It's the little things

Laundry day is a fun time around here for this little girl.  I'm almost positive she would have stayed here for most of the morning if I hadn't needed to wrestle the basket away from her.  It's always the most mundane objects that kids seem to love.  Buy them the newest, best, most sought after toys of the season and what do they really want?  A laundry basket.  Love that!  Some of us could take a lesson from this.

Dear Stomach Virus

Oh how I mocked you just this morning when I told my neighbor how none of the kids have gotten sick yet and then wham!, tonight you get my first born. 

I've heard through the grapevine that you have not been kind, but I'm begging.  I'm not all that into cleaning up vomit without having the thoughts of doing it myself.  I have an intense fear of it, really.

If you think you can hit the rest of us let me just say that for the past 2 hours I've been armed with Lysol wipes, so think again.

Thanks,
Me

Our Late Night Visitor

For the past year our son has been creeping into our bed in the wee hours of the night or morning or both.  I try to take him back to his own bed almost every time I hear him try to wiggle his way in, but honestly there are some mornings I wake up surprised to find him in bed.  My husband likes to complain all the time about him staying put at nighttime but does nothing to return him to where he belongs, it's left up to me.  Honestly I can't even do it myself some nights because let's face it, I still have an 18 month old that wakes up during the night.  I know, ugh!  (I was never one for the cry-it-out method so I still go in and rock her back to sleep.  Oops!)

He desperately wants a Pillow Pet ever since big sister got one and I figure this may be the way to keep him in his own bed.  I plan on making a chart for him and if he can stay in his bed for 2 weeks straight then he can pick one out.  He was excited for the potty chart that I made when we began potty training and I'm guessing it gave him a sort of feeling of control over the whole process.  Perhaps he just needs a little motivation?  Once  he has it and comes over to our room to sleep I'm taking it away for one night.  Hopefully I can put an end to (some) of the madness.

Cooking Kiddos

For the last three weeks my son has woken up and wanted me to make pancakes for breakfast, but only on the weekdays.  My answer was of course no way jose!  I don't have time to do that right now! 



But this afternoon I told him that today was the day.  We could finally make a batch and he was in all his mixing and stirring glory. 

 I usually get an anxiety attack while cooking with the kids.  The mess, oh the horrible mess... but I know that they love to help me and it does teach some important lessons and all that good stuff so I usually bite the bullet and let them do some things here and there.  One important thing that I have learned over the years is to get everything ready before hand.  The utensils, ingredients, and recipes.  That way I can maintain some sort of control over the whole process instead of running to get the sugar while someone has their arm up to their elbow in the flour container throwing it all over the place just to pass the time until I return.  It really makes for a smoother and (somewhat) less stressful time. 

I was a little hesitant on letting him take them off the griddle but he was very careful.  He's such a thinker and very meticulous.  I'm pretty sure he'll be a mathematician or an accountant or an engineer.

Resolution Smesolution

What is it about one little day that happens to kick off a new year that makes one totally rethink their life?  I mean truthfully you could decide to lose weight, be nicer, save more money, etc. any old day of the year.  Just pick a date.  But nooo, it has to start on January 1st.


I have been thinking the past couple of days how to truly transform my ways and stick with it.  Maybe 'transform' isn't really the right word that I should use.  "Transform"  seems more like magic and there will be no magic involved here.  It will take a lot of hard work on my part but I think I'm ready.


* We have been attending church as a family more regularly and I would like that to continue and become even more frequent.  I believe that it's very important to teach my children that there is a purpose as to why we are here and help them to lead a good life.


* I would like to yell less and talk more with my kids.  I'll admit with constant name-calling, tattling, screaming, fighting, and everything else that goes along with having 3 little ones this will by far be my toughest challenge!  I'm tired of the yelling and I know that my kids are starting to model my and my husband's behavior and it's begun to bother me a great deal.


* Stop procrastinating!  Oh my, I don't know if I can do this or not.  This is on my list every year.


How about you?  Is there anything you want to change?

Dog Tag

I've been busy finishing up some last minute gifts for my kids and thought I'd share this one.  My oldest used to have a little zipper pull for her coat but over the years it had gotten damaged and was unable to stay clamped onto the zipper tab.  I thought about trying to find a new one for her stocking this year and then thought, I have all of this felt, why not just make one?  And so I did.  And here it is...

 and the back...



Santa is done, I think

For the first time in years I have finished my Christmas shopping way ahead of schedule.  I'm a bit of a last minute person and I almost kind of like fighting through the traffic and crowds to get the last few items that I need   my kids want.  The house is decorated, the tree is going up today, and I still have Halloween treat bags and a preschool made turkey lurking around somewhere.  I should get it together.  It all seems to be happening so fast!  I can't believe that Christmas is only a few weeks away.

My husband is out at this very moment trying to get some kind of special outside lights to put up around the walkway.  We were out with him a bit this morning running around looking for them.  With 3 kids tagging along it took over an hour just to hit two stores.  Needless to say we were dropped off at home for lunch and he went at it alone.  I'm sure he's grumbling along, bah-humbugging everyone who crosses his path.  But  I know that it's all in the name of love for 3 little kids who will look at him as though he's a  hero!