Praises of a Wife and Mommy

I sure wanted to keep Christmas in my classroom and had fun in the process.   This is just one little bulletin board but we had fun with the lights and talking about Christmas wishes- wishes of not GIMME GIMME and I WANT but what it would look like if everyone had a warm bed, a house, a car to drive...etc etc.    How did you keep Jesus in your classroom this year? 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!  The presents have been unwrapped and travels to and from are all complete.   Still trying to get some rest in before going back to work next week but have a huge to do list of things I want to accomplish before than!   First let me recap our Minnesota and Wisconsin trips!   We first drove to Minnesota and spend some time with my husbands family.   It had been several years since we actually got to spend Christmas with any of them so this was extra special this year!   We truly enjoyed each other and played some fun games and ate some great food!    Next was Wisconsin and thankfully the drive was not very long!   We went to my dad's house and again ate some great food, played some fun games, and even baked some cookies.    Time went extremely fast but seeing family is so important to us all!   Since I am the one who lives the furthest away it always seems to be hard to get to other fam...

I have seen these ornaments for the last couple years and I finally took the time to make them.   It was fairy simple but, t his activity is more for the adults or older children.   What I did: -Used a butter knife to get crayon shavings -Kids help put shavings in the ornament -Used a hair dryer to melt crayon shavings.   The hair dryer does get the ornament hot so children should not hold ornament.   If you keep hair dryer in one place for too long the colors will run together and blend and turn dark or even brown.   The key is to get it warm enough to melt it just a little bit but not melt to a liquid where it will run all over.   I used glass ornaments so be cautious with glass as it is very breakable.  

I loved loved loved Great Grandma's present to my daughter this year!   Some of you probably read my post after Thanksgiving sharing a cute picture of my daughter and her Great Grandma baking. During Thanksgiving they made some cookies and I took a couple adorable pictures!   So Grandma printed one of the pictures and pasted it in a junior cookbook and wrote my daughter a lovely letter!   It will be a treasured item for many years to come!   Good job Grandma on a great gift idea!  

With more than 50 stickers and loads of unfinished scenes, this Christmas Bible Doodle Book invites kids to get sketching. Activities include dot-to-dots, Scripture fill-in-the-blanks, step-by-step directions on drawing angels, poinsettias, and more, plus plenty of prompts and space to practice---just add pencils, crayons and imagination! My Review:   Let me be honest and I wanted to do this more than give it to my kids!   Thanks Zondervan for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review.  I was not paid for this review and all opinions are 100% mine. As much as I wanted to hide this book for only me to have fun my daughter is currently sitting next to me doodling on many pages!  She is having fun and I am enjoying watching her draw and imagine.    The beginning of the book also covers the scriptures of the Christmas story so we can keep Christ the center of this season! This is a great Christmas gift idea for any family!   Zonde...

Merry Christmas The kids are eagerly counting the days to Christmas by adding a new ornament to the advent calendar/tree every morning!  (Thanks Stephanie Matson for this awesome new tradition) 2014 was a fast year with many projects completed.   We officially have been in Iowa for a year in June!  We have fallen in love with our small and quaint little town but enjoy the fun in the Quad City area area as well!   Anthony has been busy as usual with projects around the church.   The long process can be exhausting at times but Anthony is a very hard worker.   We were blessed to have his brother, Adam, here for 6 weeks helping with a few projects.  The main focus for the church building would be the basement.   We have added windows to every classroom, redone the floor, made a mothers room, organized and purged some unneeded items, and took care of mold issues!   There were several helpers for each project and we were very than...

About the Book: The popular Everyday Zoo series for young children by beloved and New York Times bestselling author Joyce Meyer continues with The Christmas Pageant, a heartfelt and humorous story about the true meaning of Christmas. When Hayley Hippo is asked to direct the annual Christmas pageant, she decides this will be her Christmas gift to Jesus and she sets out to make everything perfect. However, after a series of disappointing mishaps, Hayley and her friends learn that they don’t need to be perfect. They realize that Christmas is not about the glittering lights, the perfect setting, or an impressive show, but about Christ. My Review:   Many of you have seen my other reviews on Joyce Meyer's children's books, " Which Way to Prayer " and " Field of Dreams."   My kids have become huge fans of the Everyday Zoo characters that Joyce has created and are constantly asking if there is a new book in the series. Thank you Zondervan for sending me thi...