Word Before World...they are never too young!

As many do, I have prayed for a phrase to focus on this year.  I've resolved to clean up the house at night because I love the fresh start in the morning. I don't mean clean base boards...I just mean dishes and toys.

A "picked up" house in the morning is magical, but I also wanted a goal that would stir my affections for Jesus. Well Watered Women pitched the idea of WORD BEFORE WORLD. I am loving the idea of training myself to reach for the Word before I reach for my phone. Not just first thing in the morning, but also throughout the day.

Our mornings are pretty normal here...after I get the kids breakfast, I help them start a cartoon or get out an activity for them so that I can read my Bible. While they are occupied, I have my time with Jesus. I believe that it is super important for them to see me in the Word and to see that Jesus is a vital part of my day...but is that enough?

I read the sweetest article this morning about Word Before World for Little Ones... So many resources. So many concepts to ponder. It made me immediately realize they are not too little for Word Before World.

Routine, schedule, planned activities...everyone seems to function better in this household when they know what is expected. When my babies were very small, we established a bedtime routine. It helped them to wind down and know what was coming next. Even to this day, we follow a version of that same routine every night. Sure, it changes as they grow and mature, but the routine helps us all.

Why would a routine time with Jesus be any different?

After reading that article (you really should read it!!), I paused my time in the Word, turned off the TV and told the kids to meet me on the couch. I grabbed a new Bible story book and told them that we were going to start our mornings with some Jesus time.

We read. We talked. I answered and asked questions. We prayed. We thanked God for sending Jesus to help our sin problem and asked Him to help us to act like Jesus today. We prayed for sick friends. And then started listening to some kid's Jesus songs...

The time was sweet. The time was quick (probably less than 10 minutes). But it felt so right.

Even now, the kids are singing and playing together in the living room (so glad I picked it up last night !!!). And sure, some may say that's just a coincidence...But I am choosing to believe that Jesus makes the difference.

I pray my kids start to see our Jesus time as a regular part of their day. I've asked the Lord to give me the discipline to cultivate this habit in their lives.

It does matter. They aren't too young. Jesus makes the difference.

Word before World. 

MOPS Craft: Mommy and Me Aprons

Our "Eyes to See Feasting" theme was the perfect time to make these "Mommy and Me Aprons" from reusable shopping bags. 

Our speaker encouraged us to turn ordinary moments into celebrations. Notice goodness around you. Know who you are (a daughter of the King) and live that way. Be intentional about slowing down. Don't be afraid to life your life fully. Be generous (not just with your money, but also with your heart and home). And most importantly, "Don't wait until you have something to celebrate - you already have it! Ask for eyes to see it!"

It's our job as mothers to teach our kids and model this attitude of celebration. As the holidays approach, I pray that I am able to celebrate the little moments along the way instead of getting caught up in the stress and to-do lists. 

I purchased these large reusable shopping bags from TJ Maxx for 99 cents. They can also be found at this price at HomeGoods and Marshalls. Other places, like Michaels, had cute patterns for $1.99. 

After the moms selected their bag, they cut the side panels off, cutting inside the seam. This left one long piece - handle to handle. 

If you cut along the bottom of the bag on one side, you are left with a mommy size (front side and bottom) and a kid size (back side of bag). 

Little arm hole sections helped the aprons seem less boxy. We cut shorter armholes for the kid aprons. 

Wrapping ribbon around themselves one and a half times, the moms cut the belt. 

The belt was then cut in half and hot-glued to the back side of the apron. You could sew this in place or use fabric glue. I just avoid sewing as much as possible. 

The handle becomes the neck strap. For the kid apron, I was able to get a better fit by cutting the neck strap in half and tying it into place. The ends of these handles can be melted with a lit match or sealed with clear fingernail polish. 

The aprons are adorable plain - but some moms got creative with the pieces that were cut off for the arm holes, adding side pockets topped with a button.

Another mom glued the two arm hole pieces together and attached it to the top front of the apron for a pocket.  

Ruffles could also be sewn onto the bottom of the apron to add more length or frill. 

I love that this material is easy to wipe off and won't fray. It would work great for crafting or painting too. 

Since the side panels that we cut off were too cool to discard, my crafting partner and I came up with these fun little pouches. 

The sides were hot glued into place and the pouch was secured with a button and some twine (just like our welcome journals here). 

These make great little storage pouches or adorable gift wrap for the upcoming holiday season. 

One mom made her girls purses from the side panels by attaching ribbon handles. 

A little stick-on velcro will hold the flap down securely for the purses. 

You could easily make aprons for every holiday! Or make them at a kid's birthday party. Or use them for your art class. The possibilities are endless for this cheap, but cute craft. 

Regardless of how the aprons are used, I hope that it reminds these moms to celebrate the little things and keep their eyes open for feasting opportunities! 

Kid-Friendly Pumpkins around my House

I love quick decor. I love cheap decor. I love kid friendly decor. My pumpkins around the house are great examples.

At a local produce stand, I picked up a bunch of small pumpkins. The large ones were so pretty and so tempting - but the small ones were cheap. Plus, with little ones, I am limited as to where I can sit these pumpkins without them being eaten or kicked.

This year, I am loving these little pumpkins nestled in with my milk glass collection.

It didn't require "undecorating" a space to make room for fall decor. It's out of the way yet still festive.

I also stacked a couple pumpkins in the living room. Turning the stacked books around let the pumpkin colors stand out.

(Wreath tutorial here. Antler tutorial here.)

When I bought my pumpkins, I also picked up a few stray stems on the ground. The produce stand let me have them for free. When I stacked pumpkins, I also pulled the stems off a few that I had purchased.

I let them dry out for a few days. I picked up a few small plastic pumpkins at the craft store. I love the look of the pumpkins, but the stems are always rather fake looking. Using hot glue, I attached my real stems to the fake pumpkins.

It might be my favorite fall decor this year. I love that it adds a little quirkiness to the plain plastic pumpkin.

(Wreath tutorial here.)

Using a paint pen, I added a few white dots to one of the plastic, re-stemmed pumpkins.

Stripes or other patterns would be adorable as well.

I had picked up some styrofoam pumpkins from the Dollar Tree a few years back (like these). I saw that they are still selling these pumpkins this year.

A steak knife easily removed the stem. I decoupaged wrapping paper and tissue paper on the three pumpkins. There was no way to get all the wrinkles out. So, I decided to embrace the look and not worry about it.

My pile of door knobs in the garage made excellent stems. I didn't glue them in place so that I can use the knobs for other projects.

Paper tags act as leaves, tied on with baker's twine.

Book pages cut into leaf shapes would also work.

And, I still love to pull out my fabric pumpkins.

I made five of these several years ago when Hudson was a baby. They have been wrestled, stacked, slobbered on and thrown. They get used as pillows, towers, seats and balls. And they still look like the day I made them.

You can see the original tutorial here (and see how little Hudson was!). They are super simple to make (and I hate to sew). I used felt for the stems. The real stems would also look cute on these pumpkins. I would just be worried about them stabbing the kids at this point.

Maybe someday I will switch out the felt stems.

For now, I am enjoying my quirky cheap pumpkins sprinkled around my house. And my kids are enjoying them too.

Faith like a Child

I often find myself underestimating my kids and what they understand. We pray at meals and at bedtime, but I am never really sure how much they are grasping. Do their little minds realize Who we are talking to and the power He possesses? I tend to think that I can wait until they are little bit older before we dive into the doctrines of who God is and what He can do, but I am beginning to realize that my two and half year old son’s faith is bigger than my own.

A couple of weeks ago, we took a family friend with us to the zoo.

As we got ready to leave, our friend could not find her car keys. We rechecked bags, pockets and stroller baskets but still came up empty handed. My husband went to retrace our steps and my friend went to check with the front desk.

I was praying silently that we would be able to locate her keys quickly. I looked down at my two children and decided to pray out loud with them as we waited.  I just said, “Hey, let’s pray that Jesus will help us find Grandma Bridget’s keys.”

I was amazed to see my son and one year old daughter clasp their hands and bow their heads.  Almost as soon as I finished our prayer, my husband called to tell me that a lady had found the keys and walked them up to the front desk as Grandma Bridget was inquiring about them. I excitedly told my son, “Jesus helped us find the keys!” He looked up at me and said, “Jesus got her keys. We asked him to.”

I realized in that moment what Jesus meant in Matthew 18:3 when He said that we need to have “faith like a child.” Hudson knew we had asked Jesus to help. It was no shock to him that Jesus had done exactly what we had asked.  Hudson understood perfectly. I am the one that prays sometimes without really believing that God will answer.

I also was reminded that praying out loud with my kids for all kinds of requests allows them to see first-hand what God can do. Even now, they can begin to see answers to prayers, and those answers to prayer can lead them to trust God to do even more in the future.

There’s no need to wait until they are older to teach them truths about God. Instead, their faith that they have now is teaching me.

Philippians 4:19 “My God will meet all your needs.”

A kitchen remodel for my little Cook

My Nora Lynn's first birthday is today! I've been working on her gift for quite some time. I am happy to say it is finally finished!

Last year, right before Christmas, I saw this plastic kitchen on Walmart's website for around $15. I'm not sure why it was marked down so low. It was brand new- in the box - no defects. So, I bought it...figuring that it would make a fun first birthday gift. I loved the idea of a play kitchen. I did not, however, love all the quirky colored plastics that made up this little kitchen (blues, tans, grays, greens...). I know that she probably wouldn't care what color it was. My play kitchen was metal and Rainbow Brite. I just wanted Nora's to semi-match her room. Many friends have had great success with spray painting these plastic toys. I decide to try to use supplies that I had on hand to remake this little beauty. I used white chalky paint to cover the plastic surfaces. I found that it covered easily...and chipped easily, as well. A friend of mine let me borrow some chalk paint varnish to see if that would seal the paint properly, but it was still chipping.  I grabbed some regular clear varnish from the garage and brushed it on. It dried with a little bit of a yellowish tent, but seems to be doing a pretty good job of keep the paint in place. I just had to tell myself that it didn't have to look perfect (or pretend that I was going for the "antique white" look). I am sure that it will chip off during normal play - and that just means that I can keep searching for a cheap wooden set to remake. I love a project. 

Hudson has seen me working on this for several weeks. He was so excited that he could finally play with it too. He ran to get his apron and got to cooking. 

It's so funny to hear him say phrases that he must hear me say all the time. "Get back....it's hot.  It's almost ready!" He also loves to take our order like a waiter would do.

There were two cardboard panels (under the oven door) that I could not paint. I decoupaged wrapping paper onto the boards and ended up loving the look. 

I didn't want to use the big stickers that came with the kitchen for the stove eyes. Two lids off icing containers gave me the clean look I was going for. 

I love when my kids pull all their toys out during playtime. I do, however, HAVE to have a place for everything to return to. Nora has received lots of play food and dishes, and I found the perfect storage bags at a yard sale for 25 cents each. 

Empty oatmeal containers will hold more dishes and food. I added a chalkboard label that I had purchased from the Dollar Tree several months back (they came in packs of 6).

I spray painted several accents gold. Every girl needs a gold sink at some point in her life. Right?

Nora loves all the little compartments and baskets. She is great at pulling everything out. 

We have had a fun morning celebrating this little girl.

The birthday banner that I had originally made for Hudson's first birthday came out.

And she even got a candle in her scrambled eggs this morning. Eggs are her current favorite food and she is not a huge fan of sweets.

We will keep celebrating our little blessing with family and friends for the rest of the week.

And I am sure we will have lots of fun cooking in her little kitchen.