My First (maybe only) Online Craft Tutorial

Ok, y'all.  I love crafting.  If you know me at all you know that I love crafting.  Also, I am a sucker for a great online crafty tutorial (no big news there either, right?).  But I have yet to venture into the world of offering my own crafty tutorials on this little blog. At any given time I have about five or six ideas of crafty projects I could share in tutorial form, but I have refrained to do so for three reasons:

• There are just so many out there! Been on Pinterest much? I've often thought it would just be "white noise" to start sharing my own.  And really, how original are my ideas anyway?
• When I have a crafty idea and set to work creating, I rarely bother to stop and take pics of the individual steps or think it is worth it to take the time to write out instructions.
•  I am prone to immerse myself too much in projects and allow myself to use my creative outlets to avoid the mundane but important responsibilities of every day life. I want to avoid the temptation to let a new "hobby" of producing online craft tutorials take more of my time than is healthy and wise.

But tonight I have decided to break my online-craft-instruction-silence and share my first (and maybe only) tutorial on this blog. This project was just too delightful, quick, simple and sweet. I must share.

Who remembers doing "Shrinky Dinks" as a kid? I have fond memories of coloring in little images on flimsy plastic sheets and handing them over to my mom to place in a hot oven and watching them magically shrink down into sturdy little charms and trinkets.  Good times!  Except, I don't really recall what we ever did with the final projects. (Do you, Mom?) I am guessing not much before they eventually ended up getting thrown away.

Recently I got my hands on some blank sheets of "shrink film" and have been experimenting with creative ways to use them while enjoying all kinds of warm fuzzy childhood memories.  Also: I am constantly looking for ways to cherish Lucy and Collin's original artwork and preserve the especially sweet drawings without allowing the piles and piles they produce to take over our household. I decided to use shrink film to transform some of their most treasured drawings into these quirky keepsake Christmas ornaments and key chains.

Here are the supplies and tools I gathered:

• shrink film (my stash was given to me by a friend who was clearing out some of her craft supplies) I haven't found a place to purchase it locally, but it is available for online purchase at Amazon.
• sharpies in a variety of colors
• baking sheet
• standard sized hole punch
• scissors
• metal jump rings (found in the beading section of craft stores)
• metal key rings (also found in craft store beading sections
• bakers twine (or any yarn or thin ribbon works)
• metal spatula
• selection of children's drawings

While you can have your children (if you are comfortable with them using a permanent marker!) draw directly on the shrink film, I enjoyed the process of looking through and picking out some of my favorite of theirs that I had been holding onto for sometime. I just placed the shrink film over their drawings, matched the colors as best as I could and traced their drawings.  There was something sweet about the experience of tracing their artwork. It helped me enter into their little hearts and minds and I gained some insight into their creative processes while paying close attention to the details they deemed important.

 

 I made sure to write in each child's name and the year when I traced the drawings. When the tracing was complete, I just cut each image out and punched a hole in the top.

 

Next, I arranged them onto the baking sheet and placed them in the oven at 275 degrees.

I stayed close to the oven and kept watch while they were baking. After 3 minutes they had shrunk down quite a bit but I knew they weren't done because the edges were curled up and the images looked a bit distorted. Don't let the curled up edges make you think that it's not working right. 

After 3 MORE minutes I knew they were done because they were perfectly flat and the images were no longer distorted.  Just cute tiny little perfect versions of the originals. : )

 

They cooled off super fast and were ready to be turned into key chains and ornaments. For the key chains, simply attach the jump rings to the hole at the top of the finished little trinket.  I used my fingers, but would probably have been easier with pliers. Then just attach the metal key rings to the jump rings.  The jump rings aren't necessary, but I feel like the pieces hang better and look more appealing with the jump ring attached. For the ornaments I just threaded a length of red and white bakers twine through the hole and tied a bow.

Here's a look at one of the finished key chains next to the original drawing to give an idea of how much "shrinkage" occurs. There are a lot of fun family gift possibilities here.  I know a few grandparents, aunts, uncles and older cousins who would get a kick out of receiving these. They also make a great Father's Day or Mother's Day gift option. Make up a few for yourself or even for the little artists themselves to keep and treasure. 

Since this is my first time putting my own craft tutorial "out there" do me a favor and let me know if you decide to try it yourself.  And if so, do tell how it worked for you and if you modified it at all or ended up with a different final product. : ) Thanks for reading!

xoxo,

My Favorite Learning Materials for Social and Emotional Skills

While social and emotional skills are not overtly academic in nature, I suspect that most parents and caretakers of littles would agree that when a child is struggling in his or her ability to interact with others and manage their emotions, academic learning comes with greater difficulty.  Add in the fact that early childhood is a time when most kids are concrete and literal thinkers, it is not an easy task to help them to navigate their way through such a grey "subject".  But it is an important task.

A couple of things I try to keep in mind when it comes to helping my kids learn and grow in their social and emotional regulations skills:

• I try to remember that Darin and I are in this for the long haul.  Our kids' hearts are tender and precious and right now they trust us with their feelings and they take their social cues from us.  The way we handle their feelings now could lay the foundation as to whether they will trust us with them later in life.  The examples we set for them in social interactions now is likely to influence how they relate to others as adults.
• It definitely pays off (at least in our experience) to "teach" about emotional regulation and social skills when they are not already in the midst of big and distressing feelings or a difficult social scenario.  My hope is that when Lucy and Collin need redirection and/or correction in such moments, that the instructions I give are already familiar to them because they were addressed in a less escalated moment.  Of course, sometimes, we don't realize specific areas that we need to work on with them until a situation becomes escalated, and other times it does not matter how much groundwork has been laid, things can just go badly.  But you get what I'm saying!

Now, for the materials and resources that I have compiled for emotion regulation and social skills!  

Here's what I have for ya!

                                     

1. Ready 2 Learn Giant Feelings Stamps
I found this set of giant feelings stamps on Zulily and snatched them up. The set has ten face stamps, each one depicting a different feeling.  Some of the feelings include: content, nervous, tired, scared, happy, sick, etc.  Lucy and I have an ongoing project with these stamps.  I give her a sheet of construction paper and ask her to choose one of the face stamps and the color of ink she wishes to use. After she stamps the image on her paper I tell her what the feeling is and I have her print the word on the sheet.  Then she and I collaborate on making a list of what kinds of things bring about this feeling in her. Then she and I have fun looking in a mirror and making the facial expressions that match the feeling we've just talked about.  She LOVES this activity, and when we have made a page for each of the ten feelings, I plan on assembling them together in a little booklet for her to revisit as she wishes.

2. Kimochis Mixed Feelings
This is a simple set of cute and quirky little softies that depict facial expressions and are labeled with the corresponding emotion.  They are good for introducing and defining a variety of feelings in a gentle and playful way.  Each "kimochi" is small enough to fit inside a little hand or be carried around in pockets, if that provides any comfort to little ones who are learning about BIG feelings.

3. Mr. Printables Emotion Flash Cards
The Mr. Printables website is so. Awesome.  This is NOT the last time you will hear about Mr. Printables from me!  They offer so MANY high quality FREE printable educational materials.  LOVE them.  These are some robot-themed emotion flash cards that provide another fun opportunity to expand a little one's awareness of emotions.  These may especially appeal to any little boys out there who, like my Collin, love robots.

4. Mr. Printables Make a Face DIY Toy
See, I told you I would be talking about Mr. Printables again!  This is such a clever little printable/DIY project.  Print and cut out the face and individual facial features. The tutorial suggests mounting the pieces on cardboard but I printed mine on card stock and laminated them instead. The features are then attached to the face with brads. Once the piece is assembled, it can be used to show and talk about SO many different feelings.  Children have fun experimenting with all the features and can see how just changing the position of the eyebrows can show an entirely different emotion. I also like that it includes teardrops-was able to use them along with the smile to help my kids start to grasp the concept that someone could cry "happy tears" which can be a very puzzling concept for them to consider.

5. Eeboo Polite Pig Activity Book
Eeboo is another name that I'll refer to often as well.  I love Eeboo products for their beautiful visual design, physically sturdy materials and frequent depiction of cultural diversity, or, in the case of this charming little activity book, diversity and good breeding in the animal kingdom! : )  "Polite Pig and His Good Friends" is a simple coloring and activity book that I appreciate, not only for its introduction to good manners and politeness, but also for the exposure it gives to some basic mathematical and visual-spatial reasoning concepts.

6. Eeboo Make My Day Chart
Another offering from Eeboo, the "Make My Day Chart" is great tool to help little ones start out their day well with realistic expectations and goals.  It is a sturdy cardboard wall hanging that incorporates little dials for kids to spin and select what day of the week it is, the calendar date, the season, current  weather and what kind of clothing would be appropriate to choose.  Children can then use the board to communicate the feelings they have as they start their day and express what things they wish to "try".  At the end of the day children and parents can even use the board to choose a descriptor for how the day turned out and select a reward sticker if desired. This product is set apart from the other items I have mentioned so far because it makes the important connection between social and emotional functioning and an awareness of what is going on in our physical environment and how to begin orienting ourselves, our goals and our decisions according to the calendar.

7. Melissa and Doug Bear Dress Up Wooden Puzzle
This little puzzle from Melissa and Doug has been around for awhile, in fact I believe ours was handed down from my nieces who have practically grown up despite the fact that I specifically asked them not to! : ) This is a great addition to any toy and puzzle collection and proves to be another helpful way to introduce and identify moods and emotions as children can give the bear a different facial expression to go along with each outfit that may be interchanged on the puzzle.

8. The Big Picture Story Bible
I saved the best " learning resource" (in my opinion) for last  When it comes to guiding my children through the difficult work of understanding and managing their feelings, it could be pretty easy to lead them down a path of self-absorption which will not serve them well. As a follower of Jesus, it is my conviction that the best way I can serve Lucy and Collin in this area of their life is to point them to our Heavenly Father and endeavor to show them the joys of entrusting their hearts to Him.  We have several "Bible storybooks" in our home library and each one has been helpful in our efforts to introduce the scriptures to Lucy and Collin. The reason I highlight the Big Picture Story Bible in this list is because I feel that both the author and illustrator did a stunning job of portraying the emotional responses of mankind to God through the ages including joy, sorrow, fear, anger, etc. as well as God's response to mankind. Additionally, I appreciate the way the authors keep the individual stories flowing together to present the Bible as one big story about a great God. A great and loving God who invites them to trust Him with their big feelings, find forgiveness and be made new and whole through the cross of Christ Jesus.

Thanks for allowing me to share. I hope this collection of resources will be helpful for many of you, and if you feel so inclined to share with any other parents who are interested, I'd be honored. Also, would love to hear about any other resources or materials along these lines that you might recommend! I'll be working on adding more lists of my favorite learning resources little by little as I am able.

Xoxo,

The Happy Home-School Helper

I am a total nerd enthusiast when it comes to quality learning materials for my children. Whether I am scrolling through my Pinterest feed, checking out what's new on Zulily, pawing through the shelves of TJ Maxx or walking the aisles of my favorite local educational supplies shop, I always have an eye out for high quality learning materials that I believe will be an asset in my efforts to facilitate joyful learning experiences in our home. 

I also keep finding myself talking with other mamas who are either contemplating home-schooling or are looking for more ways to engage their children in joyful learning outside of school or during the summer months. I have been asked by several of these ladies "where to start" with curriculum and materials, and though I am certainly not qualified to advise anyone on "where to start" I am a total extrovert and will happily tell anyone about materials that help the kids and I to delight in learning together.  After recommending the same websites, products, and book lists to three different mamas recently, the thought occurred to me that I could attempt to compile some lists of my favorite early-childhood learning materials and share them here in hopes that it could be helpful if only to my small circle of friends who are interested.  So that is what I hope to do over a series of posts when I am able to make time amidst all my other responsibilities.

I hope to organize my lists by category and share one post at a time, but before I jump in, I thought would finish out this post by defining what I even mean when I refer to "learning materials" and sharing the "criteria" that guides my decision-making process when I purchase the items. I would consider learning "materials" to be any books, craft supplies, games, toys, workbooks, flashcards, songs, apps, or websites that contribute to a child's joy of learning.  That is a pretty wide range and the market is saturated with "educational products" to choose from.  It can be dizzying to choose what to bring into our home from all that is available.  The following criteria are not rigid for me but a basic list of what I look for when choosing "high quality learning materials" and most of what I will try to share in future posts should reflect these "values":

• Simple, yet can be used to address more than one set of skills. When choosing games, educational toys, books, or manipulatives to engage my children in playful learning, I don't want items that are complicated for me to assemble and figure out or will overload them with sensory stimuli. I also love it if an activity addresses more than one skill, for example, fine motor through manipulating small objects as part of an activity that addresses mathematical concepts.
• Physically Durable and Timeless Content. When I consider purchasing a non-consumable item with my children's education in mind I ask myself if I expect it to stand the test time.  Is this item physically built to last as my kids play hard with it and makes memories with it? It may show signs of wear, but would they be pleased to present it to their own kids someday? Also, is their content too dependent upon the times in which we are now living? Or will it aid me while I try to show my children that things were much different before their time and that they are certain to see rapid change in the world around them in the years ahead?
• Visually Well-Designed. I love to see children's materials that give evidence that someone took great care to consider the importance of artistry in their visual design. I like to see visual design that is not dependent on the most popular current children's fads and television characters. I like design that embraces child-likeness without being childish; that honors the intelligence of the child as a whole person. (This is a concept from the Charlotte Mason Educational Method that I have come to embrace during my short years of parenting so far.)

My life is pretty full right now and getting blog posts up hasn't been a high-priority lately, but this is a "project" I am excited about and hope will benefit friends who are like some of the ladies I have talked to lately and are just looking for a "place to start".  Thanks for reading, and I hope to be back soon with my favorite materials for a very difficult skill set: social and emotional regulation skills.

xoxo,

Remaining in Him

Lucy and Collin's bedtime drew near this evening and if asked to describe the day with only one word, I would have said that today was "satisfying".  But things can change quickly.  And they did.  But I will get to that later.

The kids and I did some hard work today.  I'd like to spare some detail, so suffice it to say that I endeavored to tackle some poor habits that all of us have been practicing at home and attempted to introduce some new habits that I believe will serve our family well. 

I was really proud of both of my "big kids".  They received and followed my instructions and exercised diligence that defied their developmental stages.  By the end of the day we were all tired, and Darin had to work late.

Sweet 9-month-old Nora was pretty worn out too.  She had been along for the ride throughout our busyness and ended up being awake for much more of the day than I had anticipated.

So I made a plan to get her down for bed and be "Fun Mommy" for the rest of the evening by doing a movie and popcorn night with Lucy and Collin.  It was just going to be the three of us and it was going to be great.

And oh boy, was I ever "Fun Mommy".  I popped the corn, I sprinkled in the M&Ms, I made up chocolate milk and we were JUST about to snuggle in front of Curious George, when one of the kids acted upon an impulse that started a chain reaction that ultimately brought the movie, popcorn and snuggling plans to a halt. Nora woke up.  Chaos ensued. All three of the kids were crying.

I am sorry to say that when I scolded the child who made the impulsive move, I overreacted and laid blame.  I could have responded with grace, I could have overlooked the "offense", especially after a full day of this child doing so beautifully with the tasks of the day. But I blew it.

After Darin got home from work he was able to help me get the older two kids to bed while I was working with Nora to help her sleep again. I began to replay the events of the evening and go through all the ways I would have handled myself differently if I could. In those moments, if you had asked me to describe myself in one word, I might have said "scum".

But then, the Holy Spirit brought to mind something that I had written five and a half years ago.  Once I tracked it down and read it, it gave me goosebumps. I realized that God in His sovereignty just might have prompted me in January of 2009 to pray for the very things and write down the very words that I would need on this balmy July night in 2014.

Please allow me to share:

" When Darin and I face difficult parenting issues, I can trust God to supply us with the wisdom we need to be the parents that our children need. I can also trust Him to forgive us when we make parenting mistakes. We can ask God to heal our children when we hurt them.

As I pray for our children and for Darin and I as their parents, I want to ask God to protect all of us from pain that we might inflict upon each other. But now I'm sensing the Holy Spirit reshaping my prayers... and rather than asking God to keep us from hurting each other, I start to focus more on asking God to bring our children to faith in Him at an early age. That we may all have our Savior in common and that we will all be able to run to Jesus together when we inevitably hurt each other, or deal with disappointment within our family. That rather than shielding my children from pain, I would be able to guide them to the One who can heal them of their hurts.

I don't know the challenges that lie ahead for our family. But I know the One who is building our family and I have faith that He is building it for His glory. That gives me more peace and more confidence to parent our children than anything else."

Revisiting these words and prayers from years ago was a gift.  And now, if you were to ask me to use one word to describe what I am striving for, I would have to break the rules and give you three.  "Remaining in Him" (which is what Jesus invited his followers and friends to do in John 15:4).  Incidentally, the kids and I listened to this scripture (set to music) several times today. While we were hard at work, this album was in the playlist:

 I can't say enough how much I am enjoying the music from Seeds Family Worship which just so happens to be available for free audio streaming for Amazon Prime users.  Click on the above image for the link.

And thanks for allowing me to share what is on my heart tonight.

xoxo,

Oh Hello Again!

It's an understatement to say that it has "been awhile" since I last posted. There have been some big changes and milestones for our family that have happened since then.  Here is the biggest and by far SWEETEST change our family has experienced:

 

 This little 4-month-old, 12 lb package of sweetness is Nora Amelia. She was born to us on October 8th, 2013 and she has simply stolen our hearts.  She cries and fusses quite a lot (more than either of her older siblings did as babies) and she grins and giggles even more.  Carrying her was a little more taxing than my pregnancy with Collin, but giving birth to her was so "easy" it was almost dreamlike.  She hates napping during the day, but loves sleeping at night.  She loves to snuggle close to me in my baby carrier, but also loves moving around and flexing her muscles during playtime.  The whole family is smitten with this sweet little study in contrasts, but no one's affections for her seem to rival her big sister Lucy's (although Collin's run a VERY close second).

In other family updates, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer a little over a year ago and has since undergone surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatments.  We are all just so thankful that our "Mama Gail" was diagnosed early, treated in a timely manner and is now cancer free.  It was hard to see my mother endure the suffering that this chapter brought (especially with the miles that physically separate us), but it has also been a privilege to see her do so with her eyes fixed on Jesus and with a spirit of dependence on Him.  Thankfully her chemo and radiation treatments concluded BEFORE our Nora was born and she and my dad were both able to come and spend time with us as soon as she arrived.

 

It has been a "milestone" school year for Miss Lucy as she and I have been homeschooling for kindergarten.  While academic learning definitely does not come easily for her, she simply LOVES school time.  Even if everything else in her world isn't going her way, she is always eager to sit down with me for our lessons and I couldn't be more proud of her.  She is making particularly great strides in reading and math and it is such a privilege to be a part of that learning process with her.  

 

Darin and I decided to enroll Collin in a preschool class for this year which we feel has been especially beneficial for him in light of all the changes that a new baby has brought for our family.  He attends on Tuesdays and Thursdays and it has been just a wonderful addition to his life and I see the fruits of his teachers' investments in him as we continue to reinforce his early learning here at home.  He is a joy and his creativity, curiosity and desire to be a helper have blossomed during the past few months.

Darin and I are both pretty exhausted these days, but investing in the life of our little family has certainly been a rewarding way to be tired. These early days of parenthood may not be the most glamorously romantic times for a marriage, but working side by side sure opens our eyes to the depth of our devotion to each other and certainly reveals where our dependence lies.  Thankfully, though imperfectly, we are both depending on the sustaining grace of our Lord Jesus Christ in this life as we eagerly await our perfection in the life to come.  I have been especially blessed to see Darin manage a truly demanding career at our local community college in addition to serving and loving our family.  He has been creating and implementing programs in our community that provide vocational training to folks who are unemployed and underemployed and then connects them to potential employers.  It just makes this former social worker's heart go all a flutter and makes me fall in love with him all over again.  I love my guy.

We didn't get a Christmas card out this year nor did we even send out a birth announcement for Nora, so please accept this blog post as a (belated) substitute.  I am just so thankful to be the wife and mommy in this bunch.  On the pleasant days and the rough ones. 

xoxo,