for the joy of the Lord is my strength
We bought a coupon of silicon molds for my son’s Lego Party last April to make candies and ice cubes.
After seeing this pin on Pinterest, I decided we could use up our broken crayons and create some fun new ones!
We removed the paper and cut the crayons into small pieces. We set the oven for 230 degrees. It took about 30 minutes for them to melt and another half an hour to cool!
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A while back my oldest son was complaining about how his younger brothers always had their Legos all over their bedroom floor. My second son told me he needed a place for his Legos–like “another room.” Well, that wasn’t going to happen! But I did find this great pin of a Lego Table on Pinterest! The original inspiration for her was from Family Fun magazine.
I found a piece of wood in the garage and sent my husband and son to work on it. They sawed and routered and sanded and primed and spray-painted! We ordered three X-Large Gray Baseplates off of Amazon.com, and they used construction glue to attach it to the wood. I already had the plastic drawers (bought at Target.com). We decided not to attach the table top to the drawers. Now, their room stays neater, and the boys have a great place to build their Legos!
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Our daily “learn to read” time has been growing boring, so I decided to find some games to spruce things up a bit. Of course, it was easy to go to my Pinterest Learn to Read board to find lots of great ideas. Here are some that we tried this week!
Very fun for the kids. Toss a rock and hop to the square. Say the word there!
I put phonograms on the outside that I want them to memorize by spelling: augh/ough, tion, eigh, and ould. So, they would say, “O, U, L, D, ould.” Then, the words in the inside are ones that use these phonograms (such as could, eight, tough, etc.)
This was for a paid download, so I created some sheets myself using the words found at Jan Brett’s site.
Easy! They roll the die and say all the words in the column of the number rolled. I made 6 different sheets.
And some more to try next week:
Parking Lot Game and Stair Phonics
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I try to keep on top of when library books are due, but it’s another one of those things that have been a little out of control lately. Last month I found this beautiful crate at a resale shop for $5! It was perfect for turning into our library book crate. I painted the side with chalkboard paint so I can easily see when the books are due. The kids are supposed to keep the books in there when they aren’t being read, and when they are being read they are to be kept in the same room (our family room)! Hope this saves us some fines in the future!
Before painting:
Here’s the pin I was inspired by.
Linked up to the Pinterest Challenge.
And Fox Hollow Cottage’s Pinning Party.
I’ve been wanting a picnic quilt for a long time. You know, the kind you can just leave in the van and pull out when you want to sit on the ground. It needed to be big enough for our whole family, so that’s pretty big! And intimidating as far as making a quilt goes! I had made a rag quilt with both sides flannel for one of my son’s beds and thought that might be a good way to go. But I wanted it to be more durable since it would be out in the elements. Then I saw the ideas for using denim! I don’t know why I never thought of it before, but denim works perfectly for a rag quilt! I love the way it frayed.
I like this pin and someday will probably use my old jeans stash to piece together some squares and upcycle. But for this project I just bought some denim and cut big squares to be able to finish it quicker. The top side uses flannel. I didn’t purchase any more flannel, so the top isn’t as pretty as it would have been if I had planned it out. But I wanted to use up my scraps.
The squares are 10″ x 10″. The seam allowances are one inch, which makes each sewn square 8″ x 8″. The final dimensions of the quilt are 80″ x 96″. Here are two tips: use rag quilt scissors to cut the seams (they are spring loaded so you don’t have to keep opening and closing the scissors) and wash the quilt for the first time at a commercial laundromat (it produces SO much lint!). One other thing I did to save time was not to put any batting in it. It’s thick enough and certainly heavy enough. My younger kids can’t even carry it!
This is what the underneath looks like:
Now, for a picnic!
Linked up to the Pinterest Challenge.
Ever wanted to learn how to knit? Try this!
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Well, I have slept through the night (7 hours in a row) the last TWO nights! I don’t think that has happened in years! Of course, I’m still so sleep-deprived that I don’t feel any better yet, but maybe if the trend continues. . . . I’ve felt like I’ve been living in a cloud for so long, it’s hard to remember what it’s like to be clear-headed. I’m going to try Claritan to help with my allergies–got the doctor’s approval yesterday. Seven 1/2 weeks until baby’s due date! Oh, and I really need to exercise today, too.
Today is a pretty easy day, as far as not having too much going on outside the house. We only have soccer practice this afternoon (for the five oldest) and only if it doesn’t rain.
I’ve decided to try a week of Pinterest-Inspired recipes. I worked on the menu and grocery list this morning and my wonderful husband is now at the store! Last night we had take out pizza, but for dessert we had Crock-Pot Lava cake. I tried it with Sucanat instead of brown sugar this time, but it still tasted too “molassasy” for me. I might see if it works with white sugar next time.
Here are the recipes for the next week, yes a lot are with the crock-pot!:
Tonight: Crock-pot Chicken Parmesan with asparagus and Andes Mint Cookies
Sunday: Snicker-doodles for after the kids’ piano recital. Crock-pot Steak Burritos for dinner
Monday: Eggs and toast (easy, since Dad’s not here. Bible Study Fellowship night.)
Tuesday: Leftovers
Wednesday: Taco Casserole
Thursday: Crock-pot baked potatoes (easy, swim lessons evening)
Friday: Homemade Pizza–garlic bread pizza crust
Let me know if you need an invite to Pinterest so you can see these recipes!
This morning I baked bread. It’s been a while since I got behind on my wheat order. But I picked up 100 pounds of wheat berries yesterday, so we’re set now! The kids did their usual morning chores, plus a 15-minute extra Saturday chore (which must be completed before they’re allowed to use any electronic devices.) The older 2 boys vacuumed the first floor. The older 2 girls each cleaned a bathroom. The younger boy and girl “cleaned” the basement. :) I’m planning on doing a post on our chores soon. I also offered a couple of pay jobs this morning. My 2nd son cleaned out the refrigerator. Yeah! I hate doing that! And my oldest is at this moment cleaning out and vacuuming our big van.
Soon, I’m going to try to head upstairs to sew. I’m working on my niece’s butterfly quilt and need to finish our picnic quilt, too.
There’s a special price ($4.99) on this GREAT e-book again–until Wednesday April 18! It’s called 4 Moms 35+ Kids Answer Your Parenting Questions. On Wednesday, the book will be sold only at the full price of $7.99, until further notice–so be sure to get it now! Use the code “BIGSALE”.
This 195-page e-book is a huge resource! And it’s funny!
Here are the chapter titles, and each of the four moms answer these questions:
How do you get your family to church on time?
How do you teach children to be still and quiet in church?
How do you prepare children to be around unbelieving
family?
How do you keep things fair for all your children?
How do you keep your patience in the midst of chaos?
How do you manage outings with only little ones?
Do you ever feel discouraged or overwhelmed?
How do you make sure your children get enough individual
time?
Naps: How important are they? How do you make them
happen?
How do you find time for projects that need to be done,
require focused attention and which the children can’t help
with?
How do you teach your children to do chores?
How do you teach children to be diligent?
Which parenting style is best?
How do you teach your children about the birds and the
bees?
How do you deal with sibling squabbles?
The ebook also contains a master chore list of age appropriate chores, and there are two original printables.
Click here to visit 4 Moms 35 Kids to learn more about the book and to purchase it. Remember the code BIGSALE!
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I shared some pictures on the previous post of my son’s Lego party. It seemed that all the kids had a great time! Here I’d like to share some of the specifics of what we did. I will tell you that my son made many of the party decisions himself, as well as doing a lot of the work!
The invitation he designed, with Minifigures talking:
Plates–we printed a lego picture off of the internet and taped them underneath clear plates:
Pinata. There were a few tutorials for making them, but I broke down and ordered this one off of Ebay: (See pin here.)
Lego car ramp: (See pin here.)
Easter egg hunt with Legos inside. (We ordered one of those used lots off of Ebay to fill the Easter eggs.):
Instead of cake we had brownies cut in Lego shapes topped with peanut butter M&Ms to make them look like Legos:
Treat Bags. We printed the names off the computer and decorated each bag with Lego stickers. We filled them with Lego candies (purchased off of Amazon) (see pin here) and Chocolate candies in the shapes of Lego bricks and minifigures. We used Wilton candy melts (from Joann.com) to make the candies in silicone molds. See pins here and here.
Ice in the shapes of Lego bricks and minifigures (silicone molds).
I have a TON of ideas on my Lego Party Pinterest Board!
I’ve linked up this post to the Pinterest Challenge.
In preparation for my son’s 10th birthday party, we built a Lego car ramp in our living room. I got the idea from this pin. My son (ever the engineer) modified the design making the slope less, adding the music stand for the starting gate, and the chair and pillows on the bottom to keep the cars from crashing. The boys will make their own cars at home and bring them to race at the party. My kids have already been enjoying this for a week! They love it!
Oops–it crashed off the side!
Here’s a better view of what the whole thing looks like.
My 3-year-old built this car herself!
Some of their creative designs:
I’ve linked up this post to this month’s Pinterest Challenge.
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I saw this pin on Pinterest last fall, and thought I’d adjust it for a spring shirt. Here’s what I came up with:
Tutorial:
1. Cut the ribbons all the same length. Mine were about 6 1/2 inches long. (Next time I think I’ll make them a little shorter.)
2. Cut out the circles. I used my glue container as a pattern.
3. Tacky glue the ends of the ribbons together.
4. Tacky glue the ribbons to the underneath of the circles.
5. Hand baste the circles onto the shirts.
6. Zig-Zag stitch the circles onto the shirts and cut out basting threads.
Linked up to The Pinterest Challenge.
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Last month I shared about the decorating I had started in the kids’ bathroom. I made a new shower curtain and window valance. My mother-in-law gave me beautiful starfish and sand dollars which I framed with some frames from Joann Fabrics. The project was inspired by several different pins at Pinterest: one, two, three, and four.
I’ve linked up to the Pinterest Challenge for this month. There are some other great ideas from my Pinterest Seashell board that I’ll probably be adding in the future.
I also love the ideas for wall decorating at Lot 26 Studio.
Here are some fun things to spruce up the house for spring: “Spring showers bring May flowers” and the Poppies wall art is the perfect depiction of that childhood statement. These colorful flowers are perfect for a living room or kitchen and will stay bloomed all year long! Another reason to adore spring is the birds chirping in the trees and filling the air with music. The Birds On Branches wall decal adds the perfect color and attitude for any room. Who doesn’t love the vibrant colors of the season? Brighten an office with the Geo Tiles– wonderful colors and designs! Lot 26 Studio makes a quick makeover because all you need to do is peel and stick!
Currently, Lot 26 Studio is offering 10% off the entire store with promo code BLOOM10.
(Contains affiliate links. Thanks for supporting I Choose Joy!)
My name is Gena, and I’m a homeschooling mom of 8 children, ages 12 and down. My wonderful husband of almost 15 years is also my best friend! I love learning and reading, singing and playing the piano, sewing and crafting, and, most of all, my Lord Jesus! I love encouraging others in their walks as homeschoolers and Christians, providing tips for homemaking (esp. recipes, sewing, and crafting), and sharing about our everyday life! My hope is that by joining me here you will be able to choose joy! !
Here are some great curriculum ideas from CurrClick
ridiculously photogenic whale
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Felt Fishing Game Eco-friendly Montessori Toy - READY MADE
