as Jules is going

Valentine’s Day Tattoo Gifts & Cards {early Thoughtful Thursday}

February 6, 2013 by Jules Leave a Comment

Thoughtful Thursday a weekly series on asJulesisgoing.com

I know it's not Thursday but I really wanted to share our inexpensive Valentine's before next week. These were so easy and I think some of you would LOVE this idea for your littles to hand out at their preschool or nursery.

I love not only giving our neighbors seasonal gifts but our church family as well. Since my kids aren't in daycare or preschool, we treat our church friends like classmates and it's a good excuse to show some love'n every now & then. Since we plan to homeschool, starting this tradition early will help form this habit as well as let my kids enjoy some of the typical public school traditions. Valentine's Day Parties and passing out Valentines were always so much fun!

We are on a pretty tight budgets so I wanted to do something simple yet fun for Valentine's Day. This will actually be one of our last Sundays with our current church family before our preview services & launch so I Really wanted to do something kinda special to let these families know how much they've meant to us.

When I found these adorable packages of tattoos at the fancy dancy Targe', I knew just what I wanted to do! I believe they were $5 a bag. . They only had two different kinds at the Little Rock Target I was in but it worked great. Boys- Pirate Tats & Girls- Heart Tats! I didn't want to simply put my kids' names on the 'from' line and to be honest, 1. I don't know all the kids in their 2 different classes, 2. I forgot to ask for a list and 3. You never know how many on said list or how many newbies will be there on any given day. I chose to make one {FREE PRINTABLE!} label work for both packs...mainly because I'm lazy but partly because I wanted all the kids to be able to hand out guy & girl boxes and not from each specific child. I did cut them out using different shears to give them a little different look {girly vs boyish}. This kids had fun helping me put together their Valentine's! Here's the final product:

If I can remember, I may go back & snatch some left-over ones on an after season sale and have them for next year as well! Anyways... Maybe this will help somebody searching for an inexpensive Valentine idea for an entire classroom full of kids but with a small personal touch.

Don't forget to get your FREE Valentine's Day Pirate/Heart Printable Cards/Labels!

Pass it on:

Filed Under: Gifts Ideas, Holidays, Homemaker, Homeschool, Parenting, The Ones about Post Series, The ones about the Rothacher Home, Thoughtful Thursdays

Valentine’s Day {party for PreK Homeschoolers!}

February 4, 2013 by Jules 1 Comment

What's not to love about a holiday all about love?

I have fond memories of school day parties. You remember, back in the day when schools were allowed to throw a shindig for every holiday under the sun. Class lists were sent home, homemade treats were passed out personalized for each student, homeroom moms showed up and celebrated with their kids and fun games.

There have been a lot of positive changed in the past few years and some of those things are still happening. But since I plan to homeschool I don't have the chance to see if my kids are going to have the privilege of enjoying "party day" at school...I get to plan the party! Woot Woot!

Find our plans for "LOVE Month" on the Homemaker's Challenge today!

It includes pictures, ideas for teaching History, fun Foods, Crafts/Gifts/Surprises, and Activities, and some resource links as well!

Pass it on:

Filed Under: Baking and Cooking, Decorating, Holidays, Homemaker, Homeschool, Parenting, Parties, The Ones about Homemaker's Challenge, The ones about the Rothacher Home, The Ones about things Jules tried off Pinterest

Chalkboard Play Table {Thoughtful Thursday}

January 10, 2013 by Jules 4 Comments

Today I wanna tell you how I "got took" and then turned my crappy table into a cool lil piece of furniture anyways.

Ya see, I've only purchased 2 things off of 'swap shops' on Facebook. The first was a cute sweater from a friend I knew from church. The second...well the second purchase was a little less cute. Ya see, this women posted a picture of what she called a "black coffee table". As I read through the thread of conversation happening under the odd angled picture I learned that the table was "tall enough for a preschool chair to fit under" and that "the table legs where 2+ feet tall and the top of the table was at her knee".

Sweeeeet! I'd been looking to replace our pre-children coffee table purchase with one that was less sharp-angle and more simple and round. I compared her description to our per-existing table and decided this was a Score. this was a simple, round, tall enough to be a practical coffee table, table! I messaged the women to see if it was still available and when it was we arranged to meet so I could purchase the table for a steal of deal- $20!

The day came to meet and we all loaded to head out to meet the stranger. As we waited and waited passed the set time, our daughters ended up needing to use the restroom. Matt chose to take them and allow me to have the awkward incounter with the women I had been dialoging with. She came like 2 seconds after they were out of sight. Having my baby boy in the backseat of the van, our conversation would of course be short and to the point. She rolled up in a Chevy Cavalier. 2 Door! You know where I'm going with this don't you. As she waffled her way out of the tiny car she began apologizing for being last, quickly retrieved the itsy bitsy table from Her TRUNK and placed it in my already open van, said a wierd, "Thank you, God used you to provide money during a hard time" spill after seeing scripture on my t-shirt and sped off in her lil bitty car.

What just happened? I stared at my new treasure with confusion. There is NO stank'n way a preschool chair could fit under that. That women was way taller than me and the top of that table doesn't come to my knee. The black paint was crazy scratched up and I'm pretty sure some good 'ole boy hacked these legs off something else and hooked'm to this "table top" using the wierd metal bracket thingies on the bottom. I think I would have been okay...if I'd paid like $5 for it. The worst part? Matt was gonna tease me about this for years...

As Christmas approached and we began pulling decorations and stuff from the basement, that table sat their laughing at me. Suddenly, I saw the leftover chalkboard paint we'd been given by a friend setting next to Sir Ugly and it hit me! Chalkboard table!!! It won't be tall enough for the kids to sit at but it will make a cute artsy play table. I did it!

Chalkboard Table

find a crappy {hopefully cheaper} table at a yard sale, swap shop, or somewhere random
get some chalkboard paint
clean the table well, sanding if necessary {I didn't...I put in as little man hours as possible}
paint at least 3 coats letting each coat dry really well before adding the next one
purchase some dust free chalk to appease the hubs who didn't want nasty chalk funk inside

We gave the table as a gift to all our kids on Christmas morning. It made a big statement next to the tree and has seen lots of scribbles, little people play, and even hand-drawn game boards in just a week!

Have you ever been "taken"? How can you turn your embarrassing moment around? Share!

EXTRA RESOURCE:
homemade chalkboard paint {ANY color}, all the tutorials I've found have these same 2 basic ingredients:

Dry Non-Sanded Grout
Acrylic craft paints

Pass it on:

Filed Under: Decorating, Gifts Ideas, Homemaker, Homeschool, Parenting, Projects, The Ones about Post Series, The ones about the Rothacher Home, Thoughtful Thursdays

Olympic Snack and Craft {Thoughtful Thursday}

August 2, 2012 by Jules 2 Comments

Today is thoughtful Thursday so feel free share ANY thoughtfulness in the comment section or even add a link to your blog's thoughtfulness!

Today's Thoughtful Thursday is dedicated to Ms Rebecca from High Maintenance Aspirations. She is my faithful reader, blogging buddy, and a sweet mommy mentor.

Olympic Torch Snack

Ingredients needed

simple ice cream cones {ours were wicked old and stail}
popcorn {any brand- our was a cheap microwave bag}
Extremes {optional}

Directions

Pop the popcorn
Cut the Extremes
Load the ice cream cones
Eat {and make a mess}

Olympic Rings Craft

{and some other...stuff}

Supplies

White Card Stock
Used/empty toilet paper/paper towel rolls {I cut mine small so my littles could hold them easier}
Acrylic paint in Green, Red, Blue, Yellow, Black {we used Purple}
Animal Crackers {added at the last minute bc my girls weren't done crafting- Optional}
Popsicle sticks {again, added at the last minute bc my girls weren't done crafting- Optional}

Instructions

Give each child a piece of paper {you can cut in 1/2 if you want}
Squirt each color onto a small paper plate with 1 tp/paper roll assigned to each color
Show your children a picture of the Olympic Rings or do an example yourself
Encourage your children to mimic the example
While you tell them the history of the Rings and what they stand for
Lay flat or hang to dry

If your kids are crafters like mine you may want to add these steps:

Talk about your children's favorite Olympic happenings
- sports
- athletes
- event {just something they've seen while watching the Olympics}
- team {may not even be the USA}
Gave them paint a picture of what they told you
Glue animal crackers in place {as the "athletes" and write their name/team if you want}
Lay FLAT to dry {so "athletes" don't slide}

"girl(s) swinging on bars"

Pass it on:

Filed Under: Holidays, Homeschool, Parenting, The Ones about Link-Ups, The ones about the Rothacher Home, Thoughtful Thursdays

Jules is an Amazima Mamma

July 13, 2012 by Jules Leave a Comment

During my family transformation from youth pastors to church planters, Katie Davis and her book Kisses from Katie played a large part.

As God was moving in Matt's life, this was one of the MANY books he read. As he read it at night and told me about specific stories in the book that were extra meaningful to him I just Knew God was moving us over seas! You see, I "surrendered to foreign missions" almost a year before I met Matt. I told him this when we stared dating but explained I wasn't sure what that would look like in my life. I just knew that I wanted to surrender to any possible thing God would ask me to do. I thought this story of a single girl making such an impact was going to be the catalyst to shoot my family overseas.{ Little did I knew we would be going on a similar adventure right here in the States in this current season of life.}

God did use Katie's story to soften my husband heart in the realm of overseas ministry and in giving! Matt gave up Diet Coke over a year ago! For those of you who don't know my husband, That Is HUGE! He's an addict! {I'll have to ask him to do a guest post about his addiction and God being his enabler} With some of the money we saved, he chose to sponsor an Amazima child! Longoli Moses has become a fairly regular friend to pray for, especially at meal times when we talk about why we sponsor Longoli. My oldest likes to remember to pray for Longoli's younger brother and that he will become a pilot when he grows up.

Another way we've tried to teach our children about why we are loving on Longoli this way is by teaching what we are able to bless Longoli with: a meal! The meal we're provide is very basic and reminds us how beyond blessed we are here. Every once in a while we choose to "eat like Longoli" with a meal of rice and beans.