For those of you that have little ones that are of age to begin having daily chores, here is a great chore chart you can create that will help your little one to remember what their daily responsibilities are.
Here's what you need:
Cork Board
Fabric
Thumb Tacks
Twine
Scrapbook Paper
Mini Clothes Pins
Acrylic Paint
Marker
First cut the fabric a little bigger than our cork board.
Get your thumb tacks out. Wrap the fabric around the the cork board and tack the fabric to the back. I reinforced the fabric with hot glue because my tacks weren't staying very well because the back of my cork bard has a layer of cardboard backing.
Next punch out one tag so you can use it to help space out your twine.
Once you have your example tag then wrap, measure off and cut 6 strands of twine. One for the heading and 5 for each weekday, Monday through Friday. Tie the twine around the board. I reinforced mine with hot glue so they would't slide down.
Once you have your six twine rows secure then you can finish punching out the rest of your tags. Punch out as many as you need for each day.
Then get your marker and write out 5 tags with a day on each one (Monday through Friday). Then on the other tags write down the chores you want your little one to do each day on one side. On the other side draw a smiley face :O)
Get your mini clothes pins out and, starting on the second row of twine for Monday, hang each chore you would like your little one(s) to complete for that day. Then go on to the next row for Tuesday and do the same. Keep moving on to the next row for the next day until you complete Friday on the 6th row of twine.
You're almost done with your little ones chore chart!
Last you'll get your acrylic paint out and paint a title on a rectangular strip of scrapbook paper. I chose a simple title, "daily chores". Then hang it on the top row of twine.
Tah-dah! Your little one has a wonderful chore chart to refer to each day to complete their daily chores. It's great fun for them to complete a task for the day and then flip the task around to reveal a wonderful smile :O) This will help your little one to gain self-respect knowing that they are helping contribute to their personal up-keep and will be able to grow confidence as they help contribute to maintaining the family household.
I hope you enjoy creating this fun chore chart for your little one!
Valentine's Day is around the corner and every little one is looking forward to spreading their love of candy. Here's a wonderful, inexpensive way to create a cute Valentine goody bag with your little one at home!
What you'll need:
Yarn
ModPodge
Wax Paper
Small Paper Bags
Scrapbook Paper
Pipe Cleaners
Googly Eyes
First, cut the yarn one yard long for each heart you're going to make.
Get your wax paper out and draw hearts about 3 inches big.
Then mix 1 part water with 3 parts ModPodge in a bowl to create your glue.
(I love her little feet!)
(I love the cute faces she makes!)
Take a strand of yarn and soak it in the glue mixture. Squeeze some of the excess glue from the yarn.
Put the yarn together squiggly like on the hearts you drew. I outlined each heart with the yarn first then squiggle the yarn back and forth. Then press the yarn down with your fingers to flatten the strands so they dry together better. Let them dry overnight.
Once they're dry, peel them off of the wax paper. Now you have the "body" of your goody bag!
Next get your scrap paper and cut small hearts. You're going to use these to create wings.
Glue the hearts to the sides of the bags for the wings.
Then glue on the yarn hearts you made the night before.
Next get your pipe cleaners and clip them small enough to create antenna's and a smile :O)
Next glue on some googly eyes and see your little goody bag come to life!
Now for the fun part, fill you bag with some sweet treats! :O)
Nickelbug and I had so much fun making these together!! :O) I hope you do too!
The other day I saw in passing a picture, or sign, or status, something, that mentioned a line about "do life with your children" and it's been in my head ever since. I tried to track down where I saw that, but couldn't. It's been rolling around in my mind the past few days and my thoughts have been similar to: "Do life with your kids? Isn't that what a parent does from the time their child emerges into their world?" I mean, we're responsible for them and we're with them most of the time if they aren't in school. Every. Day.
So, through my days of musing, I've started to develop bionic ears becoming super attentive to what Nickels has been sharing with me. I've become super sensitive to how I'm speaking to her and ultra aware of the quality of time we have together. Mentally picking apart the times I get short with her and sound snippy and other times where I might not be fully listening and then snap back to reality when I realize she's saying, "Mama...Mama...," over and over again to get my attention. It's easier to get caught up in over analyzing where I'm lacking as a parent than to see all the love I'm pouring over her and the good I'm instilling in her.
Last night, since it was chilly outside, I decided we were going to get a fire going and do her homework together by the fire. When we were almost done with her homework that's when it dawned on me: "This is doing life with my little one!" It's moments like this that define "do life with your children" to me. It's moments like this that will build her trust in me and create in her a desire to be close throughout life. It's moments like this that will make her want to go grab a coffee with me and share with me what is going on in her world. It's as simple as that. Creating a warm fire (a favorite of the Librizzi Girls) and making a pallet on the floor and getting cozy together in front of it. (AND we got her homework done at the same time! #winning ) :O)
{Our pallet by the fire last night, doing her homework together}
Keep things simple. Relax some and enjoy the journey with your little one(s). You always have control of simplifying as you move ahead on your journey. Don't beat yourself up and over analyze how you do things, or what you don't do, or what you say or don't say. Breathe with a sigh of relief that you can keep things simple...it's your face time, your loving words, and cuddles that mean the most to your little ones in their young years. Simple. Flying a kite, reading a book, painting a pumpkin, sitting by a fire, coloring, etc.
Turn a new leaf and step forward with a simpler, fresh perspective. It'll make both you and your little one(s) smile :O)
{The day we flew a kite together. I love her smile}
My two favorite loves + good food + some creative time = recipe of a perfect time together. Several weeks ago we went to Ruibal’s at the Downtown
Dallas Farmers Market and picked up a few pumpkins to hack away on. Oh boy was that fun! We picked out a large, medium, and small
pumpkin; different ones to represent each of us.
When checking out, we grabbed a pumpkin carving kit to aid us in our
adventure. The key to carving a
phenomenal pumpkin is the pumpkin carving kit.
Truly, it worked like a dream!
It was so nice to be outside soaking up the nice weather and
fall colors. After picking out the
perfect pumpkins we had a nice dinner on a patio while the sun slipped away to
slumber. Once our tummies were singing
from being nourished, we headed to my condo to start de-gutting our
pumpkins. Sounds morbid, but it was so much fun! After clearing out the insides, I separated
the seeds and roasted them in the oven, like this:
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
What you
need:
Fresh
pumpkin seeds
Olive oil or
coconut oil (I used a little of each)
Sea Salt
Pepper
Cumin
Thyme
Rosemary Garlic and Herb mix (salt free) from Sprouts
What to do:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the pumpkin seeds on a foiled cookie
sheet. Coat them with olive oil and/or
coconut oil, mixing them together to distribute the oil evenly. Then sprinkle on the above herbs/spices to
your taste. Some of you might like more
of certain spices and less of others.
Gauge it by what you know you like best.
OR, you can just do small pinches of each one. Mix them all up together to distribute the
seasonings evenly then place them in the oven for about 40 minutes. If you want them toastier just keep them in a
little longer and keep an eye on them.
They are uber yummy, so enjoy! Our pumpkins turned out uber fantastical too!! :O)
People speak in one of two ways, they either speak
life or they speak death. Consider what
sounds best to your own ears; is it going to get better or is it going to get
worse? Its a quick and easy response for
most peeps: most would rather hear someone speaking that it is getting
better! #speakinglife!
Speaking life means to be claiming good things to and
for people, and over you as well! Here are some examples of words of love
that speak life into people: words that edify, build up, increase, words of expansion,
and multiplication, magnification, words of encouragement, and abundance!
Get ready you guys (and gals)! Manifestations
of uber superbness are getting ready to chase you down and overtake you!
You are uber blessed and highly favored, Gods favor gives you the biggest
advantage, you are protected from all sides, breakthroughs are coming, AND
you will be a blessing to each person around you, you have the power to make
wealth and are being healed from the inside out in this very moment! Receive that?
I sure hope so!
There might be some who are a bit hesitant and think
me a goon at this point to accept the declarations above. So let’s connect the words of love that I am
speaking about with the words of God. After
all, He IS love and is always speaking life over us :O)
My father used to always tell me (in my stubborn days)
about a scripture that says it’s the little foxes that spoil the vine. It's finally clicking in my head why he was
sharing that. Read Song of
Solomon 2:15; Catch all the foxes, those little foxes, before
they ruin the vineyard of love, for the grapevines are blossoming! Clear
out your home of those things that could bring you and your loved ones down,
remove negative statements from your speech.
You don't want your love compromised!
The words that you speak are where it all starts. James 3:10-11 says;And so
blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right! Does a spring of water bubble out with both
fresh water and bitter water? You can't have both positive and
negative statements coming out of your mouth and it not confuse
your inner peace (and those around you).
Choose words that bring more peace to your heart and into your home.
More times than not, we need to check ourselves before
we open up our mouths and let our emotions do the talking for us (especially
us ladies, we tend to wear our emotions on our sleeve and it ends up nipping us
in the bottom).We need to think before we
speak. (side note: I'm not preaching to
the choir on this, I'm having a heart-to-heart with myself about it and just sharing
what I'm learning :O) We need to come to a place in our thoughts
and in our soul that rejects the words of comparison, the words of lack, the
words of deficiency, the words of absence, and the words of unworthiness in our
lives. We need to reject the negative
words spoken over us, and reject the negative words that we often speak about
ourselves, our situations, and to other people.
We also need to be cognizant of those negative trails for our loved ones;
sometimes our loved ones need a little course correction. Let's be their little helpers by letting them
know (lovingly) how they are talking about themselves and/or their situations,
at the same time showing them how they should be speaking life.
Have you thought about what could happen if you were
speaking life over your relationships and/or situations? If you haven't, then take a moment to do
so: Speaking life over your significant
other, and over yourself? Over your
family, and your children? Those words
of love and adoration are life giving water.
All emotions are altered, attitudes are changed, joy increases and love
fills the air! Why speak discouragement
and defeat over the people you love and yourself, when you can be speaking
words of hope and love?!
Far too often people begin with believing for the
lesser, and then hope they see the greater someday. We can have stronger love and greater peace within our hearts and in our homes. We have the power to alter that in our lives
and for those we love by changing our speech!
All that you need is already within you; you are going to make it, you
are going to rise up, you are going to overcome, you have greater ability than
you may have previously thought, possibilities are limitless for you, nothing
can stop you from obtaining the life that God says is yours!
Take a moment and check within yourself, do you sense
anything within you that has changed? It's
the speaking of life over you that has just impacted your attitude. You
already have a better outlook right now than you did when you started reading
this little love note! You look as good
as your outlook, mind to take some time to note what thoughts you’re
entertaining and statements you are speaking.
For a more tangible way to compare it, think about fruit. Personally, I am in to fresh fruit, and would
rather stay away from icky, sour apples! This is something I'm already teaching to Nickelbug. The foundation for our children starts when they are little ones :O)
I hope you are encouraged and have a brighter horizon you're gazing at after reading this! Please watch the music video by Toby Mac: Speak Life . I hope it inspires you and puts a smile on your face :O)
