Peasreads: The Joyful Child: Calm the Chaos, Connect with Your Kids, and Create More Happiness in Your Daily Routines, Kira Willey

  

 I wish I had this book when my children were younger.  This is such a fun resource for parents and educators to engage and connect with children under their care. As a pediatric home health nurse, this will be a great tool for encouraging play and building rapport with my patients.

In The Joyful Child: Calm the Chaos, Connect with Your Kids, and Create More Happiness in Your Daily Routines, Kira – who is best known as the bestselling author of the beloved children’s book, Breathe Like a Bear –  shows readers how to rediscover the pure delight of parenting, help kids focus their attention, calm their bodies, and let go of anxiety. The key? Small moments of presence and play. At its core, Kira is teaching parents practical ways they can raise emotionally resilient children while fostering connection, curiosity, and the ability to feel deeply without being overwhelmed. 

Filled with more than 75 fun songs, mindfulness activities, and exciting tips and tricks, Kira’s enthusiasm is infectious. Some of my favorite examples include:

 The Puppy Shake: Sometimes all you need is a full body wiggle to release excess energy and tension! May I add that this could be a free version of the trendy lymphatic drainage plate making the rounds on TikTok? Plus, who doesn’t want to shake like a wet puppy to let those big feelings out?!

The A-W-E-S-O-M-E Chant: Let’s be honest - we all need a pick me up here and there! This chant empowers children (and adults) to build their self-confidence (and spelling skills!)

Heart Breath: This short and sweet breathing exercise helps children creates pockets of peace during moments of overwhelm or when it’s time to recenter.

Mama Mantras: One of my favorite recurring moments in the book are Kira’s Mama Mantras. These simple reassurances of “yes, you’re a great parent” are threaded throughout each chapter and are easy to remember affirmations that you can do this!

Goodreads reviews.

Thank you Penguin Random House. I was under no obligation to leave a review. All opinions are my own. 

Peasread: Praying For Girls

It seems maybe silly to have a book on how to pray for our kids because prayer is just talking to God, right? Of course it is. We walk with Him, talk with Him, tell Him about our day, cry out about injustices, and ask for healing, blessings, and His wisdom. We use prayer as a form of worship and as a step of faith, right? That's great I think. It's simple, but it also isn't. Praying For Girls by Teri Lynne Underwood helps us focus those prayers. 

There is no formula that will make our prayers heard more over others, it's not about that at all. God hears us and sees our hearts. This book is about effective and fervent prayers though, well thought out prayers, and prayers that focus on the needs of our kids. The book focuses on five areas of every girl's life- her identity, her heart, mind, relationships, and purpose. Everyone needs prayer in these areas don't they? There are prayers that scripture based in this book. Normally I don't like reading a prayer, but I like these as prompts, and what else would line up with God's will more than praying His very words for our girls? These small prayers can be a start of a longer prayer that is specific to the needs and hearts of our girls.

HearBuilder Educational Software Collection Review

I have mentioned before how we are huge fans of Super Duper Publications, you can find them online here. My children have had so much fun learning with their products. My nine year old has even taken of the games to school to show her teachers, and they have asked her to bring them back to use in class! She even chose Super Duper's Tongue Ticklin' Twister pencils as Valentine's day gift for her classmates. Needless to say Super Duper Publications makes learning fun! It's what they do, and they are good at it. The HearBuilder collection from Super Duper Publications is no exception. After you've read our experiences with HearBuilder, scroll down for a link so you can check out all the FREE demos on their website, they really are great for kids!

What is HearBuilder?

HearBuilder to my children-
HearBuilder to my each of my children is a fun computer game. That may sound simple, but it needs to be fun. The different levels challenge each of my kids at their level. Ranging from ages 5 to 9, each of them have different levels of learning. HearBuilder helps with that learning. The thing is, to my children this is a game that they all want to play. So, while HearBuilder is a learning program that is effective, challenging, and meets Common Core State Standards, most importantly it's fun for kids. What good is a learning tool if it's not engaging and fun? What good is a learning tool if children aren't asking to use it, or aren't enjoying it? It wouldn't be any good.
HearBuilder to me-

In the world of apps and games, there are so many to choose from. I am so glad to have a game that is fun AND helps my children learn. Carefully designed games that are engaging and age appropriate for each of my children. Perfect for our Heartschooling needs. 

Listening and really understanding is the foundation for all learning. If the foundation skills to listen to instruction are not present, a child simply can not easily learn what they are being taught.
I can choose the level of play that is appropriate for each of my children. Their progress can be monitored and I can even print out reports. Which helps me because I read and process better when I see something on paper and can make little notes on it.

HearBuilder, from the website-
( There's also a link here to a  90-second video introduction to what HearBuilder is and how it works.)

HearBuilder is a step-by-step learning program for PreK to eighth-grade students that provides systematic instruction in basic concepts, following directions, phonological awareness, sequencing, and auditory memory. Four award-winning software titles are available: HearBuilder Following Directions, Phonological Awareness, Sequencing, and Auditory Memory. HearBuilder gives students access to research-based, interactive programs by CD-ROM or online subscription. Students can use the software in the classroom, media center, computer lab, and at home. Each program offers multi-level activities with progress monitoring reports for educators and administrators to track individual student progress and to track usage and progress across grades, subgroups, or schools.

The HearBuilder Collection has both software (CD-ROM) editions and online subscriptions available. Each of the four programs can be purchased separately, in a complete set on CD-ROM, and there's even an option for a very reasonable online subscription price of $59 a year for families who do not need a physical CD

Here is our rundown of the four programs in this amazing collection.

Following Directions with Basic Concepts
From the first day of school, students must be able to follow directions in order to focus on their classroom activities, interact well with other children, and behave properly. HearBuilder Following Directions:
Develop essential listening skills as they learn 40 basic concepts.
Become Master Toy Makers while building Toy Central factories.
Learn to follow five different types of directions: Basic, Sequential, Quantitative/Spatial, Temporal, and Conditional.

My 5 year old is in her first year of public/outside of the home schooling. The transition from learning one on one with mom to a classroom of 24 and one teacher hasn't been easy. Learning to focus on teacher and listen to instruction without being distracted is something we've been working on. HearBuilder Following Directions let us start at a basic level to help with auditory and following directions. Children work on these skills and become Master Toy Makers while building their own Toy Central factories.  Learning in game form, with an end goal helps my five year old listen and follow the instructions. She is willing and eager to play the game (complete the sections) to become a Master Toy Maker. Throughout each of my children's sessions there are "bonus" games. These fun games give the kids a little break while learning. I love this feature!  I can see both my five year old and my seven year old a little more focused when given instruction. My children are listening for key words when given instructions, and completing those instructions. The memory training helps them remember what they have just heard. Making it less frustrating to complete tasks. They aren't masters at it yet, but  I feel there's improvement.

Phonological Awareness: Speech Sound Awareness for Reading
Before children can learn to read, they must be aware of the sounds that letters make in words, phrases, and sentences — or, to put it another way, they must have good phonological (sound) awareness skills. HearBuilder Phonological Awareness:
Practice nine activities to help them hear the sounds in words, syllables, and sentences.
Earn instruments and band members to form the rock band The Phonemix.
Move from basic activities (Sentence Segmentation, Syllable Blending, Syllable Segmentation) to more difficult ones (Rhyming, Phoneme Blending, Phoneme Segmentation/Identification) to the hardest tasks (Phoneme Deletion, Phoneme Addition, and Phoneme Manipulation).

As a pre reader, Pixie has been working on speech sounds. HearBuilders Phonological Awareness has been a great tool for her to work with. It's different than flash cards and paper homework that she brings home. She sees it as a fun break from homework. The sessions aren't long at all but I feel that they are so well programmed that she gets a lot out of them. This program is also great for my advanced reader, Phoneme Deletion, Phoneme Addition, and Phoneme Manipulation activities are challenging and fun.

Auditory Memory: Strategic Memory Training for ListeningNext, children must be able to remember and recall information they have learned. HearBuilder Auditory Memory:Practice memory strategies as they recall numbers, words, specific details, and multiple sentences.Embark on special missions with Recall Agents Kim and Joey to save Memory Town from Dr. Forgetsit.Learn memory strategies for answering WH questions.

HearBuilder Auditory Memory is a favorite, especially with my seven and nine year old. Just tonight, it's what my seven year old picked to work on. It could be because she loves robots and the bonus game is building a robot! But there's more to this program- punching in codes, remembering words, sentences, and stories was fun for each of the children. The comprehension skills building has helped my seven year old a lot. She has recently taken off with reading on her own. She's always read, and loves to do so. But now she's at that age where she's asking to stay up later, getting up earlier just to read. I find that she's able to process and understand what she's been reading more. Even on her homework instructions, she's able to comprehend more and more on her own. My nine year old gets so into the game that she's telling her sister's "be quiet, I'm trying to concentrate" which is good that she's so into the game. The great thing about certain levels on these HearBuilder games is that you can add background noise. This not only helps with focus, but it also helps with learning more gracious around here. My nine year old can learn to tune into the task at hand, even with background noise.

Sequencing: 2 to 6 Step SequencesFinally, students use all the information they learned in the first three HearBuilder programs to work on essential language and literary skills. HearBuilder Sequencing:Practice skills such as reading left to right, understanding details, predicting, and identifying important parts of stories.Go to the Sequencing Fun House, earn tokens to use in the Arcade, and become Sequencing Superstars.Put 120 illustrated scenes in order, starting with basic 2-step sequences and progressing to 6-steps.

For my girls who are readers and advanced readers, this program is quite fun. It helps them glean from what they have read. Important facts and details. What's minor and what's major to remember. The skills learned in this program not only help with homework comprehension, but make for more confident readers also!
Pixie, my youngest, has not done this program because I started her on the very basic level of HearingBuilder so that she could have a foundation to build upon.

Find this wonderful company
Super Duper website
 Facebook
Twitter
Subscribe on Youtube 
 Pinterest board

Purchase HearBuilder HERE.
Remember there are several ways to purchase

1. CD-ROM Collection

2. CD-ROM Individual programs

3. Home editions, which let you track 1-4 students

4. Teacher/Pro editions which let you track from 20 students to a whole school.

5. Online subscriptions are also available for each of the programs

Disclaimer: I was provided a free sample/s of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose.  Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review in return for the free product. All pictures are from the companies site, unless noted.

True.

True.

Things that are true.
I'm a mom.
I have always wanted to be a mom.
I love being a mom.
It's not "all" that I am, but this is the truth I am writing about today.
I walked around with swaddled baby dolls in my arms as a child.
When out with my parents at parties, I would seek out babies to hold.
People knew this, guess who got to hold a lot of babies?
Sadly I don't feel done, or complete in this area.
It's a big struggle for me.
This doesn't mean I'm not thankful for the blessings I have.
I'm completely thankful and smitten with my children.
I fear though that my desire for more children makes it seem as if I don't think God is right.
That isn't true at all.
In my head I know about-
God's faithfulness
God's sovereignty
God's AMAZING, never let you down, unfailing, unmoving, perfect LOVE.
God's provision.
God's PEACE that surpasses all understanding.
I know the truths of
"If you seek me with all your heart you will find me"
"Delight yourself in the Lord and He will GIVE you the desires of your heart" - as in He will put the correct desires in my heart.
"The Lord will restore the years the locusts have eaten"
"I know the plans I have for you... plans for good and not evil"
"You have not because you ask not"
"Draw near to God and He WILL draw near to you"
Some days my heart has got some catching up to do with my head.
I'm not only a mom, a child too.
Not just my mother's daughter.
A daughter of the King.
Who loves me with an everlasting love.
AGAPE love.
REAL love.
TRUE love.
Who as adopted me.
Christ's blood has redeemed me.
Who wants the very best blessings for me.
Who is abounding in mercy, grace, forgiveness.
Who knows the beginning from the end.
Who knows my heart.
Who hears my joy and my pain.
Who is the giver of true lasting peace and joy.
Who has a plan FOR ME.
Who has me here, exactly where I am...
For such a time as this.
I can be complete in Him.
I'm blessed.
I'm loved.
These things are true.

Let’s just write and not worry if it’s just right or not. Here’s how to play along:

1. Write for 5 minutes flat for pure unedited love of the written word.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in {you can grab the button code in my blog footer}.
3. Go and comment on the post of the person who linked up before you. This is the one rule of this community.

- See more at: http://lisajobaker.com/2013/08/five-minute-friday-lonely/#sthash.JLvjWS85.dpuf

Galatians 6:2

We don't need more mommy wars, salary wars, grass is greener wars, corporate wars, frenemies.
We need more compassion, more love, more charity,  to bear one anothers burdens, encourage, uplift, comfort, bless, and carry one another.

We'll never get tired of loving as Christ loves. Because if we're loving as he loves, we're close to the source. His love never ends, never fails, and is overflowing. We could all use a little, or a lot, of that.

Summer Bucket List Progress

(Blessed is the one) whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on HIS law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither - whatever they do prospers Psalm 1:2-3 

This is not going to be my last Summer Bucket List 2013 post. Nope. I'm going to probably post my last check the list off next week. Because we're going camping, and while the girls had  their first day of school today, it's still "summer". 

To see pictures of us and our Summer Bucket List Fun, check Instagram HERE. Are you on instagram? Follow @Peasknees and tag #sbl2013 #peasblog and #summerbucketlist so I can see all the fun you're having!
What about you, do you have a bucket list this summer? What should I add to ours?
Here are more Summer Bucket List posts.

American Girl Ice Cream Social- Birthday Party

I tell you. The girls strung the signs so that H that's so far away from the "appy" is kinda bugging me. Yes, I'm a firstborn. Sigh, not that it matters. I'm so glad the girls helped and had fun.

I know that today is technically Take It Tuesday, but I haven't packed but one lunch. School is starting though, like next week. I'll pack some then. Today I want to share Diva's American Girl Ice Cream Social birthday party. We love our parties here on Give Peas A Chance. She was allowed to invite just a handful of girls to join us for an afternoon of crafts, carousel rides, glitter tattoos, and ice cream social madness. I kid, it wasn't madness it was really fun! I can't believe I have a NINE year old though. I'm old. Happy Birthday sweet girl!! We're so blessed to have you in our lives.
This post is going to be picture heavy, so get ready for it.

Let's start with food. Really though, there wasn't food. Just ... sweets.

 I forgot the platter I was going to put her "cake" on... and the candles. Will I ever remember the candles? So Diva, just like Piglet, did the "pretend to blow out the candles" thing. Oh well. Anyway. The cake was three cupcakes, and a sugar cone that  I tacked down to the lid of ... I don't know what that lid is from? Anyway. I tacked down the sugar cone, and cupcakes with frosting. Put the cupcakes and cone on top of the frosting. Then I grabbed a jar of sprinkles and dumped it in there. (This party was not here at home, or I would have found a platter, I was improvising.)

 So we had vanilla ice cream. Just vanilla to keep it simple. 

Toppings and such 

Fruity Pebbles
Mini Chocolate Chips

Sprinkles of all sorts
Mini Oreos

Teddy Grahams
Cherries

Strawberries
Red Hots
Mini Biscotti
Magic Shell
Whipped cream

Sugar cones
Mike and Ikes
Marshmallows (both the Mike and Ikes and Marshmallows were for the favor bags too, I didn't want to take any sweets home with me)
I also avoided gummies, caramel, nuts, and stuff like that because of Diva's braces and allergies.

Virtue Training Bible- GIVEAWAY

If you've visited Give Peas A Chance before, you may have seen the review and giveaway I wrote on The Child Training Bible. If you read the review you know what a great tool it is NOT just for children and/or child rearing but for personal study and reference. Actually, you should go read the review. It will give you an idea of WHY these products are such a blessing. I can't say enough about how much of a blessing it was to put together the Child Training Bible, how encouraging, uplifting it is to be pointed to key scriptures. Mindy and her husband have done it again, and put together a Virtue Training Bible. The Virtue Training Bible is like the Child Training Bible in how you use it. It points you to key scripture when learning about certain virtues. Always to God's word, always to Christ.

The CTB was designed with Colossians 3:9-10 in mind. “You have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self.” The Scriptures selected for the CTB teach why we are to “put off” certain behavior and what godly behavior we are to “put on” instead.

The Virtue Training Bible is tool that allows parents and children (and anyone that loves the Word of God) to go directly to the pages of Scripture for instruction in 42 virtues. The VTB emphasizes worship of our Triune God. The yellow tabs at the top, right provide further study of the Trinity.
The VTB was designed with John 15:4-5 in mind. "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:4-5)

The VTB Charts also include three-part prayers for each virtue. 

Each prayer is designed to help you 

“Worship God” (Deuteronomy 6:4-9), 

“Remember Christ” (Hebrews 12:1-2), 

and “Walk by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16-26).

You can purchase the VTB kit for $9.00USD (plus shipping) here. Each kit comes with

1 Virtue Training Bible Key 

3 Scripture Tabbing Charts (double-sided)

Set of Instructions .

You can see all the virtues listed! 

It took me so long to get this review written. For one, there's 500 scriptures to note/highlight in your bible. Second, how do you tell people about a product that was born out of a love for God's word, out of a desire to walk humbly with Him, and share his word. The virtues (42 of them) that are highlighted on the tabs of the VTB kit are ones that I pray for. For myself, for my children. To have a place, a tool that points me to the Word, to what God says is wonderful. Here are some of the virtues

Compassion

Contentment
Wisdom

Trust
Thankfulness
Self- Control
Perseverance

Joy

Humility

Hope

Generosity

Forgiveness

Really? Who doesn't need a little, or a lot more of these virtues in their heart? Straight from God's word, God's truth. Water to the soul. His word is precious to me, I want to share it with my children. I want to bathe them in it. I know that this tool isn't a necessity, but it is useful, powerful in pointing to Christ, and such a blessing.

Where to find

You can find the Virtue Training Bible 

Online

Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

You can find the Child Training Bible

Online

On Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Mindy has graciously offered a VTB kit to one Give Peas A Chance winner. This kit includes

1 Virtue Training Bible Key 

3 Scripture Tabbing Charts (double-sided)

Set of Instructions 

 If you are in the US, have a US address, and are 18 years of age or older, enter below to win. Read the rules HERE, first.

Disclaimer: I was provided a free sample/s of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose.  Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product. All pictures are from the companies site, unless noted.

More giveaways on GPAC found HERE.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Small

For all the things I haven't done, experienced, or accomplished, I can safely say that all I hold in my arms, all I have been blessed with, is more than I deserve, more than I dreamed up for myself. God is good. ‪- From my Instagram @peasknees

Small

I don't want to get all spiritual on you all, but.
Here
I
go-
The first thing that popped into my head when I saw the word  "small" was...
"My head is big, and my arms are small"
Yup.
Meet the Robinsons.
The T-Rex.
Bowler Hat guy had big plans.
He just wasn't adequate.
So many times I feel
small and...
inadequate
It's ok though.
I am small.
I am at many times not enough.
God isn't small though.
He knows what's up.
This week I was snuggling with Pixie at the pool.
I love to snuggle with her, she's still at that age where she cuddles.
I looked down and just had a moment of ...
clarity.
In that span of about 30 seconds,
I thought about  my big plans
hopes,
desires.
Things I never
accomplished,
finished,
pursued,
experienced.
I realized something.
My plans were too small.
God has blessed me BIGGER.
Bigger than I ever dreamed of.
BIGGER than I deserve.
I let her lay in my arms in the sun.
I realized that very moment that I was so blessed.
I was where I WANTED to be.
Where I was MADE to be.
STOP.
(Five minutes when you're waiting in line for something? An eternity.
Five minutes to write? It's like seconds.)

Let’s just write and not worry if it’s just right or not. Here’s how to play along:

1. Write for 5 minutes flat for pure unedited love of the written word.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in {you can grab the button code in my blog footer}.
3. Go and comment on the post of the person who linked up before you. This is the one rule of this community.

- See more at: http://lisajobaker.com/2013/08/five-minute-friday-lonely/#sthash.JLvjWS85.dpuf

Lonely

On the couch. With all her stuff.
Today's prompt is "lonely". Soo let's start. 

Lonely 

It's 0005.
The house is quiet.
Pixie has decided that she's sleeping with me tonight.
I love having her next to me.
Her pretty little pouty lips.
Long dark eyelashes that flutter when she rolls over.
Her fifty million blankets.
I don't know how anyone can need so many things to sleep.
Blankets.
Pony.
Rubber snake.
Pocketbook crammed with more stuff.
Goodness.
It's funny how I'm never alone.
Literally at times.
House "full" or maybe not full enough of children.
All day since it's summer.
SOMEone is near me.
Always.
I'm OK with that.
Next year Pixie goes to school.
I'll re enter the workforce.
But until I do that I wonder if I'll be lonely?
I am a loner as it is I think.
I'm good with a book and a cup of coffee.
No.
That's not entirely true, I just am guarded about who I let in.
I do like some company.
I do like being alone.
Guard your heart...
But guarding your heart doesn't mean shutting people out.
We're called to love.
To be selfless.
To be kind.
To be... Christ-like.
Jesus didn't guard his heart.
Not from loving us, loving a world that would shatter his heart.
He loved without ...
fear
So guard your heart from
hate
judgement
evil
But not from loving your neighbor.

STOP
Sigh, I think five minutes goes by quicker when I sit down to write. I can't gather my thoughts in 5 minutes. Get to the point? Not possible till minute 10 I'd say.

Let’s just write and not worry if it’s just right or not. Here’s how to play along:

1. Write for 5 minutes flat for pure unedited love of the written word.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in {you can grab the button code in my blog footer}.
3. Go and comment on the post of the person who linked up before you. This is the one rule of this community.

- See more at: http://lisajobaker.com/2013/08/five-minute-friday-lonely/#sthash.JLvjWS85.dpuf

Summer Bucket List- Pixie asked me to add something.

Piglet. She made the sweetest Snow White, I was able to get some cute shots of her. It was on my personal list to get pictures of the girls.

So, we've been home all summer. We are going camping but not until after school starts. Can I check that off our "Summer Bucket List" if it was booked during the summer? I say yes, because it's our list. I'm the list keeper and I make the rules. Right?
Speaking of list keeping and making the rules. Pixie asked to go to McDonald's. I have no issue with McDonald's once in awhile. But she was too funny. Sooo. Pixie- my four year old has asked to put something on our Summer Bucket list... "get a happy meal" because "we never get a happy meal, I want one so bad. "

Me- "what is it about the happy meal that you want"

Pixie- "I want to eat fries and nuggets and at the end you get to open a TOY"

Me- "so you just want a random toy?"

????

I told her before she starts school she will get her happy meal. It better be a good toy. So I added that to our bucket list. Our full list is at the bottom of this post after all of these pictures.

Diva as Belle. It was easy to get her to cooperate. I just told her to read :)

Dr. Seuss Party

I may have mentioned that it's birthday month around here. Or birthday season. As I'm sitting down to write this hurried post, I realized that all the posts I've had scheduled have already posted. That means I have nothing scheduled tomorrow, soooo I can sit down and procrastinate. I can put this post up real quick instead of making the banner for Diva's American Girl Ice Cream Social. Which is tomorrow.

I had a ton of fun putting this party together for Piglet. I found some printables on My Paper Lily. I made some labels, props, word bubbles in photoshop. I also had a ton of Seuss items from Target's 75% off $1 bin stuff. I have Seuss stuff coming out of my ears y'all.

 Piglet turned 7 in early July. WHaaattt?! Click that link. Seriously. And then just let it play a few times, then you'll know how I feel about birthday's this summer. Everyone is growing up too darn fast. I mean Pixie's going to school this year. Sure that means I'll get a "real" job and join the working world again but. She's my baby! Sigh.

Moving on. The room we had this party in is so TINY. Like 10x15 maybe? I mean for a party it was tiny. I just wasn't thinking we'd be IN the room. I figured we'd be out, riding the train, the carousel etc. I'm serious sometimes I wonder if I think things through, or if I just block stuff out. Regardless we did stay out of the room and we were able to just use it for food, and cooling down.

I didn't get good pictures, I was so rushed. We had 20 minutes to set up before the party. Then I was just busy. One of my favorite things was the photo booth pictures. I got such cute pictures of all the guests. I'm glad that Pixie was messing around and I got a picture to post so you at least get an idea of how the pictures turned out. No? Not really? Sorry. Just take my word for it. Cute.

I printed the props and laminated them. This is how I feel about my laminator-

Story

I took this picture while the girls were swimming one day. In the creek. EWW. I'm talking live fish, half dead fish, fish poop, all that stuff. I was like UGH, don't open your mouth! LOL. I'm such a spaz.

Story.

My story.
It's complicated, in some ways anyway.
But it's mine.
I mean when you boil it all down and plot it on the timeline of eternity it's not so complicated.
It is the story of -
Beginnings
Endings
Failures
Victories
Redemption
Forgiveness
Grace
Love
Struggle
Blessings
Chaotic Balance
Being a mama.
Just life.
But life... it isn't "just".
It's pretty stinking-
Awesome
Busy
Fun
Crazy
Went to dinner with a friend this week.
It was so perfect.
The timing, the place.
The company, expected and unexpected.
I just needed to get away.
I needed and craved adult conversation.
I needed to not be seen as just a mom.
Being a mom is a big part of my story.
But it's not the only part.
I have three kids.
(And Piece Of Me just popped into my head. Yes, Britney... Spears. Kinda fitting.)
I can't would never want to change that.
Being a SAHM in a city of PHD's and career driven people isn't easy though.
There's NOTHING wrong with being career driven.
NOTHING wrong with working parents.
Working moms.
Let's face it, some mom's are BETTER mom's because they are working.
Some mom's want to work, some mom's need to work.
But all mom's work. Even the SAHM's.

STOP
(Holy cow, I just rambled and made no sense. Hello, that's so me. I can't write my story in 5 minutes.)

Any pictures, captions of pictures, blog post title, are added after the 5 minutes.

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back on Lisa-Jo's blog through the button below or this link and invite others to join in.
3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community..

Also linked up to parties listed HERE

Summer Bucket List- Checking it off...

Checking off more on our Summer Bucket List. Above is a picture of the girls during our Bubble Packing Popping Relay. Piglet wanted to win so bad she bruised her little bum. Poor kiddo. But they girls had soo much fun. I had bubbles from packages, lots of them. So I had them run back and forth to grab bubbles to sit on them. They We were all giggling like crazy.
Pixie couldn't quite pop them by sitting on them so she stomped on them.

We also played more hopscotch. I had bubble wrap for that. Unfortunately I didn't have any no skid cabinet stuff to put under it and tape didn't work to keep the bubble wrap from slipping. We did make it work though, and didn't have any slipping bubble wrap. Or injury. So much fun though.

 Hopscotch!

We've also been working on learning, you know Heartschooling. Really. Museums, science, writing, history. Grew some rock crystals.

One of the things that has been...I don't know how to describe it. Diva is reading Huckleberry Finn, we've talked about the time, the writing, slaves. Answered questions. This week we had the opportunity to meet a long time friend of mine in DC we went to the Smithsonian (I love this city).  We visited the exhibits on the Emancipation Proclamation and The March at the Museum of American History. The history, being with the girls. Obviously I had to make the experience age appropriate for each of the girls. But for each of them, they learned something. The more I think about it, I can't even put into words all that we discussed there and at home later. What we saw, what we read. How it made the girls feel.The older girls, Pixie is just four. She learned about things a little more superficially. The compassion the older girls felt and learned was priceless. No, one afternoon going through an exhibit doesn't make one an expert or highly learned on a subject. But it was another layer in the foundation of compassion, love, kindness, and truth that we as parents are building. For me, all I could think was 100 years and 50 years is just too close. It wasn't that long ago. Does that mean that progress is slow? I don't know. I'm not a pessimist. Really. I'm a ... realist. This isn't home. Sigh.

Anyway, we're having a fun summer here at home. Checked Shawarma off our list. We wanted to  try it because the Avengers is one of our favorite movies. It was good.
 To see pictures of us and our Summer Bucket List Fun, check Instagram HERE.
What about you, do you have a bucket list this summer? What should I add to ours?
Here are more Summer Bucket List posts.

Young Scientist Club- Magic School Bus Lab #Giveaway

My kids love science. I am so thankful for that. But I also know that it's something I need to nurture. I need to keep them engaged. Interested. I know that it's all too often that kids grow up quick, the crowd moves one way. Interests change. Shift. As a parent I want to guide and lead them to pursuits that are wholesome and educational. I know it won't always be as easy as when they are younger. But I'm determined to build a foundation that can be built upon. One fun way to keep them engaged and interested is experiments, reading, TV/DVD. Yes, TV shows like Magic School Bus. The books are awesome, including the chapter books.
When I was asked do a review on a Young Scientist Club I didn't think twice. If you haven't heard about the Young Scientist Club let me fill you in a little.
The Young Scientist Club is an award winning company that makes science kits for kids. The kits are educational and age appropriate for young scientists. With easy instructions, fun tools, and hands on activities there is something for everyone. Read more about the Young Scientist Club on their website.

We chose the Weather Lab to review,  I purchased the World Of Germs Kit not too long ago also! We love these kits! 

Summer Bucket List 2013 Progress...

Painted!

Working on our bucket list, adding more as we go too. The girls get ideas, I get ideas... we may not get through them all.
Scroll down past the pictures to see our list.

Water Fight!

Made a weather station, and a compass.

Dug for dinosaurs.

Piglet's Dr Seuss Party, I need to blog soon.

Swimming in the creek down the street... umm yeah... ew. Fish. Living things...

It was fun the kids and their cousins went together.

 Diva found a half live fish. It did swim away.

 Piglet, so funny. They wanted to swim but didn't want to get too much in the water. Till they started going under. UGH.

Pixie making mud pies.

Then there was the Smithsonian... a few of them. Someone stole my laundry pile and put it up as an exhibit. 

Oh... and American Girl birthday dinner...

To see pictures of us and our Summer Bucket List Fun, check Instagram HERE.
What about you, do you have a bucket list this summer? What should I add to ours?

Summer Bucket List 2013

I feel like I should have a bucket list. Everyone else has one. It's all posted, typed up all nice. Sooo, I started one.
I'll edit it as we go.
To see pictures of us and our Summer Bucket List Fun, check Instagram HERE.
What about you, do you have a bucket list this summer? What should I add to ours?

Water Balloon Fight- I ambushed the girls one day after I sent them outside with a picnic lunch and toys.
Fire Works - we got to watch these in DC

S'mores- More than once Smalls ...

Swimming- We've gone swimming a couple of times.
Dancing in the rain- YUP
Painting
Ride our bikes- Well, we haven't done this one all together, but separately we have. OK, except me. Can't cross this off yet.

Zoo

Aquarium

Sushi- Um. Yes of course. A couple times already.

READ- EVERYDAY!

Finish Math
Memorize Verse

American Girl- DONE, and maybe again for tea next week.
Splash Pad
Botanical Gardens
Pixie Pictures
Piglet Pictures

Diva Pictures
Attend a summer concert- DONE (NKOTB for me), and the girls put on a concert for me with a dog guitar and recorder. Also with some music app on a tablet.
Blow Bubbles- DONE!

Make Popsicles- Done!
Make ice cream
Get ice cream out- DONE
Strawberry Pie
Go to the creek

Donate to Purple Heart- DONE! And will do again before school starts.
Dance like David Danced- DONE! And will keep doing!

Pizza Box S'mores 

Hopscotch- Sure did. In the sprinklers.

Pick Your Own Farm- DONE! I'll be posting a cobbler recipe and pictures soon.

Afternoon Tea
Road Trip 

Break Ground
Nap in a fort

Water Gun Fight- DONE, and hopscotch in the water.
Picnic At the Park- This is kind of silly because we do this a lot, I pack lunches at least 2-3 times a week and we head out.

Ice Cream in a bag

Write or dictate a story draw pictures

Drive Through Difference
Leave flowers on someone's doorstep

Donate books to the Clinic

Wash the car
Birthday parties!

Train Ride- DONE, and will again since all three girl's have opted to have parties at this park.
Carousel- DONE, and will again since all three girl's have opted to have parties at this park.
Playdates

Get a Family Photo

Art!

Donate Toys- DONE, a couple of times already, YAY.

Find bugs, but let them go- DONE, even with Pixie squealing.

Ball Game
Library- Every week or so, so far!
Play marbles- Done!
Bleach or Sharpie some shirts

Lincoln Memorial
Smithsonian
Library of Congress
White House
Get a twisted shaped balloon made- DONE