Children's Service Projects - Random Acts of Kindness

These items cost less than $25.00

During this rushed season of shopping frenzy, do you wonder if there is a way to feel more gratitude and peace? Doing service will bring you a feeling of contentment and enrichment. You will feel connected to others of similar spirits and understand the true meaning of Christmas.

The Nativity and Santa's Symbol Story: Free Printables

This time of year, our family focuses on the true meaning of Christmas which is the birth of Jesus Christ. We enjoy reading together the Scriptures about His birth. We also like to make homemade gifts including the Santa's Symbol Story in which Santa explains the religious meaning of Christmas symbols.

Stocking Stuffers for Kids & Inexpensive Teacher Gifts

As a former Kindergarten and Special Education teacher, I can promise you that teachers would greatly appreciate your child receiving these stocking stuffers. Of course, keep some at home, but sending a few more supplies to school would certainly help a teacher and her students. Here is my Top Ten List:
 

Little Red Hen Christmas Cookies: Famiy Traditions

The reason I called this Little Red Hen cookies is because I'm feeling a little naughty selfish possessive of the pecans because they cost twice as much as most other nuts right now and my little pecan tree has only produced three pecans. Listen (teacher stance here - one hand on hip, other hand wagging pointy finger), I bought the ingredients, made the dough, and cleaned up the kitchen. So I'm going to hide a few cookies for myself in the rooster jar. I think I'll eat them for breakfast if I can get up before anyone else. Sarah prefers no extra pecans or she could have some. Now the grandkids can dip into the Santa cookie jar and won't know about the stash in the rooster jar with the extra pecan covered in cinnamon/sugar mixture. Opps, I wonder if the kids will Stumble around Upon this. Guess the cookies are good because Santa has never ever left any crumbs.

I do not recommend any substitutions. My husband is diabetic and wanted me to substitute artificial sweetener for real sugar. Being tight thrifty, he wanted me to substitute margarine for butter and almonds for pecans. I said, "Absolutely not; it won't be the same cookie. This is my mother's very special secret recipe {she'd be proud of me blogging and sharing this now} and no substitutions are allowed." So I made him some healthy cookies sweetened with apple juice concentrate so he wouldn't feel unloved.

FRANCINA DULIN'S CHRISTMAS COOKIES

1 pound butter, softened
2 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs well beaten
1 T white Karo syrup (refrigerate after opening)
5 cups shifted flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup chopped pecans
2 tsp vanilla

1. Cream butter; add sugar and vanilla then cream thoroughly.
2. Beat eggs well. Add Karo to eggs and add to first mixture.
3. Sift flour with soda and add.
4. Mix in chopped pecans.
5. Roll into rolls and wrap in waxed paper or Cling Wrap and refrigerate for several hours before rolling. Dough can also be frozen and saved for another occasion like making Valentine hearts.
6. Sprinkle flour on counter surface and on rolling pin. Roll thinly and cut with cookie cutters dipped in flour.
7. Sprinkle with colored sugars or with a sugar/cinnamon mixture. Pecan halves are especially good baked in the center.
8. Bake on cookie sheets lightly sprayed with a vegetable non-stick spray in oven 350 degrees for 8 minutes. Makes 12 dozen cookies if dough is cut to 1/8 inch thickness. LOL. I  double the recipe, as shown in photo, and freeze some. To save time, cookies can be made in circles by cutting rolls rather than rolling dough and cutting shapes.

The most fun party in my Kindergarten class was when a grandmother brought huge sugar cookies and let the children decorate them with icing, M&Ms, raisins, sprinkles, gum drops, licorice, etc. They were spectacular looking and tasted wonderful. The children had so much fun participating in decorating the cookies and licking the icing smeared on the floor around their mouths that it wouldn't have mattered if the recipe tasted good or not. Of course, anything involving icing is best done outdoors.

I've included Dan's favorite sugar-free cookie. The smell of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg fill the house making you not care that it is sugar-free.

HEALTHY SUGAR-FREE BLUEBERRY COOKIE

1 cup blueberries (or blackberries coated in sugar free substitute)
1 large egg white
1 can frozen unsweetened apple juice concentrate
1 mashed banana (optional)
4 T margarine or butter, softened
2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
2 cups flour (I use half wheat and half white flour)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 t nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

1. Mix egg white with apple juice that is room temperature or the egg will scramble. Add butter.
2. Add flour, soda, and spices and mix well.
3. Add a little more apple juice if more moisture is needed or a mashed banana
4.Roll mixture around a blueberry or blackberry forming a ball with berry hidden. If too sticky, coat hands with flour before rolling dough into ball or add more flour to mixture.
5.Place on cookie sheet that has been sprayed with nonstick vegetable spray. Bake 350 for 10 minutes or until lightly brown.

If you like a crunchier cookie, omit berries, but it will be a delightful moist surprise when someone bites into the cookie and tastes the berry.

There are only two food groups:
One that you cover with cheese
and one that you cover with chocolate.

Would you like a glimpse into Kindergarten? See Kindergarten: Tattle-Tales, Tools, Tactics, Triumphs and Tasty Treats for Teachers and Parents. Moms of Preschoolers - let Mommy with Selective Memory and me help save your sanity, one project at a time with the child development explanations with The Happy Mommy Handbook: The Ultimate How-to Guide on Keeping Your Toddlers and Preschoolers Busy, Out of Trouble and Motivated to Learn. Both are bestsellers and also available on Barnes & Noble and Kobo. The ebooks are only $3.99.

Follow me by:

Christmas Countdown with Books

I stole this idea and I don’t even know who to thank. Yes, being naughty at Christmas time is not a good idea. But someone, somewhere out there in cyberspace – perhaps living closer to the North Pole, found this idea on Pinterest, wrote about it, and I stole borrowed it. I confess: My name is Susan and I am a blogaholic. I have no idea where to look for it because I love to blog hop. Could be worse, right?

Going in my favor (Santa, are you reading this?) is that I love to read! So here is the “original” idea: Wrap up 25 children’s Christmas books and unwrap one a night and read it together as a family. Here’s my spin:  If you can’t find 25 Christmas books at the used books store or garage sales, especially with snow already blanketing some areas, then wrap up any children’s books – used, new, different genre; it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that you are reading books with your children every night.

If you are really pressed for time, and can’t even fathom wrapping 25 more things, just put a Countdown Till Christmas stash of books in a basket and pat yourself on the back for teaching math: 25, 24, 23… Counting backwards helps children learn subtraction. If you’re out of bows, perhaps you could put Post-it-Notes with numbers on the books. I opted for not wrapping the books, but wrote numbers on the backs of the bows going 1 through 25. Children can put the bows in numerical order—backwards or forwards. Whatever works, as long as you’re reading.

Martha Stewart won't be calling me for photo advice. We didn't even get the wood painted for the train track (oh no!). But that is on my list to do after Christmas. As well as shop on my favorite day of discounts, Dec. 26th. I bet I can find many children's books greatly reduced. I'll wrap them with scraps of wrapping paper (going green) and my basket will be ready for next year.

SNUGGLING, CUDDLING, AND READING PROMOTE:

• Bonding, security, consistency, stability, routine, self-esteem
• Literacy - a love of reading
• Helping children learn about their world through nature and science books
• The 3 Rs: Rhyming, Rhythm, and Repetition to enhance reading skills 

MY NEW YEAR’S CHALLENGE TO YOU

I have a simple challenge and it does not involve weighing yourself. Make a New Year’s Resolution to read at least one book a month—just for yourself. It is fun to pin, blog hop, surf, tweet, text, stumble around upon, connect with Facebook, and join in the increasing number of cyberspace adventures (myself included), but please let your children see you enjoying good books. Something about anything can be learned from reading. I wish you a MERRY CHRISTMAS as you COUNTDOWN TILL CHRISTMAS WITH BOOKS!  

You might be interested in my books: The Happy Mommy Handbook: The Ultimate How-to Guide on Keeping Your Toddlers and Preschoolers Busy, Out of Trouble and Motivated to Learn. and Kindergarten: Tattle-Tales, Tools, Tactics, Triumphs and Tasty Treats for Teachers and Parents. Both have been number 1 Bestsellers on Amazon and make great parent or teacher gifts.

Video of me reading "The Gingerbread Baby"

Merry Christmas! Take a break, gather the children around, and let me read to you Jan Brett's book The Gingerbread Baby.

A friend emailed me that Sarah looks "mildly tortured." It had been a long day but she wanted to be in the video and thought I wanted her to smile the whole time. On previous attempts the book had too much of a glare, according to my husband. Okay, we're amateurs. Here is a professionally produced music/video guaranteed to put you in the Christmas spirit: Andrea Bocelli and Mary J. Bling sing "What Child is This?"

Why I am Grateful I Have a Special Needs Child

A Guest Post on Closer to Lucy:     

During this time of year, our thoughts and hearts turn toward gratitude. I was very grateful and honored when Lucy asked me if I’d like to guest post. We have several things in common: We love to laugh, we love God, and we know what it is like to have a special needs child.

I never thought I’d give birth to a child. After years of infertility, several surgeries, and a miscarriage, Sarah was born as I turned forty. She was seven weeks premature weighing 3 lbs. 6 oz. Sarah is developmentally delayed and has a seizure disorder – yet she is the greatest gift I’ve ever received.

I had a dream before I knew I was pregnant. In the dream I saw a baby with a tiny tuft of hair on her head. A few weeks later, I decided to take a home pregnancy test. My husband and I were amazed that it tested positive. After Sarah was born, I realized that she was the baby in my dream. My Heavenly Father was letting me know that I was pregnant and a gift was on the way.