When I first started Impress Your Kids it was because of a little blog I found called No Time For Flashcards. When I say little, of course, I mean HUGE and AMAZING. Allison, the author is an amazingly creative insightful mama who uses crafts to teach her son the alphabet and more. I got to meet and chat with Allison at Blissdom and fell even more in love with her!

This week Allie released her first ebook: Alphabet Crafts.

Don’t you love it already? Each letter has it’s own craft that kinda reminds me of The Letter People. (Remember them?) Each craft is made out of EASY materials, nothing crazy you need to buy or learn to use. (This is important to me. I am not as crafty as I look…)

Lydia and I looked at every single craft and she decided we needed to do the V vase.

Is that the most adorable thing you’ve ever seen?! Lydia had such a fun time. We talked about colors, “v” words, our “v” verse, flowers, long and short stems and more! Every letter in the book is like this: a really great craft that shows the sound, the word and the letter.

You can get your own copy of Alphabet Crafts for a mere $8 by going to No Tme For Flash Cards. {Please do! You will love it!} Or you can win one here! Allie has generously offered up a copy for one of our readers! If you’d like to win a copy of Alphabet Crafts…

Leave a comment telling me a descriptive word starting with the first letter of your name (ie. Amazing Amanda!)

If you’d like an additional entry, leave a separate comment if you:

1. Subscribe (or be a subscriber) to Impress Your Kids.

2. Tweet the following: I wanna win @NoFlashCards’ new “Alphabet Crafts” ebook from @impressyourkids! http://wp.me/pw8ov-H4

3. Share this post on your facebook/tumblr/blog/sampler.

I’ll announce the winner on our fyi@iyk post this Saturday! Thanks again to Allison from No Time For Flash Cards. Please read her blog, follow her on twitter–you’ll love her, I promise!

No disclosure necessary because I bought my own Alphabet Crafts ebook. I asked Allison if she would like to give one away on our blog. I just wanted to spread the love for her!

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The snow is gone and spring is teasing us with upper 60 degree temps and sweetly singing birds. Yesterday I took the kids to the park for a picnic and good spin around the playground. We were there for at least 2 hours. When it was almost time to go I gave Lydia ample warning: “We’ll be leaving in ten minutes.” and then, “Lydia, you can go down the slide two more times and then we’re leaving.” She was in the middle of playing with a new friend and did NOT want to leave. She walked up to me with a pouty look on her face. I bent down and said, “Lydia. What is Philippians 2:14?”

She said (slightly begrudgingly), “Do everything without complaining or arguing.” (<–I want to remember that voice forever!)

I replied, “OK. That means ‘leave the park without complaining or arguing.’ Now, go finish swinging and then say good-bye to your friend.”

She walked back to her friend, pushed the swing once or twice and when I said, “OK, let’s go!” She skipped happily to me and the car.

I kid you not.

I didn’t say anything right away. I got everyone buckled in, rolled down the windows and started driving. Then I said, “Lydia, do you know what happened back there? You wanted to disobey. But when you said God’s Word, your spirit got stronger! And you obeyed! How does that feel?”

Lydia: “Yaaaay! I was obedient! I love being obedient!! Yaaay!” (complete with leg kicks and squeals)

Again, I kid you not.

In these moments (which are not everyday, of course), I can almost see and feel that God’s Word is literally a sword. I can see how God’s Word is living and active! I’ve noticed on the days where I don’t remind Lydia of scripture and we don’t talk about God’s Word, that we all have a rougher day. Neither of us are easy to please. But when I take the first step and keep us BOTH in line with God’s Word, her actions respond to it. I can SEE the seeds of God’s Word growing in her life!

This is what God meant in Deuteronomy when he told us to talk about His commandments when we walk along the road and when we lay down and get up. We need a constant flow of conversation revolving around God’s Word.

Another thing that’s been helping us keep God’s Word at the forefront is books. (Remember Grandma’s Attic?) Well, I found two more short books about obedience that you might like. If I’m too upset to have a normal conversation, I like to pull these out at bed and naptimes. They are easy conversation starters on a child’s level.

Mommy, May I Hug the Fish?by Crystal Bowman

A little boy goes through his day with the constant question, “Mommy, May I…?” Sometimes she says yes and sometimes she says no. It’s a good book that reminds kids to not only ask before they act, but to obey.

Don’t Do That, Dexter by Jodee McConnaughhay

This book is a little more to the heart of the matter. Dexter is an imaginative, rambunctious little boy who disregards his parents warnings and then gets hurt or in trouble as a result. The best part of this book is that every page has a refrain, “Obey your parents in the Lord for this is right.” (Ephesians 6:1). So, Lydia has inadvertantly memorized that scripture.

This book is apparently not in print anymore but it looks like you can buy it for ONE PENNY from Amazon. So. Yeah. Buy it.

How do you keep God’s Word in the middle of your kids’ day?

photo by godogo

I’ve shared with you before about Alizeta and David, our children we sponsor through Compassion. It has been a significant experience having these children in our life. Their pictures are up in our play area. We write them letters, make them crafts and pray for them. I want my children to know and love others outside of their world. I want David and Alizeta to know and love Jesus –and to see them released from poverty and it’s mindset. My husband and I have promised Lydia that one day we will go to Burkina Faso where they live and visit them. One day it will happen.

Right now there are bloggers in Kenya with Compassion meeting their sponsored kids and seeing how Compassion works in the churches and communities there. I have been following their tweetstream and reading all their blog posts. And I am in tears. If you click on the links above you will be led to several blogs. If that’s too overwhelming start with these two posts:

A Father to the Fatherless by Brad Ruggles

Sight for the Blind by Shaun Groves

I promise you will not be the same. Please immerse yourself in their stories and consider how you can change the life of a girl or boy in Kenya, too.

photo by compassion bloggers

I am writing to you from my brand new MacBook Pro! Last week Lydia spilled a glass of water on my old laptop and it died immediately! The only computer I had was my husband’s work computer. It’s not a Mac and it felt like I was using all thumbs and one eye to type. I’m an official Mac-girl and was lost! So, I’m sorry I wasn’t around last week. I couldn’t get here and I was missing you!

While we were computer-less, it decided to snow again. So random in Georgia. Especially because the day before we were outside playing in 65 degree weather! So, when you are computer-less AND snowed in you need some fun and quick ideas to entertain and teach.

I finally decided to make a sensory tub for the kids. I just poured in a few bags of dried beans and gave the kids some measuring spoons. They did not move for a half an hour. Just pouring the beans in and out, hiding their hands and letting the beans drop through their fingers is an adventure!

I’ve read about sensory tubs on other blogs but for some reason never thought to do it. I didn’t understand what it was. And I still don’t–all I know is that my kids love it! It’s great when I’m cooking, they can sit right beside me and stir, mix and play.

Or they can throw the beans on the floor and make a mess while drooling all over your measuring spoons.

Either way, it’s a fun time!

We’re moving on from Intelligent in our “God Wants Me To Be” book to Ethusiastic (still taken from our Christian Characteristic Traits list)… 

Enthusiastic – Being excited and zealous about life!

Isn’t that kid enthusiastic?  I believe he is jumping on a bed…  What kid wouldn’t be enthusiastic about that?  It’s really easy to be enthusiastic about fun things, like jumping on a bed, or running through a sprinkler, or chocolate.  But when it comes to things we’re not so keen on…

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not men.” Colossians 3:23

The Word says “Whatever you do…” and “work at it… as working…” – God calls us to be enthusiastic about everything.  Everything we do – whatever we do.  In play and work.  In chocolate and…

…learning from your mother.  Yes, enthusiasm flowed very nicely from my last post about intelligence.  Remember?  God wants us to be intelligent – someone who is eager to learn!  Our first day using our new curriculum was Monday.  And it was like pulling nails.  We started off very simple – I asked him to circle the date on a little calendar I made for him.  And he started crying… saying he couldn’t.  That he didn’t know how to – when I know full well he circles everything under the sun on a normal day!

This actually has been a phrase he’s been repeating recently: “I can’t!” From putting down the toilet seats to drawing circles on a calendar – all things he has done many times before… When he doesn’t want to do it, all of a sudden he “can’t.”

We stopped right there, with red crayon in his hand, tears running down his cheeks.  Since this was an issue of control, not of actual ability, I grabbed up a Bible and read to him Philippians 2:14 (fresh on my mind from Amanda’s post ): “Do everything without complaining or arguing.” I gave him a huge hug, and I told him that when I asked him to do things, I knew he could do them!  I wouldn’t ask him to do something I knew he couldn’t do – and if I did, I would help him do it!  God wants him to have a happy heart at all times, not a complaining (crying) or arguing (angry) heart.  When Daddy or Mommy asked him to do anything, he should do it with a happy heart!

Elias started laughing through his tears – all it took was hearing that God wanted him to have a happy heart!  He took his red crayon and drew a careful circle around the date, and then we continued on with our little lesson – no more arguing or crying!  I dare say he even had fun doing our “school time” together.  Later that morning, we came up with a new chart for him:

When he does things with a happy heart, he gets a mark under the happy heart side.  If he argues, complains, or disobeys, he gets a mark under the angry heart.  Granted, right now the angry heart is winning out.  But he is working on it!

For example – today was Elias’s 3rd dentist appointment ever.  The first two times were rather unsuccessful – no cleanings involved, and last time, he wouldn’t even open his mouth.  But today… boy!  We had some “trial runs” in our bathroom during the past week, starring me as a dentist, and we talked the way there about being brave and excited about seeing the dentist.  We even talked about not arguing with Mommy while we were there or complaining to the dentist.  The appointment was wonderful – with a little breakdown in the middle, between cleaning the bottom and top teeth.  He started crying and saying, “I can’t!” again.   But with a prayer and some encouragement, he got the top teeth cleaned, too!  He was very enthusiastic about the whole appointment afterwards, and he has told everyone we’ve seen for the rest of the day about it.

It seems like a silly example – being enthusiastic about seeing the dentist.  But that’s a part of “whatever we do” – a part of everyday life.  It’s not always going to be fun and chocolate.  It’s going to get boring and painful and un-fun for Elias at times.  If his heart can be happy in all things, at all times, in playing cars and in homeschool, he will learn a part of Philippians 4:11: …for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.

What else can we do to help our children be enthusiastic about the un-fun things?  How can we help model this character trait for them in our lives?

this post submitted to Your Life Your Blog!

We made it! We got to the final Fruit of the Spirit! I can’t believe it. Next time I do a “unit”, I’m going to try to keep it under half a year! Sheesh.

As we’ve gone through this unit, I usually picked the fruit we’d focus on based on what was going on in our lives. That’s why self-control was first, we needed that most. Goodness seemed a little similar to the other fruits (kindness, love, etc.) so it became the last fruit I looked at. Therefore, it had no choice but to be lined up with a LIME, our very last scratch-and-sniff fruit! I could find no correlation for a lime=goodness. So, we’ll leave it at that.

SCRIPTURE

I picked a verse we already partially memorized around Halloween:

“In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16

I never want to focus on good deeds because I know it’s easy to get in the mindset that good deeds is what brings you to Jesus, or makes you worthy of His love. Jesus’ love is unconditional, He saved us because He loves us. Period.

Anyway, we’ve done lots of light crafts (including a Christian t-shirt!) so after we had read the verse I was kinda bummed that I chose it because I couldn’t think of anything cool to do with the verse. You can only draw so many sunshines and use glitter so many times.

We finally settled on a sun catcher. And suddenly this seemed brilliant to me. Here we are in the middle of winter, a normally drab and dark time. Hanging a sun catcher up in the window wouldn’t BRING us any light–only make us appreciate it and add some color to our day. What a great picture of what our GOODNESS can do for others—we are NOT The Light nor do our good deeds actually make anything happen BUT they do make others aware of  The Light. Our good deeds bring attention and color to a normally dark and drab world of sin!

I’m pretty sure Lydia didn’t get the nuances of our sun catcher craft, but it has been especially significant to me. I want Lydia and Asa to see my good deeds (cooking, cleaning, loving my husband, being patient with them) and when they do that it would make them aware of Jesus and His Light—that it would lead them to praise and follow their Father in Heaven.

CRAFT

It honestly is not as pretty as the original version that I found online (as usual), so I’ll just leave you with a few pictures and links to sun catchers.

This is actually the one we made. All you need is tissue paper and a clear plastic top (which we didn’t have, so I used a disposable plastic container). We made ours in the shape of heart and a candle. You know, obvious reference to Matthew 5:16. Oh, and we used lime green tissue paper, of course. (see complete instructions at Making Friends.)

I love this one with the pressed flowers. I guess it would be kind of hard to do in the middle of winter, but even some pinestraw and a few dried leaves might be pretty! Plus, you could do any shape as the frame! (Complete instructions at Great Ideas For Mom.)

This suncatcher from Family Fun is really the one I wanted to make. Isn’t it lovely? We just didn’t have any translucent beads in the house. Copper wire we had, but beads? Nope.

And how could we forget about my icy sun catcher? Always a crowd pleaser!

Wouldn’t it be fun to make all of these and line your winter-y windows with them?!

lime photo by darwin bell

When I was a new mom and living far away from family and friends (well, three hours), I discovered a messageboard for moms with kids born the exact month and year of my little girl. Soon, this board became my lifeline! We discussed diapers, naps, food and all the questions I had about my new baby. But as we became friends we discussed parents, husbands, hurts, disappointments and relationships.

And as dangerous as the internet can be, it also has the amazing ability to make the world smaller and connect like-minded people who would have never found each other before. One small dream I have for Impress Your Kids is to make it that same lifeline for like-minded people. I want to help you surround yourself with others that have the same heart to impress their kids as you do. (Hey, I want to surround MYSELF with people that have the same goal!)

I’m not exactly sure how that looks but this weekend I installed a community forum on our sidebar—it’s called Blog Frog. (ha!) All you have to do is click our community and then sign up for a quick free account. Once you’re in you’ll see other people that read Impress Your Kids. You can click their blogs, read their tweets and generally connect with them. But the best part is the forum. If you’d like to ask a question to other Impress Your Kids readers, just start a topic. If you have something you’d like to share a cool new book you read, or a even a cute picture on your blog, feel free to share it in the forum! I started an easy “introduce yourself” thread in the forum, please come say hello!

Speaking of Impress Your Kids readers, I thought I’d let you know some of top referrers (that’s the sites that sent the most people our way). They obviously like us, so I figured you’d like them, too. Please go visit them and say hello!

Complete Organizing Solutions
Amys Finer Things
Homeschool Creations
Daily Dwelling
To Be Thode
A Blessed Fam

Thank you so much for visiting and interacting with Impress Your Kids. We honored to be a part of your life! If you’re new here (or just haven’t done so) you can always subscribe to our email updates or by subscribe with your feedreader. And if you’re on facebook you can always connect with us on our fanpage! It makes us happy to see your smiling face (even if it is an emoticon ) every day!

Happy Monday! Happy March!

Let’s join in the DIFO Project #3 World’s Largest NERF Party! {I’m going to look for some more age-appropriate Nerf Toys that my boys can use to join in the fun!}

Valentine’s Day is for the Birds at Today’s Housewife {really late for Valentine’s Day – but you could use any shape for these fun bird seed biscuits!}

Rag Bracelet…all grown up! from It’s a HodgePodge Life {something fun for us moms!}

Creamy Tomato Soup with Asiago Croutons from A Virtuous Woman {I just had to share this – yum!}

At the Heart of Homeschooling from Simple Homeschool {a wonderful, centering post for those who homeschool/are thinking about it}

Easy Recipes for Natural Homemade Cleaners from Simple Organics

Our Imperishable Wreath by Tsh at (In)Courage {Tsh was also inspired by the Olympics this week!}

Have you found Positive Parenting 365 yet? {I went back and read all the posts I missed from the beginning of the year – fabulous!}

Photo from We Are THAT Family

The next page in our “God Wants Me To Be” book taken from our Christian Characteristic Traits list is: Intelligent – Someone who is eager to learn!

Proverbs 1:5a says, “Let wise people listen and add to what they have learned.” I love that in God’s eyes it is not our IQ that makes us intelligent!  It is our desire to continue to learn new things… to add to what we have learned.

Many of you know that I plan on homeschooling the boys, and I’ve been using the internet/my brain to help me plan preschool-type activities for the boys for the past couple of years.  In fact, many of the things we’ve done have wound up here, on Impress Your Kids!  But sometimes, my brain doesn’t work the way I want it to, even when I’m looking at ideas on the internet.  I wind up struggling with things to do during the week of repeating things we’ve done before.

So I did it.  I bought a curriculum.  I can’t believe it… it feels like such a huge step to me – this is really happening!  And I didn’t even get a preschool curriculum – Elias already knows what the preschool set would be teaching him.  I went straight for the kindergarten curriculum!  Wow….

This is what we got… All of this is a complete year’s worth of lessons!

• Alphabet Flashcards
• Easy-to-use Teacher’s Manual {BONUS!}
• Student Materials (includes student worksheets, teaching charts, game cards, monthly calendars, short vowel song cards, and a 100 chart for math!)
• Cuisenaire Rods Alphabet Book
• Cuisenaire Rods Small Group Pack
• What Really Happened to the Dinosaurs?
• Introduction to Classical Music
• Insect Lore Ant Hill {seriously, how cool is this?}

Can you tell I’m excited about this?  I’m excited about the structure, the constancy, the content, the… everything (This will not take the place of the things I am already working on with the boys – this is in addition to all the stuff I post here!)!

Now, I share this not because I want to say how intelligent my kids are – not at all.  Remember this?  Elias still does not believe what I tell his as truth or fact for most things.  This reluctance to learn from me is also combined with his desire to go to a real elementary school – because that’s where learning happens, or so he tells me.  Therefore, he does not want to learn at home or from me.  Period.

However, I am praying hard.  We are participating in a weekly homeschooling co-op with some friends who have older boys, and that helps a bit (he sees the older boys are learning from their moms and from me, so it makes it OK).  We also have some dear friends who will also be using the My Father’s World curriculum for their pre-school kids, and we will be doing some activities with them as we go through the study.  I hope that surrounding Elias with prayer and learning will instill in him the desire to learn – the eagerness to learn that God wants for us!

That’s what I’m praying for – that the boys will always want to “…listen and add to what they have learned (Proverbs 1:5a).” Being wise and intelligent on God’s terms is so much better than being wise or intelligent in the world’s eyes!

How do you try to instill the love of learning in your kids?

Disclaimer: I am not in anyway affiliated with My Father’s World – I bought the products myself and am sharing my excitement/opinion with you.  We are, however, a part of Amazon.com’s affiliate program, so if you purchase items from Amazon.comthrough the links in this post, we will receive a small affiliate payment at no additional cost to you.

This post is linked up with Homeschool Creations’ Preschool Corner!

Lately Lydia and I have been cooking while Asa takes his first nap. I am not a cook by nature. My dad and brother are the chefs in the family. They love food and understand how it works together. I just follow recipes. I was recently introduced to once a month cooking (also called batch cooking) and since then I have started cooking dinner during breakfast or lunch, making hundreds of pancakes at a time or cooking 12 chicken breasts at once just so I can freeze them and have easy meals for the rest of the week!

So the last few days Lydia and I have made a shepherd’s pie, crustless mini-quiche and meatballs. As we’ve spent this time together I’ve learned a few things…

1. Matching aprons are best. Lydia and I have several different aprons but Lydia’s favorite are the matching “Mommy and Me” aprons. I love that Lydia wants to match me. It’s such a reminder to be worthy of imitation.

2. Cooking teaches obedience. Lydia wonders if she can stir a certain way, pour as much as she wants or handle a knife. She’s learning to obey the recipe, trust my knowledge and be meticulous in following the rules. This is a double lesson because the results are always good!

3. I’m turning my daughter into a homemaker. Making quiche and browning ground beef doesn’t seem too exciting. But I’m planting small seeds of being a home manager, a caregiver and a woman who loves her family. Yesterday we were at a bakery and she said, “Mommy, you could learn to make bread. Then you could teach me and I wouldn’t have to come here [the bakery] to buy bread when I’m big!”.

4. Cooking teaches confidence. Lydia may only be breaking eggs or stirring something that doesn’t even need to be stirred, but when we pull a delicious meal out of the oven, Lydia believes she made it by herself! When we eat that meal and her Daddy and I rave about it, she glows! I could just cook by myself and tell her she’s too young to help. But instead, I’m giving her confidence and showing her that she can do anything!

I want to be purposeful in every area of my parenting. Cooking with Lydia has brought another dimension. It’s helped me realize that everything I do with her makes a lasting impression. I’m determined to lead my daughter on a path that will honor God—be it with a craft, a story or a crustless mini quiche.

Respectfully submitted to the fabulous Finer Thing Friday by Amy.