Menu Plan Monday - Nov. 10

Monday - pigs n a blanket

Tuesday - fried chicken, corn, mashed potatoes

Wednesday - broccoli cheese soup

Thursday - cheese ravioli, garlic bread

Friday - out of town for the day?

Saturday - dinner with family

For more yummy menu ideas, visit Organizing Junkie.

Activity: Scarecrow Paper Craft

This was Friday morning's activity: Scarecrow Paper Craft. Since we don't have a color printer right now it took a bit of time for me to color (Eli's not too into coloring) and cut out the pieces ahead of time. But ya know what, I love coloring on my own, so it was kinda fun!

carefully gluing, piece by piece

smack it down good! (I think that's his favorite part)all done! He's gotten so good at posing for me! =)
what a cute little feller!

Activity: Apple printing

My friend Amy has done this activity a couple times and then when I saw it again here as I was looking for activities the other day I thought, "Yeah, we could do this." Turned out a little trickier than I had anticipated. I think I should have added just a few drops of water to the paint. I think having a little thinner of paint would have made it easier to work with. But it was a fun project nonetheless.

the setup

At first Eli was just smearing the apples on the paper, but then he got the idea of stamping and was even looking for white on the page for places to stamp next.

Stay tuned for how we burn some energy on these colder days when we're stuck inside. Happy Friday!

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful that God already has a plan for us. He already knows what's next in our life, what Kevin's job will be, where we will live. He already knows. Therefore I do not have to worry about what our next meal will be, because God always provides. Always. (Matt. 7:25-34) He has a purpose for all that happens, for this time that we are just waiting for news on Kevin's job. He is teaching us and strengthening us and helping us to be more like Jesus and to trust in our Eternal Father. And for that I am thankful.

Psalm 139:16 "All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Proverbs 19:21 "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."

Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."

For more Thankful Thursday visit Iris.

Activity: Fall Handprint Wreath

So I finally had time to look up some toddler activities today and was excited about all that I found! Tons for fall, so we got right to it today with this one: autumn hand print wreath.

Eli had so much fun having me trace his hand. He was all giggly like a little baby, haha!It took a little while for me to cut them all out, but Eli helped by picking which color I cut next for each hand. Now they're all done!The big pile waiting to be glued on.
Then I used a piece of paper that Eli had already colored on and cut a circle about the size of a whipped topping container. And Eli helped glue on each hand to make the wreath. Ta da!
In the middle I wrote "Eli Fall 2008" and now it's proudly displayed on our fridge.

The other activities I'm doing in the next couple weeks:
Apple prints
Scarecrow Paper Craft
Sunflower Paper Plate Craft
Autumn Tree Craft--I'm going to make this two parts the week of Thanksgiving. One day we'll make the tree and then another day we'll write on each leaf things that we're thankful for, like family, friends, house, etc.

Save $1000

I know we're already 4 days into November, but check out this Save $1000 in 30 Days Challenge. Just thought if you were doing the Total Money Makeover (or even if you're not), you might be interested in checking this out, whether you do it this month or another month or just steal some saving tips.

Holiday Wreath

As we've been staying in parents' house I got a vision for there to be a holiday wreath above the dining room hutch since there was just an empty space there between the two windows.

Since it's a big dining room where we hope to celebrate many holidays I imagined a colorful wreath that we would change according to the seasons. After approving the idea with my mother I excitedly offered to take the van to the city for its needed oil change so we could then go to a Hobby Lobby to check out decorations. We picked a weekend and the boys stayed home and off we went! The wreathes there were $99 each but on our own we made it for less than $30. I'm no florist (though it would be fun!) but I think it turned out pretty nice and it gives the look I was hoping for! I'm excited to make a Christmas wreath in just a month! Check out my friend Amy's fall wreath here.

Anger Management.

I try to be real on this blog. I don't want to just share all the good ideas and happy stories. I want to share the ups and downs, in hopes that it would help even one person out there dealing with the same thing. So today I want to open myself to you readers and share an area in which I've been struggling: anger towards my 2-yr old toddler. I've had a really hard time lately controlling my anger and frustrations with Eli. I've been disciplining out of anger and yelling and just not being a good example to my son. I know it and I hate it and I so want get control again. I was talking to a close friend about it, got some good ideas from her, and have been reflecting on the following Bible verses on anger and patience:

Proverbs 14:17 "A quick-tempered man does foolish things, and a crafty man is hated."

Proverbs 14:29 "A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly."

Proverbs 16:32 "Better is a patient man than a warrior, a man on who controls his temper than one who takes a city."

Proverbs 19:11 "A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense."

Ephesians 4:22-5:2 "...put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness... In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold... Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs [even to my toddler]... Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another [even to my toddler], forgiving each other, just as Christ God forgave you. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love..."

Colossians 3:8,12-14 "But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips... as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."

Galatians 5:22 "...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."

1 Corinthians 10:13 "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."

Ecclesiastes 7:9 "Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools."

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If I don't display patience, kindness, and self-control then I am no better off than my toddler throwing tantrums. He will learn more from watching me then he will ever learn from what I tell him. It is so very important for me to get a grip on life and give him a good example to follow by using God as my strength instead of relying on myself.

When I was talking to my friend Angie she gave me some good ideas of how to discipline. They had just started this with their toddler and it sounded good to me, so we gave it a shot and so far I think it's really helping! So here's what we do: first step, when Eli disobeys or does something he knows he shouldn't we take him into the bathroom for his discipline. This alone makes a HUGE difference. 1) That short walk into a separate room helps me calm down and get control of the situation. 2) It helps to separate Eli from what he's upset about, whether it's a certain toy he wants or something he's wanting to get at. second step, spanking. third step, since disobeying us is disobeying God, we have Eli say, "Sorry, God, for _____ (yelling at Mommy, throwing the toy, hitting Grandma, etc)" I love that this step helps Eli recognize and confess what he has done wrong. fourth step, we don't leave the bathroom until Eli is calmed down. When we do return to the scene of the crime, Eli is so much better. He really seems to be responding well to this. And it's also easy to follow through when we're not at home, because we're already used to going to a separate room. So, thank you, Angie for all your help!

Activity: Collages

I did this one with Eli a couple weeks ago. As we were cleaning things out for our move, I went through all my old magazines cutting out pictures for Eli to use to make collages. All kinds of pictures of things he relates to: dogs, Elmo, teddy bears, milk carton, flowers, flags, cars, balls...anything. I put them all in a baggie and in his craft box so they'd already be ready whenever we wanted to do this activity. The way we do it is I draw a star on the paper where I want Eli to glue, and then he sticks the picture on. If it's a big picture then I draw a big star, and so on. Just a simple thing, but he gets so excited about it!

Activity: Pumpkin Faces

Today's fall activity was making pumpkin faces. I drew four pumpkins on construction paper, then cut out face pieces and separated them into piles for eyes, noses, and mouths. Then Eli picked which eyes he wanted, found a matching eye, then nose and mouth and I helped him glue them on. Very easy, but boy, was he excited about it!

All set up

Working hardPressing it downSo happy

Eli showing off his work: #1#2

#3

#4Finished productsNow on display in the dining room!