Dick and Jane Puzzle Blocks from Sun-Kissed Scholars {I used to have an old block puzzle as a kid. I’d love to make this vintage one!}

Quick Trick: Patience, Patience from Teach Mama {oh, wow. we need this at our house!}

A Very Kid Friendly New Year’s Eve Party from This Blessed Nest {I am saving this for next year1}

Crafty Math? Make a Button Board from Education.com {Cute idea even if you don’t use it for math!}

Pom Pom Polar Bear from Free Kids Crafts {It’s so cold here, I feel like a polar bear! This one is adorable!}

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Remember the great kiwi plans I told you about? The plans I didn’t want to tell you for fear I might not do them? Well, like a self-fulfilling prophecy, my kiwi-polymer-clay bead necklace plans have evaporated. I loved our peach pit necklaces so much, I thought it would be fun to make more jewelry to symbolize each Fruit of the Spirit. I googled polymer clay beads and thought I could figure it out–even though I’ve never held polymer clay in my life.

I headed out to our local craft store, looked through the clay (there’s LOTS to choose from) and found a great pack full of many different colors. I also bought some ribbon and other supplies for Asa’s birthday party (on Saturday!!). Well, a day went by and I thought, “Hm. Where did I put that bag of craft supplies?” But I was busy and didn’t look for it. I’ve thought about it off and on for the last few days and after a thorough search of the car and house the craft bag is nowhere to be found. My only conclusion is that I paid for the items and then left the bag at the store. How ridiculous is that?!

I say all that to say: I HAVE NOT DONE ANOTHER KIWI CRAFT. I’ve been really focused on my son’s birthday party which I’ll be able to blog about next week–wheeee! So, instead I thought I’d share a few fun kiwi stuff I found online. I’ll be doing one of these until I can get back to the craft store and see if they held onto my bag. GRRRR.

Felt Kiwi Slices from CardsCorner’s etsy shop. How cute are these? I love felt play food. I don’t sew, but I could probably glue some of it and hand stitch enough to make these!

Mini Kiwifruit Polymer Clay Video Tutorial. There are so many tutorials on youtube it is unbelievable! If you wanted to start a mini fruit making business, you’d be set!

Kiwi Fruit Knitted Hat. I certainly do not knit. But it would be funny to make a little hat with this pattern—we could paint or color a hat. That might be fun!

Fruit Flower Bouquet from Family Fun. This might actually be a great thing to do with all our Fruit of the Spirit fruit. I may save this one and do it when we ever finish. Kind of like a finale!

Kiwi Recipes from Zespri Kiwi. Who knew kiwis were so versatile? I totally want to make the Tropical Kiwi Pops and the Circus Parfait pictured above.

But my very favorite is this Kiwi-Colada Sipper from Conversations with a Cupcake. HOW ADORABLE IS THIS?! And totally yummy, too. I think I have all the ingredients here. If Lydia would ever take a nap today, I’d make this for her when she wakes up!

That’s all I got, folks! If my posting is light this week it’s because I’m up to my EARS in first birthday preparations!

The Bible story I originally thought of for the Fruit of the Spirit, Patience was Job. You know the saying, “patience of Job”. But honestly, the story of Job is a confusing, long and depressing story. And I really don’t want to introduce Lydia to the idea of boils, brothers and sisters being struck down and “cursing God”, you know what I mean?!

I decided Abraham would be a little more age appropriate. I like that Abraham was patient and waited on a promise from God. Because generally speaking, Lydia is IMpatient when it comes to a promise/directive from me. Plus, the story is about a baby. And how often does Lydia play with babies? Oh, about every other hour.

Anywhoo–last night we read the story of Abraham, Sarah and Isaac in our The Rhyme Bible Storybook. This is a book I picked up at…I don’t even remember where. But it’s used. And the pictures are kinda freaky. But the stories are fun because they are all, you guessed it, in rhyme.

This one worked out perfectly because after God gave Abraham the promise of having a family that would outnumber the stars…

Many years
went passing by,
And Abraham
Would often sigh
When he saw
The starry sky.
Yet each time
He climbed in bed,
He remembered
What God said.

I love the picture of Abraham using the stars as reminders of God’s promise—as a reminder to be patient. So, today, Lydia and I made our own little Patience reminders—Glittery Star Rings.

Supplies:

• the little pull tab tops from milk/juice cartons (I’ve been collecting them for all of 2 weeks, we go through soymilk like it’s going out of style!)
• white glue
• glitter (seed beads would be super cute, too!)
• hairspray

Directions:

1. Pile glue on rounded part of pull-tab.

2. Sprinkle Pour glitter on glue.

3. Let dry for awhile. Spritz with hairspray to give the glitter bounce and hold.

4. Smile because you just recycled, did something crafty, made some cute jewelry and spent some quality time with your daughter!

Aren’t these cute? Lydia was making them for everyone in our family. We even did a few in alternating colors and dots. They turned out pretty cute. And I *hope* they will be a good reminder of being patient for God’s promises…and to be patient when Mommy tells her, “Wait just a minute, baby!”

Every night around dinner time my son gets whiny clingy loud. He follows me around the kitchen crying. He pulls up and hangs onto my legs. He wails as if the whole world was ending. And honestly, I think it’s less about ME than it is that he knows I’m cooking FOOD.

And every day by the time dinner is done I’m ready to throw the food on the table and lay on the couch while the kids eat! So, today’s fruit has been verrrry convicting helpful.

That’s right, we’re talking about PATIENCE.

Proverbs 14:29 says, “Anyone who is patient has great understanding. But anyone who gets angry quickly shows how foolish he is.” Do you know how many times this verse has gone through my head today?! *deep breath*

Anyway, Lydia and I made a little poster of our verse. (I got this great drawing pad at Target for like 50% for all the back-to-school stuff!) We hung it up under flatLydia but forgot about our aggressive little Asa. We had to tape it back together but it still looks ok…

{{Also a good lesson in patience: not yelling at your brother (or son as the case may be) when he rips your poster off the wall.}}

You can see I wrote Lydia’s name in the verse. We read it normal and then I read it once with her name. She asked to read it “with Lydia” several times. It’s always surprising to me how much she likes it when we read/learn/talk about scripture–and how quickly she remembers it. Even later in the day she heard someone say “quickly” and she said, “Mommy! QUICKLY! Just like our verse! That’s funn-y.”

I chose a kiwi to represent patience because kiwis are hard on the outside but YUMMY on the inside! While we held a kiwi and rubbed it’s rough exterior, we talked about how patience is hard to do on the outside but is well worth it on the inside! Lydia carried the kiwi all around today–even in the car! We never got around to eating it, but I’m sure we will soon.

I’m debating about telling you my plans for the kiwi…if I tell you what I’ve got planned, I’m afraid I won’t do it. Then I’ll look silly or worse, lazy! But if I don’t tell you, well…that just ends my post right here.

Fine.

I’ll tell you.

Stay tuned for more kiwi goodness: Kiwi Polymer Clay Beads, Abraham’s Promise, Patience Practice and much more!

photo by krassycandoit