Latest in buttonboxdesigns...

Here's a few shots of my booth at Creative Chaos from a couple weeks ago.  I have been so busy with other things that the blog has fallen by the wayside a bit, and I haven't put up any of my latest creations!

Sleepy Owl Earflap Hat

Fuzzy Brown Bunny

Brown Sock Monkey

Small Crochet Flower Barrette ($5)

Large Crochet Flower Barrette ($10)

Is June seriously almost done?

We have had a crazy month!  From having a booth for buttonboxdesigns at Creative Chaos, Glen and Amanda tying the knot, the end of programs and activities, Aria's preschool graduation, VAC Kids taking over the weekend service for Father's Day, to an upcoming ballet performance; I feel as though June has rushed by in a cold, rainy blur... we have not had much sun, and yet, my garden flourishes, and that brings me great joy!  Here is a bit of a photo montage of the past several weeks, since I have been such a negligent blogger!

Amanda and me

Outside the reception

Driving around...

Roscoe's cheese face!

All ready to go!

Cheese face again!

The preschool grad

Receiving her "diploma"

Ballet year end performance

This is just the dress rehearsal, as the performance is on Saturday

We can't take pictures at the performance, but no one's stopping us during the dress rehearsal!

Family Connect May 22-28

Oops!  I just realized I forgot to post the Family Connect this week!  Our house has been CRAZY busy getting ready for Creative Chaos next weekend, June 3-5, AND celebrating the upcoming marriage of our friends Glen and Amanda.  I'm a bridesmaid, the kids are the flower girl and ring bearer, and Jeremy's officiating the wedding.  So, we've been doing premarital counseling, bridal showers, stag(ette) parties, etc.

Last weekend at VAC Kids we were talking about the importance of taking initiative to make things right.  We looked at Jesus' teaching about leaving our gift or offering to Him at the altar, so that we could go and make things right with our "brother" (ie. friend, spouse, coworker, teacher, siblings...) FIRST.  If we don't have right relationship with those around us, how can we expect to have a right relationship with God???

 

 Have you ever done one of those spot the 10 differences between this picture and that picture game?  Well this week you are playing a 3-D version of that in your home!

Gather your family in one of the rooms in your house, and split into two teams (kids vs. parents, boys vs. girls, etc.).  Team 1 has 30 seconds to look around the room, memorizing where everything is, and then leaves the room while Team 2 takes the time to change around 10 things in the room.  They could move cushions and magazines, turn the coffee table upside down, turn on the TV if it was off, etc.  Team 2 then returns, and has to find all 10 things that have been changed, and make it right.  You could time Team 1 to see how quickly they can discover the 10 changes and make things right, if you like a little bit of competition.  Then swap roles with Team 2 leaving the room and Team 1 making things topsy turvy.  If you’re having lots of fun, play again in a different room, or change up the teams. 

Take time to discuss with your kids how important it is to take the time to make things right, especially with other people, and to not wait for them to come to you first, but to go first, and initiate forgiveness.

Further Discussion Questions

• What can you do if someone isn’t willing to forgive you even after you’ve said you’re sorry?
• How do you benefit by being the first one to step out and make things right with others?
• If God wants us to make things right with others before we come to worship Him, what does that tell you about how much He values forgiveness? What else has God done that shows us how incredibly important forgiveness is to Him? 
• What are some things you can say or do to start making things right with someone?

Family Connect May 15-21

This week at VAC Kids, we heard the story of Joseph, who even though betrayed and treated poorly by his brothers chose not to get even, but did the opposite!

Have an Opposite Meal with your family!  This can be as simple or as zany as you’d like!  Consider dressing up backwards in your clothes, girls dressing like boys and boys dressing like girls, having breakfast for supper, eating dessert first, cutting your food with a spoon or eating with the cooking utensils, sitting on the ground picnic-style, or making an entrée look like dessert or dessert look like an entrée (check out All Recipes for some great ideas like Meatloaf Cake and Spaghetti Torte).  Come up with some of your own fun ideas!

During the meal take time to talk with your kids about the difference between getting even with someone when they’ve hurt you or getting even God’s way.  Share about a time when you thought getting even would settle the score, but it made things worse, or about a time when turning the other cheek like Joseph did to his brothers made a big difference.

Family Connect May 8-14 - A little late, oops!

On the May 7/8 weekend we learned about the story of Jesus and Zacchaeus.  Our new storyteller Jason A. told the story and did a great job making it interesting for the kids and driving home the application points.  We talked about how technically Zacchaeus is the bad guy in the story, but because Jesus forgave him, he was changed... so much so that he because extremely generous in his desire to right the things he had done wrong in his life.  The Family Connect idea for this week is taken from the 252 Basics curriculum, but we thought it would be a better at home activity than at church!  Enjoy!

SUPPLIES: You’ll need a Bible; medium or large mixing bowls (one for every two or three children); spray bottles with a “stream” setting (one bottle for every two or three children); water; salt; blue, yellow, and green food coloring; towels; and smocks (if desired).

Open your Bible to Colossians 3 and read verse 13. Lead the kids to repeat the verse several times, one phrase at a time. What does the phrase “forgive the things you are holding against one another” mean? (It means choosing not to stay angry at others when they do things that hurt us; it means loving others even though they have done something wrong to us; it means letting go of the hurt and anger we feel when people do wrong things to us.)

Ahead of time, fill some bowls with water and place them in the freezer. This activity is best done outside.  However, if you choose to do it indoors, spread towels over the floor or a table and set out the prepared ice-filled bowls. For the spray bottles, you will also need to prepare a mixture of one part salt to three parts hot water. Stir until the salt dissolves. (If the salt isn’t completely dissolved, it can clog the spray bottle.) Pour about a cup of salt water into each spray bottle. Add about 20 drops of food coloring to each bottle. Replace the sprayers and set them to “stream.” Wrap the bottles in towels to keep them as warm as possible.

Give each child a spray bottle. Encourage the kids to take turns spraying water onto the ice. In the beginning, encourage them to repeatedly spray the same area. After about a minute, the water will begin to melt the ice, and a colorful ice sculpture will begin to take shape. Ask the kids to describe what they see (water melting the ice, water changing the shape of the ice, colors swirling together, colored water going into the ice) and possibly hear (water bubbling inside the ice, the ice cracking as it melts).

Chat with your kids about how the ice is like our hearts, and that God can use forgiveness to change people’s hearts the same way their colored water is changing the ice, just like it changed Zacchaeus’s heart.  Share a time when forgiveness changed you or someone close to you.

Further Discussion Questions:

• Why does God not want us to live weighed down with hurts and bad feelings toward others?
• Are there ever any situations in which it’s okay not to forgive someone? Explain.
• What are some reasons people give for not forgiving someone? What do you think God says about that?