Random Thoughts #24: Love, Yoga, & Oceans


Kindergarteners on a bird in a Dr. Suess book:
“That does NOT look like a bird.”
“That doesn’t look anything like a bird!”
“What kind of bird that?”

Sally: “Do you believe love is the answer to everything?”
Pianist: “Boy, I sure hope not.”
-Charlie Brown

More from our eloquent kindergarten boy:
“You’re faster than me, so this is very challenging.”
“Like a kaleidoscope.”
“You could break a bone, or crack your head!”
“I just got frightened because of a loud noise.”
“Here’s the ridiculous woman.”
“I can’t pronounce some words.”
“A little more effort.”
“My suspect-er went off at him.”
“She’s going to prepare us pizza.”
“To my surprise…”

3rd grader walking by a group of kindergarteners: “Hello there, little dumplings.”

“I need a bandaid, because I damaged myself.”
-tiny kid

Watching a princess movie, a second-grade girl wondered in an annoyed voice, “How come they always have to be about love and marriage?”

“I wonder why adults make such a big deal about kissing on TV when every Disney movie has kissing!”
-perceptive 4th grade girl

“Some exposure to childhood and other diseases in a school environment.” -in a craigslist ad for substitute teachers

Tan, green, and pink are a group of colors that go together very nicely.

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When You don’t move the mountains
I’m needing You to move
When You don’t part the waters
I wish I could walk through
When You don’t give the answers
As I cry out to You
I will trust
I will trust
I will trust in You

Snoopy and Sally discussing whether to start a story with “It was a dark and stormy night” or “Once upon a time” culminated in “Once upon a time, it was a dark and stormy night.” ๐Ÿ˜›

Had the most interesting convo with a smart and forthright 7th grader
Him: “Do you do yoga?”
Me: “Noooo…”
Him: “Because you look like the type of person who would do yoga.”
Me: “Inner peace and all that? ๐Ÿ˜‰ ”
Him: [surprisingly quickly and emphatically] “YES!”
Me: “Y’know, it’s not yoga. Reading the Bible is really peaceful. You should try it.”
Him: “I tried that a little bit…”
Me: “Try the Psalms. They’re really good. David wrote them, you know that?”
Him: “Oh. Just not the part with David and Bathsheba.”
Me: “Yeah, there’s no Bathsheba in Psalms.”
Him: “Ok. Good.”
Love when I have a chance to naturally share Christ with these kids ๐Ÿ˜€

It’s been so long since we in Cali had rain, I literally stopped to smell and listen to the neighbor’s running sprinklers.

Cute multimedia art piece!

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The ocean is such a powerful place, but a calming one too, if you know that God sets its bounds and rules the waves.

O Lord God of hosts, Who is mighty like You, O Lord? Your faithfulness also surrounds You. You rule the raging of the sea;
Psalm 89: 8-9

W, X, Y & Z: Cool crafts for kids


A Whale, a Xylophone, a Yarn doll, and Zoo animals, all as cute as can be!
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W: Whale
(Made from paper bag & fiberfill)
-Stuff a paper bag 3/4 full of fiberfill, tie off a tail, and paint blue or gray. The water spout is fringed paper rolled up and glued into a slit on the top.
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X: Xylophone
(Made from a cereal box)
-Cut a cross section from the cereal box for the body of the xylophone, cover it with paper and decorate. From the cereal box, cut 6 strips in descending size and marker/paint then in rainbow colors for the keys. The stick is a skewer with a pompom.
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Y: Yarn Doll
(Made from yarn)
-Wrap yarn 50 times around an approx. 8 inch book and slide it off. Tie off a head and body, pulling out and braiding a few stands for arms. Braid the boys’ legs and leave the girls’ free as skirts.
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Z: Zoo animals
(Made from cardboard & yarn)
-Glue colored pictures of animals to cardboard, cut notches in the top and bottom of the cages and wrap yarn around to create the bars.
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Random Thoughts #23: Eloquent kids, boots, Just Be Held


Little girl trying to play with/control 2 balls: “I’m babysitting!”

“First grade is horribler!”
-a first grade boy, during “-er/-est” homework

My sister just ate her oatmeal with a fork.

“I have no idea what we are playing here.” Lamented a first grade girl as she passed with a classmate making strange playacting noises and gestures.

I really wanna see Kung Fu Panda 3.

The middle schoolers had no idea what to do with the answer of “mostly classical” that I gave to their question of what kind of music I like to listen to. That and movie soundtracks. And sometimes CCM.

This new kindergartener has the biggest vocabulary of any I’ve seen so far.
โ€ข “Darth Maul is Darth Sidious’ apprentice.”
โ€ข “This is excellent! I can make anything I want with this clay.”
โ€ข “I’m taped to the ground with indestructible metal.”
โ€ข “I’m going to do something on the monkey bars. …If I have enough courage.”
โ€ข “Or, as a alternative…”
โ€ข “Do you think that would be wise?”
โ€ข “The name of the bad guy [in a game of pretend] is Carius Matoya.”
โ€ข “And when I whirled around, there was nothing.”
โ€ข “Can you see the pupil on this bug?”
โ€ข “I was just curious…”
โ€ข “Isn’t that oddly shaped?”
โ€ข “I love my rock collection. One was all dull on the outside but had sparkling crystals on the inside.”
โ€ข”If you look closely, you can see the shimmering on this side of this rock.”
โ€ข “I’m not sure, but I’m assuming it’s this one.”
โ€ข “I’m suspecting it’s made simply by mixing clay and water together?”
โ€ข “It’s a scroll. Which they used for paper in the olden dayspapyrus.
โ€ข “I love Greek mythology!”
โ€ข “We have a situation over there.”

It’s much better to undersweeten peppermint herbal tea than to oversweeten it.

A windbreaker over branches sounds just like the wind.

These boots of mine made quite the stir the other day!image
Kindergarten girl: “Ooohh! You’re wearing your new boots!”
4th grade girl:”I really like your violet purple boots. They really shine out.”
Random lady at the library: “I LOVE your boots!”

“I’ve been rapping since I was 4.” -7 year old

Some of the daycare kiddos:
“I don’t do anything for Earth Day. What are you supposed do?”
“You clean up stuff other people littered. …For the Earth.”

“Girls like boots, don’t they?” -my sisters’ 60-something male piano teacher
XD 

This song is my favorite right now.

Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. 
-1 Peter 5:7

Easy, pretty Christmas crafts


A little post to show you the lovely decorations in the daycare room where I work ๐Ÿ™‚ These are all neat Christmas crafts for kids!

Puzzle piece wreaths! (Glue puzzle pieces onto a paper plate with the center cut out, paint green, and glue on red beads for holly and a ribbon bow.)

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A reindeer from each kid’s feet and hand prints! (Head is footprint; antlers are hand prints with the thumbs pointing out.)

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The Christmas board turned out real pretty ๐Ÿ˜€ And has a string of real lights.

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The kindergartners made lots of cool ornaments.

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Snowflake from popsicle sticks and glitter
Reindeer from 3 puzzle pieces glued together and painted brown, google eyes and red pompom nose
Marker-colored paper ball
Silver dove on purple paper background
Paper angel with glittered wings

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And this is one that I just put together- a Christmas tree made from puzzle pieces, painted and decorated ๐Ÿ™‚

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Merry Christmas!

For unto us a Child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
~ Isaiah 9:6 ~

Random thoughts #22: Oscar, kids think, & 7


“I’ll call him Oscar.”
“Oscar? You can’t name a lamb Oscar. You name a lamb Fluffy…or Cottonball…But you don’t name a lamb Oscar.”
-Paws & Tales kids radio show

“Ten days after I turned 8, got my lips stuck in a gate; my friends all laughed. And I just stood there until the fire department came and broke the lock with a crowbar and I had to spend the next 6 weeks in lip rehab where I met this kid named Oscar who got stung by a bee, right on the lips, and we couldn’t even talk to each other until the fifth week cuz both of our lips were so swollen. And when he did start speaking, he just spoke Polish, and I didn’t know but like 3 words in Polish, except now I know 4 – because Oscar taught me the word for lips.”
-Veggietales “I Love My Lips” silly song

Took me the longest time to figure out what Larry was saying in that ^^ monologue ๐Ÿ™„ 

“He’s my pet and his name is Oscar. He’s mine.”
-kindergarten girl, of a fly buzzing around the room.

You don’t want to hear how these giraffe puppets took so much time and hassle to make. You just want to see the cute picture. So here you go. ๐Ÿ˜›
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Bright teal and cherry red hibiscus make me ridiculously happy. ๐Ÿ˜€

Going out of your way to step on and crunch the few dried deciduous leaves = fall in Southern California.

Wintery crafts are the best!

Me to two middle schoolers who were fighting: “It takes 2 to tango.”
One of the middle schoolers: “Yeah, but…but…it takes one to…play video games…”

If coffee is warmed in the microwave for 22 minutes instead of 2, the smell takes over 2 months to go away. ๐Ÿ˜›

“I call it, “Victory of Life”!” -kindergartener in a melodramatic voice, of a pattern she’d just decorated her paper with XD

According to a 1st grader, you can “speak Texas.” ๐Ÿ˜›

When the Carl’s Jr. root beer tastes like it’s been mixed with sweet tea ๐Ÿ˜•

Straightforward kindergartener: “Once I had something go in here [points to arm] that touched my blood to see if I could have eggs or not.”

“A hacker is someone who goes on a computer and makes your technology not work.” -2nd grader

Do you know how hard it is to arrange 7 things in a perfect circle?

Now a half circle or mountain, that’s not hard:   

 Speaking of 7, and of 7 stars, I really like how the symbol for Aragorn’s kingship is the same as Jesus’. 8)

I came across this verse in my daily Bible reading:

And He had in His right hand seven stars: and out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. -Revelation 1:16

That’s our Jesus!

Random thoughts #19: Kid Snippets


These were collected from the end of the school year through the start of summer ๐Ÿ™‚

Kindergartner girls are playing with Disney princess dolls and one looks at her friend’s doll: “Wow, yours has yellow eyes! [inspects hers more closely] Mine’s creepy as well!”

“She writes neat, especially when she draws.”

Kindergarten boys discussing how to hug your shadow.

The entire fifth grade class just spent their entire recess discussing which brand of mayonnaise is better, Best Foods or Miracle Whip.

A little Mexican kindergartener trying to put on a French accent. ::cuteness overload::

Kindergartners think closing your eyes while swinging makes you go higher. Second graders think closing your eyes while swinging is terrifying and that they’re going to fall. There’s something in there about growing older and losing the sense of wonder…

Kindergartners are watching a movie and the characters are sliding down a snowy hill and cliffs to escape the bad guys.
K 1: “That looks like fun!!”
K 2: “That’s not fun, you could die!!”

The kindergartners wanted to know where all the sand in the sandyard came from.

Two 2nd grade girls:
“That was rude.”
“No it wasn’t.”
“To my instincts it was.”
“Well in reality it wasn’t.”
“Well I don’t care about reality.”
Me: “…Ai yi yi”

My siblings and I were seriously discussing whether alligators can jump… The physics and biology involved…

“Why are you guys so afraid of losing teeth?” -a sage 3rd grader to a group of kindergartners who’d spent the whole day wriggling and peering at their teeth in mirrors.

Leave it to a kindergartener to find goofs in a fairy movie. “Her wings are wet, how can she fly?”

Kindergarten girl: “My mommy can only do high ponytails. And she doesn’t know how to braid. I’m like, “You gotta get teached!””

The kids are making Jurassic Park-type noises on the playground…

Little girl on a noisy bus: “I can’t even hear myself! But I know what I’m saying.”

Forget playing “house,” it’s the cutest when kids play “work.”
“I want a promotion!”
“You’ll get a promotion!”
“You already got fired.”
“Okay, you get a promotion: $1 per year.”
“I hate this company!”
“I’m suing, then.”
“I’m gonna sue you for $2.5 million!”
“Come on, we’re taking this company to court.”
“They’re only giving me a raise; I want a promotion!”
“Can you even afford a lawyer?”
“Don’t worry, I’m a professional.”
“Okay, you get a promotion. You’re Vice-Manager.”
“Oohhhhh!! YES! You’re fired. You’re fired! You’re fired! EVERYBODY’S FIRED!”
“You can’t fire me; I’m fireproof.”
“Then we’ll get a fire extinguisher.”

Aren’t kids da bomb? ๐Ÿ˜€ ๐Ÿ˜‰

Random thoughts #18: Billboards, travel, solar system, & kid surprises


There was a taxi with the label โ€œclean air vehicleโ€…and the driver was smoking. ๐Ÿ˜

Ahhhh…I haven’t been on Molendrix.com in forever.

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I like the combo of pink and tan.

I’ve been reading a lot of free Kindle travel books lately.

Ketchup actually makes a really good dip for plain potato chips.

In Vegas, if you want an all-black taxi with a cool driver dressed in a black suit and wearing sunglasses and an earpiece, it’s $50. A regular taxi with a plainly-dressed driver is $20. In Vegas.

Have you seen the largest photograph ever taken? Click here and prepare to have your mind blown by the sheer grandeur of our solar system and our God who made it.

“Stay connected. Or stay disconnected, ya ignoramus.”
-a radio station billboard

Kindergarten boy, about Pirates of the Caribbean: “They’re scary. But they have good songs.” Never seen it but from the previews I’ve seen and the couple songs I’ve heard, that seems accurate.

Kindergarten boy, on anacondas: โ€œAre those a fruit? Or a vegetable?” Yes, genuine question.

“You don’t have to be famous to be unforgettable.”
-billboard

Wendy’s honey mustard is a nice dip for homemade chicken sandwiches.

1st grade boy asks: “Is everyone the same?” And I’m thinking, what do you mean-quality, looks, identity, value…? #loadedquestion

So cute to see a little girl at school practicing moves from her hula class.

There must be something artsy you can make out of paper crayon wrappers.

Know what’s really cool? Watching an 8th grade boy sit with a kindergarten boy and patiently teach him how to play a game. ๐Ÿ™‚

“Grab your hat and let’s go to Paris!”

Never mind that that ^^ is a snippet of a kindergartner girls’ “pretend” game. That sounds good NOW ๐Ÿ˜‰

At first I didn’t like the Kindle’s non-auto-rotate feature, but now I really do. 8)

“You won the game, but the game says you lost.”
“You won the battle, but lost the war.”
-middle school boys during a game

My littlest brother asked “Can I have cinnamon gum?” and my mom thought he was asking for “some income.” XD

Getting a swag code entered 11 seconds before it expires :O

The need for discernment…

Ski Resort Offers Asylum to Punxsutawney Phil After Police Issue Arrest Warrant

I just can’t look up at the sky and NOT think about our God.

When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained;ย what is man, that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that Thou visitest him?
-Psalm 8:3-4

Pretty puzzle piece picture


I like looking for creative, pretty, interesting, out-of-the-ordinary crafts to do ๐Ÿ˜€ Here’s one I recently did, and I thought I’d share. It’s a terrific way to turn that puzzle that’s missing a few pieces into a cute or beautiful piece of art!
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Over the Christmas holidays, the daycare I work at was cleaning out its shelves and getting rid of stuff. The puzzle I made this from was missing a few pieces and so wasn’t useful for the kids. We were just going to throw the pieces into a bin to use on other crafts, but I thought of another use for it. ๐Ÿ™‚

I found a section without holes to use as the main part of the picture, made that part and glued it onto a piece of cardboard for stability. I cut the bumpy edges off, but, depending on the look you want, you could leave them.
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I thought about leaving it like that, putting on a ribbon hanger and calling it done, (and depending on your picture style, you could just put on a hanger and end here) but I kept thinking of more ways to fancy it up-it is princessy, after all! So I glued more decorative puzzle pieces around the outside edge of the picture. I glued them to the back so they’d peek out but not interfere with the main picture, but again, depending on what you want, you could stick this border on the front side. I used tacky glue for this part as it dries faster and you don’t have to hold each piece as long.
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I used a mix of fancy and plainer pieces for the border.
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And then, because glitter makes everything better ๐Ÿ˜‰ I added a little bit just outside the picture.
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Lastly, I wove a string of some gold beads around the outside puzzle pieces, using some superglue to secure it. That also became my hanger.

And that’s it! It took a while but I’m very happy with the finished product! ๐Ÿ˜€ There are many different ways to do this craft, and I’m looking forward to trying new styles and looks. ๐Ÿ™‚

Random Thoughts #17: Out of the mouth of babes…


Lemon meringue tea? The things these kids come up with…

Okay so a group of 3rd grade girls was playing a game they called “Survivor’s Remorse.” Near as I could figure, they’d hold hands in a ring and spin in a fast circle. Some would lose their balance, let go the others’ hands and fall; they were dubbed the “remorsed” and whoever was left standing was dubbed the “survivor.” ๐Ÿ˜• I wonder what they’d think of the real concept…

One 2nd grade girl to another: “Why is your hair all soft and smooth, like a polished pearl?”

Daycare boys discussing whether Power or Speed is “king.”

My littlest brother just substituted “deoxygenated” for “dehydrated.”

Then we were talking about planting apple seeds and growing apple trees. And he started out, “Plant tomato seeds, get tomato… tree…”

*some kindergarten girls are playing pretend*
K 1: “But when does she [a character] turn good?”
K 2: “At the end of the game.”
K 2: “That’s a long time.”

Here’s a couple more from my brother:

“I put salad dressing on everything. Except soup.” (He does.)

“Shouldn’t have told me that [piano] pedal makes it louder; now I use it ALL the time.” (He does.)

Kindergarten girl: “I love toys. But my [4th grade] brother doesn’t. But I think he changed his mind and still likes them.”

Reading about the Israelites in the wilderness, my littlest brother remarked: “They act like bad children. No, not like childrenโ€”like bad adults.”

Gooz: “These plans are amazing! Papa Chuck thought of everything! This is going to be a great treehouse. When you get done with your treehouse, you gonna build this one?”
Stacy: “We are building that one.”
Gooz: “Where’s the big beam to hold up the roof? This has 2 windows and a rope ladder. Yours has a stick holding up the ceiling.”
Stacy: “…We got a little ahead of ourselves, but it’ll be good and strong when we’re finished. We’re the kind of builders who…work off a picture in their heads. What do you call those builders?”
Gooz: “Unemployed.”

-kids building a treehouse in Paws & Tales: “A Good Foundation”

I tell ya, Insight for Living‘s kids radio show “Paws & Tales” has some great writing. ^^

Older boy, trying to get the girl who has the ball to throw it: “Yoga class is over!”

One kindergartner to another, over some squabble they were having: “You’re making us want to cry and you’re breaking our hearts.”

Overheard in a kindergartener game of pretend: “Of course, you’re just born, so you’re 0.”

Kids are hilarious. But don’t underestimate them! Remember what Jesus said:

And Jesus said to them, โ€œYes. Have you never read,
โ€˜Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants
You have perfected praiseโ€™?โ€
-Matthew 21:14

Edible terrain map!


Look at the kindergartners’ latest school project! It’s a landscape of different terrains, all made out of sweet goodies!

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Flat cookies go down first as the base to build on. Green-tinted sweetened coconut makes the “grass” of the “plains.” The “hills” are chocolate chips and the “mountains” are Reese’s peanut butter cups (you could substitute bigger chocolates here), with more chocolate chips on top for ridges and white sprinkles for “snow.”

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There’s a “river,” of blue frosting. Next to the “plains” on that side is a Kit-Kat “plateau.”

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The “river” leads to an “ocean,” also of blue frosting, and bordered by “coasts” of graham cracker crumbs. The ocean contains cheddar whales (the only non-sweet thing, though gummy fish could be used here) and an “island” made of a vanilla wafer.

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What a sweet, educational craft!