Grace had the opportunity to participate with her cyber school classmates in a Valentine card exchange.

The idea is simple. Each kid sends a Valentine through the mail to the other kids on the list.

In my opinion, it’s even better than a traditional classroom Valentine exchange. Who doesn’t like to get real mail in the real mailbox?

I considered printing a Valentine that someone else had made, but in the end, decided to make my own. After I cut them all out, Grace helped me to glue them onto little heart-shaped doilies.

And then Grace gave the girls silver smiles. They are her Valentines, after all.

I made our Valentines into a printable that you can use, too. I left enough space at the bottom for writing your name or a special message.

You’ll probably want to print them out on cardstock. That’s what I did.

Download your own printable Valentine cards

© 2012, Feels Like Home Blog™. All rights reserved.

I think printable learning packs are fun. Grace likes them, too, because all of the activities involve a central theme.

The preschool packs below vary in their activities, but all include Valentine’s Day worksheets that you can print and help your preschooler to complete.

1. Valentine’s Day Pre-K Pack from Over the Moon
   
2. Valentine’s Day Printable Packs for Pre-K and for Kindergarten from Homeschool Creations
   
3. Love Tot Pack from 1+1+1=1
   
4. Valentine’s Day Song printables from Lawteedah
   
5. Valentine’s Day Tot Kit at Lawteedah
   
6. Valentine’s Day Math at ABC and 123
   
7. Valentines Printables from Jan Brett (You know, the author of The Mitten)
   
8. V is for Valentines from Confessions of a Homeschooler
   
9. Prekinders has all sorts of Valentine printables (scroll the whole way to the bottom of the page)
   

© 2012, Feels Like Home Blog™. All rights reserved.

Momma, guess what I prayed for this morning, she said over lunch.

“What?” I asked.

A new baby sister, she explained.

“What’s wrong with the one you’ve got?” I asked, expecting something like she takes my toys or I’m tired of her.

No, not instead of Allie. A ‘nother baby sister.

“Oh, no, honey, that can’t happen. Daddy and I think our family is perfect with two little girls. Plus, after Allie was born, I had a surgery to make my body not grow any more babies. It’s impossible for us to have another baby sister.”

She eyed me, obviously comparing my words against something she’d heard before.

Eventually, she went back to her lunch, and I was grateful the sticky conversation was over.

It wasn’t over.

Mom? she said a few minutes later. She calls me Mom most of the time now.

“Yes, babe?”

Nothing is impossible with God.

“That is true, Grace. Nothing is impossible with God.”

Miss Pam told me that God hears my prayers.

“Of course he does, honey. God does hear your prayers.”

Good. I’m going to pray for a new baby sister again tomorrow.

I have no doubt that she will.

Being a mother of two children stretches me further than I ever thought possible. I couldn’t handle another; my second almost killed me.

But then, If He intends to bring another baby into my life (please, oh please, not through my uterus), He will give me the grace and strength I need to parent it.

Still, I hope Grace forgets.

But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. – Isaiah 40:31

© 2012, Feels Like Home Blog™. All rights reserved.

Grace has been learning about community helpers. You know, teachers, police officers, firemen, bankers, grocers, God.

All the normal folks.

Anyway, when we talked about firemen, Grace was inspired to create a fire hose.

You know me. Grace wanted a fire hose, so we made a fire hose.

Fire Hose Craft for Preschoolers

This was one of those awesome crafts that required nothing special.

I grabbed the bag of used up but still awesome toilet paper rolls, but you could easily use paper towel rolls or wrapping paper tubes. Wrapping paper tubes would have been fabulous and saved me some work, but we made this craft well before the Christmas season began.

Incidentally, Grace and I used empty wrapping paper tubes as swords and had an incredible sword fight where I taught her the meaning of “I’ll run you through!”

Because I am an amazing mother.

Materials:

• Lots of toilet paper rolls
• Packing tape
• Scissors
• A piece of blue paper or a blue plastic shopping bag or cellophane

Making Your Fire Hose Craft

1. Put the toilet paper rolls together to make a 3-foot long tube. I taped each joint twice because they were a little wobbly. If your preschooler is anything like mine, this fire hose will not be treated gently. It needs to be sturdy.
   
2. Give the tube to the preschooler and let her talk into it. That was a fun lesson in how sound travels, even though it didn’t have anything to do with making the finished fire hose.
   
3. Once the tube is long enough, attach the last toilet paper roll at an angle. This will be the nozzle, where the water comes out.
   
4. Next, stuff something blue into the end. I used a blue piece of paper, but you could use something else. Something like a plastic bag would be more realistic.
   
5. Play!
   

We made pretend fires and pretend gardens and soaked each other and gave the baby a pretend shower.

Unfortunately, the fire hose didn’t last too long. After a day or two of playing, it was falling apart. It sure was fun while it lasted, though.

How would you play with a pretend fire hose?

© 2012, Feels Like Home Blog™. All rights reserved.

Sometimes being a stay-at-home mom sucks.

Sometimes, it is okay, good even. Sometimes, I like it.

But sometimes, it really sucks.

Like today.

Nothing special happened today. It was Joe’s first day at work after the excitement and euphoria of Christmas.

My kids were overly tired. They were overly needy and overly stimulated and overly sugared, and all of that translated into overly clingy and overly whiny.

They touched me every moment of this day, feet pressed into my leg, faces pressed into my belly, little fingers wrapped tightly around my forearm. They laid across me and sat too close to me and sucked up my personal space without any reservations at all.

The big one pushed the little one around. Every time I gave Allie attention, Grace got angry or sad or mean.

I spent the entire day managing drama.

My energy and patience were depleted by 10 am.

By lunchtime, Momma needed a nap and a break.

We didn’t have any plans today, nowhere to go, nothing to do except sit at home and whine.

There was no break.

I counted down the minutes until Joe would be home, one heavy breath after another.

And now, six hours after he came home, children asleep in their beds, I want to stay up late to make tomorrow to wait a little longer. Staying up late tonight will lead to a tired and grumpy and stressed out momma tomorrow, so I’ll go to bed at my normal time.

I’d go to bed early if I thought it would help.

Today was the inevitable result of the greatness we had over the weekend. It had to happen as the small people I love readjusted back to their normal.

But I am not a saint, and today sucked.

I composed this blog post in my mind today, right after Grace pummeled Allie but before I picked up the living room floor for the seventh time. It was just that kind of day.

I daydreamed about what it would be like to go back to work, to put my girls in day care and miss the meltdowns and the skirmishes and the tantrums. And to go to the bathroom by myself.

But if I missed the meltdowns and the skirmishes and the tantrums, I’d miss the smooches and the hugs and the giggles, too. I’d miss the impromptu fancy lunches and the tickling and the cuddling with a book.

I’d miss my kids.

I’d miss their childhood.

I want to be present and involved for all of their moments, effortless and formidable. I want them to remember a super mom. I want to model grace and love and kindness for them.

Every day.

Even the ones that suck.

© 2011, Feels Like Home Blog™. All rights reserved.

Mom, is Mrs. Santa real?

Those words stopped me in my proverbial tracks, sucked the very breath from my lungs, and ended the childhood of my first born.

Grace drew our front door.

I mean, it would have ended her childhood, except that I lied.

“Of course she’s real, baby. Why do you ask?”

She shrugged. I dunno. Are you sure she’s real?

“Yep. She’s real.”

And then we stared each other down, both waiting for the other to blink, both giving the hairy eyeball.

I’m pretty sure she knows.

Earlier this week, I told my mom that I was afraid this would be her last year for Santa, the last year she would believe.

I’ve seen Grace eying me suspiciously. She’d found a couple of gifts that I’d tried to hide in the shopping cart at Target, and I think I’ve asked one too many questions about the gifts she’s hoping Mrs. Santa will bring.

It’s been a long time since she’s cried No Santa! No Santa!

But then, I think she still wants to believe.

She talks about Mrs. Santa every day. She wants to go see Mr. Santa and have her picture taken. She thinks about reindeer and elves and presents. Every day, she looks under the Christmas tree to see if Mrs. Santa has come.

I’m not sure if she really believes or if she really knows the truth or if her little brilliant brain is even complex enough to understand the difference.

The whole thing makes me sad. I want her to be young and innocent and unaware.

I’m sad that she’s growing up too fast. I’m sad that there are things she doesn’t tell me because she wants me to be happy. I’m sad that she’s reading and writing and that some day, she will know for sure.

For now, I’m leaving presents out now and then, pretending that Mrs. Santa stopped by unexpectedly. I’m being as stealthy as possible.

And I’m lying as convincingly as I can manage.

© 2011, Feels Like Home Blog™. All rights reserved.

Every Christmas, I think about getting an Elf on the Shelf. A few years ago, I reviewed elves from Elf Magic, even, but they were played with and eventually lost.

This year, Grace is old enough to understand the concept and anticipate the surprise each new day brings. She saw photos of someone else’s Elf on the Shelf, and she wanted to hear every detail of every hiding place, every mischievous act, every mess made.

I realized, in that moment on the Sunday before Christmas, that I really wanted to make it work this year.

My sister and I went off to Target in search of said elf, but there was no elf to be found. There was nothing that even resembled an elf.

What I found instead was a moose, a snowman, and a gingerbread man.

I thought that Mrs. Santa would probably send someone from her kitchen, someone like a gingerbread man that I overhauled to be a gingerbread girl. Right?

I wrote a letter, thanks to the printables at this site, and stuck the gingerbread girl – named Cookie – in the Christmas tree.

When Grace found it, she was delighted. Ecstatic. All she could talk about was the impending mischief Cookie would cause.

Knowing that Christmas is almost here, I thought that you might need ideas for your elves or gingerbread girls or whomever.

Magic Elf Ideas

1. Read a book or do whatever your kid likes to do. The very first thing that Cookie did at our house was to curl up on Clarice’s bed and read Grace’s favorite Christmas book.
   
2. Write his or her name. Write it everywhere, on every surface. I used a bath crayon to write Cookie’s name on the bathroom mirror, on the turtle’s tank, and on the china cabinet in the dining room. I even wrote Cookie on the high chair with chocolate chips.
   
3. Be silly. I use food color in everything. Cookie dyed our milk pink. She dyed our water blue. She dyed the toilet water purple. Apple juice turned purple in the glass.
   
4. Marshmallow bath. Cookie took a bath on our living room table, in a bowl of marshmallows. They reminded her of home.
   
5. Make a snow angel. This one was a flop at our house, but I thought it was really cool.
   
6. Look up. Hang your magic elf from the ceiling, from a light, from a ceiling fan. Cookie hung upside down from our kissing ball.
   

Some other ideas I’ve had (since I’ve been at this for two whole days so far) are to take pictures of Cookie around the house, to stick her in the freezer (to remind her of the North Pole), and to put her headfirst in a bag of M&Ms.

Where do you put your elf (or gingerbread girl)?

© 2011, Feels Like Home Blog™. All rights reserved.

The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.

I’m not sure where it went wrong.

We have a routine.

Every night, we sit down for dinner as a family. We light the candles in our Advent wreath. I get out the day’s ornament for the Jesse tree, and I find the reading that goes along with it.

In between feeding Allie and myself, I read the story from either The Jesus Storybook Bible or Grace’s pink sequin Bible, and we talk about the meaning of the story.

The tradition is genuine and sincere and comfortable.

Tonight, my perfect routine fell apart.

I was reading about shepherds and kings. The story was about David the little shepherd and David the songwriter. It included the children’s version of the 23rd Psalm; God will be our shepherd no matter what.

The words moved me as I read them. Protection. Love. Never being alone.

Apparently, Joe and my children did not share my feelings.

Without warning, fracas erupted.

Joe put Grace in a headlock. She giggled and jiggled. Allie was clapping her hands and laughing a great big belly laugh.

All while I was reading,

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Having been a high school teacher for ten years, I have lots of practice at ignoring the fracas. That’s exactly what I did.

I kept reading.

Maybe tomorrow will be better.

This post contains affiliate links.

© 2011, Feels Like Home Blog™. All rights reserved.

Grace loves Barbie.

She saw the Barbie A Perfect Christmas DVD at Walmart a few weeks ago, and the begging began. I knew that we were getting a copy to review, so I explained that she’d have to be patient and wait for it.

When you’re 4, there is no waiting patiently.

On the other hand, I’m 32, and there is no waiting patiently, so perhaps being 4 doesn’t have much to do with it.

My Thoughts about Barbie’s A Perfect Christmas

This was perhaps my favorite Barbie movie so far.

You know that I cringe when I say that, but it is true. I have had concerns about some of the Barbie DVDs we’ve rented from the public library. Some have had questionable themes and oddly inappropriate language, and that bugs me.

In this DVD, there was none of that stuff. It’s about Barbie and her little sisters, mostly normal kids (one is a blogger!), and they are trying to get to New York City to visit their aunt. Because of bad weather, their plane lands in Minnesota (or was it Montana?), and they get stuck at a festive inn for Christmas.

The story is fundamentally about disappointment and finding happiness in your situation, no matter what happens. That is a message I can stand behind.

Still, I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t notice a couple of oddities:

• The girls made snowmen without gloves on.
• The weather is too bad for Barbie and her sisters to get to New York City, but scores of people make it in for the big finale concert.
• After the concert, Barbie and Skipper burst out in ball gowns. You know, ’cause everyone has a ball gown in her suitcase for an occasion like this!
• The girls go outside to sing Christmas carols around the large Christmas tree in sleeveless and strapless dresses and no coats.

Okay, I’m done.

I’m aware that some of my points above are silly, and that it is a cartoon. I’m just telling the truth here.

Grace’s Thoughts about Barbie’s A Perfect Christmas

Grace loved the movie so much that she watched it twice straight through, and she has been singing the songs ever since. In the week or so since it came, we’ve watched A Perfect Christmas at least six times.

Don’t judge me. It has a good message.

Win a Barbie A Perfect Christmas DVD

Barbie and One2One Network are providing me with a copy of the Barbie A Perfect Christmas DVD to give away to one lucky Feels Like Home reader. All you have to do to enter is answer this question in a comment:

What makes a perfect Christmas for you?

For extra entries:

• Like Feels Like Home on Facebook and leave a comment about it
• Subscribe to Feels Like Home via RSS or email and leave a comment about it
• Tweet the following (only once):

What’s your perfect Christmas? Leave a comment to enter to win Barbie’s A Perfect Christmas DVD from @TaraZiegmont http://wp.me/pOQz4-3m9

Good luck! I’ll choose a winner randomly from the comments after noon on December 22.

I received a copy of the Barbie A Perfect Christmas DVD to review as well as compensation for my time. This post contains affiliate links. All opinions are my own.

© 2011, Feels Like Home Blog™. All rights reserved.

We are big, big readers. We always have been.

Grace is getting better at reading on her own, but she still prefers to be read to.

The books on this book list and this book list and those listed here and here are still popular around here.

These books have also found Grace’s favor recently:

1. The Story for Little Ones – The Story is a chronological story-based Bible (My entire church is reading it together, and I love it!); this is the children’s version. It’s a wonderful book. The illustrations are perfect for small children, soft and child-like. Each of the stories is just three or four pages, and each ends with a moral like, God listened to Hannah’s prayers, and He will listen to yours, too. Grace asks me to read to her from this book every single day.
2. The Jesus Storybook Bible – I like this Bible because the stories are a little longer than the ones in The Story for Little Ones. The illustrations are beautiful, not quite realistic but more grown up than the ones in The Story for Little Ones. Every story in the book references back to the coming of Jesus to save the earth.
3. Pink sequin Bible* – Sometimes, we need an actual Bible for reading. The story of Esther, for example, was not in either of the books above, but we needed it for our Jesse tree devotions. We needed a Bible that was written in language a child could understand; this one is the International Children’s Bible (ICB) translation. This particular Bible is pink with sequined flowers all over the front. Grace likes to hold it and look through the pages because it’s pretty.
   
4. The Little Critter Books – Grace has only recently discovered the Little Critter books. I grew up with Little Critter (my favorites – Just Me and My Mom, Just Me and My Dad, I Just Forgot, and I Was So Mad!).  I love sharing them with Grace. We don’t have many Little Critter books in our library, but we get some from the library almost every time we visit.
5. Bear Stays Up – I adore this series. I love the sing-songy rhyme and the beautiful, bright drawings. I love the animals, and I love reading them out loud. This particular book is special because Bear does something nice for his friends, and he gets something nice in return. It’s a story about Christmas.
6. Shoe-la-la! – This is a silly book about 4 little girls who are going to a party. They try on all kinds of shoes, but they don’t buy a single pair. It isn’t one of my favorites, but Grace really likes it. The story doesn’t make a lot of sense, but it is silly and fun.
7. The Berenstain Bears – Like Little Critter, the Berenstain Bears remind me of my own trips to the library as a kid. I didn’t expect Grace to love them so much; the stories are a little long for a 4-year-old attention span. She happily sits through every one, and she looks for them at the library. She’s even requested a few as presents.
8. 100 Read & Sing Devotions* – We read a devotion at breakfast or lunch each day, depending on what else is going on. This particular book came with a CD of all the songs, so we can read the paragraph and listen to the song (and sing along). The devotions are perfect for Grace; they make her think without being too complicated. We’ve put this book on hiatus during Advent, when we do Jesse tree devotions instead, but we’ll pick it back up in January.
9. Who is Coming to Our House? – This has long been a favorite of Grace’s as it combines two of her favorite things – animals and baby Jesus. The book goes through the animals in the manger, and they are all excited about the birth of baby Jesus. The pictures are wonderful, almost paintings in their own right.
10. The Pine Tree Parable* – Aside from I’ll Love You Forever and Let Me Hold You Longer, I never expected a children’s book to make me cry. This is the sweetest story, about a farmer’s wife who loves a beautiful Christmas tree. At the end, she does something I never expected. Grace was still talking about this book several days after we read it. The story will stick with you.

What books are you and your kids reading these days?

This post contains affiliate links, and I received review copies of the ones with a *. I included each and every one because we enjoy reading them together, and we read them more often than the other books on our shelf.

© 2011, Feels Like Home Blog™. All rights reserved.