December Activity Calendar Added

Just a highlight that the December calendar has been added (on the right side of the blog).  Check it out for many ideas of fun things to do with your kiddos this December.  Anna Frye gave me a bunch of these ideas - thank you soooo much!  She is an INCREDIBLE blogger and writer.  She also pointed me to a site called Enchanted Learning, and I got most of the craft ideas from there.  You can go there if you would like to see pictures of the crafts.  (I have to see it).  I added the instructions to a word doc, but couldn't get the pictures to paste.  The calendar has links for the crafts that will take you to the word doc.  Have so much fun this December with your children!  They light up the holidays and just make it such a treat. 

Lego Advent Calendar

A couple of weeks ago I was wandering through Legoland at Grapevine Mills Mall and found a lego advent calendar.  Starting in December, on each day you build a new section of a lego Christmas scene.  I thought my boys would really enjoy it, so we purchased it and will start it tomorrow.  Just an idea for something to create more anticipation and engage with your children all month!  :) 

Advent - Brought to Life

With all of the hustle and bustle of getting ready for the holidays, it is much too easy to lose focus of celebrating Jesus and his birth.  We still do our nativity scene, Bible readings, and other things to instill in our children the meaning of it all.  But, this video truly brought it to life for me, and I wanted to share it with anyone following this blog.  I put it at the top of the blog page, but I wanted to post it as well in hopes that more would see it, and take a few moments to absorb the message here and truly feel thankful for what has come, and for what still is to come.  This was done by our church and shown in the services this past weekend . . .

http://vimeo.com/32459389

Shark Exhibit

So we did go to the Museum of Nature and Science last week on Friday, and it was fascinating. I have included some pictures below. It cost $18 for adults to get in and $12 I think for kids 2 and up. We ended up getting a family membership for $90, which included 4 free guest passes for the museum, 4 free Imax passes and a bunch of other stuff. Since we had my in laws with us, we were able to use the guest passes and didn't pay too much more to get the membership instead of the tickets. So . . . it is a bit pricey, but if you have kids who are into science, sharks, etc., it is worth it. Both my 4 year old and my 6 year old really enjoyed it. Here are some pictures:

Sharks lose 26,000 teeth in a lifetime!  That's how many shark teeth are in this pile . . . crazy!

This is a frozen shark, in a display case that is -4 degrees!



They had interactive monitors throughout the exhibit where you

could learn a ton about sharks.  They were very cool!

I highly recommend this exhibit if you think your kids would be

interested!  It is going on until next October I think!





Something to do over Thanksgiving

The kids are out of school for a week starting Monday - which can make everyone stir crazy. If you are in the Dallas/Fort Worth area - here is an idea . . . take your kids to the shark exhibit at the Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas. There is a link to the info on the November activity calendar (on the right of the blog). The link is on Wednesday, November 23. My son loves learning about sharks right now, so it should be a treat. I'll include a post after we go to let you know what we think!

Thanksgiving Printables & Activity Calendars

OK - I finally figured out how create a calendar that is editable and has links to activities that we are doing. I've been trying to figure this out since creating the blog. One of my first posts talked about the summer activity calendar we had and how I planned things out for the whole summer so that we weren't waking up with the kids saying "I'm bored" . . . and they had things to look forward to throughout the summer. I've now decided to do one of these for each month, and we'll see how it goes. It may have a few out of the house activities, worksheets, holiday stuff, etc. You will find the first one - November 2001 - under the "Activity Calendars" section. You will find links that you can click on and you will be able to download the activity if you like.

I also created a "Printables" section where you will find fun little worksheet activities or crafts to do with your kids. The ones that are there right now are all related to Thanksgiving, and some of them are on the calendar as well. Have fun!!!

Lima Bean Dip (Food Network Magazine)

Need an appetizer to take to a party? How about some lima bean dip with pita chips? It might sound gross, but I tried it out at our block party and many thought it was guacamole. The entire bowl of dip was gone. Here is the recipe: (I will also add this to the recipe page at the top)

Kosher salt
1 10 oz box frozen lima beans
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh parsley
grated zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 slices bacon cooked and crumbled (I just got the already cooked kind - easier)

1. Bring saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the lima beans and garlic and simmer until tender, 18 to 20 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water to cool slightly (the beans should be warm but not hot).

2. Pulse the lima beans, garlic, parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in a food processor (I used my magic bullet) until just combined. With the motor running, pour in the olive oil and process until incorporated but still slightly chunky. Transfer to a bowl and top with bacon. Serve warm or at room temperature with pita chips and/or veggie sticks.

G.A.S.

My purpose in this blog is to enable moms of young children with resources - and I would not be doing this blog justice if I did not discuss our ultimate resource - God. I love Jesus more than anything. I'm often too quiet about it, but I felt a burden today that this post needed to happen. Our burden is heavy . . . there are many needs placed upon us, and let's be honest - we simply can't do it all. Sometimes we can't do any of it because we are too exhausted. We feel guilt no matter how much or how little we do. We want everything to be perfect for our families. We find identity in things that can be stripped away in a moment's notice.

This year has been a year of change for me as I transitioned into a stay at home mom role after a 12 year career with the same company that started in California and landed me in Texas. I did think about in the beginning of this year when the change began that I needed to remember my identity was in Jesus and Jesus alone. I knew he was my only constant. However, processing that in my heart is a totally different story. This morning in church Josh Patterson spoke those very words - our identity is in Christ Jesus and that's it. I was reminded of how true that is and how imperative it is to truly get that. And then I went on one of my crazy tangents on the way home when I was in my car by myself, and I came up with the acromyn G.A.S. It's appropriate because I have 3 boys in my home and if you have the same, you know there is a lot of gas! Here is what it stands for:

1. Grace. The definition I found was "Divine love and protection bestowed freely on people". There is unending grace being offered (FREELY - meaning there is nothing for you to do here - it's there regardless of you) to you right now. You only need to . . .

2. Accept. Accept the offer you have from God. Allow him to carry your load. You aren't in charge anyway - he is. He is your creator and he knows exactly how you are wired, how your husband is wired, and your children. He knows exactly what happened yesterday, what is happening right now, and he is already in the future. Can you say all of that for yourself? No. So let him be in charge and take a DEEP breath. Do what you can, but don't beat yourself up along the way. When you screw up, remember, it is all part of your . . .

3. Sanctification. The definition: "To make holy; purify". You need to mess up in order to realize your need for God. If you always had it all together, there would be no room for him. When you mess up with your children/husband, you are helping with their sanctification! God has his plan, and whatever you are doing right now isn't going to change that. The mess ups are part of his plan too.

So . . . if you don't know Jesus yet, or you do and aren't putting him right smack in the center, say a prayer. Ask him to reveal himself to you in a way that you don't already know. Ask him to help you LET IT GO. Jesus paid the price for all of your screwups - there is no more punishment. Take time to process that, and enjoy the ride that he is taking you on.

Halloween Candy Poker Night

Ever wonder what to do with your leftover Halloween candy?  We have 3 kids and they are all very excited about going to as many houses as possible on Halloween night, and so needless to say we came home with a boatload of candy.  Last year we started a new tradition - Halloween candy poker night.  We used the candy as chips and assigned 3 different values to the candy . . . 25 cents, 50 cents, and a dollar.  All of the really good chocolate was a dollar, the skittles and starbursts and the not so good chocolate (in my opinion) was 50 cents, and all of the little candies or onesie twosies were 25 cents.  We made a little cheat sheet with 3 columns listing the value of all of the candy. 

We invited a couple of families over and had poker night with the candy!  It was so much fun and a great way to get rid of the candy (unless Melissa intentionally leaves her bag at your house).  We had our new annual tradition last night and it was a blast.  This is a great way to fellowship with other families . . . the kids had a great time hanging out as well!