Transform -- My Word for 2023

 

In 2019, I started picking a word for the year. I find the word helps me focus on something for the year. Last year my word was positivity because I really felt like my life needed more positivity. The year before it was inspire. I have also picked connect and flourish. This year I tried to think about what word I wanted and where I wanted to focus in my life. I was thinking I wanted something to do with my teaching. I thought of prosper, resolve, and thrive, but they didn't feel right. I saw a display at our local mall with "JO" in greens and you stand as the "Y". It is put out for the holidays each year. I thought about choosing "joy". Again, I wasn't completely sure. I tried a couple of word of the year generators like this one over at Mama Smiles. I tried hers twice and came up with transform and reflect. 

Esther's Gragger: A Toyshop Tale of Purim Review

Disclosure: Wisdom Tales Press sent me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Did you know the Jewish holiday, Purim, is next week? Purim is held every spring. The date changes since the Jewish calendar is a combined lunar and solar calendar. Purim it the day to remember when Queen Esther saved all the Jewish people from death. Now you may be asking, why is a Christian blogger telling us about a Jewish holiday (possibly that I never heard of). Well the Book of Esther in the Bible tells us the story. It also happens to be Hazel's favorite story in the Bible so we have looked at it quite a bit. Queen Esther had to have faith and courage to save her people and she is someone many girls can use as a role model. An interesting side note is that God is not mentioned in the entire Book of Esther. 

Teaching the Trinity to a Preschooler

Last call to enter my current giveaway!!

The other day I was looking at the e-mail post from Catholic Icing on ABC Christian Crafts. Now I'm not catholic though Steve is. We made the decision to bring Hazel up in my protestant church. Hazel does occasionally go to mass with Steve and his mother. Hazel and I usually go to our church every week except when we are sick, and I'll admit to not going a few times in the summer since I found without childcare I was not getting as much out of the service with the distraction of "Mommy, is it almost over?" for almost the whole service. During the school year Hazel goes to Sunday School class while I am in the service. Our church has a wonderful children's program and I know Hazel will learn a lot from it. However, I do try to also include lessons at home so she understands that God is not just something we talk about at church. Ok, back to Catholic Icing and the ABC Christian Crafts. I was intrigued by the ABC Christian Crafts since Hazel learns a letter just about each week at school or should I say her class focuses on a letter each week (she already knows all the names of the lower case and upper case letters). I explored around there and discovered the book 3 in 1: A Picture of God by Joanne Marxhausen. I was able to get a copy out of our library network. It uses an apple to explain the idea of the Trinity.

The basic idea of using the apple is simple. There are three parts of an apple: the peel, the flesh and the core. Although there are three parts it is still only one apple.

The Trinity works the same way. There are the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, but all three make one God. 

After reading the book, we did a simple Trinity craft which I found on Catholic Icing as well. You need three popsicle sticks, pen and glue gun. You write Father, Son and Holy Spirit (one on each popsicle stick). Then you glue them to be a triangle. Add a string or ribbon and it is an ornament.

 We added God and Jesus to the Father and the Son sides. I also suggest not using markers since they bled a bit on the wood. I think a ball point pen would probably have been better.

Next I wanted to extend the lesson and did a search for Trinity crafts. I discovered Preschool Post and their amazing Free ABC Preschool Bible Lessons. The first lesson is the Trinity lesson as well as a lesson on apples and the letter A. They have some wonderful printables and lessons as well as our new favorite song to sing! Here is one of the printables we did. Hazel practiced her letters. The song is in the corner and I wrote on our apple the three parts being one apple.

They also had these neat printables. Hazel colored them for me.

Then while singing the song, the child folds the appropriate part. You get this.

The final printable we used was their bracelets. I colored one in for Hazel and I think she will wear it to church tomorrow.

Again all of these printables came from Preschool Post scroll down to the Bible lesson. They also have wonderful printables for apple lessons!

I have to say, I think Hazel actually gets the idea now, so the book and lessons worked. Plus we love singing the song. Have you approached the concept of the Trinity with your child(ren)?

Free Valentine-Emphasized Scripture Printables

Have you seen all the wonderful Valentine's Day crafts that involve John 3:16? I love them!! Oriental Trading has a kit to make 12. I love the craft one on Catholic Icing: John 3:16 Valentine Craft. When Hazel can write better we will be doing this. A few years ago I did a couple of printables of it in different fonts. Click on the picture to get each one.

Then this year forgetting I had done the other year and once realizing it knowing I wanted a different Bible version than the one I used I made another one this year.

Then after doing the heart peacock craft with 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, I decided to make one using that verse since it is so often used at weddings and is about love.

Then I made them both smaller to fit in the little frames I picked up at Michaels when they went on clearance.

 I love that we can keep them out all year. I know the frames are meant to be vertical, but I already had them.

Click any of the pictures to get that printable!

These printables are my Valentines for you!! I hope you like them!! Have a day full of love and friendship!! For more Valentine's Day themed ideas check out:

• Free Printables for Valentine Cards and Teacher Gifts 
• Celebrating Valentine's Day with 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 
• Valentine's Day Crafts some with Scripture and Bible References
• Simple Felt Hearts for Garland or Wreath
• For the Love of Geometry: Geometric Love Poems
• Strawberry Heart Muffins
• Felt Heart Gift--Hand Sewn
• Lavender Heart Sewing Lesson (Hand Sewing)
• Preschool Made Simple Valentines
• Valentine Tea Party
• Valentine Swap & Lots of Valentine Crafts
• My Valentine's Day Pinterest Board

Gifts of Books -- Ideas for All Ages -- Crafts, Activities and Non-Fiction Books

Disclosure: I was sent these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Do you love giving books as gifts? One of my sisters always gives Hazel books for a gift. I know I tend to love giving books to friends' children as well. Today I am sharing a variety of books for different ages and people in your life.

Books for the Younger Kids

Let's start with the youngest. Our first book is Hey, Baby! by Stephanie Warren Drimmer.

Sharing Saturday 18-10

It is time again for Sharing Saturday! This is a link party to share all of your child-oriented crafts, crafts made for kids, activities and lessons as well as your parenting and/or teaching posts. So glad you joined us!!

On Sunday night we also host Crafty Weekends for all your crafts (done by any age), patterns, and craft product reviews! It is the perfect place to share your creative side!! And for all your diverse/cultural posts be sure to share them at Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop. (A new one starts on Sunday and I'm hosting it at Multicultural Kid Blogs).

Sharing Saturday 14-11

Thank you to all the Crafty Moms and Teachers who shared with us last week!! There were so many wonderful ideas shared. But before I give you my features, I wanted to share with you my past posts for Pi Day which was Friday, March 14! There are many ideas there to celebrate Pi Day as well as some great lessons I use to use as a teacher. Now onto our fun features!! I am providing a few with two pictures so you can see the details that I fell in love with!

History of Christmas Trees and Christmas Tree Traditions

The other day Hazel asked me about the history of Christmas trees. I knew I had read something about it being a German tradition when I was doing research for the Advent Around the World post. Yet, I had also read something about pre-Christian time in the history. Now I know since no one knows the actual date of Jesus' birthday,  the Pope and the higher ups in the Catholic Church decided to make Christmas near the winter solstice in hopes of ending/combining the Pagan celebrations. Evergreens were often used to decorate in the winter since they held a special meaning since they were always green and reminded them of the green plants of other seasons. I needed to find a book to explain it all to Hazel accurately. We found O Christmas Tree: Its History and Holiday Traditions by Jacqueline Farmer at our library. 

Sharing Saturday 19-2

It is time for Sharing Saturday!! This is a link party to share all of your child-oriented crafts, crafts made for kids, activities and lessons as well as your parenting and/or teaching posts. So glad you joined us!!

On Sunday night we also host Crafty Weekends for all your crafts (done by any age), patterns, and craft product reviews! It is the perfect place to share your creative side!! And if you have any cultural or diverse posts be sure to share them over at Multicultural Kid Blogs Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop. 

God's Amazing World! Book Review for Earth Day

Disclosure: I was sent these books to review free of charge from Ideals Books. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase them.

This year for Earth Day I thought I would focus on the holiday in a different way. There are so many ideas floating around for crafts many using recycled materials and others looking like the planet. There are also all the ideas to help protect the earth. Many people talk about the reasons why we need to do this, but I am going to give you another--a religious point of view. In Genesis 1:28

God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”

 God gave us dominion over the creatures of earth. He gave humans the job of keeping the earth. To teach this lesson, I found a great book called God's Amazing World! written by Eileen Spinelli and illustrated by Melanie Florian.

Kids' Craft Books -- a Crafty Weekends Review and Link Party

Disclosure: Leisure Arts sent me a copy of this book in return for an honest review. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. The links are affiliate links where I will receive a small percentage of any purchases made through them at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting Crafty Moms Share!

Most schools are out for the summer now around here (or will be this week). I know people will be looking for things to do with kids especially on those rainy days. Today I am going to share two craft books for kids. Our first book is by one of my favorite bloggers: Rachel Nipper over at I Heart Crafty Things. The book is After-School Kids' Crafts. 

Religious Books for Different Ages

Disclosure: I was sent these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Today I am sharing some various religious books for different ages. Two are for kids and two are for adults. This is really just a mishmash of a round-up, so I hope there is something here for everyone. Our first book is a book of prayers from different religions and cultures. It is Talking to God: Prayers for Children from the World's Religions by Demi.

Sad Day, Sad Memories

Ten years ago was one of the saddest days in my life. It is hard to forget as an American the terror that we all felt. I remember where I was the first time I heard about the plane going into the first of the twin towers. I was teaching then and had a prep period. I went down to the photocopier and was told by one of the teachers I didn't know well that a plane had just flown into the World Trade Center. It didn't sink in what he was telling me. I guess I was focused on my preparations for my first class of the day. I thought he was trying to tell me some joke or something. Then when my students started arriving they told me they had been in history and saw it on television. Apparently once the history department found out about it they all turned on the televisions so the kids could see history being made. Then the stories began and our lives changed. There was no going back to our more innocent time.

We all heard the stories. Being so close to Boston I heard many. I think the scariest part of the day for me was in the afternoon when I was sitting in another teacher's classroom working together and we heard a plane overhead. By this time we knew all planes were grounded so to hear one was a bit scary.  Our school was in the flight pattern for the military planes flying to Boston since that was where the flights orginated from.

Then there were the stories of students' parents one whose father worked in New York or at the Pentagon, but for some reason that day decided to work from home. Or the poor kids whose father was booked on both flights and the mother got word to her son through the school that he was not on the first flight and at the time we did not know the flight number of the second plane. She came to school to pick up her sons since the father's flight was missing and when she walked into the front office she saw the television that the office was watching announce the second flight number being the one her husband was on.  I know I have gotten chills all days remembering these stories. The sadness, hurt, and scared comes back.

As a mother of a toddler, I am not watching the news and all the remembrances. We try not to let her watch much television at all and certainly not the news or adult topics. Occasionally we will let her watch Sesame Street (she loves Elmo), Caillou, or Curious George, but that is it. And I have to say, Steve and his mother are usually the ones that have her watch it. I only do it if she is sick and needs to rest or I'm sick and need to rest. So I am not being overexposed to it all again like I was in 2001. 

This morning we went to church. The service was really dedicated to remembering. I feel that was my way of remembering. I know our minister is helping with a townwide remembrance service later today, but we will not attend it. I do not want to expose Hazel to the ugly part of our world. The sermon today was on hope in the middle of disaster and terror. I want to focus on the hope in her life. There will be plenty of time for the bad and ugly when she is older. Don't you agree?

A few months ago, we heard the news of Bin Laden's death. People were celebrating. I know I was happy that he was no longer a threat, but I immediately felt guilty to be happy that someone was dead. Doesn't celebrating a death in that way make us as bad as them? Though I guess for many it was more the relief that the threat he posed was gone, but the truth is there are others to take his place. How does this end? I only know that I can pray for a happy ending and for peace and treat others with respect and kindness.

So I'm ending this post with prayers and thoughts of love and support for all the people who lost a loved one on September 11, 2001, all the people affected by the acts of terrorism and for my country. Please God bless all of us, all who are still grieving, America, and everyone who is reading this today.

Some other sites to check out in remembrance:

1) My Computer is My Canvas Free Printable of 1 Nation Under God

2) Less Cake More Frosting Free Printable

3) Ellie Inspired We Remember Inspiring pictures and bible quote
4) A Creative Princess Thought provoking picture
5) Lynnfield Remember 9/11 Photos of the 9/11 Remembrance in Lynnfield, MA (this is the town my church is in and they started last week with flags on the Common for each live lost) It is powerful to see in person

The Sparkle Egg -- Easter Book Review

Disclosure: I was sent this book to review free of charge from Ideals Books. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase them.

I am so excited to share this book with you. You may remember that I shared The Sparkle Box by Jill Hardie and illustrated by Christine Kornacki on my Must Read Christmas Books Post. Well, last year Jill Hardie and Christine Kornacki came out with The Sparkle Egg for Easter! When we received it in the mail, Hazel wanted to read it right away. This story is about the same family as The Sparkle Box. This time Sam does something he is ashamed of, he lies to his parents about how he did on a test at school. Even though his parents forgive him he still feels really bad. Boy, does this sound familiar. This is exactly how Hazel behaves. Well, his mother has him make a sparkle egg on Good Friday. Sam draws a picture of something he is ashamed of or feels he needs to ask God to forgive him and puts it inside his sparkle egg. Then on Easter the sparkle egg is in his basket and it is empty! His parents explain that holding on to shame after being forgiven goes against what Easter is about. It is such a deep message in a way that kids can understand. Hazel could not wait to make a sparkle egg. I gave her a plastic egg and she got to work with glitter glue.

Getting Ready for the Real Christmas

Disclosure: I was sent these products free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As always I am providing links to the book for your convenience.

Yesterday I was the storyteller in our church's Goldy Play classroom. I got to share with the kids the first two weeks of Advent since the kids will be upstairs in the service for the second week. (Click here to see the Godly Play story of Advent.) As I told the kids about the mystery of Christmas and the busyness of people at this time of the year I realized that my early holiday preparations that I have been sharing since the beginning of November are so my family has the time to prepare for the glorious mystery of Christmas. My shopping is mostly done and my holiday cards are just about ready to mail, so now I can slow down and enjoy and reflect on the season. I have even shared some new Advent books that are also calendars and the gifts I bought for Hazel's big Advent calendar. Today I am going to share five books that help us focus on the true meaning of Christmas. The first three books are part of a series by Arnold Ytreeide. I reviewed the newest one last year: Ishtar's Odyssey. This year we get to read the other three books in the series. Jotham's Joruney, Bartholomew's Passage and Tabitha's Travels. Hazel was so excited to read one about a girl so we started with Tabitha's Travels and have been reading it each night. She LOVES this story!!

Christmas Around The World & Other Holidays!

Now that Thanksgiving is over, I am going to start my focus on our next big holiday, Christmas. I have joined a group of bloggers led by Beth at Living Life Intentionally to present Christmas Around the World. Each day a different blog will feature what Christmas or a winter holiday is celebrated in a different country around the world. This amazing event starts today! My post will be on December 10th. To check out all the amazing posts, just click the links above!!

To kick off the holiday season, I thought I would share a few holiday books and an amazing multicultural CD with you. First from my friend, Daria (who is also participating in Christmas Around the World). (You may remember Daria from my first Multicultural Monday. She is the one who inspired me to start Multicultural Mondays!)

Daria was kind enough to send me her holiday CD to review here. Now this CD is not a Christmas CD. It is a World Holiday CD. The difference of course being that it does not only have Christmas songs.

Now my favorite part of this CD is that on the back she gives a little information/history of each song. The CD has five songs on it. Two are Hanukkah songs: one from Spain and one from America. Then there are two Christmas songs: Feliz Navidad and a German song with an English verse added and finally it has a version of Jingle Bells with the history that it is actually a Thanksgiving song. So if you are looking for a way to celebrate the season and not just one holiday, check out this great CD. You can purchase it here! I should also add that we love her other CD's as well or at least the one we have. Also, if you should check out her Monthly Song Newsletter. It always has amazing giveaways, songs, and crafts. November she is celebrating Native American Heritage Month and has some amazing ideas there.

I also wanted to share with you some of the Christmas books we have found and love!

Of course several are from this month's author for the Virtual Book Club for Kids. You can check out the blog hop for some ideas to go with a few. 

The first is The Story of Mary by Patricia A. Pingry. This is a book I picked up at a discount store a few years ago, but we love it. It tells the story mostly from Mary's view and sticks pretty close to the Bible, but is in a way that Hazel has always loved.

The second is The Birds of Bethlehem by Tomie dePaola. This is the newest book by dePaola (and I know there are some posts in the blog hop on it). This story is about the birds discussing the different things they saw in Bethlehem the day before which of course was the first Christmas.

The third is The Story of the Three Wise Kings by Tomie dePaola. This book tells the story of the three wisemen in a way that children like to follow. We really enjoy it!

The fourth is Who Is Coming to Our House? by Joseph Slate and Ashley Wolff. This story is about the animals in the stable getting ready for their special guests on Christmas Eve.

The fifth is An Early American Christmas by Tomie dePaola. This story is about a small New England town where no one has Christmas trees, puts candles in the windows, or sings Christmas carols until a family from Germany and Pennsylvania move in. They make bayberry candles to put in the windows to light the way for the Christ child. They have a Christmas tree and sings Christmas carols and soon their neighbors start doing the same. This is one of Hazel's favorites!

The final one is The Friendly Beasts: an Old English Christmas Carol illustrated by Tomie dePaola. This English carol is about the roles the animals played in the stable to assist with the new baby king.

So here is our Black Friday post. I hope you will join us for the various events mentioned (Christmas Around the World, The Virtual Book Club Blog Hop, etc.)!

Sharing Saturday 15-10

Thank you to everyone who shared with us last week!! There were so many great ideas. I had a hard time choosing features, but with all the snow outside, I am ready for spring. So my features this week are Rainbows and St. Patrick's Day and a few of My Favorites. Be sure to check back at last week's party for even more in these themes. This is just a sampling.

Midweek Crafts and things

This week seems to be flying by. I feel like I have had no time to get things done. I have been working on visiting all the amazing posts shared on Saturday. Have you checked out our current Sharing Saturday? There are 81 posts so far!! They are all so wonderful. You should really go check them out. So many fabulous ideas of things to do.

We have been a bit busy here. Hazel had her 3-year-old well visit on Monday. And I feel like I have been running around all week. In fact we have to leave soon for my doctor's appointment--a follow-up--nothing too major.

One quick craft we did was make a Valentine's Day frame. I bought a bunch of the wooden frames at Micahels for $1. These have the heart cut out for Valentine's Day gifts. Our first one, we glued on Conversation Hearts. I need to seal them still, but it came out cute.

Since I don't have a picture to put in it yet, I decided to do some word art. Last week I read about this great site--Tagxedo. It allows you to enter a website or words and choose a shape, color themes, etc. and makes these beautiful word arts. Here are a few I did using my blog.

I also did some playing around with love, and bible quotes about love.

Ok, I think you get the point. I highly recommend you check out Tagxedo.

What was in the box

The other thing we did today was to make another gingerbread house. A friend gave us two kits that her aunt gave her (and then realized she couldn't use them since they contain tree nuts and her son is very allergic). Hazel of course was excited to do it. It came with everything, but we didn't use most of what came with it. We used the leftover frosting we had from our other gingerbread house and some candy we had floating around.

First Hazel gave it a face. These are the eyes, nose and cheeks. I'm not sure about the mouth.

I gave it a graham cracker door and some heart windows. Then we had fun decorating the roof. We'll see what we do with the other one.

Conversation hearts worked well as decorations!

Sharing Saturday 16-8

It is time for Sharing Saturday!! This is a link party to share all of your child-oriented crafts, activities and lessons as well as your parenting and/or teaching posts. On Sunday night we also host Crafty Weekends for all your crafts (done by any age), patterns, and craft product reviews! It is the perfect place to share your creative side!! And on Sunday morning we co-host a new Creative Kids Cultural Blog Hop. Be sure to join us at it!!

This week has been full of fun and activities. Hazel has had the week off from school and my 13-year-old nephew is spending his vacation week with us as well. I'm tired out, I must admit, but it has been fun to be with them. And it was fun to check out everything that was shared last week! Thank you to everyone who shared at last week's party!!  I always love seeing what everyone has been up to and your creative ideas!! Our features are just a sampling of them so if you haven't checked them all out, you should! The features this week are Holidays and More, Parenting and More, and Math and Science.