I {Heart} Primary

Thank you so much to all the well-wishers and commenters who offered their kindness and love after last night's post!  It's amazing what a difference a full night's sleep can make, and today was a much better day than yesterday.  :)


As I mentioned a little while ago, I've recently been called into the Primary presidency.  {The Primary is the children's Sunday School organization in our church.}  And I have to say I love it.  There's a reason I studied elementary education in college.  I've been pleasantly surprised with the way my children have reacted to me being in there with them every Sunday, and aside from Jane being a little extra needy, they've done really great.  Certain first-born children are quick to tell me at HOME, however, that I'm ruining Primary because I've changed so many things about it since I've been in, but rest assured that certain firstborn children {like their mother} have a tendency towards extremism and hyperbole and I certainly haven't changed EVERYTHING.  This certain firstborn child also likes to let me know that I talk to the Senior Primary kids like they're babies, but I like to let him know that when kids act like babies, I'll talk to them like babies.  Hahahaha.  I'm just kidding.  I'm just kidding.  I really don't think I talk to them in any way but normal, but perception is reality, and he likes to keep it real.  :)

Here are a few of the ideas I have come up with for the upcoming year: 

• Reverence help -- 

I came up with an idea for something to hand out to kids who are "caught being reverent" during Sharing Time.  I found a fish theme on Pinterest and decided to take it from there and run with, and created my own little sketched out fishies that I free-handed after doing a Google image search of black and white fish clip art.  It was so fun!  {NO sarcasm here.  I love doing anything artsy!  :) }

If I knew how, I'd totally make a PDF file for anyone to download who wanted to use the idea, but I don't.  Sorry!  But maybe you can still print out this image and make it work??

After copying the fish on brightly colored card stock, I put Ethan to work one Sunday afternoon by helping me cut out and laminate over a hundred of them.  He LOVED the project.  And so did I.  :)  I love how bright and colorful the end result is!  The idea is that if a kid is "caught being reverent," they can trade their fish out at the end of church for a sticker from the Sticker Box I've put together.  Hopefully, it will be incentive enough, but only time will tell.

Another idea I thought of was to have some items on hand to help with kids who are extra wiggly and/or chatty to help them be still and listen.  I'm stocking up our "Fidget Bucket" with some Silly Putty, notepads and paper, and stress balls that I made this evening out of balloons and flour and which the kids had a BLAST in helping me to make, and wouldn't let go of all evening long.  I do have to say that they are surprisingly mesmerizing to play with.  Hahaha.

I found a genius idea on Pinterest to cut the bottom off of an empty water bottle to use as a funnel for filling the balloons with flour, and it worked like a charm!  After spooning a bunch of flour into the "funnel," I used a marker that was lying nearby to jam it all in.  It was "easy" enough that Grace and Sophie were able to help without too much of a problem, and even Alex and Jane were able to "help" me make a few as well.  :)

• Sister Friendly --

The only other new thing that I have come up with, is the concept of a special Sharing Time visitor in the person of "Sister Friendly."  However, long time readers of the blog shouldn't be too confused as to who she is, because we've been utilizing this fictional character for years in the occasional Family Home Evening lesson where she (or sometimes Brother Friendly) will share with us the latest happenings from The Friend.  {Our church's monthly children's publication for the Primary.}

The idea is simple -- I dress up in disguise {although everyone obviously knows it's me} and wear an apron with lots of pockets.  Inside each pocket is a slip of paper referencing a story or activity from that month's Friend magazine, and I call on different kids to come and pick a pocket and then I tell the story or help them do whatever activity is written on it.  Last month was Sister Friendly's debut in our Primary, and she was a hit!  Hahaha.  She's scheduled to make another guest appearance this Sunday {since it's a 5th Sunday and there's no curriculum assigned}, and I'm hoping she'll make just as big a splash this time around.  {Although, since none of the other adults had ever heard of her, I'm starting to wonder if the New Orleans 1st Ward from my growing up years totally made up this character on their own.  Were we the only ones??}

Hahahahahaha.  My friend, who is one of the teachers in the Primary snapped this shot of me from last month.  Perhaps Sister Friendly needs to work on that Hostile Resting Face of hers.  Hahaha.  :)

So there you have it -- all the ways I'm changing up the Primary!  Hahahaha.  Goodnight and have a Happy Thanksgiving week!  :)

Momster

momster

A word used in conversation of siblings to complain about their mother. Comes from "mom" + "monster" = momster.

Well, folks, in a Family Home Evening first, I'm the one who stomped off in a raging fury after making everyone cry.  Yep, you read that right.  Apparently, when I haven't gotten a decent night's sleep in several days thanks to Jane and/or Alex keeping me up all night long, I reach a breaking point very quickly.  Especially when bombarded with whining voices and lack of cooperation during a lesson that I actually spent a lot of time working on and preparing for because I felt like it was time to actually teach what it means to "Hold to the Rod" -- since that's what our family theme is for the school year and all.  Unfortunately, screaming so loudly at the 3-year-old to just "STOP" his whining {and causing every single child to start crying in the process}, isn't exactly what I was hoping to use as illustration for how the Iron Rod represent the word of God.  Nor was throwing a roll of Scotch tape across the room in frustration and then skulking off to my bedroom to escape.  But that's basically how things went down.

The sad thing was that the lesson started off really great, with all the kids gathered around me and excited to have their scriptures out for a "scripture chase" and even more excited about the promise of a special treat that I had made to go along with the lesson.  Once I calmed down and then came down to apologize to everyone and pick back up where we left off, however, we managed to finish on an okay enough note, and they were all pretty tickled with the "Iron Rod" pretzel sticks I had made for them earlier that day.  But still.  I wish I could go back and have a do over. 

I'm just so tired!  It's been a scrambling kind of day AND weekend.  Here is the Reader's Digest version of the last few days:
FRIDAY NIGHT --

•  Scott ended up taking Jane to the emergency room because she was struggling so badly to breathe.  It was scary.  And I'm not usually one to worry.  Thankfully, they took good care of her at the hospital, gave her a steroid to help with the breathing, and then sent them merrily on their way without admitting her for a stay.  Thank goodness!

{Smiling and happy(er) with that barf bag in hand.  Apparently, after throwing up, she started doing a lot better.}

 {Scott says she REALLY loved that warming blanket.}

SATURDAY --

• LOTS of screen time was in the works for the day.  Ethan still had a fever and was not feeling great; Jane was fever-free, but still tired, and emotional, and not feeling great either; and then Scott and I were so tired from being up so much of the night before that it was easier to let them have free reign with electronics.
• I escaped from the house mid-day for an awesome lunch meeting with my Daisy co-leaders and then skedaddled over to the Meijer's next door to stock up on some basic necessities -- you know, a few Christmas presents, household necessities, some items for my Primary Sharing Time lesson the next day.  And some dry ice for Ethan.  Hahaha.  He's been hounding me about getting some since LAST weekend, so I decided to make his day and bought some for my poor little invalid to play with.  It provided quite a thrill for a few minutes there, as he got a cooler full of hot water to plop the dry ice in and made a bunch of smoke for his "experiment."  :)

 Catching it all on film.  :)

SUNDAY --

• Jane and Alex coordinated with each other to minimize our sleep on Saturday night, so that was a fun way to start off our Sabbath day.  Hahaha.  :)
• Even with only TWO children {Grace and Sophie} to get ready and cart along to church, we managed to be late.  
• Lack of sleep and physical well-being put EVERYBODY'S moods and behavior on the fritz by the end of the day.  We were vacillating between straight out CRAZY town and sweet normalcy all afternoon/evening long amongst the older two and bedtime couldn't come soon enough.  

 {In one of her moments of peace and creativity, Grace fashioned a time machine.  Hahahaha.}

MONDAY --

• And then there's today.  Jane was up from about 3 o'clock onward as she came in and out of our room wanting to sleep in our bed and then crying and having a fit when we told her no.  I think it was around 5 (?) when she finally responded to the threat of no Aunt Kristin's house this week if she didn't go back to sleep, and I was able to get just a few more zzzz's in before the day started for good.
• I ran to to the store around 10:30, only to discover that the pumpkin muffins I signed up to bring for Alex's "Thanksgiving Feast" at preschool this afternoon were no where to be found for purchase.  Which meant that I had to speed through my grocery shopping trip, run home and feed both kids lunch before the bus got here for Jane, and make PUMPKIN MUFFINS from scratch before Alex had to get to preschool at 12:30.  Not to mention, I also had to use that narrow window of time to get dinner started in the crockpot so it would be ready in time for us to eat tonight at a decent hour.  So, it was a bit chaotic for an hour or so there.
• The after school crush was not bad until it was time to turn electronics off and get chores done.  And then it was just one steady, sloping, descent into madness.  Which is what set the stage for my FHE performance.  

So, there you have it.   All's well that ends well, though, and things are looking up.  The kids have all forgiven me {or so they say}, and I'm optimistic that we are finally at the end of our croupy nightmare.  Tomorrow is the last day of school before vacation, and we're all excited to have a little break!  Until next time...

 {"Iron Rods" -- Chocolate dipped pretzel rods, rolled in silver sugar.  They were a hit!}

Sicky Sick

Ethan and Jane stayed home sick from school today.  It started yesterday afternoon, when Ethan had me pick him up early from running club because he wasn't feeling well, and then Jane woke up this morning with a fever and scratchy throat, too.  I think they both have what Sophie had last weekend, and what I think THAT is, is croup.  Which isn't a huge deal for Ethan, but for poor little asthmatic Jane, it's taken a turn for the terrible this evening.

{She is burning up and her breathing is sounding pretty bad.  Thankfully, she's finally fallen asleep for the night while doing a breathing treatment, but she was sounding bad enough that I'm concerned a hospital trip might be in the cards before the weekend is over.  Poor little Janie Boo.}

In an effort to end on a light-hearted note, though, I'll leave you with a picture of Ethan's latest project that he came up with during his sick day at home...

{Can't tell what that is?  Hahahaha.  Well, it's his iPod, of course.  Set up to take time-release pictures of our street all night long.  He set it up this afternoon, and made sure he plugged it in while taping so that the battery doesn't go dead.  I'm sure the footage tomorrow will be FASCINATING.  Hahaha.} 

Wish us luck for the rest of the weekend! 

Do You Want to Build a Snowman?

It was COLD yesterday!  So, so, so cold.  Today, however, it warmed up just enough to start melting the snow {and by warmed up I'm only talking mid-30s here}, and the resulting leftover mix lent itself perfectly to the task of being built up into a snowman.  Jane has been DYING to make one for two days now, and this evening, I finally made all her dreams come true.  :)  We built one together in the backyard, using a carrot for the nose and frozen cherries for the eyes and mouth, and then Jane scampered around to the front yard to join the fun with the big kids where they were snow-ing it up as well.  They definitely put all their new gloves to good use!  :)

 {Our front yard is a downward slope to the street.  Sledding down it understandably makes me nervous.  They've solved the problem by making their sledding track run right into the mailbox -- the perfect barrier.  It stops them every time.  Hahaha.}

Anatomy of a Snow Day

I have to be honest, when Scott informed me bright and early this morning that it was going to be a snow day, I was so happy to turn off my alarm and sleep in that it didn't even register that I'd have the kids home with me all day long as a trade-off.  Hahaha.  Thankfully, the day ended up better than expected -- but I'm sure that had a lot to do with the fact this was the very first snow day of the school year.  The fact that it has already arrived and it's only mid-November makes me a little nervous for the rest of the winter, but hopefully, we will not experience another one like last year.  For documentation's sake, here is what the first snow day of the season looked like...

• Snow was played in.  It didn't take long after breakfast and scripture time for the kids to make their way outside.  And then back inside, and then back outside, and then back inside, and so on and so forth for about 30 minutes or so, as they tried to find everything they needed to play in the snow while staying reasonably warm and dry.  Some fared better than others.  Hahaha.  Note to self -- everyone needs gloves and Ethan needs snow boots.  And Alex could use a snowsuit in his OWN signature color and not Jane's.  Hahaha.  {And as a sidenote, this just might be the winter that I finally get around to procuring weather appropriate snow gear for MYSELF, too.  It may have taken well over a decade of living in places where snow routinely accompanies the winter to accept reality and make myself more comfortable, but it's better late than never.  Right???}

• Scott worked from home.  And actually managed to get some work done even though the kids were home, too.  I think he was more than happy to sleep in a tiny bit, too, after the last few nights with the kids.  Alex and Jane had a couple of CRAZY sleepless night last week and then over the weekend, Sophie came down with a fever and sore throat and needed a little TLC as well.  She stumbled into our room right before midnight last night hardly able to breathe due to the choking, croakiness of her throat, and as a result set up camp on the floor in the corner by our bed and we all fell asleep to the sound of her nebulizer steadily droning on.  

•  Ethan worked on a school project.  Which isn't even due until Friday, but I think he gets a little antsy and just likes to get things done.  They're studying world religions in social studies right now and have to do research and posters on Hindu gods/goddesses.  I convinced him that the wrinkled and crumpled up poster I swept up on the kitchen floor this morning might not get top points for effort or neatness and he spent a good chunk of the day following my advice and redoing his work on a brand new piece of paper.  The girls got into the action as well, for some reason, and started drawing THEIR own posters as well.  I'm not sure if they were trying to give him ideas of what to do for Ganesha, or if they were just trying to prove that they could do a better job than he did, but it was kind of funny to see them all working so intensely.

 {Alex got in on the action, too.}

 His "rough" draft is on the bottom there in the uneven purple letters.

 He took a page from Grace's book and made the letters more colorful for the final draft.

• Wacky cake was made.  Yeah, you read that right.  Right before the peaceful interlude of poster making, I had to resort to out and out bribery to keep the kids off electronics and away from killing each other.  My solution was to try out "Jackson's Wacky Cake" from Mel's Kitchen Cafe, which claimed to be so easy that a 7 year old could make it!  Since it has no eggs or dairy in it, it seemed like the PERFECT thing for our resident 7-year-old to give me a hand in making.  The end result was a LOT better than any of us were expecting.  I've tried a couple different recipes for "wacky" cakes before -- because of Sophie's allergies -- but none of them ever turned out very well, and they certainly didn't have the same consistency or texture of a real cake.  This one, however, was pretty good!  We finished it off with a dusting of powdered sugar like the recipe suggested and it was a hit will all of the kids.  Even Ethan, who is a notoriously picky eater.  :)

•  More projects were created to work on.  I scored mega wizard points after coming up with some genius ideas for keeping the kids occupied this afternoon and too busy to bother each other.  Almost an hour was spent cutting things out of magazines and then laminating them with the brand-new laminator that I bought over the weekend.  Never underestimate the appeal of a new "toy."  Hahaha.  Grace humored my request to cut out animals for Alex from her National Geographic for Kids magazine, and after I started cutting out "paper dolls" from an American Girl catalog, all the girls joined in the fun.  :)

 

• LOTS of messes were made. Hardly surprising with five kids home all day long, but it certainly was all-inclusive.  There really wasn't an area of the main floor that WASN'T trashed by the end of the day.  

 Sample mess leftover in the Dining Room.  But rest assured that every room looked similar or worse.

• But chores were actually done.  Both kid and grown up.  I was able to get out and shovel the driveway by mid-afternoon and then head to the grocery store with my freshly written up shopping list and menu for the month.  Meanwhile, once I got back, the kids promised to get their chores done as soon as they were finished playing outside and sledding down the front yard.  I have to give them some major credit, because they actually did!  Well, except for Sophie, but she was still sounding pretty croaky, so I'll give her a pass for today.  :)

 While cleaning up the kitchen, Alex came and settled himself at the counter to play with his action figures all by himself.  It was hilarious.  I mean, he really PLAYS with them.  Using voices and sound effects and everything.  Hahahaha.

 And Jane is a budding artist.

•  FHE was held and a real dinner was made!  I got started on our Pizza pull-apart rolls a little later than I was planning, so as we waited for them to finish rising and bake, we held Family Home Evening a little bit early.  Grace was all prepared with a lesson -- they worked on it in Activity Days last week -- and did a really awesome job teaching it to the family.  It was quite adorable, really.  She can be so on point at times.  Hahaha. The lesson was on prayer, and she handed out pictures to color and a pretzel maze to do and then made us a "prayer sandwich" with peanut butter and jelly for an object lesson to finish.  It was great.  And then we went on to eat a delicious pizza dinner with a treat afterwards of chocolate dipped pretzels and sprinkles to go along with Grace's lesson.  Pretzels are shaped like arms folded in prayer you know.  :)

•  Bedtime finally came.  And the day was done.  It took a bit of time to get EVERYONE up to bed, but once we did they eventually all stayed!  Here's to hoping they stay in their own beds all night long.  :)