Plan B Storage

I made a vow long before I had children. My house will not be cluttered with hideous plastic toys, especially those *shutter* loud, battery operated villains. Ever.


Now with two children in a space that seems to be shrinking as they grow larger, I'm faced with the issue that plagues so many families.  Storage.  It's funny. We accumulate all this "stuff" and then need to go out and buy more "stuff" to hide our "stuff".  Still, I'm keeping my vow.  It's just getting trickier.

We use to have a den with a built in bookcase, but now that our den is a play room and the grown up books removed in favor of toys, and I was desperate for storage bins.  The shelves are only 9" deep and about 8.5" high, so it took a lot of running to find good looking storage boxes, especially because I wanted something to match the Floridan vibe of the room.  Finally, I found some bins I thought would work.  At between $9-$18 each, I nearly had a heart attack at the check out counter.  How could I spend over $150 on BOXES?  Really?  Probably not the best use of God's good gifts. Still, I brought them home.  They didn't even fit nicely. Clearly, I needed a Plan B. 

There is one thing young families have in bulk - diaper boxes.  Too tall for my space, but with the perfect depth for a bookshelf, first I cut them in half lengthwise and reinforced the sides and bottom with packing tape.  The only problem, they were just as hideous as the toys they'd be hiding. My solution, peel off the outside cardboard layer to expose the corrugated texture beneath.  Brown is neutral.  Better.  But they needed a little joy!

I searched and searched for paper for covering the boxes, but with this project quickly getting out of control, I looked to the best resource at my disposal - my children! Why not cover the boxes with their artwork? 

 

To keep some of my cool corrugated box exposed circles were the answer.  I used a plate to trace large circles all over our paper of choice, newspaper, for cutting later.

Adelae and I scribbled all over the newspaper. 

Next we painted over the doodles with watercolor for a pretty resist and the perfect color for my room - turquoise. In retrospect, that resist painted newsprint, left uncut, simply wrapped around the box would have done the trick.  Still, I'd already stripped my box down to the corrugated ridges, so once dry, I proceeded to cut out the circles. 

For a little more fun and splash of color we looked through old magazines and tore out pictures we liked, mostly old ads and tropical scenes.  We cut the magazine images into circles the same size as our newspaper circles.  Also, I cut out a few scrap (unpainted) newspaper circles for space holders while determining how to arrange the pattern.

Next, I worked to find an attractive layout for our circles, and decided to cut down the colorful magazine clippings into petal shapes - four petals cut from the sides of each circle to overlap on top of the newspaper circles. This illusion of interlocking circles is almost like the quilt pattern, but a let less perfect!  (I must really like this pattern because I just now realized it's also my Green Tables background!)

Once the paper was cut and pieced it only needed to be glued to the boxes.  We used glue sticks - nothing fancy!

Finally, for added stability and durability I coated the boxes with clear contact paper. 

As we accumulate more diaper boxes I plan to cover some with resist painted newspaper, but also a few with old maps. 


At last our new Christmas toys have a home that is fun, special, and practically free! 

The toys, tidy.  My vow, kept!

Epiphany Rubbings

I'm really fond of the idea of having children do rubbings as part of our celebration of the Epiphany Season.  From the visit of the Wise Men to the Baptism of Jesus to Jesus' first miracle at the Cana wedding feast, the stories of Epiphany are stories of Jesus showing us, revealing to us, that He is our God and Savior. This Epiphany revealing is beautifully illustrated through rubbings.  The image is always there, but it is covered and later revealed, much like Jesus is our Savior from the beginning of time, only covered, hidden until after His birth. It's not until Epiphany that we, as a church, really begin to again see that Jesus is our Savior, born to die and conquer sin on our behalf.

When we were talking about the symbols for the season of Epiphany, my daughter pointed out the brick in her room. A few years ago my brother, Ben, salvaged this old brick with a star relief.  It's actually a six sided star, like the star of David, and not a Bethlehem star usually associated with Epiphany.  Still, I thought it was neat that my four-year-old would make the connection and call it her "Epiphany brick" - not to mention it's a great piece for a rubbing. 


Since not all of you are lucky enough to have an uncle Ben who salvages Epiphany bricks, you can always make a raised surface from layers of dried school glue on scraps of thin, non-corrugated cardboard, such as a cereal box.  The advantage of this method - you can design your own Epiphany star for rubbings.  Draw your star on the cardboard, then run a line of glue over the lines.  After it dries completely build up the relief by adding a second, and if you're patient a third, line of glue on top of your first.  Once dry you'll have a raised surface perfect for rubbings.

After our first rubbing we decided that they were so fast, pretty and fun that we could easily mass produce enough rubbings to send to all our church shut-in friends.  As a side note, I have to tell you how much we enjoy creating cards for our shut-ins. We love to make things together, I'm always looking for faith/Church Year connections, and it's not always easy to find ways young child can do for others, but sending a little handmade seasonal note to brighten someones day seems to be a perfect fit.  

We just used plain old copy paper along with one of my favorite materials - Crayola construction paper crayons.  Unfortunately, these crayons are difficult to find in stores and mine are old so I'm going to have to find an online source one of these days.  Still, these soft crayons yield vibrant results, and they are ideal for rubbings.  Yes, use regular crayons if that's what you have on hand, but if you have some of these fancy crayons, this is an exceptional application. 

Remember, when rubbing, it's best to peel the wrapper off the crayon and pinch it on it's side.  Press down hard and mark in long bold strokes.  It may help to work with a partner to hold the paper in place. Otherwise, try tape.  We started with a light color of crayon and layered two or three coats in other colors on top, adding great depth and interest.

We made about 20 rubbings, then I cut them down to fit on our blank cards.  Before gluing the rubbings in place we added a strip of colored paper on the cover of the card for a little Epiphany green. Glue the rubbings on top and you're done!  A set of these cards along with some envelopes would make a nice gift too.

Inside our message read: "Epiphany: God Reveals Our Savior!"  Also, Adelae signed her name on each card!  I was so proud of her persistence.  Writing your name 20 times in a row is good practice, but also a lot of work when you still have to think about forming each letter properly.

Labeled, stamped and sealed, off our shut-in cards traveled.  I hope they make our special friends smile, stop and pause - considering the wonder of the baby Jesus - quaintly, quietly born, now revealing Himself as our Lord and Savior! 

Washed Dirty

Itty Bitty Lutherans has resumed after our holiday travels!

This week we started with a group photo in our new red "Itty Bitty Lutherans - Saved by Grace" T-shirts. Darling, until my own little Bitty started to wail.  Crying must be contagious, because then Pete's friend Carlos lost it, followed promptly by Corbin.  At least the girls were sweet and smiled!

Since the IBL's were dressed down a bit in their T-shirts, I thought it was a good opportunity to do a messy lesson, and since we've been on recess I had many make-up lessons to choose from, so I selected my favorite - The Baptism of Jesus, a great one for the Epiphany season.

We gathered outside around a container of dirt.  Encouraging the children to touch the dirt, we talked about sin.  Our Itty Bitty Lutherans are all toddlers now, and they all hear the word "no" a lot. They all know what "no" means, but they don't always obey.  They are starting to get into trouble!  Disobeying is sin, and sin makes our heart dirty. 

After we were all just dirty enough I brought out a big bowl of fresh, clean water.  Dipping our hands in the water, I continued, In our baptism, our sins are washed clean.  We are forgiven and made part of God's family.  All of this is possible because of Jesus.

Next, we looked at a perfectly clean, pure white cross (cut from craft foam).  Jesus was perfect.  Clean and without sin.  He didn't need to be baptized to have His sins washed away.  Everyone else went to John the Baptist to repent of their sins, to have their dirt washed away.  Jesus, clean and perfect, also went into that dirty water.  Place the cross in the dirty water. He came out covered with our sins.  This was the beginning of Jesus' ministry, His trip to the cross to die for all of our sins. 

Next, we looked at the picture of Jesus' baptism in our picture Bible.  We found Jesus.  We found the water.  We found the dove.  The Holy Spirit came down like a dove and God the Father said, "This is my beloved Son".  When you were Baptized the Holy Spirit came down on you too. The Holy Spirit gives you faith. You became God's beloved child when your sins were washed away in the water and the Word.

Next, the parents talked about the ways we can help our children remember their baptism.  Pictures, Baptism birthday celebrations and talking to our children when washing, playing at the beach, pool or any time they're in the water, were all good ideas.

We also worked with our child to make a paper dove to hang in their room.  To make a dove with your child at home, you'll need paper, a marker, scissors, a glue stick and a foot of green ribbon - green for Epiphany.

Fold the paper in half. Trace your child's hand onto the paper with the base of the palm touching the fold.

Cut out the hand, adding a little point on the outside of the thumb like a beak.

Apply glue to the palm of the hand and thumb.  Fold the ribbon in half, so it makes a loop and place the ends of the ribbon on top of the glue in the palm of the hand.

Close the hands together so they are glued shut. Fold the fingers/wings down so the dove looks like it is flying. Hang the dove in your child's room to remind them of their Baptism!



REMINDER: Next week we're going to be working on our "Colors I See at Grace Lutheran Church" books, so please remember to bring them to class!

If you liked my Baptism of Jesus dirt and water demo, please click here and listen to a sermon by Pastor Brent Kuhlman, as heard on Issues Etc.  This beautiful sermon was the "nugget" for my lesson!

Happy Rock Day!

A year ago today I was so very ready to pop!  Excruciatingly puffy and awkwardly round, I longed for the birth of my little Pete, named months prior by his big sister. I was so anxious that I somehow convinced myself that he was just waiting for his name day, January 18, to make his grand appearance.  January 18 came - and it went.  Baby Pete, who was suppose to come early actually came late, and waited until February to be born!


Happy Confession of St. Peter Day, Baby Pete!  I'm glad you're with us this year!


Maybe you've noticed that my postings have been fewer lately.  Blame Pete!  He's walking now, and the past month has been all about baby proofing and chasing him around the house, mopping the drool and destruction he leaves in his path. Also, I've currently have three writing contracts with Concordia Publishing House, and have been feverishly researching, creating and writing lesson plans.  This week I finished my craft contributions, but still have a lot to do.  I love it!  Unfortunately, I can't share my work with you here.  So make sure your little ones make it to Sunday School next year and you'll get to see what I've been doing these past few weeks! 

Although we've been especially busy, we're still remembering Pete's day, just very scaled back from our usual celebrations.  The Confession of St. Peter is a great day to celebrate, even if you don't have a Baby Pete in the house.  Peter's confession was made in Mark 8:29, when Jesus asks, "Who do you say that I am?" Peter answered Him, "You are the Christ."  This confession is the rock of the Christian church.  Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the world.

The account continues and Jesus then begins to explain that He, the Son of Man, must suffer many things and be rejected, be killed, and after three days rise again.  Jesus tells the whole story - that He has come to die for the sins of the world.  Ironically, despite Peter's bold confession in verse 29, he then rebukes Jesus foretelling of His death and resurrection by verse 32!

Peter is such an "every man", a lot like my Pete is "all boy". They're both almost stereotypical.  My Pete walks around banging stuff together, not crying when hurt but screaming when he's hungry - all boy!  Biblical Peter is constantly saying and doing things that are just off, awkward, wrong.  He has a good heart, but like us, falls short of truly understanding what it means to call Jesus is the Christ.  I love that the word "Peter" in Greek sounds a lot like the word for "rock".  It fits the  Biblical narrative - Peter uttered the cornerstone rock of our Christian faith only to have his next sentence show that his head was still full of, well, rocks.

Ironically, my Pete loves rocks!  He bangs 'em.  He throws 'em.  He transfers them and hides them. Often, he even tries to eat them.  Today, we went outside and played with rocks.  Adelae tolerated it.  Pete loved it! I told the children about Peter, his confession, and what it means. Most of our conversation focused on the word "Christ", not as Jesus' last name, but a title that describes who He is and what did has done for us. We formed crosses out of rocks.   Simple and fun, and very, very Pete.

Adelae and I couldn't help but chalk on the rocks too.

We read and discussed today's readings during lunch.  I just served leftover today, but included some chocolate rock candy left over from our Christmas stockings! In a few years it would be fun to grow crystallized rock candy for Pete's day too.  Maybe in a few years.


I've linked today's readings to the online Bible Gateway, so you can read them too.  Happy Rock Day!


Acts 4:8-13
2 Peter 1:1-15
Mark 8:27-35

Child Crafted Christmas Thank You Notes

The thank you notes are mailed!  *deep sigh of relief!* It always feels so good to get those thank yous checked off the to-do list.  I'm pretty militant about having my children send thank you notes; they're are a small way to practice gratitude. This Christmas my children, the only grandchildren on both sides of the family, received MANY treasured gifts.  Adelae, now four, is able to write pretty well and understand that all of these toys and books were given to her with love.  This year she's writing her own thank you notes - kinda!

I wasn't planning on posting about this little project, and it didn't turn out at all like I had planned in my mind - but the process was so fun and easy that I thought I'd share these tricks with you, my dear reader friends.

Materials

White Copy Paper

Pencil

Marker

Scissors

Tape

Red Glitter Paper (optional, or other fun paper)

Photo Print of Child with Gift

Have your child write "Thank You!  Love, (Name)" in pencil on white copy paper.

Use marker to trace over your child's penciled message.

Cut out each word.  If some of the spacing is a little "off" trim out the letters individually.  Place the words/letters on the paper so that "Thank You" is on the top, the center of the paper is blank, and "Love, (Name)" is on the bottom of the page. Tape the words in place.

Now for the fun parts!

Writing one thank you is do-able for a little one, but asking them to write 15 or more is nothing short of torturous for both of us.  Instead, take the cut and pasted thank you note to the copier.  I had the greatest copy guy help me.  He was charmed by my little Adelae's lettering, so I liked him straight away! As I talked to him about the project, my curly mustached copy boy friend suggested that he take my original and copy it so that it prints red - brilliant!  I didn't even know that was an option, did you?  Before we knew it we were happily out the door with our bright bud green card stock with red print!

What about the empty center of the page?  This is the space we used to customize each thank you - not with words, but with pictures. Line up the presents.  If you have uber generous uncles, aunts, grandparents, etc, ask the child to select one favorite gift from each giver.  Snap pictures of your grinning giftee; one picture for each gift.  Edit and print pictures.  I also trimmed mine, er Adelae's, down so there was no background showing.  These little steps are where I get into trouble because it makes a simple project so much more of a process!

I have a circle cutter, but sometimes I think the old fashion plate tracing is easier!

Originally, I wanted to have Adelae glue the pictures on top of a large red Christmas ornament to match our Baubles and Bread theme for the season.  I'd just planned on cutting out big circles out of red glitter paper and adding a little gold foil rectangle and real wire hook.  In the end, they were just as cute with the picture glued to the red glitter circle alone.  Sometimes less IS more, I suppose! 

I did the cutting and Adelae did the gluing. 

That's it!

I did write a personalized note on the back, but they really were Adelae's thank yous; throughout the process she was able to reflect and in some small way acknowledge all of the kindness shown to her throughout the Christmas season. 

Frothy Hot Spiced Milk

We spent Christmas with family in Toledo and Chicago, and with all of my promises of snowmen and sledding, wouldn't you know - it rained!  Most days the highs were in the 40s - cold enough to want to stay indoors, but not cold enough for that long awaited Christmasy white blanket to appear! Now, we're back home in sunny South Florida, and tonight our low will be in the 30s - with frost warnings!  All of the fragile plants are covered with white gauzy cloths. Squint carefully and it almost looks like snow!


Welcoming the cold, I made a big pot of minestrone soup.  For dessert, Frothy Hot Spiced Milk.  I started making this warm treat last Epiphany, and it was an instant classic, one I wouldn't want to miss! Comforting without the sugary sweetness of hot chocolate, it's easy to whip up too!


First, you'll need milk, about a cup of milk per person. Skim cow's milk is my milk of choice for this application. When we were little my mom use to shake up the last cup of skim milk in the jug until it was all bubbly - a milkshake, we pretended! I can't explain the science behind it, but skim milk just froths beautifully.

Pour the milk into a pot, and heat gently while adding your choice of warm spices and vanilla. If you have them on hand, toss in whole cinnamon sticks, pieces of star anise and the scrapings from a vanilla pod.  Or, add a hefty splash of vanilla extract and spoon in some cinnamon or Chinese five spice - a blend of cinnamon, anise, cloves, fennel and ginger. It's so nice and Christmas-y smelling! Stir the milk regularly as it heats and add a touch of the sweetener of your choice.  This year I'm going to try it with agave nectar. Add spice and sweetener to taste - no exact recipe here!

Once the milk is warm and just starting to form little bubbles around the edges where it touches the pan, remove the cinnamon sticks, anise stars and vanilla pods because it's time to foam your milk! I love my immersion blender!  In no time you have frothy deliciousness. Alternatively, you could probably whisk the milk by hand or carefully transfer it into a blender.  For garnish, I like to float a piece of star anise a top the foam for a little Epiphany festivity!

Follow the links below to enjoy your Frothy Hot Spiced Milk while looking over the Epiphany readings!

Isaiah 60:1-6
Eph 3:1-12
Matthew 2:1-12

Relax, Enjoy, it's Epiphany!

Wait! Christmas isn't over yet! 


Like many of the high feasts of the Church Year, Christmas is more than a day, it's a season.  The Season of Christmas begins with Advent, the time of preparation and waiting for our Savior, followed by the twelve days of Christmas. Finally, it's time for Epiphany! 


Throughout the week leading up to Epiphany our Wise Men move down the counter top a little closer to Jesus each day!

Maybe you've celebrated Epiphany by keeping your tree and decorations up through January 6. In our home we also wait to add the Wise Men to our nativity scene until the week before Epiphany.   If you're able to restrain yourself, maybe you even wait until Epiphany to open Christmas gifts. I've also heard of families who limit the number of gifts to three - just as baby Jesus received three gifts.  I love these gifting ideas in theory, but I'm not sure they'd be well received in the Koehneke home - unless, like Jesus, the gifts include gold!


Epiphany is about a lot more than Wise Men bringing gifts to baby Jesus; it's also about the good gifts our Savior gives us.  During Epiphany we recall Jesus' baptism - and the gift of our own Baptism where we were washed clean in the water and the Word.  We also remember Jesus' first miracle, turning water into wine at the Cana wedding feast. (John 2:1-12) When Jesus' mother asked Him to keep the party going by whipping up some wine, Jesus' replies, "My hour has not come" - and I can't help but shiver as He subtly connects this wine to His eventual sacrificial feast of His own body and blood - given and shed for the forgiveness of all of your sins.  Yes, Epiphany is a time for good gifts! 

In a way, I almost love Epiphany more than Christmas.  Epiphany is effortless, enjoyable. After all of the hustle and preparations of Advent and Christmas, it's almost a selfish time to just sit back and appreciate all those good gifts.  Take a deep breath and relax, it's Epiphany!


You've heard me talk about our Amish friends; they call Epiphany "Little Christmas", and even take the day off work.  Even better, "Woman's Christmas" is the name for Epiphany in Ireland.  Reading about Woman's Christmas a few years ago, I was thrilled to learn I was not alone in my readiness for a "day off", and it gave my mom and I a wonderful idea! Why not get together for a party - and not prepare anything!  The decorations are still up, the Christmas music is still playing, and if you're lucky there are still a couple bottles of wine that need to be drained. 

Still, every feast needs food, and our family still needs to eat dinner.  So we order take-out.  It might be a stretch, but we order Chinese - the Wise Men traveled from the east, right?  And, we even use disposable plates! I try to find fancy plates with stars on them.  

Yes, paper or plastic is in order for Woman's Christmas! This year we opted to dress up some clear plastic plates by applying gold and silver foil star stickers around the rim of the plate. 

This was a project little Adelae could accomplish all on her own with great pride in the results! While sticking stars we talked together about the Wise Men who followed the star God placed over the place where Jesus was living.  We talked about the precious gifts they gave their Savior King, and the good gifts God gives us today.  I'm always amazed by the high level of conversation possible, even with a four year old, as the Holy Spirit is working in these little souls!

So pick up a King's Cake from the bakery, or just set out those leftover Christmas cookies! Bust out your best plastic! Enjoy Epiphany, ladies!  Relax!  Live in the love of your family and the good gifts of your Savior, Christ Jesus!