Playing Pirate

Our little guy loves to play in the bathtub. He is getting older though and now he mostly takes a shower. Today's theme for Illustration Friday made me think of how kids grow and change over time. This tub time scene captures a single moment in the metamorphosis every child makes into adulthood.

World Travels With Delbert and Dinah

When we did kindergarten we selected Little Passports as part of our curriculum. We really loved it and Jayne loved getting a package in the mail every month. Then we had some big life changes and knew that it just wasn't in our budget. So we finished the second half of the school year by creating a DIY Little Passports type series called World Travels With Delbert and Dinah. It was a hit with our son and with our readers.

We stopped when kindergarten was over because our little guy's interests had moved from geography to math, go figure. Below I have the entire series linked. As we near our move to a new country, geography is beginning to perk our son's interests again. So, we are considering bringing the series back. What do you think? Would you like to see us bring it back?

World Travels: Introduction

World Travels: Guatemala

World Travels: The Netherlands

World Travels: Ireland

World Travels: Saudi Arabia

World Travels: Australia

 

 

If You Give a Kid a Camera

[caption id="attachment_2056" align="aligncenter" width="770"] If you give a kid a camera, he'll capture a Lego man with the longest legs he's ever seen. He'll hear a jingle and notice the dog hopped on top of the bed.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2058" align="aligncenter" width="770"] He will capture a close up picture of the dog laying on Daddy's pillow. Seeing Daddy's pillow will remind him that he has a pillow too.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2060" align="aligncenter" width="770"] He will photograph his pillow. By his pillow he will see his maze ball. He will sit on the pillow and play with it till he finishes the maze.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2057" align="aligncenter" width="770"] When he finishes the maze he will remember that he was taking pictures. He will take a proud and somewhat smug photo of himself with his completed maze ball. When he gets up he will step on his Lego man with the longest legs.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2059" align="aligncenter" width="770"] Stepping on the Lego man will remind him that he has more Lego people he could capture, and he does.[/caption]

Messages From Home

Sometimes it feels like we have been preparing for our mission trip FOREVER! In actuality it was not quite one year and two months ago that we received our acceptance letter with ReachGlobal. All three of us are quite ready to get going. January seems like it is a far off date, but it really leaves us with September and October to get the details in place. Then November and December are devoted to the holidays (we all know how that is) and saying our good-byes. My mister keeps telling me how ready he is to move out of Grandma's and hit the road for Montreal. I know how much he is going to miss his friends and family though. It will probably hit him as we buckle him into the U-Haul. So, while I was ordering his 1st grade yearbook on shutterfly.com I created a personalized notebook. On the classic orange envelope I pasted instructions for writing inside it.

 

A memory book from home

Enclosed is a special book for Jayne’s friends and family to write him special messages to read while we are living in Montreal. Things you can include:

1. Pictures


2. Messages


3. Drawings


4. Addresses so we can write to you


5. All your thoughts of love and encouragement


6. Your favorite memories of Jayne

Please keep this book a secret and in good condition so he will have a wonderful surprise when we make our move. Also try to stick to 1 page per person so there is enough room for everyone.

When we are on the road and living in a new country, he will be able to read encouraging notes from his friends and family. It will help him remember how much they care about him. I will try to leave it as a leaving day surprise, but with children writing in it too the word might come out. What have you done to help ease your child into a big move? I would love more ideas!

Hunt For the Devil's Dragon: a Book Review

Hunt for the Devil’s Dragon by Marianne Hering and Wayne Thomas Batson is the first book for young readers that I have had the privilege to review and I must say it was a fantastic way to start. I read this book with my 5 year old son and he was thrilled to find out that there were more in the series. As a 5 year old, he isn't quite read to read this book himself. I love that it says right on the book that the reading level is grade 2.2. That makes it easy to know if this book is at your child's level. He also loved the action . He didn't want me to stop reading at the end of any chapter. We only took a breather because 14 chapters is a lot to read out loud in one sitting.

From my mom's perspective, I liked that the type was large for young readers and that there were beautiful illustrations dotting the book. The series is very similar to The Magic Tree House series. It is so much more in depth though. Instead of simply going on a mission to retrieve an object the go into history to learn valuable life lessons. Their connections with the characters they meet are meaningful and go beyond the surface.

The series is also Christian themed but not all the characters are Christians. In this book Georgius is a Christian Roman guard. We get to see the difficulties he faces being the only Christian in the story. He is also a wonderful example of the way that Christians should behave. Georgius is kind and forgiving even to those who are mean and hurtful. 

We will absolutely be getting more of this series. It is also available on the Kindle which is great for our trying to downsize for our mission trip. I hope the e-book is as stunning as the paperback was. 

Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book.

May Crayon Roll of the Month

I realize that this is later than normal, but I still can't believe it isn't April any more. So, better late than never. This month's crayon roll is How Your Garden Grows and is great for spring gardening season, which is just getting started here in Minnesota.

Owl Roll

It is a new month and that means it is crayon roll of the month time! April's roll hosts a fantastically cute owl. You can find our crayon rolls and so much more at thecrazyelephantboutique.com!

Neon green owl with cream face

Each roll has a little hooooo stitched above it, a sweet little touch.

Always filled with crayons and you get a set of coloring pages in your e-mail too!