Play Eat Grow

Eat: Memorial Day Inspired Lunch

2013-05-22T18:34:00.004-04:00

Memorial Day is right around the corner. But I want my kids to know that it's not just a good day to hang at the beach or pool and buy some furniture or a car. I want them to respect and appreciate what Memorial Day symbolizes--the men and women who gave their lives so that we can live in freedom. That is truly something worth celebrating.

And so to spark a conversation (and to make meal time a little more fun), I put together this Memorial Day inspired lunch.

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Play: Memorial Day Dyed Pasta Crafts

2013-05-20T03:00:00.000-04:00

With Memorial Day coming up we've been reading some Memorial Day books and doing some crafts with DIY dyed pasta.

Pasta Art

Coloring your own pasta is cheap and easy, and can be used for lots of fun projects. Here's how to do it!

Put 1 tsp vinegar into a plastic bag. Add 20 drops of the desired color of food coloring.

Add 1/2 to 2/3 cup uncooked pasta of desired shape. We used ditalani.

Close the bag and give everything a good shake. Let them sit for 10 minutes, then shake again, and let sit for 10 more minutes.

Grow: Don Richardson (Missionary May Series)

2013-05-17T03:00:00.000-04:00

We continue our focus on missionaries in the month of May by looking at the work of Don Richardson.

Source

Before I begin, I've got to confess that I am no missionary expert. I didn't grow up learning about those that took the gospel to all nations. I don't really know very many now. But I do want my children to know about them. And so I'm embarking on new territory for me so that I can make sure my kids know about the "great cloud of witnesses" that are around them and that have come before them (Hebrews 12:1).

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Eat: Strawberry Inspired Recipe Round-up

2013-05-15T03:00:00.000-04:00

One of the things I love about this time of year is fresh, ripe strawberries! I am eagerly anticipating the opening of strawberry picking season at our local orchard, so I was inspired to look up some recipes that go beyond just the normal strawberry shortcake.

Play: DIY Photo Coasters

2013-05-13T20:57:00.000-04:00

I made these for Mother's Day, but I didn't get it up here in time for you this year. But you can do it for next year, or for a birthday, or Father's Day, you name it. These are totally customizable and especially great for people who are hard to shop for.

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Grow: Eric Liddell (Missionary May Series)

2013-05-10T03:00:00.000-04:00

We've chosen the month of May to focus our grow posts on some of the heroes of the Christian faith - missionaries! I've decided to start off by learning some more about Eric Liddell, and teaching my boys about him too. Most of what I know about Eric I learned from watching Chariots of Fire, so I was especially interested to learn more about his missionary work in China.

Source: Eric Liddell in the Paris Olympic Games

Eat: Overnight Breakfast in Bed Recipes

2013-05-08T03:00:00.000-04:00

Isn't there something so magical about breakfast in bed?

I always liked the idea of getting fed while still in my pajamas and under snuggly warm covers. And now that I'm a mom, the appeal is even greater when on a regular morning, I have to deal with diapers and potties and booster seats and bouncy seats and dishes before I can even think about feeding myself.

And so I love the one day a year when my hubby gives me breakfast in bed.

But I know how hard it can be to get up early to make breakfast in bed for somebody. It's hard. Really hard. And so I've compiled a list of thirteen different ideas for breakfast, all of which can be made the night before, aside from the last baking, so you can catch a few extra winks but still bless the one you love. So now husbands everywhere won't have any excuse not to bring breakfast to their wives for Mother's Day. And maybe other days, too. :)

Play: Mother's Day Celebration Centerpiece

2013-05-06T03:00:00.000-04:00

Looking for a centerpiece for an upcoming Mother's Day Celebration?

Earlier this year, I used ideas from several sources and put together this centerpiece for a PhD Residency Dinner. You likes?

Grow: Mother's Day- Creating an Experience

2013-05-03T03:00:00.000-04:00

This post is for all the husbands out there (ladies, "accidentally" keep this screen open on your desktop for your hubbies to read later on this evening, hehe!)

What if instead of giving your wife a gift for mother's day, you gave her an experience instead? For some mamas, what they really want (need?!) is a time away from the kids to just relax and enjoy quiet time, whether it be alone, or with a small group of good girl friends.

Now, ideally, moms would have this anyway, right? But the reality is, life is busy and it's often just not so easy to "take off" an afternoon of being a mom. Soooo...how about giving an afternoon off for your wifey to rest and rejuvenate?

Here are some of my ideas on how you can treat your wife to a Mother's Day Experience. Any of them can be arranged as a time with friends or just by herself:

Movie Marathon: Pop her some popcorn, buy her favorite drink and treat, and set her up with a movie that she has been wanting to see (or two!). One year Jake did this for me, and it was so nice to be able to sit on my bed with popcorn, a Sonic soda, and some candy, watching a girl movie for 2 hours without anyone asking me for anything. It was heavenly.

Day of Reading: Gather some of her favorite books (or ones that she has piled on her nightstand, just waiting to be read), a journal, a few new pens, her Bible, and maybe a book that you think she'd like, and send her off for a day (or afternoon) of reading/journaling/reflecting. This could be in a quiet room in your house, or it could be to a coffee shop, library, park, or quiet room in someone elses' house! Make sure to send some food and drink with her as well.

Spa Day: Some mommas would give anything for a morning of spa treatment-- most places have a day spa somewhere around them, so just google it to see what you come up with! Even if you don't want to splurge on a spa day, you could buy her a massage, or a manicure/pedicure package.

Craft Night: Gather some of her friends, make some snacks for them, and then go somewhere else with the kids! Let the girls have fun with a night of chatting, eating, and crafting. This one may require you to tell your wife beforehand so that she can think about what she wants to work on (and then make sure you give her time the day before to go and pick up any needed supplies).

Watch Party at a Favorite Restaurant: Maybe your wife isn't into the fru-fru but loves sports--- what about giving her a gift card to her favorite restaurant where she can watch a game with some friends?

Many of these ideas don't require a whole lot of set-up work, but do require a little bit of thought and a willingness to take the kids for any afternoon or evening of fun sans mom. It may even be a fun idea to get together with some of your wife's friends' husbands and kids and have a party yourselves while the women are enjoying their relaxing time!

Eat: Tres Leches Cake

2013-05-01T03:00:00.000-04:00

I was looking around the internet for a Cinco de Mayo related food to share with you today, and I thought this Tres Leches Cake sounded easy to make and quite delicious. Of course in order to write about it today, I had to make it before Cinco de Mayo, but since my sister’s birthday was this week I had the perfect excuse! Good thing she doesn’t mind me experimenting on her.

Tres Leches Cake, or “three milks cake” is a poke cake, which means you poke holes in it after it’s done baking and pour a liquid on top. This makes for a very rich and moist cake!

The Ultimate HomeMaking Ebook Bundle

2013-04-30T14:16:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to take a minute to share a really interesting looking bundle of ebooks that some of you may be interested in!

A bunch of bloggers have gotten together to share a bunch of their ebooks as a bundle of 97 books. Seriously, 97! Topics include things like cleaning, decorating, spiritual formation of kids, education of kids, budgeting, recipes, pregnancy, caring for young children, holidays, marriage, spiritual formation for moms, exercise/fitness, etc. Plus, it comes with some free stuff from some companies who share in the vision of a healthy, natural home.

Wanted to share a few ebooks that I'm excited about....

Truth in the Tinsel (our favorite!) by ohAmanda.

Personal ePlanner by ListPlanIt!

Flourishing Spring by Frugal Granola (a bunch of activities to do with kids on those rainy spring days)

Raising Rockstars by 1+1+1=1 (a curriculum that I have had my eye on for a while....)

One Bite at a Time by Simple Mom

For this week ONLY, the bundle is $29.97. You can hop on over to KeeperoftheHome to read more about it (including how to gift some of the books as gifts) and to see a list of all the books included.

AND, if you decide to buy, do so through our link, and we here at PlayEatGrow get a portion of the sales!

p.s. This would be also be great gift to give a mom for mother's day (I think I'm gonna ask for it for myself.... :)).

Play: Poetry for Children

2013-04-29T03:00:00.000-04:00

Maybe you haven't heard that April is National Poetry Month, and since April is almost over I thought I'd take a few minutes to talk about some of our favorite poets and poetry related activities. Now, as the mother of 4 and 6 year old boys, we are not really into anything too deep and thought provoking. At this age, I simply can't expect that they're going to understand the significance of:

so much depends

upon

a red wheel

barrow

glazed with rain

water

beside the white

chickens

by William Carlos Williams

Ok, I'm not going to lie. I don't really understand the significance of that either... Anyway, at our house we are really into Shel Silverstein, who has published four books of poetry along with some other picture books. Some are actually rather thought provoking (like the Whatifs), but most of them are good old fashioned silly fun. Plenty of bare bums and nose picking to get my boys thinking poetry is pretty cool! Shel Silverstein's website is really neat and has some games and activities for kids (including poetry writing) and teaching suggestions for parents.

Love the little "Mom why are you taking my picture?" smirk!

Grow: Mother's Day Gifts with a Conscience

2013-04-26T03:00:00.001-04:00

If you are looking for a meaningful gift to give your mom, or a suggestion for your kids or husband (nudge, nudge, Honey), you may want to think about choosing a gift that will "give back" at the same time as blessing the recipient. Last year right before Mother's Day I read the book Kisses From Katie, about a young woman who moved to Africa and ends up starting a lot of really neat ministries. When I read about the business she started to help women make jewelry instead of picking through trash, I knew it was a gift I could get behind, so I asked for one of the bracelets below for Mother's Day. As a bonus, whenever I am complimented on it, I get to tell someone else about Katie's book and ministry! Here's a collection of places your might be able to find a unique gift for a loved one and help someone in need at the same time.

Amazima Ministries, the non-profit that Katie started, sells handmade jewelry.

Every bracelet is unique and beautiful!

Eat: Chicken Stroganoff

2013-04-24T03:00:00.000-04:00

There are few dishes that my husband will actually name when I ask him what he likes to eat. One of those dishes is his mom's beef stroganoff.

So naturally, I tried to recreate that food memory.

Play: Games to Play while Hiking with Kids - Celebrate Earth Day!

2013-04-22T03:00:00.001-04:00

Why not celebrate Earth Day by getting outside? Bored kids are not happy hikers, so having a repertoire of games can help the whole family have fun when out for a hike or walk. Here are some games we enjoy, and some that we are looking forward to trying in the future:

1. Go on a monster hunt. The boys obviously know we are just pretending, but they still think it's fun. As we walk along, we look for "monster footprints", "monster caves", and things we think a monster might like to eat. On our last hike my husband hid and jumped out to scare us. In fact, he even scared me and we all got a big laugh out of that. Really, I suppose this could be any kind of pretend creature hunt. Maybe "woodland fairies" are more your cup of tea? Go for it!

Pointing out a good spot for a monster cave.

Grow: Going Green for God

2013-04-19T13:42:00.000-04:00

Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.' Genesis 1:26

God put us in charge. Plain and simple.
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Eat: Earth Day Tortilla Snack

2013-04-17T15:16:00.000-04:00

Looking for some ways to go green, check out this post!

How do you celebrate Earth Day with food?

By eating it of course!

Play: Playing with Trash- Two Earth Day Activities for Preschoolers

2013-04-15T03:00:00.000-04:00

¹¹Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. ¹²The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. ¹³And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day. - Genesis 1.11-13

We are big fans of earth day around here because we love the idea of dedicating a whole day to celebrating God's amazing creation. In Genesis, God created and said that it was good. If God did, why shouldn't we as well?

Reusing Caps/Lids

In order to recycle our milk cartons, laundry detergents, gatorade bottles, etc., our recycling service asks that we take off the caps. Instead of tossing it in the trash, we wash them and then put them in a bag. When the bag gets full, the kids organize them into colors and we put them downstairs in our "craft area." After almost 2 years of saving bottle caps, Jake and the kids decided to use a few to celebrate the coming of Spring!

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Grow: Music that Feeds my Soul

2013-04-12T03:00:00.000-04:00

This week has kind of been one of those weeks. Nothing horrible has happened, and the week has had its bright spots for sure, but overall I've been feeling weighted down under the mundane. I dropped the ball on a couple of important family calendar matters. I haven't managed to make it to the grocery store to do my shopping for the week, so I've just been running in each day to pick up what I need for dinner (believe me - you'd do the same thing if the alternative was bringing four children ages 6 and under with you). There are post-it notes scattered around the house, little messages scrawled on them to help me remember the things my brain can't seem to hang on to. As a person who prides herself on being responsible and organized, this is not my favorite place to be... Maybe I should see if they sell "humble pie" at Giant.

(ok ok, he wins the pride for being the most weighted down...) source

All that to say, I usually have my posts for our blog written in advance. I mull over ideas for topics, write and edit. Re-write to make things more clear. Pray that I would say things that would positively impact the lives of parents and children. But when I realized this week that it was my turn to write our grow post, frankly I came up a little empty. This week I've been trying to keep everyone fed and in clean underwear. Maybe I'll get to deep spiritual truth next week...
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Eat: Sausages with Acorn Squash and Onion

2013-04-10T03:00:00.000-04:00

This recipe is from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food, but unlike a lot of her recipes it was not made up entirely of ingredients I haven't heard of. So, I decided to give it a try and everyone really liked it! It's nice and simple too.

Play: Princess Monster Party

2013-04-08T03:00:00.000-04:00

What a day! Today we celebrated my sweet Aly turning 4.

I had spent the last 6 months pinning ideas for an art themed birthday party. About a month ago I had mentioned it to her, and she said, "No, mommy. I'm having a princess birthday party."

Oh no. I don't do princess parties. Most of her friends are boys, and I'm not a huge princess person. So, I mentioned that most of her friends are boys, and perhaps we could think of something to go along with princesses that boys would like too. Immediately she decided that a Princess Monster party would be perfect.

So that's what we did!

Invitations

For invitations, I just used thick scrapbook paper to cut out monster feet, printed information about the party, and then glued the info onto the scrapbook paper. Simple.

Food

Monster Eyes: Dried Apricots with Raisins

Monster Toes: Corn Dog Bites

Monster Princess Wands: Fruit Kabobs

Monster Claws: Cheesy Puffs!

Grow: Praying for Kids in the 10/40 Window

2013-04-05T03:00:00.000-04:00

Part of my focus for our family during the Easter season this year has been on praying for others. I'm trying to impress on my boys that the reason for our celebration as Christians is Jesus' resurrection from the dead, and that it's important to pray for others who haven't heard this Good News. One website that has been really helpful in allowing me to accomplish this goal is windowkids.com. Everything on the website is free, and if you create an account your children can earn little rewards for praying.

The site focuses on people in the 10/40 Window
an area from 10 degrees to 40 degrees north of the equator, covering parts of
Africa, Asia, and Europe. This area contains many of the poorest and
least reached people in the world.

Eat: How to Feed a Family with a New Baby

2013-04-03T03:00:00.000-04:00

To go along with our maternity theme this week (sorry, I'm 38 weeks pregnant so it's very much on the brain!) I thought I'd highlight some "there's a new baby in the house" meal ideas and tips. Hopefully this one will also be helpful to those of you who are not expecting a new baby, but are trying to decide what to bring to friend/church member who is in need of a meal.

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Play: A Few of Our Favorite Things (Maternity and Baby Remix)

2013-04-01T03:00:00.000-04:00

Last April 1st, we announced that Christina and I were both pregnant.

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{Guest Post} Grow: Helping Kids Understand Good Friday

2013-03-29T03:00:00.000-04:00

Today's post comes from a newer friend of mine...I first met Jacque at the Chick-fil-A Conference Center, where we spent a couple days listening to people critique our writing and eating a lot of yummy southern cooking. Jacque Adkins is married to Chris, her husband of almost 17 years, and is mom to Amber (age 13), John (age 11), and Emma (age 5). She currently lives in Lexington, KY where she works as a freelance writer and stay at home mom.

Recently, I was driving with my five year old when I decided to ask her a question.

“Emma, what is Easter all about?”

She started to shout out her ideas: The Easter bunny! Spring! Eggs! Flowers!

Her answers were typical for a preschooler, but they were still a little disappointing to me as a Christian parent. My husband and I take our kids to church, pray with them, and talk to them about God. How had she missed the true meaning of Easter?