Gingerbread Houses

These are last years pictures because I forgot to take some this year.

I know, I know. You guys probably already think of me as the "crazy craft lady", so I am going to give you more reason to think that.

This is the 3rd year I have had my 2 nephews and my daughter make gingerbread houses. They enjoy coming up with new designs every year. We do the same basic house each year, but change decorations/candy. (Actually we mostly use the stale stuff that we find in our cabinets.)

First you start with a sturdy base. It can be a board, cutting board or even sturdy cardboard (tape 2-3 pieces together to make it sturdier.)

We use this recipe for "glue". It is edible; however, since we use stale crackers and candy we don't eat much of it.

Layout all of your crackers and candy. I forgot. We just use graham crackers for the house. We haven't ventured out to actually make them out of gingerbread. Every year we talk about buying those kits, but haven't done that either.

I find it easier to build the house for my daughter. My one nephew likes to try building his own and he always uses too much glue. It ends up falling apart because the glue can't dry. Besides, I think the kids like decorating it the most. After I build the house, I glue it to the base.

Now it is time to glue the candy/decorations to the house and the "yard". When all the decorating is done, we put marshmallow creme on the yard to make it look like snow.

That's it! I know it sounds like a lot, but the kids love it. And seriously, I think I LOVE IT MORE THAN THEY DO!

Gingerbread Houses

https://momnaction.blogspot.com/2009/12/gingerbread-houses.html

Some Fun Pic's from Community Connectors!

We have been having an blast! These precious women have been making some amazing creations of hats and scarfs. It has been a huge blessing to be a part of. Our last meeting date for this month is Tuesday Feb. 24th from 9-11am. If you are interested in joining you still can. Call the church for childcare details if needed. We will be taking the month of March off but starting back in April. We will add a new skill of sewing to our agenda. If you have never sewn before and would love to learn to thread that machine of yours sitting in you attic then come on out. Also if you are a crack sewer we would love for you to come and show us your stuff. That month we will be making blankets for Harrisburg Hospital for their Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. If don't want to sew but continue on Knitting/Crocheting we would love for you to come out and knit or crochet mini afghans for the NICU too.

More details about supplies and patterns to come so stay tuned....

Some Fun Pic's from Community Connectors!

https://momnaction.blogspot.com/2009/02/some-fun-pics-from-community-connectors.html

Rejoice in the Lord Always

A few weeks ago, the thought came into my head during breakfast - I should start to teach Brady (my two and a half year old) Bible verses from the Bible. He is a sponge and learns very quickly, so I figured that now was a good times to start.

The verse that instantly came into my mind was,

"Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice!" Phil. 4:4

So, I began by telling Brady that we were going to learn scriptures from the Bible. Then, I said the verse and had him repeat it. We continued to say it every morning at breakfast and then at various times throughout the day. I really liked this verse because it is about being happy and joyful, and I also like the repetition. It was a great verse to start with - especially since I know a song that includes this verse, so we sang the verse together too.

What was really cool was when Brady said the verse yesterday, without any prompting from me. That verse is a part of him now. I think that it is so important for our kids to learn the Word of God - to encourage them, bring them peace, and to become more like Him. It is never too young or too late to begin learning Scriptures in the Bible. I know that I will also be learning and relearning Bible verses as I begin to sow these seeds into my children's lives.

So, my next task will be to find another verse for Brady to learn! This is fun for him and me too!

Rejoice in the Lord Always

https://momnaction.blogspot.com/2008/10/rejoice-in-lord-always.html

Making Science and Learning Fun

I have been thinking about making a weather chart with my 2 and 1/2 year old son for probably a few weeks, however I was sick during that time, so I only got as far as thinking about it, until this week.

Brady and I watched Sid the Science Kid together on Monday, and they were learning all about charts...what a chart is, what type of information can be put in a chart, how to make a chart, etc. When the show ended, Brady asked if we could make a chart - that was all that I needed! I decided that we would make our weather chart!

I got out a piece of paper and I decided that we would make a circle (pie) chart. I divided it into four parts, and then drew pictures in each of the quadrants:

1. a sun for a sunny day
2. an umbrella and raindrops for a rainy day
3. clouds for a cloudy day
4. a snowman and snowflakes for a snowy day.

Then, I cut out a small circle and wrote on it, "Today's Weather". I put tape on the back of this circle so that Brady could place it on top of the picture that best fit the weather of the day.

We went outside and we started to talk about what the weather was like - we went through each of the quadrants and I would ask him questions like, "Is it raining?" etc. We narrowed it down to a cloudy day, and so Brady put the circle "Today's Weather" in the area where the clouds were, because it was a cloudy day.

This activity was a lot of fun. Brady learned how to narrow his choices down and to pick the correct picture that best described the weather for the day, and he had a blast doing it. We have done it every day since, and he looks forward to completing the weather chart each day.

This is an easy and fun activity to do with your child. The only change that I may make to this chart is to laminate the chart so that it would be easier to move around the "Today's Weather" sticker, or to have an arrow that can spin around.

Making Science and Learning Fun

https://momnaction.blogspot.com/2008/10/making-science-and-learning-fun.html