A Day In the Life....

Today the living room was a mess. So I put Princess' things and Buddy's things in two separate piles to be put away. Buddy put his things right away. Princess left the room to play with other toys. I explained to her that if she didn't put her things away I would put them in a box and she would have to earn them back. She decided she wanted them in a box to see what kind of chores I would give her.

Buddy was talking to Grammy today about Hurricane Irene. She told him it was going to hit the Outer Banks and reminded him that is where we usually go to the beach. Buddy replies, "sometimes we go to the Outer Banks to get money for our hair cuts."

JD - 9 months old

JD turned 9-months-old on Sunday. He has accomplished a lot this month. He is still in the process of getting 6 teeth at once. 3 have poked through and 3 are right there almost through. The first tooth he got was his left "side" tooth (I obviously don't know the names of the teeth), then his front right, and third his bottom left. He wants to be different and get them in a different order.

He has also learned to roll really good. Although he doesn't realize he can get places by doing it. He can sit up from a laying down position. He gets himself into a crawling position, but can only go backwards. I saw him moving forward once. So soon he will be moving around. His favorite position to be in is standing. He will stand, holding himself up, for 20-30 minutes just playing.

He brings so much joy to our family. He can easily entertain all of us.

This is supposed to be a video, but Blogger is giving me a hard time uploading it. I will try later. It is on Facebook, so if we are "facebook friends" you can watch it there.

Old World Raspberry Bars

Yummy and EASY dessert!!! (I did not make these in the picture, but that is what they look like.)

OLD WORLD RASPBERRY BARS

Prep Time: 15 min Yield: approx 25 bars

Crumb mixture ingredients:

2 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 cup chopped pecans (I've never put these in)

1 cup butter (softened)

1 egg

Filling ingredients:

3/4 cup raspberry preserves (or any flavor you want. I've used lemon curd also)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all crumb mixture ingredients in a large bowl. Beat at low speed, scraping bowl often, until mixture resembles course crumbs. *Reserve 2 cups of crumb mixture and set aside.

Press remaining crumb mixture on bottom of an 8x8 baking pan. Spread preserves to within 1/2 inch of edge of pan. Crumble reserved crumb mixture over preserves.

Bake for 40-50 minutes until lightly browned. Cool completely and cut into squares.

*if using dark or non-stick pans reduce temperature to 325 degrees. Bake 45-55 min.

Cover and store pan for up to 5 days (they probably won't be around for that long, haha!) or freeze for up to 1 month.

What Is It?

This morning I went outside to take some recycles out to the recycle bin and I saw a big "bee" flying around. I've never seen a bug like it. Then I noticed that it was flying around this pile of dirt in my flower garden. I watched it for a while. It never went in the hole (from the pile of dirt). I'm assuming that is it's home, but don't know for sure. Do you have any idea what it could be? (sorry the picture isn't the greatest. It wouldn't sit still and smile.)

Games, Painting, and Tea Parties

Yesterday the kids and I played many games of Crazy 8s, Mickey Mouse Yahtzee, Jay Jay the Jet Plane, and Cootie.

We went to Color Me Mine to learn how to bubble paint. I wish I would have had my camera, but it would have been hard to get pictures since I had JD and had to help Buddy and Princess. I will put "after pics" on when we pick up the bowls. Anyhow they painted their bowls inside and out. Then the lady at Color Me Mine, made a mixture of paint, water, and dish soap. The kids mixed it up, then put a straw in it and blew bubbles. While they were blowing bubbles, I had to put the bubbles in the bowl or dip the bowl in it. By the end, there was a big bubbly mess on the table (which is expected, the lady actually said we were allowed to make a mess). All of the other kids in the shop came over to our table and wanted to play in the bubbles. Buddy decided to taste the mixture. Not on purpose, he said he thought he was blowing. It was really cool. I can't wait to see the bowls when we pick them up. Princess wants to bubble paint all the bowls in my kitchen now. I'm thinking bubble painting will only be done at Color Me Mine. Hehe!

Then Princess loves "tea parties" (or really just eating on a blanket). So mid afternoon we had a tea party. Buddy, Princess, and I had chocolate chip cookies, vanilla ice cream with peanut butter and sprinkles, and grape Kool Aid. This was JD's very first "tea party". He enjoyed a graham cracker and water.

I'm trying to think of something to do today. Something in the cool of a building. These 100+ degree days are hard. The kids want to go outside, but are ready to come in after just 5 minutes of being out. Any ideas?

End of Summer

My life of schedule-free living is nearing its end after 6 years. As of August 1, I am going to have to follow a schedule. Princess is starting Kindergarten this year. On August 1, she will be going to a Kindergarten Transition Camp at her school. She will learn how a school schedule works and how to use the cafeteria (which in turn, when all of the students go to Kindergarten, she can teach them how to use it).

So in these last 2 weeks, I'm trying to do some fun things with the kids. Here are some of the things we did yesterday. (We stayed inside most of the day because it is just unbearably hot and we are getting a new roof, so it's kind of dangerous to be in our yard right now.):

1. We made zucchini bread.

2. We made "Melty Beads". Can you guess what they are?

Abby designed her own "SpongeBob Hiding in the Forest" (even though they do not watch SpongeBob") and Ian made a fish.

3. Bounced on their bouncy balls.
You can never be too careful. You never know when you will fall off of your bouncy ball and hit your head or elbows. :)

4. Then off to the church picnic. They played carnival games, jumped in the bounce house and got their faces painted. They wanted to look like puppies.

She was a sad puppy, because I told her it was too late for a bedtime story.

Can't wait to see what today brings. I think a little painting at a local ceramic shop. Princess already told me she wants to play some games today. I'll keep you posted.

My New Addiction (not really, but sort of)

Most of you know that I LOVE saving$$$$$$$$$. Since having JD, I haven't been CVSing (yes, it is a verb). I still use coupons, but not like I used too. Actually we cancelled our local paper because they didn't give us a very good deal to resubscribe. (I am soon either going to pay their fee or subscribe to a cheaper other local paper. If you have any thoughts on that, I'm open to them.) I still read blogs though that give me information on good deals.

For the last couple of months, I've been saving my family time and money! No coupons, no leaving the house, buying online! I love it. I push a couple buttons and I get the stuff delivered to my front door a couple days later. AND for cheaper or equivalent to in the store (Free shipping too.)

All from Amazon.com. They have a "subscribe and save" program. You sign-up for the program (free), order your item, click on "subscribe and save" and you save 15%. You then schedule how often you want the item delivered. It is very easy to "manage" or "cancel". They will send you an email before they send you the next shipment to make sure you want it.

There is also a program called "Amazon Mom" that will save you an additional 15% on baby supplies.

I've also seen with diapers, on the product page you may see a "Your Coupon Book" where you can "clip" a coupon for an additional discount.

Here are a couple things I have bought:

PAMPERS Size 3

$22.82 for 144 diapers = $0.16/diaper

(in store usually $0.23/diaper)

WIPES

$9.79 for 504 wipes = $0.02/wipe

EARTH'S BEST ORGANIC 1ST VEGETABLES STARTER KIT, 2.5 OZ JARS, PACK OF 12

$5.95 for 12 jars of baby food = $0.50/jar

(in store usually $0.79/jar)

KRAFT GRATED PARMESAN CHEESE, 8 OZ. CANISTER, PACK OF 12

$21.13 for 12 canisters = $1.76/canister

(in store usually $3.99)

KRAFT MACARONI AND CHEESE, 7.25 OZ BOX, PACK OF 15

$9.76 for 15 boxes = $0.65/box

(in store usually $0.99/box)

I've also gotten olive oil and dishwasher detergent this way. They have a whole "Subscribe and Save Store". If you choose to buy products this way, PLEASE be sure to click on "Subscribe and Save" when you put the product in your shopping cart. If you don't, you pay shipping and you do not get the 15% off.

*Disclaimer - These deals can change at any time or become "out of stock".

Hearing God

Conversation between me and Buddy yesterday:

Buddy: Today is Wednesday.

Me: You are right. How did you know that?

Buddy: I asked God what day it was and he told me.

We've been talking to the kids about hearing God. This conversation just made my heart smile.

From the Beginning

The other night, Dave was taking a sip of my grape juice to take his medications. I jokingly said, "Don't drink it all." Which brought back a funny memory.....

At our wedding, we took communion together. We each had our own piece of bread, but for the grape juice we had one pretty brass goblet with our names and wedding date engraved on it. When it was time to partake in the juice, the pastor handed the goblet to Dave. There wasn't a lot of juice in the tall goblet so Dave had to tilt his head back pretty far to get even a sip. I'm standing there watching and thinking he forgot that he has to share, so I whisper "Don't drink it all."

This story still makes me giggle because the poor guy was just trying to partake in communion and there I am on our wedding day giving him orders already....surprisingly he didn't run out of the church that day! Now he is stuck...Bahaha!

What Happened to my Baby?

My baby is 7 1/2 months already! Boy, does time fly! He is such a joy to have in our family. He smiles and laughs a lot. He doesn't cry much at all...especially if he is in Mommy's arms. I hate to say it, but I have another "Mommy Baby". That makes 3 "Mommy Babies". AAAAHHHH!! Oh well, as hard as it is, I do try to enjoy it. I know it won't be forever.

In the last month, he has started eating some baby food, not all the time, but when I feel like giving it to him. Did you see all that chub on him? Not from baby food, let me just tell you.

He started sitting up really good. I don't have to put anything behind him in case he falls.

He finally started rolling over. At his 6-month-check, the doctor asked if he was rolling over. When I said "no", the doctor was concerned about his upper body muscles. He put JD on his belly and JD pushed himself up as high as possible. The doctor said, "well it's not his muscles, it must be those thighs!" Poor JD. I love the chub!

He loves jumping in his jumpy thing that hangs in the door way.

And you can see those teeth trying to make an appearance. They are not through the gums yet, but you can just see an outline of them. It won't be long.

Most importantly Princess and Buddy still love him sooooo much! Buddy tells me all the time that he loves JD. So Awesome!

My 1st Attempt

I rescued a chair!!! That's right.....dumpster diving!!! Just kidding! I did rescue a chair from the giant truck that eats the things people don't want though.

I had just decided to look for a chair that no one wanted anymore (on one of those famous websites) and wouldn't you know, my neighbor put one out for trash the very next week. So really I just picked it up off the side of the alley and put it in my garage.....thrilling, I know. So here are the before and after pictures.

Before:

After:

I wanted vinyl with a "funky or loud" pattern, but the store I went to didn't have quite what I was looking for. So I will keep my eye open and maybe change the seat later.

Here's the run down:

Chair Free

Paint $8

Vinyl $3

Foam $3__

Total $14

My Little Buddy Turning 4!

My Little Buddy is turning 4 today! I can't believe it! He is getting so big.

A lot has happened in his life this year. We had season passes to Hershey Park this past summer. He went from riding just a couple rides to riding all the kiddie rides. He even tried his first roller coaster, The Trailblazer, but hated it.

In preparation for his baby brother, he got a big-boy room equipped with a loft bed and basketball hoop. And just recently he went from sleeping on the floor under the bed (on his crib mattress) to sleeping on top!

He became a big brother this year. He loves JD so much. In fact he tells JD everyday that he loves him. I love how he interacts with JD. He doesn't do the "baby talk" stuff. He just talks to him like they are the best buds.

He gave up his pacifier this year. We took it and put it inside this teddy bear that he made.

And most recently, he is potty-trained!

I've really enjoyed watching the changes in his life this year. He is not a fan of change, but has handled things pretty well. It was definitely a year of testing. He loves to be silly and make us laugh, which he did many, many times. I am so thankful that God gave him to us. I can't imagine my life without him.

FAVORITES

Best Friend: Princess

Favorite Place to Eat Out: Friendly's and the "Ice Cream Shop" (some people call it Rakestraw's)

Favorite Food: Chicken on a bone, Ice Cream

Favorite Ice Cream: "the kind that Grammy likes" (which is surprisingly Teaberry)

Favorite Color: light blue

Favorite TV show: Dora the Explorer, Mickey Mouse

Favorite Movie: Tangled (also likes Up and Toy Story 3)

I Can Do All Things....

"I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." Philippians 4:13

My mission for this week was to get Buddy started with going to the bathroom on the potty. At this point, we've had more "accidents" than success, but we are still going full force.

Anyhow, one time he was sitting there and said, "I can't do this." To which I quoted the scripture, "I can do ALL things through Jesus who gives me strength." Then I sang the scripture to him with a song that he has on a CD.

All day he has been singing "I can do all things". I love it! Then he changed the words to "Daddy can do all things." I saw his little mind working and his next statement was "Daddy can't do all things. He can't lift a house!"

"Stations"

My best friend Selma told me months ago that I should do "stations". You put a different activity in each room for the kids to do and have them rotate every 15-20 minutes. I've had intentions of trying this, but never got around to it.

Yesterday morning I decided we were going to give it a try. So while I was in the shower, I decided what the stations were going to be. This is what we did.

Station 1: Craft Station - I cut a bunch of shapes out of different colored paper. I had them make a picture out of the shapes. Both decided to make a house. So that there wasn't a huge "glue mess", I put glue on a paper plate. They used a Q-tip to apply the glue to their shapes.


Station #2: Pretend Play Station - I set up their Pl*yMob*l Animal Clinic and they played with that for the 15 minutes.

Station #3: Building Station - At this station, they built with L*g*os for the 15 minutes.

Station #4: ABC Station - I put several toys/tools in a basket that help teach ABC's, their sounds, and how to write them.



Here are the rules:
1. One kid per station. I assigned one station to each of them to start, then rotated in a circle.
2. Stay at the station until the timer goes off. I set the timer for 15 minutes.
3. Clean up station before moving on. When timer goes off, it will be set again for another 2 minutes. This allows for finishing up and clean-up.
4. Do not ask Mommy to help. I wanted them to figure things out on their own. (Plus I wanted to get a couple things done.) They still wanted to show me their projects, etc. And I still got to "praise" them. But I didn't have to sit there and help the entire time.

The kids LOVED it! Princess of course wants to do it again today, "but with different stations". Buddy sometimes had a hard time staying at a station for the entire 15 minutes. Like, he built his L*g* tower and was done. So I had to help him think of something else he could build.

I will definitely be doing it again because the kids loved it AND because it was over an hour of "no fighting or tormenting each other".

Mommy, Can We Do That Again?

The other week, our play rooms were a royal mess (I don't have pics from that day.) I think all the toys were on the floor. I wanted the kids to help clean-up of course, but dreaded it because Buddy doesn't really help. He will just stand or sit there and watch or just play....and then I end up yelling at him. So I started thinking how I could get him to help. Then I remembered a parenting class we went to a couple years ago. The teacher suggested making a picture check list for the kids.

So I did just that. This was Buddy's list. I'm not great at drawing, but he knew exactly what each picture was...bouncy ball (riding toy thingy), cars and trucks, play food, shopping cart, and balls. Princess received a similar list, but with different items.

It was amazing how fast they cleaned up. They loved checking the boxes off. They actually raced to see who would get done first.
I used a fun little notebook for each of them and their pens that they can wear around their neck. Buddy finished is list first and asked for another one. So I drew up another list for him. Then again with Princess. It was amazing!


When the rooms were cleaned up, they said "Mommy, can we do that again the next time?!" We have done it since they and they STILL love it!

To Fight or Not to Fight

This morning is no different from my mornings the last couple of weeks. I have at least one kid up early. This morning Buddy woke up at 5:45am. Princess woke up at 6:15am. I let them climb into bed with me and say, "we are laying here until 7:00. If you talk you will be going back to your bed.". Well that lasts for about 10 minutes (especially since both of them are up).

I usually give them a million warnings because I'm too lazy that early in the morning to follow through (great disciplining, huh?). So here I am this morning, I told them quiet until 7. It lasted 10 minutes. So I decide not to fight it. They are watching Oso Detectives (or something like that) and I'm blogging on my iPod. Maybe the day will be better since I'm not fighting with them and I won't get in a bad mood first thing.

Easy Peasy

Do you remember about a year and a half ago when we made princess go through "pacifier withdraw"? If not, you can go here to read about it. We told Buddy that when he turns 4, we were going to take him to "the store" and put his pacifier in an animal.

Let me just say, we thought Princess was attached to her pacifier. Buddy is a whole different story. He has given me such problems with that thing. I have tried so many times to make it that he can only have it at bedtime. I would put it up where I thought he wouldn't be able to reach it. He would climb whatever it was to get that stupid pacifier. He NEEDED that thing.

A few weeks ago, his blue pacifier got a small hole in it. I told him I didn't want him to use it anymore, but he could use his spare red one. Just like that, his red pacifier got a hole in it too. (I did not do it either.) Well I wasn't ready to go through "pacifier withdraw" with him, so I just let him have it. Instead of sucking on it, he started chewing on it. Well........

....he basically chewed it in half.

One day, he told me that he got a piece of his pacifier on his tongue and just wiped it off with his finger. I told him that he shouldn't use it any more because if that happened while he was sleeping, he would swallow it. He says, "Then I will choke and have to go to the hostible."

That night he laid his pacifier beside his bed and never tried putting it in his mouth. This past Saturday, we took him to put his pacifier in an animal. He choose the St. Patrick's Bear and name him "Clover".

Before being stuffed.

Ian and Clover happy at home.

Yes. Clover is wearing underpants.

This was probably the easiest transition we have had with Buddy. He DOES NOT like change.

It Only Took 5 Years

From the time Princess was born, we did what she wanted us to do to get her to fall a sleep. She was the first born, so we didn't really know any better. We patted her butt. We rocked her. We sat in her room then would try to sneak out without waking her. She slept on a small bed on our bedroom floor. We did everything, except let her cry it out (actually we tried, but caved). The last 2 years, I'm guessing, I would have to sit in the hallway so that she could see me. I would read, crochet, do coupons, or something to keep me occupied. But honestly, I hated sitting there (and miss out on the great TV shows that were on). I used to say that in our house, the first born was going to be the "spoiled one".

Well, she turned 5-years-old in October. Then JD was born. I was still sitting in the hallway, usually holding JD or nursing him. Then I would have to get up to change him or put him to bed...something that would make me leave the hallway. Guess what?! After just a few weeks, she didn't need me in the hallway anymore. She would still like for me to be upstairs, but I don't always stay up and she is okay. THANK YOU, JESUS!!!

I'm not saying bedtime is perfect though. We still have her giving us excuses why she can't sleep yet...water, potty, needs recovered, etc. But I don't have to sit on the floor in the hallway. YAY!!!!

It only took 5 years....

JD

The kids LOVE, I mean LOVE, JD so much.

JD almost 4 months old

Yes, Princess is teaching him how to play the iPod already.

Seriously, each day is like the day he was born. They get sooo excited to see him. They fight over who is going to hold him or play with him. He gets a lot of what I call "tough" love. On the other hand, he gets so excited when he sees his brother and sister too.

Giveaways

Who doesn't like getting something for free? Well, I have 2 giveaways to tell you about.

1. My best friend just started a new blog. It is very inspiring and encouraging. Anyhow, she is one of the most hospitable person I know. She shared her secret the other day and wants to help you with your hospitality. Check it out.

2. My best friend from when I was a little girl introduced me to this blog via Facebook the other day. Looks like a blog that I'm going to enjoy also. Anyhow, I'm hoping to win the organizer that she is giving away.

Best friends and giveaways....love both!