All Consuming...Better Mom

Well, I've been avoiding Pinterest for quite awhile.  I was assuming it would become all consuming.  I'm a crafty person at heart, and the endless ideas out there were sure to suck me in.  Facebook is consuming enough.

I broke down and decided to try it, and sacrifice some Facebook time.  I have been pleasantly surprised!  My initial few days were spent scanning through friends pins and finding ideas that I liked and would want to try.  I especially like the things that look easy, cheap, and quick.

Now the consuming part is that I want to make so many things for my kids.  Nap time has become my 'work' time on most days instead of my nap time.  So I am sacrificing some snooze, but will benefit the rewards of seeing the girls get so excited.

I've been working on creating busy bags.  Fun activities that we can do on the go, or when I need them to do something independently.  My first activity, fishing, was a hit at Thanksgiving when we were at a relative's house, with many breakables around.  So, I think something I was nervous about, Pinterest, has actually made me a better mom!

Here are some of the projects I've been doing.

Fishing: felt, washers sewn inside, magnetic tacks, and plastic tubes and ribbon make the rods.

Roads and cars: created roads using Microsoft Word shapes and clipart, and used cars we had.

Popsicle stick puzzles: Dollar store Popsicle sticks, magazine cutouts, and glue.  (These are double sided!)

A little mail sorter for myself using cereal boxes wrapped in paper:

More ideas on the way.  This is so fun!

A MOM-ent to Myself

No, that's not a typo in the title.  It's my reality.  Every moment I get to myself feels like a MOM-ent.  I can't help but think about my kids/family or be doing something that ultimately benefits them in someway.  I often struggle over what to do with myself when I get a two hour break.  How can I take care of just me?  Sure a nap is refreshing, but then I'm not really doing anything, just fading out.

Scripture or prayer or worship should be my first inclination, but it's hard to steer ourselves that direction.  I've recently been trying (I'll use that loosely) to insert these things even in a MOM-ent.  And funny enough, it's almost been better that way.  I put in an old Creation Fest worship CD to the van CD player a few weeks back, expecting protests from the "little people".  Having a CD player has been a missing feature in a vehicle for a number of years now.  To my surprise, the "little people" actually joined in singing.  I have no idea how they new some of the songs, but they catch on quickly.  It has been so special to hear my 3 year olds belting out "Open the eyes of my heart, Lord."

What do you MOM-ments or moments look like?

"I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe."

~Ephesians 1:18-19a

Fall Crafts 2012

Well, lest you think I have oodles of time on my hands...no...only random moments to throw in a craft for my girls, and only simple crafts at that.  So simple, I thought I'd share!

Inspired from some various toys and other crafts I've come across recently, DECORATE A PUMPKIN!  Microsoft Word has so many fun pictures in Clipart.  I picked out a pumpkin, and made it a full page size, and then picked some fun shapes to be eyes, nose, and mouth.  And extra pieces to swap them out. 

If you care to have a copy of the document to print out for your kids, let me know; I'm happy to share.

*As a side, if you care to keep this fun craft from year to year, you can laminate it with laminating sheets, or use packing tape.


COLORFUL LEAVES
Now this is a craft that I recall doing as a child.  It was always fun.  You'll need wax paper, leaves, crayon shavings, and an iron.  My girls and I had fun walking and picking up pretty leaves.  And since the girls are a little young, I shaved some old crayons while they napped.  Now, place a piece of wax paper down, have your child pick a leave or two and place on the wax paper.  Then let them sprinkle some crayon shavings on top.  Just a light amount of crayons.  Then cover with another piece of wax paper.  Be sure the shavings are away from the edges of the paper.  Iron over top of the wax paper, and the two pieces will stick together and melt the crayon inside. This will not stick to the iron, but you won't want to get crayon on your iron.  The color will create a fun effect!  You can later cut close to the leaves and put on a card or paper.

Enjoy this season with your kiddos!

Get Back on the Horse

So it's about time to "get back on the horse", so to speak with this whole blog thing.  Over the past several months there have been numerous changes in our house, and I've often thought, I should blog that, but it never happened.  Now that our baby is practically 6 months and taking some longer naps, perhaps some of what's in my head will make it to a post!

I've recently been struggling with CHAOS!  Everyone's version of chaos is different.  Mine is usually centered around disorganization, too many sounds or distractions, or a life situation that feels completely out of my control.  Here's one example:

I know, in retrospect this seems like a small mess, but to my ridiculous brain this is overwhelming and chaotic.  So until it's 'cleaned' up I become stressed, cranky, and task focused.  Little messes often keep me from doing great things like getting down on the floor to play with my kids and make a bigger mess, or taking them to a different room to work on another project.  It's one of those areas that's a work in progress.

So for now I do a 15 minute power-clean, restore my sanity, and move on.  I kind of hope I don't ever get used to a messy house, but it would be nice to be able to enjoy in the midst of the chaos!

Psalm 29:11 

"The Lord gives strength to his people;
    the Lord blesses his people with peace."

Family Tree

We have been rearranging our house in preparation for our coming daughter, and in doing so needed to relocate a set of vinyl wall jungle stickers. All the animals went to the baby's room, but I had a palm tree left over. We decided to put it in the new playroom. I got thinking about family trees and how the girls have been into identifying people. So the idea was merged. I pulled out my large hole punch and started punching familiar faces out of extra photos I have around the house. I got some Velcro with sticky backs to put on the wall and photos. And now the girls can move people around and have fun naming them. This is really helping them identify people they don't often see. It's interesting to see how they choose to rearrange the pictures and how they start establishing which people 'go together'.

Easter Eggs

The past several months have been quite exhausting around here with raising twin toddlers and growing a little one in my belly. Creativity has been on the back burner as a result. Getting so close to the end has me running especially slow and avoiding getting out of the house most days.

I decided to try and draw on some of that creativity again and find some fun ideas online. Easter is quickly approaching, and with it comes lots of talk of bunnies and eggs.

My first thought went to merging eggs and Jesus. Not a new idea, as I'm sure many of you have heard of resurrection eggs. I did some research online and found several good resources on making my own set. This may become a project for next year in our house, but I thought I'd share my findings.

**Also below, some Easter egg stuffing ideas for general Easter baskets.

RESURRECTION EGGS
Purchase 12 small plastic Easter eggs from Walmart or the Family Dollar. Make sure they will fit inside of a regular egg carton. Number them 1 through 12.

Use a left over egg carton. If you still have eggs inside the carton - just put them into a large bowl for safe keeping.

Place the item listed below into each egg. You can also put the scripture reference - or you can tell the story from memory.

Once all the eggs are filled - you can begin telling the story.

Egg #1:
Message -- Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. The people waved palm branches.
Passage -- Matthew 21:1-11
Item -- Piece of palm branch. Another option for those of you with extra Lego parts or plastic novelty beads would be to place a small plastic leaf in the egg.

Egg #2:
Message -- Mary poured expensive perfume on Jesus' feet.
Passage -- John 12:2-8
Item -- Small perfume sample or cloth with perfume or a piece of cotton with cologne on it.

Egg #3:
Message -- Jesus shared the Last Supper with His disciples.
Passage -- Matthew 26:17-19
Item – A piece of Chex cereal; or take clay and make a small bread-like shape.

Egg #4:
Message -- Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.
Passage -- Matthew 27:3
Item -- 3 dimes or plastic “silver” money

Egg #5:
Message -- Jesus carried His own cross.
Passage -- John 19:17
Item – Toothpicks or Popsicle stick cut and glued in a cross form; or, a small plastic cross from a Christmas ornament or necklace.

Egg #6:
Message -- Soldiers placed a crown of thorns on Jesus' head.
Passage -- John 19:2
Item -- Small thorny branch, or a large thorn all by itself.

Egg #7:
Message -- Soldiers parted Jesus' garments and cast lots for His coat.
Passage -- John 19:23
Item -- Swatch of burlap and a nail. I’ve also seen miniature dice used for this one.

Egg #8:
Message -- Jesus was nailed to a cross and pierced in His side.
Passage -- John 19:18,37 & John 20:25-29
Item -- A nail.

Egg #9:
Message -- They gave Jesus vinegar mixed with gall on a sponge to drink.
Passage -- Matthew 27:34
Item -- A small sponge.

Egg #10:
Message -- Spices to prepare Jesus for burial.
Passage -- John 19:40
Item -- 7 or 8 whole cloves, or other whole spices.

Egg #11:
Message -- The stone covering Jesus' tomb was rolled away.
Passage -- John 20:1
Item -- A small rock.

Egg #12:
Message: The tomb is empty. He has risen!
Passage: Luke 24:6.
Item: Nothing


Easter Egg Stuffers - other than candy:

• hair bows
• bouncy balls
• fake tattoos
• stickers
• coins
• dress up jewelry
• rings
• pretty stones
• finger puppets - look for printables online
• doll clothes (barbie size)