Halls' Homestead: Thinking of Homeschooling? Tips on Where to Start

Halls' Homestead: Thinking of Homeschooling? Tips on Where to Start: If you are thinking about homeschooling, the first thing I would suggest is that you check out   I love this book,and I recommend i...

Good Deal on Air Swimmer

I was just looking at Amazon.com, and I found this toy for less than $7!  It is normally $50. I know because we have thought about buying it many times before.  I clicked "purchase now" quickly tonight.  If this is something you have been considering, this may be the bargain you have been seeking.

I'm looking forward to ours arriving Monday, in time for the upcoming birthday of our oldest kiddo.

Have a great weekend!

UPDATE:  We received our air swimmer last Tuesday, as promised by Amazon.com.  We bought a helium tank for about $22 from our local Wal-Mart and assembled it tonight.  My husband said skip the included instructions and just watch the video instead.  We are looking forward to surprising our son with it at his birthday party tomorrow.  In the meantime, my husband is dive bombing me with it while I type.  So, in summary it is good for 6 and 36 year olds, although the judgement of the later may be impaired.  He thinks we should have bought three of these.  An air fight, perhaps?

These are for INDOOR use only.  We have 18'+ ceilings in our great room, but it is really more fun at lower levels just so you can hassle others, clearly.  :)

Air Swimmer Tips: We have found that it is best to put a piece of tape over the putty holder, otherwise putty will fall out during flight.  Not only can that be messy/annoying, but if you lose enough of it, your air swimmer will not come down.  If your Air Swimmer does not come down/gets stuck, use a long pole with duct tape on the end to retrieve it.  Note: A ball wrapped in duct tape with the sticky side out tied to string will not work well when you throw it at the Air Swimmer.  Can you tell we've had some fun with it?

Glowing Reviews (Glow Stick Lanterns)

 

I recently bought a bunch of bracelet sized glow sticks for a party at our house, and, of course, I forgot to use them. Tonight, inspiration hit, and we surprised the kids with glow stick lanterns for their rooms. This is an incredibly easy idea, and the kids can help.  Not only is it cheap, simple, and quick, but the kiddos also got a big kick out of them and out of helping. Basically, you put activated glow sticks in bottles of water.

Here are the incredibly easy step-by-step instructions:

1. Find an empty bottle.  We used clear 2 liter soda bottles.
2. Rinse the bottles out.
3. Fill the bottles with fresh water. Okay, I cheated on this step.  I reused a bottle previously used for a "tornado," so it was already filled with water (and some colored sand, and a marble, and some drops of liquid soap...)
4. Peel off the labels. Don't worry about a perfect job.  Our normally OCD kiddos did not even care about the little pieces of label left behind.
5. Open a package of glow sticks.  
6. Activate the sticks.
7. Place the glowing sticks inside the bottle of water.
8. Tightly close the lid. If you have curious little ones, add some duct tape to the top for good measure.
9. Find a dark place to enjoy the ambiance of your new lantern. 

Our one year old taking her turn to check out a lantern

Our kiddos picked special places in their rooms so they could view their lanterns as they went to sleep.

In addition to being fun, these provide a surprising amount of light.

Halls' Homestead: Do You Know the Muffin Man? (Summer Squash Muffin ...

Halls' Homestead: Do You Know the Muffin Man? (Summer Squash Muffin ...: I have a plethora of summer squash.  I did not grow it. I did not buy it.  I did not find it.  My mother-in-law offered it to me, and I simp...

Walking Water Experiment

We just tried a really fun science experiment - Walking Water.  I saw it listed in my newsfeed on Facebook yesterday, and we did it today!  I'm kind of proud that I knocked that one out instead of filing it under "to-do" on my overflowing mental lists.

Check out the experiment here:  http://www.coffeecupsandcrayons.com/walking-water-science-experiment-kids/  The link gives good detail and lots of pictures.

The basic set up is:

1. Place three clear containers side by side.  We used clear plastic cups. Be careful that you choose either containers that are not of great value or will not be stained by the food dye. 
2. Fill the two outer containers with water, leaving the middle container empty.  
3. Use food dye to color the water in the two outside containers. Use two different shades of food dye, one color in each of the two containers with water.  We used yellow and blue.  See further notes on color choices below.
4. Take two paper towels. 
5. Fold each paper towel so that it is long and skinny.  
6. Take one folded paper towel, and place one end in the container of colored water.  Place the other end in the empty cup.  Repeat this process with the second paper towel so that you have something reminiscent of a paper towel bridge extending from each of the two colored containers into the empty cup.  

Have your kiddos make some initial observations, and then wait a while.  We went for an evening walk. When we came back, the kids found the water had walked so that all three cups had an equal amount of water.  

Repeat this experiment over and over mixing different colors.  It is a great opportunity to learn about primary and secondary colors.  Primary colors are colors that cannot be created by mixing other colors together.  The three primary colors are red, blue, and yellow.  Secondary colors are colors created by mixing the primary colors - orange (red + yellow), green (blue + yellow), and purple (red + blue).  

Have fun!!

Halls' Homestead: Ticked Off (Tick Bite Prevention)

Halls' Homestead: Ticked Off (Tick Bite Prevention): In our efforts to go more natural and avoid many chemicals in our lives, we have been checking out natural remedies for common issues.  When...

An Attitude of Gratitude

Cultivating an attitude of gratitude in today's world of instant gratification is tough for adults and children alike.  Below is how our family is trying to push back those feelings of entitlement.

Books:
In addition to the Bible, I've had two books that have helped me to live life with a more grateful spirit:

1) Several years ago, I had a wonderful book recommended to me: The Prayer That Changes Everything Book of Prayers: The Hidden Power of Praising God by Stormie Omartian.  The book targets specific times that are tough in a person's life and provides guided prayers of praise and thankfulness during those tough times.  I was glad to have the book on hand through my miscarriage.

2) One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp.  This book details Ann's inner thought life as she grapples with the need for thankfulness in everyday life and in times of tragedy.  Her ministry offers some daily prompts to help others find things big and small, dazzling and mundane to be thankful for.  Check out the free tools here: http://www.aholyexperience.com/free-tools-for-you/

Children:
Over the past few months, I have seen the need for our children to have a spirit of thankfulness, especially our five year old who can have a critical and sour disposition at times.  So far, our three year old seems to be enamored with life and prayers of thankfulness tumble off of her lips throughout the day.  In an effort to encourage thankfulness among ALL family members, every night before bed, we each take a turn saying "I am thankful for..." and list the things we are thankful for that day.  We make a strong daily effort to have our children say "thank you" for common courtesies, meals, sharing, etc.  We also ask our children to thank their various teachers and coaches at the end of each class/practice/game, and we make a lot of thank you cards for others in our lives.  We know that God desires us to live a life of gratitude and that a spirit of gratitude will lead to more joy in the lives of our children.

Marriage:
Early on, our marriage was tanking fast.  We were barely holding on to "until death do us part."  Believing in the Biblical view of marriage, we kept fighting the good fight, going to marriage counselors and a marriage retreat.  The biggest thing God used to change our marriage was the following piece of advice, "Each night, sit down with your spouse, and thank them for (at least) one thing they did that day."  It could be as simple as "Thank you for taking a shower today" or something more deep such as "Thank you for taking my feelings into consideration before making weekend plans."  Whoa!  Sounds simple, but if you are in a hard spot in your marriage, it can be a tough task.  We found that the need to find one thing every day to thank each other for had us looking for good things throughout the day.  We now say "thank you" throughout the day for one another - in person, text, phone call, notes, etc.  God turned our marriage around using gratitude.

You would think with all of this, thankfulness would come easy.  Unfortunately, it does not.  That inner sin nature makes each of us feel so entitled that our thought life can look like,  "we deserve this, of course they should do it for us, it's their job."  It is a battle that must be fought daily in every area of our life.

I encourage you to take some steps to add thankfulness into your daily routine.  Avoid plans so grandiose that follow through will be difficult.  Start with baby steps.  Tell that person at your office you can't stand something you appreciate them for - are they always on time, do they excel at customer service, do they remember to wear their badge every day, do they look professional, do they have a spirit of persistence, are they quick with a smile?  Be careful to keep your thoughts out of the negative range.  Avoid "always" and "never" statements.

When you start to feel down, start thanking God for the blessings in your life.

When stressful thoughts are keeping you from sleeping at night, start thanking God for the good things in life.

It can be tough, but start with the simple stuff.