Posted on July 18, 2013
We had been blessed earlier this summer with very mild temperatures here in the Midwest, but typical summer temps have finally caught up with us and the thermometer has been hovering right around 100. When it gets this hot I try to keep the kids inside most of the day, letting them go out to play in the early morning and the late evening.
The older kids usually have plenty to do between their school work and jobs helping out around the house. However, the younger ones can be bouncing off the walls pretty fast! Unfortunately I am not good about “planning” activities for them, but once in a while I will think to put together a fun, easy activity for them to do.
One of my go-to activities is to set out some bowls of very sudsy water and some plastic dishes for them to “wash” on the kitchen floor. It is always a hit with the little ones, and I love it because I already have the “tools” on hand!
Also, I found some twists on water play fun that your little ones might enjoy at Picklebums. And, I ran across some great ideas for the same type of activity using rice at the Lessons Learnt Journal. Using rice to play with is great for toddler’s tactile development. I love it when play meets education! 
Do you have ideas for activities that use only things you have around the house? I’d love for you to share them.
Posted on July 16, 2013
What National Day Is It?
I am sorry we are getting these out late, we had a very busy week then were out of town over the weekend and just now playing catch-up. I hope you enjoyed this past week’s “National Days”, and were able to participate in some of them. If you want to observe Sunday and Monday’s National Days, don’t let the fact that they are over discourage you from still participating!
This Week’s Days:
July 14th: Tape Measure Day – Pull out your tape measure and have fun measuring things around the house, a great “real life” math lesson.
July 15th: Learn About a King in the Bible Day – Pick a king mentioned in the Bible and study about them, were they a good king or bad, did they love the Lord or not?
July 16th: Clean the Ceiling Fans Day – The perfect activity when it’s too hot to go outside. Plus, dusting and cleaning is an easy way to burn calories, along with these other household chores.
July 17th: Crayon Art Day – Get creative with some of these fun crayon activities. You could also have a debate about whether it’s pronounced “crown” or “cray-on”, that discussion pops up often in our home.
July 18th: Homemade Whipped Cream Day – There’s nothing like real whipped cream made from scratch. A secret to great whipped cream is making it in a chilled bowl!
July 19th: Wear Yellow Day – Dig out something yellow to wear from your closet today.
July 20th: Lollipop Day – Enjoy this candy treat today, let us know your favorite flavor!
Posted on July 9, 2013
DIY Summer Reading Program
As a preface, I originally wrote this post at the beginning of summer for a guest post, but it was never used. I know summer is half over, but there is still time to squeeze in a book contest before the start of the new school year!
When our older children were younger, we participated in our local library’s summer reading program. The library we went to at the time gave new books out as prizes for completing their program. We didn’t care for the selection of books the library had for awards, so instead of participating in the library’s summer program, we made up our own.
I set levels to be accomplished and had a prize for each level. I usually let the kids help me come up with ideas for the prizes. It gets them even more excited about reading through the summer.
They can read books we have at home or books from the library. This is our first year with a Kindle, so we are now including ebooks too. The older kids usually have to read 5 chapter books to complete each level. For the younger kinds, I either have them read 2 books a day for a month to complete a level or read for a set amount of time.
Here is an example of some prizes we have done in the past (they select 1 prize from each level):
- 1st Level Completed – pick out something from Dollar Tree, go to a movie at the local $1 theater, get a pop & candy
- 2nd Level Completed – $5 gift cert. to Target/Walmart, go bowling
- 3rd Level Completed – go out for special ice cream treat, a new book of their choice
To make it more economical, you could come up with fun free ideas, like a trip to a local free petting farm, or free museum, somewhere that the kids would get excited about, but doesn’t cost anything.
If your local library offers prizes that don’t fit well with your family, or your kids aren’t interested in them, doing your own program can be a great alternative. Also, I know as a young mom, it wasn’t always easy to get to the library, if that’s the case, you can still enjoy summer reading with your own contest!
I love reading, and I am trying to instill that love in my children, I think doing a summer reading program either with your local library or on your own is a great way to help cultivate a love for reading.
Do you have ideas for encouraging extra reading during the summer?
Posted on July 9, 2013
Bible Study With Daughters
Many women would jump at the chance to lead a Bible study at church and even more are eager to be the first to sign up for the Bible study. But, mothers of daughters have a ready-made ladies Bible study right in their own home.
Just think of how much we could invest in our daughters if we poured all the attention into them that we would normally spend on a Bible study outside of our home. Now, I don’t think there is anything wrong with ladies Bible studies, but I think having a planned time with our daughters for the purpose of getting into God’s Word would be an incredible investment in their lives.
Not only is it an opportunity to teach them about spiritual things, but it can also be a wonderful time of growing closer together as a mother and daughter, paving the way for a deep, beautiful relationship as they grow older.
In case some of you are thinking, “I don’t have the time to prepare a Bible study”, I don’t either, but you don’t have to do anything elaborate, keeping it simple is probably better anyway. Below are a few tips to keep in mind when doing a Bible study with your daughter(s).
You can start young – My oldest daughter was 7 when I started with her. My other daughters have been closer to 8 when I began with them. You can start younger though, starting early makes it easier to lay a foundation and then build on it through the years.
Use a simple book or book of the Bible – I have just used books of the Bible that talk about women specifically, like Esther and Ruth. Any book of the Bible would work though, I have also gone through Proverbs with my girls. You could use a book like Sarah Mally’s Before You Meet Prince Charming, which has scriptures in it, with an older daughter.
Usually I try to cover a chapter each time, reading through it together and then talking about it. I don’t normally prepare anything ahead of time, except maybe reading through the chapter we will be covering.
Pray together – Open your time up in prayer, asking God to bless your time together. At the end of the study, I always ask how I can be praying for them, then we usually each pray.
Make a set time for your study – You can do the study once a week, every other week or once a month, but it will help keep consistency if you set an actual date and time for your study. For instance, I meet with my girls every Wednesday afternoon.
Use the time to spring board into other topics – There are so many different topics that we as mothers should be talking with our daughters about, take advantage of these times to bring up some of those areas.
Do a group study or one at a time – If you have more than 1 daughter you can all do a Bible study together or meet individually with each of them. I have done both ways. I was meeting with just my oldest daughter for a few years, then when my next daughter became old enough to join in, she began meeting with us.
But, I really missed the one on one time I had with my oldest and there was a 5 year difference in ages, which made it a little harder trying to relate what we were talking about to both girls, so we started meeting separately. Now, I still meet with my oldest individually, then meet with two of my other daughters together since they are close in age.
The most important thing is to be talking with your daughter about the Word, making it spiritually profitable for her, and at the same time developing a deeper, more meaningful relationship between the both of you. However you decide to plan and implement a study with your daughter, I encourage you to begin right away, it will be a blessing to her and you.
Do you meet with your daughter for a Bible study? What books have you read with your daughter that have helped her spiritually?
Posted on July 7, 2013
What National Day Is It?
I hope you enjoyed this past week’s “National Days”, and were able to participate in some of them!
This Week’s Days:
7th: Charades Day – Have fun playing a game of charades today with your family. Here’s some charades rules and tips in case you need a refresher on how the game is played.
8th: Bug Day – Find an insect in your yard (or house :)) and learn about it. What do they eat, where do they live, how long do they live? Take a picture of the bug, or draw one and write about your findings, then share them with us on Facebook or email.
9th: Sugar Cookie Day – Bake up a batch of delicious sugar cookies. I am always on the lookout for the perfect sugar cookies, I can’t wait to try one of these recipes this week.
10th: Homemade Salad Dressing Day – Make your favorite homemade salad dressing, or try a new one. Here is a yummy recipe a friend recently made for us that is just like a salad dressing the Bonefish Grill serves.
11th: Recite the Books of the Bible Day – See if you can recite all the names of the books of the Bible in order, if not, brush up on them and try to say them before the day is over.
12th: Water Balloon Day – Cool off today with a water balloon toss.
13th: Paper-ware Day – Take a break from doing dishes and use paper plates.
We hope you and your family enjoy participating. After you observe a day, if you would like, come back and tell us what you did in the comments or share it on Facebook. You can also email pictures and we will post them in the next Friday’s post.*
* Pictures must relate directly to one of the National Days listed for the week, appropriate for all viewing audiences and will be posted at the discretion of FamilyFaith&Home.
Posted on July 5, 2013
White Raspberry Layer Cake
This is a cake we had earlier this week for our daughter’s birthday. Jim came up with the recipe after seeing a similar expensive cake called The Bomb in an upscale bakery. And it is “the bomb”, it is so yummy! It reminds us of a wedding cake.
It has become a tradition in our house to make it for Easter since it has the white, symbolizing Christ’s purity and the red, symbolizing His blood shed for us. But, it is our daughter’s favorite cake so she requested it for her birthday too!
White Raspberry Coconut Cake
1 box white cake mix
1/2 jar of raspberry preserves
Coconut
Icing:
3/4 cup of butter (softened)
3/4 cup of shortening
6 cups of powder sugar
3 Tbsp. milk
1 cup of cool whip
Grease 2- 8in. round pans and coat the pans in granulated sugar. Make the white cake mix according to the directions on the box, and bake (according to t
he directions on the box) in the greased and sugared round pans. Let the cake cool completely.
Mix together the first 4 ingredients for the icing, then add the cool whip and mix well. Slice the rounded top off of one of the cakes with a serrated knife so you have a flat surface. Then, slice both cakes in half horizontally with the serrated knife. 
Place a bottom slice on a cake-plate, then spread a thin layer of icing on top of that layer. Add a layer of the raspberry preserves on top of the icing. Repeat for the next two layers.
Place the final piece of cake (with the rounded top) on top of the cake. Use the remaining icing to ice over the top and sides of the whole cake. Garnish with coconut on top and you might want to add flowers, candles or raspberries (if topping with raspberries, top just before presenting/serving to avoid bleeding of raspberry juices on the icing).
We like it best made ahead of time (the day before), chilled in the refrigerator, but it’s not necessary.
It looks kind of complex to make with all the layers, but it is actually very simple. If you don’t like coconut, you could easily leave that out and it would still be good. Enjoy!
Posted on July 2, 2013
Goal Setting
Last Week’s Goals:
1. Keep exercising – Did some sort of exercise most days, I am having to be creative though, since my knees are still bothering me.
2. Get a few more chapters read in Spurgeon’s Sermons on the Parables of Christ
3. Review verses I’ve memorized in the past – Only accomplished this 2 days, but I also memorized Psalm 30:10!
4. Go up and talk with the kids at night – Haven’t gotten to do this because the kids have been sleeping in the family room since it’s so hot upstairs, but this week is cooler and they are back up in their rooms.
5. Make a grocery list for the whole week and only go once to the store – Still struggling with this goal, I planned everything out, made a complete grocery list, then when it was time to go to the store my list had “mysteriously” disappeared. I know, I should have made out a new one, but the optimist in me thought I could remember everything…. should’ve known better.
6. Spend an extended time in prayer each day – Spent time most days in extended time in prayer
This Week’s Goals:
1. Exercise Daily
2. Review verses I’ve memorized in the past
3. Spend extended time in prayer each day
4. Go up and talk with the kids at night
5. Make a daily list of things I need to accomplish and do it – I had been doing so good making a list each morning of things I wanted or needed to get done, but these past couple of weeks I have been bad about making a list and even worse with carrying it out. When I make lists, I am over all more productive, I get so much more done in just day to day tasks as well as accomplishing more on my weekly goals list.
6. Get to bed earlier – With summer here it’s been hard to get to bed at an early hour, which is when I do most of my writing, so I haven’t been writing nearly as much as I would like to be. This week I’d like to get to bed by 9pm, so I can write for an hour (and maybe catch up on some reading, which I miss terribly) then be asleep by 10pm.
Do you like to get to bed early, or are you a night owl? What are your goals for the week? I’d love to hear about them in the comments section!
Posted on June 30, 2013
Breakfast Outdoors
It was 63 degrees this morning, sunny, with a wind at 8 mph…beautiful weather here in south central Kansas, for the last day of June. We thought we would take advantage of it and have breakfast outside this morning. We enjoyed homemade coffee cake and strawberries with cream. One of the boys noticed how the strawberries held the cream in the indentations (pictured above). It was a wonderful start to the Lord’s Day!
Hope you are having a great Lord’s Day as well and enjoying blessed fellowship with God’s people!
Posted on June 30, 2013
What National Day Is It?
I hope you enjoyed this past week’s “National Days”, and were able to participate in some of them. Here are some pictures from a few of the days.
Jennifer sent in this pic of her kids observing National Iced Tea Day.
Here are some pics of this week’s wheat harvest.
This Week’s Days:
June 30th: Make a Paper Fan Day – Relax and cool off with a homemade paper fan today.
July 1st: Zoo Day – Today is the anniversary of the opening of the first zoo in the United States back in 1874, celebrate by going to your local zoo.
July 2nd: Baked Beans Day – Cook up a batch of this yummy dish today! Email us pictures and your favorite recipe and we will post it in next weeks post.
July 3rd: Mulberry Day – Mulberries are ripe and ready for pickin’. If you have a tree near you, pick some and enjoy putting them in a pie. We like them in muffins and cobbler too!
July 4th: Wear Red, White & Blue Day – Of course!
July 5th: Family Room “Camp Out” Day – Who said you have to be outside to camp out? Gather everyone in the family room for a fun night of camping out inside!
July 6th: Organize Your Recipes Day – Spend some time today organizing your recipes, if they are already organized, go thru and find any you haven’t ever used and throw them out, or find a new one to try, let us know how it goes!
We hope you and your family enjoy participating. After you observe a day, if you would like, come back and tell us what you did in the comments or share it on Facebook. You can also email pictures and we will post them in the next Friday’s post.*
* Pictures must relate directly to one of the National Days listed for the week, appropriate for all viewing audiences and will be posted at the discretion of FamilyFaith&Home.
Posted on June 26, 2013
Delegating Responsibilites
As my children have gotten older and I am delegating more and more responsibility to them, I have been asking myself the question lately, “are there things I shouldn’t delegate, or shouldn’t delegate as often?” Are there jobs that I should be continuing to do myself, since I am the mom?
Whether you have older children now that can help out around the house, have grandparents who can help, or you are able to hire someone to help out, I think it is good to ask those questions before you hand over jobs. What may seem like simple chore assignments or delegating now, could end up profoundly affecting our children’s upbringing.
For instance, I have six children that are capable of fixing meals, and they do on occasion, but if I had them fix all the meals they, and their younger siblings, wouldn’t know what “mama’s cooking” is like. There seems to be a feeling of comfort, nostalgia and fond memories that go along with a mother’s cooking which I wouldn’t want them to miss out on.
Another example, I was having my older children take the younger ones outside to play each day, during that time, I could get a lot done in a quiet house, it was very helpful. However, my older children would mention things the younger kids liked to do outside and it made me sad that I didn’t know my own toddler’s favorite things to do outside were going for walks and swinging. Or, that my preschoolers each had their own forts they had “made”. So I changed the way we were doing things and now I take the younger ones outside while the older ones are inside doing their normal jobs.
I think it is easy, when we have the option of older kids, grandparents or hired help to watch younger kids, of getting into the habit of giving someone else that responsibility too often. There is definitely a time and place for that, but I think it is good to be mindful of the circumstances, purpose and frequency of delegating that responsibility.
A couple of the rules of thumb I use are: I watch the little ones when the older kids have friends around to play with so they can enjoy playing and talking with their friends; and I am careful about how often I go out during the day without the kids, making sure my times out are necessary or beneficial to our family, and infrequent.
One area I have completely given over to the kids though, is the dishes. They do the dishes at all the meals. This frees me up in the morning to spend time with the little ones; after lunch, finish up school or catch a much needed cat nap (I’m usually up with someone at night); and in the evening, to visit with Jim or read to the little ones. Although, I must say I have contemplated starting to go in and help them do the dishes because they have lots of great conversations in the kitchen!
Another area I think is good to delegate out is general cleaning. Having a cleaning job in the house is a great way for kids to learn responsibility, a good work ethic and how to work together as a family.
There are lots of other things that can be delegated to kids or other helpers. It is a huge blessing having help now (and a long time coming :)), but I want to make sure I don’t give out jobs just because I can, but instead, delegate jobs for a purpose.
So, giving over responsibilities to others is a good thing for us and those who help us. But, I think it is good to not get caught up in the “convenience” factor when delegating jobs and overlook the bigger picture and long term affect our decisions can have on our children.
What jobs do you like to delegate? Do you have thoughts on delegating responsibilities?