Motherhood "Perfected"

INSECT DAY

2013-05-10T06:58:00.000-07:00

Insect Day, an annual tradition for all second graders at our school. Insect Day is a culmination of a year's worth of research, habitat building, designing, graphing, tracking, video-making, story-writing and massive amounts of collaborating.

You would think that since my son is my third child to go through Insect Day I would be well prepared. Nope, late on a Tue night my son pops up beside my side of the bed and says "by the way I
need to dress up like a dragonfly on Friday, goodnight". My husband gave one of those "bummer, glad I'm not you" looks, then fell blissfully asleep. I don't mind though, my husband is the go-to guy for all math homework, so I'm grateful.

So it was on a Thursday evening that I found myself in Wal Mart hoping/praying for inspiration. I looked for wire for the wings and after checking every section where such wire might be hiding, and re-checking those sections again with the help of a very sweet Wal Mart employee (who knew?), I was about to give up, but then the kind employee took pity on me and snagged me some wire coat hangers from the break room. Thanks to that little bit of kindness my creative juices kicked in and I grabbed some blue duct tape, and blue chenille stems and headed home.

HOW I MADE A DRAGONFLY COSTUME

Materials

--4 wire coat hangers, or wire thick enough to hold it's shape easily.

--tennis ball for the eyes

--blue baseball cap, one with air-vent grommets to put the antennae through

--chenille stems for antennae, we used metallic blue because it looked the most "insecty"

--Blue duct tape

--tights for the body, I used an old pair of pink ballet tights and painted them, my son really wanted a green insect body, if you can find tights the color you'd like the body than you won't need to paint

--green poster paint unless you have colored tights, see above

--2 large safety pins

--5 or 6 rubber bands

--scratch paper or stuffing to form the thorax

--plastic wrap

-- felt, we used green, for center of wings

--small wire to wrap wings together, could use duct tape instead

--enough elastic to go over the shoulders to keep wings on

Tools

--wire cutters

--paint brush if you're painting

--glue gun and glue

Time needed

--comes together in an hour if you're NOT painting. If you are painting give yourself at least a day to air dry or an evening to use a hair dryer on it a couple of times.

Directions

1. cut off one leg of the tights and use that for the thorax. We stuffed ours with wadded up scratch paper, but newspaper or stuffing/fiber fill would work too. I liked the stiffness of the scratch paper as it gave the final costume interesting movement. Just a matter of preference, my daughters might have liked the softer look stuffing would have given.

2. If you don't have colored tights and are painting, now is the time to paint because it takes a long time to dry. I laid it out on newsprint and let my son own this, he loved it.

3. Begin shaping your wings by taking apart hangers and bending your wire. I really didn't need to do that much cutting because I used the "hook" ends in the center which gets covered up with felt. Make two sets of wings as shown in the above picture and secure them together at the center with small wire or duct tape.

3. Wrap the wings with plastic wrap. This part was fun, we did 2 or 3 layers.

4. Measure two pieces of elastic that will go onto center of wings and around each shoulder.

5. Cut the elastic and secure onto the wings with duct tape. This should look like two loops for your child to put their arms through to wear the wings. Secure further in step 6 before wearing.

6. Take the felt and cut ovals and hot glue over the top of the elastic. This secures the elastic and hides/softens the wired/taped centers of the wings.

7. Cut tennis ball in half and cover completely with duct tape. These will be the eyes. The hollow side of ball is tricky, I put tape across the bottom first so that the layers on top would secure the bottom layers.

8. I safety pinned the eyes onto the baseball cap (turned backward) from the underneath side, you could also hot glue it but this way we didn't ruin the cap. I covered the safety pins with duct tape inside the cap, for extra hold and comfort.

9. Push the chenille stems up through grommets on the top of the cap. Most caps have these holes in just the right spot. Secure underside with duct tape. Shape antennae as desired.

10. I covered any writing on the cap with more blue duct tape.

11. Once thorax is dry, use rubber bands to shape the sections of the body.

12. Wrap wire to secure thorax to wings. Cover in duct tape, to secure. You can also cover the duct tape by hot gluing felt over it.

And that's it! My son had a great time being a dragonfly for a day.

If you have a child that would like a more sparkly costume, like my youngest daughter would, this could easily be glam'd up with some glitter and tulle.

Kaden the Big Bro

2013-04-26T14:31:00.000-07:00

So Kaden has been a big brother now for three and a half years. I am still amazed at what a sweetheart he is to London. We joined Kaden for the Fun Run today where they play lots of fun outdoor games together and compete with other classes for the most points. Of course this is all done as a fundraiser but at least everyone has fun. Kaden was very happy to see us, especially London, who he wanted to join his class in all the games. Thank you for being such a good brother Kaden, I am so grateful London has a brother like you.

2013-04-26T06:14:00.000-07:00

Rowan is 14!

2013-01-06T02:19:00.000-08:00

Can't believe my sweet Rowan is 14! I look at this picture and I can honestly remember taking this photo as if it were yesterday. I was still hopelessly in love with this perfect little being. My entire life revolved around her every need. I was completely smitten with her and loved being her mommy more than anything else in my life, ever.

Tim was working nights then, so one evening after dinner, she and I headed down the path that connected our backyard to Lake Elkorn. We walked along at dusk and I brought my camera to get a cute shot of her in her tutu. The one made by Grams that lined her Easter basket because Easter grass would have been too ordinary for my darling girl. Rowan ran a bit away from me, around a bend in the path, and suddenly came running back to me as quickly as those little chubby legs could carry her. A jogger had been coming toward her so she decided it was time to get back to mom. I took this pic right when she rounded the bend, back toward me "running for her life". The jogger, a man in his mid to late 20's gave me a big smile when he ran by and said "adorable!" . I of course beamed knowingly. Yes, you are adorable Rowan, even now when I have let the realities of life of mothering now 4 children, I still think, for me you were the most perfect first little child I could have ever dreamed of. I cherish those days you and I had together, showing you the world, one butterfly, pearl necklace at a time. And still, even at 14 you are extremely, almost completely sweet.

Organizing My Junk Drawers

2012-03-19T08:57:00.006-07:00

So a few weeks back I posted here about how I am going to tackle an organizational chore or home improvement chore each month. I chose drawer organization for my first project and was VERY pleased at how easy it was and how GREAT it has been to have two (so far) very organized drawers. I followed the same exact directions as suggested by Brown Paper Packages and LOVE the results.

All you need is 1/4 inch thick poplar boards found at home improvement stores, some Gorilla Glue and a saw to cut the length of the boards. I cleaned out the drawers and sorted all the like objects together. I then sketched out a template based on how much room I would need for each item, for example the space I would need for my paper clips was smaller than the space I needed for all of the kids paintbrushes. My husband cut them to the right length for me because he likes the excuse to use the power tools and the rest was easy.

I was worried it was going to be a sticky, time consuming failure but it wasn't, I finished two drawers in an hour and that includes the fun part of putting all of your stuff back in the drawer into there own little compartments.

I realize it was a HUGE mistake not to have taken the "before" picture, but I was just in too big of a rush to dump out that mess and get started. I never knew we had so many rulers, calculators, dice or paint brushes! Now I know I don't have to worry about buying them the next time we contemplate a project, AND I know right were they are!

I feel so empowered!! Next project re-doing my daughter's room, from pink to pre-teen.

Update: Well, it looks like I have found someone to organize my entire life for me! She can organize yours too, go HERE to see for yourself.

I am linking this post to:

Cardboard Jeep

2012-02-17T14:43:00.002-08:00

I came across these pictures the other day of my son's "Adventure Party". He is a big fan of Lego Indiana Jones on the WII and requested that for a party. Why can't my kids ever choose a theme that comes ready made at the party store? Anyway, it turned out very cute and I will blog more about it soon but I just wanted to share these jeeps in case anyone else was in the same dilemma. I wanted to provide each child with a way to "travel" the "Outback" looking for a stolen idol, because as you know, the idol 'should be in a museum!'. I wanted to make a cardboard jeep that didn't require any painting. There was 2 feet of snow on the ground at the time and freezing my fingers off painting 18 little cardboard cars was not something I wanted to do.

You will need:

Box
4 Black paper plates for tires
paper triangles for "hubcaps"
Silver duct tape (I used about four rolls for 18 jeeps)
Hot glue gun and glue sticks
personalized license plate made on the computer

The best boxes are from the bakery. That was a little tip I learned from a friend of mine that moved a lot and she was right, the boxes they ship cakes in are perfect. Costco type of bakeries are usually very happy to hand over their boxes.

These were jeeps that the kids could "where" and "drive" around, rather than sit it, so the bottom side was open as well. The bonus about that is the car could be folded flat and stored very easily.

I didn't cut the top flaps off of the boxes but folded them down to cover any of the writing on the outside which was great! The bottom side flaps I left on as well, folded them up and shaped to look like fenders by cutting them into ovals and folded those up and hot-glued into place. I decorated these with a bit of duct tape along the edge.

I glued on black paper plates as tires with some triangles cut from paper to look like hubcaps.

I trimmed off the shorter end, bottom flaps and cut those into bumper shapes for the front and back. I cut a few small ovals and covered them in silver duct tape to decorate the bumpers as well as printed off personalized license plates for each child. I glued on a piece of scrap cardboard in between the bumpers and the wheels to make the car look more 3-D.

The top, shorter end-flaps I cut little squares out of to resemble front and back windshields. I covered them in duct tape to give them more durability. The pictures shown here are taken a few months after the party and the jeep is looking like it needs to go into the shop for some detailing, but at the time of the party, the jeeps had very sturdy "windshields". I used more duct-tape for the straps that I criss-crossed over the top that allowed the children to "where" their jeeps and run around in them. They had so much fun "driving" all over the house looking for the "idol" while my party helpers threw "rocks" down on them from the upstairs. When they completed a few laps the next clue of the treasure hunt was sent down by a weighted balloon.

I should have gotten a picture of the pile of cars waiting on the deck for the party. It felt like quite an accomplishment and I won't lie, if I never make another cardboard jeep again I will be very happy. It was all worth it to see all those excited faces and hear the squeals of delight when they put on their jeep.

I know these were not very thorough directions so please feel free to ask me questions.

VALENTINE'S DAY

2012-02-09T10:42:00.001-08:00

Last Valentine's Day we found the Valentine idea pictured above just in time for my son to make them for close friends and family. Find link HERE. They were a BIG hit!! His teacher loved it so much that she took the valentine and displayed it in the teacher's lounge, which made my son all sorts of happy.
Our version is pictured above. I loved how easy this was to make and that we could personalize each one!

This year we saw this idea for a Harry Potter Lego Valentine from BOY TRIFECTA and instantly I knew what we had to do. The boys in my son's class are obsessed with Lego Ninjago right now, so I had him create a little Lego backdrop and we did a photo shoot with his favorite Lego Ninja "Cole". Again, so easy and my son LOVED it!

Here is how our LEGO NINJAGO valentines turned out:

Now for the teachers, close friends and family. I saw the idea shown below, from Funky Polka Dot Giraffe (lovin' that blot title, aren't you?) and had to make one too.
They even made their own heart lollipops with chocolate molds which is really cute, I like the little red and white tie that pulls it all together. I found some cute heart shaped chocolate lips at the Dollar Tree though and realized that they would save me some time, plus the foil looks nice on the photo. Another photo shoot and this was the result:

black and white version:
Fun right?! The photo quality is much better in person. I did give the color version a "vintage" feel, but the real thing isn't blue as it is appearing here. In any event, my son and I were both happy at how they turned out. Oh, and I did the writing on my photos in Photoshop Elements and the "muah" was written in the Cast Iron font which you can easily find as a free download on the internet.

I hope you have some fun ideas up your sleeves for the big day!

Boys

2012-01-30T09:40:00.000-08:00

I am the mom of a first-grade boy. He is my third child (of four) and I (of course) love him dearly. I am also, at times, utterly and completely baffled by him. He does and says things that his older sisters would never have dreamed of saying or doing.

Before my son got to school, the vice principal had no idea who I was. Now she knows me all too well. I have read so many books and internet sites about rambunctious boys that I wonder how my brain will find room for it all. I have talked to moms going through the same things, wondering, is there something wrong with him, or is this just what boys do?? One of my favorite books on this topic so far is THE WAY OF BOYS, RAISING HEALTHY BOYS IN A COMPLEX AND CHALLENGING WORLD, by Dr Rao.

It seems there is a diagnosis for everything these days and maybe I will be going down that vague road of having my son evaluated regarding all his bouncy energy, even though it really hasn't negatively impacted his school work yet. Meanwhile, I have also done a LOT of praying for my sweet boy. And every time, the answer has been the same. A very gentle yet intense impression to "just LOVE YOUR BOY". That's it, love him. Love him when he's brilliant, and when he's challenging, just, LOVE him. And to be honest, even though I adore him, I am so busy worrying about his behavior that I am not sure how often I show him I love him. I am always asking him to talk more quietly, get down, stand still, and glaring at him in a way that I am certain does not convey anything like love.

I do manage, at the end of the day, when he is reading to me, to let him know how much I love him with both words and snuggles but I am realizing that I need to show him that same affection during the day and try to ditch the glare altogether.

I came across an awesome blog the other day on Pinterest about Moms and Sons. I am re-posting it here, because I think it is quite perfect. Yes, some of it we all know, but it bears reminding.

Now, please know I am not suggesting a child should or should not be evaluated. I am not opening that can of worms. I haven't yet posted about my anxieties about my son because I didn't want to get everyone riled up. There are blogs devoted to that type of thing, and it really isn't the purpose of this post. I know there are a lot of strong feelings on the subject. I understand that, my mind is still spinning from all the reading too. I am just suggesting, that we mom's can sometimes get ourselves worked up into a frenzy and may, possibly, lose sight of what our son's need from us right now.

The following has been re-posted from TEAM STUDER found here. You can link directly to the post here.

25 Rules for Mothers of Sons

Inspired by a Pin I've recently seen about "rules for dads with daughters," I went searching for a similar list for moms with sons. This search was mostly fruitless, so I was inspired to write my own Rules for Moms with Sons. Granted, my list will not be conclusive and may not be entirely uncontroversial. So agree, or disagree, or take with a grain of salt - but I hope to inspire other moms who are loving, and struggling, and tired, and proud, and eager to support the boys in their lives. You are the most important woman in his life, his first teacher, and the one he will look to for permission for the rest of his life. From "Can I go play with them?" to "Should I ask her to marry me?" Its a big job, but as the mumma, we're up for it.

25 Rules for Moms with Sons

Source: pre-schoolplay.blogspot.com via Tabitha on Pinterest

1. Teach him the words for how he feels.
Your son will scream out of frustration and hide out of embarrassment. He'll cry from fear and bite out of excitement. Let his body move by the emotion, but also explain to him what the emotion is and the appropriate response to that emotion for future reference. Point out other people who are feeling the same thing and compare how they are showing that emotion. Talk him through your emotions so that someday when he is grown, he will know the difference between angry and embarrassed; between disappointment and grief.

2. Be a cheerleader for his life
There is no doubt that you are the loudest person in the stands at his t-ball games. There is no doubt that he will tell you to "stop, mom" when you sing along to his garage band's lyrics. There is no doubt that he will get red-faced when you show his prom date his pictures from boy scouts. There is no doubt that he is not telling his prom date about your blog where you've been bragging about his life from his first time on the potty to the citizenship award he won in ninth grade. He will tell you to stop. He will say he's embarrassed. But he will know that there is at least one person that is always rooting for him.

3. Teach him how to do laundry
..and load the dishwasher, and iron a shirt. He may not always choose to do it. He may not ever have to do it. But someday his wife will thank you.

Source: offbeatmama.com via offbeatmama on Pinterest

4. Read to him and read with him.
Emilie Buchwald said, "Children become readers on the laps of their parents." Offer your son the opportunity to learn new things, believe in pretend places, and imagine bigger possibilities through books. Let him see you reading...reading the paper, reading novels, reading magazine articles. Help him understand that writing words down is a way to be present forever. Writers are the transcribers of history and memories. They keep a record of how we lived at that time; what we thought was interesting; how we spoke to each other; what was important. And Readers help preserve and pass along those memories.

5. Encourage him to dance.
Dance, rhythm, and music are cultural universals. No matter where you go, no matter who you meet - they have some form of the three. It doesn't have to be good. Just encourage your son that when he feels it, it's perfectly fine to go ahead and bust a move.

6. Make sure he has examples of good men who are powerful because of their brains, their determination, and their integrity.
The examples of men with big muscles and a uniform (like Batman and LaMarr Woodley) will surround your son from birth. But make sure he also knows about men who kick a$s because of their brains (Albert Einstein), and their pen (Mark Twain), and their words (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.), and their determination (Team Hoyt), and their ideas (The Wright Brothers), and their integrity (Officer Frank Shankwitz), and fearlessness (Neil Armstrong), and their ability to keep their mouths closed when everyone else is screaming (Jackie Robinson).

7. Make sure he has examples of women who are beautiful because of their brains, their determination, and their integrity
The examples of traditionally beautiful women (like Daphne Blake, Princess Jasmine, and Britney Spears) will surround your son from birth. But make sure he knows about women who are beautiful from the inside out because of their brains (Madame Marie Curie), and their pen (Harper Lee), and their words (Eleanor Roosevelt), and their determination (Anne Sullivan), and their ideas (Oprah Winfrey), and their integrity (Miep Gies), and fearlessness (Ameila Earhart), and their ability to open their mouths and take a stand when everyone else is silent (Aung San Suu Kyi).

8. Be an example of a beautiful woman with brains, determination, and integrity.
You already are all of those things. If you ever fear that you are somehow incapable of doing anything - remember this: If you have done any of the following: a) grew life b) impossibly and inconceivably got it out of your body c) taken care of a newborn d) made a pain go away with a kiss e) taught someone to read f) taught a toddler to eat with a utensil g) cleaned up diarrhea without gagging h) loved a child enough to be willing to give your life for them (regardless if they are your own) or i) found a way to be strong when that child is suffering...you are a superhero. do not doubt yourself for one second. Seriously.

Source: simplymontessori.blogspot.com via Terry-Anne on Pinterest

9. Teach him to have manners
because its nice. and it will make the world a little better of a place.

Source: swagbucks.com via Adriana on Pinterest

10. Give him something to believe in
Because someday he will be afraid, or nervous, or heartbroken, or lost, or just need you, and you won't be able to be there. Give him something to turn to when it feels like he is alone, so that he knows that he will never be alone; never, never, never.

Source: theberry.com via Chris on Pinterest

11. Teach him that there are times when you need to be gentle
like with babies, and flowers, and animals, and other people's feelings.

Source: heatherbeadles.com via Heather on Pinterest

12. Let him ruin his clothes
Resolve to be cool about dirty and ruined clothes. You'll be fighting a losing battle if you get upset every time he ruins another piece of clothing. Don't waste your energy being angry about something inevitable. Boys tend to learn by destroying, jumping, spilling, falling, and making impossible messes. Dirty, ruined clothes are just par for the course.

13. Learn how to throw a football
or how to use a hockey stick, or read music, or draw panda bears (or in my case alpacas), or the names of different train engines, or learn to speak Elvish, or recognize the difference between Gryffindor and Slytherin, or the lyrics to his favorite song. Be in his life, not as an observer but as an active participant.

Source: shanna-kaye.com via Shanna-Kaye on Pinterest

14. Go outside with him
turn off the television, unplug the video games, put your cellphone on the charger, even put your camera away. Just go outside and follow him around. Watch his face, explore his world, and let him ask questions. It's like magic.

15. Let him lose
Losing sucks. Everybody isn't always a winner. Even if you want to say, "You're a winner because you tried," don't. He doesn't feel like a winner, he feels sad and crappy and disappointed. And that's a good thing, because sometimes life also sucks, no matter how hard (as moms) we try to make it not suck for our kids. This practice will do him good later when he loses again (and again, and again, and again, and again.....) Instead make sure he understands that - sometimes you win - sometimes you lose. But that doesn't mean you ever give up.

Source: None via Emma on Pinterest

16. Give him opportunities to help others
There is a big difference in giving someone the opportunity to help and forcing someone to help. Giving the opportunity lights a flame in the heart and once the help is done the flame shines brighter and asks for more opportunities. Be an example of helping others in your own actions and the way your family helps each other and helps others together.

Source: data.whicdn.com via Meagan on Pinterest

17. Remind him that practice makes perfect.
This doesn't just apply to performance-based activities (like sports and music) but also applies to everything in life. You become a better writer by writing. You become a better listener by listening. You become better speaker by speaking. Show your son this when he is just young enough to understand (that means from birth, folks - they are making sense of the world as soon as they arrive), practice trick-or-treating at your own front door before the real thing. Practice how you will walk through airport security before a trip. Practice how you order your own food from the fast food cashier. Practice, practice, practice.

18. Answer him when he asks, "Why?"
Answer him, or search for the answer together. Show him the places to look for the answers (like his dad, or grandparents, or his aunts/uncles, or his books, or valid internet searches). Pose the question to him so he can begin thinking about answers himself. Someday, when he needs to ask questions he's too embarrassed to ask you - he'll know where to go to find the right answers.

Source: 1.bp.blogspot.com via Maegan on Pinterest

19. Always carry band-aids and wipes on you.
especially the wipes.

Source: babyhold.com via Katie on Pinterest

20. Let his dad teach him how to do things
...without interrupting about how to do it the 'right way.' If you let his dad show and teach and discover with your son while he is growing up, some day down the road (after a short period of your son believing his dad knows nothing), he will come to the realization that his dad knows everything. You will always be his mother, but in his grown-up man heart and mind, his dad will know the answers. And this will be how, when your son is too busy with life to call and chat with his mom, you will stay connected to what is happening in his life. Because he will call his dad for answers, and his dad will secretly come and ask you.

Source: familyfun.go.com via Kate on Pinterest

21. Give him something to release his energy
drums, a pen, a punching bag, wide open space, water, a dog. Give him something to go crazy with - or he will use your stuff. and then you'll be sorry.

Source: bleubirdvintage.typepad.com via Marybess on Pinterest

22. Build him forts
Forts have the ability to make everyday normal stuff into magic. Throw the couch cushions, a couple blankets, and some clothespins and you can transform your living room into the cave of wonders. For the rest of his life, he'll be grateful to know that everyday normal stuff has the potential to be magical.

Source: None via Tabitha on Pinterest

23. Take him to new places
Because it will make his brain and his heart open up wider, and the ideas and questions and memories will rush in.

Source: None via Anne on Pinterest

24. Kiss him
Any mother of sons will tell you that little boys are so loving and sweet. They can be harsh and wild and destructive during most of the day. But there are these moments when they are so kind and sensitive and tender. So much so that it can cause you to look around at the inward, reserved grown men in your life and think, 'what happens in between that made you lose that?' Let's try to stop the cycle by kissing them when they're loving and kissing them even more when they're wild. Kissing them when they're 2 months and kissing them when they're 16 years old. You're the mom - you can go ahead and kiss him no matter how big he gets - and make sure he knows it. p.s. (this one is just as important for dad's too).

Source: smallesthings.blogspot.com via Sherry on Pinterest

25. Be home base
You are home to him. When he learns to walk, he will wobble a few feet away from you and then come back, then wobble away a little farther and then come back. When he tries something new, he will look for your proud smile. When he learns to read, he will repeat the same book to you twenty times in a row, because you're the only one who will listen that many times. When he plays his sport, he will search for your face in the stands. When he is sick, he will call you. When he really messes up, he will call you. When he is grown and strong and tough and big and he feels like crying, he will come to you; because a man can cry in front of his mother without feeling self-conscious. Even when he grows up and has a new woman in his life and gets a new home, you are still his mother; home base, the ever constant, like the sun. Know that in your heart and everything else will fall into place.

Who Will Run My Life Please??

2012-01-18T11:54:00.000-08:00

Here I am, another January and my life still not perfect. Dang! And I had such high hopes.

Thanks to all the incredible women in blog world, I feel like I have all the info of how to get my life running smoothly, but I just can't figure out the right order in which to do it all in. Now, is when I need a nagging mom who will tell me exactly what I should be doing at all times of the day. Would have hated that as a teen, but I would TOTALLY welcome that sort of thing right now.

When should I spend the 15 minutes folding laundry, or cleaning out that junk drawer, plan a week's worth of dinners keeping all sales, coupons and nutrition info in mind, workout, play with my kids, make the stuff that I want to use to play with my kids, take meaningful pictures of my kids playing, write meaningful journal entries....ahhhhh!

My new idea for 2012 is to pick one day a week that I will learn about various topics that interest me. I will also pick at least two projects a month that I want to complete by month's end.

This months projects are: painting my ten year-old's room, who hates the color pink and yet still has bright pink flowers painted on her walls. She LOVED it at the time, I swear. Thank goodness I didn't give in and paint the whole room pink, she has at least tolerated the flowers these last few pink-hating years.

Second project, and I am very excited about this one. I am going to organize all my kitchen drawers using this method form BROWN PAPER PACKAGES. I am sooo excited. All it takes are some inexpensive pieces of wood and some Gorilla Wood Glue. She's so smart!! I will post pics when done.

I have also seen drawers organized using simple little containers from the dollar store, velcro'd to the bottom of the drawer, which can be changed around as needed. Also clever but I want something more streamlined for the kitchen.

Wish me luck!

GREAT BOOK FOR BOYS

2011-12-05T12:31:00.001-08:00

This title, MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD World Folk Tales for Strong Boys by Jane Yolen was a pleasant surprise here at our house. The surprise was not that the book was good, but that it would interest by six-year-old son so intensely. My son begs me to read him another tale from the book every night and is very disappointed when we miss a night. Even my ten and twelve-year-old will often slip into the room and pretend to be doing something until they give up all pretense and plop onto the bed and listen too.

I remember adoring folk tales and Grimms fairy tales as a child. Don't you? Alas, when my first children were born and I'd peruse a folk tale, the stories suddenly seemed so violent and cruel that I just couldn't bring myself to share them. Was it because my first two were girls?

Anyway, I'm realizing my son is cut from very different cloth than his sisters. Much as I hate to admit it, he craves stories where bad things actually happen, and lessons are learned the hard way. I think somehow it helps him order things in his mind and face the fears that seem to be such a part of a six-year-old boy's life.

The other good fortune that resulted from this book, is that it has given us the opportunity to study geography. Each folktale in the book shows the country from which it originated. Before we read each tale, we look up the country on my iphone, yes, because I'm too lazy to go down to the basement and find our atlas, then, my son labels the country onto a map that I printed from the internet, and colors it in. Sounds simple, but he LOVES this. On his own, he goes over the maps and looks at the different countries he has written in.

And, yes, in case you were wondering, there is a version for strong girls as well. I will be getting this soon.

ANGRY BIRD AWESOME SLING SHOT FUN

2011-08-08T09:43:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the Brassy Apple, I came across a very fun game for my kids this summer. Like many of you, we have become quite the ANGRY BIRDS fans. Every time I try to find my iphone, one of my children is curled up with it somewhere, playing Angry Birds.

I loved it on several levels:

One, it was fun and easy to make
Two, it was fun and easy to set up and play
Three, it is fun for kids/people of all ages
Four, it only cost me $1!! I had paint already, otherwise there would have been an expense for the paint, but still completely worth it.

We used the rocks we purchased at the beginning of the summer in the Craft Section of Wal-Mart, but you could use just regular old rocks. Craft paint, and I sprayed them with a clear coat afterward. We did the face details with Sharpies.

My brother and four of his five kids are visiting us, ages 18 to 25 and even they had fun trying it out, of course, because they're awesome. The only issue was my dollar store sling-shot, not the best quality. My husband offered to improve the design but visions of broken windows ran through my head and we are making do for now.

If you are an Angry Bird Fan, try out the Angry Bird Pizza from this post.

We are on our way to visit our families in Calfornia. I hope you are having a great summer!!

-Becca

COOKIE MONSTER CUPCAKE HUMOR

2011-07-20T19:15:00.000-07:00

These Cookie Monster Cupcakes have been all over blog land. They are so cute and look so easy to do, and who wouldn't want some cookie on their cupcake? Pictured above is my lame attempt. I decided to give these a try for my daughter's 2 year old birthday. It was very last minute so they were far from perfect but they were fun. My big mistake with these was not putting the "pupils" of the eyes more cross-eyed, and not having big enough candy for the white part of the eye, small detail but a very important one. They were really yummy though.

Anyway, I saw this picture above and burst out laughing! So funny! This is what this blog is all about, us mom's being able to laugh at ourselves in the midst of all the chaos of raising a family.

Well done!!

THIRTY DAYS OF DRAWING

2011-07-18T11:11:00.000-07:00

Now that I have three school-aged children, I've forgotten how crazy a house full of kids can be. Wow! We have been keeping very busy working on our Summer Bucket List. We also found out that we are going on a vacation this summer afterall, yay!! We are going "home" to California for a couple of weeks. I'm slightly terrified about taking my four kids but mostly, the two year old on a five hour flight but excited to see my family (and my favorite beaches). We are going to play tourist during this trip too, maybe even LEGO LAND!

Enough of that, I wanted to share with you our 30 Days of Drawing. I came across these cute blank books in the clearance section of Michaels and had to get them. There is something about lots of white paper that just makes me happy. The idea of Thirty Days of Drawing was on our Summer Bucket List but I hadn't come up with the actual drawing "assignments" yet. But last week, finally, I got to work and here it is.

I had planned on just handing my kids their new books, gluing the list of 30 drawing ideas inside and set them loose, but my second oldest thought it would be more fun if we all sat together and sketched, and she was right! It was fun, and it was nice to relax and chat together while our creative juices poured out onto our papers. We will go outside and lay on blankets for some of the days.

Oh, and I also got some great books on drawing from the library, to inspire my little artists if needed.

Feel free to use our 30 Days of Drawing for your own family and don't forget to include yourself. I realized that my kids were really looking forward to me joining them (even though I hadn't planned on it initially.)

So, any ideas on how to entertain a willful toddler on a five hour airplane flight?

How to Avoid "POOL HAIR" or, How to Keep Your Hair From Turning Green

2011-07-12T12:56:00.000-07:00

I have a daughter with very long, very blonde hair. This same girl is also a year-round swimmer, so keeping her hair blonde and not green takes some effort.

Thankfully there are just a few simple things to know to keep your swimmer hair healthy.

Blonde hair is the most susceptible to turning green, because blonde hair is the most porous, but even dark hair can become brittle and damaged from chlorine. So what does one do?

The first thing to do is realize that your hair is like a sponge. If you go into the water dry, your hair is going to soak up all that chlorinated water. But, also like a sponge, if you wet it first with non-pool water, it will be too full of water to soak up any pool water. So, rule number one is:

Wet your hair before going into the pool.

If you can take a quick shower and wet all of your hair first that is great. A swim cap does NOT keep the chlorine out. My kids are always running into practice on the brink of being late, so I keep a spray bottle in our car, that I have filled with water, lemon juice, Moroccan Oil, and conditioner. Some of these things float to the top, so I have to shake it before using, but it works GREAT! Even just using a spray bottle with regular water would be a HUGE help in lessening chlorine damage.
Next,

Use a de-chlorinating shampoo.

There are many brands that make a shampoo which specializes in removing the chlorine. My favorite is MALIBU 2000. You can only buy this at salons or on the internet (I buy mine at Amazon) and it's pricey but it works VERY well. It is also concentrated, so a little goes a long way. I stick a pin in the top to create a hole which causes the shampoo to come out a little slower, this way I can keep my kids from using too much. Malibu makes another swim shampoo, called Malibu C, but it is not half as good as the 2000. You may see the Malibu C at swim shops, or sporting goods stores but not the 2000 because only Hair Salons are allowed to sell it.

Well, I hope this helps! Have fun in the pool, green free!

-Becca

Father's Day in Review

2011-07-10T17:30:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day! Oh, wait it's July sorry, wow this summer is moving fast, right?! Just wanted to document our Father's Day, if for no other reason, a frame of reference for me for next year. My husband and our older two children volunteered at a Triathlon that our swim team is involved with, the proceeds going toward skin cancer research. They had a fun morning together and when they came home the real pampering started. My husband's weakness is soda. He has sworn off soda except for a few special occasions and the kids wanted to spoil him with it for Father's Day. They spent their own money and bought him the fancy stuff. We found these fun printables at THE IDEA DOOR for dressing up the soda bottles. I loved these and think maybe I will expand on this idea for next year.

My kids also made him this card, using paint sample cards from Home Depot. My husband liked this card a lot which is unusual, he doesn't usually care about cards. I liked this idea because all I had to do was hand each child a paint sample card and they could decide what they wanted to write or draw on it, and all I had to do was loop them together, add some photos, and all done!

One of my daughter's also made him some "coupons" stored in an Altoids box (so they're waterproof?) which he also enjoyed. My son had made some coupons in his Kindergarten class which I managed to remember existed and find (rare "yay me" moment).

He also got some "stuff" like new shorts, sunglasses and tools, not to mention a yummy lunch and dinner! Saw a really cool photo idea I want to try for next year, but since my husband occasionally reads this blog, I have to keep it under wraps. Sorry.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY

2011-07-04T14:55:00.000-07:00

I saw this over at 320 Sycamore today and had to share it. Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans! In Zumba this morning we cooled down to Beyonce's version of "Proud To Be an Amercan" and I was surprised by my emotional response. It was nice to be reminded that I do in fact love this land. Yes, God Bless the USA!

Writing with SPARKLERS

2011-07-03T11:06:00.000-07:00

My husband is busy making deviled eggs, because what is the Fourth without deviled eggs, I ask you? I have seen some very cute/fun recipes for Independence Day, all from the blogs over to the right on my blog roll, definitely worth a look. I don't have any recipes of my own to add but I DID see a cute idea about writing messages with sparklers. If you'd like to try it, check out the tutorial, from photographer Nicole Hill at A LITTLE SASSY right here. Nicole uses a tripod but if you don't have one of those, I'm sure resting your camera on a table would work too.

I guess I must add that sparklers are VERY hot and can be dangerous for young children, so please use caution!

Spell out "USA" or maybe "NOEL" and use it for a Christmas card.

IMPORTANT NOTE: for my DSLR camera, a Nikon D80, I couldn't get the settings exactly as Nicole Hill suggested but setting the dial to auto, an ISO of 200, and disabling the flash worked the best. It took about 5 rounds of sparklers but we finally got an entire USA, and the kids had a great time trying it out. Good luck! The subjects are not in focus
(I should have used manual focus and focused directly on the subjects) and the sparklers aren't as nice and fat as her photo, but it worked okay. I bet using 3 sparklers each would have made them fluffier.
Whatever you decide, have fun and HAPPY FOURTH!

SUMMER STRUCTURE

2011-06-27T18:20:00.000-07:00

We have our SUMMER BUCKET (TO DO) LIST all done and it is going well so far. If you'd like to see the list of 42 things we are going to try and do this summer see this post.

So I knew what "fun" things we were going to do but I didn't know how I was going to organize the "less fun" necessary things we needed to do like, cleaning, practicing our instruments, reading, journaling, etc.

I saw this post from Somewhat Simple and it inspired me. I borrowed heavily from their list and tweaked it a little for my family. Their list is a little more fun oriented than mine, but since I had the fun stuff listed already, I was looking for structure. My favorite part of my list is NO TECH TUESDAYS, where we will shun our DS's, iphones, ipods and VCR/TV for an entire day. (I just realized that this means for me, the computer should be off limits too, whimper., this isn't going to be easy)!

Happy Summer Structure!

-Becca

FITNESS FRIDAY

2011-06-24T14:03:00.000-07:00

THE 100 WORKOUT:

100 JUMPING JACKS
90 CRUNCHES (we do reverse crunches)
80 SQUATS
70 LEG LIFTS (we vary these, sometimes to the side, sometimes to the back)
60 JUMPING JACKS
50 CRUNCHES (I do 10 regular sit-ups and then bicycle my legs 50X to work my waist)
40 SQUATS (no cheating, get low)
30 LEG LIFTS
20 JUMPING JACKS
10 MINUTES RUNNING (we either crank the music and dance for 10 minutes or speed clean for 10 minutes depending on the debris level)

Welcome back to another FITNESS FRIDAY!! Now that the kids are home for the summer, my gym workouts are a little more sparse than usual. I have been seeing a lot of the 100 workout, shown above, on the blogs lately, so my 10 and 12 year old daughters decided to try it out with me. My daughters are trying to supplement their swim workouts so that they can make some goals they set for themselves in summer swim team this year. For me, it is a nice supplement to the two times a week I get to Zumba.

We started last week. Doing this workout one time through each day. I have noticed my legs are much more toned already! Yay! The great thing about it is that it really doesn't take much time, give it a try!

SIGN of the WEEK and SUMMER CHECK-IN

2011-06-23T15:53:00.000-07:00

I usually just add my "sign for the week" over on the sidebar to the left, but I saw this and I ADORE it, so I had to give it it's own post. Isn't it awesome? It originates from an ETSY shop where you can buy this for yourself in vinyl. The link is here. I am not affiliated with that seller, just thought this was very cute.

So, how is your summer going? I know for some of you, it has just started. As for me, all my good intentions of having summer activities at the ready has mostly worked, though there still have been a few days in which my children lay comatose on the couch staring mindlessly at DS's and IPhone games. Sigh. Though to be fair, since they do summer swim team five days a week, even their laziest days involve a minimum of one hour of swimming. Even my youngest gets one hour on the playground, or doing some learning games with me while we wait. So at least they get some exercise.

We have stayed on task a little better this week. Today they helped clean-up without too much whining and even did some extra chores that weren't on the list, I guess they were on a roll. Then we did a weaving craft which they all really enjoyed. You can see it on our summer fun list, here. It is much easier to get them to help clean when they know we get to do something fun afterward.

I have given them a little break this last week, being their first full week out of school and all, but next week we will start working on some structure. I am thinking of instituting a "NO TECH TUESDAY" a "15 MINUTE MONDAY" in which we spend 15 minutes in each room of the house, cleaning, organizing or beautifying, and maybe a "THINKING THURSDAY" where we do something using a little brain power. We'll see.

I will post what I come up with.

How is the start of summer at your house?

ANOTHER FINE-MOTOR ACTIVITY

2011-06-20T18:27:00.000-07:00

THIS WEEK:
More fine motor skills development. Last week we worked on pouring. This week we will develop these important muscles by using tongs. My daughter (almost 2) is all about strawberries lately. That is what I absolutely LOVE about this age. It is so easy to let her interests lead our learning. The whole world is new and unknown to her and I get to be the one to help her explore it. So, we have gone strawberry picking, made polka-dot-strawberry shakes (way yum) see this post for recipe, planted strawberry plants in our garden, read books about strawberries and have drawn pictures of strawberries, phew.

For a fine motor strawberry activity, I put some red "fuzzy puff balls" into one of those plastic strawberry containers from the store. I then placed the container on a tray, with an empty bowl and a pair of tongs. The tray serves to define her workspace. The tongs I have are somewhat large but she was able to make them work. Eventually I'll find a smaller pair but I'm glad I didn't put off this activity because I didn't have all the "perfect" materials, she wasn't bothered.

First, I showed her how I used the tongs to pick up each puff ball "strawberry" in turn and put it into the bowl. I picked up every single one, emptied the bowl back into the container and handed her the tongs. She jumped right in and she LOVED it!! She enjoys this activity so much that I have used this as a grab and go activity by putting everything in a tote bag, and she works on it during her older siblings swim practice.

OUR SUMMER FUN LIST with LINKS

2011-06-17T09:46:00.000-07:00

Note: A few links are not currently working, I don't know if this is a Blogger problem or mine. They were working a day ago. I am working on this problem. The links to the websites do work and they take you to the post of the project listed.

I have completed our list of fun things we are going to try and get done this summer. This really didn't photograph well, looks much better in person. I have a description on how I made this here. I love that the list is right in the kitchen where we can see it often and stay on task. We wrote our list right onto the glass with a Sharpie (it will come off later with glass cleaner). I might turn this frame into a weekly MENU in the fall.

I have purchased most of the necessary "stuff" for the crafts so they are bagged by activity and ready to go, finally.

No promises that I won't add to the list, but this is what we have so far:

1. Visit an AMUSEMENT PARK

2. Sign up for the LIBRARY READING PROGRAM - maybe create a fun book reading nook, fort or teepee, like the one seen HERE, from TATERTOTS and JELLO, just for reading, complete with bookmarks, reading log, comfy pillows and treats!
3. SCRAPBOOK DAY - bring out the scrapbook supplies, put on some music, set up a clean, well lit place to work, promise a yummy lunch break and get to work making memories while documenting memories.
4. Go BERRY PICKING Google "pick-your-own" crops for your area. Freeze what you can't eat for later.

5. Make STRAWBERRY POLKA-DOT SHAKES (shown above) directions here, from the SWEET PAUL blog.
6. Assemble "MAKE AHEAD FROZEN SMOOTHIES" yum. From THE TIDY NEST. See this post.
7. Have a PICNIC by a stream or river. Collect RIVER ROCKS.

8. Make some RIVER ROCK CRAFTS, from MY YELLOW SANDBOX. The DIY shown here.
9. 30 DAYS OF DRAWING - CHALLENGE. I bought a new sketch book and pencils for each child. Nothing inspires like fresh blank paper! Then, list 30 things they should draw over 30 days. Such as, a self-portrait, a favorite animal, a dream they had, something orange, their foot, a sibling, etc.
10. Visit a FACTORY, we have a potato chip factory nearby that offers tours and of course free samples.
11. Do SOMETHING WE'VE NEVER DONE BEFORE
12. Visit an ART MUSEUM
13. Visit a MUSEUM we've NEVER BEEN TO BEFORE
14. SEWING DAY - I have a looooong list of things I've been wanting to sew. Do you need inspiration? Check out THIS post of 100 THINGS TO DO WITH FAT QUARTERS
15. BREAK POOL RECORDS on summer swim team. This has been a goal for my kids a few summers now, this year they are about one second away....

16. Make an INSIDE FORT like the one above, which is from a British online store, but it looks like it wouldn't be too difficult to DIY. There are also many teepee tutorials out there, check out the A-FRAME tent seen above, here.
17. Make an OUTSIDE FORT, still need to research this one, I'm sure there are many ideas out there.

18. Make GIANT BUBBLES, shown here at Tater Tots And Jello.
19. SUMMER SLEEPOVER where my kids and a few friends take over the basement and guest room.
20. Visit the HARBOR.
21. FAMILY CONCERT, this was my kids idea, two play instruments, the other two will be outfitted with bongos, bells or egg shakers.
22. Make a BLUEBIRD HOUSE.
23. Neighborhood WATER BALLOON FIGHT. I'm thinking of putting a fun flyer with some water balloons (empty) in everyone's mailbox.
24. CAMP OUT, with some scary stories at the ready.
25. S'MORES
26. DINNER AT THE POOL!! This is one of my favorites, and will be done several times over the summer, yay!
27. Make I SPY BOOKS. Take pics of small groupings of your childs toys, pick out a few items for them to "spy" out of each grouping and take pics of those too. Assemble into books. I like to do a page of a grouping of family photos.
28. FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT.
29. Make HOMEMADE ICE CREAM. The new ice cream makers are great!
30. FAMILY GAME NIGHT.
31. MAKE A MOVIE, this was my kids idea, can't wait to see what the come up with!
32. BUILD A HOUSE OF CARDS my kids have never done that, oh, the electronic age...

33. Make SIDEWALK CHALK, great how-to HERE from Oh My Handmade.
34. Play TENNIS
35. Make QUIET BOOK PAGES for our soon-to-be two year old.

36. Make 3-D Stars, tutorial here, from ANEKATA

37. Make "HOT AIR BALLOON" see info here.

38. Make FELT GLOBE. I saw this several months ago at FROM CUP OF COCO and have been wanting to make this. I thought the kids would have fun helping me. Tutorial here.
39. Make a WEAVED NECKLACE or KEYCHAIN seen here.

40. COOKING DAY like home made poptarts, or the pudding pops pictured above, from Endless Summer. recipe here.

41. Make GLOW IN THE DARK SLIME from The Idea Room, seen here.

42. Make Wacky Sacks (play dough filled balloons) from Somewhat Simple, DIY here.

Thanks for visiting and
HAPPY SUMMER!!

I am linking to:

Our SUMMER BUCKET LIST Completed

2011-06-16T08:41:00.000-07:00

We FINALLY completed our Summer Bucket List. My twelve-year-old pointed out that it is more of a fun "to-do" list than a "bucket list" because everything on it is very do-able and the idea of a bucket list is that it is a "once-in-a-life-time" type of thing. Thank goodness I have her to help point these things out to me, ;-). She is still excited about the things on our "TO-DO" list though, and only slightly upset that watching the Northern Lights, or traveling to Stone Henge will have to wait another year (or three).

If you missed it, I've been discussing our summer To-Do lists in a couple posts, including some ideas others have come up with, read them here, here, here and here.

I made this list using a regular frame, inserted some scrapbook paper, used some lettering, some fabric and stickers for the "summer", and used Sharpie marker on the outside of the frame, right onto the glass to write our list. The Sharpie comes off easily with glass cleaner. I like that it is nice and visible and will be reminding us of our summer plans to keep us on track. I also like that it was so quick and easy to put together. Many of the activities I have all set and ready to go. The activities that require craft supplies, have been purchased and are waiting in labeled bags, which I think will up the fun and spontaneity value.

We have brainstormed as a family and the list is almost complete. I will post what we will be doing this summer, complete with links and how-to's soon.

Did you see this post about "FAMILY MONEY" over at TT&J? I am pondering that fun idea to keep some order and structure in the house over the summer.

50 MORE SUMMER CRAFTS

2011-06-14T10:49:00.000-07:00

I have almost finished my "Summer Bucket List" framed check-list. I will post-it soon along with the specifics about the crafts and activities we have chosen to do this summer.
Meanwhile, I saw this list of 50 more crafts over at "The Long Thread" and thought I would share it here. We have added a few more crafts to our list, from this list, like the cool DIY HOT AIR BALLOON, shown below. This will be a ton of fun, and the kids can change what they put into the basket and see how that alters the way the balloon floats.

I hope you will find one of these 50 crafts worthy of your summer list!!

-Becca

SUMMER SWIM TEAM

2011-06-14T09:47:00.000-07:00

Years ago, when my oldest was 5, we lived in an awesome neighborhood filled with friends and fun! Those friends joined in on ritual known as "Summer Swim Team". They all grew up with this ritual but I thought the idea of getting up early for several Saturdays in the summer, sounded insane! Well, they finally talked me into giving it a try, and we have been one of those crazy swim team families ever since!!
There is no better way for your kids to learn how to swim than to be a part of a summer swim team. Last year, my 5 year old went from doggy paddling in the baby pool to diving in and doing freestyle and backstroke up and down the 50 meter pool. He was one of just a handful of five year old's that was allowed to use the slide and diving board, (you have to be able to swim a lap to do so) and it was great for his self-esteem.
Swim team is the one sport in which you are all together at the SAME EVENT at the SAME TIME. You are not playing tag from field to field to see your various kids in various games. We all sit together as a family, under our canopy and have a great time together enjoying each other and our swim team friends/family.

If you haven't given it a shot, please consider it, we are so glad that our friends talked us into it seven years ago!