Write It on Your Heart

Recently I did a children's sermon on this text: I Kings 12: 1-15 about the Kingdom of Israel splitting after Solomon's death. How do you do a children's sermon on that???? Eventually, with the help of references, I hit on an approach. I decided to talk about leaders using God's wisdom to rule, and how all wisdom is from God. Solomon was the wisest man in the world, but he turned from God at the end of his life and lost his kingdom. Then his son Rehoboam made unwise decisions and lost the kingdom for good.

So how do we get wisdom? I used Prov. 3:1 My son, do not forget my law and let your heart keep my commandments, and Prov. 3:5, Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

To illustrate, I made these little folded heart pockets. Inside each one I wrote the theme and dropped in a penny. Each child got a heart. I asked them to hold it closed because there was something in it. We talked about how to be wise and that wisdom comes from God. I referred to the sermon text, and then asked the congregation who their favorite president was. Many said Abraham Lincoln. I had the kids dump out the penny into their hands and look at Lincoln. I told them that most people's favorite president was Abraham Lincoln. Why? Because he was a man who looked to God to help him make wise decisions. Lincoln led the United States at one of our worst times and made some very difficult and wise decisions. I told them to listen to the pastor's sermon and see if  the leader in the story used wisdom and followed God.When they got back to their seats they could unfold their hearts and see what was inside.

To make the hearts, start with a square paper. I used some old Mary Engelbreit daily calendar pages.

Fold it in half and then half again the other way.

Fold the small square into a triangle. Cut a curve along the top.

Open up and refold as necessary to get the heart shape with the front design you want.

This and That

Yummy supper. Oven grilled cheese on garlic bread. Mozzarella, Colby Jack, and Provolone. Fresh sliced peaches. Bake at 450 degrees for about 5-8 min.

Kids and kitties. School has started. The girls all ended up at the table together this week doing book work. W.'s science is human anatomy and physiology, and we are doing an experiment about Egyptian mummification using apples, salt and baking soda.

Thrifting Textiles

Lately I have been finding so many really nice textiles at the thrift stores. Fabric napkins, valances, remnants, and embroidered table cloths and runners. They are often so reasonable and beautiful I cannot pass them up. What to do with them though? One idea is to make gift bags out of them. These are pretty and practical. They can be reused over and over.

I made two bags out of one long lacy white valance. I just cut it in half, folded one half of it right sides together with the lace at the top and sewed the open side and bottom seams leaving the lace edge open. Turn it right side out and thread a pretty ribbon through the lace and pull it closed.

This bag was a bit of vintage tablecloth or curtain textile that had all finished edges, so I just sewed it around three sides without even turning it inside out.  This was a bigger piece, and we just folded the top edge over and tied it around the center with coordinating ribbon to keep it closed.

This little embroidered tea towel was $1. I had the edges sewn up in less than 5 minutes. With the top left open and a ribbon tacked at the top edge, it is ready to wrap up a pretty gift. This method will not hurt the original piece. There are lots of dresser scarves and pretties out there waiting to be used!

Co-op Art!!!

Our homeschool co-op classes have started again. I love teaching art to our friends. The kids are always so appreciative of having art classes.  This year I have 5th and 6th graders in two classes.

I have cycled through a lot of kids in the last 8 or 9 years (?) I have taught co-op art. Some of my first students are long gone, so this year I am going to go back and use some favorite projects from the past, while still trying to develop a few new ones.

Quartered watercolor leaves are a favorite project I have done many times. It always gives nice results and is good practice for watercolor. You can NEVER get too much practice with watercolor! We folded our watercolor paper into fourths, then chose a color crayon and drew on the folds. Large leaves were positioned so that the leaf entered at least some of each square, then traced with crayon without too much tiny detail. Be sure the crayon lines are dark and thick. The crayon resists to help keep the watercolors from mixing. The student chooses two colors of watercolor and paints two backgrounds that are kitty corner from each other, then the opposite two leaf sections kitty corner from each other. With the second color they fill in the remaining backgrounds and leaf sections.

 

We work on keeping the watercolor transparent and using enough water to make it flow on the paper. One student took off and tried her own version with a butterfly and color crayons after her leaf project was done. This project can be used for different seasons (pumpkin? egg? ornament?) and works great for homemade cards. 

Kitty and Water Play

 The kitties are growing and are an endless source of entertainment.

W. took the camera out and shot some pictures of Dash (as he attack played with her) and of M. playing in the sandbox. She was sitting in "her" white tree.

Dash's favorite place to play is in this poor geranium. The 5 tiny kittens have now all been named: Henry, Eleanor, Lidia, George and Walt. For some reason we went with all old names.

Arts Festival

 

Yesterday the girls and I went to the downtown arts festival. We always make sure to see our darling niece/neighbor Bekah in her purse booth. She looked like a cute little pregnant ladybug in her dotty dress.

 

This was the first year W. went along, so I had all 4 of my girls, and also saw Mac and Sam with their family members while we were there, too. W. thought since she was 10 AND it was her birthday she should be able to go. It was a beautiful day out-warm but not too warm until later in the day.

 

Just when we were about to be done shopping, we saw three guys walking down the street with huge snakes draped over their shoulders. One snake was a bright yellow albino boa constrictor. W. loves snakes, so we stopped to pet them. We asked if she could have a picture with them, and the guy looped the snake down over W's shoulders. Heebie Geebie! But she liked it. The yellow snake was only 1 year old and would still be growing about another 5 feet and double in girth. Heebie, Heebie, Geebie!!!!!!!

We went back to A's apartment for a drink of water before going home, and while we were there Holly and Bob and Wesley dropped by to say hi. As you can see, Wesley gets absolutely no attention.

Ten!

Miss W. was 10 on Sat. We had to look up what time she was born (4:58 AM) so she knew exactly when she turned 10.

Her "big" gift was Consuelo, a Heart 4 Hearts doll. Her friend Brigitta had one, and we looked them up and found one at Target. We sneaked in and bought it. She was thrilled and surprised to get her. These dolls are a bit like the American Girl dolls, but slightly smaller. They are made by World Vision and some of the price goes to their organization. Consuelo is "from" Mexico, and her family owns a bakery and cares about the hungry street children they see around them.

Her other gifts were a shirt, (rummage) 3 books, (thrift) 2 taped books, (paperbackswap.com) a purse, (altered thrifted skirt) and bake and bend clay. (Hancock Fabrics sale.)

Later Consuelo rode along in the purse while we all spent the day at an arts festival.

Soooo True

Parenting is mostly about sanctification of the parents...Sharon J. via Higbee Facebook post