2014 ~ The Year of YES and LESS

I name my years, like this blogger. This year, I chose the Year of YES and LESS. 

Yes because as a Mom, I feel I am always the No. Too messy, too late, too much sugar, too much gluten, too dirty, too wet, too complicated, too much planning. NO. But wouldn't it be nice to surprise my child sometimes with a YES? And wouldn't it feel good too? And to put off the busy-ness and just BE in the moment. What if I was present in the play, the learning, the reading, the teaching...the everyday intentional moments. Then maybe I would never miss the grace, the blessings. 
                                                                                                       I don't want to miss even one.


And Less, because my stuff is getting in the way of my WALK. More than that. My stuff is strangling me. Entrapping me. I know it. And yet, I keep obtaining MORE. Keep wanting more. The product of a hoarder, I grew up keeping. Never purging. You could say I don't know how. My brain works in compartments, catergories. I like to organize things, to put things in their place. But I did learn something. You CAN'T organize when your stuff EXCEEDS your organization space. Organization is only as effective as the capacity of the container. But I can't get the sickness to go away. The need for More. To live simply - is it realistic in this fast food, tweeting world? I think it is. It will take some major renovation.

This Christmas is about the GIFT we've already received

Christmas 2013

After reading “Seven” by Jenn Hatmaker and studying Jesus’s constant giving and serving in Matthew (BSF), plus contemplating “no presents for Christmas” – the Ann Voskamp way for a whole year, I’ve had some time to put a different perspective on Christmas. After all, it is the Year of the New Thing (Isaiah 43:19).

We pulled out the Jesse Tree, but we didn’t do an ornament every day. We started homeschooling though over the Christmas break, and we fought our two dragons together with the sword of the Spirit (even though it’s a small lego sword, if it’s of the Spirit it’s greater than the largest sword of man.). He was the “good guy” and I was the enemy. I would pick out a common lie (You don’t have to obey your parents) and he would come up with a Bible truth to dispute that lie. Then I would fall down dead! Typical morning. Mommy's always the bad guy. But I can use it to my advantage! Because one day (probably today) a real BAD GUY is going to whisper in his ears and tell him to disobey and that God is witholding something good from him. My goal is that he is ready.

We played with our elf this year. We’d often find him somewhere new in the morning, which Jacob loved, but sometimes Jasper just plain forgot. Give him a break.

Truth in the Tinsel – well, what  a precious idea. But I didn’t really feel like getting the crafts out. I know, that’s a surprising coming from me. And my advent calendars, I have at least 5. Can’t say that we have “read our devotion” more than a handful of times. But we have talked about The Lord our Banner, as long as Moses hands were lifted they won the battle against the Amalekites. We talked about the bitter water at Marah, and the Spirit of God leading Moses to a tree branch to throw into the water, which then became sweet again. I have to constantly be aware of my tendency to compare myself to the Pinterest  Moms of the world for decorating and hosting and birthday-party favor-making and so on. – I mean I refuse to let Christmas be to me what it became to my Mom. A stress. A dread. A nightmare.

We packed our first family shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child, for 3 little boys. And we pray that the destinations of those humble cardboard boxes are God-ordained, that they will write us back one day. We made a Prayer Book and we look at it every morning and pray for specific people. It really helps having their pictures in front of us.

We sent Christmas cards to our adopted kids around the world, in Armenia, Nicaragua, and South Africa. We sent Christmas cards to children whose parents are in prison for their faith in Jesus, through Voice of the Martyrs. We made sponge- painted cards & gave them to our mail carrier, recycle, & garbage collector, along with a jumbo Reese's cup. We bought tennis shoes for the soldiers in Afghanistan. We sold peanut brittle, white chocolate candy, and caramel popcorn to raise money for the Missions Offering --Lottie Moon. We gave gifts to our newest mentee and member of the Project Abundant Life program.

Well today we did something cool. I read about “Be the Gift” on Ann Voskamp’s birthday blog. At church I happened to run across “Light ‘Em Up” ideas and it got me thinking. I could do this. For a few dollars we could get some candy or something…tie the gift tags and voila…a way to bless someone! But where to go? Where is the loneliest place in town? For us it’s been the waiting room of the Surgical trauma ICU at Huntsville Hospital. First waiting on my aunt that cold month of October 2011…waiting for those four 20-mintute visitations every day, then setting up shop in the waiting room for hours. Only to see she had made little progress. There were tears. Hopelessness.

Then waiting for my husband in March of this year. After the gun went off. Waiting as he lay there on the table, a titanium rod would be his new shin. Waiting and scared. With one friend. How grateful I was he decided to skip church that Sunday morning. 

So I had an appointment with my rheumatologist today and I thought it a perfect time for us to distribute our goodies…Mounds bars (MOUNDS of blessings to you!) and cherry candy canes. We prayed for God to show us the right people. Who needed a lift. The first one Jacob passed out was to a man who was very weak in a wheel chair going up the elevator. We saw a Mom from Jacob’s school in the Dr.’s office who was trying to figure out what she had that was making her hurt so badly. She complemented Jacob for the blessing and for the good behavior. She got one too. We found a man downstairs in the waiting room who Jacob sneaked behind and slipped the candy over his shoulder into his lap. This frightened the man so he let out a loud YELL! Oops. Merry Christmas. This is Jacob’s way to bless others.We found a policeman getting lunch in the cafeteria. A receptionist at Daddy's work. A tech at TOC. A patient awaiting modality in therapy. We went into the Hospital chapel and placed several candies on the pews, and one on the pulpet. To bless. In secret. 

Leigh Wilhelm, director of Project Abundant Life, really made me think as she shared with me her family's tradition of only 3 gifts each, like the wise men. And then there's this other thing they do...Secret Giving. To a family in need. How awesome is secret giving! Takes the whole "self glory" problem right out of the picture!

We headed to the ICU waiting room and found several families, one whose sister was having brain surgery (same one Wanda Mullins had 2 days ago! And we have been praying!!). The lady ended up knowing my grandfather, JD and my aunt Cheryl. Another lady was about to go in for surgery to see if her cancer treatment had been working and we got to pray with and for her. Another lady accepted the candy and said she was a Jehovah’s Witness. She told me she didn’t celebrate Christmas but that she wanted me to know that she believed Jesus’s death was essential to our humanity's hope. It was a good day. Being in that room brought back some tears. That was unexpected. But we spread some joy. And it felt good.

So we just had a few presents under the tree this year. And I had family over, but I didn't get out the good China. Not even the tea goblets. We ate around the breakfast room table and had sandwiches and chips & dip. But Christmas is sharing and giving love. And there was that.

Homeschooling - I'm New at This - But God Started Early

So I started saving my stickers off my papers when I was 6, I used them when I taught my "class" in my bedroom. I have been collecting teaching supplies my whole life. The routine of school was always a good fit for me. I loved getting new school supplies every year, had kinda a love affair with colored pens and erasers. And STICKERS. I love to learn. I love WORDS, wrote poems & stories at a very early age (I'm still an aspiring writer!!). I love homographs, homophones, onomatopoeia, rhyming, word meanings (Biblical Greek/Hebrew), Names of God, personification, alliteration, and yes, loved LOVED diagramming sentences. Yes, God made me very special. :) In fact, I still remember the 'chant' my 8th grade teacher taught us to remember the conjugates of "be." I never really knew why I was such a word nerd or why I get a high from thinking about putting things into catergories and using dry erase markers, until the Lord called me to homeschool my to-be kindergartener this Fall. One by one I started to meet Moms who homeschool their children, and one more little light came on in my brain. Then the day came when I had to register my son for kindgergarten...and I didn't do it! And there was...a Peace. There's only one who can provide that kind of peace.


Soooo....since I THINK I'm supposed to make lesson plans in case someone stops me & asks 'what on Earth is your child doing at home on a weekday?' 

I just might pull out my blog...

BIBLE:

Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty Power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. Ephesians 6:10

 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord. Col 3:23

 Attending Bible Study Fellowship together on Wednesday mornings. Once a month the children during Intergenerational Worship, the children come into the Sanctuary and we worship together by singing hymns.

Nativity Scene Legos - These are Trinity Toys Brand from Family Christian.

Acting out  The Egyptian Plagues -the bubble wrap is for the boils on their skin!
1. Blood - red marble, red cup, or clear cup painted half-red 2. Frogs - plastic frogs or flippy frogs you flick with your finger 3. and 4. Lice & Flies - tiny plastic bugs 5. Pestilence/disease of livestock - plastic farm animals 6. Boils - bubble wrap 7. Hail -white marble or marshmallow 8. Locusts - plastic grasshoppers 9.  Darkness - black marble or black felt/fabric/construction paper 10. Slaying of Firstborn - tiny plastic baby from King Cake or miniature aisle at craft store

 

 

 We found this cute song on You Tube to help us learn the books of the Bible : 66 Books of the Bible. It's a little dated but J loves it. We used a pointer (pencil with a fun eraser) to point to each book on a chart as they sung the song!

PHONICS & READING:

 Word puzzles are great!! I printed these over at one of my favorites for Printables...This Reading Mama: Free Bob Book Printables or This Reading Mama - Free Bob Book Printables cont'd

 We encourage making all kinds of words with the magnetic letters...even potty words...whatever makes him happy! Typical boy.

Sight word Boom - blow the party blower and knock the cup with the correct sight word I read aloud. You can also read a story and have them listen for a particular word.

Sight Word Baseball-He had to hit the crumpled up pieces of paper, which all had sight words on them.

Sight Word Bingo - a simple 8-word grid and he has to mark the word with a dinosaur on his grid if I call it out. This Reading Mama has an awesome Word Wac Woe which is a very cute way to learn sight words!

Hide and Seek - Searching for Sight Words. You can also search for them around the house (and even put names of common household objects up around your house) or out and about when you go grocery shopping or on errands!

   Matching word families using animals. 
Printed from This Reading Mama Bob Book printables. and More

Alphabet fishing - use paper clips to "catch" these fish and match the letter with the picture that starts with that letter.

Have you heard of BANG? Super fun letter recognition game (or you can use sight words!) Try to make pairs of letters by drawing them out of a paper sack (or hat - something that you can't see what you drawing). If you draw a BANG stick, you lose all your matches and start over! If you're playing with sight words, have the player sound out the word. If he sounds it correctly, he gets to keep it.

Don't Let the Cat Out of the Bag - very similar to bang. We worked on sight words with this game. Draw a card, say the word, get to keep the card (you get a point). If you draw the cat picture out (there were 5) you have to put back your cards. He thought this was hilarious!

 
Coloring with cue tips...ba, be, bi, bo, bu as he says the "words"

Reading with a pointer! We downloaded several FREE ebooks (which go into your ibook app on your ipad!) from 1+1+1=1 Raising Rock Stars.

These fun cards have cut outs for your magnetic letters. I bought them at the Thrift store!

He cut out pictures I had printed from google search of various things and he has to put them over the correct letter of the beginning sound.
 
We use this chart each morning to go over our letter sounds/phonics. We don't say the name of the letter anymore, just its sound! Then we play a fun game called Jibbily Jobbily where you make up funny words - long strings of letters that don't make any sense. He has to name each letter's sound and then I have to try to pronounce the entire word! Big laughs!

 Sight word laminated play doh cards

 Building words with Unifix Letter Cubes



Christian Preschool Printables has some great file folder games, lapbooks, and easy reader printable mini books - all free!
Bible Story Printables has a printable timeline for free! I am so excited to put this together, but I have a feeling it's going to take awhile!


This game came from This Reading Mama. It's called letter blending! If you go to THIS LINK, you can download the Set 4: Compound Words Bob Book printables for free! That is where I printed the cute blender! It explains how to blend 2 letters together. When 2 letters get together they say a special sound (called a blend).

Read - Build - Write from 1+1+1=1
 Cool concept...You read the word in a story, build the word with letter tiles or magnetic letters (or paper letters), then write the word using your pencil. I'm a big fan of the multisensory approach.




Cut & paste to make the story correct. "I see a hat on a cat. I see a bee in a tree."

This one had trouble with 'C.' It was always backwards. So we talked about how C is a crow and drew a beak on the end and that he wanted to eat his corn so he needed to face forward or else he wouldn't get any corn. It worked!

MATH: 

Read

Using a number line: use a small toy/plane or coin to cover up a number and ask "Which number is under the toy?"

 Building with Legos

 Copy the pattern of shapes on the Angry Bird card using the building blocks. Then the fun part - knock it down with the Angry Birds!

 Roll the dice. Put that many counters on the grid. Encourages understanding of one-to-one correspondence. (the number 4 means 4 spaces get covered)



 Christmas Tree patterns - cutting and making patterns!

Farm Spinner Game...OK. This game is super fun. And it covers multiple areas of learning...you use a spinner you can print from 1+1+1=1 in her kindergarten printables. You spin the spinner (which I used a brad stuck in a paper plate with a paper clip around the top of the brad). If you're playing with 2, each of you pick 3 animals and a color. There are 6 total animals. If it lands on my animal, I get to find the word on the chart and color one square in the color I chose. With each spin, color one square. Whoever gets the most squares colored wins. At the end, tally all the squares out beside each word/animal and write that number. Which animal came in first, second, third, etc.

Math sentences with Squinkies. Describe this scenario in a math sentence. I have 2 squinkies. Billy gives me 2 more. How many do I have now?
The math sentence is 2+2=4.

Monster Truck Graphing from 1+1+1=1 Raising Rockstar kids free printables. Print a spinner circle and mount to a paper plate. Use a paper clip to create a game spinner. Chart/graph each time you spin a certain truck. See which truck wins!

HANDWRITING:

 Tracing letters - he gets these cute letter books from Scholastic!
Tracing name on laminated paper

Number Forming

Do-a-Dot painting for difficult letters

 Do you know about 
 b sees d? 
It's a way for kids to remember which letter faces which way!

 SCIENCE:

 

 Experimenting with water, food coloring, and snowman molds!

                                                                                   The clear snowman had sprinkles inside him!

The Melted Snowman game. I handed him a little bag with a button, a carrot, and an ice cube. He had to guess what was inside. It was a melted snowman!! Then we took the ice cube and the object of the game is to be the first to melt your cube! I cannot remember where I saw this game but you could probably search for it.
Roll 1 - Blow on your cube
Roll 2 - Hold in your hand for 10 sec
Roll 3 - Drop cube down your shirt!
Roll 4 - Soak in water for 30 sec
Roll 5 - Sprinkle salt on your cube
Roll 6 - Drop cube on floor.

Another experiment with frozen water - dinosaurs got 'caught' in the ice during the Ice Age! That is how we believe they became extinct.

ART:

Aunt Leslie gave us these wonderful Window Markers. They will be great for art and maybe some handwriting practice too!

FIELD TRIPS

Chilling at the library

Where are we? If Ricky and Priscilla went on a trip from Alabama to visit our adopted child Viktoria, all the way in Armenia, how would they travel there? What would they need? How many miles is it and how long do you think it would take them?

 Learning about the American Indians at a friend's Konos co-op

 Early Works Children's Museum

We always have to take advantage of the scale at the grocery store! Which vegetable do you estimate is the heaviest??

Georgia Aquarium

ON MISSION: 

 World Missions Offering at Church: Selling baked goods we made - peanut brittle, white chocolate cherries, and caramel popcorn trail mix

We raised over $150 for the Lottie Moon Offering!

 Passing out oranges and peanut butter crackers at Manna House - we always bring a fold up stool so J can reach the food line & participate.

Mrs. Fran at Manna House always finds a sweet treat for J to nibble on

 This Christmas (2013) we passed out MOUNDS of blessings, small chocolate bars with a blessing verse  throughout the surgery waiting room of the hospital and in the 

hospital chapel.

 Here we are with all of our Mounds of Blessings and candy canes gifts we prepared to give out to anyone we ran into that might need a lift. We asked God to show us the right people and provide opportunities to share Jesus' love.

 I got this idea from GO Kids, the elementary group at church and it originally came from online - Check out Light 'Em Up by Courtney DeFeo or More Light 'Em Up ideas

  Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes - We prepared 3 boxes for a 4 year old boy. We included a special note and an envelope with our address, in hopes we would get a return letter. We are still praying our boxes will make it to just the right little boys and that they will feel God's love. 

Shoes for Soldiers - We also sent tennis shoes to soldiers guarding in Afghanistan. We pray that their feet will be guarded in the Peace of the Gospel. Eph 6:13

 Project Abundant Life Mentoring Group for Single Moms

 Gifts for our Neighborhood Servants: Mail carriers, Garbage & Recycle Collectors: Waiting...

 Making gifts for special servants - Sunday School teachers & school teachers

Fried Pies :)

 

World Vision Sponsorship - 
Check out the World Vision Gift Catalog. I let J pick out one thing for us to give to Jesus for Christmas. He picked out the goat one year and this year he was drawn to the Girls in Prison who are traffiked. There are many causes to support, wherever your heart leads you.

Our adopted children:
Viktoria - Armenia
 Katerine - Nicarauga
"Rebby" -South Africa

BRAIN TREK - a private school owned and operated by Martha Williams, director of Kids Trek.

    Mensa Kids Trek is free, open to the public, and geared for all ages. Children must have adult partners. For more information on Mensa Kids Trek and/or Brain Trek, please contact Martha Williams, kidstrek@earthlink.net a free program for Huntsville to faciliate hands-on learning.

Making a mammals book

Lots of toys and learning at Brain Trek