Kids Archives - The Pennington Point

Kids’s Summer Reading Project and a Giveaway!

by Lisa on June 4, 2013

We read so many school books during the year that it is a fun change for the kids to be able to do more pleasure reading over the summer. I like to encourage reading as much as I can and one way is to keep good books around. I’m a sucker for a book. I scour sale racks and garage sales and thrift stores, anywhere I might find a hidden treasure. We have shelves full of them!

So I told 2 of my boys, the 10 & 12 year old, to go find 5 books each from our shelves that they would like to read over the summer. Then I will go buy them one more making six books that they will have a goal to read by the end of August. They can read other books too, of course! But these 6 will be something they set as a goal.

They gathered their books while I prepared a little project for them. I used a stack of vinyl I got from Expressions Vinyl. I love their vinyl and I have tried a lot of different brands. It is my favorite!

We cut brown book covers using the big roll from the hardware store that is for protecting your floors while you paint. It’s inexpensive and a roll lasts us forever.

Then we got to work decorating their book covers. They used scissors to cut vinyl shapes while my older daughter Faith cut out some die cut shapes the boys chose our on die cut machine.

Several of their books were about mice, so they wanted to use the little mouse on their book covers.

We used the transfer paper from Expressions Vinyl to make a star bookmark. We used the non sticky side of the transfer paper and peeled off the back of the stars (their red glitter vinyl makes perfect stars) and stuck them to the paper. Now, when the boys finish a book they can peel off the star and stick it to the book cover to mark it as “read.”

The boys are excited about reading these books and I am hoping it will lead to more reading later in the summer. If they finish these early I am always glad to get out the vinyl again and make some more covers together.

And guess what! Expressions Vinyl is giving one of you a $25 gift certificate. You can use it to make summer reading book covers or try something new! They have so many gorgeous products you will have a hard time choosing.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

AND that’s not all! This Thursday night I will be hosting a Twitter party for Tommy Nelson. We’ll be giving away books and talking about ideas for getting your kids to read over the summer! It’s going to be great! Come on and party with us at 8:00 PM CMT following the hashtag #TNSummerReading

Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Linking to: Teachers of Good Things

Make Yourself a Magnetic Art Board

by Lisa on August 13, 2012

I don’t know if it’s different for non-homeschoolers, but here we have an unbelievable amount of artwork that the kids want to display. I’m all for cheering them on and giving encouragement, but I’ve worked hard to make the house relaxing and lovely and I’m just going to be honest: I don’t want torn out coloring book pages of super heroes hanging on my walls.

So I found some less obvious, but still special, ways to display their artwork. I’m showing you 5 ideas over today at Life Your Way.

One of the ideas I posted there is a magnetic art board. It was so easy to make and fits well with our style.

I went to the automotive section at Walmart and bought a drip pan. It’s huge and only cost $11. I love the size of it…..and it’s lightweight. Perfect for this project.

The only problem with it is that one end has the words “oil drip pan” or something like that embedded into the pan. Bummer. I needed to think of a way to cover that up!

So I decided to do something so simple that it was hard to believe it would look good. I took newspaper and cut out huge letters, glued them to the pan and in 10 minutes it was done. I didn’t worry about centering the letters. I like that they are a little bit offset. I’m not a matchy-matchy, everything-centered kind of girl. And you’d never guess that there’s anything behind that big T!

Then I took it out to the workshop and drilled 2 small holes in the corners. Nothing to it. Magnetic Art Board – ready to hang.

It is perfect tucked under this little window in an out of the way spot. Elijah and Levi have already been hanging things on it.

For the magnets I took some of those button magnets (again, Walmart) and stuck old, rusty washers to them.

I think it would be so cute to put 3 or 4 drip pans together and make it a whole wall. In a kid’s room? Oh yeah….my mind is turning with ideas.

I hope you’ll go on over to Life Your Way and check out the other ideas for displaying kids’ artwork!

Follow me on Facebook for more ideas and on Pinterest to see all of the greatness there!

Linking to The Shabby Creek Cottage

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The Beauty of Straight Teeth & an Amazing Giveaway

by Lisa on June 11, 2012

I had pretty crooked teeth as a young girl, not any real issues, but mostly just cosmetic. I was bothered by it as a young girl. I have always been grateful that my parents got braces for me. I do think it helped me in my life.

Our kids ALL have had orthodontic issues. So far we’ve had 5 of them in braces. Yes, in case you’re wondering, it costs a LOT of money. In fact James always says, “We never really thought kids were all that expensive, until we had to get them braces.”

Our oldest daughter Grace, like me, only had small crowding issues with her teeth. So we looked into alternative options and we found Invisalign. They were less expensive and perfect for her needs. We took her in to our dentist and he agreed. Invisalign was the way to go. She wore her Invisalign aligners for about a year and we were very happy with the results. We will definitely consider using it again for any of the other kids that qualify for the treatment.

When I got the opportunity to work with Invisalign I was thrilled. Since we have already used it and really liked the outcome, I knew it would be a good match for me. If I wasn’t currently paying for orthodontics for 4 kids I would even consider using it myself since my teeth have shifted significantly since those long ago braces.

If you’re wondering about the difference between Invisalign and traditional braces, you should check out their How Invisalign Works page for all of the information. And you can look at their self-assessment page to see if Invisalign is right for you or your teen.

And here’s something REALLY exciting. They are giving away a….drum roll please….$1500 that you can put towards an Invisalign treatment. Yes, you heard me right. Do you need some smelling salts before I go on?

Go to this page where they have partnered with Mom It Forward to bless someone with a good start on using Invisalign for themselves or their teen.

If you’re in the San Antonio area and would like to learn more in person, email me and I will send you an invite to a really amazing luncheon this Thursday. Not only will you get to meet the Invivalign team, but also they are bringing in some hot and hip photographers to teach us how to get the best photos of our amazing smiles!

Have you ever wondered about Invisalign and if it’s right for you?

This is a compensated post, but my experiences are genuine and opinions are my own.

Great Summer Kid Activities

by Lisa on June 1, 2012

This week I’m mixing it up. I’m showing you some summer ideas for kids plus a couple of greats from my friends Gina and Andrea. Don’t you just love blog friends? They ROCK!

Now that we’ve heated up I need some fun things for the kids to do. They can’t just swim for the next 3 months…or can they?

I am definitely going to try this game from The Taylor House. It’s simple and the kids will LOVE it.

How about water balloon games? Ministry-to-children.com has some great ideas!

Oh we all need a snake….this strawberry shortcake snake from Disney’s Family Fun would be a huge hit around here.

For those long trips in the car, I love this coloring case made out of a DVD box by handmade by stacy vaughn.

For more GREAT summer ideas hop over to The Shabby Creek Cottage and see Gina’s outdoor light fixture she made. I am amazed!

And my sweet friend Andrea at The Cottage Market has 25 outdoor ideas that will knock your socks off.

If you need a Pinterest invite let me know. I’ll be happy to send you one!

Why Do I Give Clocks to My Children?

by Lisa on January 30, 2012

We had a delightful weekend of doing nothing in particular.

Saturday is our weekly cleaning day and we divide the work between us and knock it out pretty quickly. I always love it when, for just a blink in time, the whole house is relatively clean. Since it only lasts for about 2.7 minutes I like to close my eyes and be present in the cleanliness. I stand there, doing a 60′s Yoga pose in my mind and pretending it will stay that way forever.

Then I open my eyes and see that someone has dumped Legos on the floor in the dining room and is trying to build the world’s largest pirate ship and I know the moment is over.

This Saturday was a family celebration of Jacob’s mid-terms being over. He spent the past 2 weeks studying and taking intense tests and we all had to be quieter and less needy than usual. His last test was on Friday night, so Saturday we decided it was time to celebrate. I planned my favorite kind of activity, cleaning out the storage building.

Our storage building has gotten so full and piled with junk that we could barely get in the door. We keep all of our paper products and our drinking water and other daily necessities out there and it had become a breeding ground for broken vacuum cleaners and old computer parts.

I told the kids, “We will work for one hour each Saturday until it is all done.” After starting the project this week I can see that this might not be the best plan. At that pace it will be 2027 before it is completely clean.

If you saw how much junk I have in there you would turn me in to the show Hoarders. They’d come and within minutes I’d be clinging to a mason jar and crying out that I might need it someday. I’d say things like, “You will have to pry this “Baby’s 1st Christmas’ onesie with the brown stain on the front out of my cold, dead hands!”

To spare everyone from that drama I decided to let it all go. A broken end table, the toys no one plays with anymore, school supplies that I have had in storage since the beginning of time……gone. Since making my one hour a week declaration the kids said after 59 minutes, “Mom, it’s been an hour and you promised to stop after an hour!” So I begrudgingly stopped and put what we were keeping back into the storage building and stepped back to admire the 3 square feet of clean space.

It’s gonna be a loooong process.

Sunday was no less exciting. Naps, homework (Are homeschoolers allowed to call it homework? How is that different than the rest of the work which is also done at home?), weekly list making….the usual.

I love an uneventful weekend. It makes me happy.

What did you do this weekend?

9 Things I Love to Talk About

by Lisa on June 1, 2011

It’s been quiet around here, not much going on in the summer. If it wasn’t so hot it would be my favorite time of year. But I’m not a hot weather kind of girl. I don’t like to sweat.

I thought, since we are pretty boring these days, I’d give you an update on the kids. We’ll go from youngest to oldest:

Levi (3) has some new interests…..colors, spelling and body parts. It makes for some interesting conversations:

He’ll point somewhere on my body and ask, “What is that?”

“That’s my elbow,” I reply (this is exciting stuff, right?).

“How do you spell it?”

“E-L-B-O-W”

“What color is it?”

What color is my elbow? Good grief! Why do I have to answer such difficult questions?

The three boys, Noah (12), Adam (10) and Elijah (8) are pretty much into anything involving swimming. They are in the pool all day every day. Sometimes I go out there to float around and spend time with them. I get on my water lounger and hang out while they play. That is until they start playing their new favorite game, “Shoving Mommy’s float into their brother and trying to annihilate each other.” Mommy doesn’t like that game, it gives her a tummy ache.

The next three girls, Hope (17), Faith (15) and Patience (14) are working on setting up their own etsy shop. They are enjoying creating products that highlight their individual talents. It’s cute…..and exhausting. “Mom, can you stop and pick up more beads for me?” “Mom, I need some envelopes.” “Mom, are you awake?”

Jacob (19) is finishing up his application for law school. If all goes according to plan he will start in August. I don’t want to talk about it anymore. My baby boy that used to pretend he couldn’t hear me when his eyes were closed is going to start his own life…..waaahhhh!!! Now I want to get back in the pool and let the little boys nauseate me some more.

Grace (21) is still working for James and doing her own video projects. She’s gotten really into The Great Courses. They are college level courses designed for lifelong learning. That’s the amazing thing about homeschooling, instead of school being about grades and tests, it’s about learning. Our kids want to keep learning after school is over. Her favorites are physiology and history. She’s much cooler than I was at 21 when my main interests were shopping and “All My Children.”

That’s the whole summer for us. If any of you know what color my elbow is I’d appreciate you letting me know.

Snow!

by Lisa on December 5, 2009

Snow Snow Snow Snow Snow!

We are stunned…positively shocked over the snow flurry in our yard!

The kids ran immediately outside and started squealing.

But there was a problem. Every stinkin’ year I get caught by surprise. Someone doesn’t have what they need for the cold weather. Keep in mind we’re in TEXAS. You Kentucky, Minnesota, Ohio people won’t understand. It was hot last week….like sandals and t-shirts. Why would I be ready for cold weather? I wasn’t expecting it yet! And, OK maybe I am not the best at the whole silly, “everyone needs shoes” thing. I’m not too proud to admit it.

Here’s the whole, crazy bunch one at a time…..youngest to oldest….

Baby’s first snowflakes. He kept saying, “snow! snow!” but I don’t think he had any idea what it meant.

This little guy is the silliest kid. He never cares if what he wears belongs to him. If he sees it, he wears it. He will wear his oldest sister’s crocks outside with Daddy’s socks. He’s really funny.

But THIS one really keeps us in stitches. He’s extremely literal. So we like to mess with his head. Confuse the boy. What else can you do with a kid that wears a Santa hat 24 hours a day for weeks? Anyway, what’s the fun of having kids if you can’t use them for your personal entertainment every once in a while?

This guy is growing up way too fast for his mother’s liking. He’s all permanent teeth and big boy math and making smoothies. He loves to help me. He’ll jump up and run to me if he sees I might need his help. Very, very nice boy.

Isn’t she pretty? Really, how do I stand looking at these pretty girls all day? She’s a brainiac, this one. But she loves the Lord and tries really hard to obey, even though it can be a challenge when you’re smarter than everyone else.

Mini-me. She’s organized and tidy and funny….she’s the jewelry maker. She’s been like an adult since she was 3 years old. Don’t make her start to giggle….she’ll be out of control giggling, shaking and covering her mouth for 10 minutes. It’s one of my favorite things to do, make her giggle and then act shocked that she can’t stop. Which makes her giggle more.

This little girl makes everyone happy. She’s a ray of sunshine. She would do anything for anyone without hesitation. She is cheerful, but sometimes very emotional. She talks so fast it’s hard to understand her. But she’s working on it.

My animator….18 years old in two weeks. Hates the cold, hates the rain, hates it when Mom drags him outside for pictures. But don’t let the expression fool you. He made this face for me on purpose. He’s very playful. He doesn’t laugh often, but when he does he laughs hard. It’s a personal challenge for me to make him laugh once a day.

My firstborn. My rock. She inspires me every day to be a better mom and a better woman. She holds down the fort when I’m gone and she desires to honor God in any way He leads. She loves the baby…..I have to remind her he’s mine. She can’t have him.

I guess my snow post turned into a love fest over my kids. I can’t help it. They are such a blessing to me. I’m glad it snowed. I’m glad I stopped to think about each one of them and how special they are.

This will be reposted on my second blog.