One Week Left

These beauties arrived this last week and I'm counting down the days until I get to give them away.  Keegan was practically salivating when I opened these pencils.  There are a few shades in this set that we don't own and we all have a bit of pencil envy.   (Hmmm, maybe with our August round of birthdays...)  We've settled for smelling, staring and then hiding them at the top of a cabinet so we don't have to think about them until they ship out!

I've never been much for doodling, but with Lyra colored pencils I just can't help myself.  They are unlike anything I've ever used before and I'm just tickled that A Toy Garden donated them for this giveaway.

So I just wanted to post a quick reminder that there are only 6 days left to enter in this fabulous giveaway.  You can read about the coloring book to support Casita Benjamin and enter in the giveaway for the coloring book and this fabulous set of colored pencils. 

So head on over and leave a comment.  It's that easy!!! 

Help in Organizing

I love the result of a neat orderly home, but I am not the most neat, orderly and organized person in the world.    Sometimes, I just need a little nudge in the right direction...

My husband gave me that much needed nudge to de-clutter and reorganize my pantry.  He proceeded to empty everything out, so that I would need to go through it all before putting stuff back.

It was pretty consuming work, but it feels so nice to walk into my pantry now! 

This reminded me how thankful I am that I'm not on this journey of life alone.  I oftentimes have the best of intentions (I'm a visionary), but lack the discipline to follow through.  That is where God has gifted me with my hubby to provide balance and make sure that those 'dreams' of mine become a reality.  

I'm continuing on my way to counting 1,000 gifts.  It has changed the way I view everyday life.  I would encourage everyone to take time to count the gifts - big and small that lie in our life-path.

566. A husband who helps me organize.  He knows that I'll love the finished result.
567. Impromptu picnic in the living room floor because my tables were "full".
568. Child encouragement to FINISH putting everything back in the pantry before I get any more of this.

569. getting to throw away lots of unnecessary 'stuff.'

570. Opa birthdays.
571. The sight of hopeful candle blowing helpers.
572. Another year gleaning wisdom from this very wise, hardworking man.

573. Watching my mom and Opa play cribbage.

574. Little boy funny faces.
575. More January birthdays.

576. Three-year old anticipation

577. Balloon popping.
578. Sister conversations.
579. Naturapathic doctors.
580. Kale - my new favorite veggie.

581. An Africa-patch obsessed little boy who wouldn't wear anything else for a week!
582. Fellowship over dinner with new friends!
583. Checking out beautiful brand-new pencils - even if we don't get to keep them. (giveaway alert)
583. Imaginative play.

584. Our little Treyton Crockett carrying 'ol Betsy'
585. Anticipation of impending Mima/Paw visits!

What are you thankful this week?

All patched up and ready to take-off!

Anyone remember our patches from last year?  Well, I'm at it again...

This stack of holey jeans has been staring me down to no avail for some time now.   

But then in the course of a week, Keegan - our 4yo, put holes in his last three pairs of pants, leaving him with only a single pair of intact sweat pants.  Somehow, in our rough and tumble home, I'm not surprised.

So I pulled out my trusty machine and set to work breathing new life into this pile of jeans! 

 

For the third year running, I continue to patch them up and run these blue jeans into the ground.  It is the family way...   We use them up until they are fairly useless.

And I continue to score big brownie points with the boys.  Of course, given my desire for aesthetics, I'm totally hooked on my way of patching jeans too.  They are so stinkin' cute and easy to do that I thought I'd pass on my little secret!  So here you go: 

Step 1- Collect your materials.

• Sturdy fabric for patches.  I prefer neutral corduroy fabric.  Brown and navy blue go with everything.
• Patch pattern.  I've free handed most of mine, but have also been known to search google images for simple designs that might work.  You can download some of my favorites here or continent shapes here.  (Keegan recently requested an Africa patch and I was quite pleased with how it turned out.)
• sewing scissors
• pencil for tracing.
• Fabric glue - an essential in my house!!!  (hahaha, it is one of my favorite sewing notions!)
• Sewing machine and thread that matches patch fabric.

Step 2 - Prewash/dry and iron fabric.

Step 3 - Choose a design and trace outline on to back of corduroy fabric - taking care that the image will look correct when looking at the other side of fabric.

Step 4 - Reinforce edge of hole with stitches.

Step 5 - Add glue all over patch. I use a straight pin to smear mine around.  This is a step that even a child could help with!  Place a piece of paper in between the pant leg layers so the glue doesn't go through the jean to the other side.  Allow to dry.

Step 6 - Use a zigzag stitch to reinforce edges of the patch.  Be sure not to sew through to the other side of the jean...

Step 7 - Admire your work before your kids swoop in and 'take off' with their new pants!

I'm always looking for fresh ideas.  I'm all ears if any of you have ideas on other patch patterns!

Confession Time...

I'm blaming this on genetics... 

My mom's weakness was Diet Coke (aka 'mom pop').  Mine is cookies.

Colorful Support - A Review and Giveaway

After reading of my affection for the people of Guatemala, Heidi approached me about this adorable coloring book and an opportunity to support a ministry in Guatemala City. Casita Benjamin is a daycare ministry to the poor living near the city dump. Many of them are single mothers who must find some kind of work in order to simply feed their children.  Casita Benjamin steps in as a place where the children can stay in a loving, interactive environment. They receive a good lunch, normal preschool type activities and most importantly, the chance to hear about Jesus.

Having spent time over two summers in Guatemala, I know first hand how impoverished parts of Guatemala can be and yet it is full of beautiful people – strong and resilient. Ann from A Holy Experience recently went to Guatemala and actually spent time in an area quite near Casita Benjamin. You can see her photographic journey through the neighborhoods around the city dump here.

Although Casita Benjamin sometimes receives a small fee from parents, they rely mostly on external support. Heidi just returned from her second stint down at Casita Benjamin with a passion to publish a bilingual coloring book drawn by one of the other workers, Patty Gomez. Each of the 24 pages contains a drawing to color that clearly illustrates a specific Bible verse.   

After hearing so much about it, I couldn't wait to explore the coloring books that Heidi graciously sent for us to review.  In preparation, we pulled out our globe and found Guatemala again. 

And their reaction when the coloring books arrived:

...an almost palpable excitement.  They sense something different about this book.  There is a history behind it.    

They each carefully select a page to color. Seeing the picture really helped God’s Word come alive in a fresh way.

In addition to reading them the verse in English, I read it to them in Spanish and we discussed a few of the words.

The boys are super excited to send a copy of this book down to our Peruvian Compassion child, Ittiel. As I mentioned a few months back, the boys have enjoyed writing back and forth with Ittiel. They find it thrilling to think that he will color the same pages as they do…

This coloring book would be perfect for:

• Any young child – giving them an easy to understand picture to represent a verse.
• For any child learning Spanish.
• As a gift to a sponsored child in a Spanish-speaking country.
• As a gift for a friend, grandchild, niece/nephew etc. It would pair well with a set of colored pencils.
• That long road trip this summer.

Heidi is taking care of receiving payment and shipping the coloring books out. You can read her story and find contact/purchase information here. All of the money to cover the printing costs has already been provided, meaning more money from these purchases goes directly to Casita Benjamin. At a requested donation of $5/book, this is an opportunity you can’t pass up! And of course anything above that amount would be a huge blessing to the children at the center.

In celebration of this opportunity and to help spread the word about Casita Benjamin, we’re having a GIVEAWAY!!!!

That’s right, I have two coloring books to giveaway. (Limited to US and Canadian mailing address only.)

The first name I draw will receive both a coloring book and a set of amazing Lyra coloring pencils. I’ve blogged about them before and we use ours ALL THE TIME. Sonya at A Toy Garden has graciously donated a set of 12 Lyra Color Giant pencils ($23 value). The color is vibrant and beautiful. The thick shape makes it easy for young hands to hold and write. They’re easy on big hands too! I snag my kids pencils all the time!

The second name I draw will receive a coloring book.

Winners will be selected on Friday evening, February 5th!

Here’s how to enter:

• Simply leave a comment!  

For extra chances to win:

• Link to this giveaway on facebook – one extra entry. Leave another comment letting us know.
• Link to this giveaway on twitter – one extra entry. Leave another comment letting us know.  Include your twitter name!
• Blog about this giveaway – 2 extra entries – leave two additional comments.

A Huge thanks for Heidi for putting this project together.

And thanks to A Toy Garden.

My boys have loved each item they’ve received from this family-owned business. They have the best prices around on playsilks and sell so many other beautiful imagination inspiring toys. Be sure to stop by and take a look.

A Buck Well Spent

It is sometimes the simplest things in life that occupy and delight us!  Last year when we were studying Native Americans and frontiersmen, I found these tiny figurines at the dollar store.

Xander was fairly obsessed with them last year.

And these have inspired hours of quiet play (punctuated by muted gunshots and intense fighting scenes) with Keegan too!  Because it is his 'private' play, somehow it remains quiet and even peaceful despite the battles... 

 

Some of the most hard-fought battles are quiet, mostly internal, aren't they?

Saving his Alamo.

It's tiny moments like this when my heart swells and my mind fills with the little blessings that God sends our way...

peeking in on imaginative play

boy creativity

a hug around my ankles and whispers of "I wuv you" from my 2.5 year old

unspoken moments of connection with my husband

a husband who encourages me to take on challenges

boys eager to learn

cooperative morning play in their rooms

while mom and dad get a rare morning to doze/sleep-in

a Sunday morning with my third-born who was sick.  Just him and me.

hearing him ask me if I can help him "pick up toys" 

(still pinching myself over this one)

reading aloud

God's provision in His calling me to give up a good thing for His perfect thing for me.

exploring our bilingual coloring book together

the chance to help kids in Guatemala learn about Jesus.

Gifts 552-565

Counting my gifts with others at:

Mama Panya's Pancakes

One of the kid's favorite books this last month was Mama Panya's Pancakes.  This delightful book followed a boy and his mother as they left for market to buy ingredients for pancakes.  The peek into Kenyan village life was so engaging.  At the end of the book, it gave more information on what life is like in rural Kenyan villages.  We ended up going out and having races as the children love to do!

And of course, we had to try the recipe in the back of the book and make some of our own "Mama Panya" pancakes. 

I pride myself on being a fairly good cook.  Apparently when it comes to making crepe-style pancakes that does not hold true...

Here was my first attempt. (Talk about humbling...  It's not good when your four year old is looking quizzically at the blob and trying to imagine a pancake.)

The third and fourth attempt only marginally improved...

By this point the boys were getting anxious and excited when I finally figured out how to make them.  They eagerly prepared the mix-ins -frozen peas (a favorite of theirs and one of the few veggies I happened to have on hand that day), diced up meatballs, tuna and sliced bananas.  (Our favorite combination was the banana's + pancakes.)

Ever have that day where nothing really turns out as planned?  As if my failed attempts at pancake making weren't enough, when it was served, anticipation soon turned to this:

As you can see, we still need some work on doing all things without grumbling/whining and complaining... :)

Mama Panya's Pancakes weren't our only favorite.  Here are a few more from our explorations of the African Savannah!

We All Went On Safari ~ All three of the boys enjoyed this journey!  We discovered a bit about different animals in the Savannah.  This book was perfect because it had something for everyone.  Xander (6.5yo) loved trying to learn how to count to 10 in Swahili.  Keegan (4.5yo) enjoyed learning about the animals and trying to figure out which child pictured was counting.  Treyton (2.5) enjoyed working on some of his counting skills and trying to hide his favorite animal with his grubby little fingers!  In addition to the rhyming/counting section of the book, there was background information given on the Masai people and the animals.

Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain ~ The boys adore this book.  We found it a garage sale and they were thrilled to discover that they didn't need to part with this book when everything else went back to the library.  This is another book that explores the animals of the Savannah.  The boys all loved practicing standing like the Masai herdsman.  It was fun to reinforce the same topic from different angles!

This Is the Tree ~ This is a book that delightfully illustrates the importance and majesty of the baobab tree.  As I mentioned previously, Keegan (4.5) was quite taken with this wonderful tree and its role in this region of the world.

My Rows and Piles of Coins ~ This was a tear-jerker (for mom).  The boys were immediately drawn into the story of a boy who saved the coins he received from helping his mother in hopes of buying a bicycle.  It was a great way to segue into a discussion on poverty and how differently most of the world lives.  With renewed gratefulness they went out and rode their bikes afterwards.

Beatrice's Goat ~ This was another wonderful book that beautifully communicated the high value of much less.  It is about the transformation of one family's fortune after receiving the gift of a goat.  For those that like to donate money towards buying livestock for those in third-world countries, this will help your kids understand what an impact that can have on a family and a village.

Honey... Honey... Lion! ~ This tale is just a whole lot of fun.  My children love everything they've read by Jan Brett and this book was no exception.  They've already asked if we could check this book out again!

Jubela ~ Another tear-jerker (for mom) with a happy ending about the rare occurrence of a baby rhino who was adopted by an older female.