Wise Counsel and Baby Dolls

" Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed."  Proverbs 15:22

We were faced with two birthday parties coming up for two dear little three year olds we know and with the tight budget, I thought perhaps a nice handmade gift would be the ticket.  So, where to start?  Pinterest of course.  A quick search for handmade and girl gift came up with pin after pin of adorable handmade dollies.  Oh dear.  I do love to sew, but I am used to mending or cross-stitch, not dolls.  But the Bible teaches us to seek wise counsel.  So, I read about 300 different blog posts and watched a couple of how-to videos.  Then I dove in.

These are the materials I had to work with:  

A like new nightgown by Carters that our oldest outgrew and a pair of pink socks. 

I cut the socks into a head (the foot/toe section) 

and then used the other pieces to make the arms and legs. 

I figured the ruffle would make a great dolly skirt.

Here I sewed the ankle part of the socks into the feet.  One of the blogs showed how to sew off the  triangles to make the foot tapered instead of square.

 I used the sleeve of another pj set to make the torso of our doll.  Here you can see how I used safety pins to hold the pieces together while I sewed.  With a little one running around, these are much easier to keep up with than straight pins.

Then I got all excited with my progress, and forgot all about wise counsel.  

"The lowly will be exalted and the exalted will be brought low."  Ezekiel 21:26

As you can see in the picture, I tried just marking where I would put the arms.  Ignoring wise counsel I ran ahead of instructions and drew two very OFF marks onto our beautiful doll.  Oops. A little washing and return to wise counsel (in the form of a reviewed internet article) and I was back on track.

 Here she is with her head on.  I used my handy dandy tablet to wind the yarn around for her hair. I am a firm believer in using what you have on hand.  

 Then came my favorite part.  I found the most amazing and logical method of adding yarn hair to the doll.  You start by marking a line down the middle of the head where you will add hair.

 Then you take three strands of yarn at a time and use two strands (pull apart the yarn you have into two strings instead of the four you start with) to tack it in place.  

I sewed around two or three times for each batch.   

Just try to ignore the green sweat pants that my dear husband lovingly refers to as my "kermit-the-frog" pants. :)

 Next, you add another three strands across the head and tack those in place.  

I tried to overlap my sewing a bit to blend it in better.  

 Here she is with no eyes.  A little creepy.

And here she is all done.  I will tell you now, that as I finished her I did a squeal with joy at how sweet she came out.  NOT perfect by any means.  But a great little dolly.  Here's hoping the sweet-pea of a birthday girl likes it too.


More doll creations are listed in the second article in this two part series. 
Click the link below to read on.
http://biblelovingmomtothefourth.blogspot.com/2012/11/dolls-frogs-and-aliens.html

Babies Need the Bible Too

Let your babies touch the Bible.  The actual book.  Little babies touch and even taste everything they come in contact with.  They explore and learn about what God's world is all about.  But we as parents are too quick to snatch up our "good" Bible and say no no to little fingers that want to touch it.  Yes, we need to teach our babies to be gentle, to be careful with books.  But the Bible is for all of us.  We don't want to send the message to our little ones that the Bible is just not for them.  

So, just for a minute, pull your baby up into your lap and let him/her touch the Bible.  Wrinkled pages can be smoothed and drool can be wiped away.  As you let little one touch the Bible, teach them that the Bible is a special book, that God gave us the Bible, and everything the Bible says is from God.  And if she takes a little taste, that's okay too.  Didn't Ezekiel?

"God said, '[Ezekiel], eat this scroll I am giving to you.' So [he] ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in [his] mouth."  Ezekiel 3:3

Special thanks to my friend J. Hoskins for the pic of her peanut's hand.

Cup Circles

Six people make A LOT of dirty dishes.  We run the dishwasher everyday.  So to save on the amount of dishes we have, I started the above system.  We have a mat (a piece of laminated construction paper actually) that I drew circles on with a sharpie marker.  Then each child (and mom) have their own name next to each circle.  Simple concept.  We use the same cup all day.  After breakfast, cups go on the circle.  Milk cups go in the sink.  We don't end our day with a million cups that way.  Think about it, three meals, one or two snacks and six people equals up to 30 cups a day.  Cup circles:  it works for us :)

"Take life easy; drink and be merry" (paraphrased) Luke 19:19

Bears in a Boat

We send a snack with our kindergartner every day since his lunch time isn't until 1pm.  So, to get creative, I sent bears on a boat today.  Slice of granny smith apple with peanut butter on it and bears stuck into the peanut butter.  You could make it with cream cheese if your little one has a nut allergy.

Muffin Tins for Lunch

My little ones love little nibbles.  A little of this, a bit of that.  So when I somehow stumbled across the concept of muffin tins as plates, we all fell in love.  Basically, you start with a 6 hole muffin tin (or twelve if you only have that size) and put a different kid-friendly food in each hole.  I tend to aim for a protein, carb., fruit, veggie, and sweet in each hole.  Sometimes we use leftovers for one space, sometimes dip in one hole, and a juice cup if I am out of ideas for that last space to fill.  Typically for preschoolers, my school-aged kiddos will jump on the bandwagon if we break them out on the weekend.  Another trend this whole idea has started is adding cinnamon to applesauce and sprinkles to yogurt.  And my youngest insists on gummy snacks (glorified candy) so I put half a pouch as dessert.

ham, cheese sticks, crackers, applesauce, strawberries and kiwi, and gummy snacks

tuna salad, goldfish crackers, applesauce, broccoli, strawberries, and spagettios

leftover chicken, bbq sauce, gummy snacks, broccoli, yogurt (w/sprinkles), 

and penguin shaped cheese crackers

There are whole websites devoted to the concept of bento-box style eating and my favorite is Muffin Tin Moms.  Click the link I added below their logo and it should take you to the site.  Loads of inspiration here.

http://michellesjournalcorner.blogspot.com/

You can also use just a plate with six or so muffin liners as cups for each item.  For instance when you own three muffin tins and have four children :)  Some moms use themes and color schemes and go nuts about it, but I just keep it simple and let the kids help me choose what they want in their tins.  Bonus idea:  I ask periodically "How many circles did you finish?"  That helps my little people get back to eating and finish up their lunch.

"She provides food for her family."  Proverbs 31:15

Fingers Under the Bathroom Door

With four children in the house, I very rarely go to the bathroom by myself.  When there is not company in the house, I tend to leave the bathroom door standing open just to listen for the chaos that is inevitable.  But the rare times when I sneak off to the bathroom and close the door, here come little knocks, cries for justice (he hit me, she took my seat), or the fingers that creep under the bathroom door as if to join me.

As a mother I am on duty 24 hours a day 7 days a week.  They are always with me and always watching.  So it should come to no surprise that my FAVORITE verse is Deuteronomy 6:6-9

"These commandments I give you today are to be upon your hearts.  Impress them on you children.  Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."

God never said to study the Bible only when at church.  He actually never commanded that we have a formal family meeting and read the Bible, say a prayer and sing a song.  These verses are encouraging us to make the Bible a part of EVERYTHING we do.  If it were a modern version, the verse might read, "as you drive in the car, as you post to Facebook, as you go to the bathroom in the Walmart"  As you GO.  God knows that the life in this world can get filled up with the to do lists and the ballet practices and the trips to the grocery store.  What is important is that you invite Him into all of your goings and comings.  (Psalm 121:8)

Before I even met my husband, I learned all about how the development of a baby starts in the mommy's womb.  I learned about brain development and how songs heard in the womb were often remembered by the baby after birth and would calm the baby.  So, like most new moms, I sang to our babies when they were still in my tummy.  And I determined from the very first child, that I would sing hymns and Christian tunes over and over.  What better start to their little lives?

It was in those very early days of our firstborn that I was trying to figure out what to do with this new person.  What could we play that would help her learn?  Visual stimulation with brightly colored toys, walks outdoors to experience creation, and books (loads of books).  And we would sing those familiar songs to her and we would talk about what the Bible said and it just became natural that whatever we were doing, we would bring the Bible into it.  Even when little fingers come poking under the bathroom door.

Four kids and almost 11 years into parenthood and we still try to have the Bible as a part of everything we do.  Consider this part one in a series.  I will try to share what works for us for each age group we have experienced.  Babies, toddlers, preschoolers, school-age, and preteen.

It's the Little Things

My hubby brought me a rose and a milkshake.  Now that man speaks my language :)

Proverbs 11:25 - 

The generous person will be prosperous, and he who waters will himself be watered.