Thanksgiving Tree

Long time since I've posted here...sorry!  Things are going well, but it's busy home schooling the kids and keeping up with the daily stuff as well.  I thought I'd share our latest project in case someone else might be inspired by it.  I wanted to do some sort of art project for Thanksgiving with the kids that would focus on the reason for the holiday: gratitude.  So, I pondered for a while and came up with the idea of a Thanksgiving Tree.  It was easy and fun to do.  We had a great time and actually didn't get extremely messy, which was good since we were not in paint clothes!  While the kids were "napping" in their rooms,  I painted trees onto the back side of wrapping paper.  I used FolkArt paint from Wal-mart.  It dries fast and washes off easily, plus it's only .97 cents per bottle.  Once the trees were dry, I painted the kids' hands to make the leaves.  We put twenty two "leaves" on each tree since Thanksgiving is on the 22nd this year.  Each day, starting November 1st, we'll write one thing that they are thankful for on a leaf.  Then, on Thanksgiving day, the kids will have a tree full of blessings that we can talk about while we enjoy our turkey dinner.  Here are some pictures in case you want to make your own.

I painted the trees onto the back side of wrapping paper.  Older kids could paint their own tree.  If you want to make it into an art lesson, have them observe trees outside to see how the limbs look without the leaves.

Next I added a bit of grass at the base of the tree so it didn't look like it was floating on the page.  I also added a title so we'd know whose tree belong to whom.  Before we started painting our leaves, I asked the kids to look outside at the variety of leaves on the trees in our backyard.  We named the different colors we saw so the kids would know why we were using the variety of colors I chose for this project.

Time to get messy!  I folded the paper so the kids could reach the limbs of the trees without ripping up the paper by crawling on it.  I opted to do one kid at a time, and just one hand painted at a time.  Marisa wanted to try painting her own hand.  I let her for a couple of leaves.  She did amazingly well for not even three years old!  (We did eleven leaves with the left hand then washed and took a break so those could dry.)

While Marisa's eleven leaves were drying, Kieran had a turn to do some leaves on his tree.  I did most of the painting on his hand, but let him try a couple on his own.  He was a bit more enthusiastic with the paint, but only got a bit on his jeans.  It washed out no problem.  Once his eleven leaves were done, then sister had a turn again to do the rest with her right hand.  The key for these guys was to do one kid at a time, and only one hand at a time...making sure to escort them to the sink so we didn't paint the whole kitchen.  :)

Here's Marisa with her finished project.  (She loves her "Penny the Penguin" from Koala Brothers.)

Here's Kieran with his Thanksgiving Tree.  (Love that smile!)

Both trees are on the wall in the dining room where we do our home school lessons.  We'll write one thing that we are thankful for on a leaf each day in November till Thanksgiving.  Then while we eat our meal, we can review all the amazing things God has blessed us with this year.

Next it was time to let the kids photograph mom.  Kieran decided to go artistic and slant the camera while he snapped the picture.  I think it turned out well.  :)

With a bit of trepidation, I let Marisa (the two year old!) hold my giant camera.  She actually got a decent photo of Kieran and me.  Everybody was all smiles after having a good time painting.  There were tense moments, but overall it was just fun.  I'm eager for November to arrive so we can start writing on our leaves.

Parenting is hard work, and not every day is all smiles and silliness like we had this afternoon.  However, it's the moments like these that I blog about so I can remember and know that there are a lot of good times mixed in with the tough ones.  Perhaps my blogs are a kind of Thanksgiving tree for me. How do you help your kids (and yourself) develop grateful hearts?  I'd love to hear from you.

100 Ways to be Kind to Your Child

A quick post today...check out this great link for some fresh inspiration and ideas on how to show your kids that you love them: http://creativewithkids.com/100-ways-to-be-kind-to-your-child/

I tried #79 today and just sat and watched while my kids did silly little dances to their favorite song.  (It was hilarious to see them try to boogie!)  I found it refreshing to slow down and just observe them, and it also rekindled the wonder and awe of being blessed with these two little miracles.

My #100, be more patient and let them know it's ok to make mistakes.

My little miracles...having a blast with their water table.
We added some dish soap to the water for a fun new way to play outdoors.

Scripture Lullabies

How do you create a peaceful atmosphere in your home?  The quickest way I know of is to put on peaceful music.  Our "go to" peaceful music is Scripture Lullabies.  We now own both volume one and two.  They are excellent, and have blessed our family in many ways.  When the kids are cranky or tired, when I'm stressed and trying to get a hot dinner ready for the family, when we are in the car and wishing we'd already reached our destination, when my daughter can't sleep...Scripture Lullabies has been a source of comfort and help to us.  Many times, my son will even request to listen to it. (His favorite song is Bless the Lord from Vol. 1.  He insists we all sing along to it :) I love that my kids are learning God's Words as they hear the music.  It's beyond awesome to hear them quoting scripture!  Plus, I find myself singing the songs in my head and being reminded of so many good things that God has to say.  Anyway, enough said...check out their website, watch a video, listen to sample songs, and if you like what you hear then use the 20% off coupon code listed below.  This would be a great Mother's Day gift to yourself or get one as a gift for an expecting mother.  However the music is really for any age not just little ones.  I know you will be blessed by it!

http://vimeo.com/33631561

A Little "Fall" Project

I joined a ladies' small group at my church that meets once a week for a bit of parenting advice, Bible study, encouragement, and time to chat with other moms while we work on a craft or project.  I love being a part of this group!  Every week I come home with fresh ideas to help me in my parenting role, and I've had a chance to be creative or at least productive.  The crafts are prepared for us ahead of time so we just show up and get to do the fun part of making the project- perfect for tired moms who want some down time.  Recently, we made a set of blocks that say "Fall".  It was not hard to do, but the end result was so cute.  The clever part was using die cut letters; they look so much better than if we'd tried to paint them.  We adhered the letters with  Mod Podge which is a kind of glue that you brush over the entire block.  It dries clear with a bit of a shine.  

The blocks are four and five inches tall.  We roughed them up with sand paper
after we finished painting them, but before we adhered the letters.  

Baby M was hanging out with me while I took pictures of my fall project.

Now she's trying to run off with my blocks so I
switch my focus and photograph her instead.
What a cutie!!

Strengthening Family Bonds

Laughter, prayer, time, dinner & conversation...these five elements strengthen family bonds, at least that's what researchers claim.  Being an adoptive mom,  I probably think about bonding more often than non-adoptive parents.  We had to work at connecting with our kids and developing a bond.  I've found it's an ongoing process, much like keeping your marriage healthy.  My two children initially bonded with us through different means.  Our son (19 months old at adoption) is a snuggler and wanted to be held or near us all the time which made bonding fairly easy.  Our daughter (10 months at adoption) has bonded with us best by having fun together and positive eye contact.  It seems to me that connecting with her took longer than it did with our son.  She has since learned to be more snuggly and affectionate which is such a wonderful gift to us!

How do you promote a strong bond between you and your kids? Listed below are some of the activities we've done that have been most productive towards bonding.  Perhaps they will give you some fresh ideas to try with your own kids. (Most of them you probably already do!)  But I'm especially writing this post for adopting parents who are about to become parents.  Like you may be, I wondered with both of our adoptions if we'd connect with our kids.  I worried, would they learn to love us?   The answer is yes!  It takes time but they do, and you become a family.

• Blowing bubbles.

• Playing in the water (pool, sprinkler, watering can...whatever)

• Bake something yummy together.  

• Play Peek-a-boo.

• Wrestle. (At our house, an adult laying down is an open invitation to wrestle- whether we want to or not!)

• Let them help you with a project.  My son helps me make birthday cards for people & wrap the gifts.  Right now even housework is fun for them.  Occasionally, I let them help with vacuuming.

• Go through the drive-thru to get burgers & fries.  Then park somewhere and climb in the back seat and eat together.  My kids love this!  It's something special they do with me when daddy is working a late shift.  Sometimes we take it home and eat it there, especially ice cream!!

• Jump on a trampoline or in a bouncy house.  It brings out the kid in all of us adults.

• Go on an adventure together: a walk in the neighborhood, story time at the library, a train ride...

• Turn on fun music and dance together.  I like to pull out the Bee-Bop-Band and give everybody and instrument to play while we boogie, or we'll just prance, march, jump, or twirl around.

Some of our favorite songs to dance to are:

-Barnyard Dance by Sandra Boynton

-Somewhere Over the Rainbow / What a Wonderful World by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole

-Reach by Peter Furler

-A New Hallelujah & When I Think of You by Michael W. Smith

• My top suggestion: READ together.  This is also a great time to snuggle.  If you're new to my blog, check out my posts on Children's Literature.  Periodically, I post about books that we enjoy.  We visit the library often to keep story time fresh and fun for all of us.

Things I Love About Summer...

Everything comes to life in our backyard.

Gardening with my kids.  This year we are growing
pumpkins just for the kids to see the process from
start to finish.  They love to water the plants.

Playing in the water, and being outside all day.

Fun in the park with family. (Above: Gram &  cousin Haley)

Going on "adventures", some big and some small.

A family get together, 4th of July Celebration, & BBQ all rolled into one day.

Summer fruit: I just picked about five cups of fresh raspberries in my backyard.

The Sandwich, and What I Learned from It...

This is not "THE Sandwich" but this is what it looked like.

I learned something new about myself around lunch time yesterday: I don't cry over spilt milk, but I do cry over spit on sandwiches.  Here's what happened...

I was making my kids lunch yesterday.  I decided to make them special pb&j sandwiches with the fancy Pampered Chef sandwich maker.  It turns ordinary sandwiches into round ones with no crust and sealed edges.  I was excited to see my son's reaction when he saw his cool sandwich.  I handed him the plate and bent down to his level to explain how I'd made him a really neat sandwich for lunch.  He responded by blowing on it; sort of like someone would blow out a candle on a cake.  It wasn't at all what I thought he'd do, and it actually hurt my feelings.  First I was mad and sent him to time-out while I cooled off.  Then, as the realization of what had happened set in...I cried! Earlier in the day, I'd been feeling in need of a bit of thanks for all my hard work that I do every day.  Some days I guess we just need a pat on the back and a "good job, Mom" from our families.  When my son more or less rejected my efforts to do something nice for him, it was like a slap in the face rather than the thanks I was hoping for.  After I dried my tears, I thought about my mom and all the wonderful meals she'd made for me over the years.  I decided to thank her.  Tomorrow she's coming to visit me, and I will thank her for all the fabulous food she's prepared for me over the years, and I'll tell her, "Good job, Mom!"

For the record, my son did apologize for spitting (his words) on his sandwich and he ate every bite of his fancy pb&j.  He truly is a sweet boy and hugged me when he saw my tears.

To all my mom friends, "Good job!"  You do a lot for your family that goes unnoticed, but your Heavenly Father notices and He's proud of you.

Looking for Beauty

"The earth if full of God's unfailing love." (Psalm 119:64)

I went on a hunt in my backyard to find God's unfailing love.

I brought my camera with me to capture what I found.

As I looked closely at what God has made, I saw so much to be amazed by.  

When I paused to admire the delicate shades of purple and pink in the clematis, 

I realized God painted it that way because he loves me.  

The red tipped leaves of my favorite Japanese Maple,

and the blushing buds of the blueberry bush also whispered to me:

"He made these because He loves you!"  

Each leaf and blossom has its own intricate design and beauty.  

This hunt for God's "love notes" to us is changing me bit by bit:

more content, slower to anger, more patient and easy going, grateful.  

As I finished this post, I watched the sun set out the west facing windows.  

The sun almost blinded me with its fiery glow, both orange and magenta.

Awestruck, I watched it slip behind the mountains.  

Now the sky is left with shades of pink, orange, and purple.

Another message- this one painted large in the sky:

"I made this because I love you!"  

God is the author of romance.  

The earth is full of his unfailing love.

One Thousand Gifts

Like no other book I've read.  It's definitely worth reading.

Recently I realized that I have been spending way too much of my time in a bad mood.  Often I'd find myself exhausted at the end of the day, and then awake to a feeling of, "I don't want to do another day of what I did yesterday."  But how do I change?  What can I do differently so that I can enjoy my life and the sometimes chaotic season (two kids, you know what I mean) that I'm in?  

My neighbor recommended One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp, and just by her brief summation I knew that I needed to get a copy and dive in.  Eagerly I waited for it to arrive from Amazon.  The first chapter had me in tears - this was not helping me have a better perspective on my life.  However, I kept on, knowing that the author was setting the stage for why she was on her own journey to find joy in the moment.  Her writing is unique and requires time and thought.  I find that I cannot rush through a chapter, but must stop after a page or so and mentally chew on the ideas she shares.  

What's the whole point of the book?  Thanksgiving is the key to having joy in our lives.  Simple, but so profound.  It's changing my life when I choose to tune my thoughts to ones of gratefulness.  At the end of grateful days, I'm not so worn out.  Come to find out, being mad all the time is exhausting.  Thankfulness is refreshing.  I'm slowing down as I seek out things to be amazed by.  There are so many things -gifts- God has given us that we can be thankful for.  Really, I'm sorry that I haven't been more observant. I'm learning that regardless of our circumstances, we can find things to be thankful for---if we look for them.  For example, recently I noticed how beautiful strawberries are as I sliced the tops off.   I stopped to look at each one and admire the unique starburst pattern hidden inside.  As I paused to admire the beauty in each berry, my son was having a fit about something.  I think it was related to potty training, and him not wanting to be told to stop his play to use the bathroom.  Instead of getting swept up in the fit, I just calmly sniffed a strawberry, and savored the sweet smell.  Ah, that sniff enticed me to take a bite.  So while my son had a melt down, I thanked God for strawberries.  Ridiculous, maybe.  But I know that this fresh perspective is making me a more peaceful person, a better mom, and a more pleasant wife.   This is something I'm going to have to work at, as my normal mode of thinking is to find fault with things.  It's not easy, but I know God will give me the grace to change.    

I'm on a journey to learn how to enjoy the every day moments in life...perhaps you'd like to join me?  Get a copy of the book, or read the author's daily blog.  I've added a link (look for the black button with a tree that says, "a holy experience")  that leads to Ann Voskamp's blog.

This Is What Mother's Day Is All About...

It's not about the flowers, the chocolates, the jewelry, or the restaurant dinners.  Without my two children, I wouldn't have any reason to celebrate Mother's Day.  This year I really didn't want any gifts.  I just wanted to enjoy my kids and delight in the gifts that they are to me.  

They are tiny people who teach me how to love...

and laugh.

Because of them, I am learning to slow down and enjoy life more.
What a gift God gave me when He entrusted these two little ones to me.

Happy Mother's Day!  

A Song...

So how was your St. Patrick's Day?  I forgot, completely!  None of us were wearing green, not even a hint of it.  We didn't eat anything green either.  We dined on pizza and cookies from Papa Murphy's!  Oh well.  That's life when you stay home all day with two children ages three and one.

Today I stumbled upon a wonderful song called "I Belong".  It's written by Kathryn Scott of Northern Ireland.  (Hurrah for all things Irish, even if it's a day late.)  In all seriousness, this song is so beautiful and really blessed me.  It's a wonderful reminder that nothing can separate us from the love of God.  I thought I'd share it with all my Mom Thoughts readers in hopes that you too will be uplifted by this peaceful song. I am so grateful that God has gifted some people with the ability to write and sing such lovely music.  When I'm worn out after a long day of trying to be "super mom", I need something like this to restore my soul!

It's a Matter of Perspective

I'm also thankful for my husband; he washes the dirty dishes!

Thank God for dirty dishes,

they have a tale to tell.

While other folks go hungry,

we're eating very well.

With home and health and happiness,

we shouldn't want to fuss,

for by this stack of evidence,

God's very good to us.

-Kirsten Emmerton

from Taste of Home Oct/Nov 2010