Colored Ice Cubes

Now that Chloe is getting a little older, I am trying to incorporate new learning activities.  The teacher in me is so ready to start teaching her things! I mean, I know she is learning new things every day, but I'm talking about me preparing something to facilitate learning.  However, I will say that I am also trying to just enjoy this time with her as a baby, because I know it will be gone too fast! 

This is something I tried on Monday.  Not my idea, not super difficult, aka PERFECT.  Colored ice cubes.  TA-DA! One drop of food coloring in each ice cube spot, fill with water, freeze, done.  Easy.

I got the idea from this amazing lady's blog.  She is awesome, seriously! 

I loved this idea because it promotes color exploration, sensory play (cold), and fine & gross motor skill practice.  Also, my little water baby loves the little pool in our backyard (we "swim" like every day!), and mommy was getting tired of the same old pool toys! :)

Heritage

Jesus Calling took me to Psalm 119:105 today. That section starts "Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path"; one of my favorites!! As I kept reading, verses 111-112 intrigued  me.

Your statues are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart. My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end.

The word heritage made me want to explore these verses a little further. And when I say "explore", I mean how the Holy Spirit is leading me, not anything very theological - I am CERTAINLY no expert on the Bible unfortunately.  I'm going to use Priscilla Shirer's 5 P's of devotional time (for more info on that read this blog).

Postion: Lord, help me to learn more about You today.

Paraphrase the text: Lord, your Word is my heritage forever.  It makes me joyful! I will follow You for the rest of my life..

Pull out the spiritual principles:

• Heritage means something you've inherited; legacy, something of value, a tradition, etc. So God's statues, His laws in the Bible, are something that I have inherited by being a child of God. God wants me to value His Word and what He says in it.  I read from the NIV version today.  The NLT version says it like this, "Your laws are my treasure".  I love this! God wants us to treasure His Word.
• God wants me to take joy in His laws.  The NLT says "they are my heart's delight". 
• I need to be determined to follow God until the very end... and beyond! 

Pose a Question:

Do I really treasure the Word of God like it is my heritage? The answer to that question makes me disappointed with myself, yet at the same time, SO GRATEFUL for God's grace over my shortcomings. How amazing is our God that He grafts us into His family when we become His children, and He gives us an inheritance of priceless value?! I am so undeserving.

Something that also has struck me about this concept is this: God wants us to treasure His Word; get to know it, spend time in it, learn it, practice it, etc.  Ultimately, His way of doing things is always THE BEST WAY! So learning His Word and doing "life" God's way is actually what's best for us.  It's what we need.  God knows this of course, which is why He tells us to treasure His Word.  He always wants what's best for us.  

Feeling very overwhelmed by His incredible love today, and so grateful for the inheritance my Father has given to me. 

Chloe's room

As you can see, I went with a yellow, grey, and white color scheme.  This was mainly because we didn't want to find out the sex of our baby.  After we had Chloe, I added some pops of pink and other bright colors with some accessories, i.e. hair bows! Here is my D.I.Y. hair bow holder: 

I made the "LOVE" canvas (get a friend to help you paint and stamp your baby's hands and feet! Thanks, Shantel!), hot glued a long ribbon to the back of the canvas, and voila! Hair bow holder.

My favorite part of the room is the gallery wall.  I made the "Chloe" sign by painting a yellow chevron design onto a foam board, then adhering the letters.  SUPER EASY.  

I am in love with the shadow box I made of Chloe's time in the hospital.  We were in the hospital  a lot longer than most (5 1/2 weeks in the NICU), so it was really important for me to try to capture that time and have it as a reminder of God's protection. I put her preemie onesie, hat, bili light goggles, bracelet, name tag for her door, and name tag for her isolette, as well as a picture from the day after she was born.  The background is covered in her hospital blanket that I saved. I typed up two verses that were very meaningful to us during that time (James 1:17, Psalm 112:7) and a little note about her weight, length, DOB, etc. 

My sister made the artwork that is over Chloe's crib.  LOVE it. Thanks, Molly! 

I really enjoyed mixing different patterns within this color palette. 

 I'm super happy with how it came out.  It didn't break the bank either! So hubby is also happy. :)

Weekly Cleaning Checklist

I'm all about lists.  I've found that over the years I am WAY MORE productive if I have a list to keep me on track.  And I LOVE checking things off. Or better yet, crossing them off! Anyway, I made this weekly cleaning checklist to make sure I'm hitting all the main parts of my house every week.

I left a blank space after each item so I can add out-of-the-ordinary cleaning needs that don't occur weekly, i.e. getting the guest room ready for visitors.

I made two versions.  One version is of my specific weekly chores, the other list is a blank version so you can write in your own chores.

I used Hello Fonts from Jen Jones.  She has amazing fonts for free as long as you use them for personal or not-for-profit use.  You can purchase the fonts if you would like to use them commercially.

Click on the picture or the links below.

Hope this helps someone!

Maddie's weekly cleaning checklist
Blank version

Olson's First Father's Day

I wanted to make my husband's first father day special! Here are some of the things I made/did:

I was inspired by Pinterest for the tie banner, but unfortunately the link to the website was broken (hate it when that happens).  I decided it didn't look that hard to make. Here's how I made mine:
Supplies:

• 6 pieces of 12x12 scrapbook paper
• 8-10 ft. of yarn
• 3 in. letters to spell Happy Father's Day (I used Groovy letters from my Cricut)
• hole punch
• glue (gluestick or Mod Podge to adhere letters)

Directions:

1. Make a template for your ties by cutting one piece of paper to make a 4 x 12 in. rectangle. This will ensure you can fit 3 ties per paper, giving you 18 ties total.  You only need 17 to spell Happy Father's Day and have 2 spaces between the words.

2. Fold the rectangle in half, hot-dog style (for those of you deprived people of a good 1st grade teacher, that means long-ways to create a 12x2 in rectangle).

3.  Draw a diagonal line from the outer top corner (the corner NOT on the fold line) in toward the fold line, but stop about 1/2 in away.  DO NOT GO ALL THE WAY TO THE FOLD LINE. Change directions, drawing a long diagonal line to almost the bottom of the outer part of the rectangle.  Stop and change directions again, this time finishing with a diagonal line at the bottom inside corner of your rectangle.  This doesn't have to be exact people.  You are creating one side of the tie and cutting on the fold, that way when you open your rectangle it will be symmetrical.  BAM! 

4. Cut along your lines. When you open it it should look something like this:

5. Use your template to trace 17 ties. I was able to fit 3 ties per page.

6.  Next, I used my Cricut to cut out 3 in. letters for Happy Father's Day.  I used my Groovy cartridge.  However, you don't need a Cricut to do this.  You can draw your letters onto the ties, print out letters and cut them out, or save yourself a lot of time and BUY some letters! Doesn't matter.

7.  Adhere your letters, one per tie, to the ties.  You will have 2 empty ties for the spaces.  I used Mod Podge to glue my letters on, but gluestick would work great too.

8.  Punch 2 holes on the top of each tie, one to two inches apart.  

9.  Weave the yarn through the holes in the top of the ties to create the banner.

10.  Hang up your totally awesome tie banner.

If I were to do it again I would use a different color for the letters.  Just saying.

Ok next project: Surprise breakfast.  I don't really buy processed/sugary foods, so buying my husband these little powdered donuts was a HUGE treat.  I have actually never bought them before this Father's Day.  Lol.  This was waiting for Olson in the morning:

Last crafty thing I did was make a Daddy Daughter Date Book.  I got the idea from here. I did not make mine from scratch like that lady did (seriously... kuddos...).  I simply traced the cover of a composition notebook onto the back of some scrapbook paper, cut it out, mod podged it on, and added some more scrapbook paper for the title.  SUPER easy.  On the first page I wrote a note to Olson about my hopes for him and Chloe with this sweet book. 

I also threw in The Bourne Legacy for a "manly-er" gift.

Happy 1st Father's Day, Olson!

Devotions 6.12.13

I love Priscilla Shirer's "The Five P's".  This is how I like to do my devotions, so that's how I will be writing them in this blog.   I love the Five P's because it's an easy way to unpack a verse, and as a new mom, I don't have loads of time anymore to spend pouring over chapter after chapter in the Word.  New moms need easy and quick! I usually read one chapter a day and then pick one or two verses that really stood out to me.

Here is a quick overview of the 5 P's by Priscilla Shirer:
Position yourself to hear from God
Paraphrase the text
Pull out the spiritual principles
Pose a question
Plan/Pin down a date/ Prayer (I added Prayer to this last section)

A really good study that introduces the 5 P's is Seed.

Today I read Jesus Calling.  I love that devotions book too! Again, another quick way for me to spend some time with the Lord.  It led me to look up 1 Corinthians 10:10, so this is what I will do the 5 P's on today.

1 Corinthians 10:10
Position myself to hear from God: Lord, help me to focus on Your Word right now and not be distracted by my to-do list for today.
Paraphrase the text: Do not grumble! The Israelites who grumbled were punished by death.
Pull out the spiritual principles:

• God does not like complainers
• If I grumble and complain, there will be a consequence
• I do not please the Lord when I grumble and complain

Pose a question:

• Is there anything I have been complaining about lately? (lack of sleep, lol!)
• Do others view me as a woman who complains a lot or as a woman filled with joy and peace? (Ouch, this is convicting.  I fall so short!)

Plan/Prayer

When I find myself complaining to my husband about being so tired, I will stop and combat that attitude with gratitude for this current season of life that I'm in! Yes, it's exhausting and confusing and frustrating and CRAZY, but it's also the most beautiful and precious season as I get to watch my precious baby girl grow. Thank you, Lord! 

Lord, give me the strength to walk in your grace today, caring for Chloe with patience and love.  Help me to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and to bite my tongue when I want to grumble and complain about this season of life.

Amen.

Mosaic Mirror

I really want to do this someday! I've seen these cool mirrors before and thought, "Those are GORGEOUS! I bet I could make one and it would be unique and a lot less money!" So I decided to research, and I found TONS of ideas! It doesn't sound extremely simple, but definitely not very hard. Just something that should be planned out carefully. Basically what I've found is this:

1. Find your mirror. Any size, any shape. It can have a frame or not.
2. Find your mosaic pieces. Most suggest to use ceramic tile. Others say any type of ceramics works, glass, old jewelry, buttons, etc. Apparently there are such things at "tile stores" where one has endless options for tile colors/ patterns. These can get pricey though.
3. Plan your design. If you are using cookie-cutter shapes, this needs to be exact. If not, just lay out your ceramic or glass pieces.
4. Cut your ceramic pieces with a a wheeled tile nipper if you need to cut them. If you want broken pieces, place ceramics in a large trash bag, seal, and place a towel around it. Hammer.
5. Glue your pieces down with clear-drying non-toxic craft glue. Let dry 24 hrs.
6. Apply a thick layer of non-sanded grout over entire mosaic. Wait about 20 minutes, then use a damp sponge to wipe away grout from tiles. You might need to use a dry towel to polish tiles.
7. Let dry 24 hrs.