Littlest Love

Unit Theme: St. Patrick's Day/Rainbows

Book: The Story of St. Patrick (Voice of the Martyrs)

 This book was great.  It tells the true story of St. Patrick.  It's a bit wordy for a picture book, but it was perfect for Caleb.  He (and Mom and Dad) learned a lot about St. Patrick, and his mission to tell people in Ireland about Jesus.  I bought it at the Christian bookstore, but it can also be found here.

Responsive Writing

It is important to tell people abut Jesus...
So they can go to Hevin.

Theme Verse: 
Matthew 1:20 - Store up your treasures in Heaven.

The kids' understanding of treasure is the stuff that pirates get.  We talked about how treasures are any things that are valuable - to us and to God.  We also talked about how certain treasures will be gone some day (ie: money/gold) and how others will last forever (ie" relationships with family/friends)...and those "forever treasures" are the things we need to be storing up!

Rainbow Hand Print Craft

 I painted each kid's hand in rainbow colors, and then they made a hand print on paper.  They then colored and cut out a pot of gold with Matthew 1:20 on it.  Finally, they added some shamrock stickers and we were good to go.

Caleb's

Shane's

Meredith's

Book: There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Clover

For some silliness and fun, this a cute book.  The kids loved it, and I did too.

Tissue Paper Shamrocks

Good ol' scrunch-up-the-squares-of-tissue-paper-and-glue-them-on-the-paper craft.  Meredith and Shane were not too into it.  They were both sick at the beginning of the week (strep throat), so I don't blame them.

Caleb's

Shane's

Meredith's

Pot of Gold Counting

I intended for this to be something I could do with Shane, but he wasn't too interested.  So, Meredith did it instead.

She filled pre-labeled plastic cups with the appropriate amount of beads.

Rainbow Dot-Art

The kids used dot markers to make their own rainbows.  They are hung up on a window, with the light coming in behind them, which is why they look a little florescent.

Caleb's

Shane's

Meredith's

Theme Verse:
 2 Corinthians 1:20 - All God's promises find their yes in Him.

We of course can't talk about rainbows without being reminded of how they are beautiful reminders of the truth that God always keeps His promises!

Book: The Rainbow Fish

I love this classic story.



We made our own rainbow fish after reading the story.

Meredith & Shane got bored really quickly (I blame the strep throat again, as this is usually the type of craft they both enjoy).  So only Caleb managed to finish...

More Colorful Fun

The dropped wooden colored beads through the corresponding colored tube, and tried to get them to fall into the correct plastic cup.

We also got out some of our color-themed Busy Bags from our busy bag exchange last Spring.

Felt rainbows are always fun.

Color Experiment

I came across this idea at All for Kids, and it was really neat.  Basically, you need 3 clear plastic cups.  Fill 2 of them with water and add several drops of coloring to both.  

Leave the 3rd cup empty and place it in between the 2 cups with colored water.  Use rolled up paper towels to "connect" the colored water cups to the empty cup.

The paper towels will immediately begin to absorb the colored water and transfer it into the empty cup, creating water in a new color!  I have to admit, this was amazing to see, even for me.  =)  So simple, yet very very neat.  It's also good to know that the paper towels we use are truly absorbent! 

 Yellow + Blue = Green

 Red + Yellow = Orange

 Blue + Red = Purple

After the experiment was complete, Caleb & Meredith reflected on what happened.  They both painted (water colors) some diagrams to show the color mixing, and Caleb also wrote a little about what happened.

What happened in the middle cups in our color experiment?  "the colors mixd."  Why did that happen?  "it went up the paper towls."

Paper Plate Sun & Rainbows

 Paint a large paper plate.  Staple on yellow triangles and rainbow-colored strips of construction paper.  Add some cotton balls for clouds.  Easy peasy, and so cute.  Perfect craft for the first day of Spring - too bad it's still freezing outside.

Caleb's

Meredith's (she didn't want to add clouds)

Shane's

Wordless Wednesday: Tummy Time

Norah - 3 Months Old

Wowsers....3 months!  

College is right around the corner.  Or at least that is what it feels like to this momma.  A growing baby is a good thing, obviously.  But there's something so sad about each passing day, and the understanding that there's no way to turn back.  Of course we know that there is a lot to look forward to, but I'm pretty sure a part of me will always miss these earliest weeks and months.  Norah, on the other hand, seems to feel no sadness about growing up.  See?

This little girl is such a sweet and content and smiley and all-around-precious baby.  She "talks" all the time, and it's so fun to have little conversations with her.  She often folds her hands in front of her, as if she is praying, or brings her fingers into her mouth.

Norah looooooooves her Daddy, and he can get the best smiles and short little gasps of giggles out of her.

Norah's sleeping was pretty sporadic for a while there, but she's become more consistent in recent days.  Typically, she falls asleep around 7:30/8:00 pm, and I wake her up around 10:00 pm for one last feeding.  She will then sleep until 7:00 am, sometimes a tad earlier or sometimes a lot later.  I have a feeling she would sleep all the way through, if I didn't wake her for that last feeding, but I am not quite ready for that yet!  She loves to sleep on her belly, so during the day when I can keep an eye on her, she naps on her tummy.  At night, she goes to sleep all swaddled up, but by morning time she has managed to wriggle her little arms out.

 Exactly one year ago today, Kris and I were halfway across the world, enjoying a carefree vacation in the Philippines...

 

...and we thought that our family was complete.  I remember splurging a little on a new bathing suit before the trip, thinking to myself, no more maternity suits for me...

Well, I am so thankful that God's plan was different than ours (and that the bathing suit managed to stretch with my growing tummy all last summer).  We absolutely can not imagine our family without Norah Jane.  She is a blessing and a gift and we love her like crazy.

Happy 3 Months Sweet Girl!