Despite having a very mild winter so far, we had fun exploring the idea of colder climates.
We learned about hats, gloves and scarves and would have taken a walk wearing them except it got too warm.
We made igloos out of marshmallows – while we started out with plenty we almost didn’t have enough to finish!
Here is the finished igloo along with some penguins and a walrus that we made from play dough the next day.
Later Lance came up to me like this, declaring he was a walrus (the glue stick being his tusks I guess).
We practiced some writing skills, following a grey line to take the polar bear to the iceberg.
Lance tries his hand at circles, zig-zags and wavy lines.
After reading a Richard Scary book about a snow storm, I made snowplows out of their toy cars by taping some cardboard to the front. They pushed sugar around the pan and surprisingly never figured out what it was!
They also made a “snowstorm cake” (featured in the book) when we went to the park. This was such a fun activity (filling a small container up with sand and grass) that Lance must have made a dozen of them and wanted me to partake of each one. He also put several toys on a plate at the house and wanted to “bake” his cake in the dryer.
I’ve been taking a challenge to list 3 things I’m thankful for each day this year. Mostly I record these “gifts” from God in a journal, trying to follow each day’s theme as suggested here.
Today’s theme was to find the beautiful in the ugly and give thanks for that. The gifts I found were so much fun I just had to share them with you:
In my Bible study this morning, Paul reminded me of how God takes the ugly of my weakness and fills it with the beauty of His power. (2 Cor. 12 7-10)
Having probably bit off a bit more than I needed to chew for one day, I stood in the ugliness of dishes, trying to process a quadruple batch of bread. Yet I was also looking at the beauty of what my little kitchen could produce! (6 loaves of bread, 4 dozen rolls, hamburger buns, 2 dozen cinnamon rolls)
And finally, the ugly mess of toys my kids created while playing together beautifully as I worked.
Thank you Lord for allowing me eyes to see your goodness.
Due to the holiday, we spent the last week learning about Valentines and loving each other. We practiced the letter ‘H’ for heart and memorized a verse about love.
In case it’s hard to understand, they quoted John 14:15 – If you love me, you will obey what I command.
The kids enjoyed a Valentine party at a nearby rec center, starting in the gym with trikes!
They had cookies, made a card and took home a lot of candy.
We threw a Valentine party for our friends, making cards for grandparents with potato stamps….
and cookies for Daddy (and ourselves). Sprinkles are very fun and I think between the kids, all three bottles were used up!
I used candy hearts to teach things like patterns, counting and “which one is different”. We also went on a Valentine scavenger hunt at the Mall.
The kids show off their counting skills – somehow, through all their calculations, they come up with the right amount!
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you.
While much of life around here is learning, most of it is not done in a structured “unit study” fashion.
Brian and I are learning how to parent three toddlers. Keeping all 3 busy at once is no small feat but Brian is a whiz at making fun happen.
We are learning how important it is to have purposeful training times (like using pancakes to learn about Adam and Eve) as well as having “margin” in our lives which allows us to handle situations as they arise with (mostly) less stress.
This is “blanket time” where each kid quietly plays on their own blanket. Lance and Ivy are old hands at this but they happily participate as Flora learns. This comes in handy when we need to nap the kids in a new place and is preparing Flora for sitting quietly in church with us. I’ve always been surprised at how fast the kids catch on to the concept. I then begin to increase the amount of time spent on the blanket – we’re at just over 20 min right now.
The kids are learning how to interact with each other and follow our instruction. A happy moment of playing together – a giraffe, polar bear and frog.
We’ve had a few issues between siblings and while I was pondering how to cut down on selfishness, I ran across an article suggesting that the kids serve one another as a way to learn to love one another. If someone is being mean, they have to do something nice for the offended. Usually it means reading them a book.
I also have them set each others plate on the table, or take over each other’s dishes. Most of this is parent directed at this point, but yesterday I got a glimpse of their heart taking over: Ivy was sad so I suggested to Lance that he might offer her the chance to ride in the preferred stroller as we took a family walk. He did this willingly and happily, which is huge for him. Ivy later reciprocated on her own by offering him a choice of car seats (there being a favorite one of those as well).
Obviously, angels don’t happen over night, or even over years. Sometimes, it serves to reveal a lack of the angelic in the heart of the parent. When I found this mess – all MY stuff wasted – I was very angry and when it came time to make up with the guilty child I confess feeling very unforgiving. This allowed me a chance to see how great is God’s forgiveness when I sin against Him and ask for pardon, not fully realizing what I have cost Him, and He freely forgives – every time!
I love the moments where I can watch my kids just be kids. While we work to train social inhibitions into them (don’t throw food on the floor, say please and thank you, wear your clothes facing the right way, etc) It’s also fun to see what pours from their hearts in the uninhibited moments.
And like Flora, who rejoices over finding all the “treasures” the older kids left out, I rejoice to see my children growing and learning to walk in obedience to us and to God – each bit of progress a ‘treasure’ to delight in and bring to God in thanks!
Ivy’s hair is finally long enough for some really cute pigtails! She loves having them put in. Lance likes to comb his own into what he calls “big hair.”
