rat!) They also keep the ghosts from getting too scary so my kids aren't afraid when watching the video.

I always enjoy Michael Caine's acting. His version of Scrooge makes you dislike him while also feeling sorry for him. You see just how much of life Scrooge has missed out on in his pursuit of wealth.

The Muppet Christmas Carol is my favorite version of Dickens' classic Christmas story. I highly recommend every family own a copy of the DVD and watch it each December!!

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3 Tips for Flying with Children

2011-12-12T06:00:00.000-05:00

"Real courage is taking a bunch of small children on a plane!"

The gentleman speaking looked old enough to be a grandfather and meant his statement as praise of my little family. At least I think he did.

We were disembarking a plane after a 7 hour journey from Rhode Island to San Antonio, Texas. My 4 kids (ages 3-8) had been awake since 5:30 that morning and were exhausted.

To my amazement our flights departed on time, turbulence was minimal, and my children behaved beautifully. You would have thought they were experienced travelers instead of newbies.

So, how did I take 4 children on a cross-country airplane journey and have a fun time?

I planned snacks.

I looked over our itinerary and realized we had a one hour layover at 10 AM followed by a 4 hour flight. That meant no lunch. Not a good thing for young kids! So, I packed snacks, peanut butter sandwiches, and cut-up apples in each of their carry-on backpacks. It took a few minutes the night before to prepare everything but was definitely worth it!

I planned entertainment.

We don't own portable DVD players, smart phones, or tablets so our entertainment was low tech. I packed books, coloring books and crayons, and card games in each of their carry-on backpacks.

But the most important entertainment happened when we INTERACTED WITH OUR CHILDREN on the plane. We read books aloud. We played UNO. We talked about what we could see outside our windows. Most children will sit quietly if mom and dad are paying attention to them. Mine usually do.

I planned for emergencies.

My youngest is mostly potty trained and has been dealing with ear infections lately. Being "mostly trained" I felt Pull-Ups were a better idea than big boy underwear. I could just imagine us taking off and Sam declaring he needed to go to the potty! I also put a complete change of clothes in his carry-on backpack just in case of accidents. Unfortunately, we ended up using them!

A few days before our flights, we visited our pediatrician just to be sure Sam's ears were clear. Thankfully they were but our awesome pediatrician wrote a prescription for ear drops anyway. He explained that they would numb the ear drum for a couple of hours and make take off much more pleasant for Sam (and everyone else on the plane).

I don't think traveling by plane with small children takes courage, but it does take planning. If you pack plenty of snacks, entertainment, and emergency supplies you will also have a great trip with your children!

What's your best tip for flying with children?

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The Perfect Dessert - White Chocolate Covered Pretzels

2011-12-11T06:00:00.000-05:00

Chocolate covered pretzels are the perfect Christmas dessert. The combination of salty and sweet leave me munching handfuls of them. Which isn't good for fitting in my jeans but that's what New Year's resolutions are for, right?

Home made chocolate covered pretzels is an easy recipe and quick to make. Dipping the pretzels with my children just adds to the fun and the mess, but that's OK.

Here's how to make white chocolate covered pretzels:

1 pkg of vanilla almond bark (I've also used the chocolate almond bark. White chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate chips also work well.)
mini pretzels
parchment or waxed paper

Step 1: Tape sheets of waxed paper to your table or work surface.

Step 2: Melt almond bark or chocolate chips in small bowls. You want to work with small batches because it hardens quickly.

Step 3: Dip pretzels in the chocolate and place on waxed paper.

Step 4: If you really want to be fancy, drizzle colored decorator's icing or sprinkles over the top of the pretzels before the chocolate sets up or hardens.

Step 5: Let your helpers lick their fingers and sample their hard work!

After the chocolate hardens place the pretzels in a dry, cool place. Metal Christmas tins are great for storing white chocolate covered pretzels. They also make a lot of noise when opened so you know if anyone is trying to sneak a pretzel.

Do you agree that white chocolate covered pretzels are the perfect dessert?

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Lift the Flap Nativity Board Book

2011-12-10T06:00:00.000-05:00

It seems like most Christmas children's books are targeted at school-aged children. Toddlers and preschoolers need good Christmas books, too! They're out there; just harder to find.

One of our favorite toddler or preschooler Christmas picture book is Lift the Flap Nativity board book (our other favorite is a board book version of Gingerbread Baby).

The author uses simple but engaging words to tell the story of the birth of Jesus. She includes the angel's visit to Mary, the crowded inn, staying in a barn, the shepherds and the wise men.

Samuel, my 3 year old, enjoys lifting each flap to see what's underneath. Even though he's read this book a million times (slight exaggeration) he HAS to lift every flap. Since this is a board book I don't worry about Sam damaging any of the flaps, so he's free to look at the book anytime he wants.

I'm always looking for more good Christmas children's books. Do you have any recommendations for toddler or preschooler books?

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The Best Ever No Fail Fudge Recipe Tutorial

2011-12-09T06:00:00.000-05:00

How-to guide for making fudge:

In sauce pan, combine milk and sugar. Bring to a rolling boil. STIR. Boil for 7.5 minutes once it reaches rolling boil.

Just starting to boil.


Rolling boil. Will boil over sides if you don't stir.

Click the link to read the rest of my how to make no-fail fudge tutorial from last year.

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3 Favorite Christmas Tree Ornament Traditions

2011-12-08T06:00:00.000-05:00

My favorite Christmas tree ornaments are the ones connected to memories about our family activities. As we decorate our tree each year I feel like I'm walking down memory lane.

This year was especially fun because my kids are finally getting old enough that they remember the ornaments from last Christmas, as well as the events connected to them.

Homemade ornaments

Several years ago I began a tradition of making ornaments with my children. We don't do this every year but it's fun to do every couple of years and see the artistic development in each of my children.

In 2007 we made no-bake spiced dough ornaments. At the time Ellie was just over a year old so we only have ornaments from the then 2 and 4 year old "big" boys. We made spiced dough ornaments again this year and have now added Sam and Ellie's to our tree.

Picture frame ornaments

In 2009 as I shopped the after-Christmas sales I found some really cute baseball picture frame ornaments for .50 cents a piece. Knowing that my boys would be playing T-ball in the spring I bought a couple of the ornaments.

When Christmas 2010 rolled around I pulled out our ornaments and my copies of their T-ball pictures. Every time I look at Will's toothless grin I can't help but smile.

Whether your picture frame ornaments are store bought or homemade I love the idea of watching my kids grow up through our Christmas tree ornaments!

Field trip or vacation ornaments

Another tradition I began last year is to buy an ornament from each of the places we visit on a field trip or vacation. This year we added 6 new ornaments to our tree.

My favorite new ornament is this maple sugaring spigot. I bought it after our maple sugar tour in March. It's a real spigot, not an ornament, but I was able to string a ribbon through it to hang on our tree. Every time I look at it I think of a sunny day spent with friends tapping trees and tasting maple sugar water.

Decorating our Christmas tree was a lot of fun this year. With each ornament I pulled out of the box I asked my children, "Remember when..." They really liked seeing things they had made a little guys, looking at their pictures from last year, and remembering the fun we had on field trips.

These are three ornament traditions I plan to continue through the years. At the rate we going, we're going to need a bigger tree soon!

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How to Make a Simple Photo Wreath Ornament

2011-12-07T06:00:00.000-05:00

One of the drawbacks of homeschooling for a not-so-crafty person like myself is that all the cute holiday activities and crafts that go with school have to be organized, supervised, and cleaned-up by MOM. And since I'm "Mom" around here, we don't do a lot of those kinds of activities.

However, I am occasionally inspired. So, armed with a memory from my own public school childhood and a couple of crafty blog posts fresh in my mind, we made a Christmas craft this year! (This post originally published in 2009.)

Behold!

The Simple Photo Wreath Ornament!

1. Download snowflake wreath design from www.papersnowflakes.com/wreaths. Print the wreath on the bottom half of 8.5x11 green cardstock. You might have to adjust the size of the wreath.

2. Fold paper in half with wreath on surface (see upper right in 1st picture). Cut around wreath being careful to cut both halves and leave a piece of the fold at the top. Cut out inner circle of the wreath on the top half. (See bottom right with girl's photo inserted). Punch 2 holes in the top near the fold.

3. Decorate your wreath! We used washable glitter glue. It added a bit of 3 dimension, sparkle and fun. These sort of squirt out the glitter glue when squeezed. Let them dry for several hours. How long will really depend on how thick your glitter glue is. We let ours dry overnight just to be safe.

4. Once they are dry, glue a photo on the inside so that your smiling face is looking out of the wreath. Let the glue dry.

5. Cut several inches of ribbon. Insert the ribbon through the holes and tie a knot. Now your ornament is ready to hang!

We inserted extra copies of our Compassion children into the wreaths and sent them to Uganda as gifts. I like to think our ornaments make 3 Ugandan moms smile.

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The Visit of the Wise Men

2011-12-06T06:00:00.000-05:00

The traditional American celebration of Christmas includes a variety of characters and themes from Santa to sugar cookies to the three Wise Men. I try to include as much of that variety in our Christmas activities and books as possible.

One of my favorite Christmas children's books is The Visit of the Wise Men by Martha Jander. Jander tells the story of the Wise Men with beautiful rhyming text but it's the illustrations that I love about this book.

Each picture is rich in color and detail. The furnishings, clothing and people have a middle eastern feel to them. That seems appropriate since Jesus was born in ancient Israel - not America.

I appreciate that The Visit of the Wise Men helps my children visualize a culture very different from our own.

The Visit of the Wise Men is a great book to add to your Christmas children's book collection!

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How to Make Hand and Foot Angel Ornaments

2011-12-05T06:00:00.000-05:00

I smiled yesterday when my daughter cheerfully asked, "What Christmas activities are we going to do today?" My Christmas activity plan is working. Instead of just thinking about things to do with my children I'm actually doing them. That's a good thing!

So what Christmas activity did we do yesterday? We read a Christmas book, hung our Jesse Tree ornament and made hand and foot angel Ornaments.

To make a hand and foot angel ornament you need:

white card stock
glue stick
crayons, markers, tissue, paper, ribbon - whatever you want to use to decorate your angel
ribbon to hang your angel

First, trace around one foot and both hands with fingers together. Next cut out the hands and feet. Now either glue them together or decorate and then glue. That part depends on how elaborate you decorate. It's really a simple and quick craft.

We aren't very crafty so my children just colored their angels. But you could use bits of ribbons, tissue paper, markers, paint. The skies the limit on decorating.

Another cute idea mentioned in The ADVENTure of Christmas is to cut out your child's face and glue it as the face of the angel. I'm not sure how angelic my children are but it would be sweet to hang up again next year and see how they've changed.

So is your Christmas tree filling up with all of these home made ornaments like mine is? There's always room for one more ornament!

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One Wintry Night

2011-12-04T06:00:00.000-05:00

"The first Christmas happened almost 2,000 years ago," she began...But the story doesn't begin there. I couldn't have because the angel called Jesus a 'savior,' or a rescuer. Someone must have been in trouble.

To find out about it, we have to jump into a time machine and go back before Mary and Joseph were born..." - One Wintry Night

One Wintry Night by Ruth Bell Graham takes the Jesse Tree concept and puts in children's book form.

I love One Wintry Night because it sets the birth of Jesus in the context of the entire biblical story. As you read the book, you learn that God had been working down through time, all leading up to the birth, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.

One Wintry Night is not a quick read. It is 70 pages long and divided into 11 chapters. The illustrations are magnificent and definitely capture a child's attention. I like to read this book over a several days. It's great to use with a Jesse Tree or even in place of a Jesse tree.

I highly recommend you purchase One Wintry Night to read with your children!

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How to Make No-Bake Spiced Ornaments

2011-12-03T06:00:00.000-05:00

This year I am all about ornaments that connect with a memory. Our candy cane reindeer ornaments remind us of a fun day spent together as a family.

Our no-bake spiced ornaments will remind us of a play date with sweet friends for years to come.

To make your own spiced ornaments you will need:

1 cup ground cinnamon
1 tbsp. ground cloves
1 tbsp. ground ginger
1 tbsp. ground nutmeg
1 cup applesauce
2 tbsp. white craft glue
Food coloring (optional)
A few tablespoons of all-purpose flour

Combine the cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg in a mixing bowl. Add the applesauce and glue. Work all ingredients until mixed thoroughly. If desired, add food coloring now.

Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4 inch thickness. Cut dough with cookie cutters. Bore a hole in the top of each ornament (a drinking straw works well for this).

Lay ornaments out flat to dry at room temperature for 3-5 days, turning over often. (If you or your child runs out of patience, you can always speed up the process by popping these in a 200* oven for 1 hour.)

When they are completely dry, thread short lengths of ribbon or string through the hole in each ornament. (Recipe found in The ADVENTure of Christmas)

Those are the official directions and here are my side notes: I used about 1/2 cup of flour keeping the ornaments from sticking to the counter. I also used my hand to flatten them out rather than a rolling pin. It took 2 batches of the recipe to make all the ornaments you see in the above picture.

Also, we baked our ornaments and then they set out for 3 days. I turned them over each day because the bottoms kept getting moist. And anytime I used the oven I put the ornaments back in after I turned the oven off. I might have made ours a little too thick but experience has taught me that thin dough ornaments DON'T stand the test of time.

Finally, we painted our ornaments with paint pens to add a little more decoration to them.

Have you made spiced ornaments? They make your whole house smell delicious!

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The Best Gingerbread Man Children's Book

2011-12-02T06:00:00.000-05:00

What is the best Gingerbread Boy children's book?

No doubt about it, Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett is the best!

Matti and his mom are baking gingerbread men when Matti peeks into the oven before the required 8 minutes are up. With the oven door open, out pops a gingerbread baby. (He's a baby because he didn't cook long enough to be a man.)

The sassy gingerbread baby then takes the entire neighborhood on a run through the town and into the woods.

Who will catch him?!

You won't read any spoilers here, but I will say this book goes perfectly with our graham cracker gingerbread HOUSE activity.

Jan Brett's illustrations are what makes this book terrific. In her usual style, the focal point of the page carries the storyline but around the main illustrations are windows into what's happening elsewhere in the story.

So even though the gingerbread baby is leading us on a chase all over the countryside we see hints at what Matti is doing back at the house to catch the gingerbread baby.

We love reading this book aloud. I always give the gingerbread baby a sassy voice. It's a fun book to read while you eat your graham cracker gingerbread house, fill in coloring pages, or complete another activity from Jan Brett's website.

What's YOUR favorite gingerbread man book?

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How to Make a Graham Cracker Gingerbread House

2011-12-01T06:00:00.000-05:00

Is there anything more fun than making your own gingerbread house? My kids don't think there is! Creating graham cracker gingerbread houses is one of their favorite activities on our Christmas activity list.

We tried a kit for a real gingerbread house a few years ago but it was really complicated and you couldn't eat it. So, we went back to simple and edible graham crackers.

To make your own graham cracker gingerbread house you will need:

graham crackers
assorted candy decorations (we used gum drops)
white frosting or make your own "cement" icing*

First, break your graham crackers in half so that they are almost squares.

Next lay one graham cracker on a paper plate.

Then frosting/icing on three edges of a second graham cracker. Position 2nd cracker against the 1st. Repeat for three other sides.

Finally, smear 6th graham cracker with frosting/icing and position on top.

Use the frosting/icing to "glue" on candy decorations.

I've learned a few lessons from our graham cracker gingerbread houses.

1. When using "cement" icing let it sit for about 5 minutes after mixing. It needs time to thicken up and get sticky. Otherwise your house will fall down.

2. "Cement" icing is way too much trouble. It's good for older kids who don't want to eat their gingerbread houses. My kids want to eat it!

3. No matter what you do this is a messy craft with lots of finger licking. Have a wet washcloth handy for clean up.

4. One (or all) of the houses will probably fall down. Help your child laugh about it and then fix it.

I hope your children enjoy making graham cracker gingerbread houses as much as mine did!

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* Cement icing recipe from Angelina Ballerina's Christmas Crafts: 1 egg white, 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar, 1 cup powdered sugar, food coloring.

Beat egg white with cream of tartar till peaks form. Add powdered sugar and beat 5 minutes with electric mixer. Add food coloring if desired.

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The ADVENTure of Christmas

2011-11-30T06:00:00.000-05:00

If you can only purchase one new book this year I recommend you make it The ADVENTure of Christmas by Lisa Whelchel.

According to the cover The ADVENTure of Christmas is a Mom's guide to "helping children find Jesus in our holiday traditions."

The book does that and more. Each of the 25 chapters provides a devotional, 1-2 related kids' activities and a "teachable moments" section.

The teachable moments are simple conversation starters to help you discuss the tradition with your child.

In all honesty, most of the activities are too advanced for my children (currently ages 3-8) to do. But I think every mom should own this book because it inspires creativity and togetherness.

Remember our candy cane reindeer (an activity found in The ADVENTure of Christmas)? My children couldn't make their reindeer completely on their own so we worked on it together. They glued on the red pom-pom noses while I did the rest. If you asked my kids, THEY made the reindeer, and I'm OK with that.

We had fun together and made a sweet memory, all inspired by The ADVENTure of Christmas.

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Why are candy canes striped?

2011-11-28T23:02:00.001-05:00

Have you ever wondered why candy canes have stripes and are shaped like a shepherd's staff or the letter "J"? We wonder about things like that at my house which is why I included the answer in my Christmas activity plan.

According to The Legend of the Candy Cane by Lori Walburg the "J" stands for Jesus. The shepherd's staff is because the shepherds were the first to find out about Jesus' birth. The stripes are because Jesus was beaten. The red and white colors are because "his blood washes away our sins, making us white and pure as snow."

I love how The Legend of the Candy Cane takes a simple item from Christmas and creates a special story around it. After reading this book my children will always think of Jesus and our faith when they see a candy cane.

I think that's a good thing.

I like to pair reading our Christmas children's books aloud with an activity. In this case I recommend two activities: The Legend of the Candy Cane Coloring Book and making candy cane reindeer ornaments.

The Legend of the Candy Cane Coloring Book is only 15 pages long. The drawings are simple for even a preschooler to color. It also includes a version of the legend. (This is NOT the same product line as the Walburg book.)

The directions for candy cane reindeer ornaments are quick and easy for kids 8 and up. You can include a copy of the legend with the reindeer for a small gift of present topper.

Did you know why candy canes have stripes?

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Candy Cane Reindeer Ornaments

2011-11-28T06:00:00.000-05:00

Everyone will want to play with this cute red-nosed candy cane Reindeer! He's quick and easy to make for your kids' friends or your co-workers.

All you need is:

6 inch candy cane
brown pipe cleaner
small red pom-pom
1 pair of wiggly eyes
White craft glue

Take an 18 inch pipe cleaner and cut in half. Wrap one half around the hook of the candy cane and twist tightly.

Cut the other half into 2 pieces. Twist each of those pieces around the pipe cleaner already fastened to the candy cane.

Glue red pom-pom onto the tip like a nose. Glue on the wiggly eyes.

See? Super easy!

I had grand ideas of my kids doing these on their own. No such luck. My 3, 5, and 6 year olds couldn't figure out how to hold the pipe cleaners and twist them at the same time. And the eyes were too tiny for their little fingers to glue on. Gluing the pom-pom was the extent of their contribution.

Even though they didn't do much, my children had fun. And that's what counts. I'll try this idea again in a couple of years when their fine motor skills are a little more developed.

I like to pair our activities with the children's Christmas books in our collection. There are 2 different books you could read with candy cane reindeer: The Legend of the Candy Cane or Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

The reindeer also make wonderful small gifts for family, friends, and co-workers. If you want to add a non-offensive faith element to your gift, print a version of The Legend of the Candy Cane (The ADVENTure of Christmas by Lisa Whelchel has a great example) on a small piece of paper and attach it to the reindeer with ribbon.

Do you have any memories of making this classic Christmas craft as a child?

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Our Jesse Tree Journey 2011

2011-11-27T17:13:00.000-05:00

"Instead of tucking back Advent calendar flaps, we'll do it this way: we'll wait for the Christ like Zaccheus on the top limb, and we'll read the stories of the Old Testament, the whole pageantry of mankind, from Adam to the Messiah, each story pointing to the coming promise, the incredibly impossible gift, the Glorious Christ.

After each reading of another promise fulfilled, we'll hang the ornament of each story on the branches of a tree, our very own Jesse Tree, a testament to our covenant-keeping, people-passionate God, whose love unfolds like an endless gift down through thousands of years." Quoted from A Jesus Advent Celebration: A Jesse Tree Journey by Ann Voskamp at aholyexperience.com

This is our first year to use Ann's Jesse tree devotionals and ornaments. I'm excited about it and so are my children. The devotionals will help us remember all month that Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.

Last night I printed the devotional portion and placed it in a folder. I also printed the ornaments on white card stock and then cut and glued them for ornaments. I'm looking forward to our Jesse Tree Journey.

You can have a Jesse Tree Journey, as well. Visit A Holy Experience and follow the instructions at the end of the post to download your own FREE copy.

How do you prepare for Jesus' birthday on Christmas?

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Kid's Christmas Activities and Books

2011-11-26T06:00:00.000-05:00

What do reindeer ornaments, no-bake spiced ornaments, The Grinch who Stole Christmas and The Muppets Christmas Carol have in common? They are all on my 30 Days Kids' Christmas Activities and Books plan!

Last month's Thanksgiving kid's activities and books plan worked so beautifully that I decided to make a month-long plan for Christmas. We didn't do or read everything I had on the plan in November, but we did most of it. And I count that as a success!

My ideas for December include a variety of children's Christmas craft activities, reading children's Christmas books, and watching our favorite kid's Christmas movies.

I'll be blogging most of it and linking it all on this post. Each week I'll give you a sneak peek at what's coming up and then on the day the post publishes I'll add the link here.

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

5 Creative Ways to Tell the Nativity Story
The Perfect Dessert :: White Chocolate Covered Pretzels
My Favorite Christmas Carol Movie
3 Tips for Flying with Your Kids During Christmas
Christmas Tour of Homes 2011
Christmas Carols for a Kid's Heart (book and CD)
The Best Hot Chocolate Recipe

Week 4

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (book and DVD)
The Little Drummer Boy (book and DVD)
Christmas Mad Lib Fun
A Unique Homemade Boy Present
A Charlie Brown Christmas (book and DVD)
Teaching Children Generosity Through Compassion
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (book and DVD)

Merry Christmas from my family to yours!

Updated 12.31.11: Due to unforeseen circumstances of tummy bugs and migraine headaches I was unable to complete the posts for week 4. I'll be sure and start with those for 2012! {smile}

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Thanksgiving: A Time to Remember

2011-11-22T17:59:00.001-05:00

If you can only buy one Thanksgiving book then Thanksgiving: A Time to Remember by Barbara Rainey is the one to get!

Thanksgiving: A Time to Remember shares the story of the Pilgrims and their first Thanksgiving feast. It also briefly tells how our current Thanksgiving holiday came to exist.

My favorite feature of A Time to Remember is that you can read the entire story or you can read the large print for a shorter version. This means if you have older children or teenagers you read the more detailed version but if you have little guys (like I do) you read the shorter, less-detailed version. It's like having 2 books in one!

With beautiful full-color photographs this is so much more than a coffee table book. It's a family tradition you'll enjoy reading every year.

Be sure to like Stephanie's Mommy Brain on Facebook where I'm sharing more Thanksgiving tips and links throughout November.

More Thanksgiving Kids Activities and Books Posts

Give Thanks to the Lord Children's Book

2011-11-22T16:43:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving is about, well, giving thanks. When giving thanks it's good to know WHO you are thanking. The children's book Give Thanks to the Lord by Karma Wilson makes it clear that we are thanking God for his blessings.

The book follows a little boy through his family's Thanksgiving celebration. Friends and family members arrive. The children play in the leaves. And eventually they eat their Thanksgiving dinner. After each activity occurs we read the refrain "It's good to give thanks to the Lord."

With cute illustrations and easy to read words, Give Thanks to the Lord is an excellent book to read with your children and remind them who we are thanking this holiday season.

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More Thanksgiving Kids Activities and Books Posts

5 Kernels of Corn Thanksgiving Tradition

2011-11-21T06:00:00.000-05:00

I'm considering adding the tradition of five kernels of corn to our Thanksgiving dinner this year. Have you heard of the tradition?

It's mentioned in Mary's First Thanksgiving and goes like this:

"It is said that years after [the first Thanksgiving] celebration the colonists placed five kernels of corn on their plates to remind them of the hardships they endured. They gave thanks for the blessings each kernel represented... the beauty and bounty of autumn... their love for one another... love for their families... friendship with the Native Americans... their freedom to worship God without fear."

I'd like to modernize the tradition a little and have the kernels represent:

the necessities and luxuries provided through my husband's job;
love for our church, friends and community;
love for our immediate and extended family;
friendship with people from around the world;
freedom to worship God without fear.

Have you used the 5 corn kernels tradition?

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More Thanksgiving Kids Activities and Books Posts

I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie

2011-11-20T15:05:00.000-05:00

My children love reading silly Thanksgiving books. One of our favorite read alouds this month has been I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie by Alison Jackson.

The Old Lady begins the story as a small figure but with each Thanksgiving dish she eats she grows larger and LARGER. The family fears she may die. They also fear she will eat their entire Thanksgiving meal. One of those fears is well founded.

The wording and illustrations make I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie a delight to read with children. But if you really want to make it fun, read with emphasis and excitement in your voice. You'll have your kids rolling with laughter as the food "rumbles and mumbles and grumbles inside her."

Does your family read silly books? Which is your favorite?

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More Thanksgiving Kids Activities and Books Posts

Mary's First Thanksgiving

2011-11-20T08:00:00.000-05:00

Today I found myself asking my sons, "Which is better - eating fewer cookies than your sister or eating no cookies?" They were playing the ages old game of She Got More Than Me and I refused to participate.

Since we've studied different parts of the Thanksgiving holiday this month I've been very aware of ungrateful and entitled attitudes. As always, we're a work in progress at the SMB house!

This week we're shifting our focus from the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving feast to our personal thankfulness and celebration. I'm hoping our attitudes will improve this week.

Reading Mary's First Thanksgiving: An Inspirational Story of Gratefulness by Kathy-jo Wargin should cultivate a little gratefulness in our hearts.

Mary and her parents are immigrants about to celebrate their first Thanksgiving in America. They have received a pumpkin pie from a neighbor. Because they are so poor this will be their own special food for the day.

Mary complains about their poverty and her father tells her the story of the Pilgrims first year in America and the tradition of 5 kernels of corn. In the end, Mary changes her attitude and finds reasons to be thankful.

Mary sounds a lot like my own children - discontent with their blessings. Granted, her poverty is much different from my children's life of luxury (I think any family who never experiences true hunger is living in luxury!) but the lesson is the same. No matter what our circumstances, we have reasons to be thankful.

I hope my children understand this truth a little more by reading Mary's First Thanksgiving.

Be sure to like Stephanie's Mommy Brain on Facebook where I'm sharing more Thanksgiving tips and links throughout November.

More Thanksgiving Kids Activities and Books Posts

3 Kid Friendly Thanksgiving Recipes

2011-11-19T16:19:00.001-05:00

My children like to help me cook. I don't always appreciate my kids cooking help but I'm making an effort this fall to include them more in preparing our meals. So I plan to let my kids help me prepare these kid friendly recipes (Tater Tot or Hashbrown Casserole, Carrot Casserole and Apple Pie) for our Thanksgiving dinner.

Tater Tot or Hashbrown Casserole

2 lb. box of hashbrowns or equivalent bag of tater tots
3/4 cup melted margarine, divided
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1 can cream of chicken soup
12 oz. sour cream
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups crushed cornflakes

Have your child place defrosted tater tots or hashbrowns in a 9"x 13" pan. Let child measure margarine and melt in microwave. Then pour 1/2 cup margarine over tater tots/hashbrowns. In separate bowl, let your child stir together remaining ingredients, except for margarine and cornflakes. Place cornflakes in a sealed ZipLoc bag and let your child crush them. Pour soup mixture over hashbrowns. Allow your child to top with cornflakes and margarine.

Bake at 350* for 45 minutes.

Carrot Casserole

2 lb of baby carrots (or peeled & chopped carrots)
3 oz cream cheese
1/2 can french fried onions
1/4 lb butter (1 stick or 1/2 a cup)
1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
dried parsley flakes

Let your child rinse the carrots and place in a pot of water. Boil until soft enough to mash. Strain carrots and place in large bowl. Add cream cheese and butter to the carrots and let your child mash carrots into bite-sized pieces. Now stir in remaining ingredients except parsley flakes. Place in a 2 quart casserole dish and sprinkle top with parsley flakes.

Bake at 350* for 25 minutes.

Apple Crumb Pie

1 or 2 (9 inch) pie shell
6 cups thinly sliced apples
3/4 cup white sugar
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 Tbsp. butter (or margarine)

Kids can use an apple peeler/corer/slicer to prepare apples. Let children practice measuring and stirring this kid friendly recipe.

Preheat oven to 375*. Place sliced apples in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine white sugar, 2 Tbsp. flour, and cinnamon. Sprinkle over apples. Toss until apples are evenly coated. Spoon mixture into pie shell.

In small bowl combine 1/2 cup flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter or margarine until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle mixture over apple filling.

Choice: At this point you can cover top loosely with aluminum foil and bake in oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 25-30 minutes, until top is golden brown. This will give you a crumb topping, almost like an apple crisp.

I prefer to put another pie crust on top of the crumb topping. I just gives it an extra yumminess (and calories, but we won't speak of that.) If using the pie crust, cut 4 slits in the center. Then cover edges with aluminum foil or pie shield to keep the edges from burning. Bake according to above instructions.

How do you include your children in holiday meal preparations?

Be sure to like Stephanie's Mommy Brain on Facebook where I'm sharing more Thanksgiving tips and links throughout November.

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A Silly Kid's Thanksgiving Poem

2011-11-18T23:04:00.001-05:00

After reading silly Thanksgiving poems this week, we pulled out our Thanksgiving journals and my children tried their hand at writing an original poem of their own.

Hilarious doesn't begin to describe it. See for yourself. An original poem by William, age 8:

In case you need an interpreter:

The turkey said to the pie, "You are dry."
The pie said to the turkey, "Your future looks murky."

Can you write an original Thanksgiving poem?

Be sure to like Stephanie's Mommy Brain on Facebook where I'm sharing more Thanksgiving tips and links throughout November.

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Thankgiving Primer - Authentic Pilgrim Feast

2011-11-17T00:01:00.000-05:00

Years ago I had a great idea - prepare a Thanksgiving dinner like they ate at the first Pilgrim Thanksgiving feast. So to help me be truly authentic I bought The Thanksgiving Primer: A complete guide to re-creating the first harvest festival for your family, friends or church.

After reading The Thanksgiving Primer and thinking about an "authentic" Pilgrim dinner, I decided I couldn't do it. Why would you replace carrot casserole with "boile onions" or pumpkin pie and Cool Whip with prune tart? It wouldn't be Thanksgiving with those strange foods!

So all these years later (about 10), I've never used the recipes in this book. And I don't plan to start this year! But, it's not a total loss. The book gives detailed descriptions of Pilgrim clothing and discusses games the Pilgrim children played. Those are the parts of the book we're focusing on this year.

Playing marbles and the Pilgrim version of musical chairs just sounds more fun than eating seethed fish!

How authentic is your Thanksgiving dinner? Is it more like Norman Rockwell or the Pilgrims?

Be sure to like Stephanie's Mommy Brain on Facebook where I'm sharing more Thanksgiving tips and links throughout November.

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Thanksgiving Poems for Children

2011-11-16T22:59:00.000-05:00

I own about 20 different Thanksgiving related children's books. I know, that's a lot isn't it? It's hard for me to resist holiday books when they cost less than a dollar at a used book sale!

At the last sale I went to I found a different kind of Thanksgiving book. Thanksgiving Poems, selected by Myra Cohn Livingston, is a compilation of poems from a variety of genres. Among the 16 poems Livingston includes Native American poems, a Psalm, poems about the Pilgrims, and a poem about John the Baptist.

There are also silly poems included like Gobbledy-Gobble by Felice Holman. After receiving taunts for his "ugly as sin" appearance one turkey says,

"Well, sometimes they hurt ('Twould be nice to be purty.), but common sense says, "You're a winner." For on Thanksgiving Day they have all gone away to be somebody's good-looking dinner."

Ha!Ha! Sounds like a smart turkey! I noticed that Amazon has several used copies of Thanksgiving Poems for less than a dollar. For a cute book with a lot of variety I this is a welcome addition to our Thanksgiving children's book collection.

Do you know of any funny Thanksgiving poems? Please share!

Be sure to like Stephanie's Mommy Brain on Facebook where I'm sharing more Thanksgiving tips and links throughout November.

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Legend of Squanto CDs

2011-11-15T22:48:00.000-05:00

I'm trying to bring the people and events of Thanksgiving to life for my children. Our field trip to Plimoth Plantation last year quite literally brought the Pilgrims to life! This year we're doing something a little closer to home.

We are listening to The Legend of Squanto: An Unknown Hero Who Changed the Course of American History.

The CD set brings the story of Squanto alive through the amazing talents of the Focus on the Family Radio Theatre actors.

Listening to the voices and sound effects helps us imagine we were right there when Squanto became a slave, traveled to Spain and then England and finally returned home to find his entire tribe gone.

Just to be clear, this is not an audio book. It is a radio drama, complete with actors and sound effects. Focus on the Family Radio Theatre always does a superb job of bringing a story to life in our imaginations. I whole heartedly recommend The Legend of Squanto!

If radio drama is something new for your children, and you aren't sure if they will sit still for it, I have two suggestions. First, listen in the car as you drive around on errands. You'll find they don't want to get out of the van! Second, give each child a blank piece of paper or a coloring book and let them draw/color while they listen. Their hands will be occupied while they quietly listen.

Have you listened to The Legend of Squanto? If so, what did you think of it?

Be sure to like Stephanie's Mommy Brain on Facebook where I'm sharing more Thanksgiving tips and links throughout November.

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Kids' Hand N Foot Turkey Placemat for Thanksgiving

2011-11-14T21:55:00.001-05:00

I love any kids' craft or activity that documents the size of my children's hands or feet. I am all too aware how quickly those tiny hands and feet are growing. My oldest son's feet are almost as big as mine!

So when I saw the Hands and Feet Thanksgiving Turkey on EnchantedLearning.com* I knew we had to make it. Before you think I'm one of those Crafty Home School Moms, I'm not. We don't do crafts that often because I'm too type A and can't take the chaos. But I set aside my type A-ness today and embraced the chaos.

Here's how we made our Hands and Feet Turkey Placemats:

Step 1: Gather Supplies.

You'll need orange, red, brown, yellow and a sheet of your choice colored construction paper. I fit 3 feet and 4 hands on one standard size paper.
Glue sticks.
Contact paper for the fancy at-home laminating.

Sam's 3 year old feet make me smile.

Step 2: Trace feet and one set of hands.

Steps 3, 4, and 5: (Good practice for ages 5 and up.)

Cut out feet and one set of hands.
Then trace other two sets of hands with template.
Cut out the rest of the hands.

Step 6: Glue turkey together.

Overlap the heels to form a head and glue.
Arrange the hands around the brown body and glue in place.
Glue the entire turkey to a piece of construction paper.

Step 7: Color eyes, beak, waddle (red hangy thing) and feet. Also have your child write his name, the year and how old he is.

Step 8: Use clear contact paper to cover your turkey place mat and save forever. Also, resist the urge to correct your child's cutting skills. It will be hard but the oddly shaped fingers make the turkey even more precious!

I love my little turkeys, both the construction paper ones and the breathing ones! What children's Thanksgiving turkey crafts have you made this month?

Be sure to like Stephanie's Mommy Brain on Facebook where I'm sharing more Thanksgiving tips and links throughout November.

* Enchanted Learning is a membership site, however, not all of their pages require a membership to be viewed. Hands and Feet Turkey may come up if you search for it. My access is provided as a bonus to my RI Guild of Home Teachers membership. However, I think the personal membership is worth the price given all the projects and worksheets available!

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The Pilgrim's First Thanksgiving

2011-11-12T21:08:00.001-05:00

When purchasing holiday related books I look for both detailed and generic books. Squanto and the Thanksgiving Miracle is one of those detailed Thanksgiving books. It focuses on just Squanto and his part in the first Thanksgiving story.

The Pilgrim's First Thanksgiving by Ann McGovern is a generic Thanksgiving book. By generic I mean it tells the broad story of the Pilgrims leaving England, traveling in the Mayflower, building Plymouth and celebrating the first Thanksgiving. It doesn't delve too deeply into any one section of the story.

McGovern does a good job of condensing the Pilgrim story and presenting it in language children can relate to. She makes a point of telling that the children couldn't run and play on the Mayflower and that they worked hard to help their parents build Plymouth.

My children usually connect more with historic stories that mention the lives of children. As a result, I appreciate McGovern including those simple details in her book.

If you are looking for a general Thanksgiving children's picture book, I highly recommend The Pilgrim's First Thanksgiving.

Be sure to like Stephanie's Mommy Brain on Facebook where I'm sharing more Thanksgiving tips and links throughout November.

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How to Make a Kid's Pilgrim Hat

2011-11-11T19:50:00.000-05:00

It wouldn't be Thanksgiving with young children if we didn't make Pilgrim hats,* right?

First, make a template for a pilgrim hat out of black poster board. It's 14" across the base and 10" high. Fold the brim up at the point it connects to the upper part of the hat. Now you can let your kids trace the template with a crayon or piece of chalk. The crayon or chalk makes the line visible for them to cut along.

Next I cut poster board strips long enough to wrap around my kids' heads. The strip is stapled on the left and right sides of the hat. Tip: staple so the flat side is against the head! The brim will fold up and cover the strip in the front.

Then cut squares of yellow or gold construction paper and black poster board. Glue the black square on top of the yellow. Glue the yellow square to the upper front area of the hat.

Finally connect the strips at the back of your child's head with a paper clip. And take lots of pictures!

Be sure to like Stephanie's Mommy Brain on Facebook where I'm sharing more Thanksgiving tips and links throughout November.

*Basic instructions for these hats came from FamilyFun.com.

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Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving

2011-11-10T06:00:00.000-05:00

You might say that I have a thing for holiday books. Since I own about 20 Thanksgiving books; you'd probably be right. Out of my rather large collection, Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving by Eric Metaxas is one of my favorites.

From the back of the book:

"Every once in a great while, the hand of God is easy to see, and so it was with a lonely Patuxet brave and a struggling band of Pilgrims.

In 1608, a 12 year old boy named Squanto was captured in America and taken to Spain as a slave. With the help of Spanish monks who taught him about God, Squanto made his way to England and finally back to his homeland.

Squanto arrived to find an empty village - a deadly virus had wiped out his entire tribe. In their place, a small group of struggling Pilgrims settled and called their new community Plymouth.

Because of his time with the monks and in England, Squanto could communicate with the Pilgrims and knew about God. Soon he became their valuable guide and true friend."

Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving is one of my favorite Thanksgiving children's books because it gives a different perspective to the story that the Native Americans helped the Pilgrims survive. Instead of the usual politically correct version, Metaxas tells Squanto's story in view of God's sovereignty.

God knew when the Pilgrims would arrive. And He knew they would need someone to teach them to farm their new land. So He took something horrible, slavery, and transformed it into something amazing, the preservation of Squanto and the Pilgrims.

I love the concept of God changing something bad into good. It gives me hope for my own life. Specifically it gives me hope that my miscarriage and incurable disease (rheumatoid arthritis) may have beautiful consequences one day. That hope doesn't make them easy now. It just makes them more endurable.

If you are looking for a book to add to your Thanksgiving collection, I highly recommend Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving. Maybe reading about Squanto's life will bring you hope like it does me.

Be sure to like Stephanie's Mommy Brain on Facebook where I'm sharing more Thanksgiving tips and links throughout November.

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A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Boy

2011-11-09T06:00:00.000-05:00

The everyday life of children from history fascinates my children. What did they eat? What did they wear? What games did they play?

These questions about the Pilgrims came up as we studied the Mayflower and learned it carried 34 children. Thankfully, we own a book that answers those questions.

Samuel Eaton's Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Boy by Kate Waters is about exactly what the title says. The story picks up Samuel's life in 1627 - 7 years after he traveled across the Atlantic Ocean on the Mayflower with his parents.

The best thing about this book is that it includes full color photographs! We see each of the garments Samuel puts on in the morning. We see his family eating a meal together. And we see Samuel working in the field with his father.

Samuel Eaton's Day makes an excellent resource as we learn about Thanksgiving this month. My children have enjoyed reading it and pouring over the pictures. No doubt your children will enjoy it, too.

Be sure to like Stephanie's Mommy Brain on Facebook where more Thanksgiving tips and links are shared throughout November.

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A Visit with Pilgrims at Plimoth Plantation

2011-11-08T06:00:00.000-05:00

How do you fare, goodwife? Pull up a chair near the hearth and while you eat your pottage I'll tell you about my visit to Plymouth, Massachusetts last year. Unfortunately, another visit is not in our Thanksgiving plans this year but we will make do with other holiday activities.

Plimoth Plantation is a re-creation of the Pilgrim village. Museum staff that work in the village are costumed interpreters. They are amazing actors who will only relate to you as their character who was a real person in the village in 1627.

The blacksmith fascinated us as he pumped giant bellows to increase his fire. Then he hammered a piece of metal into a nail. I think they really use the nails as they build and make repairs. The Museum tries to be as authentic as possible. Can you imagine doing work like that while in character and answering questions? It's fascinating!

Walking through Plymoth Village brings history to life. We saw and touched the grasses being used to thatch a roof. We smelled the smoke that permeates the homes. And we heard the odd-to-us words spoken by our Pilgrim forefathers.

The best part of Plimoth is definitely the interpreters! They turn historical names into living breathing people. Watching a Pilgrim woman maneuver around a fire with her long and heavy skirt takes all the romanticism out. And listening to the Governor discuss relations with the Indians gave me a sense of the fear Pilgrims initially had of attack.

Well, I'd better say fare thee well. I have breeches to mend and a couple of pillowberes to sew before I start cooking dinner. Thanks for stopping by!

Have you visited Plymoth Plantation? What was your favorite part?

Be sure to like Stephanie's Mommy Brain on Facebook where I'm sharing more Thanksgiving tips and links throughout November.

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Plymouth and Pilgrim Kids' Thanksgiving Activities

2011-11-07T17:00:00.000-05:00

"Little boys wore long dresses until they were six years old. After that, they dressed like men."

Ellie's version of the Pilgrims

Everyone knows that the Pilgrims dressed differently than we do today. But, did you know that the clothes we traditionally think of as Pilgrim was actually their Sunday church clothes? The rest of the week the wore colored garments!

On Day 3 of our month long Thanksgiving study we read about the Pilgrim's colony of Plymouth. We learned that mothers taught reading at home, everyone worked - including children, and that no one ate with forks.

After reading more from If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620 by Ann McGovern, we pulled out our Thanksgiving journals. We drew Plymouth and Pilgrims.

We also made a list of "three ways my life is different from the life of Pilgrim boys and girls. Ben wrote: Three ways my life is different from the Pilgrims. We eat with a fork. The Pilgrims ate with their hands. Boys wore dresses when they are 5 and younger. Their spoons or clam shells. They played with balls and ?? ??.

Clearly we need to work on spelling and grammar more but I think it's terrific for a 1st grader without help from mom!

What Pilgrim or Plymouth related activities are you doing this month?

Be sure to like Stephanie's Mommy Brain on Facebook where I'm sharing more Thanksgiving tips and links throughout November.

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My Visit to the Mayflower II

2011-11-07T06:00:00.000-05:00

As I stepped aboard the Mayflower II (not to be confused with the SMB Mayflower), I wondered what the Pilgrim women felt when they climbed aboard the first time. Busy corralling children and stowing baggage that must have focused on the tasks before them and ignored their fears and apprehensions of sailing out into the unknown.

The Mayflower II

My children excitedly explored the open-to-us areas on deck. William asked a costumed interpreter a few questions about sailing and the ship. Then curiosity drove us below deck to see the area of the (replica) Mayflower that the Pilgrims called home for months.

Sailors quarters

Once below deck I first noticed the lack of lighting. Plimoth Plantation museum installed electrical lighting in the area (and my camera flash filled in a lot more) so you can see to get around but I wouldn't want to try to read fine print for long. I'm sure the candles and lanterns provided the Pilgrims limited lighting as well.


A bunk in the captain's quarters.

Next I realized cold permeated the large room. (Our visit took place in November so it's different during the summer. Also, I wore a sweater, denim jacket and jeans. And was still cold.) I imagine the Pilgrims also felt cold in their temporary home below the water line. Cold and wet as water leaked in from the deck above during the many storms, how did they do it?!

I admire the Pilgrim women. Their bravery and commitment to their husbands should be commended. I don't think I have what it takes to uproot my family, transform an uncomfortable ship into a temporary home, and journey to an unknown place.

I don't have what it takes but I'm sure glad the Pilgrim women did! Could you do it? Would you want to?

Be sure to like Stephanie's Mommy Brain on Facebook where I'm sharing more Thanksgiving tips and links throughout November.

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A Family Night on the SMB Mayflower

2011-11-06T17:00:00.000-05:00

According to a filed Thanksgiving plan the SMB Mayflower set sail for the New World Friday night. She carried 4 passengers, their assorted stuffed animal cargo and 2 crew members.

The travelers aboard the SMB Mayflower began their voyage with high spirits. First Mate Mama assembled provisions of cheese, beef jerky (salt pork) and root(beer). Hard tack had also been baked especially for the trip.

Because there are no chairs, tables or individual plates aboard the SMB Mayflower everyone came together on the floor of the living room around the communal platter. Following a sweet blessing, all began to eat.

The seafarers soon lodged complaints with First Mate Mama regarding the inedible ~~hockey pucks~~ hard tack. Not wishing to make an emergency trip to the dentist because of a chipped tooth, First Mate Mama quickly scoured her galley and found a package of saltine crackers.

High spirits restored, our young pilgrims finished their meal and moved on to the evening's entertainment - a rousing game of Cariboo.

As the evening grew late, the SMB Mayflower veered off her original sailing activity plan along the Parental Bedroom Shipping Lane. Captain Daddy made a slight course adjustment and the SMB Mayflower settled into the Ellie and Sam Bedroom Shipping Lane. No passengers complained about the detour since it resulted in much chatting, giggling and fun.

As the ship docked this morning, all passengers agreed that their voyage on the SMB Mayflower was a lot of fun and worth doing again. During our interview First Mate Mama said, "This inaugural trip will definitely be an annual tradition for the SMB Mayflower. The only change I foresee is using 3 day old biscuits in place of hard tack."

Be sure to like Stephanie's Mommy Brain on Facebook where more Thanksgiving tips and links are shared throughout November.

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Lego Mayflower Makes a Creative Alternative to Drawing

2011-11-06T06:00:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving activities abound at the Stephanie's Mommy Brain house this month. Some are on our Thanksgiving unit study list. Some are not.

Draw the Mayflower is on the kids' activities list.

Build a Lego Mayflower is not. (But it should be!)

What creative and outside-the-box Thanksgiving activities are you doing?

Be sure to like Stephanie's Mommy Brain on Facebook where I'm sharing more Thanksgiving tips and links throughout November.

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Mayflower Kid's Activities :: Day 2 Thanksgiving Plan

2011-11-04T15:45:00.000-04:00

"Whatever did not fit in the chest had to be left behind."

On day 2 of our Thanksgiving kid's activities plan we focused on the Mayflower voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. As we continued reading If You Sailed on The Mayflower in 1620 by Ann McGovern, we discussed travel conditions on board the ship.

The Mayflower II in Plymouth, Massachusetts

We imagined traveling for weeks in a space about the size of our home but crammed with over 100 people and all their belongings. How crowded, cold, wet, and bored the Pilgrim children must have been!

We learned that the cargo ship Mayflower was never meant to carry passengers so the Pilgrims built platforms for beds and storage.

Unfortunately, some people had to sleep on the floor. Not a fun place to be when water came pouring down from the deck above during a storm!

After reading about and discussing the Pilgrim's Mayflower journey we pulled out our kids' Thanksgiving journals. First we drew a picture of the Mayflower using Draw. Write. Now Book 3 for inspiration.

Then finished the writing prompt: If I sailed to a New World I would take with me... My children realized their toys weren't really necessary if taking them meant you had no clothes to wear or tools to build a house. But they also felt one chest just wasn't enough luggage!

As we study the history of Thanksgiving and the Pilgrims I am developing a whole new level of respect for the sacrifices they made. And we are all a little more thankful for how easy our lifestyle is!

How would you complete our writing prompt: If I sailed to a New World I would take with me...?

Be sure to like Stephanie's Mommy Brain on Facebook where I'm sharing more Thanksgiving tips and links throughout November.

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Mega Bloks, Thomas and Cub Scouts

2011-11-03T06:00:00.000-04:00

TOOT! TOOT!

Thomas the Tank Engine rolled into our Cub Scouts den meeting today. He came as a Mega Bloks set and brought along Diesel for the fun.

I was a little nervous that my Bear scouts would think Thomas and MegaBloks were beneath them now that they've grown to the ripe old ages of 8 and 9. I knew the 6 year old Tiger scouts would love the sets; after all, the Tiger scout in my house regularly plays with Thomas and Mega Bloks.

We started our ~~party~~ den meeting by pairing up each Bear scout with a Tiger scout. Then I handed each pair either a Thomas Mega Blok set or a Diesel Mega Blok set. They quickly went to work building their models and driving their trains down the tracks. The noise level of 14 boys ages 6-9 having fun was deafening!

One of my favorite things about Cub Scouts is their saying "fun with purpose." As far as my Bear scouts knew they were just having fun. In reality, creativity, leadership and building skills developed a little more today.

So my worry about the Bears enjoying Thomas? Totally a waste of time! Now I have a new worry. What am I going to plan for our next meeting that can be as fun as a Thomas or Diesel Mega Bloks kit?!

How do you make learning fun for your kids?

Be sure to like Stephanie's Mommy Brain on Facebook where I regularly share tips and links for making learning fun.

Disclosure: To facilitate my participation in a Mommy Parties campaign sponsored by Mega Blok I received 5 Mega Blok Thomas at the Races sets and 5 Mega Blok Diesel sets to give to the children at my party. I also received a Thomas the Tank Engine DVD and a Day at the Dieselworks set to keep. The opinions expressed are mine and were not influenced my Mega Bloks or Mommy Parties.

A Messy Life Moment

2011-11-02T16:41:00.000-04:00

Edited November 14, 2011: If you are visiting because of the winner announcement on The SITS Girls, WELCOME! I'm so excited to have won The SITS Girls Bloggy Bootcamp giveaway. I can't wait to meet you awesome ladies and learn from you in person!! Now on to the post that brought you here...

Spending time with friends and family can lead to fun and memorable moments, but also some very messy ones. One messy moment I will always remember occurred in 2006.

Picture with me. {insert wavy flashback lines}

A younger me, 2nd trimester pregnant with my third child, seated at a table in a Mexican restaurant in El Paso. Also at the table are my in-laws, husband, 1 year old son, 2.5 year old son, and husband's uncle and aunt. This was our last night in Texas after spending the previous week celebrating the life, and mourning the death, of my husband's grandmother.

{Camera focuses on our table}

My 2.5 year old starts coughing. Not quiet, clear-my-throat coughs. Noooo. These are hacking, gagging, hear-you-across-the-restaurant coughs. Oh joy.

We had already ordered so I didn't want to leave; truth be told my pregnant-self had been looking forward to that meal all week! At that time the closest thing to a Mexican restaurant in Rhode Island was Taco Bell. It's just not the same thing, folks.

So I took William out of his high chair and set him on my lap facing me. With a wall behind us I just prayed his coughs would be muffled and not bother the other customers.

Then IT happened.

William coughed one more time, gagged, and proceeded to throw-up grilled cheese sandwich down the front of my shirt. Being the experienced mom that I was I bolted from my seat, thanking God I am at the end of the table and that our waiter had seated us right beside the bathroom.

I'll spare you the details and just say that my mother-in-law is the BEST EVER! She helped clean up William, me and the bathroom without being asked. A mother-in-law that cleans up vomit in public, yeh, she's PRICELESS!

You would think I would go back to the hotel after that but, no. Our meal had just arrived. So Will and I resumed our place at the table and everyone ate a little quicker. Until the coughing started again.

Then IT happened. Again.

Two year old vomit all down the front of my shirt, for the second time. sigh. I cleaned us both up in the bathroom. By now everyone else had finished their meals and ordered dessert. Surely the boy's stomach was empty, I thought. So I raced 3 buildings down the street to our hotel, changed my clothes and raced back so I could finish my now-cold tacos. I seated myself, took Will from my mother-in-law and began eating.

Then IT happened. Again.

Sometimes it takes me awhile to learn a lesson. In this instance it took my son vomiting down my shirt 3 times for me to learn to take vomiting children home, or in this case, to the hotel. Even if your pregnant, Mexican-food-craving-self tries to tell you to do differently. This is a life lesson I strongly recommend you learn through my experience!

It was messy. Memorable. And now, nearly 6 years later, hilarious. But I don't want to ever do it again! Would you?!

Be sure to like Stephanie's Mommy Brain on Facebook where I share frequently share messy and embarrassing moments from my life as a mom.

I received information about Clorox’s Bleach It Away campaign and am sharing my messy moment for the chance to win prizes from The SITS Girls. To learn more about the messy moment program, check out www.BleachItAway.com. Sharing your story on the Clorox fan page gets you entered for the chance to win $25,000 and daily prizes, and you can grab a coupon for Clorox® Regular Bleach.

Thanksgiving Kid's Activities and Books

2011-11-01T16:12:00.000-04:00

I believe Thanksgiving is an important holiday for my children to understand and celebrate. To make sure I put action to my words this year I put together an activities and book plan, or unit study in the language of home schoolers.

This is a list of all my posts related to Thanksgiving children's activities, children's books, and anything else Thanksgiving that I share throughout November. My plans are quick and simple. For the most part they don't require a lot of preparation or supplies.

I hope you are inspired by our activities. One activity a week is a great place to start!

Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving (book)
The Legend of Squanto (CDs)

Give Thanks to the Lord (book)
I Know and Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie (book)

Be sure to like Stephanie's Mommy Brain on Facebook where I'm sharing more Thanksgiving tips and links throughout November.

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If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620 and Homemade Thanksgiving Journals: Day 1

2011-11-01T06:00:00.000-04:00

Welcome to Day 1 of Celebrating Thanksgiving! Every day leading up to Thanksgiving my family is reading a good children's book, writing or drawing in our Thanksgiving Journal and doing additional kids activities or crafts.

Reading a Great Thanksgiving Book

Today we read ...If You Sailed on The Mayflower in 1620 by Ann McGovern. This classic Thanksgiving book really is a cute. It begins by explaining why the Pilgrims wanted to relocate to the New World. After that we learn about their difficult voyage, hard winters and first Thanksgiving feast.

It's a bit long for my 3 year old to sit through so we are dividing the reading over the next few days. He might not enjoy all the wordiness but my preschooler likes the illustrations by Anna DiVito. The pictures give him a good feel for the shape and size of the Mayflower as well as Plymouth Village without being too cartoonish or too realistic.

Overall ...If You Sailed on The Mayflower in 1620 is an quality children's book, but then, you wouldn't expect anything less published by Scholastic.

How to make a Homemade Journal

While I read ...If You Sailed on The Mayflower in 1620 my children worked on their Thanksgiving journals. The journals are where we will draw and write each day as we learn about Thanksgiving. I love having a record of their thoughts and reactions. Plus, my mommy heart knows how precious their childish handwriting and drawings will be in a few years.

Here's a tutorial for simple homemade journals so you can make them too.

All you need is a sheet of card stock, blank printer paper and 2 brads or brass fasteners. Even those things are flexible. Construction paper, cut down notebook paper and string would work just as well.

Stack one sheet of white card stock on top of 6 sheets of printer paper.
Fold papers in half.
Use a hole punch to make 2 holes through the paper close to the folded edge.
Insert brads, rings, string or ribbon to hold the pages together.

I always allow my children creative freedom for their cover page. Ellie chose to turn her book sideways. Then she used Draw. Write. Now Book 3 to draw a picture of a Pilgrim house. I think the thing on the right is a turkey but I'm not 100% sure about that.

Ben chose a traditional book arrangement and also used Draw. Write. Now Book 3 to illustrate his journal cover. For the record that's Squanto, bushes and clouds. I love how creative and differently each of my children accomplishes the same task!

Well, we're off to a good start in our home school Thanksgiving unit study. Do you use homemade journals with your children? For holiday celebrations, vacations, or something else?

Be sure to like Stephanie's Mommy Brain on Facebook where I'm sharing more Thanksgiving tips and links throughout November.

* More Thanksgiving Kids Activities and Books Posts

Thanksgiving Children's Books Recommendation

2011-10-24T16:51:00.000-04:00

While visiting my local library last week I perused the holidays section in the children's library. As you know, I already have a Thanksgiving activities plan based on the nearly 20 books I own but I just couldn't resist looking for quality Thanksgiving books that my personal library might be missing.

After pulling a few great books from the shelves I realized our home library is lacking in a couple of topics, namely how Thanksgiving became an official holiday and why the President pardons a turkey every year.

Pardon That Turkey: How Thanksgiving Became a Holiday by Susan Sloate. Illustrated by Christian Slade. Published by Grosset & Dunlap, 2010.

The first part of Pardon That Turkey tells the story of Sarah Hale and her efforts to establish Thanksgiving as a national holiday. Sarah believed a national day of thanksgiving would create national unity during the tumultuous years leading up to, during and after the war. She repeatedly petitioned Presidents to establish the holiday but was ignored until President Lincoln recognized her wisdom.

The remaining chapters of the book explain the history of the Presidential pardon for one lucky turkey each year. Did you know President George Bush (the dad) was the first to issue a formal turkey pardon? I thought the tradition was much older than that! See, moms learn from children's books, too!

The explanations in this book are informative and interesting. You can't help admiring Mrs. Hale as she perseveres writing letters year after year seeking support for her Thanksgiving holiday idea. The illustrations are engaging and fun to look at without be cartoonish or belittling the subject matter. Definitely a quality book to add to your home library!

You should also consider adding these three books to your library:

Cranberry Thanksgiving by Wende and Harry Devlin. Published by Parent's Magazine Press, 1971.

Cranberry Thanksgiving came highly recommended by a couple of Rhode Island friends. Set in New England the illustrations are distinctly New England and Rhode Island-ish. The story centers around a Thanksgiving celebration and a secret recipe for cranberry bread.

One of my friends (who has 2 teens and 1 tween) stated that they read Cranberry Thanksgiving every year and then use the recipe in the back to make a batch of cranberry bread. Definitely a fun tradition to consider including in your plans!

(There is a whole series of Cranberry books. I haven't read any of the others but if they follow the pattern of this book that are all simple stories, cute illustrations, and classic New England traditions.)

Saying Grace: A Prayer of Thanksgiving by Virginia Kroll. Illustrated by Timothy Ladwig. Published by ZonderKidz, 2009.

I have mixed feelings about Saying Grace. The illustrations are warm and inviting. The story is engaging and intended to teach children to pray instead of worrying. I like that.

What I don't like is that harvest feasts are made to appear as a new custom among pioneers (who look more like PILGRIMS than western settlers). That's simply not true. All cultures have included harvest celebrations, though they may not have been observed every year.

Like I said, I have mixed feelings. The historian in me doesn't like the free and easy use of history but overall it's a fun story with beautiful illustrations.

'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving written and illustrated by Dav Pilkey. Published by Orchard Books 1990.

Not all holiday books need to be serious and loaded with facts. Silly and fun books make a good addition to every holiday family library. This book is a perfect example of that kind of story.

On the day before Thanksgiving eight children and their teacher take a field trip to a local turkey farm where they meet 8 plump turkeys:

"Now Ollie, now Stanley, now Larry and Moe, On Wally, on Beaver, on Shemp and Groucho!" The Turkeys were chunky with smiley, beaded faces, and they greeted the children with downy embraces."

After becoming friends with the turkeys the children learn that "these feathery beasts will be chopped up and roasted." Needless to say the children are horrified at the thought. Will the children be able to save the turkeys? You'll have to read the book to find out!

My philosophy is that you can never have too many books, especially children's holiday books! Do you have any favorite Thanksgiving books I should include in our November reading? Please share!

Be sure to like Stephanie's Mommy Brain on Facebook where I'm sharing more Thanksgiving tips and links throughout November.

* More Thanksgiving Kids Activities and Books Posts

Kid's Thanksgiving Activities (Unit Study)

2011-10-18T23:17:00.000-04:00

I love Thanksgiving! It's my favorite holiday. I love how it's just about family and friends sharing a delicious meal and remembering our blessings. There's no pressure to find the perfect gift, no debate over how secular or how religious to be, no hustle and bustle. It's just enjoying your loved ones and a big hunk of pumpkin pie.

Last week I pulled out my Thanksgiving children's books and realized I've accumulated quite a collection. (By the way, if you can only buy one Thanksgiving book make it Thanksgiving: A Time to Remember by Barbara Rainey. It is the best book ever!!) As I looked at the pile of 18 books, and 1 CD set, I realized I needed a reading and activity plan in order to get the best use of my books.

Being a home school teacher, it didn't take me long to write out Thanksgiving lesson plans (linked to my plan) for the month of November. A couple of years ago I made a similar list of children's Thanksgiving activities and it really helped us stay on track throughout the month.

This year's Thanksgiving unit study includes a couple of craft activities (I'm not crafty so there aren't many), writing prompts, drawing ideas, a list of websites with more ideas and a list of the Thanksgiving themed books I own.

Please understand that my plan is geared for my family - our weekly schedule and personalities. It might work for your family as it is, or it might need some tweaking, but I hope you'll find something in it that you can use! You'll also notice that it's only Monday - Friday. That's because I'm using this study for our History/Civics curriculum this month.

edited November 5, 20011: If you look at the plan you'll see "Make hardtack" and a link to an online recipe. I do NOT recommend you make this recipe. Seriously. It was as hard as a hockey puck. Someone could chip a tooth!

Do you have a favorite Thanksgiving tradition or book that's not on my list? Please share!!

Be sure to like Stephanie's Mommy Brain on Facebook where I'm sharing more Thanksgiving tips and links throughout November.

* More Thanksgiving Kids Activities and Books Posts

Springfield Armory: Where History and Technology Intersect

2011-09-27T00:34:00.001-04:00

This is the Arsenal. From floor to ceiling,
Like a huge organ, rise the burnished arms;
But from their silent pipes no anthem pealing
Startles the villages with strange alarms.

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

A visit to the Springfield Armory in Springfield, Massachusetts during 1843 inspired Longfellow to write a poem, "The Arsenal at Springfield." I found our visit to the site to also be inspirational but not for writing poems! Instead I marveled at the ingenuity that allowed men to advance the technology of guns as well as how to manufacture them.

Today the Springfield Armory is part of the National Park Service. Its manufacturing and warehousing of weapons for our country's military ceased many years ago. Rather than producing new weapons the site is dedicated to preserving the history of guns and teaching the history to new generations.

During a short film we learned that the Springfield Armory (along with the Harper's Ferry, VA Armory) were created by President Washington with the mandate to supply American soldiers with weapons. Back then it was a simple musket. Simple in design but not simple to make. Each gun had a hand carved stock and hand forged barrel and firing mechanism. It's no wonder that men began to design quicker and more efficient ways of manufacture guns!

I could go on and on with facts that we learned during our tour but I won't. You can visit the Springfield Armory website to learn more details.

The website states that tours are given daily, however, the helpful high school student/docent who met us at the desk stated he had never seen a tour given. We asked for and received a tour, though it was more of a hands-on demonstration by one of the park rangers than a tour.

The park ranger was very patient with my little guys, answered a lot of questions, and knew to provide tactile examples for them to feel and look at. He truly was amazing!

Along with the tour/demonstration, there is an area set up for children to try on uniforms, work puzzles, and do activities. It makes for a great photo op! Doesn't Ben look handsome in his Junior Park Ranger uniform?!

If you have children with you, be sure to ask about the Junior Ranger program. There are worksheets for children to fill out and turn in for a certificate and junior ranger badge.

I found the Springfield Armory fascinating and definitely recommend it for a field trip and vacation activity. Even if you aren't into guns, the role of the Armory in the early years of America and during the Civil War are worth learning about. It's also a fun place to practice photography!

Have you heard of the Springfield Armory before? What about the Longfellow poem?

Linked to:

Revolutionary War Re-enactment at the Smith-Appleby House

2011-09-24T23:12:00.000-04:00

Muskets firing. Cannons booming. Soldiers marching.

My sons were in boy heaven as we attended the first annual Fall Fest at the Smith-Appleby House in Smithfield, Rhode Island. The event, held in mid-September, included a Revolutionary War re-enactment battle and camp, spinning demonstrations, and recounting of little known Revolutionary War stories. All for free.

After a small donation ($4 per adult, children free), we also joined a guided tour of the Smith-Appleby House. Our guide did a wonderful job explaining the significance of the house (built BEFORE George Washington was born!) and it's contents to the children in our group. My oldest is developing an interest in history (a child after his mother's heart!) so to hear a tour guide say we were walking through history made a big impression.

Even though they liked the house, all the boys claimed the battle re-enactment as their favorite part of our day. Not surprising for boys who spend a lot of time battling each other with make-shift guns and light sabers!

Ellie on the other hand did not enjoy the sound and smoke of war, even if it was only pretend. She preferred to play the colonial children's games of tug-o-war and hoop rolling. I think the camp tents also held her interest more than the battle did.

We enjoyed our time at Smith-Appleby House and will no doubt talk about it fondly when we discuss the Revolutionary War during our home school history lessons. If you are in the area, I highly recommend checking their website for tour dates!

Have you attended a Revolutionary War battle re-enactment? If you were going to be a reenactor, would you want to be a Redcoat or Colonial solder?

Apple Pie Tradition and Recipe

2011-09-23T13:40:00.002-04:00

I love autumn. LOVE it! The weather, the clothes, the food and the traditions. I love everything about fall!

One of my favorite traditions takes place every year in October on Columbus Day - we go apple picking with friends. That fun-filled day results in another tradition - making an apple pie with my children.

In honor of that tradition, which is just around the corner, here is the delicious recipe I use:

Apple Crumb Pie

1 or 2 (9 inch) pie shell
6 cups thinly sliced apples
3/4 cup white sugar
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 Tbsp. butter (or margarine)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375*. Place sliced apples in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine white sugar, 2 Tbsp. flour, and cinnamon. Sprinkle over apples. Toss until apples are evenly coated. Spoon mixture into pie shell.

In small bowl combine 1/2 cup flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter or margarine until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle mixture over apple filling.

Choice: At this point you can cover top loosely with aluminum foil and bake in oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 25-30 minutes, until top is golden brown. This will give you a crumb topping, almost like an apple crisp.

I prefer to put another pie crust on top of the crumb topping. I just gives it an extra yumminess (and calories, but we won't speak of that.) If using the pie crust, cut 4 slits in the center. Then cover edges with aluminum foil or pie shield to keep the edges from burning. Bake according to above instructions.

Do you have a favorite autumn tradition or recipe? If so, please share it!

3rd Grade and 1st Grade Home School Curriculum

2011-08-30T06:00:00.002-04:00

The favorite question among home school moms at this time of the year is, "What curriculum are you using?" Being a normal home school mom, I've asked and answered that question numerous times during the last month.

I realize not all of my readers are home schoolers but most are moms who are interested in their child's education. Much of the curriculum we use would work great for a child that is falling behind in an area or is bored and would like a little advanced work during school breaks. I hope you find something useful in my reviews of our curriculum.

During the 2011-2012 school year I am teaching a 3rd grader, a 1st grader, a Pre-Kindergarten 5 and a (almost) 3 year old. How I do all of that and stay sane is the topic of another post; for now I'm limiting this post to my two big boys: 1st and 3rd grade.

Rhode Island law requires that I include: reading, writing, geography, arithmetic, civics, English, health and physical education. My boys use the same curriculum for every subject except Language Arts. This makes it MUCH easier for me!

Science

You'll notice that science is NOT in the list of required curriculum; and "experts" wonder why we can't keep up with other developed nations academically! Regardless of what our state requires, we believe science is an important subject to teach.

This is our 3rd year using Apologia's Exploring Creation curriculum. We LOVE it! We are studying land animals which fits well with our history curriculum and makes for easy field trips to area zoos.

Arithmetic

Last year we used Saxon, and hated it. Saxon is one of the gold standards for home schoolers. It's based on a spiral education philosophy, which I realize now does not work for us. This year we are using Math U See, and loving it!

Math U See (Alpha and Beta) is based on a mastery philosophy, meaning you don't move on to the next skill until you've mastered the current one. The teacher's kit comes with a book that explains how to teach each skill and a DVD of the author teaching each lesson to a classroom of students. The student workbook and test/activity book includes plenty of practice problems to insure the student masters the skill.

As expected, it is designed for the visual learner. I recommend you purchase the block manipulatives as they are the foundation of each lesson. My oldest is definitely a visual learner and my #2 boy is part visual and part kinesthetic (learn by doing) so both boys enjoy "playing" with the blocks during their math lesson.

Because we had such a terrible time with Saxon for the last two years, I decided to start both boys with the Alpha (or first grade) book. My plan is to finish Alpha the first semester and Beta (2nd grade) the second semester. My #2 boy is very math minded so I don't think he'll have difficulty keeping up. My 3rd grader is more word minded so doing 1st and 2nd grade work is OK for him.

Health and Physical Education

Both boys are involved in Cub Scouts this year. If you know the Cub Scout curriculum you know that they have a health component. We are looking into putting them into gymnastics and they will play baseball again in the spring.

Civics

I am combining civics and geography by using history and literature unit studies. I have purchased Soli Deo Gloria's Lewis & Clark and Westward Ho! Also, Progeny Press's Little House in the Big Woods, Little House on the Prairie and Farmer Boy study guides. In looking over each of these guides I think they are good starting point but I will be supplementing with other materials and children's books.

Language Arts

Handwriting Without Tears comes highly recommended so I'm giving it a try this year; and LOVING it! My 3rd grader is a leftie with dexterity issues. His penmanship is difficult to read so we are using the 1st grade workbooks with the hope of moving into 2nd grade next semester. He is NOT advancing to cursive this year.

My 1st grader has beautiful handwriting thanks to hours and hours of drawing and building with Legos. Unfortunately he's picked up a couple of penmanship bad habits so I'm hoping to correct those this year.

Handwriting Without Tears is designed to be very hands-on and offers a lot of extra multi-sensory components. I bought the teacher's guide and student workbooks as well as the Rock, Rap, Tap & Learn CD. My guys enjoy listening to the CD and dancing around our living room together. You could say we get our P.E. in while listening to handwriting. :)

Explode the Code is a fantastic phonics based workbook series. We are using 2-3 workbooks each year but you can go as fast or as slow as you want. I used this program last year to teach my #2 boy how to read and I'm using it again this year to begin teaching my 5 year old daughter to read. The boys are in different workbooks this year because Will's reading level is several grades ahead of Ben's. In fact, Will (3rd grade) finds the workbook super easy but I want to make sure he has a firm understanding of phonics.

Alpha and Omega LifePACs language arts is an all inclusive program. It covers handwriting, spelling, phonics, grammar rules and a few other skills that fall under language arts. I am only using this with Will (3rd grade). I think of it as my "security blanket" to make sure I don't miss anything for Will but I feel that it's kind of "a mile wide and an inch deep." It covers so many different areas that I feel Will doesn't get enough practice with key skills, which is why we use the other programs as well.

Write About Me/Write About My World is published by EPS School Specialty Publishing, the same publisher for Explode the Code. I am using these consumable workbooks with Ben (1st grade). Each page gives him a writing topic and space to write. It's a good introduction to grammar rules and creative expression.

As you can see I use a little bit of everything from a lot of different publishers. This is our 4th year of homeschooling and I've finally figured out what works best for me and for both of my boys. There are a couple of other workbooks and items we will add in as time allows over this year but for now this is our core curriculum.

So, what curriculum are you using?

* 2010-2011 Homeschool Curriculum for Kindergarten and 2nd Grade.

Princess Party Ideas

2011-08-29T06:00:00.000-04:00

Today is my daughter's 5th birthday. Last night she lay in her bed yelling, "I TURN 5 TOMORROW! I TURN 5 TOMORROW! I TURN 5 TOMORROW!!" You could say she's a little excited about it.

Five is a big birthday at our house so Ellie hosted 7 of her friends for a party on Friday. Ellie and I discussed every aspect of her party multiple times. In other words, she about wore me out talking about her party!

For activities we colored Princess printables I found online. Then I painted fingernails with quick dry polish; sparkly pink was the polish of choice for the day. One word of advice - be sure to ask moms if this is OK. One girl at our party had never had her nails painted before. I still feel a little bad about taking away this "first" from her mom. It just never occurred to me to ask about it ahead of time.

We also used sparkly foam heart and flower stickers to decorate wands and Princess hats. The wands come from the dollar store and the hats were from A.C. Moore.

The hats were a huge hit with all the girls. They were plain cone shaped party hats. Ahead of time I snipped the point off, cut strips of tulle and threaded them through the cone. A large knot on the inside keeps the tulle from pulling out.

After all our decorating we played Pin the Jewel on the Crown (see behind Ellie). This game didn't go over well with the girls. They just didn't seem to understand the point or enjoy the blindfold and spinning.

Ellie and I looked at hundreds of cake images via Google to decide on her cake. She really liked a simple cake with just Disney princess figures on top. Cake decorating is not one of my talents so I rejoiced that she wanted such a simple cake.

I found a collection of the Princesses at Toys R Us (along with shoes and dresses). The set became an early present for her so we could decorate the cake. I also found the candy decorations at A.C. Moore in the cake department. It's pretty pitiful looking but Ellie loved it and that's what matters.

For thank you bags Ellie decorated plain pink bags with Princess stickers. Then we filled them with Princess items we found at the dollar store. Here's my big tip for party planning - ALWAYS check your local dollar store! We bought 20 pack cups, plates and napkins for $1 each. They even had princess napkins and cups! MUCH cheaper than a party store!

Ellie had a wonderful time celebrating her 5th birthday with all of her friends. I on the other hand am still wondering how my baby girl can possibly be five!!!

Have you hosted a Princess Party? What ideas did you use?

Why home school?

2011-08-24T17:57:00.000-04:00

"Wow. I could never do that!"

I assume from this statement that strangers, acquaintances and friends believe I am Super Mom with an endless supply of patience, creativity, and energy. After all, how else could I home school a 3rd grader, 1st grader, Preschool 5 year old and a Preschool (almost) 3 year old?

Let me dispel the myth right now.

Home school moms are not Super Moms. We are not endowed with super-patience, super-creativity or super-energy. We are ordinary moms who yell at our child when he calls his sister a derogatory nickname (It's unfortunate that smelly rhymes with Ellie.) and use a DVD to babysit our children while we sneak in an afternoon nap. Maybe that last one is just me.

If we're just regular run-off-the-mill moms, why do we choose to home school? Why do we postpone careers, give up lunch dates with other moms, and add lesson planning to our mom workload?

I won't presume to speak for other home school moms but I'll share with you why I made this choice.*

First, I believe home schooling is the best way for my children to learn my values. My children are with me almost 24/7 which allows for countless opportunities to instruct and model my beliefs. Also, I don't have to compete with differing attitudes and ideas of a classroom teacher.

Please don't misunderstand me. I am not anti-teachers. My mom worked as an elementary teacher for years and I trained to be a high school social studies teacher. Also, I am NOT saying that parents can't pass on their values to publicly/privately schooled children. I am saying it is harder and requires a great deal of intentionality.

Next I enjoy the home school lifestyle. I determine what time we start our day, not a bus schedule. I plan our school calendar to include breaks when it's convenient for us. And, best of all, we take frequent field trips to nearly deserted museums and aquariums!

Finally, I believe homeschooling makes it easier to shelter my children from information and attitudes that they are not prepared to handle. As my children grow and mature I equip them to handle the situations of life that they will face. That's my job as their mom. It's also my job to shelter them from situations that they are not mature enough to understand or respond to correctly.

Homeschooling doesn't mean I control every conversation, every relationship or every interaction my children have. Instead, it reduces the list of unknowns to a manageable size. Instead of a school day's worth of interactions to discuss with my child I only have a Cub Scout's meeting (2 hours) worth to talk about. Like I said before, I'm NOT saying it isn't possible to shelter a publicly/privately schooled child. I am saying is that it is harder and requires a great deal of intentionality.

So, why do I home school? Because it makes teaching and training my children easier for me. Not to mention homeschooling allows me to ~~stay in pajamas until noon~~ avoid crazy pick-up/drop-off school lines.

Disclaimer: I understand that some of the above is controversial and you may have strong or negative thoughts and feelings about what I've shared. Please understand you are not going to change my mind. However, we can agree to disagree and have a friendly discussion in the comments. Unfriendly or unkind comments against homeschooling or against schools/teachers will not be published.

*I did not make the educational choice for my children alone. My husband and I decided together to home school. We both agree on the above reasons, well, maybe not the pajama one. :)

Beside Still Waters by Tricia Goyer

2011-07-01T11:23:00.000-04:00

Beside Still Waters by Tricia Goyer. Published by B & H Groups, 2011.

Beside Still Waters is the first book in a new series by Tricia Goyer. The story begins the tragic night Marianna Sommers is born and her two older sisters die. With this understanding of the family's grief, the story jumps to Marianna as an adult. Her parents want to move their Amish family across the country and Marianna is in turmoil over the decision.

No spoilers here! I'll just say there's a prospective husband in the mix and leave you to read the romance.

As a general rule I avoid Christian romance novels. I made an exception this time and am glad I did! The story is well written leaving you wondering if Marianna will go with her family or stay, choose her young man, and ever see that you can't live your life to please everyone. In fact, I got hooked into the story and stayed up until 2:00 AM to finish it!

If you are looking for a fun and CLEAN novel to read this summer I recommend Beside Still Waters.

Disclaimer: “I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of the Beside Still Waters Campaign and received a copy of the book and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.”