4th of July Hand-print Flags

Good morning dear readers,

I hope that you are all enjoying a relaxing 4th of July weekend. Weather that be with your families, or closest friends, take some time to enjoy the outdoors.

My preschoolers and I couldn't stop talking about the upcoming fireworks. We were so excited about Independence day that we even had our own parade! One child lead the parade with the American flag and the other students followed behind making noise with various instruments. 

So much fun!

We also made some very cool and very patriotic flags to wave in celebration.

Use the child's right hand and apply blue paint to the upper right side of their palm and thumb. Paint the index finger with red and then the middle finger with white. The ring finger should then be painted red and the line should extend all the way across the palm. Then paint the child's pinky white and extend the line all the way across the palm.

Finally, press down on blue paper with fingers spread wide. Viola! Add some sparkles and a wooden rod for your very own patriotic flag!

I recommend using blue construction paper for this project. White paper will make your white stripes "vanish", and the paint won't be as vibrant on black paper.

Here's another idea for kids of any age. Make an GIANT American flag with their handprints!

We used poster board and added start stickers onto the blue handprints after the paint had dried. 

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Today we enjoyed a wonderful picnic with our church family.

Mike made balloon animals for the kids, I broke out the sidewalk chalk, we had a bouncy castle, and even flew some kites!

We were able to enjoy the company of our family and celebrate my mom's birthday too.

Mom's cake was shipped all the way from Carlo's Bakery. Yes, Carlo's the Cake Boss!

The cake was pretty good but I could have done with less icing. Beautiful and vibrate colors though. You can find the same Bada Bloom cake here.

Eat the rainbow!!

Finally, we ended the day with our pie baking contest. I spent about an hour with the judges as we evaluated each pie and gave it points for presentation and taste. So many delicious pies! I wish my stomach was bigger so I could enjoy more. 

What did you do to celebrate?

Mike's Surprise Birthday Date

Friday was Mike's 24th birthday. To celebrate, I took him out for a super secret/super awesome surprise date. Wanna see how I did it?

Check it out people!

Modesty is Important To Me

Hello Miss Yellow Shoes Readers,

Today I'm gonna talk about something dear to my heart. If you've been a follower on the blog or facebook or even pintrest, you'll know that I don't dress the way everyone else does. I'm a born again Christian and I think that if Christ can die on a cross for me then the least I can do is please him with my life. Part of that is the way I present myself to the world. I once heard a quote that went something like "Dress the way you would want other women to dress in front of your husband" and it really hit me. 

I love my husband and I think he's just the best thing since sliced bread. I know that he loves me more than anything too, but I also know that he's a guy and he responds to things differently than I do. He should only have eyes for me, his wife, and it's very hard not to notice the girl on the sidewalk in her mini shorts and tight shirt. 

I'm not saying that Christian girls need to run around in ankle length dresses and keep their elbows and heads covered at all times. There is a time and a place for showing off the beauty God gave to women. It's fine to look pretty and attractive, in fact I think women need to put some effort into their appearance. God made us to beautiful and I hate when women neglect themselves and run their appearance into the ground.

I could go on and one but most of you have probably already stopped reading anyway. Modesty in today's fashion isn't easy and I get terribly frustrated. Here's what I've come up with.

Crazy hot outside? No spaghetti strap tank top for me! I'll stay just as cool in my sleeveless floral shirt and grab an ice-cream with my honey. 

I bought this country jean dress for four bucks at a thrift shop. I added some ribbon and lace to the bottom for modesty and style. You wouldn't believe how many compliments I've gotten on this simple dress.

I scored when I found this fun skirt at JCPenney's for two dollars. The skirt was too short so I added on some ribbon and a bright cardigan before heading out to church. It's made out of a jersey fabric so it's super comfy to wear to work too.

I am so proud of this last skirt. I made it all from scratch with no pattern and without any sewing machine experience! It has two pleats in the front and in the back and a ruffled trim sewn into the lining. It's very vintage inspired and I didn't know how people would react to this look. Not only did several church ladies compliment me on it, but so did a complete stranger at the grocery store. 

I know that dressing in a Christ pleasing way isn't easy. It's hard and frustrating and very discouraging. Just know that you aren't alone out there.

:-)

Pool Noodle Background

Hello Readers,

Here's a quickie Wednesday tip for all of the teachers and parents out there. Use pool noodles as a photo backdrop for your kids!

It's so easy peasy guys, All you've gotta do it tape the noodles standing upright in any pattern onto a wall and voila! Instant backdrop. 

I like to put a sticker on the floor so my preschoolers know just were to stand while I snap away with my camera. I wish I could upload some of my pictures for you to enjoy, but I need to keep my students safe from weirdos. 

Fruit Loop Rainbow Craft

Good Afternoon Readers,

My, I've have had an exciting day at preschool!

With new kids coming in the doors, and summer activities taking off, I'm quite a busy girl. I am enjoying every minute of teaching, but it does feel nice to sit down and write to you all.

So we've been talking about Noah's Ark in our classroom and I needed a really cool craft to go along with our lesson. I've seen these rainbows made out of fruit loops on Pintrest and I thought, why not?

So my kids were really great and helped me sort the fruit loops during their morning play time.

I think that its always cool to see how much they want to help with "big jobs".

After our Bible time, the kids got right to work on coloring their worksheets.

Here is the rainbow that I used. You can find the original source here.

The rainbow is a promise from God that his will never again flood the entire Earth like in Genesis.

I drew a rainbow on the board to the kids could see what order the colors should go in.

Some of them got a little creative with their color choices...and I think that's okay.

Once everyone was done coloring, the children were given little paper cups. They were instructed to take turns visiting the fruit loop table. They could fill their cups with whatever color they wanted and could return to the fruit loop table as often as they wanted. 

I squirted glue onto their papers while they were fruit loop "hunting".

I'm so happy with the way this craft turned out. It's something that I plan on doing every year!

Melted Crayon Dot Art

Good afternoon to the best readers ever!

Pintrest is full of melted crayon art.

You know, those canvases dripping with melted wax?

It's pretty cool stuff, but honestly...it's getting a little old for me.

source

source

I wanted to try something new. I love impressionist art, so these melted crayon dots seemed to be my answer. All you've got to do it  hold and twist your crayon above a candle. Allow the wax to drip onto the paper and make a pretty design. 

I made a tutorial video for you, click here to watch!

Happy Crafting!