Little Yellow Schoolhouse

Monday, May 21, 2012

A Mother's Not So Quiet Time...

During one of our WOW (Woman of the Word) book studies we talked about prayer and a personal relationship with Jesus. This got me thinking...
"What does my quiet time look like?

Do you ever wonder how some Mom's seem to pack all the important things into a day with their children? I do and sometimes get discouraged when I compare myself to others! A personal devotion time is very important but sometimes I struggle and because I know how important that relationship is with Jesus, I choose to persevere!

One of my favorite Bible verses is Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me". It give me hope in the area of my desire for some quality quiet time with God.

As a homeschooling Mommy of three children ages almost 8, 3, and almost 2, I honestly don't get a lot of quiet time to myself in this little yellow schoolhouse of ours :) Some days the only devotional time I get is during my worship with the kids and I am ok with that as long as I don't make it a habit!

So if you are struggling to have a few minutes for personal devotions or if you are looking for new ways to see and talk to Jesus here are a few I have tried and enjoy:

1. I listen to the "Your Story Hour" CD's with the kids during their lunch or play times as I work around the house. I am reminded of all the wonderful stories God put in the Bible to encourage us!

2. PRAYER! I contently talk to my best friend Jesus just like I do my children or husband. A friendship with Jesus does not happen over night, it takes time. The only way you can get to know him is to talk to him. As we grow closer I know he will help me find more time for our relationship!

3. I am a night owl :) I know that it makes getting up at 6:30 am all that much harder but I can't help it. So if I am going to find ANY quiet time in our house it would be after my children are asleep.
But I have come to the conclusion that my children also need to witness me putting time with Jesus first in my life. So as the weather has been getting nicer these past few weeks I have been doing a little Bible reading in the shade while the kids played with our baby chicks.

4. Five minutes a day can a big difference in my attitude! Sometimes I think I have to have a 30 minute block of time to be able to study and pray. I don't think so anymore.

5. Just choose one Bible verse to read and pray about. Don't get overwhelmed that you didn't read a whole chapter or book of the Bible. One verse can be very powerful and life changing!

Don't forget what works for me may not work for you! So don't be hard on yourself. Remember Jesus will bless even the smallest amount of time you spend with him!


What does quiet time look like in your life	?

Photo taken by Auntie Sis at www.thecrookedroad.blogspot.com

Thursday, May 10, 2012

~ Spring Time Fun ~

This week we have been enjoying the beautiful Spring weather by spending lots of time outside. We have been planting little seeds and plants in our garden, doing school and playing with our chicks.

~ JW working on his phonics ~

~ Little Mama Hen ~

~ Little Lady with Doodles and Sunflower ~

~ JeJe playing with her Doodles ~

~Little Lady and Cinder ~
Cinder is her favorite chick to just carry around with her. Cinder seems to enjoy Little Lady the most :)

~ Our Little Farmers ~


~ JW snuggling Hazel ~

~ Our Bean Pole TeePee ~

~ Our Growing Garden ~

~ The Chicken Coop (1st Phase) We plan to enlarge it this summer.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Little Chicks

~ Baby Chicks ~

Today we got a phone call from the feed store that the last of our baby chicks had arrived! The kids were so excited at the prospect of bringing home our new little friends. We drove the half hour to the feed store and excitedly we went in to find hundreds of chirping baby chicks.

After a long process off picking up a chick and holding it and then putting it down and picking up another ball of fluff all three little chicks were chosen and placed in the box for the trip home.

JW named his “Henny Penny”. She is the lightest colored of the three. Little Lady named her chick “Sunflower”. She is the darkest of the three. JeJe’s chick is the smallest and we are still working on naming her J

The chicks are 2 day old Buff Brahma's and you can find our more about them at : http://www.mypetchicken.com/catalog/Day-Old-Baby-Chicks/Buff-Brahma-p1048.aspx

Left to right - "Sunflower", JeJe's Chick and "Henny Penny"

Side profile of "Sunflower".

We put a spoon in the picture so you can tell how small the chicks are.

"Sunflower" on the left and JeJe's little chick on the right.

So tiny!

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Chicks

New Baby Chicks!

Our family decided that we wanted to get some chickens. We liked the idea of eating organic eggs that we knew came from healthy chickens. We also wanted to give our children the oppertunity to learn to take care of animals and enjoy them as pets!

Since we live within city limits we are only allowed 4-6 hens. We spent days doing research on the internet to decide the best breed of chickens for our family. We came up with a list of traits we wanted our hens to have. We did not want flighty or noisy hens. We also needed our hens to be winter hardy and not mind confinment due to our small back yard. Most importantly we wanted them to be friendly!

We ordered 2 Buff Brahmas hens that will be coming this week. Our 1st hick was an Easter Egger that we named Hazel the Hen. We are hoping she will lay blue or green eggs :) We did not plan on getting Cinder, a black Sex-Link chick, but did so she could keep Hazel company until the Buff Brahma chicks arrived. We are very glad we got Cinder she is a sweet and friendly chick!

Cinder at 3 days old

Little Lady snuggling Cinder

Cinder

JW and Cinder

Cinder's favorite purch

JeJe talking to Hazel

Hazel the Hen
2 weeks old

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Fall Crafts

Looking for some fun and creative crafts to do with your child?
Here are a few we have tried this month and recommend.
Enjoy!

Pumpkin Softies

Create your own pumpkin with these fun, fabric pumpkins that will last for years!
We really enjoyed making these little pumpkins :)

Taken from: www.familyfun.go.com/crafts

Materials Needed: Fake fur, fleece or other material material. Scissors, dental floss, scissors, needle, short stick, and a shopping bag.

Instructions: Cut a circle 8 inches in diameter from a piece of fake fur, fleece, or other fabric. Thread a needle with dental floss and make a knot several inches from the end (you'll use this tail to tie the floss together). Make wide stitches around the circle about a half-inch from the outer edge. Pull the floss to gather the edges, and stuff the resulting pouch with a plastic shopping bag. Place a short stick into the hole for a stem, then pull and knot the floss so that the fabric is cinched around the stick.

Keepsake Crafts for Thanksgiving

Here are a couple cute classic hand print turkey crafts to try with your children. Make them every year with you child and track his or her growth and see how much they've grown!

Painted Hand Print Turkey

Materials:

1 sheet of white paper, 1 small wiggle eye, paint brush, glue, washable paint in red, orange, yellow, green and brown, and red, orange & brown marker or colored pencil/crayon

Instructions:

Have your child hold his or her hand straight up and paint each finger with a different color. Then paint the thumb and palm with brown paint. Have your child press palm and all fingers firmly down onto the paper. Gently press down on child's hand to make sure all of the paint transfers to the paper. Gently lift hand straight up and off the paper. Allow the paint to dry completely. Glue on a wiggle eye and draw on a beak and gobbler using orange and red markers. Draw on legs with brown marker.

Family Hand Print Turkey

Materials: Red, yellow, orange & brown paper, 2 medium wiggle eyes & glue.

Instructions: Have mom and dad trace around one of their hands on two different colored pieces of construction paper and cut out. Trace the hands of each child in the family onto different colors of construction paper and cut out. Starting with the largest hands, layer smallest on top of largest, glue together. Cut out a plump circle for the body and an oval for the head from brown construction paper. Glue on top of the smallest hand. Cut out a small red heart for the gobbler and orange triangle for the beak, glue in place. Glue on wiggle eyes.