Kids Speedway

Teaching Kids About Voting

2008-11-04T08:34:00.000-08:00

We have finally reached election day and people are more energized than ever. We all know the importance of voting and know what a privilege it is. My kids have been learning about the voting process at school and have even had their own election at the school. I think it is great to involve kids at school but it is also important for us parents to involve our kids at home. Listed below are some tips that I can across with ideas of how to involve our children.

1. Create a family album with newspaper and magazine clippings about an election—local or presidential—and the candidates. Consider including photographs, advertisements, bumper stickers or other election-related collateral. Sit down as a family and discuss the kind of articles (objective versus editorial), tones and issues each clipping addresses.
2. Organize a family political discussion about voting, encouraging questions. Some questions and discussion topics might include:
a. Why do you think voting is important?
b. Why do you think some people don’t vote?
c. What characteristics do you think a candidate should have?
d. Which candidate do you like? Why?
e. What are some problems in our community? How will this candidate solve these problems?
f. What can we do as a family to help our community?
3. As a family, research how the voting process works. Look up "popular vote" and "electoral vote" to learn more about the American democratic voting process.
4. Challenge kids to take on a reporter’s role, writing a brief story about community service, democracy, elections or voting.
5. Volunteer to help voting programs by distributing voter registration information to friends and family. For information on voting sites and registration, visit www.us.gov or call (800) FED-INFO.

These tips provided by North American Precis Syndicate, Inc.

Happy Voting!

What's for dinner?

2008-10-17T13:26:00.000-07:00

What’s For Dinner?

When I was a child, this was the first question I asked of my parents when I saw them after school. You know what? That’s now my kids’ first question for me! Then comes the response of either “yes” or “oh no…not again” or “I hate that”. Now I have to admit, I am a picky eater myself so I tend to try to please the kids and sometimes find myself making two different things at dinner time. But how do you handle having picky eaters in your family?

Here are some tips that I found:

The first step is to eliminate any health problems by talking with your doctor.
Don’t discuss eating habits or problems at or around meal time.
Limit your child’s eating time to 20 minutes. If they don’t eat their food in 20 minutes, chances are that they won’t eat it at all.
Include your picky eater in meal planning. Use a children’s cook book and let them help prepare food.
Praise your child when they try small amounts of new food or foods they don’t like.
Make meal time fun by providing an occasional smorgasbord of favorite foods.

Most importantly, eat together as a family as often as possible and enjoy that time together.

Read the entire article here.

Make time for family fun!

2008-10-06T12:03:00.000-07:00

My family has now settled into the new routine at home with the kids back in school and our fall activities in full swing. I’m always ready to get back in to a routine after summer, however; sometimes we find ourselves a little ‘over-booked’. Have you ever found yourself in that same situation? We have girl scouts, gymnastics, cheerleading, basketball, after school activities ….and don’t forget the PTA events and birthday parties! Whew! I get tired just thinking about it. We all know that we should pick only a few activities at a time for our kids but how do we pick the activities? I found some good tips that I thought I would share.

· Variety is the spice of life. Young children seldom need to specialize in their interests. No matter how much your son loves soccer, playing it year-round and on more than one team at a time is overkill. If you truly want to expose your children to a variety of activities, choose a sport, something in the arts (music, dance, drama), and something that stresses socialization and personal relationships (clubs, scouts). Being able to jump from one focus to another is something kids are easily able to do and the variety is good for them.

· Attention young jocks: One sport at a time. There are some children who seem to thrive on sports and won’t stop joining teams until you hide their water bottles. Playing more than one sport in a season forces children and parents to race from one practice or game to another, or one of their commitments is going to get short shrift. Tell your child that in order to be a good team member, he can’t divide his time between two sports.

· Rec vs club activities. Community-based, recreational activities are often more low-key, less intense, less costly and require less time commitment than private clubs. Travel and club sports teams, and independent organizations that are operated as businesses are often more competitive and require more commitment from your child.

Before you sign your child up with a gymnastics club, dance studio, or club sports team, carefully research what is expected of you, both financially and in time commitment. Out-of-town tournaments and competitions, uniforms, fundraising and other ventures are often expensive and affect the entire family. Be sure your family can handle the commitment in addition to the other things your children are involved in.

· Reserve some time for free play. Don’t forget that your children are children. They still need time to hang out, play with their friends, goof off and even get bored once in a while. Before you sign them up for a new activity, look at their schedules. If they’re running from one thing to another, eating dinner on the fly, and there are no empty spots on their schedule, start to pull back and let them have some time that isn’t committed to an organized activity.

Article by Diane Laney Fitzpatrick. Read entire article Here

Toddler Rules of Possession

2008-10-02T12:06:00.000-07:00

My soon-to-be 10 month old is really developing a personality now that she is mobile and she knows what she wants when she wants it! She can be quite entertaining to watch when she decides she wants something.

She reminded me of the ‘Toddler Rules of Possession’ that I have always loved so I thought I would share. Enjoy!

1. If I like it, it's mine.

2. If it's in my hand, it's mine.

3. If I can take it from you, it's mine.

4. If I had it a little while ago, it's mine.

5. If it's mine, it must NEVER appear to be yours in anyway.

6. If I'm doing or building something, all the pieces are mine.

7. If it looks just like mine, it is mine.

8. If I saw it first, it's mine.

9. If you are playing with something and you put it down, it automatically becomes mine.

10. If it's broken, it's yours.

Breaking Dawn-

2008-09-14T07:40:00.000-07:00

I have finally finished the last book in Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series. Honestly over all I felt like the book was very mature for middle school high school students. Let me explain, in addition to the violent and graphic descriptions, there were serveral references to sensual material throughout the entire series.

I can understand how the series can be interesting and very entertaining as it encompasses many aspects of love, romance and family but it is hard to overlook the blatant references to sexuality. I was disheartened as I was hoping that the novel would be a fun and exciting book without the mature romantic sections.

This is an important series of blogs even though I have mentioned numerous times that this series is not for kids for several reasons

1. This a HUGE cultural trend among the youth

2. There is a movie coming out this fall on these books so the hype over these books will only grow

Above all my friends...."guard your heart for it affects all that you do"

Not Right Now Honey.....

2008-09-13T02:47:00.000-07:00

"Ten Ways to Keep a Toddler Entertained in the Kitchen"
Written by Teresa Kolvek
For full article click here

Quick Verison:
*Have one cabinet to explore. Put boxed and canned goods in that cabniet
*High chair Math: Put the toddler in a high chair and dump out some oats and give them measuring spoons and cups
*Stickers
*Give them a task: sort mail, put boxes in cabniet in order tallest to smallest
*Let them help with tasks like washing fruit, tearing lettuce etc.
*Give them a child-sized broom and let them sweep kitchen
* Dance to the music

"How to talk on the phone when you have a preschooler"
Article written by: Susan Dunn
Full Article here

The Highlights:

*Hug your preschooler. They find comfort in hearing your voice

*Get a headset.

*Color or doodle with preschooler when you are on the phone

* Make eye contact "mouthing" and using facial expressions to praise and for moments of "mom watch this"

Potty Time

2008-09-12T02:38:00.000-07:00

"Tips for Potty Traing"-Jennifer Ellis
Get the whole article Here
Cliff Notes Verison of the article:
*Timing is everything. If child is hesitant or refuses wait a few weeks and then try again.
*NEVER EVER flush potty when the child is on it
*Fix child's favorite drink on the first day and let them have a lot of it so that they can practice using the potty
*Make sure to feed your child plenty of fruits and veggies so that they don't have trouble going to the potty
*About 2 hrs before bed limit the drinks. Have the child sit on the potty before they go to bed
*Make the bed and then put a plastic sheet over it and then another sheet over that. So that if the child goes to the potty during the night all you have to do is remove the soiled sheet and the plastic sheet
*Fruit loops or goldfish in toliet bowl
*A little dish soap in the bowl makes bubbles

Toddler Bitting

2008-09-10T01:18:00.000-07:00

"Why toddlers bite and what you can do about it" posted by http://www.christian-parent.com/

Noodles and Doodles from this article:
Toddler bite
to discover thier world.
they are facinated with the whole cause and effect thing
to get attention
copying other toddler's behavoir
out of frustration. What can't be said in words is expressed through biting.

How to prevent bitting
Find out the toddlers motivation for biting and provide a substitute for the behavoir. If the toddler is biting because they need attention. Play a game with the todddler.

Toddler Week

2008-09-09T01:01:00.000-07:00

I have noticed that I haven't written much about parenting toddlers on this blog.

So for that reason I have decided that this week we will dedicate to toddler games, discipline and current topics.

Feel free to comment.

But I don't wanna go...

2008-09-07T06:24:00.000-07:00

I found this great arictle Christianity Today. This article "Raising Great Kids" is written by Dr. Henry Cloud & John Townsend.

Here are the Highlights of that article.

Helping Kids Understand Significance of Time Limits.

1. Get in touch with your own frustrations:

It is time to leave and your kid is throwing a tantrum. Understand your own feelings and get those under control before you proceed.

2. Make Expectations Clear before you go to the designated place.

"We are going to the park for a little while. At the end of our park time I expect you to pick up all your toys and follow me to the car without crying and screaming. If you don't behave nicely then we will not go back to the park tomorrow like we were planning to do."

3. Offer a heads up:

Let the child know that they have about 10 more min of fun. Give the child a 5 min signal.

If the child resists:

Offer a clear choice:

I know it is tough to leave a place when you are having fun but you are faced with a choice. You can either kick and scream and not come back to the park tomorrow or you can be sad about leaving but come to the car nicely and be able to come to the park tomorrow and play again. Which do you choose?

When the child is in the midst of thier tantrum you can empathize but you must keep your limits.

Kind Words...how to teach children to use them

2008-09-06T08:31:00.000-07:00

I found this wonderful link that give easy practical tips to use with kids to help them understand the difference between kind words and unkind words and the effects that those words have on people.
Here's the link have fun.
Manners

How to Stay Calm and Collected when Correcting Your Child

2008-09-05T08:18:00.000-07:00

This is not the ultimate how to but it is a start.

Here are some noodles and doodles from an article written by Ginger Plowman entitled "Disciplining Your Child Without Loosing Your Cool" published on family life.

Number One is the best and most convicting one in my opinion.

1. Examine Your Motives:

"Am I doing this because my will has been violated or God's will has been violated?

2. Examine Your life:

What example do you lead with? Have you made your kid angry leading up to this behavior?

3. Choose the right time and place:

Don't discipline in front of their friends if possible take them away from friends. This will ensure that the focus of the child is not humiliation but rather on their undesirable action.

4. Give them a biblical alternative to the behavior.

Don't just address the problem but rather give them something to do in contrast to the undesirable behavior for next time.

Tattle Tale

2008-09-04T07:56:00.000-07:00

MOOOOMMMMMYYYYYY......Johny took my yellow crayon and broke it.

Tattling... ask any kid who isn't the tattler and you will know that even among their own kid circles they don't like tattlers.

Here are a few Nuts and bolts taken from an article entitled "Taming the Tattletale" by Ginger Plowman which was published on family life website.

Nuts and Bolts:
What Motivates a tattler?
According to Ginger Plowman tattling is typically motivated by "one sibling taking pleasure in the other siblings suffering".
What can I help my tattler not tattle?

Taken from Ginger Plowman's articles "Taming the Tattletale" and "Damaging Effects of Tattle-Bearing"

1. Help tattler understand his or her motivation: Ask questions such as "Are you telling mommy this to get "Johny" in trouble or is there another reason for telling me this?

2. Help Tattler understand the damaging effects of tale-bearing.

3. Help tattler replace tattling with encouragement.

4. Teach tattler to practice what he or she has learned.

Helping children practice what they have learned....

Role playing: Allow the children to set up a tattle taling situation and then gently lead them through an appropriate way to handle the matter. For example, Suzy instead of running to tell mommy that Johny broke your crayon you can encourage him to please not break the crayon and instead color with it.

This Week's Topic

2008-09-03T07:40:00.000-07:00

This week I will be discussing discplining your child. Every parent does it differently so I would love if you commented on the blogs and gave me some of your very own parenting tips as well as comment on some of the articles and blurbs you read about discipline.

What the I learned from the Dog Whisper

2008-09-02T03:04:00.000-07:00

My husband and I both love to watch the dog whisper we love how Ceasar Milan can take an out of control situation and change a few pratical things to make it a peaceful enviornment.

Although Ceasar works with dogs and they are very different than people. I would like to share with you what I learned from Ceasar in an effort to help with Sunday School Classrooms.

1. Be the Pack Leader

I have heard Ceasar tell people many times even if you are nervous just remain calm and stay in control of the situation. Good advice.

2. Set Boundaries and Limitations

Boundaries and Limitations are critical to a well fuctioning classroom. On the first day, remind students of the rules (keep them concise and short). Remind them often of the rules just in case they forget and follow through on the rules.

3. Address the Problem before it starts

If you notice more than five kids getting squirmy maybe it is time for some stretching or snack break. Don't wait till the squirms over power the classroom address the problem before it starts.

Project Car

2008-09-01T02:48:00.000-07:00

So I am working on this project car with my dad (not the one in the picture) and wow what a project car it is. During my time fixing up this car I have had more oil on me than on the car. My fingernails are black from dirt and oil. I smell gross after being under the hood of this car for hours on end but it's fun. I keep going because I have an idea of what I would like the car to look like when I am done. It is that hope that keeps me working on this car.
As I was sitting there thinking about this. I started to think about how we are God's masterpieces but he is not done with us yet. I am sure there are times I make God frustrated, happy and even days when I get dirt under his fingernails.
I am so glad that God's thoughts and ways are higher than our own. It is great to know that I am someone's "project car" and that He has a plan and future for me that are beyond my wildest dreams.

What I wish I knew when I was 10

2008-08-31T14:24:00.000-07:00

What I wish I knew when I was 10:

It's alright not to be the fastest runner in the class.

Coloring is the best thing ever and always will be.

You don't have to be the best at every thing.

So what if mom didn't pack you chips and dessert it's not the end of the world.

It's still cool to kiss your mom goodbye

You don't have to be everyone's #1 best friend

Teachers Needed

2008-08-29T07:47:00.000-07:00

Kids Speedway is still in need of teachers to teach 5th grade classrooms and pre-k and kinder classrooms.

If you are interested contact us via therace@kidsspeedway.org.

Exclusive Behind the Scenes Interview with Danielle

2008-08-29T01:55:00.000-07:00

Danielle is our fantastic new Director for Elementary Ministries. We are so excited to have her on board the Kids Speedway team.
I thought as both parents, teachers and kids it was important that we get to know some of the most important things we could about her. So I thought up a couple of questions (only the most important ones) to ask Danielle and here are her answers.

1. What color skittle/m&m is your favorite?
I honestly hate skittles…I know, I know! My favorite m-n-m’s are yellow peanut.

2. Best God Moment?
Best God moment-no doubt, when my children were born—a true miracle!

3.Favorite Disney Movie?
Favorite Disney Movie-Beauty and The Beast

4.Jack Stack or Oklahoma Joes (if you had to choose)
Jack Stack

5.Favorite color crayon?
Green

6.Favorite Verse (yes you can only pick one)
Philippians 4:6 “Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all that he has done.” (NLT)

7.What did you want to be when you grew up?
A teacher…although my mom trained me at an early age to say I wanted to be a lawyer!

8.Favorite thing to do as a kid?
Play miniature golf! I was a champ….three trophies! Not so good today….

Do you have a question to ask Danielle? Write it in the comment section.

Recruitment Week at OBC

2008-08-26T07:11:00.000-07:00

This week has been and continues to be our recruitment week. Here are some ways you can help us out:

*If you have recieved a call or email PLEASE respond to it as soon as possible. Whether you decide to help out or not we really need an answer either way so that we can mark you off the calling list.

*If you want to help serve in the children's ministry contact the church at (913) 764-8280 or email us at therace@kidsspeedway.org or you can post a comment on the blog.

Thanks for your continued support.

Someone taught him

2008-08-26T06:55:00.000-07:00

It was a switering summer day in So Cal and I wasn't doing much but walking around trying to find a Juice it Up or a water fountain to quench my thirst. The outside mall was crowded with people rushing in and out of stores like an flury of ants whose ant hill just got stomped.

Needless to say the place was crowded and HOT!

Futher up I could see the crowd part and I thought to myself "perfect now is my chance to get some much needed fresh air" so I scooted my way into the one space. In that open space I found myself face to face with a homeless man. He wasn't asking for money and He wasn't blocking traffic. He was talking to someone I couldn't see and then he smiled and started singing:
"Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me the Bible tells me so."
I stood there as he finished singing to the song and continued on his converstation with the invisible person.

I thought to myself....who taught him that song? when? Was he a kid in a Sunday school room. Whoever it was made a difference in one kids life because although he isn't the ceo of Microsoft he understands that above all Jesus loves him.

Wow.

I love the Whole World

2008-08-25T09:26:00.000-07:00

If I had to do one for Children's Ministries....

Using the lyrics to this awesome commerical. Here is how it would go:

Parent Volunteer 1: It never gets old, huh?

Parent Volunteer 2: Nope.

Parent Volunteer 1: It kinda makes you want to…

Parent Volunteer2: Break into song?

Parent Volunteer 1: Yep.

I love Sunday Mornings,

I love coloring pages,I love fish crackers, I love when babies cry,I love the kids ministry And all its sights and sounds

Boom-de-yadda, boom-de-yadda (twice)

I love the donuts

I love real dirty diapers I love to teach kids

I love exploding crafts I love the kids ministry And all its craziness

Boom-de-yadda, boom-de-yadda (twice)

I love the smiles. I love teaching kids. I love boogery noses I love the storytelling. I love the kids ministry

It’s such a brilliant place Boom-de-yadda, boom-de-yadda

Pitstop Question

2008-08-25T07:22:00.001-07:00

How did you pick the main verse for Pitstop?

Main Verse for Pitstop:

“May the Lord bring you into an ever deeper understanding of the love of God

and the endurance that comes from Christ.”2 Thessalonians 3:5

Well...to find the best verse for Pitstop we first asked ourselves what the main objective for our midweek program was going to be. What did we want kids to leave church with after our midweek service. That answer was easy: More of God. A better understanding. A closer friendship with God. And the feeling that God is all and in all.

Wow! And how many weeks do we (parents and volunteers) have to enstill that in the lives of our kids? Not as many as we would like.

So....

Then we saw the verse and we knew it encompassed all the desires of our purpose for midweek so we picked it.

Does that answer the question???

Something to Depend upon

2008-08-23T05:36:00.000-07:00

"Trust in WHO God is"
By that I mean trust in the character of God. What is the character of God shown through the Bible? What is the character of God shown through your life?

"Although God is silent it doesn't mean He is not there".
I heard that on a podcast for Sandals church and I can't get it out of my head.Just think about those two things.

School Starts

2008-08-21T05:21:00.000-07:00

I love September!
New starts....and then if you have a bad start you can always wait until January and you get to start all over again.

Here are some fun links to get you started on a fresh school start.

Lunch Ideas

Back to school parties

Has a lot of fun activties

Help Wanted

2008-08-20T07:30:00.000-07:00

Whenever I see a sign like this I get excited because there is an opportunity for someone to try something new and be adventous. I don't see many signs like this too much anymore but sometimes I wonder if that is because I am not looking.

Are you looking for new opportunities to learn, create, and discover?

Eclipse

2008-08-19T13:01:00.000-07:00

This book was very simmilar as the former book with one major difference which I would like to address.

In this third novel of the Twilight Series Bella and Edward have been through a lot together and the reader perceives them as having a very committed and solid relationship. Perhaps that is why in this book issues such as purity, marriage, committment are mentioned.

My concern in this book was the willingness Bella has to offer her purity to Edward. She demands that she give him her purity before they get married. Throughout the book she is appalled to the idea of marrying Edwardnot because she doesn't love him but because of what others will think about her marrying too young. It is one of the most distasteful ideas she can think about in the book. She finds herself unable to wear the ring nor mention the word marriage.

Honestly, as parents I think that we should address purity and marriage with our children to help them understand that it is a great honor to be married to someone you truly love and within the sanctity of marriage it is a great blessing to be pure. It is critical that as parents that we discuss these things with our children.

That's just some thoughts....I have about this third book.

New Moon

2008-08-11T07:40:00.000-07:00

Once again this is not a children's book!

The second book in the Twilight Saga is called New Moon. It continue on where the first book Twilight leaves the reader and that is wondering what will happen to Bella and Edward?

While reading this book this second book New Moon. The underlying recurring theme throughout the book was sucide. That really disturbed me. Let me futher explain.

At the beginning of the book an incident happens and Edward deems it best for Bella's safety that he and all of his family leave Forks (the place that they all live). Bella is so torn by this decesion that she looses all sanity and starts living her life on "auto pilot" until she discovers that she can do dangerous things to remember Edward's voice. She then engages in activites that could potentially hurt her badly (jumping off a cliff into the ocean) in order to give her self a moment with Edward.

Let me place a book maker right there.

Sucide is NEVER the option. EVER. NEVER EVER.
When two people breakup it hurts horribly especially if you weren't the one doing the breaking up. And I understand that for a while you may feel numb and go into an "auto pilot" mode but life does go on and so should you. I really don't like how Stephanie Meyer paints Bella to be this clumbsy, naive, weak character it's like she has no life outside of Edward. That is NOT HEALTHY in a relationship.

Twillight

2008-08-09T07:46:00.000-07:00

I am only blogging on this first book in this first blog.

Now for parents who have never heard of this book it is primarily of interest to the sixth grade and higher. This is not a book for young children. If you would like a brief synopsis click on this link

With the first book, Twillight, I felt there were several misconceptions that could be very dangerous if youth interpet them as reality or the "norm" for relationships.

I understand that this is a work of fiction and I enjoy fiction books but several parts in the first book Twillight bothered me. First, Bella walks on egg shells around Edward. She is afraid to speak her mind and tell him how she feels about matters if she disagrees with them or not for fear that he will lash out at her or possibly hurt her.

That is not a healthy component for a relationship. Feelings, ideas and opinions should be allowed to pass freely between both people because love binds us together.

The author makes it sound like Edward's bipolar behavior (happy one minute and the next one thing can cause him to be extremely angry) is fine as long as Bella loves him. Everyone has bad days but in the first book it felt like Edward was having bad every other minute.

Let me make a few things clear.

1. In a relationship, a committed love relationship (as the author portrays Bella and Edward as having) it is neccessary for both people to express feelings, ideas, and goals openly. If you don't feel comfortable doing that with your significant other than you are probably not meant to be together.

2. It is not HEALTHY to be afraid of your boyfriend, or husband. If you are afraid that your boyfriend or husband may hit you GET OUT OF THE RELATIONSHIP NOW!

Stephanie Meyer

2008-08-08T08:06:00.000-07:00

Stephanie Meyer has topped the charts with her series called Twillight. Youth all over the nation have been consumed with reading her novels. Library waiting lists are as long as 50 plus people waiting for the FIRST book. Ask any young person about Twillight and I would speculate that they at least know of the book. It is apart of the culture right now and is as recognizable among youth as the Starbucks logo is among adults.

So I begin this week's blogs with a few questions.
What makes Stephanie Meyer's books so interesting?

I would predict that Stephanie Meyer does an excellent job capturing in words the emotions and frustrations that many teens feel but are unable to express. Many times hard for a teen to discuss such matters it is easier to read about fictional characters that display those feelings and frustrations. Stephanie acknowledges the intensity of emotions that teens face and that is one of the reasons that I feel her books are so interesting to read.

*Post why you like Stephanie Meyer books. What is it about the books that draws you to them.

For the next week

2008-08-07T08:05:00.000-07:00

The Twilight Saga is a very popular series among upper elementary (6th grade) and older ages. The newest book Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer comes out this Friday. In my opinion, it is as big a release as Harry Potter for most young adults.

First and formost this book is NOT a children's book. It was intended to be a children's book and it doesn't have the characteristics of a children's book.

Second, I am not recommending this book. I am merely writing on a critique of my thoughts concerning the book.

Thirdly, I was asked to write a review on these books as to help parents of older students to be able to understand what teens are reading and to allow students to voice thier opinions concerning the series.

Lastly, I feel it is extremely important to discuss hot topics in youth culture as to better understand them for ourselves and therefore better understand thier interaction with the youth.

Thanks to all who contribute your ideas and thoughts to this blog.

2008-08-06T03:05:00.000-07:00

Its the words that make a song meanful....
While thinking about this I came across an enlighting post at Kidologist. What Karl Bastian did was take the Lords from Lord You Are....and made it easier for kids to relate to.
Watch
Here are the orginal words of the song Lord You Are:
Lord, You are, more precious than silver,Lord, You are, more costly than gold.
Lord, You are, more beautiful than diamonds,And nothing I desire compares with You.
Lord, Your love, is wider than oceans.Lord, Your love, is deeper than seas.
Lord, Your love, encompasses the nations,And there’s nothing more I’d want inside of me.

And Here is the kid friendly verison of the song..
Lord, You are, more awesome than all my toys, You mean more to me, than my Nintendo Wii.
Lord, You’re better yet, than my Webkins Pet,And nothing I desire compares with You.
Lord, Your love, is higher than the Sears Tower,Your love is wider, than a giant plasma TV. Lord, Your love, is better than Barney’s, And there’s nothing more I’d want inside of me.
Song rewritten by Karl Bastian
See the difference. If you are interested in reading the whole article you can find it at Kidologist.

Keep them busy and quiet hopefully....

2008-08-05T13:21:00.000-07:00

For some parents keeping your child busy and hopefully quiet while you are at the doctor's office or grocery store can be quite a daunting task.
Well here are some fun links to check out

22 Boredom Busting Games

Grocery Store Games

Car games

traveling with babies

4th Annual Cruise In Car Show and Family Spectacular

2008-08-04T05:33:00.000-07:00

Cool Stuff I bet you didn't know about the car show:

CH47 Chinock just got back from the war in Iraq. Be sure to tell the men and women operating this machine that you appreciate what they do and I am sure they would love a high five.

You can send your friend an ecard invite them to come hang out with you at the car show.

More to come....

We can We will do Better than This.

2008-08-02T05:25:00.000-07:00

As I was working out at the gym I started to really listent to the words of this song, Nuisance. As I was listening to the song I started thinking about our children's ministry, our kids (that we mentor) and our lives both at work and at home.

One part of the song really stuck out to me:

"Lets think about this time we're spending,

Investing in monetary things that are ending.

Let's think about it then. Let's think together.

Let's think about what we can do to make it better."

-John Rueben & Matt Theissen

What areas can we do better in children's ministry?

What ways can you do better in children's ministry?

What areas can we think outside the box to impact lives of kids?

Just some thoughts....you can take them or leave them.

What I've Learned so far....

2008-08-01T09:42:00.000-07:00

1. God has a plan and I am in it
I don't know the plan. I'm not the star of the story (that's God's role). I am an important part of an outreach greater than I realize.

2. I do what is best for my soul not my current disposition
I have to constatnly remind myself when I walking through a challenging time in my life that God is working on my soul, character and his masterpiece and sometimes it is not all daisies and sunshine.

3. Bless your Name
I used to hear that song all the time at church and it never really impacted until I started listening to the words of the song. "You give and take away, You give and take away my heart will choose to say Lord blessed be your name." God is always worthy of praise not only when things are going great but also when you are walking through the mud.

4."God you can have what I got but I don't have much."
I remember praying that in the bathroom stall at the church I grew up in. I remember feeling like a loser because I didn't know how to play the guitar and no one liked to hear me sing (for good reason)and I was a broke 13 year old with no car and money, so what could I do. From that day forward God has used my "no much" to point back to him.

To sum it all up I think God wants us to be avaiable, be willing and be impressed by what He will do.

Where has God used your "not much" to impact the kingdom?

shark week

2008-07-30T12:08:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite weeks of summer do you know why?

Because it is Shark Week on the discovery channel.

A few things I should mention before you continue.

This program is more for young adults and adults there are a lot of shots of sharks hunting and being fed chum and other things that younger kids would probably find very scary.

But for us grown ups who are trying to find something fun and exciting to watch after the kids go to bed this would be the program.

Enjoy.

Le't have some fun.

2008-07-29T05:38:00.000-07:00

Download a Dinosaur- this site is cool. Parents can help kids download dinosaurs cutout and then fold it into a dinosaur.
Funny Poems and Tounge Twisters
Preschool Coloring Book
Little Critter
Lite Brite

Jelly Telly Coming This Fall

2008-07-28T07:54:00.000-07:00

Along side school books, backpacks and new shoes there is something amazing happening this fall. From the creators of all the well loved veggie tale movies comes a new Christian formatted online tv program. The creators of Jelly Telly wanted something simmilar to Nick or Disney Channel that sole purpose was to inspire kids to live out their faith.

It is definetely worth keeping an eye this fall.

A Great Idea

2008-07-23T05:47:00.000-07:00

My Hubby and myself were completely bored and didn't necessarly have anywhere to go or anything to do. I felt like complaining to my mom that "I'm boooored" but seeing as I am grown up now I had no one to tell that to but myself. UGGGHHH
Anyways my hubby had the brillant idea to go out to the park I figured sure that would be fun. I happen to have my camera in my purse and my tripod in the trunk of my car so I thought let's take some pictures.
It was the smartest thing that either of us could have thought of. We had so much fun laughing and being silly and better yet it gave us some decent shots to use for our christmas cards this year.
So if you or your kids are ever bored and you don't have anywhere and no money to go spend try taking a picnic lunch to the park and have your kids think of some fun photos!
It really is fun.
Taking great family pics know how
Click Here

Get Focused Pictures

2008-07-22T10:57:00.001-07:00

What are they looking for?

Wow! That looks like fun!

Winner of the Grand Prize

A Ninetendo Wii

Club Penguin

2008-07-22T08:18:00.000-07:00

It seems that every kid knows about Club Penguin. Club Penguin is an online interactive site which allows kids to talk to other kids (using thier penguins) and has them play games that enhance reading and typing skills. Perhaps kids love this site so much because they get to create thier own online world and have thier own penguin friends. Here is the site that tells you more about Club Penguin and the safety procautions taken by Disney Click Here

In addition to all the excitement around Club Penguin there will only be more excitement with the release of the new Club Penguin Game coming this fall (I am guessing near Christmas). Here is a blog site that let's you in a few extras concerning the game Club Penguin Blog.

If you don't know about Club Penguin do your homework sit and watch your kid play.

2008-07-21T08:04:00.000-07:00

Looking for something new for your kids to listen to on the way to school?
Try pureNRG. You can hear snipets of thier songs on itunes before you purchase their cds. In my opinion if your kids are into all the fun poppy songs performed by Disney Channel actors than they will love this group too. These fun, christian kids are making a difference in the music arena and it is fun to check out thier site and see them talk about shows and being kids pureNRG official site.

Activities for all ages and Coloring Sheet Links

2008-07-20T07:14:00.000-07:00

Fun activities for all ages....
Preschool:
Click Here

Toddlers:
Click Here

Kids 6-10
Click Here

With all the markers and crayons so drastically CHEAP...I couldn't resist posting coloring pages links.

Crayola Website

Coloring Book Fun
Sesame Street

Kids Coloring Pages

For the kids

2008-07-19T05:23:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder how they got this picture.

Click Here to find out

And Still we walk on by...

2008-07-18T05:28:00.000-07:00

I wasn't going to blog about this at first...but then I saw this article

Click Here

"Whatever you do unto the least of these you do unto me." -Jesus

Mathew 25:37:40

To those who think they don't belong in Children's Ministry

2008-07-17T05:48:00.000-07:00

As a church we are in desperate need of our seasoned Christian warriors to rise to the challenge. We need you to remind us of our Christian faith. We need your faith testiments to encourage, uplight, challenge and convict. We still need and want your involvement.

You are a treasure.

Titus 2:1,4-7
1 But as for you, promote the kind of living that reflects right teaching.

4 These older women must train the younger women to love their husbands and their children,

5 to live wisely and be pure, to take care of their homes, to do good, and to be submissive to their husbands. Then they will not bring shame on the word of God.

6 In the same way, encourage the young men to live wisely in all they do.

7 And you yourself must be an example to them by doing good deeds of every kind. Let everything you do reflect the integrity and seriousness of your teaching. 8 Let your teaching be so correct that it can't be criticized. Then those who want to argue will be ashamed because they won't have anything bad to say about us.

Giving Kids time to be Kids

2008-07-16T06:00:00.000-07:00

As mentioned before I am a reader. I love to read any chance I get I read. As a kid I was the same way. My parents allotted plenty of time for "imagining". During my "imaging" time I would walk to the very end of our property. There I would find my most favorite place in the whole world my tree. My tree was made and planted just for me, I am convinced of this, because at the top was a large piece of tree in the shape of a chair. My tree overlooked the entire city and I would spend hours in my tree reading and feeling like the queen of the world.

Kids need and value their own time and place. Why do you think kids love forts and tree houses? Life is crazy and sometimes during some seasons it is extremely busy but kids need for you as parents to schedule a time for "imagining" it is important to thier development as people and it makes for some awesome childhood memories.

Bolt the Movie

2008-07-15T05:17:00.000-07:00

This is a new kid movie that is coming out in the fall. This movie should be a big hit for both kids and adults as the voice overs are done by Miley Cirrus and John Travolta. It looks cute. I guess we will have to wait and see.
Here is the official site so you can check it out yourself.

Bolt the Movie

Interesting...

2008-07-14T08:40:00.000-07:00

"God is looking for people through whom he can do the impossible

- -what a pity that we plan only the things that we can do by ourselves."

AW Tozer

Random Post for readers

2008-07-12T05:14:00.000-07:00

This is a random post. I am a reader and I love to read and it is always hard when I run out of "good books" to read. I found this cool sites that tells you all the books that are simmilar to your favorite books. It is fun you should check it out.Book Advice

Get Focused Kids Camp

2008-07-10T14:35:00.000-07:00

Actually, the kids in basketball camp taught me! Each day was a reminder of how life parallels what you learn in sports. Seeing the kids staying enthusiastic in drills, demonstrating competitiveness in an honorable way, cheering each other on, team work, challenging themselves in front of each other and winning & losing games graciously. Coach Drew was great at getting them to think about all that while also doing their best in bball for God. My assistant teen huddle leader Blake was also an excellent role model for the kids which in turn was a big help to me. You can also find out a lot with what's going on in their minds (whose tooth fairy pays the most, best public swimming pool diving board, who had the most days w/out a shower.... just from a short bus ride each day!
V. Hitchcock

Some Things that I liked about VBS\ Get Focused were how you learned about God in a way that was with your "sweet spot" whether you chose dance,basketball,art,culinary,skateboarding,and soccer. You could have fun with it and do what you enjoyed to do. Also I really liked how you could praise the Lord with all your heart soul and strength by singing,doing your sport or taking 25 minutes to just calm down to do huddle time.T. Hitchcock

Guest Blogger Dawn Lewis

2008-07-09T17:11:00.001-07:00

Summer is a time we are on the go, and enjoy our family time outside as much as possible. Nothing is worse for a family day than a sick child. Illness is often quite easy to avoid, if you remember a few things. One of the major reasons for illness is germs on food. According to Mr. Reynolds, OBC’s culinary chef, germs get on food in a few ways. One way is through contamination on the farms. Water runoff from livestock irrigates the fields, or leaches near plants. It is very important to wash off fruits and vegetables properly. Place items in a bowl that has been properly cleaned rather than directly into the sink, making sure to run the water and swish fruits and vegetables around in order to allow friction to release some of the germs and dirt. You can rinse more than once for items that do not look clean the first time. It is better to take the fruits or vegetables out of the water and then drain the dish rather then draining with the food in the dish. Wait a few minutes, which will allow dirt to settle to the bottom, and then scoop it out to place into another container.

A second contributor to food borne illness is germs we carry on our hands. If you handle food and haven’t washed properly, all the bacteria and viruses can move directly to the foods your family eats. It’s often hard to know when bacteria in particular have been passed on because, according to Mr. Reynolds, bacteria can take up to 70 days to make enough toxins inside a person’s body to make them sick. So, in order help keep your home healthy for the next few months, practice proper hand washing. It only takes twenty seconds of hand washing with plenty of friction, soap, and warm water, to get rid of most of the germs. Tell your kids to sing “Happy Birthday” twice through while rubbing their hands under the water, and that will do the trick.

Also remember, if germs do happen to get into foods, cooking them thoroughly will kill off bacteria, which will protect from illness. With meats, the fluid should run clear. Cutting vegetables and fruits on a separate sterilized cutting board will protect from cross contamination. Place leftovers in the refrigerator or freezer as soon as possible to protect from bacteria growth. At a picnic, if food has been out for a few hours, it’s best to get rid of it as a precaution.

Enjoy a healthy and happy summer!

Guest Blogging from Kindergaten Boys Huddle leader

2008-07-08T07:40:00.000-07:00

Pastor John Blackburn was a huddle leader for the kindergarten boy group this year. He has willingly agreed to write a short blog for us.

Here it is:

How does one communicate the concept of "desire to eight kindergarten-age boys?
That was my dilemma on Monday at Get Focused Kids Camp. And it was interesting to hear each of them guess what the word “desire” meant. “Does it mean sin?” “Is it something you shouldn’t call your mom?” “I don’t know what that word means!” These are just a few of the various answers the guys gave in reply to my request for a definition of the term.

Of course, when I equated the term “desire” with “want” or “wish”, as in, “I want to win a Wii” and “I wish for a new bicycle”, each of the boys seemed to know full well of its meaning. They expressed their “desire” to have legos, a Speed Racer car, a fire truck with sirens, etc.

With that established then, my next dilemma was to help the boys understand how important it is that we all “desire” to know Jesus Christ as our Savior and Friend. This didn’t go quite as smoothly.

The boys know about Jesus; “He lived a long time ago”. “Jesus is God’s Son”. “Jesus died…” Now it was my job to help them to “desire” to know Him personally and more intimately.

Did I accomplish this daunting task? Probably not that first day; but it is so fun to think that God’s Holy Spirit can work in the heart of a five year old. And, He can use me to show the love of Christ as a “seed-planter” of the gospel into the minds and hearts of these young boys.

You know, I sure DESIRE to see each of them come to a saving knowledge of Christ and to grow up to be men of God; passionately following Him! And, I know that’s God’s DESIRE too (I Timothy 2:3,4).

Pastor John Blackburn

Milley Cyrus

2008-07-07T10:33:00.000-07:00

Here are some thoughts after having watched Miley Cyrus new music video "7 Things I hate about you".

Personally the song itself is very fun and lively. Several things made me think twice about what this song is promoting. First Miley isn't the main person in the music video she shares the spotlight with several other preteen girls. Throughout the video these girls are crying, angry and then flirty and happy again. Their emotions are dictated by thier reactions to thier relationship with this imagainary guy. The song pointed out several points to me that we can use in our ministries, family and friends.

1. Learn to understand children's feelings.

Although we may not understand the depth of the feelings we do need to acknowledge that children have feelings same as adults and they are just as real and just as painful.

2. We need to model healthy relationships.

3. We need to build up strong and confident children

4. Preteens want to be understood. They don't want to feel abnormal or like the only one feeling a particular way.

This video does a great job of using different girls to portray that everyone feels that way at some time you are not alone.

5. Help your preteens pick good music.
7 Things I hate about you Lyrics

Some thoughts about Get Focused Kids Camp

2008-07-07T09:41:00.000-07:00

I thought VBS was just a blast. I liked how you could pick which activity you wanted to do for the whole week and that the tables were divided by grade so you could meet new people your own age. They also had huddle groups (which were put together by every single table) that brought you together to discuss a chosen book of the bible as a group. (this one was Phillipians) I also liked that the table leaders for Art (I was one) were actually in charge, and given that privilage. It was great how we were not in demand all the time, so we would have breaks too. I think this was a great choice of VBS.
-Grace (age 12)

vbs rocked! I liked that we all got hats in culinary and we got to see tools they use.Im glad to see what they wore and why they wore it.

pastor scott is so funny! -emillie(10)

Remember to Thank those who Serve in the Military

2008-07-06T08:04:00.000-07:00

God has placed a call to those who serve us faithfully in the military whether it be here at home or oversees. Not only do those individuals serve, but their families also make many sacrifices we sometimes forget about. Help your children remember these families. Pray for them. If you know some family that's serving, send them a fun care package. You could send the family some fun summer activites to engage in. You could send the soldier serving a package with toiletry items, fun candy, snack items and magazines you might be done reading. Send letters to the soldier and family. If the family has children, send some of your old books or toys. They might not get things as often as your family does. If you live in a military community, get to know some of the family left in the states. Invite them into your home and love them.

Summer Splash Article

2008-07-06T06:00:00.000-07:00

Summer Splash- This is an extensive article detailing fun games, crafts, and snacks during the summer. The beach craft with sand looks like fun I will probably do that one.

Random Freebies:
Free Lego Subscription

Wall-E

2008-07-05T06:00:00.000-07:00

Last Friday this fun pixar movie came out. I have always been a pixar fan!
Here is a review from Plugged In Online about the movie Wall-E.

Want some fun downloadable games,build-a-bots and desktops???

Click Here

Summer Reading

2008-07-04T06:00:00.000-07:00

Summer is the best time to pick up a great book.
If you need more incentive to pick up a great book try this...
Read to earn free books

Barnes and Nobles has a summer incentive book reading program. Click Here for the details

Aside from free books many of bookstores such as Borders and Barnes and Nobles have special story times for younger children. The library also has great story time hours.

4th of July Feast

2008-07-03T06:00:00.001-07:00

http://http//familyfun.go.com/recipes/special/specialfeature/july-4th-picnic/ -This Family fun website highlights some yummy kid friendly treats for your forth of July funness.

http://http//crafts.kaboose.com/holidays/july-4/index.html - Fun forth of July crafts

Kids Workshops, Birthday Clubs and Craft Hours

2008-07-02T05:06:00.000-07:00

Let's Celebrate you!!

Best birthday clubs for your child to join:
Click here for birthday clubs

Craft Clubs and Events:

Micheal's Craft Club

The Knack-This is an hour craft time for kids. It has a minimal cost and kids get to take home craft creations. The best thing is that they get to be crafty and your house doesn't get decorated by your 6 year old.

Home Depot-Kids Workshops are avaiable for kids to create and build on specific dates. I included a list of participating Home Depots for you. A list of Participating Stores in Olathe, KS

Kit Kittredge

2008-07-01T12:49:00.000-07:00

On July 2nd theaters will be releasing the movie Kit Kittredge: An American Girl Movie. I have seen the previews for the movie and it looks like it will be pleasantly fun to go and see. In the meantime here is the Offical Website of Kit Kittredge. Have fun.

Get out of the House this summer!!!!

2008-06-30T09:43:00.000-07:00

This weeks posts will be centered around how to have fun on a budget! Yes it can be done.
Things to do:

Cruise in -Car Show and family extravaganza- in August. I will keep you posted

Wonderscope Children’s MuseumWonderscope
Tuesday-Saturday, 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.; Sunday, noon-5:00 p.m. Closed Mondays September through February. Admission is $6.00 for ages 3 - 64; $5:00 for 64 and older; $3.00 for 1- and 2-year-olds; 1 and younger free. 5705 Flint in Shawnee Mission, 913-268-8130.

The Theatre in the Park
Tomahawk Recreation Complex, 17501 Midland Drive in Shawnee, 913-631-7050.

Johnson County Museum
Exhibits featuring changes from the 1820s to today. Hands-on activities for children and adults. Tuesday-Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Sunday 1:00 - 4:30 pm.; closed Monday. Free. 6305 Lackman Rd. in Shawnee, 913-631-6709.

Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead
Free admission, donations accepted. 138th & Switzer in Overland Park, 913-897-2360.

Johnson County Library -Library events

Johnson County Musuem -Events Calendar

AMC Summer Fundraising Campaign
www.amctheatres.com/smc
Every Wednesday morning AMC will open its doors at 9:00 to show children's movies at 10:00 for only a dollar per person. This doesn't include tax. All proceeds go to organizations such as Children's Charityand Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundations.
Not all AMC's are participating. I looked up the one closest to Johnson county.

AMC BarryWoods 248101 Roanridge Rd. , I-29 and Barry Road Kansas City, MO 64151
More info About Theatre Map & Driving Directions Guest Services: 888-AMC-4FUN

Philadephia No Bake Mini Cheesecakes

2008-06-30T06:00:00.000-07:00

Recipe was taken from Parade June 22, 2008
Prep time: 10 Min. Serves 12
What you Need
12 Oreo Cookies
1 Pk (8 oz) Cream Cheese Softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 tub (8 oz) Cool whipped topping thawed
Multi Colored Sprinkles

To do
Beat cream cheese and sugar until well blended. Gently stir in whipped topping. Place cookies on bottom of 12 paper lined muffin cups. Spoon cream cheese mixture into muffin cups. Top with multi colored sprinkles. Refrigerate until ready to serve

Spiderwick Chronicles

2008-06-29T05:00:00.000-07:00

Always read the book first. That's my motto.
Several years ago, I picked the first book in the Spiderwick Chronicles. It was fun to read and the best thing about it was that it was a quick read. Personally, I think the series of books should have been one big book but that's just my humbble opinion.
Personally I think the book is more appopriate for grades 3 and 4 but it can be read by anyone. Take me for example, a college student. I read the book and loved it. the book does present make believe charcters like pixies, talking animals and other imagainary creatures of the authors imagaines.
I was thrilled to see the movie in the process of being produced. The first day of the release I was there. Spiderwick is a fun imagainary adventure story.
I would recommend not showing this movie or book to children under 3rd grade as there are some parts of the movie where the main character is disrespectful to his mother and the siblings fight not only with each other but battle against the fictious woods inhabiants. Overall it was a fun movie.

For a full review Click here
For trailer click here

So much Stuff So Little Room

2008-06-27T11:02:00.000-07:00

Taken from Good things for Kids Winter 2008

Storage tips:
1. Save old mailing tubes and place children's art work, letters and spelling test in there. Label each tube to ensure quality relocation at a later date.
2. Loose Change....no problem
Decorate mini water bottles and cut a hole in the top for your deposits. The bottle can be decorated with icecream and it can be your fun money. This will help children take responsibilty in saving for a goal.
3. Creative Critter Strike Again
Have your kids finish thier masterpieces yet all of thier tools (glitter, paint etc.) is left scattered everywhere? No need to fear.
Try this idea from Good things Magazine
Tin Caddy
to make handle drill three overlapping 1 inch holes in the top center of a 13 by 6 inch piece of 3/4 inch thick plywood. Sand edges, paint with LATEX paint (beware of allegies). Crimp rough edeges of cans to smooth if necessary. Drill a small hole in the side of each can 3/4 inch from top, screw 1/2 inch screws from insides of cans into wood on an angle, alighing tops of cans. Good Things for Kids

Get Focused Kids Camp

2008-06-27T10:57:00.001-07:00

As many of you probably already know our VBS is taking on a whole new look.
Here's how OBC Power and Life Camp differs from a traditional VBS:
1. We allow kids to choose one area to focus on all week. For example, soccer, basketball, dance or culinary.
2. Within these specialized areas we allow kids to be creative and experience God and his love through huddle times.
3. We allow teens and parent volunteers to become more active in the activties the children are participating in. That means it would be wise to wear closed toed shoes if you are volunteering this year.
This summer is going to be so much fun. With VBS right around the corner (next week) to kick it off.
We will see you there.

Mom forgot to sign you up?
No problem... have mom come on Monday and sign you up. There is limited spaces left so be sure to come early spots fill up so fast.

Sunday Morning Blues

2008-06-23T06:16:00.000-07:00

I can only imagine all the emotions in both the child and the parent at the front of the classroom door on Sunday Morning.; Some times there are rough mornings we all have those, but for other parents dropping your kids off at Sunday school is the hardest task on Sunday Morning.
First let’s try to dive into the mind of a child:
1. “Mommy’s leaving and is gone forever” For very young children this a normal very real reality. Their brains have not developed fully in this area so that when you are out of sight you are truly gone. To expand on this point in the mind of a child when they can’t see you, you are permanently gone.
2. “Mommy will forget me”- On of children’s greatest fears is abandonment and some children might be afraid that you will never come back. In essence you will abandon them in Sunday School

Here are a couple of ways to ease the tension of leaving.
1. Relax. Do not start tensing up about it on Sunday morning. Kids can and will read verbal signs from their parents.
2. Casually discuss it during the week. “I love my Sunday School class on Sundays what do you during your Sunday School time?”
3. Show them the classroom you will be in while they are at their classroom. Say comments like “we are the same we both go to classrooms.” Remind them that if they need you they know where to come and find you
4. Reassure them you are coming back for them.
5. Try finding stories, playing games that center around leaving and coming back. Remind your child casually that it’s the same as when you go to church you leave each other for a little while and then you come back
6. Have a few kids from the class come over and play so that the classroom environment on Sunday looks inviting and not scary.
7. On Sunday Morning and the child is crying and insisting that he or she doesn’t want to go try the four R’s
Recognize: acknowledge the fear. “I know it is tough but you can do”
Reassure: I will come back for you and you are going to make some great friends
Remind: Remember the Jonah story and we talked about how he might have been really scared all alone in the fish. What did he do you remember? He remembered that God was with him right. Same thing God is with you too. There is nothing too big or scary for God.
Release:Say goodbye and walk away. Try not to linger by the door it makes it harder for the child to transition to their new environment.

Sunday mornings can be tough for some children but a prayerful, patient, parent makes all the difference.

Nintendo DS vs. Books

2008-06-22T06:15:00.000-07:00

Nintendo DS
Strengths: Can play at the same time as your friends. You can also play against them.
Weakness: Need to charge batteries. Games are expensive. Your friend has to have a DS to play with you. If you spend too much time playing your may get in trouble. If you bring it to school you can get in trouble.

Books:
Strengths: Books are free if you go to the library. Books are portable you can take them anywhere at any time. Books don’t require batteries or chargers. Books take you on new adventures. If you take them to school you don’t get in trouble.

Weaknesses: There are none books are great.

Encourage your children this week to embrace a good book.

Books for Older kids

2008-06-21T06:14:00.000-07:00

I love to read. I always have and probably always will. Here are a few of my most favorite books when I was growing up and even now.
True confession: I have read all these books once every year since I first discovered them in forth grade.

Sideways Stories from Wayside School-Louis Sachar
These are just fun random silliness. No other way to explain these stories. They make no logical sense and share no cohesiveness with other stories in the book. LOVE IT!

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory-Roald Dahl
I love this book! I love to think of myself walking through the chocolate room and trying an everlasting gobstooper. True confession #2: When reading this book I always buy a bag of chocolate. Perfect book if you’ve had a rough day and need to veg and eat chocolate…I mean relax and read.

The Tale of Despereaux- Katie DiCamillo
Don’t want to spoil the story so here are three words that describe it adventure, a mouse and a bowl of soup. That is it. I refuse to divulge any more information. It is a must read.

Freckle Juice-Judy Blume
A short read about a boy who trys to be something he isn’t and discovers it may not even be what he wants. It’s a funny book with a great lesson.

And finally but definetly not least. M
Ramona Quimby, Age 8- Beverly Clearly
Best book of all time. Makes me laugh and say “I’ve been there too Ramona”. My favorite part is the hard boiled egg situation. You just have to lean back and laugh.

Great Books for Little Kids

2008-06-20T06:11:00.000-07:00

A few of my favorite books….
Curious George
I just love that little monkey and all the adventures and mischief he finds himself in. I can’t help but enjoy the adventure.

Paper Bag Princess- Robert Munsch
Story about a princess, a prince and a dragon, doesn’t and the way you think it would. It does say the word “dumb” at the end.

Amelia Bedila-Peggy Parish
This book is about a maid who takes everything her boss tells her to do very literal. For example, a date cake was really a date cake. Amelia cuts out “dates” from the calendar and put them into a cake.

I’ll Love You Forever-Robert Munsch

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs- Schieksi
Fun story with a twist! This is the three little pigs story told by the wolf himself. Very funny for kids who are familiar with the three little pigs.

Horton Hears a Who-Dr. Seuss
Pastor’s Scott favorite book because an “elephant said what meant and meant what he said and an elephants faithful one hundred percent”

Preschool Friends

2008-06-19T06:00:00.000-07:00

While reading this book on the social lives of children called Best Friends, Worst Enemies by Michael Thompson I was shocked at some of the revelations made in research concerning toddlers. I didn’t agree with all the theories and ideas that this author proposed but this research in particular was fascinating.
One of the most shocking statements for me is that toddlers as early as three can have friends. Perhaps this is not mind boggling for those who are parents or who work with toddlers on a daily basis but for those of us who haven’t, WOW!
According to Thompson several elements need to be established before a friend can become a friend to an toddler.
1. Geography: Such as the nursery, MOPS kid care or a weekday daycare program these environments are referred to as geography.
2. Proximity- This primarily means is the two toddlers able to reach each other through crawling.
3. Familiarity- Children love patterns and this in no different they can correlate the environment (MOPS) with who comes consistently (Little Suzy)
Thompson asserted in his book that toddlers primarily disagree on two things:
1. Interpersonal space: How many times have we heard “That’s my baby”.
2. Competition over teacher’s love. “Teacher can I sit next to you during story time?

So now that we are enlightened with the cause of many, but not all toddler arguments, we are better prepared to fix them.

Here are a few possible strategies to bring peace to conflict in a toddler’s world:
1. Separate the children from the immediate rival zone. Instead of free-play it may be time to switch to group games or another center.
2. Help them understand the other child’s feelings. For example: You took Suzy’s baby away when she was playing with it that was not nice. I think that is the reason Suzy is sad. I think we should give the baby back to Suzy and find another baby so that you can both play together.
3. Interest the child in another free time activity.

All of this “new” news was fascinating to me. I naively thought that children that young were unable to make and sustain friendships. Ooops…I was definitely wrong in thinking that.
Until next time play nice!

God's Love

2008-06-18T18:08:00.001-07:00

None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can come between us and God’s love because of the way Jesus our Master has embraced us. Romans 8:37-39

While I was reading this passage I began to ask myself “why?” Why would God love us so much? What cause him to love us?
I wasn’t the first person to ask this question David wrote in one of his songs:
When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers----
The moon and stars you have set in place---
What are mortals that you should think of us,
Mere humans that you should care for us?
Psalms 8:3-4

Why God, do you deleight in every detail of our lives (Ps. 37:23) stickup for us (Romans 8:32)discipline us (Pvbs 3:12) have mercy on us time and time again (Romans 2:4).

Why us Lord? Out of all creation, why us?

I came to the conclusion that the explanation for God’s intense passion for us is just one of the mysteries that makes God, who he is. I summed it up in six words.
He just does
He just is.

Super Nachos

2008-06-15T07:07:00.000-07:00

Super Nachos

From 30 min Get Togethers - Rachel Ray

Pico De Gallo Salsa
4 vine-ripe tomatoes seeded and chopped
1 or 2 jalapenos peppers, seeded and finely chopped
1 small white onion chopped
¼ cup cilantro leaves or parsley
Salt to taste

Beef and Beans Topping
1 Tablesppon extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 serrano pepper seeded or chopped
1 pound ground sirloin
1 teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoon dark chili powder
1 ½ teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons-1 teaspoon cayenne pepper sauce
1 can (15 ounce) black beans drained

Cheese Sauce
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
2 ½ cups (about ¾ pound) pepper jack cheese shredded

Combine salsa ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Need flavors to blend.

Make the beef and beans topping; heat a med. Non-skillet over med-high heat. Add EVOO, garlic, onion, and jalapenos to pan and sauté. 2 min. add meat and crumble with wooden spoon. Season meat with salt, chili powder, cumin, and cayenne pepper sauce. Cook meat 5 min. then stir in beans and reduce heat to low. Make cheese sauce. In medium saucepan, melt butter and flour to it. Cook flour and butter a min. or two over moderate heat, then whisk in milk when milk comes to a bubble stir in cheese with a wooden spoon. Remove cheese sauce from heat.
Pour cheese sauce evenly over the massive spread of chips and evenly with beef and beans and Pico de Gallo salsa.

2008-06-14T07:05:00.000-07:00

All the bridal party had passed through the doors and we heard the bridal procession start to play. The doors were about to open and my dad leaned over to me and said “I am so proud of you”.

As the doors opened I looked at my dad and said “I love you dad and always will”. We both walked down the aisle crying (even though he said he wouldn’t). We reached the Pastor and my future husband a crying mess, but at least I wasn’t alone. I was standing next to my dad and he was crying too so I didn’t feel so goofy.

He messed up the line “My mother and I do” even though he practiced it a million times that morning, but I didn’t care he was dad my hero.

Perhaps this is every dad’s greatest and saddest moment in the life of their child. I really don’t know all I know is that I am glad that my dad had invested so much time into my life. My dad taught me how to swing a bat, how not to throw like a girl, how to set priorities and live by them, and showed me by example how a healthy godly marriage should look.

He was my example the one that (even though I didn’t say it) I wanted him to be proud of me. Throughout my entire childhood, I remember striving to hear him say “I am proud of you”. I would get straight A’s at school. I would run faster and longer than anyone in my class. I was the best handball player and tether ball player on courts 2 and 6. I strived to be the best so that my dad would praise me.

What I found is that my dad said “I love you” in many different ways throughout my life. Here are a few: he went to a very laborious job every day to provide for our family. He brought home ice cream on Fridays (mom was to choose first). Every morning he would come over to the kitchen first thing and hug and kiss my mom (we were all eating breakfast at the table). He watched 1 hour of cartoons with us on Saturday morning. While he worked in the garage he would turn on Disney Disco and let us (3 kids) skate around. As we got older and interested in other things he took up: legos, coloring, reading (he hated reading), playing video games (he was never good at that) and watching American Idol.

To me my dad was all that and a bag of chips! Time in invested is time well spent.

Love you dad.

Have some fun with the family

2008-06-13T07:03:00.000-07:00

As mentioned before this week’s blogs are dedicated to dads in honor of Father’s day. So if your dad typically doesn’t read the blog print these out and tape them to the mirror.
Thanks for the help kids.
Dads,
I highly commend you. Being a dad is harder than I ever thought. Working in Children’s ministry and being a part of family of my own I have been witness to a lot of different dads. The ones who have been most influential in their families are not the ones who bring home tons of money or drive the nicest cars or who plan the coolest vacations but rather the dads who showed the greatest amounts of humility and self-sacrifice. Dads, your kids are watching you. I know you have probably heard that before but don’t let it slip by you without making you stop and pause. Here let me give you that phrase again. YOUR KIDS ARE WATCHING YOU. They are watching you for several reasons; they admire you and will try to imitate you as much as possible. They need your approval, that’s why these ask a million times “Are you watching?”. Your kids are still learning how to express emotions so they look to you to see what is the right way to express, sorrow, happiness and failure.
Your kids are waiting to watch. Learning to grow and they are learning from you.

God,
You are an amazing example of how a dad should be. To your children (us) you are kind and merciful yet at times you teach and discipline us. We as your children are constantly looking to you for an example of how to live. God, I pray for all the dads that are reading this and not reading this Lord, bless them. Give them knowledge to be a leader in their families. Give them strength in times when their endurance is faltering. Help them to love and care for not only their children but their wives in the way that you have asked them to love their wives. Bless them for being a dad and speak to them in the way that only you know how.
Amen.

2008-06-12T07:15:00.000-07:00

Father's Day

2008-06-11T06:52:00.000-07:00

Father’s day is next week!

I hope that all you kids have been able to make your dad something really special. If you are like most kids you are probably super busy with fort-building, Crayola designing, and mud pie tasting. This, my fellow kids is understandable. Here is a link you can find some ideas for some neat Father’s day gifts.Ideas for father's day gifts
Although I would love to discuss highly interesting topics with all you kids. Such as, why giraffes have long necks? My focus on this blog is for the dads.

Dads, we as a family need you to be on the court. In other words, we need you to be a part of what your family is doing and not only participate on the sidelines (as an observer). A father’s participation in his family speaks volumes to how much he truly loves and enjoys spending time with them.

Picture this: the family is going out to see Prince Caspian.
Choice A:
You tell them to have a good time and be safe and then sit on the couch to relax while they are gone.

Choice B:
You are really tired, and yes you would love to sit on the couch and relax. But you reason with yourself that in the movie theater you will be sitting anyway so why not go. When you are at the movies the kid argue about just about everything from who sits by mom to why Lu Lu got more popcorn than me? At the end of the night you feel even more tired than before but what you don’t know is you have just spoke volumes of love to your kids. You told them through your actions that I care more about spending time with my favorite people than watching a game on tv.

Be a Team Player!

Coffee Cakes

2008-06-10T06:55:00.000-07:00

This recipe was taken from Better Homes and Gardens New CookBook Limited Edition12 edition

Coffee Cake Muffins
What you need
3 tablespoons all purpose-flour
3 tablespoons brown sugar
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
3 tablespoons chopped walnuts or pecans
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup granulated sugar
1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup butter or margarine
1 beaten egg
½ cup buttermilk or sour milk
1. Grease twelve 2 ½ inch muffin cups or line with paper bake cups; set aside.
2. For topping, in a small bowl stir together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon. Cut in the butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in nuts; set topping aside.
3. In a medium bowl stir together the 1 ½ cups flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, the ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, and salt. Cut in the ¼ cup butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
4. In another bowl combine egg and buttermilk. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy).
5. Spoon half of the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each one-thir full. Top with half of the topping, the remaining batter and the remaining topping. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15-18 minutes or until golden and a wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in muffin cups on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remover cups; serve warm.

To those who mentor kids

2008-06-09T18:49:00.000-07:00

What if we as teachers allowed our students to see us struggling to wait for God’s direction?

What if we as parents started allowing our children to see us humbled before God in worship?

What if our prayers at dinner didn’t just thank God for the food but communicated the fact that our very existence rests in God’s hands.

What if we let them catch us being authentic with God?

How might our children’s vision of “being a Christian” change?

God,
You are so much bigger and more than I will ever understand. I like that about you. I pray God that you give me the courage to be authentic with the kids that I mentor, parent and/ or teach. I want them to discover you. Some people refer to a Christian’s relationship with you as a walk. Lord I want the kids to see that sometimes our Christian journey is a walk, stumble, jog, sprint, and crawl. I want them to come to you as their never forsaking always loving Savoir. Help me be that authentic.
Amen

Love What you Do

2008-06-09T07:04:00.000-07:00

I was once given some excellent advice “Love what you do”. It was convenient that the person giving me the advice wrote it down so that I can look at it and remind myself of it throughout the day. At first when I was giving that advice I took it as a nice thought but everyday it means something different to me. Let me help you understand.

Love what you do by changing young lives for Christ. Love what you do when you are frustrated, tired, and still have to run the kids to soccer, volleyball, and dance. Love what you do when no one pats you on the back. Love what you do when you are talking with friends and everyone is talking about corporate jobs and then they turn to you and say and what do you do? You reply that you are home schooling your children and raising them to be men and women for God and they say “oh that’s nice”.

Love what you do.

Burrito Bake Recipe

2008-06-08T07:03:00.000-07:00

Here is your fun recipe for the week:
This recipe was taken from Taste of Home Family Favorite Casseroles. April 3, 2007 issue. It was submitted by Cindee Ness from North Dakota.

Burrito Bake
Yield 6
What you need
1 pound ground beef
1 can (16 ounces) refried beans
¼ cup chopped onion
1 envelope taco seasoning
1 tube (8 ounces) refrigerated crescent rolls
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
Toppings: Chopped green pepper, shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, sliced ripe olives

In a large skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink drain. Add the beans, onion and taco seasoning.
Unroll crescent roll dough. Press onto bottom and up the side of a greased 13in by 9 inch by 2 in. back dish; seal seams and perforations.
Spread beef mixture over crust; sprinkle with cheeses. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 30 min. or until golden brown. Sprinkle with the topping of your choice.

Piece of Paper

2008-06-07T07:02:00.000-07:00

As I was writing this I began to really understand the importance of a blank sheet of paper. While I was a student I used to hate a blank sheet of paper. All I could think about was page 20 while I hadn’t even written my name on page 1.

I know someone out there is laughing with me…
Ok maybe at me…

Being out of school and no longer having my issues with a blank piece of paper I have discovered that it is the friend I have always had and never appreciated.

A blank piece of paper has no expectations. It has no limitations for the imagination. It holds no judgments. It is a start.

I figured out that perhaps the reason I had a problem with blank sheets of paper is because I was intimated by my lack of creativity or so I thought.

I started listening to kids and their amazing stories and really looking at their creative drawings and I even got a little daring and colored a pink giraffe with orange poka dots and green strips. YOOOOWHOOOO

All this to say: People that don’t think they are creative are creative. A start is intimating at first but worthwhile in the end.

Part 3

2008-06-06T07:00:00.000-07:00

Making the Story Real Part 3

As you are telling the story have the kids, give each child a plain piece of paper have them draw, write, cut up or invent one thing the main character could have used in the story. For example, in the story Jonah one child could have drawn a boat. Another child could have invented yucky whale food for the whale to make it throw up sooner.

Again start by handing out blank paper to each child. Tell them that as you are telling the story you would like them to pick a section of the story and draw a picture of it. For example in Daniel in the Lion’s Den one child might draw the King’s face after he saw Daniel the next morning. Another child may draw from the lion’s perspective and he can see Daniel but can’t bite him. Another child may draw the lion’s den at night.

Each creative innovation is introduction to discussion which will help kids transfer the story from short term memory to long term memory.

I am a firm believer that creativity is the well spring of many good things: great discussions, interesting questions and a higher level of understanding of God’s work.

Making the Story Real Part 2

2008-06-04T06:00:00.000-07:00

How about the older kids?? Here are some ideas:

Reenact the story. Several ways to do this: You are the main character of the story and tell the story from that person’s perspective. For example, be the older brother in the story of Cain and Able and give a new perspective on the story. Have the kids listening follow along with you in their bibles and keeping you biblically sound. Give them permission to interrupt the story at anytime if you aren’t being biblically accurate. As you are making your way through the story tell them “on verse 32” so that they can follow along and listen. Kids love to do this. It also strengthens kid’s knowledge of the bible and also teaches them to prove right from wrong using the Bible.

Another way to reenact the story is to allow them to be apart of the story as you are telling it. I once told the story of twelve spies entering the Promised Land for the first time. It was so much fun. I had the group be the Israelites and I had one student be Caleb. Caleb’s line was “We can take the land” and the Israelites on cue would boo or hiss at him. It was fun! We used the Bible as a script and we played the parts.

Have several kids over for an “Esther’s Salon” afternoon. Serve fruits and nuts and small things that may have been in the palace at the time of the story. Have the girls do each other’s makeup, hair, toes and fingernails. Throughout the time ask the girls questions like I wonder what Esther was thinking about as she was getting pampered before she went to the king? How did she gain favor with her leaders? At the end of the party take a group shot of all the girls. In closing make it short and sweet. “The King was interested at Esther’s outward appearance not her spirit. God says in the bible that although men look at the outward appearance God looks at your heart.” Challenge each girl to have just as much fun taking care of their inward appearance as they did today taking care of their outward appearance.

That’s a wrap for now….More to come

Making the Story Real

2008-06-03T18:57:00.000-07:00

Making the story real
While walking through the hallways at church a few months back I poked my head into one of the rooms to get the head count and within minutes became completely involved in the story that was being told in that room. Being a child who had grown up in church I had heard this story many different times and in many different ways but never like this.

I was apart of the story. .
Here’s an idea:

Reenact the story: The story of Moses parting the Red Sea. If your kids know the story let one of them be Moses if not let them be an Israelite. You will need two other grownups not including yourself to help you with this next part. Sit the kids down and pack a picnic for them. While they are eating in the grass take on the full persona of Moses and have them pretend to be Israelites. Tell them that you have stopped for a quick bite to eat in the dessert before you pray and ask God what to do next. Then reenact the crossing of the Red Sea pretend you see the Egyptians coming after you. Have two people grab two water hoses and spray them like a massive sea. Explain to the kids that you can’t cross on foot e raging sea we will have to pray and see what God wants. Then as Moses again lift up your staff (a broom will work) and put it into the “sea” have your two friends spray the water hoses straight up so that you can see walls of water on either side and have Moses lead the “Israelites” through the water walls to the other side. At the other side sing songs praising God for being God. Recap the lessons to be learned from the story. Make it short and sweet and then go play in the sprinklers and have a water day.

Give children every opportunity to become part of the story.

That’s all for now more to come.

Ready Set Have Fun

2008-05-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

I remember when me and siblings were younger my mom used to give us an old empty box and markers and send us outside to “make something”. She would wash dishes and watch us from the window. Later on, it felt like 4 hours, it probably wasn’t she’d come outside and play with what we had created with our box. The funny thing is that the box was a spaceship, a clubhouse, a bakery and when we were ready to throw it away our mom took me and my sister and brother to a big hill and we convinced my brother, he was the littlest, that the box was a rolling device. My sister and I put in the box and pushed him down the hill it was so fun. Out of all our toys we received during childhood I remember that box the most maybe because me mom spent time with us.
Here are some fun free things to do with your kids:
Go on a book date.

Go to the library. Pack a lunch and have a picnic while you read to your kids or they read to you.
Go on a ladybug hunt.

Perk: You can put them in your garden when you are done.
Give them time and supplies to create.
Go to the swimming pool and yes you get in and play too.
Have a pretend day.

For example, you choose castle day so the whole day you pretend to be a queen the kids can be a princess or a knight all the food that you serve them has new names and everything you do is castle related. You have to play!
Make a craft together.
Many of the ideas are attributed to my mom. Thanks mom for being so much fun!
Have a great and creative day!

Kids Making a Difference

2008-05-22T06:00:00.000-07:00

What is stopping our kids from making a difference in the world?

Maybe kids need some inspiration and some ideas on how to change the world one kid at a time.

So here’s the inspiration:
Alice made and sold decorative flip flops for the tsunami vicitims
Just Give
Olathe Jr. and Senior High mentor kids year around
A Kindergarten shared Jesus with her friends
Families came together and served their local communities by raking leaves, picking up trash etc.
Kids Speedway

Here are some possible ways to change the world
1. Start with the kingdom. One lady’s ministry is to send new married couples recipes in the mail. She is reaching out in a creative way to show people Christ’s love.
2. Invite someone new to Get Focused Kids Camp
3. Myanmar Cyclone Relief
4. As a family adopt a child from World Vision or a simmilar organization. Have it be a family decision. Everyone pitches in both money, time and letters. Have the children take a portion of thier allowance or encourage them to raise money in a creative way. I will give you a fun idea Family garage sale.

Have fun and be the difference!

Hey Mom What's for dinner?

2008-05-20T10:15:00.000-07:00

I am not a mom yet but I can only imagine all the free time I will have when it comes to that stage of my life. Ok...I was just kidding!

Here let me help you out just a little bit. Here are some quick and tasty treats you can fix for your children.

Mac and Cheese I couldn’t resist this one.

Smoothies

Spaghetti Pizza

Strawberry Milkshake

Mix of Kid Food

Breakfast to Go Please

Mini Fruit Kabobs with Dip

Helping children grieve

2008-05-20T09:41:00.000-07:00

I know that I have often found myself at a loss for words when a child's loved one passes away. In fact I am not very good at all with the right words to say to someone who has just had a loved one pass away. It is a very hard time for the family and also for kids. Well here are some links that I think will be helpful if you are being a friend, teacher, or parent of a child who is grieving.

Grief

Memory Box

Most children enjoy hearing stories it might be a good idea to read books to them that may have feelings that the child is experiencing in it. Many times children have a difficult time expressing in words the feelings that they are experiencing. By reading them a story that has a child grieving it may help your child express themselves verbally about the feelings they are feeling. Try reading the book and throughout reading you ask open ended questions such as “have you ever felt like that?” “What would you do if you were that character?”.

Making your own baby food.

2008-05-08T09:49:00.000-07:00

I've asked Jennifer Perdaris to guest blog for us. She is a new mom and works here at OBC. Here is what she had to say about making her own baby food:

"As a working mom, and someone who's somewhat domestically challenged, I have to admit that I never thought I would be making my own baby food. I decided to try it after a friend encouraged me to try it. I started by pureeing a baked sweet potato with our stick blender. It's pretty easy, healthy, and saves money. I can spend one evening every
1-2 weeks cooking the food and freezing the purees in icecube trays.
This allows me to also offer my daughter a variety of foods and different combinations that aren't available on the grocery store shelf. If you're interested in learning more about making your own baby food check out Wholesome Baby Food. There you'll find information on pureeing and cooking and storing your own baby food.

Volunteer Appreciation Dinner

2008-05-08T07:34:00.000-07:00

Here are just a couple of pictures from our appreciation potluck. We had such a fun time playing games and handing out Sheridan coupons like crazy. It was fun to sit, eat, laugh and talk with all of you.
Wow what a cake! Thanks Christy!

C.S. Lewis

2008-05-05T14:39:00.000-07:00

As many of you know the new movie from the Chronicles of Narnia is coming to theaters on May 16. Did you know that C.S. Lewis had published several adults books including a sci-fi book before writing The Chronicles of Narnia?

According to his biography which is published at http://www.factmonster.com/spot/narnia-lewis.html he was interested in writing children's novels and his friends and publisher tried to encourage him not to write children's novels in fear that he would be less reputable in the adult world.

Lucky enough he didn't listen.

Now we can enjoy great children's novels and movies.
I am hoping to encourage you whether your carreer is a mom, teacher or volunteer being a part of a kid's life is HUGE don't ever feel unreputable because you have chosen a higher calling.

Go make a difference!

Everyone can cook

2008-04-29T06:46:00.001-07:00

Cooking with kids can be fun, messy and more fun. Take a breath...

tell yourself my kitchen does not need to be perfectly clean I will have more fun when it is dirty anyway.

Alright now we are ready to have some fun.
The basics:
No touch:
Knives
Stove
Applicances with an adult
WASH YOUR HANDS
These basics were found on this website Cooking

Here are some some recipes for kids:
Frozen Strawberry Sandwichs Click Here
The link to this page has tons of recipes Kraft Foods

Those few links should get you started. Have fun and Bon Appetit!

Words Your Kids Need to Hear

2008-04-29T06:31:00.000-07:00

I haven't read this book yet but I plan to. This book is called
"Words Kids Need to Hear: to help them be who God made them to be" by David Staal

Here are the words they need to hear:
"I believe in you"
"You can count on me"
"I treausure you"
"I'm sorry, please forgive me"
"Because"
"No."
"I love you"
If you would like to read the whole article on this book click here.

As I was reading those statements I started to think about how those phrases are great to say to kids but they can probably work for co-workers, spouses, friends, and family.

Helping Children Deal with Fear

2008-04-15T08:25:00.000-07:00

Top things kids worry or stress about:
1. Health of someone they love
2. Their future
3. Schoolwork,tests, or grades
4. Their looks or appearances
5. Their friends and their problems
6. War on terrorism
7. The environment

This poll was taken by 1,154 kids ranging from ages 9-13. KidsHealth was the organization that ran the poll. To view the full results of the poll go to http://www.nemours.org/mediaroom/story/2007/11/06/kh-poll.html

Here are some ways to help your child deal with fear:
1. Let them talk about their fear. Help them to verbalize what they are feeling and why?
2. Listen. Listen. Listen.
3. Understand what they are saying and what they are trying to say.
4. Use active listening techinques: Restate what you think they are saying. Ask them if that is what they are truly trying to say. Sometimes children need help putting a word to the emotion.
5. Use a situation in your life when you were fearful of something and what you did to overcome that fear.
6. Remind them that God is in control over everything (even thier fear) all the time
7. Talk with them about some steps that you both can take together to overcome the fear

An interactive website to help with chores

2008-04-14T12:41:00.000-07:00

This site is kinda interesting it helps you keep record of your kids chores online and helps with incentives to keep your kids motivated to do thier chores on a daily basis. Personally I think it is simmilar to webkins ideas but it is related to chores. Interesting site. The best thing of all is that it is FREE!
Take a look

http://www.handipoints.com/

Some fun sites when you need something fun to do with the kids

2008-04-07T11:05:00.000-07:00

Hey Moms and Pops:
I found some fun sites that you may be interested in. The crayola website allows you to print out fun coloring pages and the best part is that there are color by number on the website. Those are my favorite!
Crayola Website: http://www.crayola.com/

Christian Sports Planet is a website dedicated to making role models out of christian athletes it is a fun read and a great way to enrich the family devos at home. If you are talking with your child about honesty look at the website to find a famous athlete that exhibted honesty while on the field/court/etc.

Christian Sports Planet: http://www.christiansportsplanet.com/

Family fun has it all from great craft ideas to ideas for interesting birthday party ideas.
Family Fun: http://familyfun.go.com/

Volunteer Evaluation Survey

2008-04-02T11:49:00.000-07:00

Hey Volunteers!
This is for you. Can you please click on the link below and fill out the survery so that we can effectively strive forward to next year by evaluating this year.
Thanks a million.
Laura

Click here