Marbles and Cookie Sheets

Mini-cookie sheets from the Dollar Tree are the best. We use these for playdough, magnets, and now marbles! This kept the kids entertained for a long time!

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Styrofoam Tray Shrink Art

Making styrofoam shrink art was one of those fun childhood memories I have from being a kid. My mom would clean off the meat or veggie trays from the grocery store, give it to us kids to draw on, then we would watch in awe as our creations shrunk before our very eyes in the oven. I really wanted to do the same thing with my kids so I (silly-me) tried to find a tutorial of the sort on the Internet. I did this mostly because I didn't know the temperature the oven needed to be or how long it should be in there. Maybe it's just me, but I couldn't find one! The closest thing I found was this website , but there were no pictures or anything. I decided to wing it - it couldn't be that hard, right? And, yes, this craft is super easy. First, I gave the boys a clean tray and a bunch of markers for them to draw with. I had to convince them to color a lot since they were only making small markings. We put their creations on an aluminum-covered baking sheet, and put

Little Disciples

As I've been learning more about Charlotte Mason and her methods, I've been thinking especially about what she means by "Education is a Discipline." As I was reading her thoughts on discipline from her Homeschooling series, I was particularly struck by the following quotation. Discipline is not Punishment ––What is discipline? Look at the word; there is no hint of punishment in it. A disciple is a follower, and discipline is the state of the follower; the learner, imitator. Mothers and fathers do not well to forget that their children are, by the very order of Nature, their disciples... How Disciples are Lured ––He who would draw disciples does not trust to force; but to these three things–– to the attraction of his doctrine, to the persuasion of his presentation, to the enthusiasm of his disciples ; so the parent has teachings of the perfect life which he knows how to present continually with winning force until the children are quickened with such zeal for virtue

A Brand New House

Another major thing we did while my parents were here last week was a major room change in our house. It feels like a brand new home! We have a play room, the boys are now sharing a room, and Phil and I have moved into Button's old room (which was really the library/office/nursery/catch-all room). I am so excited!!! I finally feel settled into this home since there is finally a place (or at least a room) for everything. The boys seem to really love sharing a room, and they are actually going to sleep better than they were when they were separate. It's fantastic. By far, I'm most excited about our play room. This room comes right off the kitchen, and it used to be our master bedroom. Now, we have our books and toys in it which keeps our living room so. much. cleaner. This room will eventually become our homeschool room with some minor improvements in a couple of years. In the meantime, we are enjoying the extra space to play and just hang out. There's still

Cultivating Childhood

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