Raising Rock Stars: Building on the Rock

This week for our Bible lesson, we focused on Matthew 7:24-27 where the wise man builds his house on the rock. It went perfectly with KJ's study this week on rocks (which I will post about at the end of the week.)

So, I began by reading the story and explaining that Jesus is like the rock and that when we listen and obey Him, it is like we are building our house (our life) on The Rock, Jesus Christ!

Totally making the connection, the kids began to remind me about the God Rocks episode where they talk about building on The Rock. They all belted out the lyrics to the song. I even chimed in with them! I couldn't help it, I love God Rocks! We also sang the lyrics of the hymn "On Christ the solid Rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand."

So, to really hit home the idea of Christ being the Rock and to further illustrate Matt 7:24-27, we build a house on a rock and a house on the sand.

And we used a watering can to "rain" on the houses...

...and we watched the house built on the sand wash away, while the house on the rock stood strong!

File Folder Handprint Cards

This week the challenge item for Kiddos Create Challenge of the Week, was file folders. I have TONS of these! My "collection" increased drastically when I discovered that they came in lots of cool colors...other than just manila. I use them mostly for file folder games, which I LOVE!!! But, there is NO way that I will use up all the file folders on games.

So, in search of some other uses, I came up with the idea of making cards with them. So, I cut them down so that they would fit into one of my many leftover envelopes (I tend to collect/save anything that I can possibly repurpose!) I used my corner rounder to round off all four corners for a little extra pizazz! {smile} I decided to use the kids' handprints, which I also did onto file folders. Once the handprints were dry I cut around them and glued them onto the cards. I had each of the three older kids to write thanks onto file folder scraps. I cut it out and glued it onto the card.

On the inside of the cards I wrote, "...for lending a helping hand." I used these cards to mail out to all the people who helped out our family during my surgeries.

I think I will also make a few to use as thank yous for the "hand-me-down" clothes that we periodically receive. I figure it will be a good way to use up all the handprints that I now have of the kids!

For more creative ideas using household items, be sure to click graphic above!

Kiddos Create Challenge: FILE FOLDERS

Welcome to the Kiddos Create Weekly carnival!!! This week our challenge item is file folders. I can't wait to check out your links and see how you used this weeks item to create something by, for, or with your kiddos!! If you are new here and would like more info about the Kiddos Create Challenge of the Week and how to join in, please click here.

***Be sure to either link back to here or add the Kiddos Create button to your post! You can grab the button from the right sidebar.***

Next week's challenge item is rocks. For your/my convenience (and planning purposes) you can see the upcoming weekly challenge items on the sidebar.

Remember: MckLinky will close this coming Saturday night at midnight. So, you've got all week to link up!

Preschool Corner: Letter F

This week was a fun week for the big boys! We focused on the letter F. We cut out and glued pictures of things beginning with F onto our F collage and we practiced our F penmanship. We added both pages to their ABC books. We also read lots of books!

We had LOTS of fun with fruit and faces. The kids wanted to make these faces again, but I opted for fruit faces. Check out our creations!


We also made these OREO frogs. They were SOOOO cute and SOOOOO yummy!!! You can get instructions for making them here!

Our fun with food continued. I added in some foam footballs and started patterns for the boys. They used the footballs and fruit to complete the patterns.

....the fun with food continued....We also made the letter F using peanut butter dough. We made it using:

1 cup of creamy PB

2-3 tablespoons of honey

dry powdered milk

All you have to do is stir the ingredients together and add just enough powdered milk to make a pliable dough. Refrigerate for 2 hours and then have fun playing with it!
The boys also practiced making the letter F using some pegs that I got from the 99 Cents Store a long time ago. It was cute because they were trying to balance their F's so that they would stand up on their own. I guess this would have been the time to talk about the gravity and the "magical" standing broom, but I forgot.
We also made these super cute footballs that I found on No Time for Flashcards. We opted to use paint and a homemade stamp to stamp the letter F all over the footballs before stuffing and adding the laces. Football is big in our house and we had SO much fun with these! The boys loved showing me their touchdown dances!Also from No Time for Flashcards, we made these super cute bandaid fireflies.

The boys also played with their Half to Whole Matching Fruit file folder game. We took the opportunity to talk about some of the fruits that we don't get to eat regularly.

They also used their Seasons Matching file folder game. It was a great extension, because they have been talking alot about it being Fall. Plus, I have been in the process of trying to change out their wardrobes from spring/summer to fall/winter. I guess now, I can put them to work and let them help me! {smile} As for the file folder game, some of the items were questionable. So, I asked them to explain the rationale of their decisions.

We also talked a bit about firefighters and we talked about our trip to the fire station. The kids asked lots of questions and we reviewed the basics of what to do in the case of a fire. I reminded them of what the fire fighters looked like in their uniforms and masks and that they should NOT be scared of them and run away. It also got me to thinking about doing a lesson specifically on fire safety. Hmmm, I think I need to get to work! {smile}

Finally, we made these toilet paper tube race cars. It doesn't really go with the F theme...unless you count the fact that we tried to race them really FAST! We we love about these is that they really do roll!!! You can see how we made them here.

Be sure to check out Preschool Corner for more great preschool ideas as well as my other website for free online preschool/kindergarten resources.

Z is for Zebra

This week was all about zebras for KJ and we did some fun stuff. One of the highlights were these marble zebras that we made. Is a zebra black with white stripes or white with black stripes??? Hmmmm, I was inspired to do this zebra marble craft after reading a super cute poem by Shel Silverstein on Homeschool Share (see the lapbook link below). I loved the poem, but KJ didn't really get it. But, she loved making our marble zebras to go along with it.

I printed off this picture of a zebra and cut it out and traced it onto a piece of black paper. Then I taped it into the bottom of a box. I added some white paint and KJ rolled the marble around in it to make the zebra stripes. We did the very same thing with a white zebra and black paint. (Note to self...next time cut out the zebra first and then roll the marble on it!!!) KJ also had fun doing some zebra addition and subtraction. I got the printable zebras from Homeschool Share (link below). I wrote out some problems on a white board for her to solve using the zebras.
We also worked on telling time and solved the mystery of the missing zebra stripes. We used this really cute book, The Case of the Missing Zebra Stripes and a clock. KJ and I read the story and she helped to solve the case!!!! Very fun!!!! (The book also has many other zoo math problems and mysteries to solve.)

Here is our zebra lapbook. I also used the same zebra printable from above for KJ to color. I gave her a picture of a zebra and I told her to pay close attention to the details and directions of the stripes. Check out her version on the top right below! With the exception of the zebra used for this and the marble project, I found all of these great zebra printables here on Homeschool Share.
Here are some of the books that we used for our zebra unit.

Well, that wraps up our week of highlights featuring the zebra!





Be sure to check out more Weekly Homeschool Highlights at Mishmash Maggie.

Tot School~28 months {Tupperware, Boxes, & Pounds}

~JI and TJ are 28 months~

This was a pretty laid back week for the little boys. They played with their magnetic animal book.

They helped Daddy organize the tupperware cabinet by matching lids with their containers.

They helped to put the matched tupperware into the cabinet.

They colored on a box from one of my monthly trips to Costco.

Once JI got tired of coloring on the box, he decided to sit on it and smash it a bit.

Finally, the practiced giving each other a pound...since they have obviously graduated from thumb pounds!

So, I don't know if I would call it a "real" educational week for the babies, but at this age, isn't life...itself...considered to be all about learning?!?!?! {smile}

Be sure to check out Tot School for more great toddler ideas as well as my other website for free online preK resources.

"Please, Baby, Please" by Spike Lee & Tonya Lewis Lee

Please, Baby, Please

by Spike Lee & Tonya Lewis Lee

Illustrated by Kadir Nelson

The baby girl in this book is just too cute! The book is about her and her day, which begins at 3:01 AM with her mother saying, "Go back to bed baby, please, baby, please." You follow the little girl throughout her day as her parents correct her actions (not sharing a ball, writing on the wall, eating sand, teasing, splashing water in the tub, etc.) and follow with "please, baby, please." I used this book to help reinforce correct behavior. With each page we talked about what the little girl should have done.
Want to know more about the "Brown Like Me" Book Review and how it got started? Click here!

Kiddos Create Challenge: TOILET PAPER TUBES

Welcome to the Kiddos Create Weekly carnival!!! This week our challenge item is toilet paper tubes. I can't wait to check out your links and see how you used this weeks item to create something by, for, or with your kiddos!! If you are new here and would like more info about the Kiddos Create Challenge of the Week and how to join in, please click here.

***Be sure to either link back to here or add the Kiddos Create button to your post! You can grab the button from the right sidebar.***

For your/my convenience (and planning purposes) you can see the upcoming weekly challenge items on the sidebar.

Remember: MckLinky will close this coming Saturday night at midnight. So, you've got all week to link up!

Rollin' Race Cars {TP Tube Style}

This week the challenge item for Kiddos Create Challenge of the Week was toilet paper tubes. There are so many fun crafts and things you can make with toilet paper tubes. We decided to make race cars. What is neat about these race cars is that they really can roll!! We had such a blast making and playing with these!!! So, here is what you need:And, here is how we made them. First, paint the tp tube. Once dry, use a craft knife and cut a square in the tube so that there is a "seat" for the driver. Next, use a hole puncher to punch four holes near the bottom of the tube to hold the "axle." Cut the straw down to to two inch pieces. Slide one toothpick into each straw piece and insert it through the punched holes.

Next use the thumb tack/push pin to poke a hole in the center of each of the bottle tops (wheels). After making the hole, push the toothpick into the hole so that the wheels are attached to the car. Repeat for the second set of wheels and there you have it...a rollin' race car!

Initially we stopped here and began playing with our cars. But, it didn't take long before the wheels started coming off. So, I used my glue gun to put a bit of glue inside the bottom top where the toothpick poked through. This held the tires on really well and our race car fun could continue!!!

For more creative ideas using everyday items, be sure to click the graphic above! Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I got this cool idea from a Family Fun magazine in one of the many doctor's offices that I had to visit during my multiple surgery drama!

I am also linking this up with Kid Friendly Friday, and We Made It! Friday Showcase.

"My Motives" (journal entry 7.24.09)

This is an entry from my journal during my time away from blogging. It has been sitting in my draft folder for months!!! I am REALLY putting myself out there with this one but, I am believing that God will use it for His glory! So, here is what I wrote in my journal on July 24, 2009:

“Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men, to be seen by them. If you do you will have no reward from your father in Heaven.” –Matt 6:1

Boy is this timely. I have been dealing with the issue of motives. WHY do I do and say some of the things that I do and say? It kind of goes back to something our pastor said.

“God wants to know if His glory is safe with us.”

I have realized that I do things and say things so that people will “praise” me. For example, I noticed that I would “work into” conversations that I have five kids ages five and under or that I have two sets of twins…just so that people would say things like, “Wow, you are amazing…how do you manage it all? I could never do what you do!”

Now, who’s getting the glory here?!?!?! Definitely NOT God!!! When I do this, my reward is here on Earth (the fleeting moment of satisfaction with being praised for my “acts of righteousness”) and I forfeit my Heavenly reward.

I want the reward that will last!

So, I am working hard at being more aware of my motives for what I say and do and I am trying to bring glory to God and not to me! This goes along with my blog..which is still temporarily deleted. I had begun to do it for the recognition and the accolades…to bring glory to myself…rather than as a ministry to other moms. What a huge perspective change. When it is a ministry, God gets the glory!

Thank you Carisa for helping me to see the value in taking the focus of blogging off of myself and focusing on how it can be a blessing to others!!!

You can read more of my blogging "revelations" here and here.