Some of the Best Things in Life are Mistakes: July 2013

Blueberry Picking Activities

As a stay at home mom of three kids, I am always looking for fun and inexpensive activities to keep them busy. My friend, Lindy also has three kids about the same age as mine so she suggested we take the kiddos blueberry picking.

Blueberry picking all by itself is not enough to fill a morning of fun for all six of the littles so we needed to add a few more things to the day. First, we stopped to feed the animals on the farm. The little kids had fun trying to name the animals. The babies enjoyed "talking" to the animals.

My friend then read "Blueberries For Sal" by Robert McCloskey to all six kids. She and I both loved this book as kids and she thought it would be the perfect book to introduce blueberry picking to the kids.

As you can see from the picture below, the kids really got into the story. The bigger kids especially liked the part about the bear and wondered if we would see a bear on our adventure that day.

The littler guys liked the "keplunk" sound that the blueberries made when Sal dropped the blueberries into the pail. We even brought our own tin pails for the kids so they could make their own "kerplunk" sounds.

After reading the book, I wanted some things to do with the kids based on the book. I searched Pinterest and I found a website that offered FREE printables based on "Blueberries for Sal,"

Blueberries for Sal free printables from Homeschool Creations

I laminated the printable matching cards and gave one set to each of the two little boys. I used them as "word hunt" cards instead of a matching game. I would ask the boys to, "find the picture of bear, etc." The cards all contained words from the story.

The older kids needed more of a challenge so I printed out and laminated the free puzzle page. They worked on their puzzle while the little boys did their word activity.

After our story and activities we spent some time checking out the tractor. Both the little and big kids enjoyed that!

The actual blueberry picking was so much fun! The two babies (both of them are 16 months old) did not blueberry pick. The four older kids really enjoyed picking the blueberries. The two oldest kids were very particular about which blueberries they picked.

The two little boys (both almost 3 years old) had so much fun! They both made "kerplunk" noises when they dropped their berries in their tin pails. It was so cute to see that they had paid attention to the story!

I wish that the entire day was a positive one! It is a shame when an almost perfect day has to be ruined. I wish I didn't have to write about this part of the day but it would be a disservice to others to ignore it.

We chose to go blueberry picking at Emery's Farm in New Egypt, NJ. It was about a 45 minute ride from our homes. We will NEVER go back there again. They are not happy when customers come in with children.

They have a 2 children per adult policy. I have 3 children and my friend has 3 children. We realized they weren't going to let us into the blueberry fields! We strapped the two babies into a double jogging stroller and informed the workers that we would only have the two oldest kids picking the blueberries. They still would not let us in!

I had to wait by the tractor with the babies and two of the kids while my friend entered the fields with two of the kids. After they finished, we switched places and let the other two kids into the field. It was really sad that the siblings could not blueberry pick together.

So if you have a "larger" family, please check the reviews online before heading out to Emery's in New Egypt, NJ. You can see from the reviews that they will send your business away if you have more than two children!

Virtue Training Bible: Review and Giveaway

If you are a parent and want to teach your children the virtues from the Bible then you need to put together a Virtue Training Bible!

What is a Virtue Training Bible?

Taken from the VTB website: The Virtue Training Bible is tool that allows parents and children (and anyone that loves the Word of God) to go directly to the pages of Scripture for instruction in 42 virtues. The VTB emphasizes worship of our Triune God. The yellow tabs at the top, right provide further study of the Trinity.

The VTB was designed with John 15:4-5 in mind. "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:4-5)

What is included in your VTB kit?

You will receive instructions, 1 key and 3 laminated double sided tabbing cards

What else did I buy to complete the VTB?

A Bible

I purchased this hardcover ESV version on Amazon. It is selling for $12.69. It works well because it is hardcover and the exact size that is needed to fit the key inside the front cover. I recommend taping a picture of your family on the front as a reminder that God's Word is for the entire family.

Highlighter Set

I bought this set on Amazon for $11.99. It is not necessary for you to purchase this exact set. If you already have highlighters to use, you can use them. I made the purchase because I wanted to make sure I had the colors that were needed to match up with the key.

Post it Flags

I bought the Post It flags on Amazon for $8.78. You don't need these specific flags but they work really well since they have the colors to match the key and the highlighters. You will need to purchase two sets for the VTB.

If you purchase the Bible, highlighters and post it flags on Amazon, you will reach the required amount to receive free shipping.

How do you make a Virtue Training Bible?

I will not lie to you, the VTB takes a while to put together but it is worth every minute. It helped me to put it together myself because I was able to reacquaint myself with the verses that I would need to teach my child the virtues in the Word.

This is what the VTB looks like with just the first three virtues tabbed.

I have read the Bible through from Genesis to Revelation several times but I still needed to be reminded of these verses. By taking the time to tab and highlight them for myself, I was preparing myself for when I will teach these verses to my children.

The kit comes with instructions and there is also a video tutorial on the Virtue Training Bible Website. The explanation is very clear and easy to follow.

How does the Virtue Training Bible Work?

When you want to use the VTB to teach your children, you use the laminated cards to find the virtue you want. For example, I wanted to teach my daughter (age 8) about forgiveness. Her brother (age 3) committed an offense against her and she was upset about it. I wanted her to forgive him so I turned to the marked sections of my VTB about forgiveness. The laminated cards also come with suggested prayers for that virtue.

The makers of the VTB also created a Child Training Bible!

Read my review of the Child Training Bible! You are going to want to order both!

Are you ready to get started?

You can order the Virtue Training Bible Kit for $9.00 plus shipping from the Virtue Training Bible Website. You can read more reviews on their Pinterest page.

The creators of the Virtue Training Bible were kind enough to offer a free kit (key, laminated tabbing charts and instructions) for me to giveaway! If you win the raffle, the creators of the Virtue Training Bible will mail you a kit!

Enter the Raffle Below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: I was not compensated in any way, this is an honest review of the product.

Mommy Monday Week #15

Each week I will feature the most popular post from the previous week. The featured posts from last week that had the most clicks were

Grocery Store Shopping Tips from The Princess and her Cowboys

and

What Starbucks Taught Me About Church by There is Grace

The featured post that was my favorite from last week was

Five Minute Friday: Present by Mommynificent

If you were featured please grab an "I've Been Featured" Button and display it proudly on your blog!

The Mommy Monday link party is for any posts relating to being a mom. The posts can be about marriage, homemaking, parenting, crafting, or homeschooling. I reserve the right to remove any posts that I find inappropriate. I am a born again Christian and want my blog to reflect that. This blog reserves to delete any posts that it deems inappropriate.

An InLinkz Link-up

Nature Club for Kids with free Printables

My 8 year old daughter Sydney loves technology. If I let her, she would sit on the couch and play her DS all summer long. It is my goal to get her off the couch and to expand her mind this summer.

I decided that starting a nature club would get her outside away from the electronics. I searched my old standby "Pinterest" to get some free printables for our nature walk. You can see all of my nature club finds on my Pinterest page.

We invited Sydney's best friend, Gavin, and his big sister, Eva, to join us. Nature hunts are not just for Earth Day. I grabbed some clipboards and pens and printed out one of these ABC Nature Walk free printables.

Free Printable ABC Nature Walk from Classroom Freebies

They searched throughout our neighborhood to find something in nature for each letter of the alphabet. They did a great job of almost finding each letter.

I was even able to get my almost 3 year old involved in the fun. We did a second (simpler) nature scavenger hunt. This hunt did not require any writing. Since Lucas can't read yet, he had some help from his "assistant" Eva,

I printed these free printables and taped them onto brown paper lunch bags. We headed down to the park to fill our bags.

Free Printable Nature Scavenger Hunt from Five Little Chefs

All three kids filled their bags. We spent about an hour completing both searches.

Since Lucas is only a toddler, he lost interest faster than the bigger kids. He spent some time hanging out on the swings.

Some of you may be asking, where was Ella (my 16 month old) during the nature walk? She sat happily in her wagon and cheered on the nature hunters. She also enjoyed a ride on the swings with my friend Eileen (Gavin and Eva's mom.)

I consider the day a success since that was one full hour with no electronics! For our next meeting of the nature club, the kids decided they wanted to "take care of our earth." That is their words! They want to walk around our neighborhood and clean it up. Check back to see if we end up doing that!

Rules for Moms at the Park

I went to the park last week with some of my friends and their children. There was a mom there that we had never met before. We wished that she was familiar with this list of "unwritten" mommy rules:

1. Don't give food to children that aren't yours without asking their mom first. It is frowned upon to cause another child to have an allergic reaction and go into anaphylactic shock. So unless you carry an Epipen in your diaper bag alongside your Nutter Butters, keep your snacks to yourself.

2. Don't tell other moms that you think that their children should be careful. Don't tell them to slow down or not to climb so high. This is especially true for school age children. If their mothers kept them alive for 5+ years then their mothers probably don't need your help.

This little 15 month old may look like she shouldn't be climbing this equipment. Refrain from trying to tell her mother (me) that her child shouldn't be doing this. Her mother has spent like a million more hours with her than you (random woman at the park) has spent with her. She knows what her child can and can't handle.

3. Don't discipline children that are not yours. Sometimes it is difficult to resist the urge especially when some children act like miniature sociopaths. Keep an eye on your own children, even though I am sure they are perfect little angels.

4. Watch your language! Your children may be used to hearing foul language but my children don't live with the Real Housewives of NJ. I don't need them coming up to me at the park and asking what $%@# and *%#@ mean.

Please feel free to print out this list of rules and pass them out to the parents that you see at the park. Maybe we should have the nurses in the maternity ward pass them out to all new parents.