Toddler Fun, Week 15: Letter J, Number 5, Jaguars and Jesus

Merry Christmas, everyone!

This "week", has been more like 2 weeks, intermittently.

Of course, there was Christmas, and Dan had to go visit his mom because she was in the hospital, so all in all it's been a little chaotic.

But!  Let's go ahead and get started.  Before we move on, let's review:

A is for Alligator

B is for Blue and (Blacktip) Sharks

C is for Crab Spider

D is for Deer

E is for Elephant

F is for Flamingos

G is for Goldfish

H is for Horse

I is for Insect

K is for Kangaroo

L is for Lizard

M is for Manatee

R is for Rooster

T is for Turkey

So, this week we had a Jacksonville Jaguars game planned, and with it being Christmas, I thought it would be a nice week to learn more about Jesus too!

Activities

1. Jaguars Game

So, it wasn't a very Christmassy thing to do, but on Christmas eve, we went to a Jacksonville Jaguars football game.  And, as a Christmas miracle, they actually won!!!  Aidan was a little disappointed however, because he was under the impression that actual jaguars were going to play football.  Poor baby, haha!  We had a lot of fun though, and spotted the "j"-s wherever we looked.

2. Jaguars at the Jacksonville Zoo

The Jacksonville Zoo has an award-winning Jaguar enclosure, and it's not hard to see why.  I like arriving right at opening, because the animals are really active, as it isn't too hot yet.  Although we visit at least bi-weekly, we hardly ever see the jaguars.

 On this particular visit though, we really lucked out, and got to see two of them; a male and a female.  There is also a beautiful black one, but I haven't seen it in a while.  Because there was hardly anyone else there, we were able to just sit and watch them, which was wonderful!

I know some people have issues with zoos, and I do understand why.  I don't love ALL zoos, but our zoo is accredited with the AZA, and clearly cares about the animals in its care.  Of course, ideally I would prefer the animals were free and in the wild.  But most zoos nowadays take injured animals, or animals born in captivity (who would not know how to live without human interactions at that point), rather than taking hordes of them out of their natural habitats for entertainment.  The animals at this zoo are not forced to do certain things, and they only use positive reenforcement in training (which is important, so they can administer medicine, vitamins, and things like that).  I do not agree with cruel treatment of animals, and for this reason do not do circuses, or SeaWorld.  But well-intentioned, conservation-minded zoos - yes!  I love reading all the information on the animals, but it's hard while chasing a toddler.  So, I took pictures of them, to read later. :)

3. Nativity and Baby Jesus

I have a beautiful Willowtree Nativity, which Aidan helped me put out.  Growing up, we each had our own nativity, but I was unable to find a wooden one for Aidan that I liked in time, so I decided to make one.  I found a kids' nativity puppet set, which I printed out.

I don't have a laminator, so I used clear packing tape on either side, and then cut it out again.  Then, I taped them to some wooden clothespins, and there you have them!  Aidan loved playing with them!

Crafts

1. J is for Jaguar

To add to our alphabet book, we made this super-cute J is for Jaguar.  For this, I cut out an orange J, a head and 4 legs.  I helped Aidan glue the pieces on, and then draw rosettes and whiskers.  We also glued on googley eyes.  Duh. :)  It turned out really cute, if you ask me.

2. The Legend of the Candy Cane

Back when I taught VPK (K4), I did a whole week one the legend of the candy cane.  One of my favorite things we did was this candy cane craft.  I wrote a J with a pencil, and then dipped Aidan's two index fingers in red and white paint. I had a real candy cane laid out, and asked him what colors he saw.  Then I (very very basically) explained that it was an AB pattern.  Then I helped him make alternating dots with his fingers along the "J".  As we did it we said "red, white, red, white, red, white", etc.  to help the concept sink in.  I also found this cute poem which talks about how the candy cane points to Jesus, which I cut out and Aidan glued on the page.

3. Coloring pages

 I found a coloring page of the Jaguars logo, which we colored on game day.

I also found one of a jaguar in the jungle, with the word jaguar at the bottom.  I asked him to color the letters, and as you can see, he got REALLY into it, haha!!

Books and Media

We Read:

1. Go, Baby Jaguar! by Kristen Larsen

This was Aidan's favorite of the week, he cried when we took it back to the library.  It's a cute, easy reader, which by the end of the week, Aidan was reciting, and "reading" to himself!  It had great repetition, and a mama jaguar, which Aidan particularly loved!

2. Jag's New Friend by Leann Rimes

Don't bother with this book.  The story was choppy, and didn't make much sense, and had words like "dumb" and "stupid".  I didn't care for it at all, but the illustrations were very cute, so that's redemptive. :)

3. A Boy And A Jaguar by Alan Rabinowitz

This book, however is a gem!! I would love to own this one!  It's a boy who stutters, and has a love of animals.  He promises his pets that when he finds his voice, he will help them have one too.  He goes to Belize to study Jaguars, where he is able to convince the government to open the first and only jaguar preserve.  It's a great story about overcoming, and loving animals.

4. Big Cats: Jaguar

This book is geared more towards elementary aged kids, but I wanted Aidan to see actual photographs of jaguars.  What was REALLY cool for us, is that this book actually referenced the jaguar preserve mentioned in the earlier book!  There was a picture of a poached jaguar's skin, which did bother Aidan, and every time he saw it, he said the jaguar was broken, which in return broke my heart.  He has a very tender spirit.

5. We Say, Go Jaguars!

Every 4-year-old in Jacksonville receives a set of books, to encourage early literacy education.  One of these is about the Jaguars.  Obviously, Aidan isn't 4 yet, but I actually found this at a second-hand-store months ago.  

We watched:

1. Wild Kratts Season 2 Episode 9: Shadow: The Black Jaguar - you can find this on DailyMotion or youtube.  In true Wild Kratts fashion, you learn all kinds of new information about jaguars.

2. Elena of Avalor - this new Disney Junior show has magical creatures called "jaguins", that are a cross between a jaguar and a griffin.  Aidan really loves Elena, but not for her jaguin riding skills, haha!  I think the boy has his first crush!

And that's about it!  I hope you enjoyed our jaguar week!  We didn't do any crazy special snacks this week, but I'll try to catch up next week!  Happy New Year, folks!

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You Are Special

I am a people-pleaser.  There.  Now you know.  It may be because of the whole "compliant eldest syndrome", it may be growing up with parents in full-time ministry, it may be just how God made me.  There are positives to being a people pleaser; when I'm on my game, I am generally well-liked (I think), which gives me opportunities that people who just don't care may not get.  I almost always have great working relationships with my superiors, and my life is pretty conflict-free.  There are also some negatives, like worry and stress, getting embarrassed easily and over-thinking (I still cringe when I think of a really dumb thing I said at our wedding.  Ouch.)  

I feel like in today's age of social media, this is just exacerbated.  We post things on Facebook and Instagram, or on our blog, and then wait for "likes" and views to validate our actions.  I remember one time, I re-posted something, because I thought it was really funny, but no one seemed to notice it.  We're putting ourselves out there, and no matter what people say (sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me, really??), negative feed-back, or unkind/thoughtless comments can hurt.

Didn't post.  Duh.

Would've posted.  Instead I sent it to my sister-in-law, who doesn't judge, regardless.

Now that we're in full-time itineration and fund-raising mode, I feel the pressure even more.  I want; no I "need" people to read our newsletter.  There's so much work and effort put into something like that, that it feels like such a let-down if a certain number of people don't react.

So, what does a people-pleaser like myself feel?  Instead of just brushing it off, or moving on, I feel like it's a direct reflection on how people feel about me, which honestly can get me down.  (Now, I'm not saying this for you to go read our newsletter, I'm just trying to share some real struggles of mine with you.:) )

And that's when God, in his gentle tenderness reaches down into my insecurities and reminds me of one of my favorite children's books.  That's right.  A children's book.  But not just any children's book, Max Lucado's You Are Special.  This book is from 1997, so from before the rise of social media, and yet somehow Max Lucado knew what was coming.

In case you're not familiar with the book, you can watch a read-aloud here.  It starts by introducing us to a village of marionette-type wooden people called Wemmicks.  These Wemmicks are peculiar, in that they give out gold stars to those they find to be pretty or clever, or simply because they already have many gold stars, and must be "good Wemmicks".  In contrast, they give out gray dots to anyone they think is clumsy, ugly, stupid, or has too many gray dots already.  (It's understood by the reader that this is very silly behavior indeed, but does it sound at all familiar?)  The catch is, that these stickers don't come off. 

This is when we meet the unfortunate Punchinello.  He has many gray dots, which he can't get rid of, no matter how hard he tries.  Then he meets Lucia, who has NO stickers!  And when the other Wemmicks try to put one on her, it doesn't stick.  Lucia tells Punchinello to come with her and meet Eli the woodcarver.  Cautiously, Punchinello goes to meet Him.  He is surprised when Eli knows his name.  Eli tells him, "Of course I know your name, I made you, and you are special."  Eli tells Punchinello that the reason he is special is because Eli made him, not because of the stickers the other Wemmicks give him.  Punchinello has a bit of a hard time accepting this, but he begins to, and as he leaves Eli's workshop, one gray dot sticker rolls off...

I love this story not only for the overall message, but for the more subtle ones; like the fact that once you care more about what the Maker thinks than others, their stickers don't stick.  Or the fact that Punchinello isn't "healed instantly", but rather the author acknowledges that it's a process that takes time.

The phrase "you are special" has gotten kind of a bad rep.  We hear about parents who tell their child they are special, to the detriment of others around them (remember that video that went viral about the daddy's pep talk to his little girl?  The reason I loved it, was because after talking her up, he also had her repeat "I am not better than anyone, and no one is better than me"). Teachers are having to tell parents that their "unique and precious snow flake" isn't as perfect as they think.  And then there's, "if everyone is special, doesn't that mean no one is special"?  I think we have taken the meaning of "special" out of context.  

Yes, one definition is "better, greater, or otherwise different from what is usual".  But others are, "belonging specifically to a particular person or place" (like our Maker?) and "exceptionally good or precious" (precious!!).

Here are some synonyms you may not have thought of, as well: noteworthy, remarkable, distinct, individual, peculiar (oh, thank God), purpose-built (yessss!!!), tailor-made, custom-built.

God tailor-made me for a purpose, that has absolutely nothing to do with what people around me think.  I don't need their validation, because I was made with God's stamp of approval before anyone else even met me.

My parents used to call me "Teflon", because as a kid, stuff just rolled off my back.  And then pre-teen years, clicks and hormones set in, and I started to care more about what others think.  Everyone always talks about "labels", and how bad they are.  Well, labels actually make me feel secure.  I am learning though, that the only label I need to worry about is "His".

I don't think it's realistic to go through life not caring at all what others think, because we would all end up alone.  And the Bible doesn't teach to disregard others, we are to "submit to one another in brotherly love" (Romans 12:10)  But that isn't where we should look to find our worth.  And this is what I am trying to learn to do.

So, I will sign off in the way Bob the Tomato, and Larry the Cucumber have so many times, "God made you special, and He loves you very much.  Bye!"

DIY Clothespin People Family Christmas Ornament Tutorial

I have this tradition, where every year, I make a Family Christmas ornament.  One year I made felt cupcakes, then clay Hungary-shaped ornaments, and last year I made wood ring ornaments with our picture modge-podged onto it.

This year, I was wishing we could all be together, and was trying to think of a way to recreate that somehow.  So, I decided to make miniatures of each of us.  I bummed around online to try to find something, but came up kind of short.  I could find pictures, but no real tutorials.  So I hope you come across this, and it is EXACTLY what you were looking for! :)

Here is the finished project:

Here's what you'll need:

- Wooden clothespins (you can find them at craft stores)

- Small screw-in hooks

- Wire that's been wrapped in butcher paper (again, craft stores)

- Acrylic paint

- Fabric swatches

- Pencil

- Super glue

- Drill

- Paint brush

- Pearl-headed pin

1. First thing I did, was paint the pin heads and feet with a skin tone.  (I made a few extra, and ended up being very glad I did, as I messed up a couple, and one split down the middle when I screwed in the hook.)

2. Next, I painted the hair.  (For the girls, I glued a bead to the back, and painted that too, to make buns.)

 


3. In hind-sight, this is when I would've screwed in the hook.  I did it at the end, which meant that when the head of one split, I had to scratch the whole thing.

4. Next I started working on the facial features.  For this, I used the pearl-headed pin, and a very thin paintbrush.  (For the glasses, I used a pencil, because I didn't want them to be a very "heavy" feature.)

 


5. Next I picked out fabric.  I knew I wanted cool colors, blues and grays.  So, I went to a craft/fabric store.  Initially I was looking for those groups of quilting squares you can buy, where all the squares go together, but couldn't find any.  Finally, I found where they have the left-over pieces, and found fun things in there.  I also got a yard each of some fun knitted ribbon/edging stuff.  (I don't know any of the technical terms, I am so not a seamstress.)  This is what I decided to go with:

(I got the red for my aunt and uncle's set, which had a different color-scheme.)

6. Next, I decided who got which material for a scarf.

7. In the meantime, I had Dan drill a hole for their arms, right where the ridge is.  I thought it made for a natural looking shoulder.

 


8. After that, I threaded the butcher paper wrapped wire through, and cut it to the desired length.

9.  Now for the clothes.  I went with pretty much solids, and stayed in that blue-gray color family.  (Again, this is the set I made for my uncle, hence the reds.)

10.  Then, I created the miniature scarves, and super glued them in place.

After all that, I took a "family picture" of all of us together, which was the idea behind it in the first place. :)

Here are the corresponding ornaments side by side.

Mom and Dad

Our family

Jonathan and Katie

Stephen

Our friend who we live with, Amy

My Aunt and Uncle, who host us for Thanksgiving every year

So, I gave everyone "themselves" for Christmas.

For wrapping, I found these beautiful, simple boxes at Michael's, too!  (And used red ribbon, and tags made out of old scrapbooking paper.)

And there you have it!  Please let me know if you've ever made anything similar, I'd love to hear your tips!

Do you have any similar family traditions or ornament exchanges?

Merry Christmas, and happy New Year!

Toddler Fun, (Shortened) Week 14: Letter T, Number 4, and Turkeys

Okay, so this week was a shortened one, for obvious reasons.

We didn't spend a lot of time on "school", because we were with family we don't see often enough, but I still wanted to make sure we at least covered the basics.

Week 14:

Letter: T

Number: 4

Animal: Turkey

Activities

1. "Flying"

Some people think that wild turkeys can't fly. Although, they're not great at it, they DO!  So, while we were flying, we talked about things like wind, take-off, wings, landing, etc.  We are so lucky that Aidan loves  to fly, and has never had any problems with it, so that makes it easier!

2. Turkey Dinner

Aidan "helped" our Uncle Magic prep the turkey for our Thanksgiving dinner.  Gobble, gobble!

3. Turkey Feather Number Matching

I found this fun, free Turkey activity, here.  I printed it out (at 95%, because it cut off a little of the edge), cut out the feathers, and then Aidan matched them.  There's a matching one, and a one-to-one correspondence one. 

Snacks

1. Turkey Shaped Sandwich

For this sandwich art, I made a chicken and havarti sandwich, which I cut into a circle, and an oval, cut up some apple slices and carrots, and used two orange segments.  Then I just put it all together, and voila!

2. Turkey Cookies

One of my Aunt Temple's friends made us each individual turkey cookies with our names on them for place cards.  They were super adorable, even if Aidan did keep calling them "chickens".

Crafts

1. Turkey Foam Craft

I found these cute turkey craft sets at Michaels.  I was a little disappointed in the Thanksgiving options, honestly.  It was the weekend before Thanksgiving, and all there was, was a tiny clearance section.  Also, there were no instructions in the box, and it seemed like it was missing a piece.  So I made due with a coffee filter, which thankfully was brown. :)  So we made 14.  It's not easy keeping a toddler busy that long, and he wasn't engaged the entire time, but he did place all the eyes, and take off the backs of the stickers.

2. T is for Turkey

For this craft, as always, I cut out all the pieces, and then helped Aidan put it all together.  We talked about patterns for the feathers. 

Books and Media

We Read:

1. Pete the Cat: The First Thanksgiving by James Dean

I love lift-the-flap books!  They're interactive, they're fun, build suspense, and they are good for practicing fine motor skills.  This one is about Pete the Cat (a favorite of ours), who is in a school play about the first Thanksgiving.

2. P is for Pilgrim: A Thanksgiving Alphabet by Carol Crane

I really enjoy this alphabet series! Our library had a sale a couple months ago, and this was one of the great finds!  It has short descriptions on each page for young readers, but also longer ones for older readers.

3. Thank You, Sarah: The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving by Laurie Halse Anderson

I learned so much from this book!  There is a new emphasis on girls having strong female role-models, which is great, but I think it's also important for boys to see determined and strong women.  I'm praying my son marries one someday!  Anyway, I learned a lot about Sarah Hale, a woman who advocated for Thanksgiving, and never gave up!


4. Bear Says Thanks by Karma Wilson

This is a sweet story I used to read to my class, and now read to Aidan.  It's a great tale about a bear who learns to give thanks, and let his friends help him out in the process.  It's also great for talking about hibernation, and forest animals.

We Watched:

1. The Charlie Brown Thanksgiving - Of course, this is a classic, and doesn't have anything to do with turkeys, but you still have to watch it!

2. Wild Kratts. Season 2 Episode 5: Happy Turkey Day - This is a fun episode, where we learn about wild turkeys (where I learned they can fly).  You can find the full episode on Dailymotion.