Get Real with God ~ When God says No

Let’s face it, sometimes God says no.  He just does and He can, He’s God.  Recently I’ve had occasion to teach my children about this side of God.  We’ve been planning to go to the State Fair for months and months.  It’s a Taffy Family tradition.  I’ve been going since I was little girl when the state signified the end of the summer with my dad and a plane trip back out west to my mom.  We’ve been taking our children since they were little too.  We would always go on a thrifty day when the kidway tickets allowed for more rides and snow cones were discounted.  This year we were scheduled to volunteer at an exhibit, in exchange for volunteering they received a free ticket to get in.  Everybody from the 8 year old on up was going to be working.

“A man’s heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.”  Proverbs 16:9

Sadly, a couple days before we were scheduled to go to the fair, our oldest fell ill with a fever.  A high fever.  He was not better by fair date and then our second fell ill. 

 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” James 4: 13-15

The really hard part is that the 6 year old spent so much time praying and praying for her brother.  She believed that God heard her prayers  When she woke up in the morning and discovered that her other brother was sick, she was heart-broken, why hadn’t God answered her prayers, why did God make her other brother sick.  These were her sincere questions.  And my loving response back to her was just that-God said no.  But the awesome thing about God is, that even when He says no, He can still be trusted.  Even when carefully laid plans go awry He can still be trusted.  When we think we’ve done all that we could do to change His mind and He still says no, He can still be trusted.

“As for God, His way is perfect.  The word of the LORD is proven;  He is a shield to all who trust in Him.“For who is God, except the LORD?  And who is a rock, except our God?”  Samuel 22: 31-32

So how do we teach this to our children, this attribute of God that is sovereign, that knows the future, that we allow to direct our steps as we trust Him?  For us the answer is in proclaiming the Goodness of God regardless of what’s going on.  People love to dissect problems and scripture and beliefs, they dissect it all the way down until there’s nothing left but doubt.  My role is to make sure that when my children experience a No from God, that they still know that God is worthy to be praised and thanked.  Our faith is based on believing in that which we can not see, children believe naturally without much convincing, but when they question I share with them that I know, KNOW, KNOW of the goodness of God and my need to trust in HIM no. matter. what.  This is one of those lessons that is more “caught than taught.”  My behavior when I experience a NO from God is what is really going to make the biggest impact. 

Another thing we do is remind them of all the times God said Yes!  Which are far more than the NO’s!  The word is testify! 

“And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen”  John 21:25

Once Upon a Book ~ I’ll Teach My Dog A Lot of Words

I’ll Teach My Dog a Lot of Words

by Michael Firth

 

Summary:  It’s amazing the things that we can teach our pets . . . from sit, to beg, to bark, to shine my shoe!  This is a delightful book to have a Tot mimic all the things that he wants his dog to do!

Bible Verse:  A righteous man has regard for the life of his animal, But even the compassion of the wicked is cruel. (Proverbs 12:10) 

Make sure your Tot has gentle hands!  Remember to have your child get in the habit of asking a dog owner if they can pet the dog, especially a working dog!  It’s always good to stand sideways when you greet a dog.  Hold out your hand for the dog to sniff before stroking the pet’s head.  As a dog owner, I often want to have my dog sit down before a stranger pets her.  So try and have your child wait until a dog is nice and settled.  Some dogs aren’t used to kids.

We are a dog lovin’ family.  I almost shared with you our favorite book, Walter the Farting Dog . . . but fortunately for you thought better of it!  Having Gabe cooperate with his Tot Time was sooooooooo easy this week, thanks to some activities that involved our furry creature.

If you don’t have the book, I recommend this YouTube video.  We had to resort to it because I think our dog . . . ate our book.  Seriously.  Hard to believe, I know.

I’ll Teach My Dog a Lot of Words is a FABULOUS book to teach with, especially if your brand new printer doesn’t work.  (Murphy’s Law was at work in our house!)  You don’t need a printer or scissors because you can read the book and go be active with your child.  It was a precious time of fun for Gabe and I. 

He ran.

He dug a hole and filled it up.

Gabe threw a ball.

 

And taught Ruth how to sit . . . kind of. 

 

What I love about this Once Upon a Book post is that I focused on just playing with Gabe.  And in that playing . . . he learned.  He also felt loved.  So ladies, as  you go to plan for your children, especially for your little ones, don’t over plan.  Remember to just “be” with your Tot.  A lot of the time, they simply want to sit in your lap for 30 seconds {ahem}, feel your warm breath in their hair, and  your animated voice behind them.  Follow that with some simple, short, and sweet learning moments.  Those moments don’t have to have fireworks attached or last 30 minutes to an hour. 

Mine certainly didn’t this week.

BUT. HE. WAS. THRILLED.

Our activities met Gabe’s learning style and school wasn’t forced.

Gotta love that.

Other ideas?

• Sing some songs!  Check out Where Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone? or How Much is that Doggy in the Window?
• File Folder Fun has a great color matching game that closely resembles the dog painting a shirt and pair of underwear! 

• If a dog can learn big and small, short and tall . . . then it stands to reason  your child can to.  Print several size sequencing file folder games. 
• Make your own dog treats.
• Create a doghouse out of a big box.
• Visit the vet’s office, grooming facility, or pet store.
• Play “Trainer Says” instead of “Simon Says.”
• Paint like a dog!  Have your child wear socks on their hands.  But don’t expect to use the socks again! 
• Visit Enchanted Learning for more dog crafts.

 

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 - ABCs at Snack Time

Sometimes the unplanned, simple idea works really well.  I had a different post in mind, but the night I was to write it, this activity happened and I decided it was a better idea for now.

I have a toddler boy who does not sit still for very long so I look for teaching opportunities whenever they can happen, like at snack time, when J-jo is obliged to sit.

 

This particular week, I had the letters c, m, a, t out for J-jo.  So I quickly made a little mat...

...and then started asking him questions.

"J-jo, can you feed the 'a' a grape?"

"Great job! How about the 'c'? Can you feed 'c' a grape?"

"Great job!  Can you give 'm' a grape?"

"Now 't' wants a grape."

"Great, J-jo.  All the letters have grapes.  Now can you eat the grape that is on the 'c'?"

"Next, can you eat the grape that is on the 't'?"

This activity would work for a lot of material - other letters, sight words, cvc words, numbers, addition, subtraction, shapes, colors....  Just make sure the snack is relatively dry:)

Mommy Made Printables ~ Pets

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

Dogs Preschool Pack {from Homeschool Creations}

Cats Preschool Pack {from 1+1+1=1}

Cc is for Cat ~ Pets Theme {from 1+1+1=1}

Pp is for Puppy {from Confessions of a Homescooler}

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

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!!!!

• Betty Lukens Fun with Felt-6 sets…ends 9/28/11
• Grapevine Studies: Life of Joseph…ends 9/20/11
• Scramblebug Ride On Toy…ends 9/19/11
• Prince Lionheart Wheely Bug…9/19/11
• Zhu Zhu Babies…ends 9/23/11
• The Crippled Lamb, by Max Lucado…ends 9/27/11
• Little People Zoo Talkers…ends 9/27/11
• Mamas and Papas Stroller…ends 10/7/11

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!

Once Upon a Book ~ Not Norman

Not Norman: A Goldfish Story

by Kelly Bennett

Book Summary: This is a cute story about a boy who declares that Norman, the goldfish, is NOT the pet that he wants. However, over time he realizes that Norman IS the perfect pet for him!

Bible Verse: Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.  Psalm 37:4

We had lots of fishy fun! The boys worked together and played the Clown Fish Grid Game. They used our homemade puff ball magnets and our Education Cubes (with the Clown Fish insert cards).

The boys had fun with our Design & Drill Set and patterns. They copied the patterns and made a fish and the letter “F”.

We pulled out our Bambino LUK and played a fish color match game for some independent learning time! (You can read my review about it here.)

I pulled out our Fishbowl file folder game.

Blocks of any sort are always a hit with my boys. They enjoyed using the pattern blocks (along with the fish pattern card from PreKinders).

I discovered a fishing game (made from a Preschool in a Bag Activity Swap). We used our Education Cubes along with the color word insert cards and played a fun color matching game with our fish. The boys took turns rolling the cube. Then they had to fish out the color fish as indicated on the cube.

We even used our Purpllinker to make a fish!

Finally we had some edible fun with some colored goldfish! We made fish patterns!

We graphed our fish!

Then we got to enjoy our fish with a fun, fishy snack!

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!

Ss is for Spaghetti ~ Now I Know My ABC’s

On Top of Spaghetti by Paul Brett Johnson

Summary: Using the classic children’s song, “On Top of Spaghetti”, Johnson weaves a silly storyline of Yodeler Jones, who is trying to create the perfect meatball. Great illustrations and a fun book, especially if you sing the words.

Theme Ideas:

I pulled out a ball of yarn and had my little girls start cutting up their own bowl of spaghetti. This is such a great way for them to practice their cutting skills. My youngest concentrated very hard on cutting her pieces just right.

When the pieces were cut, I pulled out some pom poms to be our meatballs and our Education Cube for a counting game.

My daughter would roll the cube and then place the correct number of meatballs in the bowl of spaghetti.

 
After my girls get tired of the meatball counting game, I had them create a craft out of the game pieces.

We glued the yarn and pom poms to create a spaghetti letter S for their ABC notebook.

Other Spaghetti ideas: * Get various types of pasta and have your child sort them by shape or size.

* Dye pasta and have your child sort by color.

* Make your own spaghetti and meatball meal.

* Sara came up with a fun spaghetti spelling activity that would go well with this theme too.

* Check out the Letter Ss is for Spaghetti Pinterest board for even more ideas.

Downloads:
Letter Ss poem and Spaghetti Craft Page
Other ABC Resources
ABC Printables from Homeschool Creations
Letter of the Week Curriculum from COAH
ABC Flashcards and More from 1+1+1=1
ABC Letter Crafts
Songs for Saplings ABC Verses