Minister Mom: Easy, Cheap Dr. Seuss Week Snack

Minister Mom: Easy, Cheap Dr. Seuss Week Snack

Star Wars Glow Bracelet Valentine's Day Card

Couldn't leave our cute little guy out of the fun :)

Candy Free Valentine's Cards

Star Wars Glow Bracelet
Valentine's Day Card

We try to avoid food dyes, but holidays present a challenge when you have four children who come home with goody bags filled with candy from every event and activity.  I try to practice what I preach, so when it comes to treats to share we get creative.  Here are a few of our candy-free Valentine's cards that the kids have enjoyed giving to their friends.

2014: Star Wars Glo Bracelet 

I bought a Star Wars costume for a few bucks post-Halloween. To make the Princess Lei hair there are lots of tutorials.  I used this one.

I had the girls stand like they were holding a lightsaber and took the a pictures against a solid background, so I could easily add a space background in photoshop.  The font is called Star Jedi and free :) .

I ordered 4x6 pictures from Walmart for $.09 each. After using a razor blade to make slits on each side of each hand, insert the glow bracelets, but be careful not to bend the bracelets as you do (they start to glow when snapped:).

The girls are really excited about giving these to their classmates. They were fun for me to make too!

May the Force be with You on Valentine's Day!







2013: {Mustache} Ask You
Order adhesive mustaches in bulk from a site like this.  Then take a picture of your child wearing a mustache against a solid background and add the words:

I {MUSTACHE} you please won't you have a Happy Valentine's Day?  

(or you could write "Won't you be my Valentine?", but as a kid I did not like giving that question out to all the boys :)

Cut out the mustache on the paper and put a dab of rubber cement on it to adhere to the card, so kids could peel it off and use.

2012: "Hope you have a Silly Valentine's Day!" 

Comic Christmas Card 2013

Christmas Card 2011

May the deeds of the day and the truth in my way speak of you...

As we sang "May the Words of My Mouth" tonight during the service at Ekklesia, Emori leaned over to Larry and said, "Dad, this song makes me feel like I can hear God and that God wants me to go give away all my toys for Jesus." Larry said, "You can think of it that way, God does want us to be free with the things we have, but another way to surrender would be like, well, being kind and loving to the friends at school that you like and even being kind and loving to others you don't like." Emori said, "But Dad, I like everyone. There aren't any kids at school I don't like."

And this is true, I've never heard her say she doesn't like someone (although she does stand up for herself when necessary).

...I can learn a lot from her.

Prayers for Paw Paw

All of our girls LOVE their Paw Paw, especially Aubri. She has her Paw Paw's eyes and has always had a special affection for him. He has cancer, and Aubri has prayed for him every night since we found out. Last night she prayed that "the medicine the doctors gave him would fight off all the viruses attacking his body." At age 4 she seemed to know and understand so much about it I assumed Larry had explained this to her. But then she continued on to thank God for "Sid the Science Kid (a PBS tv show) so she can learn about viruses...oh, and Dora to learn Spanish" :)

(photograph by Emori:)