Tummy Stuffers - A great gift for a 2 year old (sponsored post)

My two year old loves to fill things and dump them out and fill them again... and dump them again... It seems to be a common stage that many two year olds experience.  As Azariah approached his second birthday, we were presented with the opportunity to check out Tummy Stuffers.  I have to admit, I thought they were kind of silly at first.  I also knew that my boys would love them.

Guess what: Azariah (and the other boys) love this alligator! In fact, it was one of the few toys I packed to keep my boys entertained during a youth convention while I worked as a vendor.  This little guy held all of their toys and scrunched up to fit inside their special toy trunk!

The boy's play trunk, ready to go to youth convention.

He gobbled up toys and spit them back out.  He chased little boys around to gobble them up.  He even worked as a hat!

Azariah, wearing the Tummy Stuffer as a hat!

Our alligator was out last week when Azariah's therapist was over to work on speech.  She adored him and used him with Azariah to prompt some words!  I never thought that our Tummy Stuffer would also work for therapy, how excellent!

Whit considers fleeing the scene

While our kitten is not so much a fan of the Tummy Stuffer, I think it's a fantastic gift option for toddlers and preschoolers!  Christmas is coming, who is on your list?  I'm positive that my 3 and 5 year olds would love to have Tummy Stuffers of their own (in fact, they've already told me which ones they wish for)!  Tummy Stuffers sell for $19.99 plus shipping and handling.  13" seat pets come with a free 8" buddy (for a limited time)
!

40 Free Things to do with Preschoolers on a Cold or Rainy Saturday at Home (without electronics)

It is Saturday morning in mid-April and it is COLD in Indiana.  In fact, there has been some snow today. YIKES!  The zoo in Fort Wayne opens this morning.  It is also the Maple Syrup Festival in Wakarusa.  A lot of people had outside plans for the morning.  So now that plans are changing, my dear sweet cousin just asked on Facebook, "What should I do this morning?"  she has a 1 and a 3 year old and does not want to roam the really fun festival in the cold.

So I got to thinking about what kinds of fun things we like to do when we feel like we are not ready to spend our day outside.  I thought I would share for her benefit (and as a reminder to ourselves on the next too cold Saturday).

1. Pull out the puzzles!  Not old enough to do them alone?  Help your child do puzzles - what a great learning and bonding activity with the family.

2. Grab clean sheets (or some that need to get cleaned today) and build a tent.  Get flashlights, sleeping bags, and marshmellows.  Go camping together in the bedroom or living room.

3. Snuggle up and read favorite books.  They might be even willing to read chapter books - try it out.

4. Play Dough is a favorite at our house.  Don't have any?  Look up recipes - it is super cheap and extremely easy to make.  Want play dough toys?  Use popsicle sticks, cookie cutters, dough rollers, forks, plastic knives, scissors.  Let them go wild with their imaginations.  *Watch the little ones mouths* Show them how to make simple shapes - a ball, a snake, a pancake... then get more complex and marvel them.

5. Make pancakes together.  They can help pour and mix.  Add in food coloring for fun designs or chocolate chips, blueberries - use your imaginations.  Have fun making pancakes together.

6. Bring outdoor toys inside.  We have a small house, but 1 or 2 outdoor toys in the house really livens things up.  They really love the little plastic pool filled with balls for "swimming" when it's cold.

7. Play in the tub.  Make simple bath paints with flour, water, and food coloring.  Give them paint brushes, let them go wild.  Take some favorite toys to the tub, let them have a pool party.

8. Dance party.  Turn up the tunes and dance with your kids.

9. Break out the crayons and coloring books or printer paper.  Sit down and color together.

10. Practice responsibility.  It's a great day to clean the hamster cage, cat box, dog kennel, etc.  Help them learn how to be responsible for their pets.

11. Cut or tear paper.  This is a great skill for preschoolers and it will entertain them for quite a while. Get really daring and give them some glue as well.  They'll have a blast gluing paper pieces together.

12. Wash dishes together.  Need to get some chores done?  Invite your preschooler to stand on a chair and wash dishes with you.  Even if you have to rewash everything he has washed, he's learning a new skill and feels proud for helping you.  My 4 year old always tells me how much he loves to wash dishes together.

13. Dump out the bucket of mismatched socks.  Have preschoolers help you find matches and put pairs together.

14. Build with Duplos or Legos.  Encourage imagination by helping your child create a new design, or help her learn to follow written directions by putting together a lego set.

15. Paint. Finger paint, water color, or otherwise.  Give them freedom to make a special piece of art.

16. Make cards for grandma or friends.  Use construction paper, markers, stickers, stamps - whatever you've got.

17. Play soccer.  Yep.  Break the rules, kick the ball around in the bedroom or living room together.

18. Make a pizza.  Come on, you think breakfast is the only mean your preschooler wants to help with?  She can make peanut butter sandwiches, pizzas, noodles, soup, all kinds of foods with you - you just have to tolerate a little mess.  You'll help her gain confidence, independence and knowledge.

19. Practice writing his name together.

20. Make a simple pinecone bird feeder.  Tie yarn to the end of a pinecone spread peanut butter on it, roll it in bird seed.  Don't have a pinecone?  Use a toilet paper roll instead.

21. Play board games.  There is a huge market full of preschool games.  If you don't have any, head out to garage sales on the next warm, dry Saturday and pick up a few super cheap games.

22. Build a race track with recylclable materials.

23. Race cars (with or without a track).

24. Let her give you a makeover! This might take some courage.

25. Tell stories together. Take turns adding to a story about your preschooler.  Make sure to include his favorite things.

26. Have a picnic inside.  Bring in the little picnic table or spread a blanket out on the floor.  Serve your favorite picnic meals.

27. Go on a treasure hunt.  Hide something special in the house.  Make a map to find it - or give clues about where it is hidden.

28. Play Barbies together (or action figures - whatever).  She won't forget that you took time to do this.

29. Make smoothies!  Everyone loves smoothies when you throw in their favorite foods.  Not only do they taste great, they're fun to make and can be incredibly healthy.  Not sure about the mess of a smoothie?  Put the mix into a popsicle mold and give them special cold treats.

30. Get out circle shaped cereal and make necklaces for snack.  Use some yarn or string and help your preschooler lace the o's until they have a good amount.

31. Plant stuff.  Start a garden indoors.  Get seedlings ready for your summer veggie garden. (Walmart has seed packets starting at 20c).

32. Have a puppet show.  No puppets?  Make some with socks or paper bags!

33. String pasta.  Beading is fun even for little hands!

34. Bake cookies for a neighbor.

35. Have a jumping contest.  See who can jump the highest, longest, fastest, farthest, funniest.  Wear them out with lots of jumping fun.

36. Sort toys. Dump all the toys onto the floor and help him sort them into categories.

37. Take all of your cardboard boxes out of the recycle bin.  Let him have fun building with them, using the as boats, houses, cars, towers, etc. You may be amazed at the ways your child will use a few boxes.

38. Start a band. Do you have music toys? Take them out and sing together.  If you don't have music toys, look up simple free instrument designs on Pinterest.  You would be amazed how many things you can use around the house to make a drum or guitar!

39. Go fishing.  Get a stick from the yard and some string.  Put a paperclip on the end and see how many toys you can pick up with your pole.

40. Look at old pictures together.  Go through photo albums and look at pictures together.  They love seeing themselves and their families as they have grown and changed.

***What do you like to do with your preschoolers when you're stuck inside on a cold or rainy day?***

Disciple

Conversation with Manasseh at dinner.  We were sharing the story of Jesus sharing Passover with his disciples.

Mama: Jesus had dinner with his disciples, the people that followed him.

Manasseh: Am I a disciple too?

Mama: Disciple means that you learn from someone like Jesus.

Manasseh: That's right, I told my Awana teacher I am a disciple, and she said "no".

Ah, yes - my 4 year old gets it.  I love hearing that he is discussing theology with his teachers.  This boy blesses me!  

Rachel and the TreeSchoolers: Review

We are a pre-homeschool family.  Next year Manasseh will officially start Kindergarten.  This year both of our older boys are doing preschool activities and work.  We love learning!  The boys were super excited about the chance to review Rachel and the TreeSchoolers: A Rainy Day.

This video uses music, story, sign language, and questions to help draw preschoolers into the lesson and really understand and apply it to their minds.  I love the education model that Rachel uses with the children.  My boys were instantly drawn into the problem at hand: a bird who is afraid of a storm.  I also love that this tackles a subject that is very relevant to young children.  In fact, I wish I would have had this video when I worked with Jr. High boys in a children's home.  One of my favorite features of this DVD is that it comes with a CD that has all of the songs on it.  This means that we can take it with us.  I frequently find my boys singing the songs on their own as they recall the lesson.  I would love to see more videos in this series and use them with my boys as learning tools in the future.

My boys love the catchy music.  Even my 3 year old that does not sit still for anything on television was captivated by this video.  They also were extremely excited that the characters learned about kindness.  They  like to remind each other to be kind.  They are proud that they know some new signs and I am certain that when we start to get into yucky stormy weather, they will recall the lesson again and again!

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Creating Calm: Get Moving

Truth: Creating Calm in my house means helping my children learn how to relax.  
Myth: Calm means there is no time for getting "wound up".

In order to best find times of relaxation, we have to help our children learn the appropriate times to be crazy, noisy, and off the walls.  The trampoline has been in our home for a few weeks now and is a favorite way to work out excess energy.  When the boys get impatient for meals, or need a break from routine, the trampoline is one of our first choices.  It is so fun to watch them as they "trample" up and down.  They really enjoy releasing pent up energy!  They don't even know that they will be more able to relax later if they have used their muscles well.

Another friend of ours is the Vtech Giraffe Bike.  Cassius especially enjoys "riding" it when I ride the stationary bike.  He loves it that he can exercise with me.  Bonus: it has educational games on it.  He is learning to pedal a bike while he practices counting!  When we all get moving early in the day, nap and bed time are much easier.  Resting is more natural after we have really used our bodies!

How do you get your children moving early in the day to help them when it is time for necessary rest?

Creating Calm Linky

Link up below with your ideas about creating calm space in your life and family.  Please add the linky code (found on the right column of the page) to your post or blog.

Creating Calm: Fireflies Yoga CD Giveaway

Photo from Fireflies Yoga Website

Are you ready to win the Kings and Queens of the Forest CD?  Kira Willey is giving a CD to one of my readers.  Please make sure to check out my review of her fantastic music, and enter using the Rafflecopter form below.  

This giveaway is open to residents of the US who are 18 or older.  The winner will be randomly chosen by Rafflecopter.  Giveaway ends at midnight EST on February 26.

***Disclosure: I have received a product or products in exchange for this review and giveaway.  All opinions are my own.***

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Creating Calm: Fireflies Yoga CD Review

I shared last week that one of the struggles we have in our house full of little boys, is relaxation.  As we have worked on tweaking our rest-time routines over the past several months, one thing has risen to the top of the boy's lists as a must-have in order to be ready for relaxing.  That thing? Yoga.  That's right.  We do 1 song with yoga before nap and bed - right now it is the same song every time, because it is simple and slow.  The boys like the "dance" moves and it makes their transition to the bed much simpler.

CLICK HERE FOR A GIVEAWAY OF THIS CD

This is Manasseh during "Mama Nature" about a week ago.  Although he does not look thrilled, both boys love the stretching routine as they slow their muscles down for a while.  

Personal story: the very first time I tried this with the boys at nap time, Cassius climbed into his bed without any argument and was asleep within 10 minutes, he lay silent and still listening to the other songs on the CD as he drifted to sleep.  Usually, Cassius tosses and turns, singing and playing for 1-2 HOURS before falling asleep.  You had better believe that I took note of this!

"Lay down like a stick, straight and tall, put your hands to your sides and stretch out your legs long"... I try to convince them.  Manasseh, however grows branches every time.  Cassius is starting to get branches too.

They love that they can be creative with their bodies during these quiet, focused moments.

We fell in love with Kira Willey's music when Manasseh was an infant.  The first time he heard a clip of the "Dance for the Sun" CD, he was crying (like a baby).  Immediately he stopped crying and looked at the computer monitor.  When it finished, he went back to crying.  He did this multiple times.  We decided that this must be his first favorite music - we bought the CD that day.  

Now we listen to both "Dance for the Sun" and "Kings and Queens of the Forest".  The boys love the variety of sounds in her music almost as much as they love dancing to it.  They enjoy trying the many yoga moves that Kira has published in the booklet that comes with the CD.  I enjoy watching them try new things.  Randy and I frequently find ourselves singing the catchy tunes even when we are away from the music for a little while.

Have you heard of Fireflies Musical Yoga for Kids or Kira Willey?  Make sure that you check them out.  Consider these CDs, complete with instruction, as a way to help create calm in your home or preschool class.  You can get one of each (that's 2 CDs) for just $22 right now on the website!  Click HERE to listen to some samples of her songs and consider a purchase.  It was worth it for us 4 years ago, and is worth it for us today!  

***Disclosure: I have received a product or products in exchange for this review and giveaway.  All opinions are my own.***

Creating Calm Linky
Link up below with your ideas about creating calm space in your life and family.  Please add the linky code (found on the right column of the page) to your post or blog.

Our New Pet-venture

Okay, it's true.  I have a weak spot... for animals... and for my boys... and for well, okay I don't want to fill you in on ALL of my weak spots, you might call me with an offer I can't pass up!

Last week I got a text message from my mother in law asking if we would like 2 hamsters.  You might not know this, but I had hamsters as a child, I was fascinated of them - and terribly afraid that they would bite me.  I like them, but didn't REALLY want to touch them.  Yep, I'm kind of funny like that.

So, I said "Sure".  And that was the end of it.  Last night, our new pets: Peanut and Rhino came to our house.  Now, Peanut and Rhino are the names these boys came with.  We could not leave them like that.  Our boys quickly found much more um.. suitable names.  Manasseh wanted to name them "Nasa and Cash" after him and his brother.  Cassius wanted to name one "Chicken".

So here I will introduce to you Nasa and Chicken.  Nasa is slightly larger than Chicken.  The curious (hungry) cat?  That's Farlow.

Imperfect Organization: Circle Time

 

Meet our learning robot!  This super cool poster was a steal at Christmas time for $1.59!  I bought it at Darlington Holiday Outlet in Fort Wayne.  

The Learning Robot has really simplified and helped me organize circle time in our home with my preschoolers.  Now we can easily sit on the floor in the dining room and go over the skills it presents to my boys!  

This tool offers letters, beginning sounds, shapes, colors, reading a clock, months, days of the week, and numbers 1-30!  The boys love it.  They have so much fun checking it out.  It is a fun game when someone tells them what letter or picture to look for.  It's even more fun when the boys get to be the teacher.  They don't even realize they're still learning to identify these items!

Behind the learning robot is our thankful tree.  Each leaf has something that we are thankful about written on it.  It also has apples and flowers with numbers on them that we use at different times for practicing counting and number identification.

How do you organize daily learning time with your family?

Sponsor Spotlight: Wholly Guacamole #GetMoving2013

Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, gets me moving like good, healthy food.  Having the right balance of foods in my diet helps me maintain my energy and last through the day.  One of my very favorite foods has agreed to help keep one of my readers moving this winter with a prize package just for you! 

Meet the Wholly family!

It's true, I love Wholly products.  Their salsas are as fantastic as the guacamole.  When I say that you ought to know, I am extremely picky about salsa, I eat very little salsa.  I love their red pepper mango salsa the best and I don't eat mangoes - I think they are disgusting.. in Wholly Salsa, however.. WOW!

This Monday I shared that I am starting to calorie count.  I love it that Wholly Guacamole offers a fantastic variety of 100 calorie snack packs.  Check out this fantastic snack I had today!  Avocado Ranch from the 100 Calorie pack and some fantastic veggies.  Okay, the truth is: my 1 year old stole most of my Avocado Ranch pack, so I used Spicy Guacamole from another 100 cal pack!  It was all so delicious. 

Do you want to know why I love Wholly Guacamole so much?  I love it that I can read all of the words on the packaging.  I can go pick everything up at the store and try to make my own guacamole.  I have tried, however, and I just can't compete with their recipes.  The other reason I absolutely love Wholly products?  The flavor is amazing.  I have not found a Wholly product that I wouldn't share with all of my friends and family.  Believe me, I share them whenever I get the chance, I think they are that great.

This is what happens when we run out of guacamole.  I wish I were joking.  This is Azariah, immediately after finishing the 100 Calorie pack of Avocado ranch 15 minutes ago.  He was very angry, he wanted more!  I'm so thankful for kids that like healthy food!

Do you want to win a prize package of Wholly Guacamole?  1 reader will receive it as part of the Get Moving prize package - the Get Moving event starts January 17!  2 more readers will have an opportunity to win prize packages in the very near future.  Keep your eyes open for information about upcoming giveaways!

Are you familiar with Wholly products?  What is your favorite way to use salsa or guacamole?  Do you share these foods with friends and family?

***Disclaimer: I received a product or products for the purpose of review.  All opinions expressed are my own***

Imperfect Organization: Morning Routine

This mama does not like mornings.  If I had my way I would sleep until 9 or 10 every day and stay up until 1 or 2 every morning.  Unfortunately, my boys like morning.  They wake up ready to go, I stumble around trying to figure out what I need to get done.  The boy's schedule had been fairly relaxed and unstructured.  BUT - we want to homeschool.  Manasseh is 4.5 and we are starting some kindergarten skills with him.  Structure is important.  Organization is key.

To help the boys know what needs to get done every morning, and to help me as I bumble through the cloudiness that some people call morning - I created a wall chart.  It made a difference for all of us immediately!  Cassius has since removed the chart from the wall multiple times, but the boys have it memorized and we revert to it as often as necessary to get our day going.  This simple, 6 step visual routine has helped us get organized.

How do you help your kids get ready to start their days?

Children's Museum Adventure

 

We love to adventure with the boys - especially when our adventures include an educational element.  This week he had the opportunity to visit the children's museum in Indianapolis.  The boys LOVE the hands-on exhibits.  They wore themselves out exploring our great big world.  I love watching them learn and greatly look forward to them getting a little older so they can take more time reading and understanding the fantastic displays!

Here is a peek at our adventure this week:

 The Dinosphere is an incredibly cool experience with life sized dinosaur skeletons!  There are computerized simlations, an archeology digging area, costumes and play eggs, toy dinosaurs and so much more.  We had to visit this area first - all 5 of the "big" kids insisted.


Manasseh got to touch a REAL dinosaur bone.  Many of the displays are models, and he was excited to have the opportunity to put his hands on a real bone from a real dinosaur.  That is big stuff for a 4 year old (or a 34 year old).





All 6 Poppy's Posse members: Princess, Bugman, Spaceman, $, Moo, and Scout.   They had a blast together (they usually do).

 

Princess said her favorite area was "Jolly Days" - the seasonal exhibit.   The boys, therefore, also said it was their favorite.  They liked climbing, fishing, skating, and taking care of the reindeer.  I got a kick out of my guys, Spaceman (above) found a bucket in the reindeer room and decided he should milk the reindeer.  His brother, naturally followed suit.

The Hot Wheels exhibit was pretty cool too.  the boys loved playing with the cars, especially the large ones they cold climb inside.  In the picture above, Cassius had enough of waiting for a turn and climbed inside on top of Bugman's lap so he could drive.

 

We stayed for just under 6 hours.  My boys were exhausted.  Scout fell asleep in the Hot Wheels exhibit and missed the end of the day.  The other boys fell asleep before we were out of Indianapolis.

I give the Indianapolis Children's Museum 5 stars for their hands on activities and family friendliness.  Parking is free.  There are food options in the museum, however they are more pricey than I like.  We brought a sack lunch and ate it in the van.     The museum is very clean and offers hand sanitizers in many locations.  Although the restrooms are very heavily used, they were always clean when we used them (with 6 kids we used the restroom quite a bit).

Countdown to Easter: Week 1

Jesus as a Boy

We have begun our countdown to Easter.  Week 1 is done, 12 weeks to go!  It was a tough week for us to start, as we were still wrapping up our Christmas holidays.  We only slipped in a couple of activities before the end of our week.

 

We began our story learning by reading from one of our many children's Bible story books.  This is a children's study Bible that we really enjoy.  The pictures are fun.  Each book of the Bible gets a child friendly introduction and the stories are told by people who were part of them.  The boys really enjoy reading this Bible as well.

As we discussed and reviewed the story, the boys ripped paper for a project.  

Once we finished reviewing and ripping paper, we talked about the letter "b".  B is for boy and Jesus was a boy.  We practiced the sound of the letter.  The boys used school glue to make the shape of the letter with their torn paper pieces.  

 

Next week's story: Jesus Baptism.

Looking forward to Easter

You read it right.  Easter. Christmas, the celebration of Christ's birth is over.  now it is time for us to begin looking forward to the celebration of his death on a nasty cross so that we could have an intimate relationship with God. 

Randy and I have begun preparing our home and family for the Easter celebration.  Okay, okay - so we have started in small ways.  The tree is still up (for today), there are still assorted Christmas goodies around the house.  We even have some more Christmas celebrating to do in the next week. 

Still, we have begun talking with the boys about the next celebration.  We want them to know that Christ's birth is a BIG deal.  Even more than that, we want them to know that his death means that we can live. 

As we are preparing for the next year in the life of the Crum family, we have laid out a course of study for the first 3 months of the year.   We will be exploring the gospels with the boys from January 1 through March 31.  Each week we are focusing on a different story as a family and will be learning it through a variety of formats - crafts, music, reading, games and more.  You are invited to follow along with us on my Friday posts. 

Here is our road to Easter schedule:

January

Jesus as a child

Jesus' baptism

Jesus calls disciples

Jesus loves children

February

Lazarus

Water into wine

Jesus heals the blind

Walking on water

March

Jesus calms the storm

Feeding of 5,000

Passover

Good Friday

Easter

Looking back on Advent

I can hardly believe that we have reached the end of the advent season.  We have truly been blessed this month as we have anticipated the celebration of Christ's birth as a family.  The advent calendar has given us purpose to our meal times and family together times.  It has helped us be intentional about remembering others and sharing the story of Christmas. 

My favorite activites from the last month:
*Christmas at the Farm - I love watching my boys experience the story first hand.  Manasseh has begged several times each week to go back. 
*Making Christmas ornaments.  The boys get so excited about art.  It is fun to help them complete projects.
*Collecting money and sending it to Heifer International. What a joy to work toward a goal as a family and bless other families around the world!
* Making presents for friends was a lot of fun too, the boys loved coloring wooden cars for some of their friends.  Their friends were blessed by them.  In fact, one friend added colors to his car and named it his "teamwork" car because Cassius had started it for him.
* The boys have loved every excuse to play with the nativity set and act out the Christ story. 

I am already looking forward to advent next year.  We have started talking about what activities we might add, and what we might change.  I urge you to begin considering practicing advent with your family next year.

Did you practice advent this year?  What are your favorite advent activities?

Our Nighttime Potty Problem & Pull-Ups

We have a 4.5 year old and a 3 year old (almost).  They are both "potty trained" - mostly.  You see, Manasseh has been in underwear during the day for over 2 years, but cannot quite get the sleep time problem under control.  Cassius has been in underwear during the day since August 1 (my birthday present to myself), but also can't get the sleep pottying figured out.  We have been through a number of solutions.  The stores offer quite a selection of options.

Pull - Ups

We tried waking Manasseh in the night before we went to bed so he could use the restroom.  This worked sometimes.  We tried letting them sleep in their "day time underwear" in hopes that wetting would wake them and they would learn to get up before that happened.  We tried cloth training pants, but did not have enough to get through more than 1 or 2 nights.

Pull-Ups

Cassius loves the designs on Pull-Ups training pants.  Both of the boys love the wetness indicators.  Each morning when they wake up, they check to see if they have wet.  I love that they can see their success immediately, and that because Pull-Ups wick the wetness away from the body, they usually sleep through the night.

 

Because Manasseh is a slim guy, both boys can wear the same size training pants.  He loves the "Mater" prints, Cash loves "Lightening McQueen" because he is red.  As we are teaching our boys to be independent, it is helpful to have training pants that they can put on themselves.  We found that it is easiest to keep them on a shelf in their bedroom so that as they dress for nap and bed, they can grab the print of their choice to snuggle up in.  

 

We love that we can buy them at Walmart with their "rollback" prices (online and in the store).  We bought just over 100 training pants for about $40.  That is almost 2 months worth of sleep times with 2 boys!  

While it is not the "greenest" solution for our family, Pull-Ups seem to work best for our boy's at this point.  We gladly continue to use them as our boys increase in independence and ability!

Tips about potty training.

A potty training story.

Check out Pull-Ups on Facebook and Twitter.

I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Huggies. #HuggiesWalmart #CBias #SocialFabric

Advent Day 17

Do your kids love to play but sometimes need direction?  My boys would play all day long - jumping off of things, climbing anything they can find, rolling on the floor, tackling each other, etc.  They do play with their toys some, but they frequently need help to use them well.

Last night's advent was perfect for helping them practice using toys in a story-telling fashion.  Tonight they put the Little People Nativity Set up on the table and acted out the story of Christ birth.  They also had a lot of fun making up stories with the animals.  I love helping them learn the art of story telling through toys, through words, through song and art - any way they can practice it!  Here are a few shots from their nativity adventure.

I'm sure the safety guide would recommend that you do not put the manger on top of another manger.  It seems like a safety risk.  Apparently Mary and Joseph did not know better.

The horse was giving wagon rides to anyone that wanted them.  I especially enjoyed the turkey vulture getting a ride in the wagon.  Do you remember the part of the story where he swooped down to pick up the dead animal in the road?  Me neither, but in the boy's story there HAD to be a turkey vulture.

I also loved the positioning of the animals.  We had 3 baskets of food for them all to crowd around.  One of the camels and one of the donkeys decided that they needed a little nuzzling.

Have you used the Christmas story to help your children practice or learn story telling?  How have you done this with your children?

Advent Day 16

It's another "Candle Sunday".  This week our theme is "joy".  We talked about joy being like happiness.  They are similar because joy is actively choosing to recognize our contentment because of God's gifts in our life.  We talked about the gift of Jesus and sang "Joy to the World".  

We lit the candles together and remembered what each of the purple candles on our wreath stands for.  The boys prayed thanks to God for the joy that we have and for giving us Jesus.  To close our devotion time at the dinner table, they each got to use permanent markers (with very close supervision) to color an ornament that says "joy" on it.  They later put pipe cleaners through the small holes at the top of their ornaments and hung them pridefully on the tree!

Thank you God, that even in times of sorrow, you are our joy.  Your joy is my strength and when I have fear and doubt myself, I can rely on that strength to accomplish my daily tasks.  Amen.

The Placebo Effect

You've heard of it.  Maybe you have even had experience with the placebo effect.  It is truly amazing how many times a non-medicine can have an effect on a person's health.  Why does this happen?  We convince ourselves that we are getting better because we believe that we have actual medicine.  The mind and body can be amazing sometimes!

I had some experience with a placebo when I worked as a first aid administrator years ago.  You see, when you are working at a camp you have a lot of homesickness.  We frequently used the code name, "Marshmellow Fever".  So many times the sick child really just needed a break from activity to receive some extra special attention from an adult.  Sometimes the cure was writing a letter, others it was simply talking.

One of my favorite camp time placebos was the "stomach ache" medicine.  I kept a few "pills" in the cabinet for special times of need.  They had the letter "S" on them and a fruity flavor if you chewed them.  I generally recommended swallowing them quickly because I did not want my campers to figure out that the placebo of choice was really a Skittles candy.  They worked like a charm.  In fact one particularly homesick little girl was having a miserable day.  She was terribly sick and could not function.  She came into the office and sat down.  We talked a while, and when that did not help, I offered her some stomach ache medicine.  Immediately she was better and on the way back into regular activities.  Ah the miracle of Skittles.

Last night one of my children, the one that will be 3 in just under a month, was having a terrible night.  He just could not let himself relax to go to sleep.  After what felt like hours of him screaming about a scratch on his back, I requested that daddy go get some "H2O medicine" in a med cup.  Randy obliged and brought it to our screaming preschooler.  Cassius quickly drank the medicine that Randy assured him would make his back better and make him VERY sleepy.  Upon finishing his medicine, he laid back down quietly.  Within a minute he was screaming about wanting another medicine cup with water.

I guess we can fool ourselves, we can fool campers, but when it comes to 3 year olds - they know all the tricks!