Get Real with God ~ Comfort in the Word

During February we finished reading Amon’s Adventures. What a great book! Can I just say that the author did an amazing job on not being graphic with the details of Jesus death but instead focusing on who Jesus was and the awesomeness of His Resurrection! I really held it together pretty good through out the book. Granted, I did tear up most days reading it out loud, but I was able to get through it and still read with some semblance of a voice.

The very final chapter in the book speaks about Jesus Resurrection, about His reappearance to his disciples and others and to his Glorious Assent into heaven. Herein lies my favorite scripture.

“…and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:20b

Jesus says this after giving the Great Commission. It’s such a simple thing to say, but it touches a place so deep within me. This little scripture brings me gallons of comfort. I often deal with feeling lonely, always have. Probably a result of being alone so much as a child (latch-key) but also because I’ve often felt alienated throughout my life with the choices I’ve made. Choices that often brought me closer to the Lord, but further from people around me.

Seriously, I can’t read that scripture without tearing up. I’m so thankful to God for sending Jesus, and sending Him in a way that makes it easy for him to understand our sinful, selfish flesh, to understand the struggles and the loneliness and for Him to address that loneliness in His final farewell brings to me to a place of gratitude and humility every single time.

“Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord.” James 5:7

Find Peace in His Resurrection! Find Joy in your Salvation! Find Comfort in the Word!

Once Upon A Book ~ Owl Babies

 Owl Babies by Martin Waddell

Summary:  Baby owls become worried when their mommy owl goes to look for some food.  They sit around trying to reassure each other until their mother returns.

Bible Verse:  “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?  And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?  So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’” (Mathew 6: 27-31)

Video:  The boys thought it would be fun if we read Owl Babies to you.  It will give you a little insight into our homeschooling life, filled with numerous distractions and runny noses!

Crafts:  Owl Babies

Supplies:

• 3 toilet paper rolls
• brown paint
• yellow and brown or black construction paper
• 2-6 google eyes, depending on how many owls you make
• glue stick
• scissors
• paint brush
  

Directions:

1.  Prepare your work area and supplies.  We like to paint on our Tot Trays.  You will need to cut out a beak and a set of wings.

 

2.  Give your Tot paint, a paint brush, and a toilet paper roll.  Have them paint the toilet paper roll brown and all it to completely dry.

 

3.  Fold the top left and right side of the toilet paper roll toward each other.

Until it looks like this, with stiff peaks for the owl’s ears.

 

4.  Now give your owl some personality.  Slather a glob of glue onto the owl and help your child place the eyes, beak, and wings in the appropriate places on your owl.

5.  If you have old children, have them make the two other owls, as your Toddler might get worn out making the craft.  Encourage everyone to reenact the story. 

• To do this, I drew a tree on a manila folder and my eldest son colored it in. 

• This became an enchanted place where Sarah, Percy, and Bill came alive!

To see a variation of this craft, visit Frugal Family Fun.  

Craft:  Felt Owl (Gabe said it was the Mommy Owl.)

Supplies:

• colored felt
• scissors
• glue

Directions:

1.  Cut out the various parts for your owl.  To see the parts of the owl, head on over to Danielle’s Place for this and other owl crafts.  You will need a body, wings, various sizes of circles, a beak, and talons. 

2.  For this craft, I placed glue on the felt and had Gabe pat it down.

 

You could glue a magnet to the back and place it on your refrigerator or turn it into a money case! 

Websites:  For extra learning, we visited National Geographic for Kids and watched a video on the Snowy Owl.  Accidentally, we stumbled upon another video regarding night owls.  This second video received an abundance of, “That’s so cool!” due to several scenes of an owl finding his dinner.  (Just wanted to warn you!)

Want to see what's coming next (and books we've done in the past)? Click here to see our Once Upon a Book webpage!

Little Hands-On abc's and 123's - A handmade Counting Toy

 

One counting toy that has been incredibly loved by both my children is one I made from things I had around the house.  It is very similar to this Stack and Sort Board at a fraction of the cost.

 

 

Materials needed:

• a piece of packing foam (from a package you may have received)
• 15 beads of five colors (I used beads from Bear's lacing beads set)
• 5 colored pencils (the same five colors as the beads)
• stickers of the numerals 1 to 5 (but you could just print out numbers and glue them on)

My colored pencils were already very used; you may have to cut your colored pencils for this to work for you.  I coordinated the beads I had to go with the lengths of the pencils I had available, so because I had a very short blue pencil, I used blue for the one bead.

 

Insert your pencils into the foam at regular intervals, leaving just enough of the pencil sticking out to fit the right number of beads.  This is the control - only four beads fit on the number 4 rod (pencil).

 

The point is that the child will match the color of the bead to the color of the pencil.  My 20 month old has no interest in matching, but he is at least still getting practice fitting the beads on the rods and counting with Mommy.

 

Mommy Made Printables ~ Birds

We are excited to share some Birds printables for you to use with your tots as you explore together!

Birds Preschool Pack-part a {from Homeschool Creations}

Birds Preschool Pack-part b {from 1+1+1=1}

N is for Nest{from Confessions of a Homeschooler}

 

Dd is for Duck {from Spell Outloud}

 

Dd is for Duck {from 1+1+1=1}

Ff is for Feathers {from Spell Outloud}

Flap, Flap, Fly Game {from Mama Jenn}

Do you have any Birds printables YOU have created {and share}? If so, leave a link to your blog post in the comments below!

Little Books for Little Cooks ~ The Little Dump Truck

Dump Truck Brownies

Eating dirt may be yummier than you think…especially if it is really a brownie…and you are eating it from a toy dump truck!

The Book Before You Cook…

The Little Dump Truck

by Margery Cuyler

Summary: This is a fun, rhythmic book for your little truck lover! Follow Hard Hat Pete’s day as he and his dump truck are ready for action, hauling stones and rocks.

When It’s Time to Cook…

You’ll need:

• brownie mix (or the ingredients to make your own)
• a clean dump truck toy

To Make:

1. Prepare the brownies and bake according to the directions provided with the mix.
2. Allow the brownies to cool.
3. Cut the brownies into small squares or break them up into chunks.
4. Add the brownie squares/chunks into the bed of the dump truck and enjoy!

Little Books for Little Cooks is a monthly feature that focuses on creating some edible fun with your little one.   We will share a fun book to read with your little one along with a cooking activity to do that ties in with the featured book. Sometimes there may be actual cooking involved…and sometimes just fun!

Treats 4 Your Tot

Here are some more cool giveaways for tots/moms of tots, check them out below and let us know if you win something we told you about!!!!

• LOTW K4 Expansion Pack…ends 4/18/11
• 1+1+1=1 Membership…ends 4/30/11
• Guidecraft Hideaway Kitchen…ends 4/25/11
• Apple Cheeks $25 GC…ends 4/22/11
• Boysterous Boy Action Figure…ends 4/18/11
• Melissa & Doug Sleeping Bag…ends 4/25/11
• Little Tikes Garden Cart & Wheelbarrow…ends 4/25/11

Bolded are items we personally own and love!  If you are hosting a TOT friendly giveaway you are free to leave a link in the comments section!

In My Heart ~ Matthew 5:8

They Will See God {Matthew 5:8} is #8 from Seeds of Faith.

Full Page Verse Printable…

Verse Mini Book {which could also be cut into mini flash cards to have kids put the verse in order}… 

Copy Work Tracers {print & cursive} 

Copy Work Sheets… 

Full Verse Coloring Pages…

Seeds Family Worship printables here!

Visit the main Seeds Family Worship Printables page here.

Visit Seeds Family Worship to learn more about their ministry here!

Simple verse cards from Seeds, and also a verse memorization checklist can be found here on their site!

Once Upon a Book ~ Baby Bird

Baby Bird by Joyce Dunbar

Summary: This is a cute little story about a determined baby bird who wants to learn to fly. Although he first climbed out of his nest and flop..flop…fell, Baby Bird doesn't let anything stop him from learning to flap..flap..and fly!

Bible Verse:  Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9

Counting: Using our Baby Blue Bird insert cards for our Education Cubes, we played a fun little counting game. Start with a basket of plastic eggs and two empty egg trays (mine are from the Dollar Tree). Take turns rolling the cube. Count the number of birds shown. Count out the same number of eggs and begin to fill your egg tray. The first to fill their tray wins!

1 to 1 Correspondence: We practiced 1 to 1 correspondence by counting out the appropriate number of eggs to correspond with the number of eggs on the nest counting cards from Confessions of a Homeschooler.

Basic Addition: The boys did some counting and basic bird themed addition using their BambinoLuk.

Craft: Use a paper bag and some “supplies” from nature to make a brown bag bird nest. 

Pattern Blocks: As usual, the boys enjoyed using their pattern blocks. This time they used some bird patterns (from pattern cards and from Pre-Kinders).

Colors: The boys practiced matching colors using some feathers with colored tips and some puff balls.

Games:  The boys loved playing the Duck Duck Goose Game.

Snack: For a fun snack, make some yummy chocolate bird nests with blue m&m’s as eggs.

More Ideas: The boys had a blast using the Flap, Flap, & Fly game board. They rolled the Education Cube (containing the corresponding Flap, Flap, & Fly insert cards) and moved along the game board to help Baby Bird learn to fly.

Want to see what's coming next (and books we've done in the past)? Click here to see our Once Upon a Book webpage!