Jesse Tree

Christmas has always been a very crafty time for my little family.  It's our very favorite time to make, bake, and create.  Each year since Grayson was small, I have meant to make an Advent calendar for our family, and each year December begins with me sadly unprepared.  As I was searching the web at the end of November this year, looking for an easily made and assembled calendar idea, I instead stumbled upon the Jesse Tree.

The Jesse Tree is basically a visual aid for tracing Jesus' family tree.  More importantly, the devotions that go along with it (found here) show God's faithfulness and love for his people through the ages.

I decided that instead of a marathon crafting event where we attempted making all the ornaments in one day, and rather than making an ornament a day for the next month; we would make a week's worth at a time.  Here they are so far...

Day One:  Stump (representing Jesse), with a chute (representing King David), and the leaf or fruit (representing Jesus).  This one consists of 1/2 toilet paper roll, felt, a toothpick, and craft foam.

Day Two: The earth... God's perfect world before sin was allowed to enter in.  This one is made from a styrofoam ball, yarn, and craft foam.

Day Three: Apple with a serpent.  As you might guess, this is where the villain enters the plot.  The thing I like best about the devotion is that it does not focus on the fact that man sinned.  It's main focus is that God still loved his creation and provided a promise to them of redemption.  The apple ornament is made of craft foam with a plastic snake hot glued to the front.

Day Four: Rainbow.  This is when we speak of Noah and God's faithfulness to him.  We talked about God's promises to his people, and how he always keeps His word.  This one was made solely by Grant, using poster board for the rainbow and felt for the clouds. 

Day 5: Camel. The Bible passage was about Abram leaving his home.  More importantly, the devotion was about obeying God's commands, even when sin seems so much easier and even more fun. Most important of all was the discussion on how God always loves us and stands ready to forgive.  My sad little camel is made of craft foam and felt.  

These are all the days we have done so far, and this post is getting mighty long, so I think I will end here for now.  If you have always wanted to celebrate Advent with your family, but never knew how to begin, this might just be perfect for you!  It isn't too late to start.  The devotions are very short, and it would be easy to double up until you were on track!  If you are interested in doing a Jesse Tree, but are not of a crafty nature, the link provided above has print outs that can be colored and used as ornaments by themselves.  

Recovering From the Weekend!

Friday night was an adventure for the whole family as Jeff and the boys decided to bake a cake for my birthday!  I made a comment to Jeff on the phone about possibly making a cake for Saturday, when our families were coming over for my mom's famous Brunswick stew (which she makes every year for my birthday... even this year when her kitchen is mid-remodel!).  He said there's no way I should have to make my own cake, and that he and the boys would do it instead!  At first I thought he was joking, but he was completely serious, and I was once again amazed at this wonderful man I married.

Fast forward to Saturday night, and we were pumpkin carving machines!  We usually have this done way before the 31st, but this year there just was not enough time!  We managed to get them all done, though, and we are happy with how they turned out!

Sunday night it was finally time to take my Jedi trick-or-treating.  We were lucky enough to run into a group of friends, and we all went door to door together.  Judging from the piles of sugar at the kids' feet, I don't think we'll be buying candy again in this millennium!

Dancing With Grant...

It ain't for the faint of heart!  And protective headgear is not a bad idea either!

Scratchin' an Itchin'

Like everything else in my scattered brain, the itch to blog comes and goes in waves.  For the last few days, I have been thinking in blog posts...  If you are now or ever have been a blogger, you know what I mean.  Thoughts about your day go through your mind in your favorite font, accompanied by photos and thoughts about your blog friends who will read it.  Since this particular itch has lasted more than a couple of days, I finally decided to scratch it!

One of the many things I have wanted to share lately is a bit of disturbing information that was passed along to me by a friend via facebook.  You know how we all jokingly refer to chocolate as a "sinful" treat?  As it turns out, that may not be too far off the mark.  I was appalled to learn that the cocoa beans which make nearly all the chocolate we eat are picked by slave labor in West Africa, much of it child slave labor.  I will not go into all the gory details here, but please, please go to this link to read more.

Now, you should know that I am a severe chocoholic.  I was glad to find out that most organic chocolate is not tainted, and there is Fair Trade chocolate out there as well.  I have to admit though, that I am having a hard time setting my own boundaries in this issue.  As I pulled away from Starbucks yesterday sipping on my toffee mocha, I realized that I don't know where Starbucks gets their chocolate.  Then there are the things I buy for my kids, like chocolate chip granola bars or snack cakes with chocolate.  Where do I draw the line?  If I go with my real convictions on this, my family will certainly live a much healthier lifestyle.  I like to think my kids will be okay with it, since I have already begun to explain the situation to them, and we have added these poor kids to our daily prayer time.  Of course I am beginning to have my doubts, since on the way home from our Fall Festival last night, Grayson was munching on a Hershey bar and said, " Mmm...  I know this was made using child slaves, but it just tastes SO GOOD!"  Not my proudest parenting moment, I gotta tell ya.

Please join me in praying for these poor children, and letting the companies who use them know that this is NOT okay.

So says the fly on the wall...

Oh, the things one hears in a house full of boys!  We have had a day full of interesting conversations.  Breakfast with Grant went a little something like this, "Mama, how do you spell dinosaur?  Mom, how do you spell koala? Mom, how do you spell bat?  Wait - I know - B-A-T.  Mom, how do you spell Never Ending Story?"  "Mom - Why are you banging your head against the counter?"  Oh okay, I made that last one up, but you get the idea.

I let Grayson sleep in a little, and when he got up, he confessed that the reason for his insomnia lately is that he is afraid he will die in his sleep.  Oh my!  Those are deep waters to wade into before being fully caffeinated!  Nevertheless, we dove right in, and this conversation somehow led straight into the evils of drug use (there was a logical path that led us there, but it would take way too long to type it!), our family's tendency toward addictions, and the importance of choices he will make as early as his preteen years.  Whew!  By this time, I think it was 7:30 a.m., and my brain was screaming for someone to put on the brakes!

On a lighter note, we were driving in the car this afternoon, and Grayson was talking about his desire to be baptized.  He told Grant that, while our church believes in sprinkling, our family feels strongly that being immersed in the water is a symbol of dying to one's own life, and rising up to walk with Jesus.  He asked Grant if he even knew what baptizing was, and Grant said, "Duh!  Of course I do!  It's when Jesus went in the water with all his clothes on!  Why did he go in the water with all his clothes on anyway!?"  Grayson went on to explain in his own way what baptizing means, and Grant said, "Oh no!  I am definitely NOT bab-a-tizing until I am a grown up like Mommy, and then I only want Jesus to do my bab-a-tizing!"

These sweet, wonderful boys of mine, they keep me on my toes!

Sweet, Slow Saturdays

Sweet little hands, learning the little tasks that make the world go 'round.

Feeling "Inspirated"

It's been ages since I posted here, and there are lots of reasons.  Rather than list them all, I'll tell you what is new with us, and why I am excited to be back!

For most of Grayson's and Grant's childhood, I was super-duper strict about television/computers/video games.  Over the last few months, I suppose I just got lazy about fighting that battle.  It was just so very much easier to let them watch television or play on the computer than to fight them and come up with something better for them to do.  As their screen time crept upward, their attention levels and interest in creative activities spiraled downward.  It was so gradual that it was hard to notice at first.  It felt like I just turned around one day and suddenly had kids who were incapable of entertaining themselves for long periods, or who were too tired to play  outdoors.  Everything that wasn't television was "boring."

After a certain climactic brainless event which left Jeff and I stunned at the thoughtlessness of one of our children, we conferred and decided to make some drastic changes.  The child involved in the brainlessness has been without screen time completely for one week.  The other one is following our new rule of only thirty minutes of screen time in a day.  That includes ALL screens (DSi, Wii, computer, tv).  They do have the opportunity to earn more screen time by doing parent-approved scholastic activities, but so far they have been having too much fun to do so!

The changes in behavior, attitude, and maturity this week have been amazing.  We are back to the kind of family I had envisioned up being from the start.  The kind who spends quality time together, encourages one another, creates together, and inspires one another.  I am looking forward to seeing what these boys of mine get into in the future and sharing it all with you here!

A Little Grantinese to Brighten Your Day

These boys of mine have had me rolling lately!  The things that come out of their mouths sometimes are so funny, and usually it's not even on purpose.  For instance...

Grant was recently introduced to the breed of dogs known as "weiner dogs."  You can imagine how that went over.  He covered his little mouth and laughed so hard over that name!  Well, a few days later, we were watching America's Funniest Videoes together, and one of that breed of dog was on there.  Grant was laughing at the video, and he said, "I can't believe that dog is afraid of the air vent!  You know...  that private dog?"  I was like, "That what kind of dog?"  (I thought at first that he said pirate).  "That private dog... You know...  private part dog...  IT'S A PEE PEE DOG!"  At which point he started rolling off the couch, he was laughing so hard!
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Both boys like to be the one to bless the food when we sit down to eat.  They like it so much that we often stop just short of fisticuffs in deciding who will have the priveledge each night!  When Grayson was really young and used to say the blessing, he would say a prayer that could sometimes last upwards of five minutes.  He would thank God for evvverrythiiing and evvverrryone, and would usually forget to even mention the food.  We would begin about two minutes into the prayer interjecting, "In Jesus' name..."  Not so subtly dropping the hint that we were ready for the "Amen."  One particular night, when we were just too hungry to wait for all that, we taught him the traditional children's blessing, "God is Great."  He has used it pretty much ever since, and Grant picked it up through the years.  The things is, Grant isn't exactly a careful listener!  Combine that with his myriad of speech impediments, and you get a prayer that goes a little something like this: 
"God's great, God's good.
Sank 'em, Sank 'em, For da food.
Jesus, God, Sank you Lord.
Aaaaaamen."
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This morning after I turned off my Shark sweeper/vacuum thing, Grant informed me that I had broken his "earplums."
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Also this morning, Grayson was dressed as a viking, and he and Grant were playing pretend together.  I overheard Grant say, "Hey viking!  My mom said you can have a sleep over if you promise not to do any pillowaging!"  

Goblin Hunters Extraordinaire!

Goblins beware!  Grayson and Grant, hunters of the fae, have seen you through their enchanted glass and are hot on your trail!

Armed against the poison tooth of your sword by their gauntlet of a thousand lights (or "gawntwet of a sousand wights" depending on who is using it) and bearing the sword of fairy flame, these hunters fear no evil!

Except for the occasional interruption by the discovery of a Leprechaun Sanctuary (or large patch of clover) and a few side missions from Zeus, Apollo, and Odin, you will be relentlessly pursued!  You will rue the day you set out to kidnap our helpless baby dragon, oh foolish goblins!

Really now, with adventures of this magnitude happening all around, who could think of interrupting them for Math and Grammar lessons?  It just seems wrong somehow!

What I Do In Hermit Mode

I don't know if it's a trait that's peculiar to me, whether it's true of all artistic types, or if it has more to do with being a major introvert.  Whatever the reason, at least one week out of every month I go into "hermit mode."  If it was possible during this time for me to take a vow of silence and force it on my family as well, I would.  It's terrible for keeping healthy friendships, I know.  I think that because I am naturally shy, it takes a lot of effort to make small talk, meet up with friends, or especially to talk on the phone.  Once my quota of social hours are used up for the month, I just need some silent time to recoup.  Anyway!  This is not actually a post about my personality quirks, it is about what I am doing when I am not being a good friend!

This little bird came out of my recent solitude.  I most likely commited a copyright crime, since I copied him out of a Birds and Blooms magazine.  Do you realize how hard it actually is to get a decent picture of birds on your backyard feeders?  Quite hard, let me tell you!

The other thing I did was knit... a lot!  I knitted while we did our homeschool lessons, while watching the boys at karate, while Jeff watched UFC fights, while he was at karate, and I was watching silly television shows.  Would you like to see what I have to show for all that knitting?  Not as much as you'd think (I knit at snail speed)!

Hat #1 (which is actually Grant's, and fits him better, but he wouldn't pose for a picture):

Hat #2 & Bitty Baby Legwarmers (for our friend's new baby girl, who my boys ADORE!):

Sorry, but a subject that cute deserves a closer look!

And finally, Hat #3:

{On a side note, I have my mom to thank for all these great vintage buttons!  She watches the paper for estate sales, and if there are any sewing notions or fabric pieces for sale, she buys them and brings them to me.  Thanks, Mom!}

Spring Has Sprung?

The calendar says that spring has been sprung for almost a week now...  I am not so sure about that!  I think spring this year is more like a slinky than an actual spring. It's sort of slowly stretching it's way across the northern hemisphere, teasing us all with toasty bits of sunshine.  Yesterday, for example, was glorious!  The boys and I flew through our schoolwork at lightning speed and spent the majority of the day soaking in that soul-nourishing sun.

The boys got to play with redneck waterguns, since none of our real ones made it through the summer last year.  We are sadly unprepared for warm weather...  No bubbles, no waterguns, no flip-flops...  Oh well, that's what the Easter Bunny is for, right?  I was just amazed that it was warm enough for them to even want to get wet.  You know, what with the SNOW we had two days ago and all!

Anyway, they had a blast.  Grant with his new spring fashion ensemble of two-sizes-too-small-shorts and hand-me-down cowboy boots (told ya we were unprepared) can be seen giving his brother a nice Alabama backyard baptism in the picture below.  I know, he's sprinkling rather than dunking, but we are Presbyterians now after all!

Old Mr. Sun may be fickle this time of year, but we don't care.  Whenever he shows his face, we will greet him with open arms and revel in every second he stays!  Happy Spring, my friends!

Adios, Dooley Dog

A little over a year ago, we decided it would be awesome to have a puppy.  Jeff had always wanted an English Bulldog, and they seemed like a great fit for our family.  So, we searched online constantly until we found a breeder nearby with good looking dogs for sale. 

Dooley was just about the cutest and sweetest little puppy you can imagine.  Unfortunately, we have found out that we are just not dog people.  I have been tormented over what to do for/with/about the dog for months, and finally a solution was practically dropped in my lap!  We were introduced to a very sweet lady whose bulldog passed away a year ago, and who wanted an English very badly.  She is perfect for our dog.  She is one of those people whose dogs are her main concern, and Dooley is the kind of dog who will revel in that! 

You may be wondering how the boys took the news.  We sat them down after dinner the other night, and I began by telling them the lady's story.  Then I told them that I thought it would be good for Dooley to go live with her and be her puppy.  They immediately started crying.  Grayson was quietly trying not to cry, and Grant just climbed in my lap and sobbed, "But when can we ever get another dog?"  Notice, he didn't say he was going to miss Dooley.  I thought that was a telling little difference.  They cried for almost a full minute while we comforted them.  Then I mouthed the word "hamster" to Jeff over their heads.  He said, "Guys, you know, if we don't have Dooley to take care of, we'll be able to get you a real hamster."  Y'all.  It was comical.  Grayson stopped mid-wail.  Grant went from wallowing all over my shirt, to immediately sitting up, sniffing twice, and saying, " Oh!  Can we get it one of those balls where it runs around the house?" 

They were still a little sad until I called Dooley's new mama, and she invited us to visit them as often as we like.  They are now perfectly happy, in part because of the hamster, but also because they know the situation will be better for everyone.  So as of 10:30 today, we will be dog owners no more!

Arivaderchi, Dooley, you're a DGD.  (For those out there not married to Georgia fans DGD is the highest compliment... D**n Good Dog.)

Welcome to Hogwarts!

The homeschool mom is nothing if not resourceful, right?  Sometimes it takes all the creativity I can muster just to keep my guys interested in school long enough to finish our day's lessons.  This week has had a couple of those days.  Monday we added interest by doing school on the sofa, rather than the school table.  Tuesday we had far too much written work to do that.  Just before school, as I was setting up all my supplies where they would be handy, I could hear the boys playing Harry Potter in their room.  Grant was speaking in his best British accent (which is adorable, by the way), and brandishing a wand at his brother.  Grayson was being an older student who was showing him the ropes at Hogwarts. 

This gave me an idea!  I got a couple of big feathers from our random piles of junk, and duct taped them to pencils to make quills.  Then I set up the pinch pots we made a couple of weeks ago as pretend ink wells.  Then I called to them in my best British accent (which is hardly as adorable as Grant's) that, "Attention all students of Hogwart's School!  Wizarding school is now in session!"  Goofy, I know, but man did it work!  Every subject was renamed:  "Magic Math,"  "Harry Potter Handwriting," "History of Magical Islands." 

If you look closely, you can see the great picture of Hogwarts castle that Grant is drawing in his notebook

(Oh, and just in case you're wondering, yes my boys live in those Mario pajamas, and yes we do school in pajamas nearly everyday.  Well, except for the days they just wear underwear.)

Have a Monstrous Valentine's Day!!

For those who didn't follow my old blog, let me introduce you to our Valentine's Day monsters.  They're called Sugar Monsters, and they first came on the scene two years ago.  They bring sweet treats hidden in their back pockets, and usually a love note, too.  Now they even have a story that goes along with them, which we read the night before Valentine's Day. 

Anyhoo, because of these little fellas we tend to get a little monster-happy at this time of year.  We were brainstorming together about cards to make for our friends, and Grayson's were sounding more like Halloween cards than Valentines.  I kept trying to redirect him, throwing out things like Star Wars, pirates, outer space, robots.  It was no good.  When he is determined, you may as well try to change the color of the sky; you'd have more luck.  So I turned my brain toward monsters, took stock of supplies (lots of googly eyes and pom poms), and inspiration struck!  Remember those little puffy monsters with the sticky feet that businesses gave out back in the 80's as little promo gifts?  I LOVED those things and had them stuck on the mirror in my room back in the day.  Well, I made a sample for Grayson, and he loved the idea!  Here are our results: 

Aren't they sweet?  Our sticky feet are foam heart stickers that we already had also.  To keep the theme going, they made monsters out of their Valentine box as well.  I think at this point, they were tired of making things (seriously, it's all we've done all week long), so they put in a little less effort, but they're cute just the same. 

Cute, huh?  They open at the mouth for their friends to drop the cards in. 

I just love my creative little monsters!  Now I gotta run to get ready to celebrate with their friends!

Mario Party

We started a new tradition this year with the boys' birthdays.  Parties with their friends have become so chaotic, that when we add in family, we may as well be a three ring circus!  So, when Grant turned four, we held a small, calm family gathering close to his actual birthday, then celebrated in our usual over the top way with our friends a month later!  It worked really well, because the family gets to actually see and enjoy the birthday boy, rather than huddling in a protective group amidst twenty kids and going home to take a zoloft or ten.
So yesterday we celebrated Grayson's birthday with our family.  If you know my family at all, you know how my boys get fixated on things from time to time (and by "from time to time" I mean "ALL the time").  The new fixation is Super Mario Bros.  We play it on Wii; we play it on DSi; we pretend to be them and make up costumes using strange combos of clothing; we wear Mario pajamas every night.  So, naturally, we party Super Mario style! 

There are no Mario cake toppers to be had in our city, so we had to get creative for a simple Mario cake.  Grayson came up with a great design, and I made the cake according to his direction.  I think it turned out great!  (Sadly, Blogger is refusing to cooperate with this particular picture, so I'll just put the link  here.)

I suppose it's rude to name a favorite gift, so I won't name it, I'll just show you a picture instead!  Great plans are underway for the "friend party," including tiered cakes, twenty homemade hats, and fake mustaches...  Sounds like somebody better get busy!!

A Week in Art

We spent one of our school days last week spring cleaning, so to make up for it, we took a Saturday field trip to our local art museum.  The boys took along sketch pads and watercolor pencils to copy some of their favorite paintings.  I had not taken them to an art museum before, because I thought it would be pretty boring for them.  Boy, was I wrong!  They loved every minute of it!  They oohed and ahhed appropriately at the Victorian exhibit, and discussed the different paintings in the "Perceptions of Reality" exhibit.  They didn't know what the different styles of paintings were called, but Grayson could tell me whose style was similar to Van Gogh's or Monet's.  He was able to tell me who he thought used oils or colored pencils, and which paintings held his interest and why.  It was a fantastic trip which we will be repeating as soon as the exhibit changes!

Since coming home, the boys have both been more interested in painting, sculpting, drawing... Basically anything that they call "arting."  I had grand plans to bring out Grayson's pottery wheel this week, but I've yet to work up the courage to face the mess that goes along with it.  Instead, we have been making a lot of play doh sculptures.  Both boys have a knack for it, and I'm wondering if I should bring home some "real" artist's modeling clay!

So!  That's our week in review!  What creative ventures have you and your little ones taken this week?  If you've done something new, share it here!  If not, take the time to do something creative with them today!  All it takes is a blank paper, a wad of clay, even shaving cream and a black garbage bag, and a little bit of time.  You'll be surprised at the creations of their bright little minds!

Grayson's Iliad

Homeschooling has become so much easier this second semester.  We seem to have our feet under us now, and I have gained enough confidence as a teacher to do what I know my kids need, rather than what everyone else thinks they need.  One of the things we are doing is taking more time to enjoy the subjects we are studying, rather than trying to rush through them and check them off the schedule.  Grayson is particularly interested in History right now, and I find that the more crafts we do along with it, the more he is likely to remember the lesson. 
Yesterday, we studied the legend of the Trojan Horse.  Today, we re-enacted the legend!  Here is a nice pictoral of our battle:

The city of Troy.  Impregnable fortress wherein the beautiful Queen Helen and Paris of Troy are hiding...

The war council between Helen's first husband, King Menelaus of  Sparta, his brother Agamemnon of Mycenae, and Odysseus (and some random other guy)...

Their brilliant plan.  A peace offering of a giant wooden (or cardboard and duct tape) horse.  Incidentally, how on earth did they make the original without duct tape?
Little did those silly Trojans know, there was a surprise waiting for them inside...

Game over.  Spartans 1: Trojans 0.

So Many Books, So Little Time

I am a reader.  The story I have heard from my parents is that I learned to read at the age of three, while listening to my mom teach my brother.  I remember gathering all my stuffed animals and dolls around me for story time in my preschool days.  I would take requests from them and then read with as much expression as I knew how, stopping after each page to show them the pictures, just like the children's librarian at story hour used to do.  The times in my life when I've been between interesting books, or when I have read a particularly captivating story that I wasn't ready to muddy up by starting a new one, I have spent reading educational or how-to books.  A book taught me to knit, to tie knots, to mix any skin tone from four colors of paint.  Books teach me to cook lots of new and healthy things for my family.  Books inspire me to be a better mother, daughter, wife, and christian. 

Nothing is so exciting to me as when a book captures the imagination of my children.  The current trend toward retro toys and remakes of old video games gives evidence to the fact that we love to see children enjoy the things that we loved as kids.  Sadly, the books that have captured the imagination of my kids have been few and far between.  Grayson loves the Harry Potter books, and we are currently reading book number three (The Prisoner of Azkaban), but I am not comfortable with progressing any farther than book three with him for a couple of years.  We are reading it slowly, trying to make it last!  He also loved Roald Dahl's books for a while.  The BFG  and James and the Giant Peach in particular.  He liked Treasure Island as well, but I didn't realize until too late that we were reading an "adapted" (that's book code for "stripped of anything that adds interest or excitement") version.  In addition to Harry Potter, our current readings are:  The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (which we are listening to on Librivox, and which Grayson surprised me by absolutely loving), Night of the Ninjas (a Magic Treehouse book, which he is reading aloud to me), and Pilgrim's Progress (which I am enjoying, but which is a tremendous waste of breath, since Grayson is grasping none of it.  I think we'll try one of the children's versions, or at least an illustrated copy!).  These are just our recreational readings...  There is a whole separate stack that we use for school!

On my own, I am reading Atlas Shrugged which was suggested by a friend.  I was very skeptical at first (when I hear the words "economics" and "philosophy" in relation to a 1,000 page novel, I can't help being wary).  It has gripped me from the first page.  Go figure!  I'm also listening to Vanity Fair on Librivox.  I am embarassed to say that I've been listening to it since November, and am not even halfway through.  I have precious little time to spend with earbuds in my ears, and it's hard to choose between music and a book.  More often than not music wins that battle.  I am reading Pilgrim's Progress on my own as well, because I am thoroughly enjoying it, and don't want to stay at the slow pace I have to keep for the boys.  Last, but not least, I am reading Helping Children to Understand the Gospel from Desiring God Ministries.  I absolutely recommend this book to anyone who struggles with what, when, and how to tell their children about the gospel.  There are even family devotions in the back that walk you through speaking to your children about your faith. 

Leave me a comment to tell me what you are reading now!  If you aren't reading anything currently, tell me your past favorites, or what's sitting on your shelf waiting to be read!  Give this bookworm some future goodness to chew on!