Sinking In

One of my fears as a parent is that nothing I do will sink in. In particular, it is of utmost importance to me that they develop a relevant faith - one with which they can see that the principles in Scripture always come true. Then, they can know and trust God's perfect will for them, even if they don't see Him working, or even if His will doesn't seem "good" at the time.

Last week, we built structures out of food items from around the house, and we started talking about what makes a structure stronger. To illustrate the point, we did this little experiment: We built a cube out of linguine and marshmallows. We tried to balance a lasagna noodle on top. It fell down. We added "crossbeams" to our structure, then tried to balance the lasagna noodle.

It stood.

Little Man said, "The wise man built his house with triangles. The house on the sand did not have triangles."

"It was foolish for him to skip the triangles, wasn't it? To make his house stronger?"

"Yes."

I didn't expect it. I didn't plan for that to be part of our lesson. I am so thankful that it was.

KW-in-the-Box

{KW is 28 months old}

KW loved this little pop-up game. We put her in a box, sang a little song, and she popped out. As we played, she got better and better at waiting until I said, "pops." Of course, she had a helper...

Every couple of days, when she sees my Slow and Steady book, she looks for the page with the picture of a boy jumping out of a box and asks me to "sing" the "poem song." She is almost saying the whole thing with me now.

Finally, we had to play with the real Jack.

Check out other ideas for your little one at 1+1+1.

Newspaper Construction and Clothespin Snap

Little Man is learning about construction this month. The first week, we talked about blueprints. We talked about architects (and interior designers), and how you have to think through what you are going to build before you start. We looked at several different types of plans, and how everything that we make requires some thought. Then we built a fort.

We rolled newspapers*, two sheets at a time, and had about fifty rolls. When we tried to build our fort, however, the rolls wouldn't stand (especially with a toddler around). So we attached groups of seven with tape, then we were able to get to work.

I was impressed that after such a brief discussion, Little Man suggested we get chairs to make our fort stronger, and to hold the blankets more securely.

While Little Man worked, I had KW place clothespins on a box**. I had placed dots around the edge of a shoebox, and she was to slide the pin over the dot. I am always surprised how much she likes these activities, and how much I have to learn about learning.

The activity helps her with eye-hand coordination, one to one matching, and increased awareness of "on" and "off."

She was not able to clip the pins yet, but she has asked for the box at other times, and repeated the activity. I plan to add the clipping in when she gets bored with the current set up.

* Activity from Mudpies to Magnets, p.50.
** Activity from Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready, p. 97. Check out other tot school ideas on 1+1+1. You won't be disappointed!

Un-Stuck

I don't know how this will ultimately play out for our family, but I do know God has pressed it into my heart for the past three years. How could we ever say our family is too full for these little ones? How could we not help them get un-stuck?

Jedd Medefind invites you to watch STUCK adoption documentary from Both Ends Burning Campaign on Vimeo.

Roundabout Way

I want to pin this image. It is from a magazine that stopped publication a few years ago, but remains one of my favorites of all-time, Cottage Living. I found a PDF with the picture, copied the part I wanted, and stuck it here. So I could pin it to my dream board for our future mountain house.

Yes, you can all come stay.

I love the ledges, the hearth, and the pass-through to the kitchen and dining area.

This will likely be the only image ever to have been pinned from my blog.

Matchstick Mouth

I recently watched The Help. In the movie, there is a scene where a young woman is asking for housekeeping advice from a maid. She needs to answer the question, "How do I keep my eyes from watering when I am chopping an onion?" The answer? Hold an unlit match between your teeth.

I tried it tonight, and who knew? It worked!

Sewing Accountability 2013

My sister and I are doing a little project this year. We have both had sewing machines and teach-yourself-to-sew books for over a year. But we haven't yet learned to sew. SO, we are holding each other to making some sort of progress every month this year. For me, this is to finish a chapter a month in my book.

To begin my work, however, I had a few things to mend before I got started. This was good, as they helped move project-unpack-and-move-into-your-new-house-finally forward. Who can get started on something new with these hanging over the head? Here was my short list:

• sew hook & eyes back on peasant blouse (that I happen to love and haven't worn in years, due to missing hook & eyes)
• sew buttons on smocked UGA jumper so KW can wear it (mom added darts to girl-ify it)
• sew button back on KW's coat
• mend pocket on Arden's sweater that KW was wearing last week
• add final stitching to t-shirt quilt I made for B, to hold the batting in place

So, there you have it. My February project is also not from the book, but along the unpacking lines. Watch for a post...I hope it turns out well. I am actually doing something new.