Handwriting A-Z Uppercase

A-Z Uppercase writing for my kindergartener.

 Download the file for yourself here.

We use these sorts of things in a sheet protector so we only have to print it once.  Use a dry erase marker instead and do it again and again!

Toys are Overrated #6- erasers

Who needs toys when you have ERASERS!

 

Toys are Overrated #5- wood and sticks

 Who needs toys when you've got wood and sticks!

Anytime we go for a walk, mom can I bring this stick home?  If there's wood or sticks somewhere, you know they are playing with it!

old pics...but always a current toy!

 

A Lion is after me.

What would you do if you turned around and there was a lion roaring in your face?  

I mean, you're not at a zoo....there is no cage, and he is getting ready to have his dinner.

You, being the main course.

Honestly.  Think about it.  Wouldn't you be scared?  Would you ever want to go back to that "place", wherever that may have happened?

Well, here is my thought on life today, and what I need help with.  I'm hoping when I share my heart in some of these aspects some of you may comment to help, or admit you understand.  Please feel free to share, I'd love to hear from you.

The fact is, there IS a Lion.  Right Behind You (and me)!

1 Peter 5:8  

⁸ Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

I'm going to be completely honest.  I don't even know who's all out there, but I don't really have another to bear my soul to, so it's you, blog readers.

I have too many places where this roaring lion searches out for me.  So it really makes it hard for me to want to go back to those places.  What am I to do?  Where am I to turn?   The devil knows my weaknesses, and I don't know how to get him to stop throwing them in my face.

Not to say there's only one.  But my biggest weakness is......hmmm......I'm dumbfounded as I type because more than one word is going through my head.  Let's say, lack of control.  I'm not a 'big life' planner...I mean, I plan events, and things for the here and now, and enjoy organizing that kind of stuff.  But I've never really planned out my life, long term.  Except for one thing.  I wanted to get married and have kids.  Right away.  And really, who doesn't expect that to happen?  Isn't that the normal occurrence of life?

But it didn't happen, right away.  And it didn't happen how I dreamed/thought it would happen.  (Am I thankful for my children.  By all means!  I love them, and would never take it back.)  But the longing for something that hasn't been, and feels like it will never be, is unbearable.  And I think, it's all about the lack of control.  I didn't get to choose, when I would have kids, or how they would come to me.  And for most people it's a given.  They are just going to have a baby, and most likely whenever they want, (or so it seems to those of us) i.e. try for it, and it happens the first time or even sooner then they planned.  Either way, for most people it's a joy, no matter the timing.  But that's the struggle for me.

Because everywhere I go, the lion is roaring at me, taunting me.....

"Ha, ha....look around you, most everyone else in this room has what you want, EXCEPT YOU!"

"Look over there, look how happy that mom is with their new baby, look, look, look.....now look at your arms, and how they've been empty from a baby for 9 years."  

"Your dream is dead, you can never go back in time and get what you wanted."

________________________________________

That's a kicker....I DON'T WANT MY DREAM TO DIE!  PLEASE.  It's not even that complicated of a dream or desire.  It's a natural tendency that happens to people (other people) every day.
To bear a child.


Now tell me, how do I fight back from that?


I feel like I drowning by this pressure, and no one knows.  How can you pull me up from drowning when you don't know I'm drowning? Right?  Well, now I'm telling you, I'm drowning here!  Help me!


I know my problem.  It's the fixing it part, that I'm struggling with.



 

Meal planning-MOPS

Welcome to my blog MOPS ladies!

Here's all the quick links for everything we talked about in our lesson today.

Easy Cookbook
Scrapbook cookbook
Meal planning
Pantry Organization

The meal plan list of recipes given to you... here are the links for a quick find on the recipes.

Taco Chicken, Chicken Parmesan, Salsa Chicken, Chicken Salad, Chicken Tortilla Soup, Italian Dunkers, Burrito Hotdish, Taco Soup, Lasagna Skillet, Pepperoni Pockets,  Homemade Pizza, Philly Cheese Steak, Grilled Cheese, 7 Layer Rigatoni, No-Time Pesto, BLT's




And here's some already put together meal weeks....plus the links to find all the recipes.

Weekly Menu 1-Soup Week
Weekly Menu 2 
Weekly Menu 3
Weekly Menu 4
Weekly Menu 5
Weekly Menu 6
Weekly Menu 7



Enjoy!





 

Colossians 1:18

Memory Verse

Colossians 1:18 Verse Match for my 2nd grader.

Download the file here.

Print 2 copies of the verse.  Cut on apart and use the other one underneath to match it up.  After a while you will be able to put the verse in order without using the bottom piece to match the letters up!

Colossians 1:18 Verse Tracing for my kindergartener.

Download the file here.  Trace the verse while saying it.

Use a sheet protector and dry erase marker and you can do this again and again without printing it multiple times!


Enjoy learning God's Word!



**Feel free to use all of my materials.  Please just leave my website on the bottom of the page.






 

Handwriting 0-20 Tracing

0-20 Trace and writing practice.

Download the file here.

We love to put these in a sheet protector and use dry erase markers so we can do it again and again without having to print a new one every day.

Enjoy, and share with others!

 

Handwriting a-z lowercase

A new tracing/writing lowercase letters for my kindergartener.

a-z lowercase handwriting worksheet

a-z Lowercase Trace and Write.

Download it here.

We put these in sheet protectors so we can use a dry erase marker and do it multiple times without having to print it out every day!

 

Toys are Overrated #4-String

 Who needs toys when you have paper string, or real string for that matter!

Every time I scrapbook, my kids argue over who's going to get this paper string that is left over from my tape runner.

Mom, can I have that string this time?!

 

John 15:5

In our school curriculum we are learning this verse over the next two weeks.

I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him; he will bear much fruit.  Apart from me you can do nothing.  John 15:5


Along with saying the verse together every day, and playing the erasing game on the white board; I made a tracing sheet of the verse for my kindergartener, and a verse match for my second grader.

John 15:5 Tracing verse Download here.

This is for  my kindergartener.

 

Verse Match Download here.

Print twice.  Cut one out and laminate. Then lay over top of the original, to put the verse in order, or put together without the sheet on the bottom.  Easiest is used with "older" children.  This is for my 2nd grader.

 

John 1:29

Memory Verse  John 1:29

Download this file here.

Learn this verse.  Print and Laminate.  Leave one verse normal, and cut the other one apart.  Match them to the words to memorize the verse while putting it in order.  Eventually you will be able to just use the letters and put the verse in order without the extra help underneath!



And for my kindergartener.  Tracing the verse.

Download the file here.

Enjoy learning these verses, whatever your age!



**Feel free to print and share my information.  Just please leave my website at the bottom of the page.

 

Toys are Overrated #3-cups and dice

Who needs toys when you have cups and dice!

My kids will sit at the table and play with cups and lots of dice for a long time!  Stack them, sort them, guess which one has the most in it.

 

Cashew Chicken

Cashew Chicken Stir-Fry

2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup corn starch
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken
2 garlic cloves
1 cup thinly sliced carrots
2 cups chopped broccoli
1-2 cups snap peas
1 cup cashews

In a skillet, or wok, heat 3 Tbsp of the chicken broth.  Mix the rest of the broth with the soy sauce and corn starch in another bowl and set aside.  Add chicken to the wok and stir fry over medium heat until no longer pink.  Remove and keep warm.  Add garlic, carrots, peas and broccoli to the pan with a little bit of olive oil.  Fry until heated through and crisp-tender.  Stir in the broth mixture with the chicken.  Cook and stir 2-4 minutes to let the sauce thicken.  Mix in the cashews last right before serving.  Serve over hot rice.

 

Science-Cell

Make your own model of a cell.

First make some jell-o.  Make it in a bowl and leave it sit on the counter for an hour or so.  Until it is room temperature.  Then put it in a plastic baggie and put in the fridge for over night.

The next day you put a grape, or black olive or something in there to represent the nucleus.  Then some other smaller beans to represent the organelles.  The baggie is the cell membrane(skin). 

Now you have a ginormous example of one of the miniscule cells in your body!

A small excerpt from the book we were looking at.

Happy Experimenting!



 

What good is a broken cup?

Have you ever wanted something so bad?!!  I mean, so bad that even after those, years and years of wanting it you almost felt like...... now if I ever DO get that thing, will I ever really be satisfied?


Interestingly enough, I was watching a kids movie with the boys....Kung Fu Panda 2 to be exact.  Well if you haven't seen it, there is a jealous peacock, and a wise old ram tells him, "The cup you are trying to fill has no bottom."

Huh.....I was taken-a-back by that piece of wisdom, especially given the source. :)   And then it started to creep into my brain more and more, and I was wondering...

Do I ever act like that?

I do know, there are things I've wanted, 

for years....

Desires, I've longed for, 

for years....

 

and years.....

and the years are still passing by.....

and I am still waiting for this dream....

to be (completely) fulfilled.....

but will it.....

just some?  

Or all of it?

How much?

And when?

How can anyone ever fill a cup that doesn't have a bottom?  Can you picture it?  All your efforts are basically a waste of time, because everything you are "going for".....

All those desires you are hoping to fulfill, or receive.....

It's slipping right through the cracks, or right out the bottom, and never actually filling you up, or being used, or being counted as a blessing, or a reward, or the list could go on.

Hmmm, so does my cup have a bottom?  Am I taking in the blessings I have been given, or am I letting them get away instead?  

Well I can gratefully say that my cup does have a bottom, and there are no other holes either, because Jesus fills in those gaps!

Don't let your cup break.  Don't let your cup have a hole in it.  Jesus is the glue that will hold you together.  All you need is Jesus to fix your cup, and He will fill it up. 

Then you will be ready to take in those little blessings all around you that God sends your way, and watch them outpour onto those around you.

Besides....we need to remember, we are put here to glorify God, and to please HIM!  Not to please ourselves.

Psalm 19:14- Lord, may the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart, be pleasing in YOUR eyes.  You are my rock and my redeemer. (NIRV) (emphasis mine)

And, life is not about what we want, but what God wants for us!

Isaiah 55: 8-9

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Hebrews 13:5
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” 

After all....what good is a broken cup?