Dr. Rylee's X-rays

If you have read this blog for any length of time, you may be familiar with my Little Mister's health issues. Recently we had another bone age X-ray done (along with tons of other tests). I used this simple craft I've seen online to kind of get him ready to have another "picture" taken of his hands.

I traced his hand with chalk on a black piece of construction paper. Then we used pieces of Q-tips and glued them down for bones.

Today we are headed over to Ochsner Children's Hospital in New Orleans to visit with the doctor and discuss some of the test results!

Read more about our Dr. Visits here:

An Apple A Day

Little is Much

Protect Their Imaginations

My pastor was teaching in the book of Ephesians the other night. He said something that struck a cord in me and has been bouncing around my head ever since.

God made a check list for us to follow when putting on his whole armor. In part, the Belt of Truth to protect our loins. What are the loins but the reproductive part of us. In the Hebrew, it can also mean our imaginations. We "dream" things up and then act upon those dreams to make it a reality. Much like an architect imagined the skyscraper; the same as an artist imagining what will become of the lump of clay they are starting to mold.
The hard part these days is guarding the imaginations of our young ones.

In a world so bent on corruption, how can we afford to let our guards down where our children are concerned.

Violent video games, movies, books, even cartoons all seek to distort our children's imaginations.

To corrupt them in a way that their imaginations are no longer pure and innocent.

I have begun to pray a covering over my son's mind from the evil of this world. Purity of mind is such a precious thing. I constantly marvel at the workings of my Little Mister's imagination. He is so loving and sweet. 

Therefore put on God's complete armor, that you may be able to resist and stand your ground on the evil day and having done all, to stand.

We made a Belt of Truth and read the scripture. 
Ephesians 6:10-18

Cranks Delivering Cards

O.K., we have this group of pre-school kiddos at my church that get together at least once a month to do crafts, just play or go on field trips. Last month, we got together and made special Christmas cards which we were going to deliver to two of the apartment complexes in town that house elderly folks. 

We had a good time making the cards. Each child traced hands and feet enough to make three cards apiece.

These are Little Mister's cards! CUTE!

Well, December rolls around and we had to reschedule our first date because of rain.... and it kept raining!

Finally, a date was set AND every child cried the entire time we were delivering the cards! What are the odds, EVERY kid? My child is a people lover and he even wanted me to hold him almost the entire time! He would not even hold one of the cards.

Isn't that just like kids?! 

Oh well, the Mommy's laughed and had a good time anyway!

MERRY CHRISTMAS from THE CRANKS!

Wreath - Share A Smile

 Paper Plates, Paint, Pom-Poms and Blobs of Glue = Lots of Smiles

We made bunches of these and took them down to the hospital to decorate the rooms of patients that would be staying over the holidays.

Ever wonder why we decorate with holly wreaths for Christmas? I did!

The Legend of the Holly Wreath
A young orphan boy was living with the shepherds when the herald angels appeared announcing the glad tidings of Christ's birth. On the way to Bethlehem, the child wove a crown of holly branches for the newborn king. But when he lay it before Jesus, the crown looked so unworthy that the little shepherd became ashamed of his gift and began to cry. Then the Christ Child reached out, touched the crown, caused its leaves to sparkle shiny and green, and turned the orphan's tears into scarlet berries.

Puzzle Reindeer Magnet

 What to do with all those odd puzzle pieces?

Easy reindeer magnets for school or church friends, aunts and cousins!

All you need:

3 puzzle pieces

2 google eyes

1 pom-pom

and a magnet

Reindeer Hand Garland

I Love reindeer AND I love making handprint crafts with my Little Mister. Naturally the two were destine to collide!

I traced his hand on some thin cardboard paper. I used the one and traced it 7 more times. Santa had 8 reindeer right? After I cut them out, I hot glued a red ribbon across the back. I then cut some free handed antlers from a used file folder. Little Mister glued on their noses (beads) and eyes.

Lovely. They're gracefully dancing across my mantle as we speak.

A treasure for many years to come!


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Santa in Shapes

  Little Mister has been walking around singing,

 "Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Santa Clause is Coming to Town"!

 I guess squishing 2 Christmas Carols together makes it so much better!

Since we have been singing about Santa for some time now, I thought we should add him to our holiday craft line-up!

You need:

4 Rectangles

3 Circles

2 Triangles

1 Square

some cotton balls and google eyes

 We first sorted our shapes into groups. 

We counted them (each group and then all together). 

Then, we grouped by color.

Finally, I handed him a glue stick!

 He was proud!

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A Snowflake Authority - Bentley

By: Jacqueline Briggs Martin

What a great book. It is an autobiography about Wilson "Snowflake" Bentley, a photographer/scientist who studied snowflakes. Over time he discovered that all snowflakes are different.

Actual photos by Bentley

We made several different snowflakes of our own. And being true to science... no two were alike!

Buttons, pom-poms, glitter, cotton balls, gems and sequins ... Oh My!

Jericho, Vermont

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That Snowman Knows My Name

Little Mister is currently obsessed with the alphabet! However, he can't quite get the song exactly right...

I usually hear, "a, c, g, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z. Can I have a cookie please!" Weird part is, he can say them but can't sing it?!

Today we made a name snowman. I let little man put the letters in order several times before we glued them together. 

Practice makes perfect!

Educational turned decorational! 

HeeHee

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You're a WHoot! with printables

Owls seem to be everywhere all of a sudden. I'm not jumping on the bandwagon, but my Little Mister really likes them. I am always trying to appeal to his interests when thinking of some learning activities. So, we have owls! 

 The free printables at the end of this post include: matching, fill in the color, letter recognition, complete the pattern, counting skills, maze, pre-writing skills, trace the letter and size sorting.

I hope you will try them with your kiddos and give me some feedback. Enjoy!

But first, Whoo Loves You? We made a cute little frame to answer that question!

We painted 6 large craft sticks brown. Then, we glued them all together. We added juice lids for eyes and a construction paper beak. Little Mister picked out this particular picture that he wanted in the frame. One of my early favorites of the chunky monkey!

We also made a cute little owlet from a pine cone, two cotton balls, two google eyes, a construction paper beak and a cardboard circle. Easy and very cute!

Did you know you can dry and make your pine cones open by placing them in the oven? It also leaves a warm, earthy smell in your house! Love it.

Some great owl-ee books we enjoyed also:

Here are our owl-lovin' printables for the week! If you try them please give me some feedback. I want to know what you liked or (gulp) disliked about them. Thanks and enjoy!

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