Skate Session: Punto Las María Skate Park

My husband, Pedro has been skate boarding since he was 12 years old. He taught me how to ride while we were dating, and he often talked about passing the hobby on to our son. As soon as Nico was old enough to walk, we part him on a skateboard. We noticed his excellent balance and fearless attitude right away, not to mention he LOVES riding with his Daddy. Last weekend we decide to have a spontaneous family skate session at Punto Las María Skate Park. 

Teaching Toddlers: Thanksgiving Workshop

It is my favorite time of year once again! A day where we come together to share delicious food with thankful hearts. A time where we reflect on life and how grateful we are for all that we have.

Every child should learn to express gratitude as soon as possible, "Gracias" (thank you) was one of my son's first words! This year will be one of the earliest memories he will have of Thanksgiving, so it is important that he remembers the feelings of joy and the purpose of the holiday, which is to give thanks for all things.

 

Before gluing our turkey on to the paper, we created a beautiful work of art as a background for our little friend.  As he colored I explained that we need to be happy and say thank you to God for all of the things we have and I gave him examples of things to be grateful for. My main goal is for him to remember to always say thanks.

ex: Nico, say thank you for my toys! Nico, da gracias por tus carritos! 

Once he was satisfied with the paper, we arranged the turkey shapes and glued them to the page. 

 

Since Nico is beginning to learn his colors, we used a vibrant rainbow of feathers.

He counted them in Spanish, then in English, and I helped him glue the feathers down in the order and place where he wanted.
(thus explaining the 2 blue feathers on top of each other) 

 

By the end of the activity I told him that we were going to eat lots of food at his Abi's house (his grandmother's house) to celebrate all of the blessings we have received from God! 

Now he knows what a turkey is, and he is excited to have a fun day at Abuelita's house! 

Staying Calm When Things Go Wrong

As much as we try to make it so, life is not perfect.

The bible warns us that as Christians, we will go through many trials and storms.

 (See John 16:33) 

We go through difficult situations, and hard times more often than we'd like to admit. It's hard to see the beauty or the good when dealing with the stress and fear of an uncertain future, but in these times it can be helpful to cling to the word of God. 

Though sometimes we feel like everything is falling apart, we are encouraged to remain joyful and trust that God knows what he is doing. (Read James 1:2-4)

Like an old friend the bible compels us to remain faithful in the Lord. 

3 Things to keep in mind during, THE STORM:

1. God makes all things come together for the good of those who love Him. He will never forsake you, He will never leave alone. He does thing deliberately and intentionally, He knows what is best for us, and He loves us.

 

2. The bible holds countless examples of God protecting his people throughout scary and dangerous experiences. Remember when Daniel got tossed in the lions den for praying to the One True God? He came out unharmed and the king had all of Daniel's enemies thrown to the lions. (Read Daniel 6:19-23) 

The Lord protects those who trust in him. 

3. The bible promises that though things seem bad, they will always get better. (See Romans 8:18) 

God knows every detail of our lives, He knows our entire story, and He knows that there are wonderful things in store for all of those who put their faith in Jesus.

Our only job is to remain faithful. 

 

Teaching Toddlers 105: Baking

 I think that instant baking mixes are the best thing since paper plates, especially the brownies! 

They are delicious, affordable, and they make an amateur baker look like a master chef. 

Anyone can follow directions off the back of the box, even a toddler.

 

Baking is the perfect opportunity to teach your child about common goods like eggs, milk, and flour. 

In my opinion, it is never too early to start teaching kids about food!  

 

My 2 year old, Nico, couldn't agree more!

He cracked eggs as if he had done it a million times.

Due to his excitement and eagerness to help, baking brownies with me allowed Nico to practice following complex instructions and identifying the ingredients by shape or color. 

When the time came to mix the ingredients, I allowed Nico to explore the texture of blended food.

 As he got his hand (and his shirt) messy, I explained that putting different foods together changed the way they felt and turned them into something new! 

 

 

And after everything was mixed up well, he got to have a little taste of his hard work!

 

The finished result gave him something to be proud of and taught him that behind every brownie, there is a baker and an egg.