Mom's Lessons from the Boys

Alphabet Birthday Party favors

2012-02-05T05:28:00.000-08:00

For Alligator’s birthday party, I made a cookie of each child with their initial on it to take home.

I used refrigerated dough.

Then once baked, I made a glaze of confectioner’s sugar and a little bit of milk. I dipped the cookie in the glaze and let dry. Then wrote their initial on the cookie with blue icing. I allowed it to harden and then wrapped it up.

I also gave each child a Elmo Alphabet workbook.

This is how I displayed them. I put them by the door, so that I wouldn’t forget to hand them out. I am notorious for doing that.

Novice Sewer---Tie T-shirt

2012-02-04T10:45:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was my birthday. I am now 35. I decided to start a new hobby. So, what did I get for my birthday? A sewing machine. I am so excited.

It took me several hours to get the thing ready to sew. I watched several YouTube videos, and finally figured out how to get everything threaded.

I have been dying to make T-shirts for the boys with ties on them. I have seen them all over Pinterest and Etsy, and wanted to try it for myself.

I bought a bunch of cheap T-shirts at Wal-Mart and some fabric swatches.

Here is my first attempt.

Not so bad, except I only had it sewn on the top (I had hemmed all the edges before hand). He loved it, but I was afraid that he would get pulled off.

So I decided to sew all the way around it.

Now remember this is my first sewing project in 20 years (my grandmother was a fantastic sewer, she worked for Singer for most of her career, and then retired to teach sewing at the community college). I had made things with her, but she was a huge help…in fact she probably did 99% of it.

In sewing around it, I sewed the front of the shirt to the back of the shirt. When I tried to fix it, this happened!

Ok…so try number 2! This time I didn’t hem the sides first, I hemmed and sewed it onto the T-shirt at the same time. I made the Tie too short for monkey, so this is Alligators.

Not too bad if I do say so myself.

My next project is going to be a tie for Monkey to wear to school on Valentine’s Day.

I am going to iron on some cool designs, and then sew it on…bet you can’t wait!

Testing

2012-01-27T08:31:00.001-08:00

Alphabet themed birthday, centerpiece

2012-01-27T08:21:00.001-08:00

Alligator’s birthday party has an alphabet theme. I decided we needed a centerpiece for the table. So I used a clear vase, and dumped in 2 medium bags of M&Ms. Then I was going to put each letter of the alphabet on a skewer (with tape). As I started this, it started to get really crowded fast.

So instead I put the letters of his name instead.

This is an easy and cheap centerpiece. Yes, and now you know his real name… maybe!

Alphabet Birthday Theme, pendant banner

2012-01-26T16:53:00.001-08:00

Alligator is turning 3 and having a Alphabet themed birthday party.

He loves, and maybe even obsesses over, the alphabet.

So I made him a pendant banner with the letters of the alphabet on it.

I used cardstock and cut out my triangles. Then I used a pack of foam letters from the Dollar Tree. I glued one on each pendant. Then I strung each triangle together with ribbon from Michaels.

I love how it turned out! We are going to hang it in his room after the party!

Be sure to keep reading to see some other alphabet themed party decorations!

Cupboard Makeover

2012-01-10T05:58:00.001-08:00

We are getting new carpet next week. So in the process, we have to make all of our furniture as light as possible so it can be moved.

Well, it became obvious that I needed to clean out this cupboard. I use it to hold a variety of things Mainly anything that is out, that needs to be away in a hurry.

SO here is the before

This is the after.

I have a giant garbage bag of trash, plus a giant crate full of things to go to goodwill.

Just to give you a frame of reference for how big this cupboard is, Monkey decided to get inside.

This cupboard was used by my husbands grandfather. My husband is from England and it was used to hold his clothes. Not sure what we are going to use the empty side for. But I am thankful that it is all cleaned out.

Growing out my hair

2012-01-05T18:45:00.001-08:00

I know this sounds a bit boring, but I really want to grow my hair out, so I thought each month I would post a picture. According to my stylist, in a year I could have the hair that I want.

So here is my starting haircut. WAY TOOOOO SHORT!

See I told you. Too short. SO this is the starting point. Yeah, I know...gross picture, but hopefully in one year I will have long hair, below the shoulders. I'll update every moth with a new picture to show the progress.

15 minute makeover, after the holidays edition

2012-01-04T03:17:00.000-08:00

Oh my word! Having both boys home, plus my husband, plus Christmas meant a huge mess!

So with everyone headed back to school Monday, well not Alligator, I was able to finally get the house back together.

I took some before and after pictures of 2 rooms just to show. Man it was a mess, and I am so happy to have a tidy house back.

This was my dining room, before!

After:

Here was my living room before.

After

I spent approximately 15 minutes in each room.

I also got the rest of the house in order (except for the play room, which I waited and did later).

I am just amazed at how quick you can have a transformation.

Oh…we are getting new carpet on the 16th of January…so excited!

Gross Motor- Landing Pad

2012-01-03T16:50:00.001-08:00

I am trying to find some fun activities to do inside, that will get some energy out, and also help alleviate some sensory seeking tendencies for Alligator.

I set up our 2 bean bags and a stool. He climbed up on the stool and jumped onto the beanbags. He really enjoyed this acitivity. However, he only did it about 3 times. But it is something we will try on other days.

Dolls for boys???

2012-01-03T07:57:00.001-08:00

Santa brought Alligator a doll for Christmas. I would have previously thought this was not a good idea, but I am changing my ways. I read somewhere, can’t remember where, that how can we expect boys to grow up to be good dads if we never let them practice. It is supposedly bad for them as kids, but as an adult we expect them to jump right in???

My blog isn’t about big statements, and I am not trying to make one…really :)

All I can say is, he loved the dolls at his preschool, so he got a doll for Christmas and loves it. Monkey would have thrown it across the room, but Alligator enjoys it. So, to each his own…I guess.

Title 1

2011-12-29T19:37:00.001-08:00

I am testing out a new app, to see how it works. I received an iPad for Christmas, and I am trying to see if I can blog on it.

So this a test!

Weighted Vest- Sensory seeker

2011-12-23T00:04:00.000-08:00

Alligator has some sensory issues. One of which, is that they think he is a sensory seeker. Meaning, from my understanding, that is brain doesn’t get enough input about where he is in space, so he seeks out input by being constantly in motion, running into things…

One of the new things we are trying is a weighted vest. He is to wear it for about 20-30 minutes at a time when he I am trying to get him to do a seated activity. He loves puzzles, so I brought him to the table and got him seated. He was much less mobile during this time. I won’t say that it worked perfectly, but he definitely was more still than he normally is.

Here is some information from a company called In Your Pocket: (note our vest is not from this company, nor do I know anything about their specific vests, but I was looking for some information on the vest.

Deep pressure is often used to assist the child to self-calm and relax so that sensory stimulus can be processed. The use of a weighted vest provides the child with unconscious information from the muscles and joints.

I will keep you updated as to how the vest works for him.

Finger painting with yogurt, Sensory Activity

2011-12-22T11:59:00.001-08:00

My darling Alligator has some aversions to different textures. One texture that he really dislikes is creamy things like yogurt, ice-cream, and paint (not that paint is creamy, but it has the same sort of messy texture).

We are working with an Occupational Therapist to try to work on some of his issues. One of the things she suggested was working with yogurt. I thought I would try to make this a Christmas themed activity, but using the yogurt to decorate a laminated Christmas tree.

I gave him some squeegees to play with in the yogurt, but he wouldn’t dare touch anything but the squeegee. So we moved on…

Alligator is still obsessed with the alphabet. So I spread some yogurt out on the table, and wrote a letter in it. When he asked for the next letter, I told him he had to erase the other letter first. As you can see he was really into the activity. He disliked getting his hand dirty, but he was getting through it.

It is funny really, he liked smearing it, but it was the after he smeared and he realized that his hand was dirty that he wasn’t too happy.

But we got through M in the alphabet, so that was a success.

You can try this activity with pudding too, or cool whip. I find it helps to include his interests into the activity (like the alphabet).

P for penguin craft

2011-11-28T15:46:00.001-08:00

Alligator and I are working on a penguin unit this week.

Today we decorated a capital and lowercase P with penguin foot prints. Alligator is a little intimidated with paint. He is so worried he will get messy. So it takes a lot of coaxing. Near the end of the exercise I added a clip to the foot print so he would be more interested in touching it.

I cut the foot print stamp out of a sponge.

Then we used the number penguins from 1+1+1=1 (Alligator loves letters and numbers so it is so much easier to get him to participate if things have letters or numbers. Also they have to be in order, so that meant he had to put all 10 on, which was probably the longest he has ever worked on a craft.

The P’s came from a Time for Tots Kit.

There they are proudly displayed.

Alphabet Christmas Tree

2011-11-25T02:07:00.000-08:00

Alligator is obsessed with letters. So we decided to decorate his personal Christmas tree with the alphabet.

We have tons of letters from different things hanging around, so we found one of each letter and tied them on with string.

It really turned out cute!

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-23T22:54:00.000-08:00

Hope you have a relaxing holiday!

Turkey feather painting

2011-11-23T14:05:00.001-08:00

I know it is a bit late, but if you are still looking for a turkey craft, that is a little more on the open-ended side, then check this one out.

I gave the boys a printout of feathers ( I got my copy from The Mailbox, but you could draw your own),with paints on a plate, and each a feather.

They painted the turkey feathers with a feather. I was amazed that Alligator was semi-interested in this. He actually painted a bit.

Monkey chose to fill in each of his feathers with a different color.

Here are Alligator and Monkey’s finished paintings

Then once the dried we cut them out and glued them to a turkey cut out (again from The Mailbox, and you could draw your own).

Here is Alligators. Monkey is still working on his!

Turkey craft

2011-11-23T03:24:00.000-08:00

Monkey is home from school today with a stomach virus. So he and I got the chance to make this turkey craft. This craft is inspired by someone’s post, but I can’t remember where. If you do, please let me know!

The coolest thing about this craft, is that you cut a triangle out of the paper plate before you start, for the nose. I love this idea!!!! (if only I could remember whose idea it was?!?!?!)

Then we painted the nose the face, and around the sides.

We cut a gobbler out of craft foam, and used pom-poms for eyes (with a dot of paint, for the iris). Then we glued on some feathers.

I love monkey’s turkey, it turned out so cool and crazy looking! Reminds me of one of our favorite books:

I hope you enjoy!

Favorite post of the week

2011-11-22T03:30:00.000-08:00

This week my favorite post come from Praises of a Wife and Mommy. It is a cooking post, with a thanksgiving theme. She made pilgram hats out of marshmellos and cookies. They are dipped in chocolate and so cute and delicious.

Check it out!

Read and enjoy!

Find the feathers – gross motor thanksgiving game

2011-11-21T01:36:00.000-08:00

These turkey’s have lost there feathers:

Can you help them find them?

YAY!!!! We got the turkey’s feather’s back!

We played the game sort of like an Easter egg hunt. Someone hid the feathers, then the boys were sent off to find them. You can declare a winner, and that person hides them the next time, or if you are playing with little kids you can have the older kids help the little kids find their feathers.

Even my husband and I had a good time playing… This would be fun with lots of kids on Thanksgiving, a way to get some energy out. Even the adults will enjoy it

You could also play outside.

You could put the feathers in a bowl and have the kids go through an obstacle course to get each feather. They start again to collect the next one.

Tot School

2011-11-20T09:43:00.001-08:00

I haven’t done a tot school post in a while, so here is what we have been up to since our last post.
We made Turkey Soup (see the post here). Both of my boys loved this activity. It was all pretend, it wasn’t exactly edible, but fun!

We match fall themed items (this is from a Time For Tots Kit).

We also played with a sensory tub, working on spooning (items came from TFT kit).

We are just getting back into a good schedule with our tot school activities. Come back to see more. I will be featuring a sensory activity, a gross motor activity, an art activity, and a feature toy each week. So come back and check us out! I’d love it if you’d follow us. Leave a comment and I’ll follow you back!
Check out what others are doing for TOT SCHOOL this week.

Turkey Soup… Sensory Activity

2011-11-18T06:57:00.001-08:00

It is really good for toddlers and preschoolers (really all children) to be exposed to different sensory activities. I put a theme to it (since it is close to Thanksgiving) and told the boys we’d be making Turkey Soup.

Here is what I used:

Muffin tins with different materials in them. We used: green stones, foam beads, cut up plastic lacing string, foam leafs, some beans, pom-poms, and a feather….(it is Turkey soup after all…so 1 big “turkey” feather.

I used a big pot of warm water (not hot, but warm, again for the sensory sensation. They have all played in cool water in pools and stuff, but warm water was a newer sensation.
I also had a small plastic bowl, in case they wanted to ladle out some soup for “tasting”

I also set out a variety of spoons, measuring cups.
Also I used an old shaker, and put flour in it for the boys to shake in their soup, as well as a little bottle of blue water (extra flavoring)
You’ll notice I had 2 of everything set out. I thought for this activity it would be best that they made their own, and didn’t have to share, we’ll work on that another time.

Once I had all the materials out I let Alligator go at it. I have never seen him play with something this long. He really enjoyed it!

Some items floated while others sank, he seemed to like testing to see what would happen.

There was a lot of spooning, which is great for fine motor.

He also loved the shaker!

Here is a close up of his Turkey Soup.

Both boys really enjoyed this activity. It is definitely something we will do again!

Nero Kwik Media Review

2011-11-17T12:22:00.001-08:00

Here is a screen shot of the cover of my book. Look at my Darling Alligator!

I recently had the opportunity to review some software from Nero Kwik Media. This software allows you to create a photo book, and then order them.

Here are some of the things I loved about this product:

1. You install the FREE software on your computer. In doing so, it uploads your photos to it automatically. Previously I used an online photo book provider and you had to pick out the pictures and then upload them and then select. This was so much easier with Nero Kwik Media. Plus, your pictures are not stored on the web somewhere.

2. I always make a yearly photo book for each of my boys. This software will automatically place the pictures in your book in date order. WOW…what a time saver that is!

3. They have some great templates to choose from, including soft cover books to leather. Great choices.

4. Once your photos are put in the book, then you can go through and add text, or change the photos around. It is so easy to do.

5. I love how you can drag a photo to your workspace, if you still want to use it, but you want to find a better place for it.

6. The book is really high quality, and a wonderful keepsake for years to come

My only negative is that I wish the search help menu was a bit less specific. You have to be very specific with your key words. I found this slightly hard to maneuver. I did, however figure it out in the end.

I really enjoyed making this book. It was quick and easy. I can’t tell you how much time it saved me that you can automatically place the pictures in the book—Such a time Saver!

Disclosure: This post is part of a SocialMoms product evaluation, for which I’ve been selected. One free photo book was made available to me for review purposes. I’ve been compensated for my time with a $100 PayPal payment. The opinions expressed in this post are mine and don’t necessarily reflect the opinions of SocialMoms or Nero.

Spread Some Holiday Cheer

2011-11-17T07:46:00.001-08:00

Can you believe Christmas is right around the corner. Didn’t school just start? Nope, Thanksgiving is next week…NEXT WEEK! Once Thanksgiving comes the radio starts with the Christmas Carols, and people start decorating trees.

One of our family traditions, is that each night of advent, an elf visits our house. He is pretty sneaky, but if you can find him when you wake, you’ll find a surprise that he left for you. In our house the elf might leave a piece of candy for both Alligator and Monkey, or he might leave a small toy, or a book, or an art activity for us to do together.

Another tradition is our countdown calendar. Normally it is just a piece of paper with a Christmas tree on it. The kids take turns marking down the days till Christmas.

We live to give back as well. I think it is good to show the kids how important it is to give to others. So on our eating out night, instead of going to our favorite restaurant. We eat a pbj, and then take the kids to Wal-Mart, where we spend the money we would have spent on eating out, and we buy toys for those who are less fortunate than us.

One of the other favorite things to do around Christmas is to visit the stores, and see what is new this year. Hasbro has a product called KRE-O and they are building sets.

Hear are my top 3 reasons why the Kre-o would be a great gift for someone on your Christmas List.

1. Transformers!!! Do you have a transformer fan in your family…Ugh…YES! Well they have several sets some that are basic (and therefore easier for the younger child, around six) to complex.

This is one of the easier sets, and Monkey will flip when this is under our tree.

2. These blocks will work with other leading block sets that are out there. So you don’t have to keep them separate, and you don’t have to worry that your little builder will get frustrated when he/she tries to make additions to Bumble-bee with blocks he/she already has.

3.The cost! The sets run from $7.99 and up. So this isn’t a huge investment. I mean really, who doesn’t need to manage their budget these days. And this will fit right in!

You can check out Kre-o at http://www.hasbro.com/kre-o/en_US/, while your letting your turkey settle this week. Then get ready for Christmas with some new, and some favorite holiday traditions!

“I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Hasbro blogging program, for 8,000 My SocialMoms Rewards Points and a KRE-O gift. The opinions expressed in this post are mine and don’t necessarily reflect the opinions of SocialMoms or Hasbro. For more information on how you can participate, click here.”

Virtual Makeover

2011-11-15T09:27:00.001-08:00

I love a makeover. Since I am stuck at home today with a sick little guy, I thought I’d play around with a virtual one.

Here is how I normally look…

and here are some makeover options

I think they definitely make me look young. Not sure that is a good thing though, I don’t want to look like I am in high school.

Go to WWW.Elle.COM and try it out.