as a mustard seed

The ins and outs of the Vitale three, our travels and our simple daily pleasures. Fueled by mustard sized faith which, would you know it, can move mountains.

[asamustardseed]

Hear Ye

Meet my MAC makeup pouch (is that what they’re even called??)

In the summer of 2006 I was dumped. To clarify, he actually beat around the bush for two weeks until I basically asked him to say it already. So in clarifying, you now know I basically dumped myself. 

Proceeding, I decided to call in to work that day and instead went solo to the movies to see A Devil Wears Prada. On my self loathing walk home, I wandered into a the joy and shimmer that is a MAC store and went on to blow a month’s rent. Yes. A few new eyeshadows, makeup brushes, blush, lipwear and other odds and ends later I was left rent-less and with pricey makeup to toss into my pricey new makeup pouch.

This was not a good idea by any means and I’m thankful for the day I went home to visit family and friends shortly after this dismal event at which time I broke down and told my mom everything. She was EXTREMELY understanding about me hardly having anything to show for kissing my rent goodbye. Thanks, mom! I’ll pay the forgiveness forward to Addison one day!

So, what’s my point? 15+ years have passed and I finally have discarded this piece of anti-nostalgia. 

I never looked at the ol’ pouch as a reminder of an absolute crap day of heartbrokenness, shame, unworthiness. Sure, I’ve gone over the day many a time in my head when looking at this black pouch but life obviously went on and that’s all it remained, simply a bad day, unlike the multitude of blessed ones I’ve had since.

I think we all have a lot of baggage we look back on that may or may not carry a lot of weight on our lives, even today. The fresher the baggage, the harder it is to call it ONLY a bad day. I believe that’s okay, friends. We’re often expected to put it in the past but I think there’s something healthy to being reminded of the difficulties without being consumed by the memory of them. We are asked to be thankful to God for the good and bad, no? To see the most horrific days and find the means to use them in His glory. I recently read I Will Carry You by Angie Smith dealing with the imminent loss of her daughter, Audrey. This isn’t a book about complete mourning through and through. It is so much more about strength, looking to God, and primarily about the lives that Audrey has touched and continues to touch, even in her death. 

We never forget dire circumstances. We tend to bear them in some form. But a day comes when the weight seems to be lifted a bit more and we’re better able to see through the pain. Goodness begins to surpass the struggle. 

I won’t forget this useful little pouch. I held my finest, most expensive makeup in this bag for years. For all the sad memories it bore, it also helped me to heal, possibly the most expensive day of self therapy wrapped up into this pouch. My life turned out pretty amazing so far. I’d say the goodness surpassed the struggle making it easier to let go of this representation of a bad day I overcame but won’t soon forget. Why should I forget? It was a part of my life that got me here.

[asamustardseed]

August 11, 2021

The last photo I uploaded to my computer before things went haywire yesterday. I’m smiling because it was August 4th and not yet August 11th. And by haywire, I mean:

My phone was obliterated as it dove into the floor only to have it’s screen riddled with lines and cracks I can no longer swipe through without shards of glass in my fingers. 

We got word our closing would not be today but sometime next week. (Thank you, God, that we did not have a scheduled move for the next few days.

And, are you ready? Our AC kicked the bucket. Yes, during a lovely heat advisory. 

Things could be worse, it’s true but my anxiety took a nose dive with the day and I found it hard to focus. Fast forward to today when I decided I should just replace the phone only to accidentally submit the request as a shipping order rather than the intended in-store pick up. Okay, Lord. I get it. A lesson in patience and provisions. You see, we are pretty spoiled. AC, smartphones, um, roof over our heads. It’s in these moments we thirst-I’m literally so thirsty, it’s like 90 degrees in here now-and our thirst should be for the Lord. For He is our true comfort on the rough days, our champion on the best of days. I sought His word today when I felt like I was in the middle of a panic attack I could not control and I found peace there (Psalm 143:6) unlike the moments where we are comfortable and happy and fulfilled and often forget His word as if we don’t need constantly.

And so I go, with new eyes to see all is well and that we are cared for. We have all we need!

[asamustardseed]

May Roundup

[asamustardseed]

May Crafts

Homemade Watercolors

Addison and I tried our hand at making homemade watercolors with some flower petals. We pressed the petals with Very LITTLE water so that it would be a saturated color and we got more than we bargained for! Can’t wait to try this again sometime with MORE variety of hues. 

Orange Ball Cookies

My grandma made the most delicious rum balls when I was younger and this is a kid friendly version. Super easy to make using only Nilla Wafers, OJ and some powdered sugar. First, you mash up your nilla wafers until they are as fine of a dust as you can make then. Next you add a little OJ at a time so that the balls can be rolled without sticking to you! (if you’ve gone too far with OJ, add more wafer, or if too dry, add more juice a bit at a time.) Once you have a good consistency, shape dough into balls and roll in a bowl of powdered sugar. Can be refrigerated or frozen if need be.

Whale

Evie and I spent a day discussing whales and learning about the different parts of a whale. We went over their dorsal fin, flippers, flukes (end of their tail), blowhole and ventral pleats (on their underside). This craft was very simple.

Needed:

styrofoam cup, tinsel for water spouting out, white paper to make eyes, sharpie for mouth, blue construction paper for body, blue paint

To do:

First, have your child paint the outside of a styrofoam cup blue. Let that dry as you prep the rest of the craft. Make eyes using white paper and sharpie to cut circles and draw in the iris. WIth the blue construction paper draw the outline of a whate body, 2 flippers and a dorsal fin. Cut all the parts out. 

Once the cup is dry flip it upside down. Use a glue gun or regular glue (if you have the drying time!) to glue the cup to the body cutout as shown. Glue the two flippers on either side of the cup and the dorsal fin to the back of the body cutout. Glue the eyes to the front of the cup and glue the tinsel to the top. Add a smile with a black sharpie. 

How sweet is this prickly but adorable Mother’s Day gift. Draw a vase with a message or have your older child do the illustration. Then use green paint for a handprint. While drying, make a tiny paper flower in any color and color in the vase. Once dry, glue the flower to the handprint (anywhere) and add a smiley face and prickers! No fuss cactus for Mom! Don’t forget to write a nice message to mom on the back. I love to do a mini questionnaire with younger ones who can’t write. I start three sentences and jot in their answers such as, “I love when mom _______,” and so on.

[asamustardseed]

Taking a Cue

My kiddo loves her Moriah Elizabeth and took a cue from her videos on recreating old sketches. Addison dug up an old sketchbook (there are quite a few to choose from, let me tell you!) and chose to recreate this girlie. I love the added details and close up rendition and how she translates what Moriah does. 

[asamustardseed]

April Roundup

[asamustardseed]

April Crafts (where has time gone?!)

Bird Feeder

Can’t beat the ol’ bird feeder craft. We put a twist on the pinecone feeder and recycled a cardboard egg carton by cutting it up and swiping the peanut butter inside then dousing with birdseed.

Rainy Day Girls

I had the girls do a little self portrait. We then painted blue paint onto bubble wrap (smaller bubble wrap would have been better for this!) and placed a piece of paper a bit larger than their portraits to protect that area of the paper. Once the portrait area was covered, we blotted the bubble wrap over the entire piece. When removed, we then also removed the paper protecting the portrait and cut out a little umbrella over head.

Orange Hand Tree

With an abundance of clementines, Evie and I decided on making an orange tree. She mixed a brown paint herself and then used it to make handprints on green construction paper as well as to paint 2 toilet paper rolls. Once the handprints dried, we glued circle cut outs from the orange peels and glued them onto the handprints before gluing the handprints to our tree trunk. Orange you glad you checked this post out. Hehe.

This was the coolest steam project ever!!! Completely looked it up online so I wish share the link because it is a must to try this out with kiddos. Fun to customize and to play with after!

[asamustardseed]

Upcycled Clock

When doubting your old clock’s appearance, consider upcycling it with a new paint job before paying to replace it. I found a Frida Kahlo art piece someone had made and I loved the little detailing of flowers and plants and went right ahead and borrowed the motif for my own custom taste. I used acrylics for this project.

It went quite well with my Frida banner and decorative cross in this nook in our room. I just need to put one of my growing succulents on this plant stand!

[asamustardseed]

March Roundup

[asamustardseed]

Sausage Cheese Bites

On a recent trip to Tennessee to visit a dear childhood friend, she graced us with the most simple, DELICIOUS breakfast recipe! 

Preheat oven to 350º

1 16oz roll of sausage

1 pouch of shredded cheddar cheese

2 cups Bisquick

Handmix ingredients together. If they aren’t sticking well, add a little milk at a time until it’s a better consistency. Roll into balls and placed on greased cookie sheet. Bake for 25-30 minutes

Total comfort food, not the healthiest but absolutely an easy way to entertain morning guests!

[asamustardseed]

March Crafts

A bit of Spring. A bit of Women’s History Month. A splash of Dr. Seuss.

Rachel Carson was a marine biologist, author, and conservationist whose work heavily influenced the global environmental movement. We channelled her love of nature into some lego play and Evie and I came out with this lovely lego bouquet.

March is also a time to celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday. Since his illustrations are so unique and recognizable as his own, I sketched some familiar figures but allowed the kids to choose their add-ons. From hats to bows to long ears and different mouths/eyes as well as hair, the girls enjoyed creating their own Seuss characters!

One of our lovely and vibrant flowers was wilting away so we took the opportunity to press them in a magazine for a morning and work with them later in the day. 

Needed: flower petals, clear cups, mod podge. 

Once the flowers were pressed, we used brushes to paint mod podge onto cups and the girls selected and stuck on their petals. Once completed we, again, painted a protective mod podge layer over the petals to keep them. Once dry we had a WONDERFUL outcome! I loved this and look forward to trying again with other petals!

[asamustardseed]

Winter’s Receding

I’m thinking of you. I’m smiling. I’d like to ask, “How are you feeling today?”

Have you ever had gum in your hair? Or played with an overly sticky, bad batch of slime because Lord knows we’ve all made too much of it with our kids ...

It sticks. And when you try to stick it to itself to remove it from your skin - it spreads. You pull it away. You try to peel it away. You attempt to rub it off. We can’t quite leave the pandemic behind us just yet, can we? We’ve already picked apart the good that came out of it and, yet, there still is that lingering feeling of being stuck. I recently saw a headline announcing the impending end of the pandemic and for how long I’ve waited to hear an inkling of news such as that, I must say, I was taken aback. I felt a rush of anxiety - somewhat of a PTSD or a Stockholm Syndrome in the form of the pandemic rules of somewhat isolating oneself. Why does change, even change that we want, cause so much inner conflict??

Humans have a hard time when it comes to control. We want to be the narrator, the navigator, the one with the perfect plan to follow, though, I have God and my anxiety from change is my conviction to keep control when, all along, he already has my manuscript, cleared and published and playing out. 

Today I’m feeling okay. I lost my temper briefly on Easter Sunday while attempting to help with Addison’s book report. Last night, I became frustrated and called it a day at 6pm with no dinner. Even this morning, since I decided to clock out of my day early last night - lovely - I was stuck with Addison’s horrific fraction corrections that left me not terribly happy as I rushed her through them with hope they were correct. I’m moving past those blips in what were actually wonderful, productive days filled with sunshine, excessive laughter, quality time with family and the kids I care for. Regardless, as with the pandemic, we tend to dwell in the negative even when it bears a small percentage of our time in comparison to the good. It’s only 11:44am and I’ve worked out, spent a good amount of time outside with the kids, had a healthy breakfast, did storytime with the kids and have prepped a lesson, craft and lunch as well as completed some of my personal to-do list. The sun is out, yet again, and we’ll resume our hula hooping and bubble blowing this afternoon and I’m okay. Slightly tired but improving in attitude and joy the more time spent outdoors.

Don’t feel so hung up on how to answer when people ask how you are. Every day comes with joy and difficulty and you don’t have to shine through it all every second because your story is simply unfolding. It’s been written and it’s unfolding with each day and is difficult the more you try to control and narrate what is God’s. Feel like crap, or okay, or awesome, or wonderful! Be honest about it and maybe talk about it. Getting things off your chest is often a great way to begin witching gears. 

Jude 1:2 says “Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.” Having faith will bring you God’s will, grace and peace over your life no matter how you’re feeling in the morning. Trust in Him and feel comfortable to be honest about how you feel along the way when posed with the question, “Hey! How are you doing?” and you’ll surely bear witness to God working in your life. One second you’re doing okay, the next He’s led you to a new job, handed you the bloom of your daffodils, provided you with the means to cover a bill you’ve been anxious about. Embrace the present, let go of trying to control what has been, is and will be. That’s when the cue card says, “Enters God.”

I’m thinking of you. 

[asamustardseed]

February Roundup

[asamustardseed]

February Crafts

Black History Month is always a wonderful opportunity I like to take to introduce the kids to African American names that aren’t as often discussed. Mae Jemison’s story, intelligence and perseverance took us right up to outer space with her as she was the first African American woman to travel up, up and away! 

Using paper plates, construction paper, crayons stickers and glue the girls made their own astronaut helmets. I cut out a section from their purple construction paper and paper plate. We also cut out a bust from plain scrap paper. The girls decorated their helmets and bust with crayons and stickers. Once done, they glued their bust onto the purple construction paper. I then used hot glue to attach their helmet to their background and to infinity and beyond they went!

Bessie Coleman did not let her poor and segregated upbringing along with the walls the US put up in allowing her to learn and succeed stop her from becoming the first African-American woman and first Native-American to hold a pilot license. Fortunately, she was able to go to and be taught in France. In her honor we used 3.5 popsicle sticks, a toilet paper roll, paint and styrofoam to make our own planes to take flight with! The kids painting their roll and sticks. Once dry, I got out my trusty glue gun to glue a stick on the top and bottom of the plane as well as a half stick on the rear. We glued the last stick onto a roundhead paper fastener which we pressed into the styrofoam to allow the front to spin. The styrofoam is then fitted into the toilet paper roll.

Evie and I spent an afternoon learning about the colors representative of Black History Month and their meaning.

Black: Melanin/Our shared identity - We decided to trace Evie’s hands to represent that regardless of skin color, we are all people inside and out and that black and brown skin is absolutely beautiful!

Yellow: Sun/Prosperity - Evie and I discussed the importance of hard work and how it pays off with success!

Green: Mother Nature - Our shared world to nurture

Red: Blood/History - We discussed the hardships of African Americans in history and even today and how blood doesn’t always mean bloodshed but can refer to your family, relatives and so she drew her own family.

We, of course, devoted an afternoon to a darling Valentine’s card craft using only paint, cardstock, pencil and sharpie OR black construction paper. I folded cardstock into a card and drew in light pencil a heart shape - large and more to the top of the card. The kids dipped their index finger in paint (they chose to use pink and red) and they filled the heart shape with their fingerprints. Once dry, we erased the visible pencil and the kids could use black construction paper cut out as a tree trunk and branches or could draw their own trunk and branches over the heart to appear as a heart tree! A lovely keepsake card or artwork to give on Valentine’s Day.

Jean-Michel Basquiat has always fascinated me with the message in his artwork. He has a childlike feel and vibrancy to the majority of his pieces so the kids and I decided to make self portraits but using random colors if they chose as opposed to the true colors of our skin, hair, etc. Once completed, they thought it was pretty wild that I drew lines over their artwork and allowed them to cut up their work! SAY WHAT!? We then pieced them back together on black construction paper to give their work a unique look like that of Basquiat. 

[asamustardseed]

My Funny Valentine’s

My favorite part of Valentine’s Day is sharing sentiments in the form of cards that we’ve labored over and decorated very intentionally for each recipient. Addison and I love using metallic sharpie’s, beads, wooden clips, different cardstock, lace and so on for our Valentine creations. How do you show your love and affection and go a little extra on Valentine’s Day?

[asamustardseed]

January Crafts

With January being a more low key month in regards to holidays and more of a recovery time from craft overload between fall and the new year, our crafts are a bit all over the place around this time! Enjoy our month in crafts and don’t forget to visit #toolsfortots to access all of our crafts over time! I tend to theme the crafts around the holidays, current events, weather so the crafts you find under particular times of the year will coincide!

Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems is a hit around here. The girls love the stories of Knuffle Bunny’s accidental adventures as he grows with his girl. We decided to work on telling time and make our own custom Knuffle Bunny clocks! Use a printable of Knuffle Bunny or draw your own and cut the ears separate from the head to use them as your short and long hand. Use a round head fastener to push through the two ears and set aside. We used cardstock for a sturdy background and a paper plate to trace it to the size we wanted. Using a coloring book and a smaller paper plate, we traced another circle as a background for Knuffle Bunny. Glue the coloring page circle to the larger cardstock circle and have the kids write their times in. Glue Knuffle Bunny’s head to the coloring page and push the fastened ears through the background to complete. 

A simple fine motor skills craft is drawing out lines or letters and numbers and having kids place stickers along those lines. Easy as that! For this lesson, we used “2021″ as our track to follow.

Inauguration Day! Evie and I enjoyed watching the YouTube Kids Inauguration day broadcast and followed it up with a patriotic craft using our American Eagle, Red, White and Blue sparkly stars and “USA” in red, white and blue. And how did we make our eagle?? With hand tracings, of course! Have the kiddos cut out a circle and their traced hand print out of brown construction paper. Glue down to black paper, as shown. Cut out tail feathers and a head with white paper and a beach with yellow paper or drawn on, same with eyes. Garnish with all things red, white and blue and make sure to discuss the symbolism and discuss the importance of voting and different candidates getting an opportunity to be president for 4 years.

Evie and I were enjoying a snow globe book and decided to make one of our own! We found leaves and dirt and berries outside which we glues to cardstock. I drew a little dear to add to our scene. If you have small figurines to add, that would work great! (Think fairy garden figurines). We then used a clear plastic cup and cut out blue paper to fit as a background to glue onto our clear cup. Once all was relatively dry, I used hot glue to glue our cup over the scene, preserving it. Of course, you can’t shake this one but it was certainly inspired by the season and the idea of snowglobes. We did put bits of packing material to appear as snow.

Sometimes a simple paint by instruction can be as exciting as the most in depth craftl!! The kids and I made a cartoon dog. They followed along as I painted one with them. It’s sort of like a Painting with a Twist experience for tots. Pick whatever you feel up to teaching, paint with them and have them pick out a name for their creation!

With Valentine’s Day getting closer, Evie and I opted for a lady bug counting craft (in a heart shape, of course)! 

Needed: 10 black or dark buttons of similar sizes, a silver and black sharpie, a manila folder, an envelope, a red heart from construction paper and black paper oval and rounded square shape for the top and bottom of the lady bug. 

To do: Glue the heart and head/bottom of ladybug on the right side of the open folder. Once dry, use sharpie to draw antennae, a line down the middle of the heart and 10 circles. Place dots (1-10) as shown in each of the circles. Glue a large envelope on the left side of the open manila folder, opposite the ladybug, and be sure the open flap is accessible to store buttons. Once complete, write 1-10 on the 10 black buttons using a silver sharpie. These can be stored in the envelope and used in a matching game with the circles drawn on the lady bug!

Valentine’s Day Card. 

Needed: watercolors, pen, scissors, watercolor paper

To Do: First, gently fold (without creasing too much) the front of the card in order to cut out a heart. On the opposite side of card, have the kids paint watercolor all over their hands in the colors they choose (without muddling too much! is that a word?!) and making a fun print in the card. Let Dry. Once dry, write a message on the lower or upper part of your design so that it doesn’t show when the card is closed and the heart cutout is exposed. This makes a great keepsake card for loved ones!

[asamustardseed]

Main Street Arts

God’s grace has been ABUNDANTLY exposed throughout this pandemic and in various ways. For some of us, it’s as simple as time spent with a family member who has been laid off. For others, more outdoor walks when travel isn’t exactly an option. For how very wrong the turn into electronics can go, I myself have been exposed to the beautiful side of options like zoom. One of those options has been provided (and greatly appreciated by me!) by Main Street Arts in Clifton Springs, NY, about 45 minutes north east of my town. 

Not only is this an amazing and every changing gallery that you absolutely MUST see but the youth programming provided for our kids during this pandemic is unmatched. Brad and Pam have given those who can’t be in studio a chance to experience the gallery and learn art technique virtually but in a very virtual reality way as Brad often handholds his phone during our zoom meetings to take Addison and Gavin “through” the exhibits as if they were there. They make their way through the paintings and Brad “takes” them upstairs so it’s as if we are right there with the class. 

Fortunately, we have been able to schedule visits to the gallery to see the work live and in living color, texture, and vibrancy. The kids are currently in their second session but I have some photos here of their first session which included both working with air drying clay as well as multimedia artwork using markers, colored pencils and pastels. At a reasonable cost, you can purchase a generous art kit when you register which can be used for any and all of the sessions. If you do end up taking their sessions virtually, your kids can look forward to seeing unique exhibits and interacting with Pam, Brad and the in house students while learning new ways of creating!

An amazing bonus to visiting this gallery is enjoying this gorgeous town. I feel like I’m stepping back in time whenever we are there. I highly recommend planning a visit to the exhibits followed by a meal across the street at Warfield’s Restaurant and Bakery (I’ve had amazing dishes and desserts here - HIGHLY RECOMMEND)! There is a lovely bookstore down the street called Sulfur Books that I absolutely loved and went on a surprise shopping spree recently. On our way over we passed an old timey barbershop, a pizza joint which I can only imagine from the line has the best local NY style slices, a comic store, hardware store and so on. We were there on a Saturday evening so most of these places were closing up but I can see enjoying a wonderful afternoon in Clifton Springs gushing over the architecture, the shops and the whole eclectic scene in this storybook town. When in a pandemic, seek out places like this!