Food, books and crafts {Weekend Reading}

• Food
• Books
• Crafts
• Baby shower

That pretty much sums up my weekend!
I hosted our first "Freezer Exchange Group".  The idea is to get, say, 5 people to make 5 freezable meals.  Then you all get together, once a month and exchange.  It is cheaper to buy in bulk and easier to double a recipe.  This way, you get 5 meals that are ready to go and you only spent about 2 hours (or less) in the kitchen.  I am really excited to try the meals we concocted!  We have a "meatless, gluten free group and hope we can invite more people because right now it is just the 3 of us. Though, I am stoked that I don't have to cook for three night!!

I don't get a lot of time to focus on reading actual books but I love finding random things through Facebook and Google :)

50+ Great Re-purposing Ideas:: Saved by love creations
Keep Calm And Carry On - The Story Of An Accidentally Iconic Poster:: George Stroumboulopoulos
Grow Green Onions … from your Groceries!:: Sumptuous Spoonfuls
Clean Eating Super Berry Smoothie:: The Gracious Panty

When babies turn into 3 year olds...

Source



It's 11pm.

It's dark outside but the moon is full and bright. So bright, I can see the clouds drifting across the night sky.

The only noise I hear is Adam laughing as he plays XBOX.

Red is fast asleep.

I hear a thud. Ginger fell out of bed. A minute later, little footsteps tell me I am about to have a visitor.

When I ask her what happened, she responds with a shrug and says "I just love you."

How can I send her back to bed? Besides, I am in desperate need of some snuggle time.

As we lay in bed, I stare at the moon and cry.

Who is this 3 year old? She was 2 only a few months ago! She was learning to walk only last summer! Well, maybe it has been a little longer than that...

That thought only reminds me how quickly Red is growing.

I wanted a snuggle. I didn't feel like crying - maybe it's good for me...maybe not.

Now all I can think about is how much i want another baby. Would a third child satisfy my baby fetish? Probably not. Would I cry when that baby is 3. Most likely. I still want more babies though.

I can barely see the moon now, it is quickly moving through the sky. And Ginger has readjusted so she is laying on my face. No room for tears now! Time for sweet little redheads to go to bed.

The moon rises and sets. It follows it's path through the sky.

Life goes on.

Babies or no babies - I will suck up every moment I am blessed with.

I pray.

"Lord,

Help me focus on what I have instead of what I don't have.

Don't let me miss a single moment.

Amen"

Fruits of the Spirit {Sunday School Unit}

With the help of two fantastic volunteers, I teach Sunday School at Wentworth Baptist Church.
Last summer, we did a whole unit on the Fruits of the Spirit, and I thought I would try to share everything we came up with.  There are lesson plans with activities, crafts, worship songs and prayer/discussion topics.  Our class is made up of 3-5 year olds but this lesson could be adapted to a younger or older audience.  The lessons are created in order but they certainly don't need to be used in this way.  I have also included my "brainstorming" notes - no guaranties it make any sense!

Our routine:

The lessons:

Intro (I didn't create a lesson for the intro.  We coloured a colouring sheet and we read a little intro story.

Gentleness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Joy
Kindness
Love
Peace
Self-Control
Patience

Activities:

Each week, we decorated a "fruit" and added to our bulletin board.  Today I realized we didn't take a photo of the final result!

Fruits of the Spirit Colouring Page

Self control (game)

Photos for Bulletin Board

Labels for Bulletin Board

Kindness Song

Colour photos of fruit (I didn't create this one and I don't remember it's source)

Crafts:

There isn't a printable for every craft.  I hope the descriptions in each lesson plan will be clear so you can figure out how to create the art activity.

Dorcas

Lamb template

Self-Control tree

Peace craft (part 1)

Peace craft (part 2)

Love craft

Take Home Sheet:

Each week, we send home a little note that tells the parent what we talked about.  There is a little colouring picture and an idea how to incorporate that weeks lesson into the families week.  We started adding the Bible verse that we practice after this unit, so you will see that version in the future.  These are formatted to print on a legal size (8.5" x 14") but you can edit your printer settings and it will print on a letter size (8.5" x 11") quite fine. They are JPGs so they aren't able to be edited.

Intro

Faithfulness

Gentleness

Goodness

Joy

Kindness

Love

Patience

Peace

Self-Control

Learning How to Rest {Weekend Reading}

Even when I don't have a busy weekend, I still feel like I don't know how to rest.

All the other members of my family are napping and I just finished mopping the floors!

How do you take necessary time for yourself? How do you turn it all off?

I found it easier to rest when I was working out of the house full time.  I worked 9 hour shifts, I did a couple chores when I got home and then it was time to rest.  But, keeping the house clean and hanging out with the kids is my job.  Well, that and planning birthday parties, editing photos, and sewing children's accessories ;)  I've tried not to clean the house one day a week but then we can't do anything because I can't get at anything...  I've tried not planning an activity but the kids get restless...

Maybe if things were more organized around here I would feel less guilty about resting...

Kat Lee at Simple Mom recently wrote an article about finding a mentor.  Maybe that's what I need...

For now, I will read...

• 3 benefits of a mentor (and how to get one):: Kat Lee at Simple Mom
• 7 ways to keep your home strong:: A Holy Experience
• Pinterest and the 7 Handy Tricks:: Crunchy Betty

Now, go get some rest!