Last week Creed and I had fun creating pumpkin masterpieces with our new friends and family. While the children were excited to begin with they soon lost interest when it came time to scoop out the sticky yuckiness waiting inside the pumpkin's belly.
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| Togetherness |
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| "This little light of mine" |
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| Scooping out the "yuckies." |
Lord, open my mind and fill me with Your wisdom and guidance (cut off the top)
Lord, take out all my fusses and frowns and fill me with your love. (scoop out the yuckies)
Lord, open my eyes to se all of the beautiful things You have made. (carve out the eyes)
Lord, help me to be a sweet fragrance for You. (carve out the nose)
Lord, help me always to speak Your words of love and kindness. (carve out the mouth)
Lord, let me be a light to others for You have filled me with Your Light. (place in a candle, we used a battery operated tea light. You can get two for a dollar at the Dollar Tree).
You can find this pumpkin prayer (author unknown) as well as many other activities and free printables at www.christianpreschoolprintables.com.
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| The littles took turns holding the pumpkin. |
There is a slightly different version by Liz Curtis Higgs that includes an after paragraph explaining the pumpkin prayer: Christians are like pumpkins. God picks you from the patch, brings you in and washes all the dirt off which you may have gotten from other pumpkins. Then, He cuts the top off and scoops out the yucky stuff. He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, unforgiveness, etc. Then He carves a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see. Are you letting your light shine? Be a jack-o-lantern for Jesus!
Yesterday Creed began homeschool with a trusted friend while mama went to the doctor. He continued progress in the Usborne sticker book working on the number 9. Creed worked on his motor skills with some of the projects from "Learn to Paste" (you can find these from the Dollar Tree, also Learn to Cut) and finished the rest with mama before nap time. One package contains eight projects for learning to paste, including "All Mixed Up and Match it Up" which is pasting pieces of a puzzle together and "What's Missing," pasting various parts of an animal into place. We're still working on holding a pencil. Daddy sawed a bunch of regular pencils in half and the smaller pencils seem to be perfect. While we're still working on our grip, I went by the local Teachers Aide store and found three different grips. He practiced yesterday using his ABC dot-to-dot book.
I've been reading the book, "Playful Parenting," by Lawrence J. Cohen, Ph.D. I'm currently finishing chapter two and can already recommend it. With incredible insight it offers "a bold new way to nurture close connections, solve behavior problems and encourage children's confidence."
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| "You've filled me with your light." |
Usually the month of October would be bustling in preparation of our annual Harvest Festival. This year I've decided to skip it, due to personal physical setbacks and will continue next year. This festival was created for Creed and those who wish to celebrate the fall season. Since Creed came along I've struggled with this "holiday." I would just as soon skip it all together than acknowledge it at all. I skillfully avoid all the halloween related programs on television substituting thoughtfully planned episodes on Netflix, cable and rented dvds from the library. I carefully monitor what he's watching, guarding his heart and innocence. (Be careful little eyes what you see). We also avoid it as much as possible whatever we run across when we leave the house. I grew up trick-or-treating. I looked forward to getting mounds of candy. A house that handed out full-size candy bars was like hitting the jack pot! As I grew out of adolescence and into my teenage years it became something else. Later on in college I would dress up as scantily as possible hoping to win first prize in whatever contest was being held. I was fascinated with the dark side of it. it. Avoiding the soap box . . . It's a personal conviction. Nevertheless, I will breathe a sigh of relief when November first comes along, and not have to be so "on guard!"
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