Our advent calendars

Q and I enjoyed beginning some traditions with the girls during the holiday season. One of them was the advent calendars. Do you remember when I bought this one?

I bought it almost two years ago at our local thrift store. It was missing a couple of pieces, so I made a felt baby Jesus (I also set out to make another star, but didn't get to it...oh well...). We took turns filling up the nativity scene until the day before Christmas.

Before we had kids I knew that I wanted to do the book advent calendar. All you do is wrap books and number them. You can do 25 or however many Christmas books you have, then read one a day until Christmas.

Even though I own over twenty Christmas books (and could have borrowed a couple from the library), I decided to do ten books that do not focus on Santa, reindeer, the Grinch, etc,--but rather on the real meaning of Christmas, and a couple of fun ones (like snowmen). Our girls are very impressionable, especially the eldest who came from a home that only focused on the "pretend" things of the season. The fun books can be enjoyed much later, as I wanted to instill the real focus of Christmas during their early years.

The last book we read through has eleven chapters, so we were able to read something almost every day during the month of December. I have made a special note of that one at the bottom of my list. Here are some great options for you that mostly focus on Jesus' birthday. Hope this is a help to you if you'd like to try this.

The Crippled Lamb, by Max Lucado

Merry Christmas, Mouse! by Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond

The Story of Christmas, by Patricia A. Pingry

The Legend of the Christmas Stocking, by Rick Osborne

Snow What Fun! When Snowmen come to life on Christmas Eve, by Cheryl Hawkinson

Jingle Bell Sleigh, by Monique Z. Stephens

Simeon and the Baby Jesus, by Evelyn Marzhausen

ABC is for Christmas, by Jane Werner Watson

The Christmas Story, by Jane Werner

The Twelve Days of Christmas, illustrated by Sheilah Beckett

The Animals' Christmas Eve, by Gale Wiersum

The Gift of the Magi, adapted from the story by O. Henry, illustrated by Robert Sauber

The Legend of the Candy Cane, by Lori Walburg

Little Miss Spider-A Christmas Wish, by David Kirk

The Christmas Star, story adapted by Moira Butterfield

The ABC's of Christmas, by Jane Belk Moncure

The Candymaker's Gift, by David and Helen Haidle

A Little House Christmas (Holiday Stories from the Little House Books), by Laura Ingalls Wilder

One Wintry Night, by Ruth Bell Graham (This was the final book we did with eleven chapters. It is my absolute favorite. It covers sin and our need for the Savior and highlights a few notable characters from the Bible before ending with the Nativity and life/death of Christ.)

Home made strawberry ice cream

We've been harvesting quite a few strawberries lately and have had some to share, too. For a while, A has been wanting to make strawberry ice cream. This past Sunday afternoon was the perfect time to do this fun project together.

It was fun picking berries with her. We made sure that the ones we chose were bright and perfect (no bugs or holes in them!)

We filled part of a large bowl of varying sizes of these beauties...

We made the vanilla custard on the stove top, which we let cool for a bit before putting it in the refrigerator.

We washed the strawberries and took the stems off. We put them in the refrigerator to get cold. Then, we took turns smashing them with a fork.

Once the custard was cool, we began the churning process. We poured the smashed berries in and let my Kitchen Aid do the work. I have an ice cream mixer bowl that has special attachments and churns the ice cream beautifully.

When the churning was done, I put the ice cream in a container and put it in the freezer. After church, it had been about four hours, and it was still a little soft--but scrumptious nonetheless!

There's nothing like fresh homemade strawberry ice cream on a hot summer day....

So you want the recipe? This one came from a book called, Soda Fountain Classics, by Elsa Petersen-Schepelern.

You'll love this ice cream as much as we have this week!

Rich Strawberry Ice Cream

3 eggs, plus 2-3 yolks

4 cups milk or light cream (I like to do half of the amount with milk and the other half with cream)

1-1/4 cups sugar

Put the eggs and yolks in a bowl and beat until smooth. Heat the milk (or cream) and sugar in a saucepan to just below boiling. Gradually stir 1/2 cup of the hot liquid into the beaten eggs, then stir the mixture back into the saucepan. Stir over a gentle heat until the mixture thickens (stir in the same direction). do not let it boil or the custard will curdle. (Some people use a double boiler or a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water). When the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, remove from the heat, strain into a bowl or pitcher, cool, and chill. Before churning, add 1 cup mashed fresh strawberries. Churn (in batches if necessary) and freeze.

Makes about 6 cups.

A's Fairy Birthday Party: her outfit for the day

For A's party, I wanted her to be comfortably dressed, but also wanted her to fit the theme of the party. I remembered that I had an old Tinkerbell t-shirt of mine that I no longer wore and thought it would be neat for her to wear it.

Using the steps for an empire-waist tee from the book, Tease: inspired t-shirt transformations by superstars of art, craft and design by Sarah Socket, I came up with this for her:

All I did was trim the sleeves and used the fabric strips to tie a knot on each side (the strips were put through two slits a couple inches apart near her shoulder). I also trimmed the bottom and used the scrap to go through slits all around the main body of the shirt. Then, the ends were tied in the back. I found a pair of green shorts on sale at Kohl's and she was good to go.

She looked so cute as a little Tinkerbell. She really loved what I created for her, too. It was fun for me to see her enjoy this creation to wear on her special day. :)

Two fun and easy kid crafts

A and I like looking at the craft books at the library. We recently borrowed one called Creative Kitchen Crafts by Kathy Ross.

One Sunday afternoon, we looked through it to see what we could make. We found the "bird recipe card holder" idea and had fun making it.

We cut down a party hat for the bird's body. Then A made the wings and beak out of felt and glued them on. I cut a slit on the top of the cone for the bird's mouth. This is where the recipe card will sit. Lastly, we glued on googly eyes.

It really works--and it is such a cute decoration in the kitchen. For the next craft, I looked through my craft books and found another one written by Kathy Ross. It's called Gifts to make for your favorite grown up. We wanted to make something for her teachers as a thank you for a great school year.

I looked through it first and saw something I knew we could make. When A looked through the book, she noticed the same craft and said, "This is what we should make!" I said, "Good, because I was thinking the same thing." :)

We found a few small canning jars to make painted candle holders. I made a heart stencil using scrap paper for each one and taped them onto the jars. A used nail polish to paint the jars. Before the paint dried we sprinkled salt on the hearts.

Once they dried, we tore the paper off and tied a ribbon around the top of each jar. We bought votive candles and placed them inside. It was a simple and cute gift that her teachers liked.:)

Have you made some fun and easy crafts with your kiddos lately? I'd love to hear about what you're doing.

Our growing garden (and chickens!)

We have had so much rain here lately, which has been a big help for the garden. We may be stuck indoors some times, but we're grateful that things are growing well outside.

Here's a look at some of the plants that are growing....

First up--the radishes (hope the bunnies don't get them first!)

The strawberry plants are beginning to flower. We are sooo excited that our berries will be here soon. A and I have been talking about recipes we'd like to make using the strawberries.

Snow peas are great in salads, so we'll be able to enjoy some soon.

The gooseberry plant is really growing fast.

We've been watching the rhubarb lately and decided that it needed to be harvested soon. So, today, A and I went outside and brought a bunch inside to clean, chop, and put in the freezer.

Yummy rhubarb for lots of great desserts this summer!

This first picture of Dorothy and Turkey Lurky was taken by A herself. I just love it! Our little chicks are becoming full-grown hens.

The four of them stick together as they search for bugs and plants to eat.

They have discovered that there is fun all around our property. We don't have the fence up yet, so we need to watch them closely, especially in the front yard. They like to walk around on the front porch, too.

Here, Mary Poppins stops to stare at A while she claps her hands. As they have come closer to the house, it has reminded me of the Minerva Louise books. I just read the first one to A yesterday and hope to borrow the others from the library soon. Minerva Louise is a chicken who likes to explore and ends up in all sorts of places. It's really cute!

How's your garden growing so far? I can't wait to begin harvesting more things in the near future.

Celebration story time

This month was my last to do story time for the year. I had a great time and will miss the kids until school starts up again in the fall. The theme for this story time was celebrations, so it was fun coming up with things I could do to fit this theme. I decided to do a book about a mother for Mother's Day and then focus the rest on birthdays.

Before I began, I placed this hat on my head:

I thought it was pretty cute! We sang the "Hello Time" song, then I pulled out a special friend who I have brought out before--Mr. Monkey!

He had on a birthday hat, so he was ready to celebrate, too!

This first book called, Hazel's Amazing Mother, by Rosemary Wells, is such a cute story. Hazel's Mother does so many things for her, and at the end of the tale, shows her courage in a way that demonstrates loves to her daughter. So sweet....

Then I did a finger play about cakes:

A delicious cake

Mix the batter, stir the batter (stirring motion)

Shake some flour in. (shake one hand)

Mix the batter, stir the batter (stirring motion)

Place it in a tin. (pour into pan)

Sprinkle little raisins on, (sprinkling motion)

Pop it in to bake. (put "cake" in oven)

Open wide the oven door,

And out comes a cake! (open oven)

Bunny Cakes, by Rosemary Wells, is another cute and funny book about Max and Ruby. They set out to make cakes for their grandmother and surprise her at the end.

Then we played a balloon game where the kids had to hit their balloon in the air and try not to let it fall on the ground. We played a second round where we sang the Alphabet Song while we did it.

I read a poem called, "The End" by A.A. Milne. It's one of my favorites!

The End

When I was one,

I had just begun.

When I was two,

I was nearly new.

When I was three,

I was hardly me.

When I was four,

I was not much more.

When I was five,

I was just alive.

But now I am six, I'm as clever as clever.

So I think I'll be six now forever and ever.

The last book was called The Secret Birthday Message, by Eric Carle. It is a simple story about a boy who has to find his birthday present by following clues.

For our last activity, I used these adorable cupcake cutouts that I purchased at the Dollar Tree for an alphabet game. I wrote a letter on each one, then put some velcro on the back to attach to the flannel board. I left several letters out, so the object of the game was that they had to figure out what letter came next. If they did, then I placed it on the board and put a real birthday candle behind it.

When we were done, we sang, "Happy Birthday" to everyone. Then, I brought Mr. Monkey out again and we sang, "The Good-bye Song" to end our time together.

We had fun at our celebration! Hope this gives you some ideas to use for a story time or learning activities at home.

A Mother for Choco

I recently read a book I came across in the children's section at the library. It's called A Mother for Choco and it tells the story of a bird who is looking for a mother. He finds one named Mrs. Bear and they do all sorts of things together. At the end of the story, we find out that Mrs. Bear has taken in other children as her own. She has become their mother.

This book tugged on my heart a bit because of the life-stage I am in. As we have had a few children in our home through foster care, I can see myself as Mrs. Bear. I am taking care of them, having fun with them and nurturing them. Big Brother and Little Brother did see me as Mom but went home to their real mother after a short time. That time hurt so badly, and now a few months later, I still think of them as my kids and it hurts.

Then, almost two months ago, A came to be with us. She knows her real mother and sees her once a week. She sometimes calls me "Mommy Q", a name she made up for me a while back, but knows that I'm not her real mom. It's been a hard couple of weeks as she has been confused with the situation. Inside my heart, I know I'm a mom but sometimes don't think that I am (sometimes because of others' perceptions). Foster parents and other caregivers out there are moms and dads and love and take care of the children placed in their care.

So, yesterday was a day of mixed emotions for me. I wasn't sure if I should stand up when the mothers were acknowledged at church and given a flower. The little girl who we love so dearly already may not see me as her mom (and that's okay), but she did acknowledge this weekend that I was a mom. I got a few awesome notes from family that encouraged my heart. We had a good family day. We went out for lunch with a dear lady from church. We went to the lake and went fishing. We came back home and grilled hot dogs for dinner. Then A went to sleep.

I don't want to sound selfish or anything, but I wished for more. I wanted what lots of mothers get on this special day....the cards, flowers, chocolates, gifts, the acknowledgment on a more personal level. It sounds really weird, but perhaps when a child calls me "Mom" or when we've made it official by adopting it will be that. I am thankful to those who encouraged me and said I really was a mom to A. Like I said before...I know I'm a mom, but because of our unique situation, don't always feel like it.

So, why write all this after Mother's Day? Well, because it's still on my heart, and if you think of it, could use your prayers right now. And, I also wanted to encourage you to thank and acknowledge caregivers, foster parents, legal guardians, etc. on days like this. There are many of us who wish we could have biological children, but are going through the process of adoption. There are some, too, that give and give and give to children year after year unselfishly in different capacities. They are all parents, too.

I hope I didn't sound too weird, selfish, harsh, or anything. I know that Mother's Day is a sensitive topic to many women out there, too, for different reasons. I just hope by writing this I can be an encouragement, ask for prayer, and bring awareness to those who are not the "typical" mom or dad. We all love to be acknowledged, praised and awarded, don't we?:)

If you get a chance, read A Mother for Choco. It is such a cute and awesome story for kids of all ages.

Gardening story time

My story time for last month was so much fun. It was neat to read stories and do activities about gardening. Here's what I did...

After singing our "Hello Time" song, I pulled out a puppet that starts off as a caterpillar and ends up as a butterfly (you just turn it inside-out!:). I read the following poem while I held my cute critter:

Little Caterpillar

There was a little caterpillar crawling all about

He worked and he worked without a doubt,

Wrapping himself in a snug cocoon.

Waiting and waiting, will it be soon?

Look, he's coming out, my oh my!

For now he's become a beautiful butterfly.

The first book I read was called Tops and Bottoms, by Janet Stevens. It is a humorous story with a great lesson: "If you want to eat, you've got to work." It's also a Biblical principal to teach to kids. We shared it with A after we read this same book to her.

The next thing I did was share another poem called, "The Rain."

The Rain

Pitter-patter, raindrops,

Falling from the sky;

Here is my umbrella,

To keep me safe and dry.

When the rain is over,

And the sun begins to glow,

Little flowers start to bud,

And grow and grow and grow!

The next book I read was called, Growing Vegetable Soup, by Lois Ehlert. The story begins with a family planting the seeds, then harvesting it, then finally, putting all of the vegetables in a pot to make soup.

I made a game called Veggie Soup Letter Match. Using some felt and letter stickers, this activity was easy to put together. The kids had to match a lowercase letter to its uppercase letter. When they figured it out, they placed the veggies in a pot. When we were all done, I had a few kids take turns stirring our vegetable soup.

The last book I read was called, The Carrot Seed, by Ruth Krauss. We all enjoyed this classic story of a boy who believed his carrot seed could really grow when others around him didn't think so.

The librarians had a pot with a fabric carrot inside. It was covered with a piece of brown cloth to represent soil. They let me use this to retell the story with the kids. I used a real carrot seed and let them see that up close, too.

At the end of the story time, we sang "The Good-bye" song together. We had a ton of fun and can't wait until this month's story time, which I'm currently working on.

Stay tuned for our final story time of the year. You won't want to miss this one! :)

Easter Garden

Here's a fun and meaningful activity you can do this week for Easter. It's called the Easter Garden. It's a great way to teach the children in your life the real meaning of Easter.

To make your Easter garden, you'll need the following materials:

1. a large tin foil dish or baking tray

2. damp sand or peat

3. empty toilet paper roll

4. a large round stone

5. twigs, flowers, leaves, small stones,etc.

How to put it all together:

Fill your tray with sand or peat. Lay the toilet paper roll on the surface, and cover with more sand or peat to make a hill. Leave one end uncovered.

Place the round stone to one side of the hole to represent the stone rolled away from the empty tomb.

Use the twigs, flowers and stones to complete the Easter Garden.

We collected all of our materials outside near our house. Q had a bag of sand which we were able to use, too. When we were all done, this is what our Easter garden looked like:

You can add lots of different things to embellish your special garden. The possibilities are endless!

When we showed Q our project, he and A talked about the twig being the cross, so he broke off a couple of the branches to make it look more like that. Take a look at it now....

We are keeping the tomb closed until Easter Sunday. I'm thinking about surprising A on Sunday morning with a small sign next to the open tomb that says, "He is Risen!" This simple project has already help begin conversations about Christ dying on the cross and His resurrection. Use it in your home, Sunday School classroom or where ever you'll have children this week. It is a wonderful ministry tool that I hope will teach many about why we celebrate Easter.

I found the idea for the Easter garden in this Spring Activity Book that I found at my local thrift store for a quarter.:) We have already done a couple of simple projects out of it and hope to do more.

Have a wonderful Easter celebrating the Christ who died for our sins and rose from the dead!:)

Clickety clack...down the old reading track

Recently, I had some extra time on my hands, so I asked the librarians if they needed help with anything. They asked me if I would be willing to put up a new bulletin board. I was really excited to put something together, as it would help me get creative again.

I looked through my bulletin board file and found a cute train picture that I could copy. I made a transparency of it, traced it onto poster board, then colored it in with chalk. I was able to laminate it at the library.

The board is right above the kids' computers. I drew the track on several sheets of construction paper using chalk and laminated those as well.

Here's a close up of the colorful train and its conductor. One of the librarians came up with the idea to use some fiberfill for the smoke at the top.

Along the track are book covers that the librarians had on hand for other boards and projects. I thought everything came together well and I can't wait to do another one! :)

Valentine's Day story time

I had a great time at the Valentine's Day story time with the preschoolers this month. After singing our "Hello time" song, I pulled out a new friend out of my bag.

Meet Freddy--

He's pretty cute, huh? But, he doesn't turn into a prince when you kiss him! Oh well, at least I tried. One little girl asked if she could try, too (I didn't have her do it, but it was a nice thought though).

Then, I taught the kids a song that I sang with my Kindergartners back in the day:

Valentine, valentine,

won't you be my valentine?

Valentine, valentine,

won't you be mine?

The first book I read was called My Friend Harry, by Kim Lewis. It's about a little boy who starts school but has to leave his stuffed animal friend behind. After I read the book, I pulled out a stuffed koala who was one of my special friends when I was a girl. Then the kids shared about their friends, too.

The second book I read was called Sweet Hearts, by Jan Carr. It's about a young panda who makes lots of valentine surprises for his family.

Using these felt hearts, I read the following poem:

I have five little valentines, not one more,

I'll give one to mother, and then I'll have...

Four little valentines are all that I see

I'll give one to Dad and then I'll have...

Three little valentines all bright and new

I'll give one to Grandma and then I'll have....

Two paper valentines--this is lots of fun

I'll give one to Grandpa, and then I'll have just...

One paper valentine, and I know what to do

I'll give my last valentine to no one but

YOU.

The last book I read was called A Circle is not a Valentine, by H. Werner Zimmerman. We all loved this book which also teaches the kids about shapes. It is funny and the pictures are delightful.

I passed out a candy heart to each kid, then showed them something I decorated just for them...

...this Valentine gingerbread house. I found the house at the clearance section at Wal-mart. Then, I used Valentine-colored sprinkles, frosting and hearts to decorate it. The kids really liked it a lot and so I left it there so they could enjoy it.

I pulled Freddy out again and we sang the Valentine song and the Good-bye song together. Can't wait until next month's story time...stay tuned!

Music story time

A couple of weeks ago, I did a music story time for the preschool kids at the center. I thought I'd share with you what I did with them, as it could give you ideas to do at home or with other children you work with.

After singing our "Hello Time" song, I brought out a friend who I've had for a long time. His name is Tex. Do you want to meet him?:)

He's a kooky-looking sort of fellow that the kids say looks like a monkey! Honestly, I don't know what he is, but he sure is a lot of fun for the kids.

The first book I read is called, Animal Music, by Harriet Ziefert. With simple rhyme, it shared a couple of stories about animals who played different instruments.

After that first book, we sang a song called "Farm Sounds" and it is sung to the tune of "The Wheels on the Bus." I used my farm animal puppets as we sang each verse.

The cow in the barn goes moo, moo, moo,

moo, moo, moo, moo, moo, moo,

The cow in the barn goes moo, moo, moo,

All around the farm.

The pig in the pen goes oink, oink, oink,

oink, oink, oink, oink, oink, oink,

The pig in the pen goes oink, oink, oink,

All around the farm.

The hens in the coop go cluck, cluck, cluck,

cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck,

The hens in the coop go cluck, cluck, cluck,

All around the farm.

The lambs on the hill go baa, baa, baa,

baa, baa, baa, baa, baa, baa,

The lambs on the hill go baa, baa, baa,

All around the farm.

The second book I read is called Our Marching Band, by Lloyd Moss. This story was also a poem about kids who were learning their instruments to play in a band. When I was done, I pulled out an instrument that a lot of kids learn before they begin playing a band instrument--a recorder.

I played a simple tune on it, then showed them my husband's trombone. He taught me how to put it together and play it so they could hear what it sounds like. I don't know how to play songs on it, so the sound that came out was pretty interesting!

The last book I read is called Max found Two Sticks, by Brian Pinkney. I really enjoyed this story and the beautiful illustrations. A young boy finds two sticks outside then plays them on different objects during the day. It's a great way to introduce rhythm to children.

I had the kids play their sticks (their pointer fingers) while I sang the following song:

Tap your sticks (to the tune of "row, row, row your boat")

by Jean Warren

Tap, tap, tap your sticks

tap your sticks today,

Tap them high, tap them low,

Tap them every way.

I brought along a CD with Sousa band music and had the kids pretend to play instruments as we walked in a circle a few times. We ended our time by singing the "Good-bye song" and Tex even came out to give them hugs.

Our story time was a lot of fun and we all had a great time!