Crocheting vs Knitting

So in the TODKAH book, it has to learn knitting first. I have recently checked out a book Mary Frances Knitting & Crocheting Book after reading a review by a fellow homesteading blogger (can't remember who). In the book, it starts with teaching crochet instead of knitting. It explains that because ccrochet is just a bunch of knots, it is easier to learn. So, I figured I could switch Knitting I with Crochet I. That is the GREAT thing about buying TODKAH on CD. I can print out Crochet I and put it in the first year notebook.

I have decided to create a notebook for each year. Right now, because I am currently in year one, I am printing out one section at a time and putting it in the notebook. I have printed our the Gardening (which I totally changed the lessons because the All New Square Foot Gardening is so different than the original that the lessons didn't go with the book anymore - I will post my revised lessons sometime soon) and the GodlyWomanhood sections. Now instead of the Knitting I section, I am going to print out the Crochet I section.

So yesterday, I bought a crochet hook for myself and for my daughters. I went to work following the directions in the Mary Frances book and made my first chain! The girls were SO EXCITED to see the hooks and yarn and they really want to learn. I am not sure about the younger two (ages 3yr and 4yr), but I am pretty sure the 6yr can pick up on it.

I still have a LOT of practice to do. I am so used to cross-stitch and making everything so tight that it is difficult to make loose chains. I also am having difficulty with knowing exactly what loop to go through so that I am making a square and not a triangle (which is the direction I used to head in when I would try to crochet before). So far I am really enjoying learning through the book (although I must admit that there is a section in the beginning of the book that I don't like where the actions and attitudes of a character are not appropriate).

And even though the younger ones might not be able to do anything yet, I know that just by having the hook in their hands, that they will eventually be GREAT at crocheting.

Fashion and Following The Savior

There is an EXCELLENT new blog (well, new to me) called Girl Talk. I HIGHLY encourage you to check it out. I must admit that I didn't check it out myself at first because I thought it was for young girls (and not married women with children). But the Fashion series they wrote intreguided me enough to take a peak. This is a blog NOT to be missed and to add to your blog feeder (to keep updated when they update).

Here is the first in their 7 part series on Fasion and Following The Savior.

If you have daughters, may I encourage you to check out the link on the left hand side about training daughters .

Girls Will Be Girls

I am not sure how many of you read stuff by the Pearl's. I know that there are some things that a lot of people take issue with, BUT I do encourage you to read their stuff about chores and children. I also have learned a lot about allowing girls to be girls.

They have a LOT of stuff about allowing boys to be boys. I always wondered why there was really nothing about developing girls into girls (it is probably because girls are so apt to follow Mommy in everything that they automatically learn and become like their Mother - however good or bad that may be).

Well, I forgot what I was reading or watching or listening to, but Mr. Pearl mentioned that while he was in the barn showing the boys how to do something boyish, the girls were in the corner setting up a table with a tablecloth and such.

I thought what a great idea! So I brought out some cheap blankets I had made when I was practicing making hems. I also brought out a table. The girls each have their own tea set (yes, they are plastic right now, and we don't use real liquid, but I am thinking once they turn 7, they will get to use Momma's tea set). They have been happily busy putting table cloths on the table and setting up parties for their babies and each other.

I also started taking them out with me to help me buy flowers for the dining table. I cannot tell you how much JOY it brings them to help set up the home!

And it has been nice for me too. It is much easier to keep the dining room clean when you have a beautiful bouquet of flowers on the table encouraging you! Almost like Flylady's shiny sink! And it encourages the girls to clean too.

Edible Slime

Still no baby, BUT who could resist this recipe for edible slime - slime they can play with AND eat! Just one more thing to keep the kids occupied while I rest with baby (once he decides to arrive).

Also, if anyone knows a dairy free version of this recipe (or how to make it dairy free) please email me! Thanks!

MOM! So-and-so did this and that...

I wish I could take credit for this idea (I mean it seems so simple! After all it is IN Scripture!), but I cannot. So I will direct you over to What Is Your Sin?

If you have tattletales in your house, it is a must read (and so short! --- I love how deep she is in the time I actually have to READ a blog). :D You busy moms know how it is. ;)

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Update on me:
I am sorry I have not been posting much lately (or been reading all your wonderful blogs all my friends). With pre-term labor, Passover, Easter, false labor and big time nesting I have been BUSY! :) I have finally gone through and added all those friends who added me as a friend to their blog. Baby is not due till May 3, so I am supposed to have time, but you know how it is. Only God truly knows when the baby will be born and I am so anxious for this baby to arrive!!

The Little Things

I am sorry I have not been posting lately. I am not even sure this blog has a following (or anyone really interested in reading). With pre-term labor, Easter, Passover, false labor and big time nesting I have been busy.

But this article about the little things truly blessed me. I hope it will bless you too.

Fun, Beautiful, Inexpensive craft for girls

WOW! I could not believe it when I saw it.

http://www.dltk-bible.com/mpapercross.html

Those beads look so beautiful and so real! WHat a GREAT way to eat up some time while preparing/cooking Easter Dinner! And what a wonderful way to remember the reason for the season!

Precious PRECIOUS Moments

There are some moments that a camera just cannot capture.

My 2 1/2 yr old is almost 3 (next month). She is in pigtales right now and singing Jesus Loves Me. She smiles and ask me if I love Jesus. I say yes, and her smile gets bigger. Then she puts a piece of watermellon in her mouth that takes up her entire mouth and chews with a smile and a giggle. OH I love this age and will miss it when we no longer have children.

My 6yr has been making her own books (does anyone know of a goood INEXPENSIVE source for blank books that she can use) by cutting paper just the right size and folding over 1 inch on the left side. Then gluing (is she smart or what?) the pages together using that folded inch on the left hand side. Of course it is all pictures in her book, and there are no orginal stories yet (only her interpretations of stories we have already read her). But I am so proud of her! I never told her to make a book. Almost as good as narration! LOL!!

And my 4yr uses her Lincoln Logs to build bird houses. She recently built a three room birdhouse and begged me to take it outside and hang it up for the birds. I tried my best to explain that the birds couldn't QUITE fit into that birdhouse, but that she is coming up with some wonderful desgins for bird houses. I think we are going to have to go get some sort of kit (anyone know of a good place to get a good ENXEPENSIVE kit to build birdhouses??)

All these moments aer so short lived! I wish that a camera could capture the true beauty of these moments.

A Mother's Love

I love this quote that Laine (from Lanie's Letters) wrote and just HAD to scrap it with these pictures my husband took of me during this last pregnancy.

TV and Sesame Street

Last night on the news, they were talking about the new Sesame Street DVD's and the controversy surrounding them. I have always disliked Seasme Street (read the book Endangered Minds to find out why - it is a MUST read for every parent whether they homeschool or not).

So anyways, the news says that the new DVD's are aimed at chidlren 6 MONTHS (not years MONTHS) and older. They go on to say that the American Academy of Pediatrics advises against TV viewing for children under 2.

After they announce that, the spokesperson for Seasme Street gets 1 1/2 minutes of news air time to talk about how unrealistic it is for children under 2 to not watch TV, and that all their studies show that children under two years are watching at least 2 hours of TV a day and that Seasme Street is just trying to provide something educational for those ages. And how important it is for caregivers and parents to watch the DVD's with the children.

Now how realistic is THAT? I am sure most parents (and especially caregivers) put on those DVD's to babysit the children rather than to spend wholesome time together.

It saddens me that an association as important as the AAP gets 2 seconds worth of mentioned airtime (they did not even get interviewed), while Sesame Street gets almost 2 minutes worth of air time including an interview to convience parents to let their children watch not only their DVD's but TV in general.

It's no wonder that I get flamed from other parents who allow their children to watch TV, or from family who sees nothing wrong with allowing children to watch lots of hours of TV ("after all" Mom says "we let you watch lots of TV and look how well you turend out"). The media is pushing it as something that is not only normal but GOOD.

If only Mom knew of my addiction to TV and how difficult it is to break. Having kids makes it easier, but after they are down, I must admit, the TV comes on - especially if hubby is working late. And I learned a lot of things at such an early age that I just shouldn't have known at the age I knew them.

We went to Yellowstone a few years back. My then 2 1/2yr daughter was FASCINATED with the gysers and EVERYTHING. She had not been desensitized to that by all the fakeness and special effects that are on TV today. But I had a difficult time grasping that this was REAL and not just some special effect. I knew that it was real, but there wasn't the AWE that my daughter had.

Here is a great article that I encourage you to read.

The Ugly Babysitters.

And in case you are wondering, what do my kids do while I am blogging? Well, right now my 6YR is working on her art (she loves to look at pictures and try to copy them, right now she is trying to draw Snoopy). My 4YR is builing a bird house with her Lincoln Logs (I cannot tell you how many birdhouses she has made and unmade and made and unmade LOL!). My 2YR is sitting with a library book and "reading" it. She also has paper and crayons near her (and she knows NOT to color in the book - we have always torn pages out of coloring books for them to color so they do not get the idea that they can color in books).