Delight Directed with the Daddy

 This book is lovely and wonderful for Dads to use with kids, but it could be used by any parent or caregiver. I thought up some do's and don'ts for how to use this book along with showing off what some of the inside pages look like.

 Goals for using this-
Spending quality time together-
Sharing your own interests-
Discovering what your kids are interested in-
Getting to know each other-
Nurturing creativity and curiosity-
Starting great discussions-

 

Don't tell them what to do and have them do all the work in the books or force a perfectionist idea of how things should be colored "inside the lines" or a certain color.  Don't squash their imagination.
Do take turns writing, coloring with them at the same time, and speak encouraging words while you do so! Learn from their young imaginations!

Don't ask questions like you are giving a test. You don't have to know the answers, and neither do they. This is about discovery.
Do listen and ask questions that draw them out.  If they start to clam up, it may be that they are afraid of sharing their thoughts. Sometimes kids need to hear a story about "when I was a kid I struggled with this" and encourage them with stories of how you grew past things or what you learned. No one is perfect, and they need to know it's okay to be themselves.

 Don't keep talking and talking about something you might be wanting them to learn while their eyes glaze over.
Do pause that documentary when you see their interest wavering so you can explain what is going on a bit to help catch them up. If there are words they don't understand, define them or look them up together.

Don't pretend like you know something if you really don't.
Do admit when you're unsure about the answer to a topic or the meaning of the word. Show them how you would find the information out yourself.

Don't roll your eyes at the topics being learned or act fed up with their simplicity or that you might not be interested in the topics.
Do develop your own curiosity and follow the interests of your children.  Look for something in the topics that is new to you and SHOW that interest to them.

You are modeling a love (or hate) of learning, and they will learn more by watching you and how you interact with them than what is actually being studied.

Don't fall asleep or let your voice drone dully on when reading out loud to them that same book they have heard a hundred times or that boring one you wish wasn't on the shelf.
Do pretend like you are in acting class and make your voice sound happier, or add higher or lower "voices" to the characters in the book. Or for that really dull, repetitive book that they have memorized, choose to throw in a random word instead of the one that is really there to make everyone laugh!

 Don't rush through the coloring pages or writing parts or whatever YOU aren't into.
Do show them excellence in what you do while accepting them and all their lovely imperfections exactly how they are!

 Don't lecture or use this time to "teach a subject"
Do listen and listen and listen.  Ask questions about what things are their favorites, or what was their dream last night, or if they were an animal which animal would they be?

Keep the goals you value the most in front of you while doing this.  This is about your kids.  It's about delight and it's about relationship.  It's about being imperfect and being loved regardless.

The left page above is only at the very beginning and sets up the rest.  It's about the subjects that your kids might be interested in and you can write that down together and discuss.
Look on your own shelves or go to the library to pick out fun and interesting books! Let people take turns coloring the books. Learning to work together can happen through coloring!

 Happy to be reading with the daddy!

 Every so often, these pages rotate around so I'll show the types of pages next! They are relatively self-explanatory.  ;)  While you read, you could have a child or two do the coloring on the books to keep them busy.
I also like to have silly putty handy for the wiggly kids that don't like to just sit and look over my shoulder when I read.  Silly putty can be super special if it's only pulled out during reading time!

 "Logic!  Why don't they teach Logic in these schools..."  C.S. Lewis from "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe"  WELL THIS school does teach logic!  Even we adults can have fun figuring out what the pattern is so we can complete it!  Have everyone take turns or choose to rotate children for each page you do.  Try things and see what works best.

Don't leave out the little kids!
Do consider photocopying a page if you have little ones that aren't able or ready to do some of these things so they can have their own school to scribble on or tear or crumple without it being a problem for the older kids. They will feel included and get to have fun, but it won't "mess up" an older child's work in the actual book. (You could also let them color the page after the fact if the older child doesn't mind!)

 This page might take some Google searching and could also include teaching moments as you do this with your child about what sorts of websites to click on and which to avoid.   
Tip - you can look ahead so that you already have some of this sort of info ready to go.  Just make sure it doesn't turn into a lecture on your part.  Think of it as you would talking to a friend who didn't read the news and you want to tell them what's going on.

For younger children, it can be hard to keep this page and topic age appropriate.  Just be aware of your own kids and observe how they respond.  If you child is unusually afraid of sharks, then talking about shark attacks might not be the best idea if you want them to be able to sleep at night.  ;)

 Through out the book for pages like the one above it will focus on different jobs (not repeating the same one) which could open up some interesting discussions.

Don't talk about a job in a way that makes the hearer think it's not as good as another type of job. 
Do recognize that you don't know the future.  Even if you don't think your child could earn enough money with a certain job and would prefer them to work towards another, the fact is, you don't know for sure. You don't know what the future may bring and they will likely change their minds later, or the thing that they love won't be their "job" anyway, but rather a hobby that brings joy to their lives. And who wouldn't want that for their kids!

 These pages all through the book focus on different animals, and I can see some pretty fun and funny conversations going on.
An idea to include young children: Ask them to move or talk or make their face look like the animal in question! And for lots and lots of laughs do this yourself as well!

 What are your favorite foods?  Talk, illustrate, and write here and consider the next time you could surprise them with a special food treat while doing some "Fun school" together!

On the right-hand page, it's "Reading time" and this could be you reading aloud or if you have a child that likes to read out loud (none of mine enjoy this yet) you could consider that or if no one likes to read out loud then plan ahead and get some books on CD!

 "Meet the Classics" page.  This says to "give this page to an older child who needs to practice writing."  You could of course do that or you could take turns writing the lines each and talking about any new vocabulary words you might run across as you all go!

Get a nice set of colored pencils or Gel pens 
To use in the books NOT just for coloring but for writing as well!  Take turns writing the lines together and use a different color for each line!

 "Tell this story in your own words" - if you aren't familiar with it or if you want a refresher, you can plan ahead with a page like this and have something pre-written so you feel more comfortable telling a story by memory.
Tip for including younger kids or for just making it more fun for older ones!  
Coloring is great, but if there are enough of you or if not everyone is into coloring you might consider modeling clay or play dough and re-create some of the objects in the picture! This might be random, but we like to roast tiny marshmallows over candles here in our big city apartment in the heat of summer.  ;)  And looking at a picture like this I'm reminded of that and how one could have their kids enjoying some roasted marshmallows while listening to this story being retold with fish being roasted over a fire.  :) 

 These are my kids favorite pages!  Create your own comic - and "Watch a movie" together.  The comic page could have brain storming going together and you could choose one person to do the illustrating. 
Tip- Real comics are made by one person doing the writing, one person doing the sketching, one person goes back over it with ink, and one person does the coloring!

With Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube, PBS online, TED Talks, and Library DVDs for free, it's really not hard to find interesting documentaries and other programs!  On Amazon Prime we just watched "The Science of Bubbles" so very interesting!

Don't keep watching a show to the end just to "finish it" if no one is interested.
Do be aware of age-appropriate content and watch your children as you watch the show to see if they seem interested or if they seem confused.  Pause the show if you can to catch them up if they seem confused about the meaning of words or just have a hard time keeping up with the speaker.

If you have a right-brain dominant learner like I do, then you'll need to think of how to help them set up a picture in their mind about whatever topic you all are learning about.  That's usually not as hard with movies, but if it's a TED talk or one that isn't made especially for kids then you might need to pause and do a little "re-cap" of what was already talked about with words you know they understand.

 Complete the picture pages.  This is similar to the logic pages, but not quite.  Develop observation skills and teach through example by pointing out the different lines and shapes and talk about how they compare to each other.  For smaller kids bring in counting naturally as you point at shapes and talk about what's missing so they can pick up on that as well.  This is a great page to plan to photo copy if you have several kids that might like to do this!  It would be fun to see how differently they turn out.

 How is everyone feeling?  Color in the expressions that match your moods today.  This can spark all kinds of conversations depending on the kids!  The bottom of the page says "list 3 things that might help you all feel better."  And yes, there has been suggestions of having hot chocolate and yes we then broke out the mugs and made it into an event!  And yes, everyone felt better after we did this. ;)

Don't judge the feelings of your child or make them feel like they can't express what is wrong.  Don't laugh at them or make fun of them or treat them like "it's not a big deal"  and act like they should just stop whining.
Do tell them that all their emotions are normal and try to be understanding and patient with them.  If they are having a bad day then acknowledge the bad parts, but help them see the good parts as well so the bad parts don't totally cover over the good things that have also happened.

 "Font Writing Practice" for our four year old I've had her copy over my own writing.  You can make bubble letters and have a child color them in for this.  You can show off some cursive if your child is interested in that as well!  Basically, make this work for you and your family.  If something starts to feel like a drag then pull out some colored pencils to write with or look up a calligraphy video to get some inspiration.  Here's a Ted Talk about Penmenship that was pretty inspiring!

My oldest actually really doesn't like the page on the right "word hunt" but she did like it at first.  I think it got to be a drag for her to try and find the exact letter count and then having a hard time finding words that fit the asked for letter count. 
If this is a problem for you, then you can just have them find any words all around the house or in books, or you can stipulate it in other ways like the "longest words" they can find.  For this, you can choose to do the writing for them to be an example of good writing or if they are too young to write.  Or you can take turns copying the words, or turn it into a game and all have different gel pens to write with and see who can find and write the most (though watch out for competitiveness as it can make for some tearful little ones.)  Cooperative games have worked the best for us!

 Math time and a drawing game.  The Math time can be a fun time to teach kids how to use a ruler or if you have older kids you could challenge each other to create a certain shape or something.  Or if someone wants to do the whole page themselves then they could work while you and other kids do the "drawing game" on the right hand side.

Don't - give the book to a kid and walk away completely.
Do - even if they want to do it on their own be near by to be impressed and share the experience and be a listening ear.  If you don't know what to do don't reach for your phone!  Reach for a colored pencil and color some boarders around the pages.

 Listening time and room to color and draw.  Today, my 10-year-old listened to A Wrinkle in Time on CD while doing this page in her "Kitty Doodle" journal, and was enjoying it so much that she ended up listening through half the book!

And those are all the types of pages!  The front cover says for ages 6 to 16, but I've been able to incorporate our 4-year-old into our "fun school" and as I mentioned before, you could always copy a page to hand to a little one that might want to scribble on it.  They will be delighted to be included in the big kids' school!

 Also, don't forget to take time to just sit and play with your kids too!  Lego is such a great tool for this.  Both of us enjoyed building with Lego as kids so it's a fun thing to do with our girls now.  We had a "Lego Christmas" this year as so much of the Holiday was spent building together while eating candy canes!

 It's the simple things that can create the best memories.  :)

Art Journaling - A place to be imperfect

This is my question for this year, and what I want to focus on.

Too often I focus on what I'm not good at and what I need help with.  Like schedules or goal setting.  I don't organize and set goals and to-do lists like other people, but it doesn't mean I do these things poorly. 

Ask yourself - What do you do well?

Now how can you take that skill and use it in more areas of your life?

I think that if more people focused on these two questions then they would have more joy and peace in their days and possibly even be able to accomplish their goals more easily.

Another question I'm asking myself - Why is this goal important?

For instance, I'd like to exercise every day (and I don't have a great track record of doing this) but why is this important?  Is it to drop a dress size?  Sure, that might be great, but that's not important enough and too superficial to last long.  For me, it's because I want to have the energy and ability to do things that I enjoy doing - like ice skating! 
We can't afford to go ice skating even once a week, and we don't live in a place where I could hike every day or do other physical things that I love.  

But when those opportunities come I don't want to be so out of shape that I can't enjoy them!  So that is my "why" for this one thing.  Yours might be different.  It could be because you want to keep up with your kids or grandkids.  It could be because you actually love running (for some unfathomable reason that I can't understand.)  ;) 

The point is.  Find your "why" with your goals and use what you are good at to move forward to your goals.

 These thoughts have been brewing because I've been reading a lot of different books, blogs, and other helpful resources about these things and am doing this course called "make over your mornings" -- I am half way through now and it has been helpful as I take the advice and spin it into my own way of doing things.


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Today, rather than talking about new ideas on how to organize (which I've talked about a lot before because I'm always trying to improve that!) or our random days and what we are into right now.  I thought I'd talk about Art Journaling.

First, It's a place to be imperfect. 

 Sometimes the art looks less than impressive.  Sometimes, I let my kids draw in my journals and then I write around it here and there.  Sometimes I dislike a page so much that I glue the pages together and start over.

The best thing I've learned in the last few years is how to do visual journaling and the first rule is that anything goes.  Even though I do share some of my pages with you all, it's really not something that needs or should be shared.  It's about the process more than the product!

 
 The picture above and to the right were both done with this duel handed simultaneous drawing exercise (draw with both hands like a mirror to each other) and then I colored them like it was a coloring page.
Sometimes it can turn into a colorful random shape blob like above and sometimes it can turn out neater than you were expecting.  But, the point isn't the product.  It's the process.



We are all artists because we are made in the image of the Creator God.
What are you good at?  It might not be drawing or coloring.  It could be baking, or decorating, or the ability to listen to others and make them feel special with your care.  Whatever you are good at, however God has gifted you, BE that this year!  
I'm currently reading this book called "A Million Little Ways" -Uncovering the art you were made to live and it's been a great place to ponder the question of "What do you do well" along with "what do you want to do well" what are the deep desires that God placed in your heart?

My newly turned 10 year old created this picture in my journal using the two handed exercise!  Then she colored it! 

All the different journals I have going right now.  A couple are almost done and one is brand new!

 As I was thinking of journaling and my own personal way of goal setting and organizing and all of that, I got to thinking how some people might appreciate seeing this sort of organized, messy, mindful, artistic, process that you all too could take ideas from and work them into your own way of doing things.

"The Idea Book" blog is just that.. it's ideas.  I love thinking that I could inspire people, but I hope this is never taken as "THE WAY" to do something, because I never think of it that way.  It's all ideas in process and is an imperfect mess. 

Anyway, on with some more ideas.  ;)

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Maybe you don't get totally overwhelmed like I do when looking at pre-made planners and just might like to add in the "adult coloring book" type thing to what you are already doing.  If that is the case you might like my newest journal/coloring book that would be a great start to a visual journal type thing. 

I love all this authors books and this is one of her newest.

 This is my newest journal and I haven't started writing in it yet.  My old one (the big black one) and the yellow one (pictured above) are almost full and then I'll jump into this. 

It's a little tidier right now, but I might do the visual journal thing of bending pages and gluing stuff into it all over the place.  For some reason it makes me feel less stressed out if the pages are imperfect because then I know it's okay for me to be imperfect with-in the pages.

 Some pages in this book look like this and I'll color the pictures and write down quotes probably or just journal my thoughts to my invisible friends, or write down prayers. 

Second thing about visual journaling - I like knowing that I can do visual journaling in any order!  The journals don't have to be in chronological order and I can do any page at any point and fill in the gaps as I go till it's full. 

 This particular journal will work well with using any pages at any point because the beginning has pages like this with coloring pages.
 The middle of the book is mostly lined pages for lots of room to journal.  And the end of the book has unlined pages with something to color just in the corners.  It's a nice tidy variety of page types that would be great for a beginner journaler.

As adults we probably get to thinking too much that each page needs to be "finished" if we are going to start it and the truth is that it doesn't.  

Third note about visual journaling- That pressure is off and we can have something simply for enjoyment and reflection.

The middle of this book has a lot of lined pages for lots of journaling.  I might even choose to do some pencil sketches on these pages and then use a gel pen for the writing to change it up, but the point is that you can choose to do anything in visual journaling!  

Some of the coloring pages are tiny like the ones here with lots of detail to color in.  Also, some of these coloring pages are blank on the back side so you don't have to worry about a marker leaking through and ruining your other page HOWEVER, in visual journaling (Point Four) the leak through isn't a bad thing!  It all goes into the "imperfect" and "no rules" place that visual journaling is about. If a visual journal has corners hanging out or color bleeding through the pages then all the better!

And some of the coloring pages are small objects like this picture shows.  I might journal around these pictures as well in circle patters and upside down!  Because, hey, "no rules" means you can write upside down after all!

The back section of this book has blank pages rather than lined with something to color just in the corners.  With pages like this I might glue in a picture or two, or a recipe that I want to remember.  Why not right? 
 Or color, or doodle, or write in really LARGE letters?  Remember, this is all for the process.  Forget about being able to easily get to it later.

  Point Five about visual Journals -This is about being in the moment not about saving this moment for later.

"We have the capacity to reflect the relational glory of God no matter who we're with, what we're doing, or what's gone wrong. This is when art is a verb rather than a noun. It isn't some thing you point to, it's a way you live."

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How I've used the January page so far in an imperfect way.

 Remember in a previous blog post where I showed off my calendar pages?  Well, here's how I use them.  General goals and thoughts are written down and my "to do" lists go on sticky notes that can be easily swapped or thrown away.  I've discovered that I don't like keeping to-do lists.  Better to start with a fresh slate and only keep the things that are truly meaningful and I need to remember!


 Today I decided to have a zoomed out version of this year and cut out the pictures from last years calendar to make it happen!  I might use these pages to write down what we DID do or I might write down some goals that I'd like to see happen.  I dislike planning too far in advance as spontaneity seems to be a happier mode for me, so it will probably end up more in the "This is what we did" sort of list.  Which actually is really helpful still because then I can think about what to do next.

 My old (almost full) visual journal that I started in the fall of 2013!  This is a page that I kept gluing art from my girls into.  They would give me a picture they made and it was so sweet and always a struggle to know what to do with their little offerings.  They were delighted when I asked if I could put it in my visual journal.  ;) 

Sometimes I ask if we can hang it on the fridge or if we can hang it on the wall and then later those pictures will end up in page protectors in their binders.  That is, only the pictures that they want to keep.  Any that they don't want in their binders will be thrown away with their permission.  It's been working for a while and doesn't really take very long to all do together.

This page is an example of a folded random page.  Also, in case you couldn't tell from the fact that I blog.... I tend to like to talk "out loud" to figure things out.  There isn't many people to hear me though so sometimes I write all the random "I can't keep my thoughts to myself" moments and in the picture to the left I wrote and wrote and wrote some more on top of my own words as I turned the page and changed colors of pens.  You can't read it afterwards, but I wasn't writing anything important anyway.  I wanted to show this page to show an idea of what you can do.  I'm trying to save (hopefully) more interesting things for this blog or Facebook or even talking to my husband, then all the random stuff that pops into my head that isn't important to anyone but me.

 This page is one that I used to organize some thoughts while doing a Jamberry party!  Then, I covered it all up later with the pictures of the wraps that were leaving for the "going going gone" last fall. 

Showing this just to give an idea of what you can do after you've used a page.  You might not need to keep the info, so why not play a bit and cut up an old magazine or catalog?  OR let a kid do this part!!! 

Last point about visual journaling-  Being IN the moment and fully experiencing wherever you are or what you are thinking about is the point for me.  

It's not about the product, it's the process.  It's being more mindful and finding rest.

Were you wondering what my previous calendar pages looked like after the blog the other day with 2016s all ready?

This one was one of the better ones that I made.  Some were covered in question marks and had no color at all.  And some I didn't finish till the month was almost over so ended up writing down what we did rather than what I wanted us to do.

It's all about being imperfect.  It's about baby steps.  
I'm slowly getting better at doing these things in my own way.  They won't look like other peoples way of staying organized and being mindful and using my time well.  It will be all my own, misspelled, messy, random, thoughtful, artistic life, that doesn't have to meet anyone elses ideas of what it "should" be.

 This coloring page is from the "Homeschooling Handbook for Moms" which I am still really enjoying.  I don't get to this every day, but that's beside the point.  We put too many burdens on ourselves of what HAS to get done and turn even enjoyable things into "have tos" - what if you sit by your child while they read out loud and you actually listen.  You rest and listen and color.  What if your little one wants to join you and you both sit at the table and color?

I want my own box of crayons.  ;)

 One of my most used pages in the handbook for Moms are these "reading time" pages.  I write down quotes from books and blogs that I read and want to remember.  Then I color some after writing down the quote so I can think about it. 

If you don't homeschool (or if you dislike owls,) but would like a journal like this I'd recommend the "Coffee Time Quiet Time" one as it is really similar.  I have that one too, but will finish this first before using it.  To see how the pages compare to each other you can look at the end of this blog post where I reviewed them together.

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So, what do I do well?

I asked my husband what he thought I did well and ironically the things that I do well I seemed to always be trying to fight against instead of going with it.

 I was stressing myself out trying to get better at doing certain things in a way that fit other personalities which aren't my own.

How can I use my strengths well?

 

"Be with what is.  Let the day be the day without trying to run away from it."

"Our lives are at once ordinary and mythical. We live and die, age beautifully or full of wrinkles. We wake in the morning, buy yellow cheese, and hope we have enough money to pay for it. At the same instant we have these magnificent hearts that pump through all sorrow and all winters we are alive on the earth. We are important and our lives are important, magnificent really, and their details are worthy to be recorded." (Quote from "Hands Free Life")

 

Whatever you are doing to record your life. Facebook, blog, instagram, scrapbook, pictures on your phone, journaling - keep doing it. Your life is valuable.

Gluten Free Danish Christmas butter cookies.

 I used to love these cookies!  In those Christmas tins, all different lovely shapes in their individual papers.  WELL, this Christmas I decided that I should look into trying to convert a recipe to make them gluten/corn free.

Which meant a lot of testing the dough and cookie eating on my part.  (You're welcome) ;)

 After I did it the first time I had a pretty good idea what little changes needed to happen, but finally got around to doing the changes and final test tonight!  And, I've got to post about it before I forget.  (Next year I'll want to find this recipe again and what is this blog for except to keep track of things for me like this?)

Okay, THIS is the original recipe that I changed over.  If you don't have to be gluten free then just do that one.

And here's how I'm going to say how to do it. --

Ingredients-
3/4 cup of almond meal
2 cups gf flour mix
1 cup sugar
1 & 3/4 sticks of softened butter
2 large eggs
1 tsp of vanilla extract (gf of course)

preheat the oven to 350
Cream the sugar and soft butter together, add eggs and vanilla (I mix all this with just a fork in a medium mixing bowl and when I toss the fork and bowl in the dishwasher and you are still taking apart and cleaning your food processor/fancy mixer keep telling me how much quicker it is.) ;)
mix in the almond meal/flour loosely scooped.. don't pack and push the flour into the cup or it will be too dense and too much.
I used the flour blend pictured below, but if you use a different blend and it doesn't have xatham gum in it then you should probably add a tsp of xatham gum or something as well. 
Same thing with the gf flour mix.  Don't pack it, just fluff it into the measuring cup and smooth the top off to accurately measure.
(Don't chill the dough as this doesn't seem to help, but only hurts gluten free baking from what I've experienced.)
Use a cookie press like this one
On an UNgreased baking sheet 
(sprinkle with sugar before baking if you wish)
and bake for 10 to 15 minutes 
(start at 10 and then add more time to get the amount of color you like.)

Creaming the butter and sugar.  I love this part!

 The original recipe and many pastry recipes will have you chill dough.  I did try doing this and the second time skipped that step because I've found that chilling gluten free dough has a negative impact rather than a positive one.  So as soon as it's all mixed up, pop it into the cookie press and get to pressing and baking!  Also, note, I didn't bother with making it into a roll before putting it in the press.  I did that the first time and the second time just spooned it in and pushed it down tight and it worked just as well.

This is the flour blend that I used!  It already had a gum in it so I didn't add any extra.

 I took a short video to show how the dough felt.  It's moist and sticks super well to itself, but doesn't stick to me at all.  Very much like play dough, but lighter.

 I bought the cookie press that the original recipe recommended and once I got the hang of it it worked great!  It's actually super fun!  It did take a while and some blobs of dough that went back into the bowl till I got the hang of it though!  If you have trouble I'll see if I can find or make a short video about it to demonstrate.  I fiddled with it and almost gave up before I got the hang of it and then it was easy.

Sample of all my test subjects on the first go around.

Before baking you can sprinkle sugar on the tops of them as well.  Half the time I forgot to do this step, but it was pretty when I remembered.  :)

And that's it!  Super easy and not even that many ingredients!  Everyone has loved them.  They are a light (shortbread type crunchy) cookie (similar to Sandie's Pecan cookies, but less crumbly) which I think goes so well with tea parties!  Also the almond/vanilla flavor can be complimented by so much.  I might play more with this for Valentines day!