Fearfully and Wonderfully Made…on Canvas

This year’s pick for our history curriculum is “Mystery of History” from Bright Ideas Press. Its basically a combination of biblical and secular history in the format of a timeline. Its flexible, and able to be used for kids in early grade school all the way up to high school.

Anyway, today was lesson 1 and 2-Creation and Adam and Eve. Seeing that I dont fully follow ANY curriculum I get, I changed the format of the activities suggested with each lesson. The Creation lesson called for a creation booklet (yawn. How many times have we done that in Children’s Church and Sabbath School?), and the Adam and Eve lesson had a self portrait lesson using colored pencils and a mirror. Now, that one peeked my interest, but I wanted them to enjoy how special and uniquely designed they are.

A trip to Pinterest…and I found this <— Click the link for the original post.

So, I decided to change it up and make it mine. Are surprised? Ha!

Here’s what we did…

Kenzi picking “worth the wait” was a major score! She just turned 12, and Im continuing to place a major emphasis on her value.

They all designed their own pictures which was pretty cool.

How did we do it?

Super simple.

1)Buy a pack of canvases. These are 8×10.

2) Pick a color of acrylic paint. We got ours from the craft section at Walmart. Only 50 cents a bottle.

3) Pick up accents. Ribbon, duck tape, wooden pieces, stickers…whatever your heart desires.

4) Paint the canvas one solid color. Letting it air dry in between coats. You can also use a hair dryer to speed up the drying process.

5) Paste picture to canvas. We used homemade modpodge (50% elmers glue, 50 % water).

6) I cut different adjectives out of magazines ahead of time for the kids to choose from, but there are word stickers out there that can make this step a little easier.

7) The kids picked the adjectives they felt best described them (or God’s thoughts as He was creating them) and glued them to the canvas using the modpodge.

8) Using a hot glue gun, we glued the wooden pieces and ribbons where the kids wanted it.

9) Hang it up!

 

Easy as pie.

Now, I wonder how I will change up the next lesson on Jubal and Tubal-Cain.

Thats Totally Supermom

 

 

Great 48 Challenge

Tomorrow Ill be starting the Great48 Fitness Challenge. I saw this last year on instagram. I believe it was started by the instagramer (Is that a word?) @getfitorgetfat.

Here what you do:

Set boundaries for yourself in exercise and diet,Then, for 48 days, eat and exercise around those boundaries. Everyone sets their own goals. There isnt a blue print to follow.

So her are mine:

1) I have a tendency to skip breakfast, so for the next 48 days my boundary is to at a minimum have a smoothie for breakfast. When I do eat breakfast, I will make sure they are clean eats. Ex. A bowl of granola with soy milk or a boiled egg and toast.

2) I will eat one big meal daily which will be lunch. In that meal, I will make sure at least half of the meal is raw food.

3) Dinner will be simple foods like popcorn, healthy cereal, or fruit.

4) I will exercise in some form daily. On days when I “dont have time”, I will at a minimum do the Seven App. Check it out, its free.

Ive decided to add a spiritual and self-rewarding component to this challenge.

1) Every morning I will present myself to God. I will talk to him like he’s my friend, and ask for his guidance throughout the day.

2) I will do something for myself daily. I will create something, exercise my talents, pamper myself, etc.

Tomorrow is Day 1.

Will power Lord, will power!!!

Thats TotallySuperMom

Staying Focused- The Vision Wall

Hey guys! See, I told you I was back!!!

In 10 Things That Happened While I Was Gone I had LOTS to share with you that I wanted to show you later.

This post will cover numbers 2, 3, and 7. Mostly 7.

I have trouble staying focused. Ive learned that my goals are consistently the same, but I really struggle with remembering to execute them. For that reason, I usually start the year strong and by December forget all about it. The goal is still something im passionate about and burns within my soul but I rarely get it done the way I would like, not because I dont want to do it, but I just get distracted VERY easily for various reasons.

One year, a good friend of mine (HEY CANDACE) invited me to a vision board party. We went to this nice boutique with our poster boards and magazines to make vision boards. Guys, I was soooo confused! LOL What am I suppose to do with these magazines? Cut what out? For what? LOL!! I did eventually create what is now my yearly tradition. I even sometimes have a party of my own. Ive expanded and now instead of a board, I have an area.

Come with me as I give you a tour!

This area is located in my room on a small wall.

 

The above picture is a shot of the entire area. Its on a small wall in my bedroom, so it looks like my “office”…a very creative office. Some call it organized chaos. Let me tell you, everything means something. Every spot. Every piece of paper. Even where its placed. Its all for a purpose. I call it my little heaven. The banner over the top says, “Thats Totally Supermom”. You get it? You will by the end of this post. It was given to me by my wonderful husband that threw me a supermom party.

The Green board is 2013’s vision board.

                  2014 Vision Board

Above is my vision board for the 2014. I unconsciously have placed a center piece in every vision board Ive made. I realized this after looking over my past few vision boards. This year the center piece is that piece of paper that says “It will change my life”. Everything else surrounds it, and is divided into sections. Top Right- focuses on me. My dreams. My health. My fitness. My eating habits. Bottom right- friendships, artistic goals, reminder to read and let go of what I cant control. Bottom- Summer Vacation (Did it), the desire to travel (kind of did it), wanting a new couch (got one) among some other household items. Bottom left- My spiritual life, plugging into the power God gives (I need to work on that) Top Left- Some family goals. Top center- Goals for my marriage. *wink wink*

I know some people that will change their board to go with the changes throughout the year. I dont do that because I like to see how Ive grown in the past year. So as I change, I add stuff around it.

Reminds me of who is in control and who my power (in my vision board) comes from.

Given to me by my church women’s group.

Here is a close up of one of the really special things on my wall. My name was inserted in the Bible verse Jeremiah 29:11. It really touched me because it was so personal. Almost as if God himself was talking to me. I also found my love cup being filled just because the ladies took the time to do this.

 

Helps me remember to relax, and bust a sweat. 🙂

If you can read the pink heart and enjoy watching “The Sound of Music”, you may get a kick out of that.

Sometimes I need a reminder to do those things I love.

Gum Package

This was given to me by a really good friend. It was so simple but so special. It made the wall. 🙂

 

So now, you got to see my vision wall, my mint colored desk that I refurbished, and my orange walls. Really Guys, it was a totally accident gone fabulous.(The walls)

But here’s really why I do my vision board:

Matthew 6:22-23 (NIV)- The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

My vision board is the light to my eyes. It reminds me daily of my purpose, my goals, my worth, my love, and the list goes on. It gives me perspective. Stay positive, Court. One day at a time, Courtni. Get your tail up and work out. Yes honey, its ok to leave your kids to go do things that make you happy. You like what you do, remember? You dont need affirmation from the world to do what God tells you. God doesnt call the equipped, He equips the called.

How’s your Vision?

Thats Totally Supermom

(Did you get it?)

 

 

 

10 Things That Happened While I Was Gone

 Hello Everyone,

Its been a while since Ive posted.

Lets see…

1- I moved…twice. Twice in 4 months to be exact.

2.I painted the inside of my new house orange and absolutely loved it!

3. I refinished a desk and painted it mint which pops greatly against my orange walls. *giggle*

4. I planted a garden using the Back to Eden method. Made my garden so much easier to maintain.

5. Speaking of gardens, I learned not to plant 5 cucumber plants next to each other. (Pics coming soon)

6. I also learned not to plant a watermelon plant next to the cucumbers.

7. I now have a vision wall that gives me life! Ill post about that soon.

8. I started and didnt stick to a healthier lifestyle plan more than a dozen times.

9. I learned that breaks are like air and food. I have to take breaks in order to survive.

10. Random but Fourth of July came around and I crafted with my children. We made cute little handprint flag shirts.

I think I’ll be forever catching you guys up on everything that has happened, but here’s something that I discovered that seems to stick out above everything else.

I was feeling rather discouraged guys. VERY discouraged. I questioned if I was a good mother, a good Christian, a good friend, a good wife, and sometimes a good person. I counted all my faults, and none of my gifts. All of my defects of character and none of my good deeds. I was struggling. I desperately needed guidance. I found it.

Matthew 6:33 says, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.”

Its a common quoted verse. Ive read that verse over and over again in my life, but this time it really struck me. Earlier in the chapter, Jesus is telling us not to worry about what we would eat or drink or what we would wear. Clearly if nature goes without want, we would be taken care of. Even in our sinful nature, we know how to give food to our children. Doesnt God want to give that to us. 

Ive always read this verse as God provides. Yes, I know. I know God provides. It was redundant, but this time I REALLY heard it. 

This verse says:

Courtni (Supermom), dont worry about if youre a good mother, seek me and you’ll be one.

Courtni (Supermom), dont worry about if youre failing your children, seek me and you’ll be a success.

Courtni (Supermom), dont worry about if you have the money to cover that bill, be a good steward, and Ill take care of the rest.

Courtni (Supermom), Its ok that you made that mistake, seek me and Ill help you out of it.

Courtni (Supermom), dont worry about if you are a good wife, seek me and Ill make sure you have the tools to make you a good wife.

Courtni (Supermom), dont worry about all those things that are on your heart, give them to me, and Ill supply the solution.

 

I saw the intimacy in this verse. I saw it!

I also discovered that I have a bad habit of trying to handle everything all on my own.

He says just ask.

Im doing my best to remember that.

Thats Totally Supermom

The babies in the flag t-shirts they made. They werent that excited when I pitched the idea of doing the shirt, but were totally siked at the results.