Saturday, February 18, 2012

Making a Mess aka Toddler Art

I am always looking for fun and easy art projects to do with the girls and I have been really diggin using Pinterest in my search. There are a ton of great ideas and I love being able to easily sort them to go back to later. Here are a few things we have made recently. 

Materials:
Toilet Paper Roll
Paint
Construction Paper
Googly Eyes
Pipe Cleaner (for antennae)
Glue 
Paint Brush
Scissors
Glue Gun (for pipe cleaner)
Painting with lot's of enthusiasm 
I had the girls paint their tube and then they decorated the wings I had pre-cut out (older kids could do this themselves but we are still working on cutting with E). When it was dry enough we glued on the wings, eyes, and antenna (the pipe cleaner needed to be hot glued so I did that myself)


Materials:
Romaine Lettuce End (sliced off with knife)
White Construction Paper
Paint or Ink

I first saw this and thought it looked so pretty and one afternoon Evelyn asked if we could do an art project and I thought I would try it with what I had on hand. I think it would have turned out better with a larger head of lettuce than we had and ink instead of paint but the girls had a blast anyways and it turned out cute.  


Finished Project
Materials: 
White Construction Paper
Toilet Paper or Paper Towel Roll
Colored Paint

This was really easy and super fun. ZoĆ« could hold it and stamp on her own really easily.


{Hmmm..... I am starting to see a little 
pattern with the whole toilet paper roll thing. 
Wow didn't realize so many of our art projects had that in common} 

Toilet Paper Roll Binoculars 
Materials:
2 Toilet Paper Rolls
Yarn
Hole Punch
Markers, paint, stickers (whatever you want to decorate with)
Hot Glue (stays better than regular glue)

Evelyn had a date with daddy to go to the zoo so while he got lunches packed and everything together we made some of these for her trip and she had so much fun looking at all her favorite animals with them. 
Adorable


Penguins
Materials:
Construction Paper (black, white, orange, blue)
Big Googly Eyes
scissors
Glue

For this I cut out all the pieces for Evelyn but an older child could do some of the cutting themselves. I showed her what it looked like put together and then just gave her all the pieces and let her do it on her own. Pretty easy and fun. 

Friday, February 10, 2012

C4C

I had the AMAZING opportunity to spend the other weekend with 400+ women who love Jesus and love Adoption. The impact of a room full of other mothers worshiping our Lord with a shared passion is a nothing short of beautiful.

Created for Care started in 2011 with one adoptive mom who desired to get 25 of her adoptive mommy friends together for a small retreat and refresh time. God ended up opening that door to 250 moms from across the country and totally blessing their socks off. Fast forward to 2012 and God has grown it into 2 sperate retreats in January and March with over 400 mothers EACH. For a mommy who often feels alone in the walk God has called me to this was truly amazing to see. To talk with women who have already walked this road ahead of me and can say "Yes its hard, but God is GOOD and it is worth it", women who are right in the thick of it and understand the hard waiting and the endless mountains of papers , and women who are just starting in and are waiting to hear Gods call and follow His leading.

I had a whirlwind weekend FULL to the brim with EMOTION... prayers pleading with God to empty me of myself and fill me with His spirit. Longing for Him to grant me the faith to move mountains and glorify Him with my life. To mold me into a mother who seeks His face and shines Jesus' love to my children and the people He has put in my life. A constant flow of tears as I had the blessing to praise our Lord in worship with a room full of other sisters in Christ. A weekend FULL of ENCOURAGEMENT.... sessions taught by women whose children are home and that airport moment has faided and real life has set in. My favorite breakout session was on Special Needs adoption. I was so encouraged to hear from real women whom God has placed these beautiful children into their families and hear from them that yes there are hard days but God is faithful and one sweet hug from one of these kiddos can make it all worth it.
It was hard at times to be surround by so many like minded women and feel an ache wishing I had that same support at home, but I am so thankful for my far away friends who totally "get it" and who are only an e-mail or phone call away.
View from our room
Session
New Friends
Roomies in our matching PJ's

Sixty Feet Mission Trip Friends


Finally meeting friends in person


I totally hope I get to go again next year and if you are signed up for the March retreat get ready for an amazing weekend! The ladies who served and put it all together did an amazing job. It was a breath of fresh air. 


This was my favorite song during worship. Such a testimony to the journey God has brought us through so far and will continue to do so. It's all Jesus, the whole time.