However you celebrate, here's hoping you have a wonderful day!!!!Thursday, December 25, 2008
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Have glue gun, will travel.
I bought this gingerbread house kit from Costco. I piped the frosting and the kids added the candies. The royal icing was not doing a great job at keeping everything together as you can see from the photo above.
Enter the best glue gun in the world.
House is back together and has stayed that way. The kids are lamenting that they cannot eat the house now. I keep telling them that gingerbread houses aren't really for eating. I think next year we'll make them from scratch so they can eat some of it. I did that a couple of years ago-we made a train, but it was very labor intensive and I didn't have a 10 month old needing my attention.
Friday, December 19, 2008
RSV
Life with five children is never dull-unless you are sitting in the hospital with one of them. Kate came down with RSV a week or so ago. By Sunday she was so sick she could hardly breathe. We had a very scary ride to the doctor and then another fun experience in the ER. They finally admitted Kate, as her blood oxygen level was 89%. Her pulse was a very high 180-200. She was very sick. This picture was taken Tuesday night and we were able to come home late Wednesday afternoon.All I could do was hold her, which was difficult due to all the wires and tubes. I slept (if you could call it sleep) with her in the crib, since there wasn't really anywhere else to sleep. I lived for meals and when Trent was able to come and visit as that was the most exciting thing that happened all day. Eleanor was ornery to our neighbors who helped us out by watching the others so Trent could come and visit. They'll think twice before volunteering again I'm sure!
Trent did an amazing job taking care of the kids, but everything that needed to be done has not been done, because I wasn't able to get much done even before the hospital stay because Kate had been sick. Oh well. At least Kate is well. We are very blessed.
Saturday, December 06, 2008
More bible class ideas
This post is for those of you who were interested in more ideas to use when teaching bible class to young children.
The first thing we do when starting a class is talk about who is in class and who is not. Some people like to use an attendance chart. I don't. At least not with the younger (ages 2-4) children. The reason is because I want to make it very clear who is there and who isn't. This way we can pray for those who are missing. I like to use pictures of the children for this activity. They love to see themselves and they recognize their friends as well. I have done this activity many different ways.
Above are two examples. The flower on the left was what I did one spring quarter. I had a metal bulletin board (made from metal sheets I found at Home Depot) and put grass on the bottom and the words on top "We're growing in God's Word". Then each child that was present, would place their flower on the board. We would count the flowers that were on the board and then we would count the flowers that I still had and would then talk about who was missing, why and that we would pray for them during prayer time. Another time I put their heads in little car windows and they would "drive" their cars from their house (a house on one side of the board) to the building (on the other side of the board). On the picture with Macy, it also had their memory verse for the quarter and when I would hold up each child's picture, they would say their verse before placing their picture on the board. I always have blanks for those who are visiting.
After we see who is in class, who is not, who came to worship with the kids, etc. we have a time for prayer. The first thing I do is ask "When we pray, who are we talking to?" and the children say "God!" Then we talk about how when we pray we can ask God for things and we can thank God for our blessings. I then remind them about who is gone from class, who we know is sick from the congregation, etc. and say something like, "Let's remember to ask God to help ______ get better." or "Let's ask God to make sure _____ has a safe trip while they are on vacation."
Then I tell the children that God has given us many blessings. This is can be a hard concept for children to grasp. So what I did was cut out pictures of things the children have or can thank God for-clothes, food, the world, animals, their car, their friends, their families, etc. Depending on the size of the class, I will let the children pick out one or two pictures to show what they are thankful for. The children can then hold them during our prayer to remind them what to say thank you for or they can put them up on one of our bulletin boards that I have labeled "I am thankful for . . ." If you look in the picture below, you will see the picture on the top has magnet tape on the back for this very purpose. We haven't always worshiped where we had access to a magnet board, so I used a cookie sheet instead. With older children, you could write these things down to give them ideas.
The next (and final activity for this post) activity we do is talk about The Bible. The first thing we do is ask "What is the Bible?" and the kids say "God's word". Of course if they are really young, we say it for them until they can do it their selves. Then we ask "How do you spell Bible?" and at this point I have a sign with the letters B-I-B-L-E on it or I pass out these and each child points to each letter and we say them out loud. Then we sing the B-I-B-L-E. Sounds boring, it is boring, but the kids love it. The littlest ones get really antsy and hold out their fingers because I will hold their finger and help them tap each letter as we spell it.
The Bible above is not a "real" bible, but one I made. You can make individual bibles like this or you can make a larger set of cards to hold up for this next activity.
The next thing we do is talk about how God's word is very special. We talk about how we should take care of our bibles and read them everyday to learn about God and Jesus. Then I have the children open the Bibles and we look at the pages. There are four examples of something that the children should not do their bibles-cut, rip, fold the pages or scribble.
We go through each page and I'll say "Oh dear, look at this. Someone has cut this page of the bible." or "Oh no! Someone was not treating this bible gently and this page has been torn or bent." or "Look at this! Someone has been scribbling in this Bible. Is that how we treat our Bibles?"
Then on the last page I have a heart and when we turn to that page I say, "What should we do with our Bibles/God's Word?" and they point to the heart and we say "We should love our Bibles/God's word." If you aren't comfortable cutting up an old Bible, you can just type up some words on a piece of paper and use those or you can draw a picture of a Bible with a pair of scissors, crayon, etc. around it and put a frown face or something to show it's not okay. I make sure not to say, "We never write/color in our Bibles" because many of us in fact do write notes or highlight certain passages.
Of course during each of these activities, we sing one or more songs that relate to that topic. Depending on the age of the children, I will go into greater detail about the bible, it's parts, the books, etc. On Wednesday nights we practice saying the books from memory. Even the youngest can do many without help! On Sunday morning I mainly focus on the book that our study comes from for that class.
Hope this gives you some more ideas. Depending on the size of your class, you have already filled up 15-20 minutes of class (or more!). These are 15-20 minutes that you don't need to plan out every week because the process is the same each week.
The first thing we do when starting a class is talk about who is in class and who is not. Some people like to use an attendance chart. I don't. At least not with the younger (ages 2-4) children. The reason is because I want to make it very clear who is there and who isn't. This way we can pray for those who are missing. I like to use pictures of the children for this activity. They love to see themselves and they recognize their friends as well. I have done this activity many different ways.
Above are two examples. The flower on the left was what I did one spring quarter. I had a metal bulletin board (made from metal sheets I found at Home Depot) and put grass on the bottom and the words on top "We're growing in God's Word". Then each child that was present, would place their flower on the board. We would count the flowers that were on the board and then we would count the flowers that I still had and would then talk about who was missing, why and that we would pray for them during prayer time. Another time I put their heads in little car windows and they would "drive" their cars from their house (a house on one side of the board) to the building (on the other side of the board). On the picture with Macy, it also had their memory verse for the quarter and when I would hold up each child's picture, they would say their verse before placing their picture on the board. I always have blanks for those who are visiting.After we see who is in class, who is not, who came to worship with the kids, etc. we have a time for prayer. The first thing I do is ask "When we pray, who are we talking to?" and the children say "God!" Then we talk about how when we pray we can ask God for things and we can thank God for our blessings. I then remind them about who is gone from class, who we know is sick from the congregation, etc. and say something like, "Let's remember to ask God to help ______ get better." or "Let's ask God to make sure _____ has a safe trip while they are on vacation."
Then I tell the children that God has given us many blessings. This is can be a hard concept for children to grasp. So what I did was cut out pictures of things the children have or can thank God for-clothes, food, the world, animals, their car, their friends, their families, etc. Depending on the size of the class, I will let the children pick out one or two pictures to show what they are thankful for. The children can then hold them during our prayer to remind them what to say thank you for or they can put them up on one of our bulletin boards that I have labeled "I am thankful for . . ." If you look in the picture below, you will see the picture on the top has magnet tape on the back for this very purpose. We haven't always worshiped where we had access to a magnet board, so I used a cookie sheet instead. With older children, you could write these things down to give them ideas.
The next (and final activity for this post) activity we do is talk about The Bible. The first thing we do is ask "What is the Bible?" and the kids say "God's word". Of course if they are really young, we say it for them until they can do it their selves. Then we ask "How do you spell Bible?" and at this point I have a sign with the letters B-I-B-L-E on it or I pass out these and each child points to each letter and we say them out loud. Then we sing the B-I-B-L-E. Sounds boring, it is boring, but the kids love it. The littlest ones get really antsy and hold out their fingers because I will hold their finger and help them tap each letter as we spell it.
The Bible above is not a "real" bible, but one I made. You can make individual bibles like this or you can make a larger set of cards to hold up for this next activity. 
The next thing we do is talk about how God's word is very special. We talk about how we should take care of our bibles and read them everyday to learn about God and Jesus. Then I have the children open the Bibles and we look at the pages. There are four examples of something that the children should not do their bibles-cut, rip, fold the pages or scribble.
We go through each page and I'll say "Oh dear, look at this. Someone has cut this page of the bible." or "Oh no! Someone was not treating this bible gently and this page has been torn or bent." or "Look at this! Someone has been scribbling in this Bible. Is that how we treat our Bibles?"
Then on the last page I have a heart and when we turn to that page I say, "What should we do with our Bibles/God's Word?" and they point to the heart and we say "We should love our Bibles/God's word." If you aren't comfortable cutting up an old Bible, you can just type up some words on a piece of paper and use those or you can draw a picture of a Bible with a pair of scissors, crayon, etc. around it and put a frown face or something to show it's not okay. I make sure not to say, "We never write/color in our Bibles" because many of us in fact do write notes or highlight certain passages.Of course during each of these activities, we sing one or more songs that relate to that topic. Depending on the age of the children, I will go into greater detail about the bible, it's parts, the books, etc. On Wednesday nights we practice saying the books from memory. Even the youngest can do many without help! On Sunday morning I mainly focus on the book that our study comes from for that class.
Hope this gives you some more ideas. Depending on the size of your class, you have already filled up 15-20 minutes of class (or more!). These are 15-20 minutes that you don't need to plan out every week because the process is the same each week.
Playdough Cookies
After we came home from the Secret Shop, the fun wasn't over yet. We decided to make Playdough Cookies. I got the idea from a post at the Crafty Crow. The idea is a simple one. Take four different colors of sugar cookie dough. Place them together and roll them into a snake. Coil that into a disk, place on a cookie sheet and bake. You can make your own dough, but I had some crayola dough that I purchased through a school fundraiser that worked quite well.
Here Eleanor demonstrates how to roll the dough into a snake.
Macy has taken her snake and coiled it into a cookie.
These little lovelies are waiting to be baked in the oven. I know, they do look delicious don't they? After baking, some of the cookies looked like this:
While others looked like this:
Overall the experience was only half as frustrating as our usual cookie making sessions. Here is what we had left after I ate at least ten, maybe more.
You don't believe that I ate ten? Here's my blue tongue to prove it:
I gave a cookie to Kate. This is what she thought about it:
(Translation: There is no way I am going to eat something that looks like this.)
Here Eleanor demonstrates how to roll the dough into a snake.
Macy has taken her snake and coiled it into a cookie.
These little lovelies are waiting to be baked in the oven. I know, they do look delicious don't they? After baking, some of the cookies looked like this:
While others looked like this:
Overall the experience was only half as frustrating as our usual cookie making sessions. Here is what we had left after I ate at least ten, maybe more.
You don't believe that I ate ten? Here's my blue tongue to prove it:
I gave a cookie to Kate. This is what she thought about it:(Translation: There is no way I am going to eat something that looks like this.)
Secret Shop
Today we went to Macy's old preschool for their annual Secret Shop. This is the fourth year we have taken the kids to do their holiday shopping. They LOVE it. They get a present for Trent, me and each of their siblings. This is the first year Ben and Macy used their own money (it's amazing how frugal they can be when Mom isn't writing the check). This was the first year Claire was old enough to participate. (She went way over budget!)
In addition to family presents, the kids are allowed to get one present for themselves. Most of the items are either gently used, new-but previously owned, hand crafted (and there are varying levels of talent represented believe me) and what I will call "other". Items cost anywhere from .50 to 17.00. I usually give the kids a budget of 10.00.
Here are Eleanor and Claire with their gifts to themselves. You are wishing you were getting these lovely items for yourself aren't you? Let's take a closer look.
Here we have a lovely little Christmas tree. Not only is the tree decorated, but it comes in a lovely ceramic Santa boot. I know this will surprise you, but it only cost $2.00. Eleanor just wanted you to know that. She feels it was a steal and thinks she may have may the best purchase of the day. Lucky her. I wish I had a small decorated Christmas tree tucked in a ceramic Santa boot. She is quite the shopper.
Claire purchased a tin full of candy for herself. Remember I said some of the presents were hand crafted or "other"? Well apparently the people who put on the Secret Shop get together about once a week for a couple of months and during this time they put together the hand crafted gifts and "other". Claire's tin falls in the "other" category. Apparently they get these empty tins and they fill them with candy and sell them at the secret shop. Here is what was in Claire's tin:
That's right for the amazing price of $1.00, Claire bought a tin filled with one small bag of Curious George fruit bites, one largish Tootsie Roll and about 10 of the mints shown at the bottom of the picture. I know, you are speechless. I must ask though, why the fruit bites and the tootsie roll? Why not just the mints? I guess it's the little extra surprises that make it special. You would expect mints in a tin, but not a little bag of Curious George fruit bites and a Tootsie Roll. I could take a lesson or two from those creative workers who put together gifts for the Secret Shop.
The kids have already pinched and poked and are dying for everyone to open their presents. We'll do that on December 24th. They'll be making things for each other between now and then too, but it wouldn't be the holidays without a trip to the secret shop. I can hardly wait to see what they've picked out for me.
In addition to family presents, the kids are allowed to get one present for themselves. Most of the items are either gently used, new-but previously owned, hand crafted (and there are varying levels of talent represented believe me) and what I will call "other". Items cost anywhere from .50 to 17.00. I usually give the kids a budget of 10.00.
Here are Eleanor and Claire with their gifts to themselves. You are wishing you were getting these lovely items for yourself aren't you? Let's take a closer look.
Here we have a lovely little Christmas tree. Not only is the tree decorated, but it comes in a lovely ceramic Santa boot. I know this will surprise you, but it only cost $2.00. Eleanor just wanted you to know that. She feels it was a steal and thinks she may have may the best purchase of the day. Lucky her. I wish I had a small decorated Christmas tree tucked in a ceramic Santa boot. She is quite the shopper.Claire purchased a tin full of candy for herself. Remember I said some of the presents were hand crafted or "other"? Well apparently the people who put on the Secret Shop get together about once a week for a couple of months and during this time they put together the hand crafted gifts and "other". Claire's tin falls in the "other" category. Apparently they get these empty tins and they fill them with candy and sell them at the secret shop. Here is what was in Claire's tin:
That's right for the amazing price of $1.00, Claire bought a tin filled with one small bag of Curious George fruit bites, one largish Tootsie Roll and about 10 of the mints shown at the bottom of the picture. I know, you are speechless. I must ask though, why the fruit bites and the tootsie roll? Why not just the mints? I guess it's the little extra surprises that make it special. You would expect mints in a tin, but not a little bag of Curious George fruit bites and a Tootsie Roll. I could take a lesson or two from those creative workers who put together gifts for the Secret Shop.The kids have already pinched and poked and are dying for everyone to open their presents. We'll do that on December 24th. They'll be making things for each other between now and then too, but it wouldn't be the holidays without a trip to the secret shop. I can hardly wait to see what they've picked out for me.
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