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JDaniel4s Mom

growing & learning with him

Deirdre Smith writes/owns JDaniel4’s Mom. After twenty years as a elementary school and technology resource teacher in Northern Virginia, she became a stay at home mom in upstate South Carolina. Her blog features ways she and her 5 year old are exploring learning, crafting, creating healthy meals and living life to its fullest. Deirdre can also be found on twitter as @jdaniel4smom and on her blog's FB page. You can also check her out on Google+.

Please Save My Star Wars Pajamas For My Children

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For Christmas JDaniel received a pair of Star Wars pajamas from my sister Kate. He absolutely loves them. There have been a few nights that he has insisted that they be taken out of the wash pile so that he can wear them. They stayed in the wash pile and we had to find a pair that was almost as nice due to the fact that they had breakfast from that morning spread down the front of them. JDaniel really wasn’t happy about it but, he was willing to compromise after some calming conversation with me. I was the one calmly chatting.

This pair of pajamas has to be packed if we go away for the weekend and are his preferred clothing for the daytime too. He has only worn them all day if they are stayed clean at breakfast and he was too sick to leave the house up to this point.

They are only three months old and they are covered with pilly bumps and are starting to grow too short due to constant washing and drying.

Last week as we drove around town gathering things for his birthday parties he asked if I would save them for his children.

Here is how the conversation went:

JDaniel: Mom, will you save my Star Wars pajamas for my children to wear when the get big enough.

Me: Sure, we can save them.

JDaniel: I really think they will like them.

Me: How many children are you going to have?

JDaniel: As many as God decides to give me.

I know I was talking to you about pajamas but, I couldn’t have been more excited by his answer. We have been talking about handing things over to God and letting him send us His answer. I love that JDaniel is growing in His understanding of God.

I will keep my promise and set aside his Star Wars pajamas in a special box that already holds the outfit he wore home for the hospital and few other baby clothes that I would love to pass on to grandchildren someday.

I don’t know that JDaniel’s future wife and children will think about these pieces of memorabilia. I hope that they will appreciate that they were important to JDaniel or me. The Star Wars pajamas will probably be the most loved and most worn out thing the box. I have a feeling they won’t be the only pair of Star Wars pajamas in there. tTis pair will need to be replaced soon and JDaniel may want every pair he ever has saved.

Do you have a box of special things you are storing or have stored for your grandchildren?

This post is linked to Alphabe Thursday. It is P week.

If you can and are interested in doing so, I would love for you to visit The Creative Moms List on Circle of Moms and vote for me. ( You can vote daily.)

Weather Activities Hop With Kid Bloggers

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Last week I told you I thought March would come in like a lion here in South Carolina. It has for the last four years. Well, it turns out South Carolina may have been one of the few places this area of the world to have a lamb day on March 1. We have had some rain since then but, March the first was amazing warm and beautiful.

It was so pretty that I pulled JDaniel’s water table out of the shed and he had a great time taking his plastic boats on a winter water ride.

After celebrating outside, we came inside and made a styrofoam peanute lamb. JDaniel was sure that lambs need various colors of wool.

I hope you will visit the other weather related activities below to see how other bloggers are featuring March weather.

The other Kid Bloggers hosting this hop are:

:: Teach Preschool
The link isn’t appearing as it should. Please visit one of the blogs above to link up weather related activities.

Pause Life for a Moment- Stories from the Shoebox

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I am so excited to have Adrienne of Stories from the Shoebox sharing here today. I love the word pictures she paints in her blog posts. She had been blessed with very special gifts. Her gifts are the words that she weaves and the way she makes you feel like you’ve been asked to join her on her journey through life.

After reading the post before, please take a moment to visit her blog.

When JDaniel4’s Mom invited me to guest post on Pause Life for a Moment, I was so excited and flattered. She wants me to come over and write for her? Um… Yes, please. I accepted with glee!
JDaniel4 has got to be one of the happiest kids on the planet, don’t you think? He’s got one creative and loving mama! I think she’s one smart cookie and I love coming over here to read her blog, so the fact that I get to write here is such a treat!
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Pausing life.
Oh, the hardest thing to do sometimes stops, isn’t it?
When I got to thinking about pausing life, I didn’t just think of pressing pause on the activities of the business in the day-to-day of parenting, but my heart actually ached with the thought of pausing this chapter of life that seems to be slipping away from me.
I am a wife, mother, and child of God. I want to embrace the calling He has given me. Not just for a moment, but for the whole season. I don’t want to wait to be “in the mood” for this blessing of motherhood. I want to hunger for it more than anything else in this world.
A wise woman I love and admire told me something I will never forget. She said, “When I was your age all we ever talked about was what we would do once the kids were grown. Now that they are, we all sit around talking about the things we wish we had done with them.”
I don’t want to do that.
We have pictures of the boys all over our fridge. When I walked by them today, I noticed the children staring back at me was once my babies. Their sweet faces are hardly recognizable today. Where did those baby faces go? Why does it have to happen so fast? I almost cried.
It seems like those pictures were taken last week. I looked into the living room in desperation, hoping to find the children in the pictures. Instead, I found a young man speaking with a deep voice and another boy who looked just like the older one used to. Sigh…
I wish I could freeze life right now!
But, I can’t.
But, there are things we can do to make sure we’re pausing life.
I’m not going to make a list…
We all have the list. I won’t bore you with mine. But, I will leave you with one word to think about.
Contentment.
Until we learn to find contentment in this season of life, we will always be looking for what’s ahead. All the while we’ll be missing what’s right in front of us. Didn’t we once look ahead to the season we have now? We’re here! We’re living it! We have so much to be thankful for. Soak it in.
We live in a world that lies to us by making us feel less than if we are content with what we have or where we are in life. We come from a society that is never satisfied. Always wanting more. More time, more money, more kids, more, more, more…We have to fight the desire in our hearts and crave what we have.
We have to pause our hearts.
That’s how I think we can all pause life.

Muffin Tin Monday- Star Wars Birthday Lunch

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Muffin Tin Monday- Star Wars Birthday Lunch

JDaniel adores Star Wars. He has sticker books, action figures, and even a light saber . Today is JDaniel’s 4th birthday. How could I not give him a Star Wars breakfast in a Muffin Tin!

R2-D2 and C-3PO are his favorites but, I could figure out how to do all the details R2-D2’s  has on his case. I chose to do C-3PO, Yoda and Chewbacca instead.

C-3PO looks like he has been through a battle and lost part of his face. I confess I had a hard time cutting through the waffle. I kept trimming and trimming to smooth out jagged edges and finally decided enough was enough.

Yoda was fun to make with his green tortilla ears and lime yogurt face. At first I had him smiling and he just didn’t look right. Yoda always seemed to have a stern look on his face. I had to try several grape smiles to get it right. His raisin eyes had to be adjusted several times too. Yoda had piercing eyes it was hard to capture them in raisins on grapes on apples without having everything fall into the yogurt.

Chewbacca was so easy to put together. He just needed raisin eyes, a prune nose, a prune moth and apple bite teeth. Chewbacca’s fur really need to be darker but, I was afraid he would get overcooked in the toaster oven.

JDaniel loved this meal. The best part was dipping Chewbacca and C-3PO into syrup! Syrup isn’t mentioned in Star Wars as far as I know but, JDaniel sure loves it.

This post is linked to Muffin Tin Monday.

 

 

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A Paper Plate Lion and Lamb

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I had a picture of a lion and lamb craft we made on Wednesday post Odds Are JDaniel Will Have Another Lion Birthday. The post was on the weather and it didn’t seem appropriate to share how we made the crafts. Let me share with you know how we made the paper plate lion and lamb.

Today I wanted to share how we made each of these really easy paper plate crafts.

Let’s start with the lion.

Supplies:
White paper plate
Yellow yarn
Brown Buttons (2)
Black Construction Paper
Glue
Needle with a large eye whole
Hole punch
Directions:
1. Punch a ring of holes on the outside edge of the plate.
2. Punch a ring of holes on the inside edge of the plate or snip small holes with scissors.
3. Weave the yarn up and down diagonally from an outside ring hole to an inside one clockwise.
4. Do the same type of weaving counterclockwise around the plate.
5. Sew connecting stitches in the inside ring.
6. Stitch the two-button into place.
7. Cut a triangular nose and curved mouthpieces out of black construction paper.
8. Glue the nose and mouth on.
Now let’s move on to the lamb.

Supplies:

Black paper plate

Blue construction paper

White hole reinforcement rings

Directions:

1. Trace a hand onto a black paper plate.

2. Place white hole reinforcement rings all over the palm of the hand and a few on the fingers.

3. Place a small blue construction paper circle on the thumb for the lamb’s eye.

I think both of these crafts are great ways to welcome the month of March. You will find more art projects on my Crafts for Kids board on Pinterest.

Update: Both of lion and the lamb paper plate crafts have been updated. You will check out the updated crafts on the Lion and Lamb  Paper Plate Craft post. The lion craft is similar. The lion craft is totally new. I think you will like both of them.

Celebrating Dr. Seuss’ Birthday with Fox in Socks Sock Puppet

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Fox in Sox by Dr, Seuss

Fox in Socksis filled with such fun. You can read tongue twisters about Mr. Fox and Mr. Knox. Mr. Fox can read tongue twisters and Mr. Knox gets his tongue twisted. JDaniel loves wordplay. He loves coming up with words that fit a pattern. Tongue twisters offered him a great way to explore words in a fun way. We recently made a Fox in Socks sock puppet. It will be great for retelling the tongue twisters.

 Making the Sock Puppet

 Fox in Socks Hand Puppet

We made a fox using a sock. I found a wonderful template on the internet that I was able to trace onto red felt. That template is no longer available so, here is a Fox in Socks Template for a Sock Puppet template I made for making the sock puppets. The set also includes a larger version of the fox’s head. It would be fun to use to make a paper bag puppet.

Once the fox head had been cut out, JDaniel helped me glue the eyes down onto the felt.

I then attached the fox head to the red sock using a few tiny stitches.

Practicing Tongue Twisters With The Sock Puppet

Fox in Socks Hand Puppet
JDaniel wasn’t sure about wearing the fox puppet on this hand at the beginning. When I started having the fox puppet on my hand do tongue twisters, he decided that the fox was really cool. Then he had to do it.
By showing him how to use the puppet and what kinds of things the fox could say he felt more comfortable.

  Fox in Socks Hand Puppet

 

Another Fox Puppet Available on the Blog

A paper bag version of the fox puppet template is available. If you don’t have a sock ready to become a puppet, you will want to check out the Fox Paper Bag Puppet Template.

Fox Paper Bag Puppet Template Facebook

If you like this Seuss activity, here are some more wonderful activities based on the Dr. Seuss books:

This fox sock puppet could be used for retelling these fox themed children’s books.

No Matter What
My Lucky Day
Fletcher and the Springtime Blossoms

 

You will find more book-themed learning activities on my Read.Explore. Learn. board on Pinterest.

 Disclaimer: Links in the post to Amazon are affiliate links.

 

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Opening My Heart to Motherhood

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Many women fear that they won’t have children or that they can’t. For a long time I feared that I would have children and that they would carry on family traits via my DNA.

In fact with marriage not in the picture due to the calluses on my heart I mentioned a few weeks ago for a long time. I had also decided that children even outside of marriage children won’t be an option either. Children I adopted won’t inherit the scary inherited problems I feared but, they could still appear in my life.

There are members of my family in previous generation that have had to deal with mental illness and chemical dependency. They struggled to fight against them and some worked hard to deal with them. It was so hard for me to watch as I was growing up.

As the over thinker in the family, I maybe the only one that even thought about the effect our heritage might have on the next generation.

As a Christian, I should have been able to let go and let God give me what he felt like I could handled but, for the longest time I couldn’t. I prayed that I could get past this barrier in my heart and mind. I prayed that my heart would long to have a family and that I would be up for the homework that God I would have to do to get past those barriers.

It took a long time to for me to I moved past the fears and see the hope I longed for. It took a wonderful prayer group and amazing Bible study to help support me in my desire to change. The ladies in both of these groups were like sisters to me and were my prayer warriors. My real life sisters along with my spiritual sisters helped me open up to the greatest gifts in my life.

Thankfully God willingly to massage my heart and mind set to see that he had something very special for me. Something that would give me hope instead of fill me with dread.

When I met my husband, I knew pretty quickly that he was the one that I wanted to build a family with. There had been amazing men in my life that I hadn’t been ready for. I am so glad that Jdaniel3 came into my life when I was finally open to having him be the one.

Amazingly there were no fears about having Jdaniel after years of fear! I feared instead that I won’t be given the opportunity to be one.

We were so excited when we found out we were being blessed with him.

My husband and my son have changed my life. I don’t know what the future holds in any of our lives. My family DNA could still effect my family, but I know we can work through them.

My husband pointed out from the beginning of our marriage that we would work through any problem that came up as a team. Those words meant so much to my still healing heart. They will be cherished by me forever.

Why am I writing about all of this now?

This post has been haunting me for a few weeks. I have tried to figure out how to put these thoughts in to post for awhile.

I don’t really know why I needed to write it but, I know I did. I am so hoping that if there is anyone that is struggling with these issues or similar ones you will be happy to know that you are not alone and that you can make it past them. If this post helps just one person realize that, it will be so worth my writing it.

Odds Are JDaniel Will Have Another Lion Birthday

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March here in South Carolina has come in like a lion every year for the last four years. Odds are that it will come in like a lion this year too although if it decided to come in as a lamb I would be really excited.

We have had a mild winter here in the Upstate. We have had no snow. There have been many days that have been in the 60s. JDaniel hasn’t worn his mittens or his woolen hat this year at all. It looks like a lamb year might be in the making.

But…

March has a way of changing the weather here dramatically. JDaniel’s birthday is on March 5th and he had interesting weather each of his almost four years of life.

His Birth Day

The day JDaniel was born there were huge downpours of rain. We could hear the rain pounding against our hospital room windows. I was so grateful to be in a warm and cozy room with my guys. I remember thinking the weather really didn’t match how I was feeling on our first day as a family. It looked so grim and wet outside.

Year One

We had a snowstorm right before JDaniel’s first birthday. I dragged JDaniel outside in a snowsuit that I didn’t think we would ever need to take pictures of.

He was so bundled up that he probably couldn’t have moved his arms or his legs if he tried to. I am not sure what he made of this cold wet snow that I sat him in to take a picture. He didn’t fuss but, I am not sure that he liked it too much.

JDaniel’s playgroup came over for his first birthday party a few days after the storm hit and most of the snow had melted. The weather had warmed up so much that I had bottles of sunblock for the children to put on when we went out to play on the deck. There was still snow in a few places in the yard but, I don’t think any of the children had coats on and many had sun hats or baseball caps.

Year Two

After having mild weather the year before, I decided to have JDaniel’s birthday at the zoo. The weather was cold and a little windy. It was fine we were running through the zoo. It was cold when we stopped moving to have monkey cupcakes under one of the pavilions.

That year all the children had on woolen hats or hoods and most wore mittens until it was time to have cupcakes. I think I decided to bring his presents home instead of opening them there. It was just too cold.

Year Three

JDaniel wanted a construction site party. I thought our yard would be the perfect place to dig in and play with JDaniel construction equipment. The weather was cold and windy once again after being pretty the week before.

The children crowded into our kitchen to have lunch and eat cake. They played in our two upstairs bedrooms with the construction equipment while the moms chatted in the living room.

Our Cape Cod-style house was okay for eight children and their moms when JDaniel was one but, it felt really crowded with eight three or close to three and their moms.

I decided that the party needed to somewhere else the next year and it would probably need to be inside.

Year Four

I don’t know what kind of weather we will have next week for JDaniel’s birthday. I do know that I have been stuck by the decision to have inside somewhere outside of our house.

We will be at Chuck E. Cheese next week where there is plenty of room to play and where they will do the clean-up even if we have to dig out our driveway to get there.

This post is linked to Mrs. Matlock’s Alphabe Thursday.

Pause Life for a Moment- Good Girl Gone Redneck!

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I was super fortunate to meet Andrea of Good Girl Gone Redneck at the Type A Conference last summer. She is amazing! Why? She is super friendly and warm. Andrea is the type of blogger that welcomes her blog readers to join her on her writing journey and shares openly who she is. When I met her at Type A, she was exactly that way in person. Those who read her blog and those who know her in real life are both truly blessed.

Hi, everyone! I’m Andrea – otherwise known as Good Girl Gone Redneck.

When JDaniel4’s Mom asked me if I would be interested in guest posting for her, I might have squealed a little bit! I am thrilled she invited me here to share her sacred space. And I’m so honored to be here for this week’s Pause Life for a Moment.

As a mother, there are so many moments I experience with my daughter. I honestly could never even begin to capture them all. I often write them up on my blog, but what I’ve recognized is that sometimes I focus too much on the intense moments. The stresses of motherhood. The days she drives me crazy.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my daughter more than anything. But she is strong-willed (could be called stubborn), intense (highly emotional), and FIVE (have I mentioned she is five?). Many of the moments we share together are memories I capture and eventually rehash over and over again. But they’re not always the ones I want to hold onto. Or even plan to. They’re the ones where I ask myself, what could I have done differently? How could I have made it better? Easier? Less stressful? Could I have?

Why is it so hard to remind ourselves to take a breath and hold onto the good times? The moments when her eyes crinkle at the sides and remind me of my dad. When I wake her up in the mornings and her hair is all crazy and wild, and she immediately leans over and hugs me. Stretching out across her bed she practically takes me in her arms, grabs on, and won’t let go. Eyes sleepy – but bright. Her face was clear of any stress or emotion, just pure bliss. Flawless.

And instead of being frustrated when she doesn’t want to go to bed, why don’t I snap a mental picture of the way she lines up all her stuffed animals, covers them and her babies with blankets, and even gives them toy bottles? There’s almost nothing cuter, seriously.

Instead of pulling up memories of her shrieking or crying when she’s frustrated, why don’t I allow myself to truly hold onto the lyrics of her voice when she makes up a song? Or sings along with me? Or somehow sounds like a teeny opera singer – her voice projecting in song? Shouldn’t that be what I hold closest to my heart?

I think that pausing life for a moment is something we all need to do more. And yes – we’ll surely remember the not-so-fun days. The stressful times. The number of times we’ve had to say our child’s name before they actually DO what we ask of them. But isn’t motherhood about learning? Living? Loving? So our children teach us, and we learn to listen. We live incredibly full lives with and because of them. And we love them with all of our hearts.

Let’s hold onto that good stuff. Squish it really tightly and push it to the front of our brains. Make our memories flood with happiness and joy. And when we need to pause life for that moment or two – or ten – go ahead and do it. Because we’ll have a library of great things to look through when we need them. And I’m guessing that in about 8-10 years I’m really going to need them!

Please Follow Me A New Way If Google Friends Was The Only Way!

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Google Friends Connect will be disappearing off of WordPress blogs on March 1 and off Blogger blogs sometime in the near future. ( I don’t know when.)

If the only way you follow me is through Google Friends Connect, I hope you will consider  staying connected with me by following me in one following ways:

  • You can subscribe via e-mail by clicking here or on the feedburner icon at the top of the right hand column.
  • You can follow my Facebook updates by clicking here or on the Facebook icon at the top of the right hand column.
  • You can follow my updates on Google+ by clicking here or on the Google+ icon at the top of the right hand column.

 

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