One square inch.
That’s about the size of a postage stamp.
Or the diameter of a quarter.
And the size of these tiny papercut pumpkins!
I just finished setting these Postage Stamp Pumpkin Pendants in resin, and they’re in our shop! Available in Orange, Butternut, or White! Click on the image below to find them!
A little over three years ago, Hubby and I took adoption classes.
We were already open as a foster home, but hadn’t had any placements yet, and we were still unsure of which way would would go… foster care or straight up adoption… but we wanted to know all we could about both options, and be ready for whatever direction the Lord led us. And He led us to both fostering AND adoption!
In those classes, we learned so much. We had the opportunity to talk with other families stepping tentatively toward the same goal… to hear their stories, their concerns, their fears, and their deep convictions about caring for children, whether it was for a few days or for forever. We learned that there are so many kidsthat need a place to call home and people to call family. The need is so big and so great that it sometimes seems impossible to make a difference, just being one little family with an extra bedroom. But then we were told this story…
“While wandering a deserted beach at dawn, stagnant in my work, I saw a man in the distance bending and throwing as he walked the endless stretch toward me. As he came near, I could see that he was throwing starfish, abandoned on the sand by the tide, back into the sea. When he was close enough I asked him why he was working so hard at this strange task. He said that the sun would dry the starfish and they would die. I said to him that I thought he was foolish. There were thousands of starfish on miles and miles of beach. One man alone could never make a difference. He smiled as he picked up the next starfish. Hurling it far into the sea he said, “It makes a difference for this one.” I abandoned my writing and spent the morning throwing starfish.”
― Loren Eiseley
And now, three years later, we’re looking at the possibility of taking adoption classes a second time. Thinking about those starfish on the beach, and the handful of little people that have touched our lives in the past three years, inspired me to get out my scissors and start snipping.
And gluing.
And “resin-ing.”
Happy Back-to-School!
I know a whole bunch of you started school earlier…
…or school year-round…
…but there’s something special about the day after Labor Day that
makes me want to fill a backpack up with new school supplies!
And slightly earlier than the last few months…
…Here’s September’s Art Journaling page!
Click below for a printable PDF!
Our August preschool theme has been the Seashore.
And that’s a good place to start our school year, considering that we only live about four miles from the Atlantic Ocean! We have lots of shoreline environments to explore… the ocean and the bay, Indian River and its inlet, creeks and “landings” and salt marshes…
We’re really only beginning to explore our local environment with our theme. It’s definitely going to be a lifelong nature study topic for our family.
We’ve had a lot of fun activities planned for this month, but first
take a look at some of the great resource books we’ve enjoyed!
Two of our favorite reference books are the First Encyclopedia of Seas and Oceans and the Usborne Young Beginners Seashore book by Usborne Books & More. The encyclopedia is geared for ages 8 and up, but I have a 3 year-old that calls it “MY book” and thumbs through its pages on a regular basis.
However, the content of the Seashore book is a
little more on the preschool level, and
is “just my size” for little hands to carry!
I love the way Usborne books give a “storybook” feel
to informational picture books…
…On the Seashore is a sweetly illustrated book that
creates curiosity in young ocean visitors!
Another favorite is Secrets of the Seashore… a Shine-A-Light book by Kane Miller. If you shine a flashlight through the back of each page, you can see a secret “inside story!”
Anyway, that’s a first peek into our August preschool learning!
Click on the image below for a printable PDF!
Our July theme was “Red Light, Green Light”… We needed to work a little on listening and following directions, so we went with a traffic rules theme. Since TJ is totally obsessed with anything involving wheels, this was a hit! We only got to see Z-Man and Sweet T a few times due to sickness, so TJ did a lot of the activities by himself. And, quite a few of the things we did were simply put out for him to play with whenever he was in the mood, so they were more than a “one time lesson.”
We started out with construction play with homemade play-doh. We made this stuff back in the winter when we did a Gingerbread Man unit, and it’s still hanging in there! There were quite a few germs floating around back then too, so we added some of Young Living’s Thieves oil to ward them off, as well as to make it smell yummy!
Counting to 3 (and recognizing the numbers) was one of our main goals for this month. TJ’s Melissa & Doug garage that he got for his birthday was perfect for practicing!
Our sensory bin was filled with black beans to look like asphalt. It made a fun plinking sound in this old agate casserole pan!
More counting practice with cars and foam shapes.
Hang onto those Melissa & Doug storage trays! They can be used for so many things!
Painting with trucks!
Drying our finished paintings.
And cleaning up is always fun if a hose is involved!
It’s even more fun with friends.
This here is serious work.
We found a fun stop light activity on Pinterest…
… Great for small motor skill coordination!
I’m playing with the idea of lap booking our themes so the little folks have something to look back on and remember…
… and maybe practice some of the things they learned!
We’ll probably add a bit more to our lapbook before we put it on the shelf, but this is what the inside looks like right now. “Red Light, Green Light” was a fun gross motor skills game we played that involved listening carefully and running about like crazy people. Our Bible verse for July was a shortened version of Ephesians 6:1, and we sang the Donut Man’s O-B-E-Y quite a bit. It was a favorite of our girls. (Or maybe of Mom and Dad’s?)
😀
Below are some favorite books that we read this month…
Anastasia Sumi’s Red Light, Green Lightis a cute rhyming picture book that showcases a little boy who used all sorts of “around the house” materials to build his roads. Discussing the pictures was fun!
Yumi Heo’s Red Light, Green Lightwas a sweet Lift-the-Flap book about road signs.
Toot Toot, Beep Beepby Emma Garciahas been a favorite since TJ was a little tyke… There are several books in this series and we love them all!
P.D. Eastman’s Go, Dog, Go!is an old favorite!
And the “sleeper” favorite was by far Red Light, Green Lightby Margaret Wise Brown. (She’s the author of Goodnight Moon!) I wasn’t sure if the quietly quirky story line and vintage illustrations would catch TJ’s attention, but he asked to read this one over and over again… sometimes right after we finished reading it!
I’ve been meaning to post about our Tot School Adventures this year, but sometimes with little people, you just have time to prepare the fun, snap the pictures, clean up the crumbs, and prepare the next fun… And I forget to organize it all in a photo album or blog post! So here’s a quick pictorial overview of our school days so far this year!
The Students…
Our son, TJ
Our Grandboy, Z-Man
Ou Grandgirl, Sweet T
A is for Ark…
Caterpillars and Creation…
D is for Dirt…
Green Eggs & Ham…
Green Eggs & Ham…
One Fish, Two Fish…
…and Magic Beans, of course.
So far, we’ve done a crazy mix of Before Five in a Row, The Peaceful Preschool, The Homegrown Preschooler, and Pinterest activities, with an underlying theme of a “Letter a Week.” I’m not so sure they’re understanding the overall Alphabet theme at this point, so we took a slight detour this summer, mixing activities suggested by The Homegrown Preschooler. Our current plan is to go full steam ahead with A Year of Playing Skillfully(incredibly fun curriculum based on The Homegrown Preschooler) and mixing in Before Five in a Rowbooks where they fit in. We’re going to hold off on The Peaceful Preschooluntil next year, when everyone is ready for more in-depth letter learning. (Although Z-Man is going to get some Alphabet practice on his own this year!)
What’s on the books for this upcoming year is monthly themes, lots of good books, oodles of sensory activities and motor skill development, messy art experiences and silly songs, Bible stories, and good times playing with “cousins” and friends! My next post will be about our July theme, transitioning us toward saying “Yes!” to playing skillfully!
Click on the image below for a printable PDF!
Now that June is beyond half over…
Sorry this is late… In early May, my Dad had a serious heart attack, which resulted in a quadruple bypass. And there were complications from the surgery that resulted in the need for long-term rehab and therapy. Add an almost three year-old and an almost six month-old to the mix, as well as a couple family businesses and a whole lot of extra property to care for, and there’s not been much time to do more than the basics. But, the Lord has been good to us through it all, and we’re all starting to feel a bit human again. Most importantly, my Dad is too! I’m thankful every day that we have been able to live right next door to my parents nearly our entire married life. That our children have been able to see their Nana & Pop-Pop almost every day. (And that Grammy & Grampy are pretty close too!) And that family has been a huge priority for us all these years, and everything can be put on hold when needed in order to take care of those closest to us.
So… better late than never?
Click on the image below for a printable PDF!
Click on the image below to download a printable PDF!
