Alphabet Summer 2012 - Master List

I have been telling my husband for awhile that I needed to sit down and make a plan for this summer. I really wanted to find a way to be intentional about our time together during this season where everything slows down and commitments get put on hold. I know how easy it is to let the time slip away and wonder what happened with it all.

Considering this, it seemed only appropriate that on the last day of school I was browsing Pinterest and came across the idea of an Alphabet Summer. The gist of it is that you spend the summer doing activities based on the alphabet. It is a great chance to make memories, have fun and learn while doing it. So I used the hour an a half between dropping Nathan off and picking him up to come up with my list (why do they even bother with that last day anyway?). I then made it into a permanent list to display and mark off as we go this summer. Want to see?

Here's how I did it. I started with some basic supplies (most are pictured here):

I then painted the borders around my chalkboards just to make them more sunny. This is a summer thing after all! On the back I added strips of magnets so that they could easily be attached to the side of the locker we have in the hallway for school/kids craft supplies. I am going to use these to write what letter and activity we are doing each day.

Finally, I created the list using a large strip of freezer paper. I wrote on the waxy side using different colored markers. The kids had fun reading each activity to me as I wrote them down, all while asking a million questions about what each idea entailed. This helped them get really excited about our summer, which was the ultimate goal after all!

I also added magnetic strips to the back of the wax paper so it could hang below the chalkboards. Way too easy!

Isaiah noticed the new addition as soon as he got up from his nap!

Want to see what we have planned for the summer? Here's our list from A to Z:

Alphabet Summer Activity List

A. Build an Alphabet City

B. Bouncy Ball DIY

C. Camp Out AND Cousin Sleepover

D. Dinner and Dessert for friends

E. Extra Chore Day

F. Felt Puppet Show

G. Grandparent's Day

H. Hand Print Art

I. Isaiah Day AND Ice Cream for Dinner

J. Jordan Day AND Jet Packs

K. Kite Flying

L. Lunch with Dad at His Work

M. Movie Theater AND Minute To Win It Game Night

N. Nathan Day AND National Holiday

O. Obstacle Course

P. Pottery Bug

Q. Quiet Books
R. Race Track out of Masking Tape

S. Silverwood AND Science Experiments

T. Tea Party for Little Men

U. Under the Sea

V. Vacation Bible School

W. Water Balloon Pinatas
X. X Marks the Spot

Y. Yellow Day

Z. Zipper Pouch Blessing Bags

 

Some letters have more than one activity because I had multiple ideas and couldn't narrow it down. I am looking forward to sharing these things with you in more detail as we do them. As I write about them I will link them back here so that there is one big master list. Here's to our first Alphabet Summer!

We Love You Mom - Family Tree Shadow Box

This is a little late...Mother's Day was last month, I know. But my mom lives in Arizona and since we knew my parents were coming to visit in June, we decided to collectively celebrate birthdays, Mother's Day and Father's Day when they got here. One big party if you will! Because of that I didn't want to post this project early and ruin the surprise for my mom - So is born the Mother's Day craft post in June!

I saw this idea on Pinterest but unfortunately I don't know the original creator because when I click on the link it says it was flagged for spam. So if you know who gets credit for this, let me know so I can share here. Anyway, I decided to expand on this idea and make it for my mom from all her kids and grand kids. A family tree of sorts. I started by printing out the words I wanted to use on various colored card stock so that I could mix and match.

I then free handed a tree out of this cute polka dot paper. There is just something fun about the idea of a polka dot tree, don't you think?

 Initially I was going to glue the tree directly to my background but it just didn't pop like I had hoped it would so I glued the tree to an orange piece of paper and cut a border around my original tree. Now it pops!

 From there, I cut leaves out of the words as well as some blank leaves in the same colors. I glued as I went until the tree came together.

 Then I added some accents to the leaves using different markers and some glitter nail polish to make the main message stand out. Using Google Image, I found a chick and squirrel silhouette and printed them off to add some life to the tree.

Chick silhouette - just copy image, paste into Word, size as you want

Squirrel silhouette - just copy image, paste into Word, size as you want

Into the shadow box it went (I got this one for 40% off using a coupon at Hobby Lobby) and here's the finished product:

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Looking for more great Mother's Day gift ideas that are from the heart (and won't break the budget)?  Or maybe you have an idea you would like to share with the world. Check out the Mother's Day Your Way Contest over at NerdWallet - http://www.nerdwallet.com/coupons/contests/

Teacher Appreciation Subway Art

My biggest little guy is wrapping up his first year of Kindergarten tomorrow. Seems like not too long ago I was writing about his first day - boy does time fly!

Nathan was blessed this year with an amazing teacher who poured a lot into him and helped him walk through this first year of school as the youngest child in his class. She has had nothing but positive things to say about him and has helped him grow and stretch in new, wonderful ways. I wracked my brain to come up with a gift worthy of all her hard work and decided on something that I hope speaks to the beauty of her teaching.

I started by printing off this subway art I found over at Today's Fabulous Finds, after inserting his teacher's name first by using Word. I put it in one of the zillions of frames we had laying around and had a great base for my picture. In fact, you could really stop at this step if you wanted.

I wanted to jazz it up a bit though so I dug through my craft disaster area supplies and found these chipboard letters that I had picked up on clearance at Michaels awhile back.

I found one of each letter and glued them around the outside of the frame to make an alphabet border.

Finally, I created some small Ric Rac Roses courtesy of this tutorial from The Ribbon Retreat Blog and attached them to two of the corners using hot glue.

All done! A beautiful wall hanging for a more-than-deserving teacher.

Tackle Box Jewelry Organizer

My mom is brilliant...truly, she is. She is always amazing me with her ideas and never ceases to surprise me with her creativity. Recently she had an idea that I just knew I had to share with you all.

My parents are currently visiting from Arizona and were with us on the road trip we took a few weeks back. We got up on the morning of our family reunion and I realized I hadn't packed any jewelry. Luckily my mom was in the hotel room next to me so I took advantage and traipsed over to see if she had any fun earrings for me to borrow. She did not disappoint! Out came this brilliant travel jewelry organizer that she had made from a tackle box that she scored at Walmart for $4.00. Not only did I get some stylin' earrings to wear for the day but I got a great idea to use myself and share with you all. Score!

This particular tackle box is two sided. She uses the side with the small slots for earrings and the reverse side for bracelets and necklaces. 

This is a handy way to keep your jewelry organized at home and makes it easy to bring your accessories with you when you travel. I am sure you can find these in different colors or even decorate them for a little more flare. I told you my mom was brilliant!

Out of the Mouths of Babes - God is powerful

It has been ages since I did an Out of the Mouths of Babes post. In fact, just the other day I was watching some of the old videos and marveling at how much my littles had grown. So today when I was loading Diego onto Netflix for Jordan and he stated out of no where, "Mom, you know God is powerful!" I thought it would be a great time to capture his little words of wisdom on video. So here they are, Jordan's explanation of why God is powerful:

To spank or not to spank

That is a LOADED question, I know! I must be feeling feisty today. This was actually prompted by reading this blog post. If you read into the comments of this post you will see that a debate began about spanking and whether or not it is considered violence. As I did some research to try to build my argument opinion, I began to give this topic more thought.

May as well start with the question that sparked this post...is spanking violence? Well, let's look at the definition of violence according to Merriam-Webster - "exertion of physical force so as to injure or abuse." Okay, what is the definition of abuse? "physical maltreatment (maltreatment meaning to treat cruelly or roughly)." Would spanking fall under this definition? I imagine in some cases it does. I think if you are spanking out of anger and winding up with force, or repeatedly swatting, you can consider that a more violent form of discipline. Obviously there are people who have taken spanking too far which is why it has been in the spotlight for many years now.


Based on that information, I would say if you are FOR spanking, you would agree that there are guidelines to follow. Just like any other form of discipline used to teach and guide our children, choosing to spank should be done so intentionally. There should be a distinct purpose behind it and it should never be the sole form of discipline. Rather, if spanking is used it should be reserved for specific incidences. Every parent should be armed with a variety of tools to shape and mold a child's character, with love being the greatest of these tools.

Ultimately, I believe spanking to be a personal decision. One that needs to be discussed between both parents, prayed over, and acted upon intentionally. I would encourage you to dig into the Bible and see what the word of God says about discipline. That should always be our first guide as parents.You will find that God disciplines us because we are His children and He loves us and we are called to do the same for our children.  Regardless of what form of discipline you chose, it is important to remember the goal of correction which is building godly character.

I knew going into this post that it was a controversial topic and could ruffle many feathers. In fact, much like the author of the original post that sparked this, I started writing this post a year ago and didn't come back to it until now. But I believe it is an important and relevant topic and that as parents we should be able to discuss these things in a respectful manner. I encourage dialogue on this topic, even if it is just between you and your spouse, but I will expect anyone who chooses to comment here to remain courteous. With that said, I hope you will share your heart on this matter. It is such a great way for us to grow as parents when we learn from each others perspectives.

I think it's going to rain today

That title immediately makes me think of watching Beaches with my mom and bawling when the best friend dies. If you have never heard the song I am referencing, this version by Norah Jones is one of my favorites.

Picture found HERE

Sorry, that's a little off track. Where was I going with this? Ah, yes - I hate rainy seasons. Not literal rain...the wet weather kind I actually like. Raincoats and boots are so cute and rain is such a great excuse to sit inside and cuddle up close with the ones you love with a warm drink in hand and a favorite movie on the screen. The emotional rain, life's storms...not a fan. Sure, it's inevitable. We all go through it. And I have even come to realize that is necessary and usually serves a purpose. But I don't like it (insert pout lip here).

Picture found HERE

I feel like I am totally in the middle of a rainy season right now. Some days it feels like it's sprinkling and I can go about my day to day tasks without noticing anything other than slightly damp hair. But other days, it feels like I am smack dab in the middle of a monsoon and holding on for dear life. Drenched to the bone with no sign of sunshine on the horizon. You ever feel like that?

Picture found HERE

I can honestly say that there are points where drowning seems like a possibility. Even, dare I say, an improvement. But it is when I am feeling like that that I am most thankful that I have an awesome anchor in the storm. That I can find truth that is like a life preserver when the water gets too deep. That there is sunlight peeking through those clouds that remind me that this too shall pass.

Picture found HERE

 Let's skip the metaphors and get to the meat of it. There is a savior bigger than any storm that life might bring. He is so mighty that even the winds and water obey him. Forget about a little rain! Don't want to take my word for it? Good! Let's check it against the infallible word of God - Luke 8:22-25 tells me it is so: One day Jesus said to his disciples, "Let's go over to the other side of the lake." So they got into a boat and set out. As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Master, Master, we're going to drown!" He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. "Where is your faith?" he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, "Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him."

I needed to read that today. I have been crying out just like the men in that boat, "Master, Master, I'm going to drown!" He hears me. He hasn't calmed my storm yet but I have faith that He will. And that what I will learn from this will be worth the pain. Maybe you can relate to me but that tired and weary feeling is causing you to doubt that it will ever end. I can so understand that feeling. Give it to Him, will you? Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28) Doesn't rest sound nice right about now? It sure does to me.

I pray that I will get to the point where I no longer hate the rain. That I even one day welcome it if it means that it helps me draw closer to Christ. Lord let me change the cry of my heart to Jesus Bring the Rain. I'm not there yet...but I will get there. Will you join me?