Below is a link to a great article regarding a Christian world view of Halloween.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God (Eph. 2:8)
About Me
- New Day Grace
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- I'm just a girl trying to keep an eternal perspective on life, and live it to the fullest :)
Showing posts with label Parenting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Parenting. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Matters of Opinion: Hallowing Halloween (directly linked from Christianity Today)
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Preschool, Sunday School and Homeschool Resources
I haven't adhered entirely to our Horizons preschool agenda as I had ideally planned. Life happens and you must have that fine balance of flexibility and discipline. Horizons is a great curriculum, however my girls and I find it fun doing lessons and activities from a variety of sources. Here are some that I have bookmarked. Please leave a comment if you would like to add any additional resources you would like to share!
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Funny Things We Learn From Kids
I saw this picture today and just had to share. Thankfully these aren't my kids or my house (Although I have to admit, this is pretty cute)
Below is a list of some funny things we learn from kids.
Any parent will probably relate to at least a couple of these things... and if you have boys, even more (my girls would never dream of doing most of these things, right?! :)
There is no such thing as child-proofing your house.
If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite.
A 4 year-old's voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant.
If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42 pound boy wearing pound puppy underwear and a superman cape.
It is strong enough, however, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20 by 20 foot room.
Baseballs make marks on ceilings
You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on.
When you hear the toilet flush and the words, "Uh-oh," it's already too late.
A six year old can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36 year old man says they can only do it in the movies.
If you use a waterbed as home plate while wearing baseball shoes it does not leak - it explodes.
LEGOS will pass through the digestive tract of a four year old.
Duplos will not.
Super glue is forever.
Play Dough and Microwave should never be used in the same sentence.
McGyver and Tarzan can teach us many things we don't want to know.
No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool you still can't walk on water.
VCR's do not eject PB&J sandwiches even though TV commercials show they do.
Always look in the oven before you turn it on.
The fire department has at least a 5 minute response time.
The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earth worms dizzy..
It will however make cats dizzy.
Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.
Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving.
You probably do not want to know what that odor is.
Quiet does not necessarily mean you don't need to worry.
A good sense of humor will get you through most problems in life (unfortunately, mostly in retrospect).
Scissors and hair are often a dangerous combination.
Collecting things is good.
Collecting things that come out of your nose is not.
Eating string is a bad hobby.
Discovering string the next day is a disgusting hobby.
Finger painting is good.
Finger painting walls is dangerous.
If you hear the words, "Can ya eat a lizard's tail?" it's too late.
If you hear the words, "Guess what's in my hands," you don't want to know.
If you hear the words, "Guess what's in my mouth," you REALLY don't want to know.
'Fan' and 'flour' should never be heard in the same sentence.
The toilet does not make a permanent fish aquarium.
Most toilets can not consume an entire roll of toilet paper without choking.
Any sentence which contains the word 'Oooops' is bad.
The source for this list was found @ http://monster-island.org/tinashumor/humor/kidslearn.html
Monday, April 18, 2011
Develop a Personal Mission Statement
Love this idea! I gotta do it! Thanks Titus 2 at the Well and Passionate Homemaking for this inspiration!
Project 16: Develop a Personal Mission Statement
Each Monday, we share a project that relates to being a Christian woman and living out our Titus 2 roles in real life. For more information about this feature or to submit a project idea,click here.
This week’s project is:
to develop a personal mission statement.
A while ago I read a post from Lindsay at Passionate Homemaking that talked all about this. It was very inspiring!
Lindsay explains step by step how to make a mission statement:
1. List Your Roles
2. Dream
3. Define Your Roles
4. Make it beautiful and visible
Check out her post for more help this week while you make a personal mission statement. Having a clear mission and purpose is important!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Praying For Our Children
I love this article from Titus 2 At the Well. Prayer is so powerful! If we don't pray for our children, who will?
Praying For Our Children
Days passed, and I realized I hadn’t been seriously praying for my children. I’d give a little shout out to the Lord about the one who needed help with his attitude, or ask for healing for a sick little one, but I wasn’t spending deep, quality time lifting my children up to the Lord. Life in my home was reflecting my neglect. Angry words and bad attitudes were abundant. Even I had jumped on the cranky bandwagon. Instead of feeling at peace in my home, I was wanting to run at top speed out the front door.
How easily I get caught up in the busyness of life. How easily I fall asleep without praying. How easily I hit snooze 10 times and successfully sleep through my prayer time. How easily I let distraction fill my head when I do take time to commune with God.
No wonder I felt like taking an extended vacation! I had left God in the dust of my life. And in the process my life got very uncomfortable. How like God to bring me to my senses by making my life a bit miserable! I suppose I wouldn’t be as likely to humble myself in prayer, if my days were all rosy and perfect, now would I?
So, with my lesson from God, tucked into my heart I began to think of ways to pray for my children. I needed a step by step process. Something written out. Something I could depend on and follow daily. Without it, well…bits and pieces might fall through the cracks of my mind, and we’d be right back into that uncomfortable place.
I decided to dedicate a whole section in my prayer journal just for my children. I worked out a plan for prayer that I would revise slightly each month.
Step 1: Choose a monthly verse to pray over my children.
“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen [you, my children] with power through his spirit in your inner being(s), so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love surpasses knowledge…” Ephesians 3:15I read this over and over, turning it into a prayer as I go along. My goal is to memorize the verses, so that I can pray them easily.
Step 2: Each day of the week has a specific topic:
Monday: Compassion for others
Tuesday: Pure thoughts and motives
Wednesday: Future spouses
Thursday: A deep love for the Lord
Friday: Wisdom
Saturday: A servant’s heart
Sunday: that they will worship and praise the Lord wholeheartedly
Step 3: Write down each child’s name and list specific needs and praises in this area.
The best part about this system is that it is written right out in front of me. I can read right from my page, not dig around in my mind, and subsequently get lost on the topic of how I’m going to get permanent marker off the kitchen table.
Cheri Fuller writes in her book When Mothers Pray, “Prayer isn’t a secondary thing; it’s the most important thing we can do for our children and ourselves, and it will dispense the most blessings. If all that we do as mothers flows out of the fountain of prayer, we will experience grace, joy, and rest in the heart of the Father. It doesn’t mean we won’t have difficulties, but we will be able to face them with more energy and confidence.”
About The Author
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
SILK DYED EGGS (AKA TIE-DYED)
CHECK OUT THIS IDEA FOR TIE-DYED EASTER EGGS FROM OUR BEST BITES! LOVE IT!
03.24.2009
One of our family Easter traditions is to dye eggs with pieces of old silk. I saw a cute little old lady show Martha how to do it a few years ago and I ran upstairs right then to steal a tie! It’s way cooler than those cups of neon liquid that end up all over your clothes, your furniture and your hands plus it gives you an excuse to rid a man’s closet of ugly ties.
I’m going to be short on words today because I have a ton of pictures to post! Let’s get started.
And to see tons of tie-dyed eggs submitted by OBB readers, Click here!
Here’s the quick run-down:
You need 100% silk for this to work. Make sure to check the labels to make sure you’re not buying polyester, which can look similar. I grab old ties at the thrift store where they’re all under a buck. And remember: when it comes to ties, you may not want ugly ones on your man, but ugly ties do make pretty eggs! You could also use silk from an old blouse, a scarf, whatever.
I try to find an assortment of colors and patterns. Usually dark blues, purples, and reds work the best, but it’s fun to experiment with all kinds of things. The interesting thing is that you never know how much of the color and pattern will transfer to the eggs. Sometimes ties I think will be awesome really disappoint, and ones I didn’t think much of make the most beautiful eggs. Here’s the ties I picked up this year:
Usually it will tell you if it’s 100% silk right on the main label of the tie, but a lot of them don’t, and if that’s the case, check that little tiny end, it’s usually hiding there.
The first step is to deconstruct the tie. Snip the seams and remove the lining so you are just left with the silk. (And yes, this old Christian Dior Tie, which I love, was only 50 cents at the thrift store!)
Next you cut a piece large enough to cover an egg. Wrap the egg with the right side of the fabric making contact with the egg. The right side is the printed side, or the side that would be on the outside of the tie. You want to try to wrap the fabric as tight as you can without breaking the egg of course. The more direct contact the silk has with the egg shell the clearer the imprint of the pattern. Where there are folds in the fabric you’ll get kind of a swirly water color effect. I love those parts- it adds to the charm. Once wrapped, tie with a piece of string or a twisty tie. (Do yourself a favor and go with the twisty tie!)
A little thought: You’re going to use the largest part of the tie, at the bottom, and be left with the rest of it which might not be large enough to use again. What I do is take all of those pieces and just stitch them together on my sewing machine. It’s really fast and then I’m left with a brand new piece of silk to cut squares from. You can get a lot more use out of them that way and it’s fun to combine fabrics. Also, you can use a piece of silk more than once, but it loses a large amount of it’s potency after the first dye, so I always just toss the used pieces.
Looking at the picture below makes me happy. It just does. How cute are those little guys? They have no idea what’s comin’…
After the eggs are wrapped, you’re going to wrap them again with a light colored light weight piece of fabric. An old pillowcase or sheet is perfect. If you go to the thrift store to get ties, you may want to grab a pillowcase too. Otherwise you might get impatient at home and just take one from your kid’s room. Don’t tell my husband I did that.
Put all those little guys in a pot and cover them with water. Add 1/4 C vinegar and bring it to a boil. After about 20 minutes you can remove the eggs and set them in a colander or on a towel to dry and cool. Once they’re cool enough to handle you can remove the fabric.
This is my favorite part. I get so antsy waiting for them to cool. It’s always a surprise to see what went on in that little package. Below are some of my results. I have to say that the first one is probably my favorite egg of all the ones I’ve ever done. I can’t believe how clearly those flowers transferred and how bold the colors turned out. Incredible!
I absolutely love the cool stripy, swirly thing going on in this one
This is one of the disappointments I talked about. I was so excited for a green tie and I thought the pattern was cool (ya know, for an egg) but it turned out super light and muted. Still pretty though, kind of like water colors.
I almost didn’t buy this blue tie because it looked boring, but I’m glad I did. Remember: bad ties make good eggs!
So that’s that. Try this out and let me know how it goes. Everyone will wonder how on earth you did it! Just tell them you’re a genius.
Rub the eggs with a bit of oil on a paper towel to make them glossy and beautiful!
And if you do try it out, make sure to take some pictures and put them on our facebook page so we can all admire them!
Safety Note: A few people have asked about the dye transferring to the actual egg. Know that it is not food safe dye. Who knows where the silk came from our how it was colored. That being said, I have indeed eaten the eggs in years past and I’m still here, but to be on the safe you probably shouldn’t.
Using Blown Eggs: Thanks to the commenter who said the following: I ran into the floating blown egg problem when I tried my first test batch today. I placed a metal colander on top to hold them down they turned out great, you’ll just have to blow the water out once they’re cooled and unwrapped. The eggs turned out so nice, I’m really excited to make them with my family this weekend.
Again, Here are the instructions:
Silk Dyed Easter Eggs
Tutorial by www.ourbestbites.com
Materials and Tools
-Raw Eggs
-Glass or enamel pot (but pretty much any non-aluminum pot will be fine)
-Silk ties, blouses, or boxers, cut into pieces large enough to cover an egg
-An old white sheet, or pillowcase, or tablecloth, or random fabric, cut into pieces to cover silk-wrapped eggs
-Twist ties or string
-4 tablespoons of white vinegar
-Warm water
-Vegetable oil
-Paper towels
-Tongs or spoon
1. Remove seaming from ties and any lining on the inside. You just want a piece of the silk. Cut silk into a square (or a piece) large enough to wrap around a raw egg.
2. Wrap an egg with a piece of silk, making sure the printed side of the material is facing the egg. Silk can still be used if it doesn't fit perfectly around egg. Just try to make as much smooth contact with the fabric to the egg as you can. The pattern will transfer better if it is right up against the egg. Any part that is folded or wrinkled will leave kind of a tie-dyed pattern (which is a good thing, it’s pretty that way) Secure with twist-tie or string.
3. Place the silk-wrapped egg in a piece of white sheet, pillowcase, or old tablecloth and secure tightly with another twist-tie or string.
4. Place the egg(s) in the pot. Fill pot with water to cover eggs completely. Then, add the 1/4 C of white vinegar.
5. Bring water to a boil, turn heat down, and simmer for 20-25 minutes.
6. Remove eggs from water with tongs or spoon and let cool on a pile of paper towels or in a colander.
7. When eggs are cool enough to handle, you can remove the fabric.
8. To add a little bit of lustre to your eggs, put a dab of vegetable oil on a paper towel and rub onto the egg.
***For another great egg dying project, Check out Dinosaur Eggs!
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