Magnetic Puzzle Board

Happy New Year!

The first week of the new year has consisted of sickness, Netflix binging Tidying Up With Marie Kondo, subsequent tidying, organizing and playing.

As we were taking down our Christmas decorations and I was putting our normal decor back, I realized that I hadn't done a blog post about our magnet board in our living room/play room.

It's one of the things I had planned even before we moved, and I am super happy with how it turned out!

What you'll need:

- 1 jumbo puzzle (I LOVE Mudpuppy puzzles! They have different themes - dinosaurs, animals, maps - so you can totally make it fit the feel of your space!  They're really well made, a great size, and totally affordable.  I went with the world map one, because I love maps, and I wanted to be able to refer to it when talking to Aidan about our move, or when learning about animals, continents, talking about where family and friends live, etc.  You can find the one we got here.)

- Magnet paper - You can find it on Amazon.  It's just sheets of adhesive magnetic material

- 1 piece of sheet metal, OR two magnetic boards from IKEA

- Equipment to hang the boards (We used the Command Picture Hanging Strips, since we rent, and are trying to do the least amount of damage to the walls.)

Directions:

1. Order the jumbo puzzle you want.

2. Cut small (approx. 1x3 inch - changing sizes as you need) pieces of the magnetic paper, remove paper covering adhesive part, and stick them to the back of each puzzle piece, coving as much as possible.

3. Hang your magnetic boards or sheet metal in your desired spot.  Now, with the magnetic boards, obviously there is a seam.  You can decide if you want it horizontal or vertical.  Vertical lines bother me less than horizontal, but that's a personal preference.  If I knew exactly where to find a piece of metal like what I wanted here in Slovenia, that's what I would've done, but this worked out great, too!

4. Complete puzzle on board.

5. That's it!  You're done! 

I absolutely love having such a large map so accessible.  We like watching Wild Kratts, so whenever they are talking about an animal, and where their habitat is, it's a great tool to show Aidan where that animal lives.  It's also helpful when showing Aidan where his grandma, who lives in Ohio is.

Another great feature is that it can come down, and I could have another puzzle ready to go up.  I don't have another one as of yet, but plan on getting one. Aidan loves taking the pieces off, putting them together on the floor, and then back up on the board.  He's gotten really good at it! :)  

My next project is getting magnetic letters and spray painting them black, lol.  They're a fantastic tool when starting reading and spelling, which is where we're headed with Aidan.

Oh! It also worked as a great Christmas card display during the holidays.

And there you have it!  A cute and functional magnetic puzzle board!

Does God Really Want You To Win... Or Learn?

I have recently started Bible Journaling, and as I was searching for some ideas and inspiration on pinterest, I came across one that said "God Wants You To Win!"  And it got me thinking.  This person was more than likely dealing with something specific, and could have ABSOLUTELY gotten confirmation from God that He would help them be victorious.

But.  Does God really always want us to win?

God speaks to me through mommy-moments, and yesterday my friend and I took Aidan to the park to play.  Now, I neither hover (usually Dan has that covered), nor do I ignore Aidan at the playground.  I sit at a distance where I can see him, and he can see me.  If he were to need my help, I can be there fast enough, but I feel like I've given him enough space to spread his wings.  I don't help him get up to places he couldn't get down from on his own - I want to see what he can learn without my intervention.

Today, he was climbing up a knobby thing to get to the slide.  It was new, and it was a little big, but he was doing a great job.  All of a sudden his foot slipped, and slid down a couple knobs.  He looked at me, a little worried, and I told him "you're doing great!  Try again, you can do it!"  He looked determined, and put his foot back up, found a secure-feeling spot, and pulled himself up.  When he got to the top, he said, "I did it!"  And of course, being his cheerleader, I told him how proud I was of him trying so hard.

So.  Did he win?  Eventually yes.

Would it have helped him for me to intervene when it got hard?  No.  Because the next time he would try to climb up it, he would think he needed my help, and wouldn't try as hard.

By letting him fail, I was allowing him to learn.

Could it be that sometimes when we face difficult times, it's because God is teaching us something we will need later down the road?  If God "lets us win" (like when we play games with kids) all the time, we aren't learning vital skills.

Does God want us to be victorious?  Yes.  But it's not that easy.  We become victorious when we trust God that he has our best interest in mind.  Not when we are always "winning".

So, if you are in the middle of the battle, and you're wondering where God is: He is watching you, He hasn't taken his eyes off you, and He is saying, "I'm right here, you can do it!  Try again."  Because the battle has already been won - therein lies our victory.