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

I just got back from Blissdom, a big blogging conference last weekend. It was so amazingly fun and inspiring. (And apparently it took me an entire week to recover because this is the first post in a week! YIKES.) I’ve been blogging at my personal blog, ohAmanda for almost 3 years. I’ve been doing Impress Your Kids for about 2 1/2 years. And although I am very passionate about Impress Your Kids, I sometimes feel at a loss on what to post and feature.

At first I thought Impress Your Kids was going to be an online journal of what Lydia and I crafted. Then I felt like my children’s ministry experience would be beneficial to other readers. I was googling stuff to do with my duaghter and couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for and I figured others were doing the same.

So, while I was at Blissdom I got a revelation (oh, yes, I did!) about how Impress Your Kids is different than ohAmanda. Impress Your Kids is what you call a niche blog (is that NICH? NEESH? anywhoo…) while ohAmanda is a memoir-anything-goes blog. So, if I don’t post at ohAmanda it’s obvious that there’s nothing blog-worthy going on in my life. And I’m ok with that!

Generally, that’s what happens at Impress Your Kids, too. We get busy or sick or tired or we’re just hanging by the skin of our teeth so we don’t post. And because I want this blog to feel real and personal, that’s ok. BUT I also know that some of you are busy, sick, tired and hanging by the skin of your teeth, too. And I want Impress Your Kids to always be here. I want to be that encouraging parenting toolbox that we set out to be.

So. I’ve been thinking, talking, evaluating and praying about Impress Your Kids and it’s future. And I need your input. Would you take 3 minutes and complete this survey? I won’t share your answers, you don’t have to fill out your name and most of it is mutliple choice. It would mean so much to me!

Thank you! And thank you for honoring us at Impress Your Kids with your visits, your links and your comments.

photo of ME by mooshinindy

Printable Paper Dolls from How About Orange {pictured above}

Weekend Make and Takes: Valentines from Make and Takes {shees, I haven’t even done ONE Valentine’s Day thing yet!}

Made by You at Skip to My Lou {a fun Valentine’’s Day Link Up!}

Feed Me Books Friday at The Adventure of Motherhood {a fun kids’ book link up!}

Strut Your Stuff at Somewhat Simple {yet another fun link up–this one’s about anything cool you’ve made!}

My friend Christine from Dates to Diapers is challenging herself to make a craft every day this week with her kids. (And this is quite a feat considering she has six kids and she homeschools and runs a hugely popular blog!) To help her out, I’m guest posting about a fun winter craft Lydia and I did this week. Your kids will love it. We have the dyed fingers to prove it!

Check it out and if you don’t already read Chrsitine’s blog make sure you click and get to know her. She’s fantastic!

I’m sorry the blog went silent for a couple of days! I had two crazy things happen to me this week–one really good and one not so good.

On Friday, my dad (remember, he’s going through Hepatitis C treatments?) was in a pretty bad car accident. My mom called me and said, “Amanda, Daddy is laying on the side of the road! He’s about to be transported to the hospital!” So, I threw the kids in the car and beat the ambulance to the hospital! The nurses told me to wait outside and when we saw him unloaded off the ambulance we could follow him to his room.

This sounded like a great idea until I realized Lydia would see a car-wrecked-Papa unrolled out of an ambulance. She got so freaked out with every new ambulance, I made her turn around every time one pulled up! He finally arrived and did not look bad at all–just wearing a huge neck brace. (She still wouldn’t look at him and I ended up having my sister-in-law come to pick Lydia and Asa up.)

The problem was not just broken bones or whiplash. Due to the hepatitis C medication, his blood platelets have been dangerously low. The doctor had already told him that if he even hit his head in the bed while sleeping, we needed to be concerned about internal bleeding. So, with a wreck this big, internal bleeding was making us very anxious. Daddy had x-rays and two CT scans. And after being in the ER for five or six hours we got the good news: NO INTERNAL BLEEDING!

It was a scary day full of prayers but now Daddy is at home resting and trying to recover from being VERY VERY sore. And now that he isn’t wearing his neck brace, Lydia is excited to see him!

But since he is out of commission, I took Daddy’s place at a Puppetry Ministry Festival at their church. I served chili to 30 people and watched a few puppet shows with Lydia!

Now, the other good news of the week? I am a Disney Mom! What does that mean? Well, I applied to be a part of Disney’s Mom Panel. There were about 20,000 applications, so I am honored to be one of about 20 chosen! I will be answering vacation questions on Disney World’s website. AND I will be going to DISNEY WORLD for training (without my family!) in December! This is a once in a lifetime experience and I am thrilled! My twitter stream, inbox and facebook has been inundated with Disney stuff and I’m pretty sure I’ll have Disney on the brain for the next several weeks!

Thankfully, today has been a normal Sunday. We went to church (where Lydia learned that God made PEOPLE on the 6th day!), ate lunch with friends and are now watching football. (Well, I’m not watching but my husband is trying to convert Lydia to becoming a football fan).

We’ll be back to regular posting tomorrow! We’re gearing up for Thanksgiving, Christmas and a great advent celebration (yes, all at once)! Go ahead and subscribe to our blog  in your feed reader OR as an email so you don’t miss a post!

The surprise is on us! We’re in the middle of our week long we-love-our-blog Surprise Party when suddenly (ok, not so suddenly, I just kinda forgot about it), Robin is hosting a big fun BlogHop for all the non-BlogHer attenders! Yay!

So now, for a little introduction…

We’re just two moms, Leigh and Amanda who blog about our kids. Big surprise, right? But THIS blog is a little bit different. We don’t blog about the cute stuff our kids do. We blog about the stuff we do TO our kids. See, our goal is to impress God’s Word on our kids’ hearts. We believe kids are little sponges open to receiving and understanding God’s love. And all we want in life is for them to know that Love.

So, this blog is that journey. We use crafts, activities, experiments, games, songs, adventures and stories to tell our kids about this Love. We blog it here to keep ourselves accountable. To learn from each other. To encourage you. So our kids will know. So your kids will know. And one day a generation of kids will grow up ALWAYS knowing that Love.

It’s what God has called us to do…not this blog (well, maybe…) but this huge adventure of parenting. God clearly tells us to talk about His laws and His ways everywhere we go and in everything we do. It might sound daunting but it’s really pretty fun. So, let’s do it together, ok? Keep up with our blog by subscribing to our email updates or RSS feed. And if you are on twitter, please follow us @impressyourkids so we can do the same!

While you’re here would you like to win a little prize-ies? Our Surprise Party is still in full force. Why don’t you meander a little and see if you find anything you like…

Day 1: Boredom Busters: Win a Handmade Kids Crayon Wallet Thingie

Day 2: Craft-a-licious Tag: Win a One Year Subscription to Family Fun Magazine

Day 3: Interview with Author Sally Lloyd Jones: Win 1 of 3 copies of The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd Jones

{{We’re also giving this book away at the BlogHop! Wooo-hoo!}}

Day 4: Rainbow Hunting: Win a Handmade Day at the Park Backpack Tote

Day 5: Mrs. Rosey Posey 4-book Collection (post will be up at a surprise time Friday morning…aka when my kids take a nap…)

Thanks for stopping by, reading and oh, commenting!

The blogosphere is an interesting place. There’s something about a computer screen that allows you to be a little more showy than usual. A little louder, cooler or spunky than normal. It’s a place where you can speak your heart and then edit it to make sure you got it right. And through this bloggy land, I’ve met some women who really and truly impress me. Women who can turn trash into Martha Stewart-craftiness for $5. Women who can write rings around best-selling authors. But the ones that impress me the most are the women who love God and raise their kids to do the same.

Sarah from Real Life Blog is one of those women. Last week I had the honor of being a special speaker vlogger guest on her live internet show!  Every Thursday, Sarah hosts Get Real! on MomTV.com. Last week’s topic was “The Profile of a Christian Blogger“. We talked about the differences between being a Christian blogger or a Christian who blogs. Anyway, I talked a lot about Impress Your Kids (including my two big MUSTS to raising kids that love God) and had lots of fun talking and chatting with all the mamas who showed up! I mean, really, look how fun this is:

Sarah, me and Jendi

So, number 1 thing you gotta do: Click over to MOMtv to see Get Real with Sarah (which incidentally is playing TODAY at 1pm)!

Another fantastic mama is one of those rock-star bloggers I’d heard about but didn’t read until I attended Blissdom. (*gasp* I know! Don’t tell her, ok?) She’s the fabu Kristen from We are THAT Family.

Practically the same day we re-launced IYK, Kristen announced that she is launching a monthly newsletter…a newsletter with crafts, tips, tricks and activities to teach Godly character to your kids.

HOW MUCH DO I LOVE THIS?!

I signed up in .2 seconds and am anxiously awaiting the first edition so I can steal all bask in her great ideas. So, the second thing you gotta do is sign up for The Family Room Newsletter. Kristen is a former Children’s Pastor (like moi) and I know she has a heart for her marriage, her family and the church at large. I can’t help but love her. (And wallow in jealousy at her crafty creative-ness.)

That is all. Back to your day. Spit spot!

Welcome to our new home! Isn’t it spiffy? I do hope you’ll grab a button from our sidebar and spread the word about our new digs! 

Impress Your Kids started almost a year ago when I decided to chronicle my foray into teaching my then 2 year old a scripture for every letter of the alphabet. My good bloggy friend, Leigh joined up to show us her same journey. As our kids have gotten older and our parenting skills have become stronger (or at least more flexed!) the ways we impress our kids is different, too.

I’m learning more and more how to make every opportunity count for God. I have to consciously choose to turn times of play into teachable moments. I work hard at incorporating God-moments into our everyday life. This blog is just the record of that experience. Ultimately it’s the place that keeps me accountable to weave a little faith into our daily life.

I hope and pray that this blog does the same for you: encourages you, prompts you and gives you some tools and ideas that will make an eternal difference in the life of your kids.

Beginning tomorrow we’re starting a new weekly column called YOUR TURN. We’ll pose a question or a situation regarding parenting, child-rearing or crafting (who knows?!), then you weigh in on how YOU do it with your kids and your family. Hopefully it will be a place that others can come to find some great ideas for their own families.

We’ve also got some FABU guest bloggers lined up for the month and we’re even going to throw in a giveaway or two! We’ll also continue doing book reviews, linky round ups (fyi@iyk) and of course, just plain old crafts, family times and crazy adventures. Please subscribe to our feed so you don’t miss a post. And we’d love to hear from you—so leave a comment. We want this to be a place where we learn and grow together!

Welcome to Impress Your Kids! We’re glad you clicked on our little party!

Impress Your Kids is the home of two bloggy friends & moms, Leigh and Amanda. This is the journey, the chronicle and the keep-you-in-check journal of the fun things we do to help impress God’s Word on our children’s hearts.

And if we were hosting the ultimate Impress Your Kids party? Well…

Of course, there would be food…

banana berry smoothies by ej

And some entertainment…

bubbles!

we might even do a little dancing…

jumping for joy

we’d probably do a craft or two…

crafty girl

crafty boy

oh wait! we’d have more food…

rainbow bread

and even some costumes…

ride 'em cowgirl!

but if you stayed all night, we’d probably start talking about what we really want to impress our kids with…

jesus loves you. yep, you.

If you’ve got kids of any age, please subscribe to our feed! We’d love to share our ideas with you—and learn some from you, too!