Fall Artwork Keepsakes

Here are some of my favorite fall keepsake projects that I have done with the kids.  I love art projects that look great for the season, but also preserve memories of the kids.  I often use artists canvas because they can be found very cheap at craft stores and they are durable, lightweight, and easy to hang (just a nail will do and no framing required).  I store them in garbage bags with our holiday decorations and change them out of the same spots on the walls.

 

This is one we made when they were 1 and 3.  I used 11x14 canvas and painted it yellow with leftover paint from the walls.  Then I painted the stem and brown circle for the flower and let it dry.  The leaves are the kids' feet.  If you have more than 2 or 3 kids, you can put some across the bottom for grass.  I wrote their names and ages on the sides of their feet.  Then we made yellow handprints all around the circle for flower petals.  Then I had them 'paint' the circle with mod podge, nice and thick.  Then they added the sunflower seeds.  After those had dried sufficiently, I had them coat the top of the seeds with more Mod Podge to seal the seeds.

I also love handprint turkeys.  We made this turkey family with all of our hands...

This hangs on a large wall in our living room. We used leaves and apple halves to make a fall collage.  They loved mixing all the colors and painting the leaves.  

 

This year we made Thankful Trees.  The kids painted their trees with roller paint.  I used a paper punch to make the fall leaves and the kids dictated their 'thanks items'.  (The leaves were rather small so they couldn't write the words themselves.) Then they glued them on the trees.

 

Julia is thankful for... Mimi & Grandpa, Annmarie, my family, Pilgrims, plums, Nurse Karen, blankets, tomatoes, Claire, Brenner's hospital, carrots, animals, God, hats, Ally & Emmy, sunshine, Chloe, and my doctors.

Carter is thankful for... elephants, African Children's Choir, Pilgrims, doctors, church, spring, God, Thanksgiving, the military, Mimi & Grandpa, Ally & Emmy, football games, my family, flowers, shots, Chloe, Ginny, horses, and freedom.

Elmer the Elephant

On a lighter note for a change, here's a fun project we did a few weeks ago.  Since Julia has been sick we haven't done too many lessons as a group.  I wanted something fun and simple to start with. As I was sorting all our children's books (more about that later) I came across Elmer by David McKee.

It's a cute story about a patchwork elephant who is obviously different from all the others.  It celebrates individuality and appreciating the differences in everyone, as well as the importance of laughter.  I thought it would be fun to read the book and make our own patchwork elephants.  As a I started to draw one, I thought this is silly, just Google it.  Ta-Da! Instant Elmer outlines, worksheets, and activities galore.

The first day we read Elmer and made patchwork elephants.  I printed the outline on cardstock.  Then I gave them strips of assorted color paper to cut into small squares.  Then they glued the squares and one 'googly eye' onto their Elmers.  I cut out the elephants once they were dry.

The next day, we read Elmer Again, Elmer and the Lost Teddy, and watched the Elmer book on a youtube clip.  We talked about whether this was a real story or pretend.  We discussed reality and fantasy in literature.  Then we read a simple nonfiction book about elephants.  Then I did KWL chart with them about elephants on our whiteboard.  This is a type of graphic organizer used often in primary grades.  There are three columns: Know, Want to know, and Learned.  We used this as we read several more children's nonfiction elephant books during the week.

We decided to use our Elmers we made to do a project I adapted from a website.  I had them each paint an 11x14 canvas with blue acrylic paint.  (Any color is fine.)  I love to use canvas because they are light, cheap, and easy to hang.  I just hand them right on a nail, no picture hangers needed.  It's easy to switch out projects if desired.  Then they each painted a sheet of paper green.  We used rollers for fun, but stampers, paintbrushes, or fingerpaints are fine, too.  Then next day we tore the green paper to make vines, leaves and grass.  Then we modge-pogdged them to the canvas.  I love this stuff.  It's like clear, washable, shellac glue that can be used on anything- paper, photographs, stickers, wood, you name it.  Then we attached their Elmers.

They came out so cute.  The kids were very proud of their masterpieces!

   

There are lots of other great ideas out there.  The internet is such a blessing to homeschoolers.  You can do cute songs like Do Your Ears Hang Low and Baby Elephant Walk.  Just have fun.  It doesn't have to be hard.  If your kids have a favorite storybook, expand on it.  It doesn't have to be fancy or complicated.  Just have fun learning :)

Now back to the books.  We are all booklovers in this family, always have been and always will be.  We come from a long line of them.  We use the library often and check out 50-100 at a time, but we have a lot in our home, too.  With books comes the need for efficient storage.  My little bookshelves and neat stacks on the floor weren't cutting it.  I was frustrated when we would be studying something during school and I couldn't put the hands on the book I wanted without a long search.  Then came IKEAs Expedit system...

  ...25 beautiful squares just begging to be filled :)  So now all the children's and reference books in our house our organized by topic into neat little cubbies.

AND there's room to grow (very important when organizing).  There is even room to keep the photo albums at the bottom and I'm getting baskets for some of the lower cubes to store the board books.  It is working beautifully.  It's great to be able to find what we need, but also to be able to show the kids how they can browse by topic when they want to look at something (or find an answer to a question).  Carter was frustrated with me that I wouldn't alphabetize them.  The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, but I think this will be good enough :)

Walks, Water, and Whining

I have tried hard to make our days as joyful and enjoyable as I can. I am praying for God's constant guidance and direction in how we spend our time. We have been trying to get outside as much as we can. The double jogger has been a huge blessing. It keeps the kids shaded, comfortable, and isolated from each other.

I started running again this week, if for no other reason than a change of scenery. I've found I can get in an even better workout if I give the kids an ice cream cone and set out. At least I'm not eating the ice cream this way :)

We have been gardening and working in the yard to give everything a little 'tlc' from our recent absence. Julia is such a cute, little, eclectic gardener. This girl loves her dirt!
Our huge zucchini plants have finally yielded produce. I was starting to wonder what was up. The squash has been going strong for several weeks, but not a single zucchini. Apparently its been holding out because this one was huge! and yummy!
It is so nice to get lettuce right from our yard...
We've taken advantage of the overcast weather to spend as much time as we can outside. The kids really enjoyed 'painting' with water. There's just something magical about being handed a huge brush and a full bucket. Huck Finn anyone?
We also finger-painted. We reminisced how much Carter used to dislike this because of the mess. They both had a great time experimenting with color and shape. It was a great way to investigate mixing primary colors.
and textures with our play cars...

Then I decided to get really crafty and build a river with the kids out of foil. (No, I didn't come up with this one.) I found it on a great website I heard about on Facebook. Now we all have our moments of inspirations from time to time, but seriously this lady is just bursting with it! (And apparently a huge supply closet where she stashes her wares for craftiness.) When God was passing out creativity I think she was in line 10 times!! You have to check it out to believe it. I kept going back to read older posts and I think my jaw was on the floor by the 4th page.

We took a 25ft roll of aluminum foil and unrolled it. (Note, your kids will then argue about who gets to play with the cardboard roll at the end. Don't say I didn't warn you!) Then fold and bend up the sides to make walls. Fold and reinforce the end by doubling over the foil. In retrospect you can definitely make a shorter run and it still works. If you want to double the foil to reinforce, you must double the entire length or the water will seep under and get out.

Then turn a hose on gently and let it fill. We used plastic bottle caps as boats and the kids put rocks, from their collection, in the river bed to change the flow.

Then we played with sidewalk chalk. To make it more interesting, give the kids water buckets and paintbrush to paint their drwaings. It will intensify and blend the colors like watercolors.
Then they wanted to make parking spaces for their bikes and trikes. They set to measuring the spots and drawing the lines and did a great job. Then Carter said they needed two wheelchair spaces and two stroller spaces in their lot- too funny. I helped with the drawings and they colored them. It was so cute to watch them park their 'cars'.

We also made it to the farmer's market. It's amazing what $20 worth of homegrown (except the lemons and asparagus) produce can do to lift everyone's spirits....
Julia has been doing well. She is having a lot of bone and jaw pain, but is tolerating it well. She is still eating and sleeping well. She had actually gained 3 pounds at her last appointment (in less than a month!) Her tastes continue to be unpredictable, but she is self-managing well. Today it was lots of peaches, pancakes, and hard-boiled eggs- whatever works for her.

Carter is feeling better. He is still catching up on rest, but has been his normal self most days. We are now struggling with discipline. He is tired of the quarantine and minimal contact and is taking out his frustrations on everyone. Combine that with five year old independence and a three year old who wants to do everything herself, but can't and you get a lot of whining, correction, and conflict. We've dug in and our ready for battle, but it is tough. Billy and I looked at each other many times today and had to just (secretly) laugh at the craziness- to keep our sanity. Please pray for our strength, endurance, and God's wisdom in molding our children's hearts and not just their behavior. We don't strive for merely obedience, we want character. Parenting experts say you have to choose your battles wisely and pick the hills you're willing to die on. We're on one of those hills right now and man, is Carter determined! Now if we can just mold that into a Godly virtue...

Christmas continued.....

It's been a busy past few weeks. The kids are still loving all the advent activities- especially the ones involving paint :) Here they are painting their ornaments.....
They turned out so cute!
The kids loved making dough ornaments. They are so pretty, but also cheap and easy- great family gifts :) All you need is: 2c. flour, 1c. salt, 1c. water, and acrylic paints to decorate.
Mix salt and flour. Add in half the water, then gradually add the remaining water. Knead until the dough is smooth. Once the dough is ready, make your ornaments! You can mold with your hands or with cookie cutters. Use a drinking straw to poke a hole in the top before you bake them. Place ornaments on cookie sheet and bake for 1 hour at 325 degrees. After they cool, paint the ornaments with acrylic paint. For an extra nice touch, you can buy a shiny finishing spray or glaze at a store like Hobby Lobby, to seal and protect them. (be careful- I've heard dogs will eat these.)

We do some sort of canvas art every holiday. I was at a loss for what to do this year. Carter suggest a nativity using our hands and feet- I had trouble envisioning this one :) Thanks for the great idea Bekah! Here's our wreath.....Cut a green pepper in half (very easy for kids to hold onto). Then use fingertips to do the berries. This was easy and fast. it looks really cute in the living room :)

Here's Carter's Christmas lapbook for this month. For a kid that rarely ever picked up a crayon, he sure has turned into quite the artist.



















The other day after we did school, I told the kids to set up the nativity while I made lunch. They are so funny to listen to! Carter is definitely into details. The sheep have to be on their hill, but fenced in so they don't get away. he's very concerned that the shepherds left them behind when they went to see Jesus- thus the fence. He also insists that the stable be in the backyard behind the inn. You can't see the little drummer boy in this shot, but he was sleeping in his stable. All his animals were laying down sleeping, too.
Everyone gathered around for a closer look....
We also had our playgroup Christmas party. We have been having playgroup here every Thursday for 4 years. It's hard to believe! The kids had a great time celebrating, singing, and dancing. There were 20 kids and 12 moms, so we fed the kids picnic style.....
We are so thankful for all our friends!
What would Christmas be with out cookies? Here we are at Shana's Cookie Exchange. I have to say this buffet assortment has been my lunch most of the past weeks. I'll definitely be back at the gym in the new year!
The kids loved the drive-thru live nativity. They had a scene for each part of the story and recreated the streets of Bethlehem with market vendors, people, and live animals.
We did it twice, they enjoyed it so much. Jesus truly is the greatest gift of Christmas.

The advent calendar is going very well now. Julia got the hang of it by the third day.
They love lighting the candles at dinner and Julia is still afraid of the fire, so Carter gets the privilege of blowing them out every night.
I love getting Christmas cards! I eagerly wait for the mail every afternoon. We hang them all on our kitchen cabinets. It is such a time of celebration to thank God for our family and friends and pray for each one. They stay up for months because I just love being surrounded by the people I love :)
Well, now we're gearing up to move this celebration north to PA. We leave bright and early tomorrow morning. We are so excited to see all our family and snow!! It's already snowing as we speak and is supposed to continue every other day, including Christmas Eve! It will be quite a shock to our systems, since it's a balmy 72* here today- nuts!!- but really nice for packing the car :)So we'll talk to you next from PA. We pray everyone has a happy and healthy Christmas surrounded by friends and family and filled with the simple joys of Christ. Godspeed to all of you taking to the roads, especially those heading north. We'll miss you and can't wait to see you in the new year! Merry Christmas!!

.......and the excitement at our house. While the kids and I spend the week after Christmas in DC, my hubby and some of our wonderful friends will be installing these spiffy laminates in our downstairs! No more stained carpet- yay!! Thanks to all of you who have made this mini-moving adventure possible by moving our entire downstairs, upstairs. My playgroup girls rock!

Advent Anticipation

I love the Christmas season and am excited every year to make it last all month long. It is such a special season and a time to really reflect, give thanks, give back, and teach our children. In an effort to be more organized this year, we decided to make a calendar and focus on one thing each day. It's actually much easier and less stressful this way. We have a few traditions we've been doing, but are looking for a few more ideas. Here are some of our favorites:

We have an advent wreath in the center of our table. We light the candle each Sunday and discuss it's meaning (thanks Pastor Don for all the additional insight to add this year!). Then each night at dinner we light that weeks candles and review what the kids know. The highlight is blowing them out, but they still get the idea.

Every November we participate in Operation Christmas Child. It's too late to make boxes for this year, but if you've never done it, I highly recommend it. This year we actually got a group of our four-year olds together and let them watch the some of the online videos on the website.
Then we talked about the children, read books about the Christian mission, and learned a little about other cultures. The kids made cards for their boxes and we let them fill them.
They lovingly and very thoughtfully chose each item they put in their boxes.
Then we prayed for the children that would receive them. It is amazing to think that God knows exactly which child will receive each box! In the end we had filled 25 boxes!
We also save up our change to help Toys for Tots. They also add some money from each of their piggy banks. We cash in the stash at the Coinstar machine and let the kids each pick a special toy they want to give to a needy child.

This is an organization I just discovered this year, called Make a Child Smile. They represent children with life threatening and chronic diseases who could use a little cheer. Each month they choose three children to highlight. Then you can send them letters, care packages, etc. to let them know you care and are praying for them. What kid doesn't like getting mail? What an awesome opportunity. This is something we will do other times of the year, too.

We also read a Christmas book each day and open a door on our Advent calendar.

We also have a plain wooden manger that we put baby Jesus in on Christmas morning. During the month of December the kids get a piece of straw for the manger every time they are generous, compassionate, or humble without being asked. The idea is to give baby Jesus a soft place to sleep and to prepare our hearts for Him. (I got this one from a family advent book.)

Any more ideas to fill up our empty calendar boxes? What does your family do or do you wish you could do or want to try?

Bath Paints

Do you ever have those days (hours, weeks) when bath time is essential to everyone's sanity and survival? This was one of those days. Julia is getting her top molars and has no patience for life... at all. At the top of that "life" list would be her brother and he is apparently a glutton for punishment because he just keeps going back for more.

Does this look like a face you want to mess with? She's ready to bite the doll's head off- and she likes the doll!
I was running out of loving, compassionate words for the day so a bath was definitely in order. In a moment of mommy inspiration I remembered a recipe I had seen online for bath paints and decided to give it a try.

Stop, stop, stop. Now before you roll your eyes and think, "okay, maybe you, but not me!" This is insanely easy! Stir together 1/2 c. dish soap (use a pure and gentle formula) and 4T cornstarch. Divide into little cups and add one drop of food coloring to each and stir. I used empty applesauce containers (I keep a stack in my cabinet for art projects.) or a muffin pan works, too.

Then let them loose to paint the bathtub with paintbrushes (or fingers work great, too) :)They had an absolute blast and got along smashingly for 30 whole minutes!! The cool part is it then makes bubbles in your bathtub (which is a big treat in our house because we don't use bubble bath). Another 15 min of peaceful play :)
The homemade paints worked better than any bath art products we've used so far and they come off SO easily. AND being made of soap they are also cleaning your tub- YAY! Next we moved on to coloring- we are fans of Crayola bathtub crayons. We have some cheap craft foam books to color, though you could make your own with a piece of craft foam. (If you want, draw a coloring picture on it with Sharpie markers.)
And apparently our remedy worked because they were back to being buddies after bath.....
Water works wonders (especially if it contains colored bubbles!).