How To Make Perfect Puffy Paint (with Supplies You Already Have)

Puffy Paint. The most amazing creation my two-and-a-half year old has found so far. I’m not a huge fan of any of the puffy paints and puffy fabric paints I’ve found for sale on line or in brick and mortar stores. They are great for adult crafts and t-shirt designs. They are entirely too expensive and not that great for kid sensory activities. What a waste!

Enter Pinterest. Puffy Paint Perfection!

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (gel) shaving cream
your choice of coloring.

food coloring
water colors
tempera paint

This stuff is simply fantastic. The video above shows how it puffs out of the wall upon application, dries puffy, and then smashes down when a finger depresses it. It does not reform.

In fact, this stuff is so fantastic….

I let my daughter paint in her favorite oversized Tinkerbell Coloring Book. I laid it flat to dry (to completely dry it took somewhere between 24 & 36 hours). I just knew I had ruined the coloring book. i couldn’t rip out the page because I let her paint on the cover! 48 hours later, I was able to safely close the book without sticking. It flattened, and did not reform, but it didn’t ruin it either.

Puffy paint seems to be the new lifesaver of our house! The paint itself entertained Kara for almost 45 minutes. These days, that’s a long long long time! So, we painted… and painted… and painted… and painted. We painted with:

• Brushes
• Q Tips
• Fingers
• Toothpicks
• Cotton Balls

To make the paint, I made a batch…. 3/4 cup of each was plenty! I felt so wasteful when she was done painting and there was left over paint (more on that further down the post). After mixing the two ingredients (if for some reason its too dry, add more cream, if its too wet add more flour – it is fail proof!), I put a couple spoon fulls in each compartment and added color.

Quite frankly? It makes zero difference what you use to color. The water colors did take a bit more quantity than the food coloring or tempera paint. Food coloring took 8-10 drops. Tempera paint took less than a squirt. For cost efficiency, if you already own tempera paint (I got ours at Walmart Back to School Sales for $1.00 per bottle), its cheapest. If you have a kid who puts things in their mouths, food coloring is cheap and safest. If you only have water colors, it works too!

Now as for waste….. I HATE WASTING PRODUCTS!

I make as many messy art things for Kara as possible so that its cheaper and so that she gets to experience “experiments” as she calls them as well as new sensory events. I don’t want to waste what we’ve created. So, for our “waste,” we painted wax paper. Then I let her smash the paper together. This created two things:

1. Gave my smaller child a less-mess activity. Everything goes in his mouth. I didnt want this in his mouth today. I let his fingers paint through the paper – a no mess activity!
2. We made window catchers after the paint dried to give away. We added the window catcher as the “card” to our Woven Gift Basket we made in The 3rd Week of our Proverbs 31 Preschool Study.

Advertisement

Nominated for the Liebster Award & 10 Other Awesome Kid Blogs!

I have now been nominated for the Liebster Award three times, and here are 10 more blogs homeschool moms should be following – my nominations! I want to share 10 other amazing kid-useful bloggers with you that are new and upcoming to the blog scene! These bloggers are not the biggest, most known websites… but I am confident these are our next hot-shot bloggers. The next “generation” of superstars so to speak! Certainly worth bookmarking to refer back, follow, and search for your next greatest child idea!

How Did I Get Nominated for the Liebster Award?

How exciting, and truly how humbling! My first award was from Amy at Busy Boys Brigade. She is certainly worth the follow… 110% worth your time. In fact, this time around I’m considering nominating her in return – but I don’t know if that’s quite legal 😉 My second nomination came from over at Rakshitha from From Exist to Live. I’m not sure how Rakshitha came across my blog, but I’m humbled that my posts are affecting bloggers in all genres. Diversity at its finest! My third, and final, nomination came from Jenn at Chaotic Bliss Homeschooling.

This entire blogging process has been such a roller coaster; its so enlightening and encouraging that to see other bloggers notice me!

My Favorite Upcoming Schooling Blogs!

Because I was nominated, I must now nominate 10 other blogs. Here’s the catch I’m placing on my own nominations. I am only nominating blogs that are in my niche somehow that I feel have the potential to become as great, or greater than, all the homeschooling blogs everyone already knows about! There are plenty of Top 10 Home School Blogs out there. Here’s my Top 10 NEW Homeschool Blogs!

I am writing a description about each post, unlike most nomination posts I’ve seen, found my nomination round up! Each post has less than 200 RSS followers.

1. Guard the Door

Jeanni Cahill writes about a lot more than just home schooling. That said, some of her posts about homeschooling are honestly top notch!

2. Catholic Christian Homeschooling

Nikki is seriously the sweetest girl. I am not Catholic, although I am Christian and co-school my children based on such principle. This blog truly has so much potential. While many moms are resistant to the common core curriculum beginning to flood the American public school system… Nikki touches on it and includes the dreaded common core in ways I see all other home school moms avoid like the black plague! Keeping her children in tune with the public, yet giving them the specialized attention and customization of the home school sphere.

3. Newman’s Corner

Stephanie is a beautiful radiant wife first, Minisotan mama of two! She just recently changed her blog focus over to homeschooling; one of my favorite types of blogs in her posts are her Schooling Week Round Ups. I personally think it should be a requirement of all blogging schooling mamas to post! While all bloggers would have their style of post, and you may or may not like her post layout for these threads, I by far think they offer the best advice to other homeschooling parents. They don’t just show a new messy art recipe or offer a free printable for sight words. Instead, it offers parents the insight, confirmation, and proof that homeschooling works by summarizing all the children’s successes for the week! PROGRESS! EAT THAT, Government!

4. Psycho With 6

Psycho With 6 is a relatively new blog to my own eyes as well. Dr. Melanie Wilson started this blog when she started homeschooling her 6 children. I really like this blog though because Dr. Wilson has insight from a very unique perspective. As a psychologist turned home school mom of six, she has an educational background, knowledge, and research to understand things and think about activities in a new and often un-thought-of way. She is certainly a blog to read full of personality, honor, and report.

5. You Clever Monkey

I absolutely love this lady! I have no idea what her name is; I shamefully have never checked into her facebook page. But this is the post that drew me in two months ago. Now, based on her facebook likes and her comments, she probably doesn’t qualify for nomination. But, her RSS feed had under 200 subscribers/followers, so I’m including her as a favorite!  I hope in seeing this, she sees a compliment.

6. Teach Beside Me

Karyn is a mom I started first watching when I was a nanny; prior to becoming a mother. I should have started coming on her genius posts then, because my two and four year olds LOVED Karyn’s activities! Rather, I pinned and pinned and pinned. Again, I’m sure anyone with half a brain is already following this mama, but her RSS feed is under 200 followers, so I’m cool with showcasing her and nominating her for the Liebster!

7. Crayon Box Chronicles

I choose Heather for a reason Heather is completely unaware of. Her Savannah. Heather was told at her 20 week ultrasound that her child would be born with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia. Savannah had a 50% chance at life. I found this article, written in 2014, four days after my genetics counselor told us that Noah (at the time we weren’t sure he was a boy) tested positive for maternal-fetal contamination of L1 Syndrome; in my heart I knew he would have L1. After reading as much about Savannah as I could, I started exploring other parts of Heather’s site. Heather’s Small World Plays are by far my favorite activity posts she has. The are amaaaazing!!!! All new bloggers no matterhow much experience Heather has, should photograph their subjects like she does!

8. Fantastic Fun & Learning

This is seriously one of my favorite cute little blogs. Its so simple. So easy to understand and navigate. WIth only 179 RSS followers, I decided to nominate Shaunna for the award in hopes, again, its complimentary. Her blog reminds me of a huge country kitchen – even though its nothing about food and cooking! Just the super big space that has so much in it, so many memories, and so much going on … yet the raised ceilings, wide counter tops, and huge wood table in the center of the room are spic and span and easy to feel country-free in!  I’m super sad I pinned her pin almost a year and a half ago, and I only started reading her blog when I began researching for this post. With Halloween coming up, this is my current favorite post. She’s brilliant. The end.

9. Crazy Little Family Adventure

Orana is one of my favorite friend bloggers, along with Amy (who nominated me linked first in this post). She world schools. Say what? HOW COOL IS THAT! Evvvvveryone homeschools. I coschool. And Orana world schools. She’s an expat mom… and is seriously the coolest. Wanna know more? CHECK HER OUT!

10. A Day in Our Shoes

I really, really like this blog…. this blog is soooo connective. Its been a life saver with a special needs baby. Instead of flooding me with medical knowledge…. it floods me with ideas that even my older healthy toddler loves to participate in! 365 Days of Light Play may be just what we need to help us with our Cortical Vision Impairment battle!

 

How To Never Quit Praying (In the Mind of a 2-year-old)

Prayer pails are a great visual way to never quit praying. Prayer is serious, and it isn’t meant to be easy. It is our job as parents to teach our children how to pray, and how to never quit praying. No matter what.

Why Teach Our Children to Never Stop Praying?

Last week, in our Proverbs 31 Study for Preschoolers, we discussed Proverbs 31: 23 which concentrates on praying for our husbands. What should a preschooler do? They have no husband. A Preschooler can’t learn to pray for their husband as an adult until they first learn to pray. What a better time to learn than now.

What is a Payer Pail?

Prayer pails are super super cute, totally customizable, and super encouraging for children to never ever run out of prayer ideas!

Simply put…. a prayer pail is a bucket or jar that is decorated however a child sees fit. My 2-1/2 year old picked out her Washi Tape colors at the store, and we came home and got to work. I found an old candy jar I found at Aldi last winter for $2.47. Throw together some supplies, and the project took 5 minutes.

Supplies

• Jar or pail
• Sharpie
• Wax Paper
• Washi Tape

Now our plan is to place this jar in my daughter’s bedroom, and whenever we have a new person to pray for, a new activity to talk to Jesus about, or a special prayer of thanks…. I will write it down on a small piece of paper, fold it up, and throw it in our jar – to keep indefinitely. This way too, not only does she have a visual reminder of how often she prays, she has a crockpot full of prayers, encouraging her to never stop praying. ❤

 

Week 14 Proverbs 31:25 The Confidence of Preschoolers

Proverbs can move mountains! Want to make a difference? Be the difference! They always say if there is a topic you want to read about, go to the Bible. Porn? Bible. Good deeds? Bible. Heros? Bible. Murder? Bible. In this chapter, men learn how to be Godly men and Godly women. Learn how to be Confident, and teach your children confidence.

We introduced our study 13 weeks ago week briefly recapping the Proverbs 31’s introduction. We started a curriculum, with resources, to help parents teach children that they are worth more than rubies (31:10). We are learning that we don’t have to be perfect, or teach our children to be perfect. All we have to do is be the best we can be and model the best we can do for our babies.

We followed the initial teaching of value with activities to encourage babies to be confident, respectful, and good (31:11-12) and then moved toward our Proverbs 31:13 Eager as a Beaver week. Once our children were aware it was okay and encouraged to be eager every single day of their lives, what they were already being prior to our study that sometimes annoys the crap out of adults!,  the introduction to work ethic in Proverbs 31:14 made sense. Creating value and work ethic in infancy by responding to an infant’s immediate cry sets our babies up for success. Teaching our preschoolers work ethic begins the success.

It is important as parents that our children are aware women and men are both equally valuable (Proverbs 31:15), and understand that everyone has a role in the homestead of equal importance.

In fact, sign up for our mailing list (on the right) .today and snag your FREE Proverbs Subway Art for every member of your family! —>>–>>–>>

Speaking of roles in the homestead, it is a-okay for both men and women to work and invest in their family (Proverbs 31:16), and no one, should be exempt. Investment comes in many forms. Parents, did you remind your babies in Week 7 how strong they are? Our lads, and our ladies are so strong, and Proverbs 31:17 reminds us how critical it is they know it! Week 8 helps our babies discover that Godly women work. And work. And work. Doing something. It doesn’t matter what. They don’t have to be creative. They don’t have to sing. They don’t have to be handy. They just have to not be lazy. In addition to working early in the morning and diligently all day long, also work deep into the night (Proverbs 31: 18, 19). They must know they are strong from the week prior to understand they can handle their mountain of diligence. We added to their studies in Week 9 coaching them into giving. After working and working and working the most sacred thing our kiddos can be taught is to give.

Next we showed and modeled for our children. Instead of teaching THEM to do something…. we are showing them that we are working just as hard. They can rely on us. They can trust us. We prepare for them. We, as men and women of Christ, prepare. We used our preparations to show that we should fear nothing, we prepared, and our children will always be clothed and ready (Proverbs 31: 22,24,25). And then in week 12 we spent time observing and learning How A 2-year-old Prays (or any age child – your child) in Proverbs 31:23. Proverbs 31:24 was all about finding the artist in you.

Confidence. Confidence. Confidence.

According to Websters

• full trust; belief in the powers, trustworthiness, or reliability of a person or thing

According to the Holy Bible

• Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
• Hebrews 13:6 So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”
• Hebrews 10:35-36 Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.
• Psalm 27:3 Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.
• Matthew 6:34 Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

 Why must we be confident?

Confidence, or some people, is a learned skill… not an inherit character trait. We must be confident because everywhere we look people will be there to peer pressure us into things. We need to know right from wrong, and on topics that are clearly wrong stand faithfully in our mission to uphold the right. We must also teach our children this vital skill. They will need it today, tomorrow, in school, as a teen, and as married young adults! They will need this skill the rest of their lives.

 

 

 

 

MONDAY:

• Hand Turkeys: What I’m Good At/Thankful Turkeys: Next month is November, what a better way to prepare than by making kid-crafted turkeys! How to posts coming soon! In the What I’m Good At Turkey, we used a toilet paper roll to be the turkey’s body and made feathers from card stock with our hands. We added feet to the bottom, and stuffed the paper roll with jiblets of paper where I wrote everything Kara told me she was good at: and that’s a lot of stuff! 🙂 With the Thankful Turkey’s, we used our feet and hands on $1 store plates to paint a plate for decoration. I then used sharpie to write on the bottom of the plate we are thankful for ______ and the person’s name we gifted the plate to 🙂

TUESDAY:

• Shape Hunt: I cut shapes of carstock and taped an M&M to each. I then taped the shape on the wall, floor, and bookshelf and asked Kara to find where they were in the house! She always felt so rewarded to find the right one. M&M’s have a way of talking to kids 😉

WEDNESDAY:

• Throwing Bags onto Numbers: I couldn’t find any beanbags, so instead we threw our bodies! I put 5 pillows on the floor and put a number on each pillow. Kara then jumped (or, she flew….) onto each number as I called it out. You can do more, or randomize, but she’s only recognizing numbers 1-5 so far.

THURSDAY:

• Texture Sticks: I LOVE THIS CONCEPT for my 8 month old. He is severely disabled, and we’ve now consistently got him bringing new objects to his face. For normally progressing children, it’s still great for their hands and fine motor skills to explore. I have to be super careful he doesn’t swallow anything, despite so far he doesn’t put them in his mouth, but it really opens him up to new textures, scents, and feelings. How to post coming up!
  

FRIDAY:

• Dance Party! ’nuff said!
  
• Letter W Coloring Page

Is anyone joining us on our FACEBOOK page? Please do! Lets us know if you are studying proverbs with us! We have 5 more weeks of activities left! Or, subscribe to the right hand side and grab some free SubWay Art Proverbs Printables!

Raw and Confidential Confessions of a Special Needs Mom

Confessions of a Special Needs Mom

I’ve written this for one reason: to give light and insight into the emotions of a club I hope you are never a part of: the special needs club. Specifically, the special needs club of a rare condition. You see, unlike cancer and autism (that have their own difficulties)… no one has ever heard of us. There are several conditions that fit this club, obviously L1 being my club of best fit.

1. There’s a Difference in Being Alone and Being Lonely

He needed brain surgery? We’ll be here awhile. He needs observation for seizures? Darnit, I hoped this wouldn’t happen. We’re going to give him fluids for hydration? That was easy. While we’re at it, lets grab a renal ultrasound, stomach xray, and brain MRI. Check! Some mamas and papas get very lonely. Some mamas and papas need help making time for each other. Some mamas and papas want some time to breathe. Some mamas and papas just want to sit silently with their children. If you want to help, knowing what they need is a lot more helpful than pushing your agenda on us!

2. We Remember Who Respects Us…
We Remember who Doesn’t…

Did you text us love hope and prayer even when we forgot to text you back? That gives us reassurance. Were you in the hospital 24 hours straight showing support in your way, not ours? That causes us stress. Did you ask us what we wanted for dinner and when you could drop it off? That shows us love. Did you make a fuss when we mentioned it wasn’t a good time? That pisses us off. Did you pray from the quiet of your bedroom? That gives us comfort. Did you ask for favors? That off-sets our focus. Did you reply with any ideas you had to our facebook status questions? That gives us room to grow. Did you reply to facebook statuses with messages we were doing something wrong? That’s just plain silly.

3.  Never Disregard Our Research

Okay okay okay. I get it! Really! I worked in a vet clinic for four years, my best friends are veterinarians and pharm D’s and I’m fully aware they hate hearing…. “I looked it up on Google and….” But let me give you something to think about……

More doctors have looked at my son than I can count, literally. There were 11 doctors in NICU, 7 or 8 at his current pediatrician’s office (he’s seen 3 of them), 9 or 10 specialty offices, we’ve been in the hospital twice since NICU discharge with rounds twice a day… usually that means two teams of doctors and each team has 3-6 doctors on the team. This doesn’t include nursing staff, support staff, therapists, and nurse practitioners. Want to know how many of those doctors had heard of L1 Syndrome? NONE. The Genetics Doctor and our Occupational Therapist had heard of x-linked hydrocephalus before, but both had information that were myths.

My point: I do my research. Four years at N.C. State University taught me how to conduct proper research. It doesn’t matter if your sister is a nurse, aunt is a pediatrician, or dad is a kidney specialist. Unless you are answering specific questions I’ve already looked up or you are an L1 Syndrome Specialist just because something happened similarly to your nephew’s best friend’s cousin…. or just because your sister has hydrocephalus…. I’m willing to bet the situation was entirely different.

 

4. Don’t Remind Us What Isn’t Done

We are fully aware that our floors need vacuuming, cars need cleaning out, and baseboards need scrubbing. We also understand that you want us to run to the mall with you, catch a late night movie, and hit the next party. We comprehend the fact that we (to you, anyway) become hermits. It isn’t rocket science that we are “different” from you and your family. Instead of pointing all this out, why don’t you just reply to our random texts with a “hey! I was thinking about you last night! how are you?” Why don’t you just take out our garbage. Why don’t you just shout out to us on facebook – we might see it – eventually 🙂

 

5. Paperwork and Phone Calls are More Exhausting than Therapies and Our Jobs Could Ever Be

Lemme tell you. I work for the post office, outside the home. I also take care of my 2-1/2 year old and 8 month old. I have two dogs. I have a husband. NOTHING is more exhausting than spending 3 days straight on the phone with insurance companies, billing and claims departments, and doctors only to realize I am no closer to having anything straightened out than I was 72 hours ago… then I wonder why I am trying. No one else is.

6. THE NUMBER ONE WORST THING

Is that NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD OF L1 Syndrome! Help me change that. Change the world. Do you have a picture of my boy Noah or another L1 Baby? Instagram and tweet hashtagging: l1legend, xlinked, xlinkhydrocephalus, and my own tag – l1syndromeawareness! SPREAD AWARENESS! There is no cure. But, there are treatments. And, since no one has ever heard of it…. there is a clearly a need for people like you who are willing to stand up and make a difference.

7. We Need Your Prayer

Moms, Dads, Brothers, Sisters, Noah himself, and extended family too…. we all need your prayers. One thing parents of special needs children will never complain about: too much prayer.

To Recap:

1. We don’t fear the hospital, we dread it.
2. We remember who respects us, and who doesn’t.
3. Never disregard our research.
4. Don’t remind us what isn’t done.
5. Paperwork and phone calls are exhausting.
6. The #1 Worst Thing: No one knows us
7. We Need your prayer.

Why I Blog (& How I’m Getting There)

Friends and family have been asking me what’s wrong with me for about three months now.

“Why are you photographing all of your kids projects? We know you do them…” and “what do you get from staying up till midnight on the computer long after your kids are in bed when you have to wake up at 6am?” “I thought pumping was your new thing you woke up for, now your always online, too.”

Yeah, I realize this… guys! I do! But, I’m blogging! I’m blogging for a few reasons….

1. BECAUSE SO MANY OF YOU CARE

about my son Noah. I started this blog to keep people up to date with him while we were in the hospital. He has L1 Syndrome, and that requires lots of doctor visits. Blogging is a great way to keep all of you up to date on him at the same time. It is also a perfect platform to begin to shed awareness on his condition.

2. I’M HELD ACCOUNTABLE

for all of my crazy adventures and plans. I’m coschooling Kara, although right now that means she is home preschooled. What if my ideas help you teach your child something? I am on a No Spend October month with Ruth Soukup. What happens when I spend? Someone who reads this will ask me, and I have to confess. When I begin a creation, I have to finish it. Aren’t some of you waiting for my quiet books?

3. I’M ACCOMPLISHING SOMETHING

much greater than myself. Blogging, Freshly Messy, gives me a platform to reach millions, if not billions, of people. Of course I’m not that great right now. I barely hit 2000 people. But you know what? That’s okay. I’m growing. And if I keep at it, eventually I’ll reach a heck of a lot more than that.

Know what’s cooler? Another mom of an L1 son, almost exactly 5 months younger than Noah, found my blog in her quest for understanding. You see, we’re so rare! She doesn’t have Facebook, and our support group on Facebook isn’t easy to find. At least, it wasn’t for me. One of them found me in a hydrocephalus group. None the less…. my blog reached someone and it made a difference.

 

So How Am I Getting “There”

If I plan to eventually monetize my blog and work from home to take care of my son, or even if I plan to monetize so that my blogging journey doesn’t cost me, because it does, yah know… I have to go somewhere. I can’t stay where I am now, stagnant. I have to grow. I want to say: “I’m blogging and working from home.”

Enter Daniela Uslan.

Daniela’s story makes me so angry. Daniela’s story makes me embarrassed to admit that our children will probably be public-schooled, proud that they are currently home pre-schooled, and encouraged to know that I will always co-school them. I will use this platform to teach co-schooling. To sum it up, co-schooling is basically a parent being a parent to a school-aged child. Do you homeschool? You co-school. Do you help with homework? You co-school. The lack of being present in your child’s education is the opposite of co-schooling.

Tweet: Any parent who loves their child can co-school their child. http://ctt.ec/Z5p9g+

Back to Daniela.

Daniela is my superhero.

Daniela is my blogging coach. She owns danielauslan.com and teaches an additional private mentorship course called Have Your Cupcake, which is more valuable than you can imagine to a new blogger like me! Lost in the world of “writing is only 10% of what we do.”

To the left is the button I recieved from completeing my second course with Daniela. The first is a free 10-Day-Makeover Challenge that will be taught again in 2016. You can get on her mailing list here to find out when it’ll be taught again. This second course was beyond fantastic. Now that I’ve completed the focus course, I have:

• Created a content plan that works, and is easily updated to a new plan every month
• Decided which of my content belongs in my blog for content hungry audience that craves my articles
• Learned how to do proper keyword research that will lead me in the right direction, without fault, every single time
• Discovered how to focus on my viewers without loosing my voice and direction
• Realized how important awesome content is 100% of the time
• Created my email subscription list with the understanding of how critical it is
• Developed amazing freebies while learning how to use them
• Been Taught how to find communities of readers who crave my work

Anyway….

Daniela was a 3rd grade teacher. Her classroom seems to have been the replica of what I stand for: her classroom was messy, her kids were messy, and students were always moving and creating. When she was observed by the district, her downfall was that her kids were having too much fun. There were labels on bookcases, colors where there “should” have been white walls, and art where there should have been classroom rules. Her kids were excited about learning, but the red tape of teaching for the state said she couldn’t teach KIDS in a way KIDS enjoyed. Instead, they needed to be sitting in desks. They needed to be structured.

SHAMEFUL!

My mom is a retired teacher. I “get” the red tape better than most non-teachers do. But, lets face it. THAT. IS. CRAP. I would rather my daughter come home from school everyday excited to go back the next day than come home bored out of her mind with “red slips” because she couldn’t sit still 45 minutes.

So now, Daniela has restructured how and who she teaches. She teaches adults. She embraces our creativity and loves our ideas. She does what it takes to keep us encouraged and active.

Who out there knows me?

You guys! You guys know I don’t stick with things. I come back to it eventually…. sometimes. I craft – but my craft of choice changes on a monthy basis. Should I crochet? Sew? Glue? Felt? Draw? I work – but my enjoyment changes about as much as the TV. Should I go to school? Should I nanny? Should I deliver mail? Should I … Should I … Should I?

But now I’m on month 3 of blogging. My first month was a mess. I created a site, and it sat for 2-1/2 weeks doing nothing. Then I found Blogging on Your Own Terms and spent the second half of the second month on a free 15 day Blog Make Over Challenge. I was one of the “origonal” members, and finished it! I got to know Daniela pretty well then, and we became…. wait for it … I’ll say it …. friends. We chatted here and there. And, she seems to get me on a personal level. She knows blogging is important, but she knows I get caught up in my son’s issues too and disappear from chat for days at a time. Thing is? She doesn’t hold that against me! What? Another actual friend who gets it? They’re so rare! Then I joined her Cupcake Membership Site. COULD NOT HAVE MADE A BETTER DECISION.

 

So, In Summary…… The Point of This Post

• For those of you who don’t understand why I blog? Read above, and if you still don’t get it, you probably won’t. That’s okay!
• Daniela is my superhero teaching me my superpowers. She rocks. And you’ll think so too when you meet her!
• I met a friend through blogging who has an L1 Child: this was my mission from the start!
• I met a friend who lives in Miami, who loves blogging, understands our friendship, and believes in me.

Week 13 Proverbs 31: 24: How to Find the Artist in You

Proverbs can move mountains! Want to make a difference? Be the difference! They always say if there is a topic you want to read about, go to the Bible. Porn? Bible. Good deeds? Bible. Heros? Bible. Murder? Bible. In this chapter, men learn how to be Godly men and Godly women. Learn how to be Confident, and teach your children confidence.

We introduced our study 13 weeks ago week briefly recapping the Proverbs 31’s introduction. We started a curriculum, with resources, to help parents teach children that they are worth more than rubies (31:10). We are learning that we don’t have to be perfect, or teach our children to be perfect. All we have to do is be the best we can be and model the best we can do for our babies.

We followed the initial teaching of value with activities to encourage babies to be confident, respectful, and good (31:11-12) and then moved toward our Proverbs 31:13 Eager as a Beaver week. Once our children were aware it was okay and encouraged to be eager every single day of their lives, what they were already being prior to our study that sometimes annoys the crap out of adults!,  the introduction to work ethic in Proverbs 31:14 made sense. Creating value and work ethic in infancy by responding to an infant’s immediate cry sets our babies up for success. Teaching our preschoolers work ethic begins the success.

It is important as parents that our children are aware women and men are both equally valuable (Proverbs 31:15), and understand that everyone has a role in the homestead of equal importance.

In fact, sign up for our mailing list (on the right) .today and snag your FREE Proverbs Subway Art for every member of your family! —>>–>>–>>

Speaking of roles in the homestead, it is a-okay for both men and women to work and invest in their family (Proverbs 31:16), and no one, should be exempt. Investment comes in many forms. Parents, did you remind your babies in Week 7 how strong they are? Our lads, and our ladies are so strong, and Proverbs 31:17 reminds us how critical it is they know it! Week 8 helps our babies discover that Godly women work. And work. And work. Doing something. It doesn’t matter what. They don’t have to be creative. They don’t have to sing. They don’t have to be handy. They just have to not be lazy. In addition to working early in the morning and diligently all day long, also work deep into the night (Proverbs 31: 18, 19). They must know they are strong from the week prior to understand they can handle their mountain of diligence. We added to their studies in Week 9 coaching them into giving. After working and working and working the most sacred thing our kiddos can be taught is to give.

Next we showed and modeled for our children. Instead of teaching THEM to do something…. we are showing them that we are working just as hard. They can rely on us. They can trust us. We prepare for them. We, as men and women of Christ, prepare. We used our preparations to show that we should fear nothing, we prepared, and our children will always be clothed and ready (Proverbs 31: 22,24,25). And then in week 12 we spent time observing and learning How A 2-year-old Prays (or any age child – your child) in Proverbs 31:23.

 

Now its time to lighten up, remember the child, find the youth in each of us parents no matter how old, and create a timeless admiration and fascination in art. There is a reason creativity is so inspiring. And, I’m of the belief that we all have the ability to be creative, and all have the ability to inspire. Its said that while we may be just one person to the world, to one person we are the world. “To our children, we are the world. TO GOD, we are the world. You. You are the world.”

 

 

MONDAY:

• Stamps: My 2-1/2 year old LOVES stamps. Last year for Christmas I bought her a whole box of self-stampers, something like this with an assortment of stamps. She hasn’t even opened them all yet, but loves them and none have dried out yet. For today’s activities I looked up a few ways to make DIY stamps as well for Kara to freely craft whatever her heart desired, and we stamped inside the outlines of numbers 1-5. There are a billion ways, here are a few of my favorite. I will link my own personal creation soon, too!
  • Clip Zine has a huugge assortment of listings of project ideas and patterns. This, of course, takes some preparation to get it ready for your child to play with, though.
  • There are a ton of ideas out there, but for the purpose of homeschooling and children I really like projects that are fast to prepare so the child can become involved. What could is preparing for our children if we have no time to play with them? Titus2Homemaker has several ideas in this post; some take no preparation and some come from dollar store preps. How much more could we ask for?
  • Saving the best for last, and one that I personally will also be using: Craftaholics Anonymous creates tanogram stamp peices and provides a free printable to have your child match, sequence, build, copy. They’re fantastic, and develop so many skills at once! This will certainly become a busy bag for us!

TUESDAY:

• Markers: my personal activities are the dot markers. They make wonderful busy bag on-the-go bags (we’re not quite careful enough with them for car use though!) and a very quick search will leave you enough printables to last years if you laminate them first, weeks if you don’t! What are my favorite four activities:
  • Draw the outlines of letters and let your child dot the shape of the letter.
  • Powerful Mothering shares her ideas of using dots to dot in a pattern followed by using scissors to cut it. We are still on straight line scissor activities, but this could become quite complex for a more advanced child!
  • Southern Shore Mamas shares my favorite activity, but it does take some prep work during nap time. Starting with a somewhat simple coloring page, I draw in my dots where I want Kara to dot. Then I color in the background a color so that Kara must color match her dots to the color I say it should be.
  • Another favorite activity is to fill a page with a sentence of the same letter such as “Harry the Hippo has a happy voice when he hollers through the hall.” Allow your child to dot all the H’s!

WEDNESDAY:

• Paint: This will be our recipe for this week’s painting sessions, thank you One Little Project! I’ll have to let each of you know after my experiment which one produces the most vibrant colors for us: food coloring, water colors, tempera paint! 🙂 We will be painting on a variety of papers: tissue paper, wax cooking paper, aluminum foil, and construction paper.
  
• We also made our own paint this week.
  • 3/4 cup shaving cream (the gel works better!)
  • 3/4 cup flour
  • coloring of choice (post about choices coming soon)

THURSDAY:

• Salt/Flower: Of course salt dough crafts are becoming more popular. This week we are going to try out a salt and flour playdoh recipe. Actually, we’ll do a few and check back letting you know which recipe is best and which coloring options provide the most vibrant colors!
  

FRIDAY:

• Art Supply Assortment: What could be better than dumping out some crafts… yarn, stick, cardboard, markers, pens, gel glitters, glue, pom poms, felt, foam, and more and letting a child invent! All week long, your child has been making things. At this point, let them be creative!
  
  • Older children that have the fine motor skills for advanced weaving, necklace making from embroidery string, knitting, etc., could even try selling to friends!

Is anyone joining us on our FACEBOOK page? Please do! Lets us know if you are studying proverbs with us! We have 5 more weeks of activities left! Or, subscribe to the right hand side and grab some free SubWay Art Proverbs Printables!

Week 12 Proverbs 31,23: How a 2-Year-Old Prays

Proverbs can move mountains! Want to make a difference? Be the difference! They always say if there is a topic you want to read about, go to the Bible. Porn? Bible. Good deeds? Bible. Heros? Bible. Murder? Bible. In this chapter, men learn how to be Godly men and Godly women. Learn how to be Confident, and teach your children confidence.

We introduced our study 12 weeks ago week briefly recapping the Proverbs 31’s introduction. We started a curriculum, with resources, to help parents teach children that they are worth more than rubies (31:10). We are learning that we don’t have to be perfect, or teach our children to be perfect. All we have to do is be the best we can be and model the best we can do for our babies to learn.

We followed the initial teaching of value with activities to encourage babies to be confident, respectful, and good (31:11-12) and then moved toward our Proverbs 31:13 Eager as a Beaver week. Once our children were aware it was okay and encouraged to be eager every single day of their lives, what they were already being prior to our study that sometimes annoys the crap out of adults!,  the introduction to work ethic in Proverbs 31:14 made sense. Creating value and work ethic in infancy by responding to an infant’s immediate cry sets our babies up for success. Teaching our preschoolers work ethic begins the success.

It is important as parents that our children are aware women and men are both equally valuable (Proverbs 31:15), and understand that everyone has a role in the homestead of equal importance.

In fact, sign up for our mailing list (on the right) .today and snag your FREE Proverbs Subway Art for every member of your family! —>>–>>–>>

Speaking of roles in the homestead, it is a-okay for both men and women to work and invest in their family (Proverbs 31:16), and no one, should be exempt. Investment comes in many forms. Parents, did you remind your babies in Week 7 how strong they are? Our lads, and our ladies are so strong, and Proverbs 31:17 reminds us how critical it is they know it! Week 8 helps our babies discover that Godly women work. And work. And work. Doing something. It doesn’t matter what. They don’t have to be creative. They don’t have to sing. They don’t have to be handy. They just have to not be lazy. In addition to working early in the morning and diligently all day long, also work deep into the night (Proverbs 31: 18, 19). They must know they are strong from the week prior to understand they can handle their mountain of diligence. We added to their studies in Week 9 coaching them into giving. After working and working and working the most sacred thing our kiddos can be taught is to give.

Then last week we showed and modeled for our children. Instead of teaching THEM to do something…. we are showing them that we are working just as hard. They can rely on us. They can trust us. We prepare for them. We, as men and women of Christ, prepare. Then last week we used our preparations to show that we should fear nothing, we prepared, and our children will always be clothed and ready (Proverbs 31: 22,24,25).

 

We must discuss how to pray and what to pray. I’ve noticed when praying with Kara, her prayers are short sweet and simple. Some two year old’s prayer lists:

I pray:

• i get apples tomorrow
• Daddy leg not hurt (his hamstring is torn)
• bed time is laaaaaaaaaaaaaater
• Noah at home (She wants Noah to stay home from the hospital)
• use the potty laaaaaaaaaaaaater
• we drive safe
• Elsa (what she calls a lady a church) gets better
• Nanner (the dog) eats her bone

Obviously as we grow, our prayers become more complex. Deeper. Stronger. But I have to remember, these are very complex issues to my baby girl! She loves apples, and can’t have them after brushing her teeth. She wants something she can’t have – don’t we all? Her daddy is st encouraghurting. While daddy and I are fully aware he will heal, am I not upset when the kids pop a fever or snag an earache? She is afraid of using the potty, she’s asking to do it later, not now. She prays her brother, who as L1, doesn’t go back to the hospital again. When he does go, he comes home. She prays for her family, herself, and those around her (Elsa). She prays. There is aboslutely no need to try to alter her prayer, jue and listen. Let her know that her prayers are heard by the Man upstairs.

 

MONDAY:

• Letter T & U Coloring Pages Free Printables
• Prayer Pail: I first saw this idea on Joy’s Hope and made a few adjustments to us!
• Discussion of the Day: Why do we pray? What is the purpose in talking to Jesus? Do you realize we can talk to Jesus about anything: from the pony we long for to the little girl down the street to just saying thank you for some candy.

  

TUESDAY:

• I Can Pray For Wheel: Crafting the Word of God created an amazing idea with the basis of this project. We switched it up just a little. It would be easy to find clip art on google and glue print out to the wheel. Instead of using locations and opportunities of prayer, we decided to use people and activities. Now, before lunch everyday we turn the wheel and whomever’s photo lands next, we add them to our lunch prayers!

WEDNESDAY:

• God Knows My Name: Kara has room letters she loves. So today, we made some for her baby brother Noah and painted her name on large poster paper. Perfect activities for a rainy afternoon! I asked Kara what she thought Noah prayed for, and wrote those on the wood.  We glued cardstock and construction paper to Noah’s wooden letters. I told Kara the wood was like Noah’s heart, and we had to put clothes on Noah’s body. According to Kara, Noah prayed for: milk, pillows, songs, and doctors.

THURSDAY:

• Hand Art for Wall: People I pray For –> On a large piece of construction paper, we traced Kara’s hand prints. Then I let her color the paper however she wished. Then we wrote on each finger all the names she could think of, with no prompting from me, of people she prayed for. I was totally and thoroughly amazed!

FRIDAY:

• Prayer Cube: A printable prayer cube just for you coming soon! Toss it up and pray pray pray!

Is anyone joining us on our FACEBOOK page? Please do! Lets us know if you are studying proverbs with us! We have 7 more weeks of activities left! Or, subscribe to the right hand side and grab some free SubWay Art Proverbs Printables!

10 Things That Brought Me Happiness This Week

Today I ran across a blog link up named 10 Things That Made Me Happy This Week. With as crazy as my life becomes day to day, week to week, I have to remind myself that there is time to reflect. There is time to think, wind down, and exhale.

This Week’s Take Home

Oh God
We do not exist for us
But to share your grace and love
And exhale

 

So What Made Me Happy?

1. Finished editing a wedding ceremony full of images centered in Love.
2. Popcorn.
3. My son’s OT noticing a huge difference in head control.
4. My daughter’s laughter.
5. Our puppy.
6. My husband rubbing my back.
7. Milk supply increase!
8. Beginning a new chapter of scripture studies.
9. FALL.
10. Puzzles.

Click on the image to view the linky party, join, reflect on your week! And subscribe on the right hand side to receive some free subway art printable of Proverbs!

I Do Not Love My Son Despite His Condition, Nor Because of It

 

I do not love my son despite his disability (nor because of it).

My son Noah is seven months old. He is super cute and totally adorable. He’s never even been bitten by so much as the flu. He did have a suspected UTI that landed him five days in the pediatric ward. Random swelling has left us in that corridor as well. This is of course after his three week NICU stay due to brain surgery. But generally speaking, I feel like my kid is healthy. Breast milk much? I think so!

The Beginning

That said, he was born with L1 Syndrome. I do not care what syndrome he has or does not have. And judging off the pictures I’m posting and character that Kara shows… she doesn’t care either. Daddy doesn’t care, either. So if we don’t care, if it makes no difference, if we are going to change dirty diapers, sing, play, and cuddle either way…. why do I not love him despite the disability?

Kara has curly hair. Would I love her differently if she had straight? Noah had brain surgery. Did I love him differently during surgery than I did before or after? NO!

While holding him, I’ve heard family members say, “We love you anyway, Noah,” or maybe, “[Mom], you are going to love him despite everything he has going on, you just have to stay strong.”

NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.

What if We Just Love….?

What a crazy silly family. We love, just because we love! Love is an end within itself. And a beginning. Ditch the word despite. Ditch the word despite. What if we just love, to love? While you may not have birthed a disabled child, I’m willing to put money on the fact that you’ve heard friends and family say: “I love him, but…..” or maybe, “I love her because……”?

Why must we condition our love for someone? Why? Do we not just love to love?

Several months ago, I stumbled upon an article written by a North Carolinian pastor. He wrote, what if, when his children were grown, they revealed to him they were gay. He wrote, “I won’t love them despite their sexuality, and I won’t love them because of it.”

Such a powerful proclamation!

What I Always Knew

From the moment I saw the positive on the pregnancy test, I knew God had a plan for this little one. A little less than two months later, when our Chorionic Blood Sampling tests came back contaminated at 13 weeks gestation, I had a gut feeling my child would have L1 Syndrome, and that my Little Bit was a boy. What I didn’t realize at the time was that there would be family members, friends, and strangers that singled Noah out.

There would be family members so moved by him, they would move toward Jesus. In their words, “feel called to Jesus” because they “see a miracle” they’ve never seen before.

They didn’t see a little miracle in Kara, my healthy two year old. They aren’t reminded of strength in Kara. In Kara’s birth, they weren’t reminded of the verses: Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female He created them,” and Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.”

But I did. I was reminded. I saw. My eyes were open. With both of my children, I rejoiced at the kicks in my tummy. I laughed at the cravings. I leapt with joy knowing they were mine. I knew that God had a plan for my girl, a place in this world for her. I knew that God’s boy would move mountains and light up shadows.

When we received the diagnosis of L1 Syndrome for Noah, doctors told us Noah would not live. At delivery, doctors told us Noah would not cry. In surgery, doctors told us he would not leave NICU. At home, doctors told us Noah would not nurse. It became our norm to hear what would child would not accomplish. No doctor ever said that about our healthy daughter, Kara.

hmm…… I keep wondering and thinking….

I’ve been told angel voices sing from Noah because he should not have cried.
I heard them from Kara when she cried.

I’m told Noah makes people want to fight because he fights.
Kara made me want to fight.

Everyone exclaims from the highest mountain top that that Noah is a miracle.
Kara, too, was my miracle.

One person mentioned to me that while Kara is full of love, and amazing to watch grow, Noah is different.

Let me return to: Not only do I not love my son despite his disability, I do not love him because of it.

If I loved Noah despite his condition or because of it, I am adding a condition. Love is unconditional. If I love Noah because of his disability, I love Kara because she is healthy. If I loved him despite his health, I would love Kara despite her health. & that is just totally ridiculous.

I see Jesus in Kara. I see Jesus in Noah. Kara makes me want to be better. Noah makes me want to be better. I see a miracle in Kara. I see a miracle in Noah. I see love in Kara. I see love in Noah. I hear the angel whispers from Kara. I hear the angel whispers from Noah. Noah is different. Kara is different. When they look at eachother…. they see….. eachother. They see themselves. They see love.

I am different, too. Not only do I not love my son despite his disability, I do not love him because of it. There is no condition. I just do.