Teaching My Kids and Learning As I Go

My Etsy Store

2010-08-16T23:08:00.000-07:00

Hi. Remember me? Just in case anyone stops by this blog (obviously I don't!), I just wanted to let you all know about my new etsy store- sewitseamsbyme.etsy.com. I have been a little crazy with the skirt making at my house. Clara and I have more than our share! I just have so much fun making them that I decided to see if anyone else liked them as much as I do. Check out the ones I have in my store and be ready for more. I'm in the process of making some strip skirts and bubble skirts and layered skirts- they're all so super cute! So, check it out and tell your friends. Thanks.

Dr. Noah

2010-06-03T12:11:00.000-07:00

The other day I was watching The Doctors. This particular episode they were having a game show, and one of the games, the contestants had to place bones and organs in their correct place on the body. Noah saw parts of the show, but I didn't really think he was absorbing much. But later that night this is what he drew:

Isn't that cutest drawing of the human body you've ever seen? Well, I think so, and I love seeing him transplant images from his brain to the paper.

I asked him if the red circle on the right is the heart, and he said, "No. It's just a red thing." Okay. By the way, the squiggly lines on the head are his brain, and don't you love the bones in the legs and arms? Cute!

A New Memorial Day Tradition

2010-05-30T21:22:00.000-07:00

I've never done anything for Memorial Day with my kids, other than the family barbecue. I live an hour away from any cemeteries with family members, and we've never taken the time to drive there and visit their graves, which I feel bad about and should do. When I was little, every Sunday before Memorial Day we'd go visit my Grandmas' graves and other family, and I miss that.

This year, spur of the moment, I decided we needed to go to the local cemetery and teach Noah what the holiday is about. It's a big, old cemetery that I've always wanted to visit, so I decided that today was the day. I wasn't sure what my kids would think, but I was pleasantly surprised. Clara just stayed in the stroller, but she liked looking around. Noah loved it! He saw all the flowers and flags and wanted to know what they were for. It was a wonderful teaching opportunity. After learning that a flag meant that person had been a soldier, he was very excited about finding all the flagged marked graves. He also enjoyed looking at the different gravestones and monuments and learning from Mom and Dad that some of the graves were over one hundred years old.

My very favorite, though, was being able to teach Noah the proper respect needed at a cemetery. He's never been to a funeral or a cemetery before, so this was all very new. A few times he accidentally stepped on some of the graves, but after a quick reprimand from Mom and Dad, he was very careful to treat them more respectfully. That's when he started fixing any flower pots that had fallen over. If any grave's flowers needing straightening, he ran over there and lovingly put them upright. We also encouraged him to put a stray flower lying on the grass on a lonely grave that needed some love. It was very sweet, and I even enjoyed helping him. It brought such a special spirit into my heart, and I'm pretty sure Noah could feel it too.

Noah could have stayed there much longer than we did, but Clara was ready to go. Tonight I've been thinking that maybe this needs to be a tradition. It doesn't matter if we don't know any of the people buried in the cemetery. They are still our brothers and sisters, and it's important to show our respect for the lives they lived.

I thought maybe next year we could actually take our own flowers and place them on graves that are empty. Then we can walk around like we did today and fix the flowers that have fallen down. I think it would be a lovely thing to continue to do. What do you think?

Pinkfig Girly Patchwork Skirt

2010-04-28T19:40:00.000-07:00

Some of you know that recently I've gotten a little obsessive about making these darling skirts. Clara has three, and I have two, almost three. My best friend has one, all my nieces on my side have one, and two of my sisters have one. Last week we got together and had a skirt sewing party, so don't get too excited- I didn't make all of those skirts. It was very girly and very fun. They're just such darling skirts- I can't get enough of them! Which is why I'm sharing it with all of you. Aside from being so stinking cute, I love this skirt because:

it's easy to make
it's a great skirt for teaching girls to sew because it's mostly just straight stitching

Obviously I haven't taught Clara how to sew them. She just gets to benefit from my madness. But if you have daughters old enough to learn, this would be the pattern to use. After they pick out fabric and assemble all those strips, they'll not only be proud of themselves- they'll be excited to wear it because they will look SO CUTE!

The pattern is by Pinkfig Patterns, and here's the website where you'll find the pattern, along with other darling ones. Her patterns aren't sold everywhere, but she has a list of stores near you where you'll find them.

Have fun sewing with or for your cute little girls!

P.S.- I figured out how to make one for Mommy sizes. Leave your email in the comments if you'd like the measurements.

Lovely Design

2010-04-06T21:35:00.000-07:00

The January issue of Better Homes and Garden featured a mom in Vancouver Canada who is also an artist who designs paper. She has an online shop and a blog where she writes about her creative life and her little daughter Adelaid. Her business is called Lovely Design, and she's got some fun and fresh ideas.

I guess every month she has a design she features. This is the design for March. I really liked the ideas she gave about what to do with the design. She has links for paper flower making, paper bird making and other fun things. It sounded like the perfect thing to do with my kids to help us get excited for Spring (since Mother Nature doesn't seem to be). Check out her blog. I think you'll like it.

Dad to the Rescue

2010-04-01T18:54:00.000-07:00

Aren't Dads the greatest? The list of things that Moms do everyday is at least a mile long, but there are some things that only Dad can do.

The past week or so I had been having the toughest time with Noah. My sweet little boy was M.I.A, and I was desperate for his return. But nothing I could say or do would bring him back. That's when I called on Dad for some help. After Dad heard about the grief Noah was causing me, he called for Noah and they had a talk.

Dad explained how Noah's behavior was not okay and that it was making his Mom sad. He challenged Noah to go through the whole day without whining and throwing a fit when Mom asked him to do something. He told Noah that he knew he could do it because of what a good boy he is. At the end of their little talk Noah promised he would be better and not whine and throw fits for the day.

It worked! My sweet little boy returned, and I can't believe the difference it made! It was so much easier for me to be happy and patient when my five year old wasn't acting like a two year old anymore, and it was so much easier to love him. The effects haven't worn off either! He's been fabulous for two days in a row, and I don't see the trend ending any time soon because of how proud of himself he is. Yesterday he was very anxious for his Dad to get home so he could tell him how good he was. He's also earned a lot more fish points (someday I'll explain what those are).

It's all thanks to Dad! What would I do without you?!

Love you!

Some Cute Books

2010-03-25T19:03:00.000-07:00

I'm still here. I've just been hiding from my blogs. I'm also finding that it's harder and harder to find time to sit at the computer without having kids crawling all over me, fighting for my attention. Once they're in bed, I have a husband doing the same thing. I guess it's nice being needed.

I thought I'd post something simple- a book review! Yay for books! The two I'm showcasing are Clara's new favorites.

This one is "Giddy-up! Let's Ride!" by Flora McDonald. It's based on the nursery rhyme "This is the way the ---- rides." It's a very simple book, but kids love the repetitive, rhythmic narrative. The pictures are also fun, and if your child is like mine and LOVES horses, they'll love this.

Last the best of all the game, is "The Wheels on the Bus" by Paul Zelinsky. This is a pop-up version of the classic song. It is so adorable! You and your kids will instantly love this book. The pictures are so much fun. There are tons of stories going on with all the different people getting on and off the bus. Plus, the pop-ups are so cute. My favorite is the page with the crying babies and the shushing Mamas. The pop-up shows a Mom putting a binky in and out of the baby's mouth- so cute!! Clara wants me to read this to her a hundred times a day, at least. But I always read it with her because this is a definite go-on-top-of-the-bookshelf book.

*Don't quote me on this, but I think both of these books might be out of print, which would be a humongous shame if it were true. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. I was able to get both of them on Amazon, but I got them used. Hopefully you can find them at your library too.

Our Perfect Parent

2010-03-07T18:44:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking a lot lately about the example of parenting from our Heavenly Father and the Savior. They are perfect, after all, so there isn't anyone better than them to look to. I have a lot of thoughts on the subject, and hopefully I can relate them in a coherent manner.

I've been reading the book "Parenting with Love and Logic" by Foster W. Cline and Jim Fay, and I really like it. The reason I like it so much is because the things they teach go hand in hand with how we are parented. The book is all about allowing our children to choose and lovingly allowing them to experience the consequences, whether good or bad. That is exactly what our Heavenly Father does with us. He gave us the gift of agency, which gives us the opportunity to learn and grow from the choices we make. Otherwise, there would be no point to this life. Likewise, if we make all our children's choices for them, they will never gain the knowledge they need to not only survive in this world but also to receive eternal life in the next.

The more I ponder the example of parenting and love set by our Heavenly Father and the Savior, the more I am filled with gratitude. In Elder Dallin H. Oaks' talk last GC, he said, "Think how it must have grieved our Heavenly Father to send His Son to endure incomprehensible suffering for our sins. That is the greatest evidence of His love for each of us!" And we all know the scripture in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

To say being a parent is hard is an understatement. And I don't know about you, but allowing my son to make poor choices is super hard! It hurts my heart and sometimes makes me angry, but I know I have to let him go through the experiences because they will make him better. I just don't know how the Lord does it. Well, I do- because he's perfect. But being perfect doesn't make Him free from the pain and hurt that comes from seeing a child suffer because of their poor choices. Yet, He knows that it is the only way we can return to Him. It all goes back to love.

Tonight I was reading this month's Ensign and thinking again about Heavenly Father's example of parenting, and I was filled with immense love. I felt strengthened and guided by it, and it allowed me to put what I've been learning into action. You see, there was a little boy upstairs who was very sad. He had thrown a nasty tantrum, so he got sent straight to bed. As I listened to his cries, I wondered what the Lord would do. What does he do with me when I make mistakes? Does he leave me utterly alone? Yes, for a while, but he comes back when I am repentant and want Him back. Does he lecture me? No, but he chastens me, and "whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth." There's a difference in lecturing and chastening, and that difference is love.

So, guided by the Spirit, I decided to go upstairs. I knew Noah felt sorry for what he'd done, so it was time to relieve him of his sorrow and show him some love. I gave him a big hug, and soothed his tears by singing his favorite song, "I Am A Child of God". I told him that sometimes I make mistakes too, so I know how it feels. I also told him that he was a good boy, and that tomorrow he could try again at making better choices. I also felt prompted to ask him what Jesus wants us to do when we make mistakes and are sorry for them: try again. Everything will be okay because we can try again.

After that, his tears were all gone, and he rolled over and went to sleep. As I went back downstairs, my heart was filled with love. I really felt like I had handled things the way the Lord would have. Unfortunately, it's not always easy to react in such a loving way, especially for me. I can be pretty...um...let's say boisterous sometimes. And when I'm like that, I'm not exactly feeling a whole lot of love.

You know what the key is to feeling that love? How about some Seminary Answers? You said it- pray and read your scriptures! It's so easy and yet so hard, but I am constantly amazed at the spiritual strength I feel when I fill my spiritual reservoir. If I didn't have the gospel, I think motherhood would literally have me in an insane asylum. Not kidding. I just could not do it alone. So why is that I still try to? I suppose that's one of life's never ending lessons.

To end my smattering of thoughts, I just want to say that as hard as mothering can be, if we follow the example of our Perfect Parent, we will be okay.

P.S.- Isn't it funny how when you have been pondering something a lot, you find and hear things about it all of a sudden? This month's Ensign has an article "What Mother's Can Learn from the Savior." It's a good one. Here's a reassuring quote from it by Elder Faust:

"If you have done your best, which you usually do, your humble offering, whatever it may be, will be acceptable and pleasing to the Lord."

Here's another good one from President Packer:

"If your are helpless, he is not. If you are lost, he is not. If you don't know what to do next, he knows. It would take a miracle, you say? Well, if it takes a miracle, why not?"

P.S. 2- If you haven't read "Christlike Parenting" by Glenn I. Latham, you need to. It's a good one. The Book of Mormon isn't bad, either.

Puzzle Activity for FHE Lesson

2010-02-17T20:38:00.000-08:00

This week for FHE I used Lesson #25 "I Belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints" in the Behold Your Little Ones Manual. I followed the lesson as outlined, but I did add my own little twist that I thought I'd share.

For an activity, I used the coloring picture they provide. I colored it myself beforehand and cut the picture out into four puzzle pieces: "I Belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints" quote, Jesus, Joseph Smith with quote, and scriptures with quote. Then, on the back of each puzzle piece I wrote down a song to go along with it:

"I Belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints"

"I Am a Child of God"

"We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet"

"Search, Ponder, and Pray."

Before laying down each piece, we sang the song that went with it. I think Noah really liked this activity. It turned out to be a fun, simple addition to this lesson that helped drive home the meaning of it.

Just thought I'd share it.

easy magnet board job charts

2010-02-17T04:16:00.000-08:00

I made this for my son a little while ago, and it works rather well. I have it hanging in the hallway just outside his bedroom, so it's the first thing he sees whenever he leaves his room. He has done a descent job at keeping up on his jobs by himself. I do have to remind him now and then, but having this visual has really helped him. The one chore he misses most days is picking up the downstairs family room. But he is getting better at that.

I bought the magnet board at Roberts Craft and found paper to mod podge around the frame. Then I made magnets from glass marbles/stones and coordinating paper. I bought the magnets is the craft department at Walmart. You simply trace the magnet onto the paper, cut it out and glue it to the magnet, then you glue the marble on top of that. They do take a couple of hours to dry, and you want to use a really good clear craft glue. For the different jobs he has listed on the side, I used paper mod podged onto chip board circles and glued them onto magnets. For the lines, I just used a sharpie and a ruler. Just figure out how many columns and rows you need and divide that by the length and width of the board you choose to use.

The little black dots mark which days he needs to do a specific job. Some are daily, others only one a week. He is responsible to keep up with the jobs and marking what he has done.

I have liked his job chart so much that I have already made one for my little girl. Her one and only job right now is to fall asleep without all the drama she goes through every night.

She watches her brother put magnets on his board and knows that it is a good thing. I just hope that it will mean something to her soon. Wayne and I could use the sleep!

Trickster

2010-02-07T19:47:00.000-08:00

I tricked my kids into eating something green and good for them. Mwah-ha-ha-ha!

I've been making this extremely healthy smoothie for my husband and me that calls for, among other things, spinach. You can't taste the spinach or see it because of the overbearing blueberries in the shake, but you get all the healthy benefits.

I decided to throw some into my kids' smoothie, and what do ya know? They couldn't tell! Clara wasn't drinking hers as well as Noah, so I decided to make them into popsicles, and...we were two for two!

Here's how I made them (the measurements are really up to you):

handful of blueberries

handful of strawberries

half a banana

half a thing of yoplait strawberry yogurt

a little bit of milk

a little bit of grape juice

a big handful of spinach

Make sure you blend it up without your kids noticing the scary green things you put in it. My kids would not be eating it if they knew what was in it. You can also do whatever fruit you want, just make sure you put in blueberries or blackberries- something dark that will cover up the green color.

I got my popsicle makers at some kitchen store. I'm sure you can find them at Bed, Bath,and Beyond.

I guess Jerry Seinfeld's wife wrote a book about deceiving your kids by sneaking in healthy stuff in your kids' food. I've never read it, but I've heard she's got some good ideas. It's called

Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food
by Jessica Seinfeld

Have fun tricking your kids to eat healthy!

The Talk

2010-01-30T18:12:00.000-08:00

Sometimes when I put Noah to bed I like to lay down next to him and just chat for a minute. It's actually pretty special. I like to think we're building a bond that will help us through the difficult teenage years. Hopefully, even when he's fifteen and embarrassed by me, we'll still be able chit chat about nothing and talk about something. As soon as Clara's out of her crib, we'll be able to have these talks too and build our own special bond.

You never know what a five year old is going to say, which is what makes talking to them so much fun. You're always in for a laugh. Tonight, of course, our conversation turned to baby brother. No, I'm not pregnant, but Noah for months has been talking about how "soon" he's going to have a baby brother. Tonight it went further than that. He said he wanted two brothers and two sisters, and my eyes got real big.

"You want me to have 4 babies in my tummy?" I asked.

"No, six," he corrected.

"Six? Six babies in my tummy?" I hear stories of young kids saying things to their parents about future children that they end up being spot on about. That worries me a little when he talks like this.

Then we started talking about twins and how his Grandma (my Mom) is a twin, and the baby talk continued some more after that, until we came to the question all parents hope to avoid for as long as possible.

Noah talked about how babies come down from heaven and into their Mommy's tummy, but then he got confused. "How do the babies get into Mommy's tummy?" he asked.

I gave him the easy, safe answer. "When a Mommy and a Daddy love each other very much, they make a baby."

I thought that was a good answer myself. But did it satisfy this thoughtful five year old? No.

"But how do they make a baby?"

I thought maybe he didn't hear me the first time, you know kids are. So, I gave him my first answer again, adding a little inflection to my voice, kind of like when people always yell when speaking to people of a different language. Surely that helps them understand better, right?

It didn't with Noah. "But..." sounding more confused and determined to understand, "how do they make a baby?"

At this point I just stared at him, totally without a clue of how to respond. Then I started to laugh at the awkwardness and the shock that I'm already facing this issue. Luckily, Noah is easily distracted by laughter. We both lied there laughing, and I was grateful for the convenient way the topic was pushed under the rug. Beneath my giggles, I told Noah we'd talk about it more when he was older.

Can you believe he's already asking this? He's too darn smart, seeing past my veiled and sprinkled with hearts answer. His father must be consulted on this, and I'm more than half tempted to turn it all over to him. I definitely think he's too young to know everything, but he's obviously not convinced a Mom and Dad fall in love and POOF a baby appears inside Mom. Sheesh!

What do I say if and when it comes up again?

Solving the Winter Time, Cheapskate Blues

2010-01-29T19:06:00.000-08:00

Here's some more honesty. I'm not really a cheapskate, but I'd like to be one. Frankly, I'm lousy with the whole money managing thing, but unfortunately, it's largely my responsibility. Since I don't want our family in financial ruin thanks to me, I'm determined to figure things out and overcome my weaknesses. To do this, I came up with a list of cheap/free activities to do with my kids. These winter months can be unbearable, especially when the need to be cheap binds you to your home. But there must be some things you can do outside the home during winter time that don't cost a million dollars? Well, my brainstorming told me there are. Plus, it's so easy to forget the simple but fun things to do at home to brake the monotony, and my brainstorming reminded me of those as well. Here's what I came up with:

Library (my goal is to keep this free by not getting any more late fees!)
Make something using things already in the house
Explore the house, finding lost things; look for specific things, like the sounds different objects make when tapped with a stick, etc.
Go to the FREE zoo (the pet store)
Dance
Sledding (we're so lucky to live right next to an awesome sledding hill!)
Make a fun snack or treat
Play games
Have a friend/cousin over
Visit Grandma/cousins
Have a picnic in the living room
Build a fort
Have a read-a-thon
Write letters to people
Visit Dad at work
Write your own book by taking pictures of things in the house and making a story out of it
Write an "All By Myself" book using your kids as the main characters (i.e. "I can brush my teeth...I can make my bed...etc.)

What are some things you could add to this list? Where else could you go to get out of the house in the winter time without spending a ton of money, hopefully spending none? What else did my itty-bitty brain fail to come up with?

The Invisible Woman.

2010-01-28T18:32:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'm so computer illiterate. I don't know how to upload movies, but I have a movie all you mothers need to watch. This message will make you feel so good and yummy inside. Click here to learn about the Invisible Woman.

My Real Intent

2010-01-23T18:58:00.000-08:00

I have to be honest: I've been avoiding this blog. I've barely looked at it since my last post. Maybe that's because I see the date of that post and realize it's about dang time I posted something new. But then I feel the gnawing at my stomach reminding me that I have no clue what to post next, or ever, for that matter.

This blog has become something I didn't intend for it to be: something that glorifies my mothering skills, gives the impression that I am full of wisdom, and that I am benevolent enough to share it with the masses. I feel so much pressure with each post to give you all something amazing, inspiring, enlightening (go ahead and throw in your own positive adjective), when really, I have no wisdom. And when I pretend that I do, I feel like a fraud. Let's face it, rarely do I have a completely original idea or suggestion. And why does the Mom who didn't start swearing until she had kids think she can give others advice? Yes, it's true. I admit it. Perhaps that was TMI, but I'm sure I just made you feel a lot better about yourself, didn't I?

Now, let me clarify. I am not writing this as a "poor me" post. Rather, I want you all to understand who I really am. I don't have all the answers. Every minute of every day at our house is not sunshine and flowers, and I hope I have not given the impression to the contrary. Sometime I feel really stupid that I even have a parenting blog.

So, why did I start this blog anyway? Frankly, I can't really remember my exact reasons, but I think I mostly wanted a blog where Mom's could share their good ideas, their wisdom, their ups and downs, etc. Notice that Mom is plural. I really did not intend for me to be the sole contributor on this blog (ahem...all you other contributors- you know who you are), but it looks like that's the way it's gonna be. So, since that's the case, you need to understand some things:

Posts will be as frequent as my good ideas and thoughts come. Don't ask for more than that.
I'm changing the name of my blog.

Let's talk about that last one. Just the title of my blog, "Teaching My Kids: How will they know unless we teach them so," intimidates me. It intimates that I actually know how to teach my kids. But the truth is, I'm just learning as I go.

That's what I want this blog to be about, which is why the new name is- "Learning As I Go." At least, that's part of the new name. I still want to incorporate the original title so that it goes along with my blog address. I'd love to change that too, but that would be a pain. I'm not quite sure how to work in the new title with the old one. Here are a couple ideas:

Learning As I Go On How to Teach My Kids: How will they...

Teaching My Kids and Learning as I Go: How will they...

Those are my two ideas. What do you like better? Or do you hate them both? Leave a comment and let me know.

I hope this post makes sense and that you understand me a little better. Sometimes I really do feel embarrassed posting things that make me look like a perfect mother. My neighbors on the other side of my walls know that's not true. But I'm working on it, and one day I will be a perfect mother. It will just take a lot of tries, a lot of ups and downs, and a whole lot of learning as I go.

FHE Lesson: A Gift for Jesus

2009-12-15T19:27:00.000-08:00

Lesson: A Gift for Jesus

Talk to your kids about how at Christmas Santa brings gifts and how we all give presents to each other.

Why do we do that?

Because it reminds us of all the gifts that Jesus gave us when he was born and lived on earth. List them off with your family:

the gospel
the atonement (eternal life)
resurrection (salvation)
His example
the Holy Ghost
eternal families
everything!

Read James 1:17 "Every good gift and every perfect gift cometh from above..."

That means everything good we have comes from Jesus. Express your gratitude for all the things the Lord has given you.

Ask the following questions:

Whose birthday is on Christmas?

Did he get any presents on his birthday?

Show a picture or use the figures from you nativity of the Three Wise Men. Explain how they traveled far to see the baby Jesus and they brought Him special gifts to show their love and respect for him. Tell your family the gifts they brought.

Explain that since Christmas is Jesus' Birthday, we want to make sure we remember Him by giving him a gift.

Read the following scripture: D&C 4:2- "Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day." and/or:

3 Nephi 9:20- "And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit."

Explain that since Jesus has given us everything, the only thing and the best thing we can offer Him is our hearts.

We offer our hearts by trying harder to be like Him:

more obedient
kind to others
helpful
pray more
read the scriptures
etc.

This Christmas, what will your gift to Jesus be? Will you promise to obey your parents? or to be more helpful? or to be more kind?

Have everyone write down on a piece of paper what their gift to Jesus will be. You can have them share or keep them private.

After they're all written down, put them in a small gift box. Put Jesus' name on the box and put it under your Christmas tree.

Bare your testimony about the birth of the Savior. Express your gratitude for all the gifts He's given you and invite your family to strive to remember the gifts they promised to give Him.

Activity: we play the "Symbols of Christmas" memory game or you could color pictures of the Wise Men bringing gifts.

Treat: We didn't do this, but I thought it would be fun to have a birthday cake, since we talked about it being Jesus' birthday

Homemade Ornaments

2009-12-09T14:55:00.000-08:00

Popcorn Cranberry Garland

You'll need:

Popcorn (not buttery popcorn and it needs to be at least a day old)
Cranberries (I used about 2 packages)
Tooth Floss (white)
Needle

Measure out your floss. Rather than doing one really long rope, I did about 4 ropes so it wouldn't be so hard to handle when I put it on the tree. Thread your needle and tie a large knot on the end.
Start making your garland. Do whatever pattern you'd like. Tie a knot when you get to the end of your floss and hang on your tree!

This garland will last all season long, but I wouldn't save it for next year. Make it a tradition to make it every year with your kids. I tried to get Noah to help me make ours, but he didn't want to. Maybe your kids will be more enthusiastic about it. I'm sure Clara would love to help, but we'll wait until she's older.

Tip: I didn't use microwave popcorn this year. I used my stove top, old fashioned popper (the kind with the handle you have to turn constantly), and the popcorn was way better because the kernels were huge, which is a lot easier for poking with your needle.

Cinnamon Dough Ornaments

1 1/2 cups cinnamon
1 cup applesauce
1/4 cup Elmer's glue
wax paper
cookie sheets

Mix ingredients. Dough should be as thick as cookie dough. Add water if it's too thick.
Remove from bowl and knead. Put back in bowl and cover. Let sit for at least 1/2 hour.
Remove dough and knead again. Roll the dough between waxed paper until it's between 1/4" and 1/8" thickness (I actually did NOT roll it out between waxed paper. I found it worked much better without the wax paper and it didn't really stick to my rolling pin.)
Cut out shapes with cookie cutter. Use a straw to punch out a hole at the top of your shapes for the string to go through.
Gently place shapes on wax paper lined cookie sheets. Let air dry 3-5 days, flipping 2-3 times a day to prevent curling.
Tie with a string (I used jute) and hang on your Christmas tree!

I love these! I had some leftover from last year that still worked but I wanted even more, so we made more. I love them because they are easy, the kids like to help because they love using cookie cutters, and they smell really good.

Tip: To speed up drying, bake at 200 degrees on your wax paper lined cookie sheets for 2 hours, turning at 1 hour with a metal spatula. I tried this out this year, and it worked great. Some of them still curled a little, but they look fine.

I absolutely love the look of cute, homemade ornaments, especially ones that are edible (although you would not want to eat them for real!). One of these years I plan on doing a Christmas tree where every ornament is homemade in the kitchen.

If you have any homemade ornament ideas that are made with food, let me know! Martha Stewart has this one (slide number 3) that I really want to make. That will be next year's addition to our tree.

The Symbols of Christmas

2009-12-07T19:47:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a bit. I have lots to say this month, but haven't had much energy to say it yet thanks to some holes a surgeon put in my tummy. Don't worry- everything's fine. I won't give you the gory details. Just promise me that you will never EVER get an IUD!! That's all.

I'm bursting with excitement at what I'm about to post. It warmed my heart with Christmas cheer when I first heard it on Sunday during Sharing Time, and I couldn't wait to share it with all of you (I know people read this blog because I spy on all my visitors. It's alright if you're all too shy to comment. I usually don't comment on strangers' blogs either, so I understand). I hope it inspires you and gladdens your heart like it did mine. What I'm about to give you would make a wonderful FHE lesson.

First, share the story "Teach the Children." I had never heard this story before. Have you? If not, I'll quickly summarize. It's about a man who sees Santa in his living room on Christmas Eve. The man is surprised to find that Santa is sad because people seem to have forgotten the true meaning of Christmas. So, Santa tells the man to teach the children about the symbols of Christmas- the tree, the star, the bells, the candy canes- and how they point to the true meaning of Christmas- our Lord, Jesus Christ. It's such a sweet story!

After you read the story, play a memory game with your family. This you will have to prepare beforehand, of course. Here are the instructions:

Print off or draw pictures of Christmas symbols on small cards.
On other cards, write the meaning of the symbols.
Color code the backside of the two different types of cards- make the symbol cards green and the meaning cards red
Turn the cards over so the color side is showing
Each person takes a turn, turning over a symbol card and trying to find its matching meaning card.

(That sounds really confusing. Sorry! I'm sure you can figure it out- it's not rocket science, even though I made it sound like it is.)

To make life easier for you, here are the definitions of the symbols:

THE STAR: a heavenly sign of prophecy fulfilled long ages ago. It's the shining hope of mankind and a reminder that wise men still seek Him.

RED: the first color of Christmas. It symbolizes God's greatest gift- the Savior's sacrifice for all.

FIR TREE: evergreen- the second color of Christmas shows everlasting life. The needles point heavenward.

THE BELL: rings out to guide lost sheep back to the fold, signifying all are precious in the eyes of the Lord. It calls for all to follow the true Shepherd.

THE CANDLE: represents our gratitude for the gift of God's son. It symbolizes the light within all of us, shining for all to see.

GIFT BOW: tied as we should all be tied together in bonds of goodwill forever.

CANDY CANE: the shepherd's crook used to bring lambs back to the fold. It's a reminder that we are all our brother's keeper. It also forms a J, representing the precious name of Jesus who came to Earth.

THE WREATH: a symbol of the never ending eternal nature of love, having no beginning and no end.

SANTA CLAUS: represents family fun and the joy of giving and receiving.

After you play the matching game, read this wonderful book, "I Believe in Santa Claus" by Diane Adamson.

It is a simple yet profound summary of everything that was just explained. At the end of the book she lists the symbols and their meanings, and she may even include some that are listed above (I'm not sure because my friend borrowed it, so I don't have it with me right now). If you've never heard of this book before, you MUST get it because, trust me, you'll LOVE it!

I hear people say they feel bad that we have so much fun with Santa Claus and candy canes and Christmas trees because they think it detracts from the true meaning of Christmas. I feel bad for them because they don't understand the beautiful meaning behind it all. They also don't understand this: "If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or praiseworthy, or of good report, we seek after these things." The reason we seek after those things is because everything that is good comes from and points toward Christ, and that's what makes this season so wonderful because it's filled with so many good things that symbolize the love of our Savior. Let's teach our families those things so they understand the reason and the meaning of the season.

Spontaneous Christmas Fun with the Kids

2009-11-30T18:59:00.000-08:00

I had a very nice night with my kids. Daddy was at work, unfortunately, so it was just the three of us. When Daddy works on Monday nights I usually plan on having FHE a different night when he can be a part of it, but we ended up having a spontaneous FHE without him. But there's no written or unwritten law that says "Thou shalt only have fun with your family one night a week." That's just silly. So, we'll have another one when Daddy's home.

Anyway, it all started after we got dinner cleaned up. I told Noah we could go in the living room and bask in the glowing light of our newly decorated Christmas tree and read Christmas stories. Then we could have hot chocolate before we got ready for bed. That was the plan, but it morphed into even more holiday cheer.

First, the books. You all know how much I love children's picture books, but I HEART Christmas children's books. I would buy every one I see at the store if I could, but as it is, I limit myself to one or two new ones a year. All year I think about what book I'll add to my collection when Christmas comes along. I'm still not sure what it will be this year. There are just too many to choose! Soon to come on this blog are posts of some of my favorites.

Wow, sometimes I think I'm the Tangent Queen! The books we read tonight were:

Mary Engelbreit's "Merry Little Christmas: Celebrate from A to Z"

"I Believe in Santa Claus" by Diane G. Adamson

"The Night Before Christmas" illustrated by Christian Birmingham.

All that talk about Santa Claus made me want to sing some songs (those who know me know I love music even more than books). I have a box of toy instruments next to the piano, and I pulled out my jingle bell instruments for the kids, while I sat at the piano. We sang, "Jingle Bells," "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," and "Here Comes Santa Claus." My kids were awesome at playing their jingle bells, and they even danced around- Clara twirled and got a little dizzy. It was so fun!

I didn't want the fun to end, so I went with the Santa theme and proposed that Noah write his letter to Santa. Of course, he thought that was a great idea because Santa needed to know what Noah wants. In case you're wondering, he wants a gun with bullets. Don't worry- we're not going to give our five year old a real gun (although, his dad was only one year older when he got his first bee-bee gun). He means the toy guns with the foam bullets.

We got the letter written, put it in an envelope and put it in the mail box, destined for the North Pole. Tomorrow I have to be sure to intercept it before the mailman comes. I plan on writing a reply and sticking in with the mail in a few days.

With the books read, the carols sung, and the letter to Santa on its way, it was finally time for hot chocolate, and of course it was Stephen's Mint with mini marshmallows. What else is there? I even gave Clara her own little cup of it, and she was in heaven and had the cutest little foam mustache.

I had such a fun time with my kids tonight! Sometimes it's the spontaneous moments that are the most memorable. I love the holidays because it's so much easier to come up with fun things to do with your kids. I can't wait for all the fun that is awaiting us the rest of the season. I am determined to make everyday count. It really is the most wonderful time of the year!

What fun things do you like to do with your kids during the holidays?

Book Recommendation

2009-11-24T02:36:00.000-08:00

Dr. Laura mentioned this book yesterday on her show. I haven't read it yet, but from her description of it, it sounds like a good one. It's just full of creative, fun things to do as a family. It's easy to make the holidays memorable, but what about the rest of the year? I like the idea of this book because it gives you things to do to make the whole memorable and something to look forward to.

For example, Dr. Laura shared an idea for Ground Hog Day. It was "Family Hibernation Day" where everyone sleeps in, plays board games, reads books, watch movies, takes a family a nap, and just hangs out all day. That sounded simple and fun to me. I'm always up for a lazy day.

If anyone has read this, let me know. Hopefully it really is good. I guess I should read a book first before I recommend it. Oh well.

Good Ideas

2009-11-16T19:25:00.001-08:00

I heard three good ideas today that I thought I'd share.

The first comes from Dr. Laura, whom I love. I agree with almost everything she says, and her voice is always at the back of my head, helping me be my husband's girlfriend and my kids' mom. Her advice she gave today was given to a woman in regards to her husband, but I thought it could easily be changed around to involve your kids. Here it is:

If your house is a mess, give everyone some jobs. Whoever finishes their jobs first, can decide what game you all get to play or you could do movie to watch or book to read. I thought this would be a great way to get the job done and have a little fun at the same time. The house is sure to get clean quickly with that kind of motivation.

I learned another clever way to get the house clean in a flash. This was from my sister, Kim. She sometimes has her kids do a 15 Minute Pickup, where everyone cleans up everything can in just 15 minutes. She said it works great- it's amazing how much you can get done in only 15 minutes.

The last good idea I heard today was about Christmas gifts. It's called The Three Wisemen. You only give your kids 3 gifts:

Something they need
Something spiritual/meaningful
Something fun

This is similar to what my sister-in-law does but even more condensed. I thought this would be good if you have older kids. It would take the stress out of gift giving and help you stay focused on the real reason for the season.

Eureka!

2009-11-08T20:39:00.000-08:00

He gets it! He gets it! He gets it!

We have a saying in our house that I've heard other moms use as well. It is:

You get what you get and you don't throw a fit.

Sounds reasonable, right? Not to a five year old who wants what he wants or, darn it, he will throw a fit. We've drilled this saying into Noah dozens and dozens of times, but it always seemed to go in one ear and out the other. Actually, most of the time, it probably never even made it to the ear, with all the fit throwing and such. No sound had any hope of penetrating that amount of wailing. Heaven help us!

Well, heaven did help us. It seems our efforts have not been in vain. It seems that consistency does pay off, eventually. There is hope! Let me tell you what happened.

Last night I fixed chicken salad sandwiches for dinner. I got the table all set and sent the kids into the kitchen to eat their lovingly prepared meal. Noah took one look at what was awaiting him and began hyperventilating, yelling between breaths, "No! No! No!" You'd think by his reaction I'd given him an Earth worm sandwich or something (some of you may know that recently Noah did try a worm- he licked it. Yet, he won't eat my cooking?).

Remembering my goal to be more Christlike, I calmly said, "Noah, you can either stop throwing a fit or you can sit down and eat."

The fit escalates.

"Okay, you can go to your room while we eat," I say, still relatively calmly.

Fit escalates even more.

"Noah, you chose to go to your room when you continued throwing a fit. Now go to your room," still surprisingly calm.

His fit nears Mom's breaking point, and he has yet to go to his room.

"Go to your room!" I add in a fake sweet voice, "Bye!" Noah finally relents, just in time I might add. Mom wouldn't have been able to take much more.

Clara and I sat down to eat while Noah continued his fit in his room, where he stayed until he was calmed down. He was not invited back to the dinner table.

After another tantrum during a game of Hide-and-Seek, which we will not get into, it was time to get ready for bed.

"I don't want to go to bed!"

By this point, I'm trying to tune him out as best as possible. Somehow (thank you Heavenly Father), I've stilled maintained a great deal of patience.

His protests of not wanting to go to bed continue, and I continue ignoring them. Then his stomach reminds him of it's empty state, and he starts bawling, "I need to eat! I'm hungry! I need to eat!"

I remind him of his earlier choice, "You chose not to eat when you threw a fit about what I fixed."

Saying this was not exactly helpful in the hopes of terminating his fit, so I give him another choice (thank you Love and Logic):

"You can either stop throwing a fit or you can go to bed right now, without any stories."

Can you guess what happened? You're right. He didn't stop, so I helped him finish getting his jammies on and escorted him to his bed, kissed him "Goodnight", turned off the light, and shut the door. He was asleep in five minutes.

After such an experience it can be easy to wonder if you're teaching them anything. Fortunately, I felt very proud of myself for maintaining my self-control and disciplining him with love.

This morning Noah woke up very hungry, but I still had my doubts of whether he would be affected in the long term by this experience. He's gone to bed without food before, but it didn't really change anything.

Now lets go to tonight's dinner. I decided to try making a gluten free boxed dinner I bought a few weeks ago for Clara. I knew Noah probably wouldn't eat it, but I was willing to take the chance. He saw me fixing dinner and asked, "What's that?" I told him it was tuna fish. Then I added more ingredients: water, milk, butter, a packaged sauce, and some corn pasta. Noah watched, and I fully expected to hear something like, "I don't want to eat" or "I'm not hungry." But nope. That's not what I heard.

He saw the picture of what I was fixing and asked if that's what the food I'd just mixed together was going to look like. I said it was, and he was very interested and said it looked good.

I thought, Okay. This is a little weird. Good. But weird.

As I continued cooking he continued to be very excited about eating it. The best was when he said, "I'm not going to throw a fit."

I said, "That great! You must be a grown up boy!" He smiled proudly.

He also helped me set the table.

When our gluten free tuna pasta and some cauliflower I'd also fixed was done, we sat down as a family to eat. Now the moment of truth. Would he really eat it? Or would he throw another fit?

He took a minuscule bite, and exclaimed, "This is really good! Mmmm!"

He continued eating, taking pea-size bites and continuing with the positive reinforcement. It was almost like he was giving himself a pep talk with each bite.

He even tried a little piece of cauliflower, and when I said it was my favorite vegetable, he said, "Mine too." And when Clara showed signs of not wanting to eat her food, he said to her, "Clara, 'we get what we get and we don't throw a fit.'" Wow, I thought. Did he really just say that?

You can imagine the happiness I felt as I watched all this unfold. I was so proud of my little guy for acting so grown up and learning an important lesson. He was so proud of himself too and wanted to call Daddy at work and tell him how he "didn't throw a fit" when he "got what he got."

I think I really needed this little glimmer of hope. I've been thinking a lot lately about this scripture:

"...be not weary in well doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great." -D&C 64:33

Well, I have been feeling weary! I've tried not to, but sometimes it just can't be avoided. I've felt like despite all my efforts, I'm not making a dent. The Lord knew how I was feeling, so He granted me this experience to show me that I am making more than a dent. Not just counting this story I just shared, Noah was good as gold today. There were moments, of course, but for the most part, he was such a sweet boy today, and I needed that desperately. I needed to know that I am doing good things with him, even though it's sometimes hard to see. I can't give up when things get hard. I have no doubt that his fit-throwing days are not numbered, but if I just keep at it, great things will happen- just like today.

FHE: I Am Thankful

2009-11-02T18:37:00.000-08:00

For FHE tonight I thought we'd kick off the month of November with a lesson on gratitude. I used part of the Behold Your Little Ones Lesson 15. Click here to go to it. The lesson was a success, so I thought I'd share it with you:

Opening Song
Prayer

Start off talking about how Heavenly Father has given us blessings. He gave us our bodies, our families, plants and animals, the scriptures, etc. We show him we love him by saying "thank you." We also show our friends and family we love them by saying "thank you" when they do something for us.

Show the picture of the Jesus and the ten lepers (in the nursery manual or the gospel art kit) and hold up your scriptures. Summarize the story in the scriptures about the ten lepers (refer to the nursery manual for help summarizing the story in a short and simple way).

Ask "How many of the ten were thankful? Do you think Jesus was sad that only one was thankful?"

Explain how this month we will be celebrating Thanksgiving, a special day where we remember all our blessings. I got this book at the library this week and thought it would be perfect for FHE:

Activity:

I prepared a box with a lid with a slot cut out. I told everyone this was our "Thankful Box." Everyday until Thanksgiving we are going to write something down we're thankful for and put it in our box. We started off tonight by each putting in 3 things. It was very cute to hear Noah's. They were flowers, people, and prayer. We guessed Clara's- mommy, gluten-free food, and clean diapers.

After we did that, I let the kids decorate our box.

And here is our Thankful Box. I think it will do us all a lot of good (especially me) to focus on our blessings everyday and not just on Thanksgiving Day.

Daddy also shared the story of the Pilgrims and the Mayflower. He told it in such a way that kept the rapt attention of a five year old. It was very cute. FYI- The Charlie Brown telling of the Pilgrims is actually very historically accurate, in case you're interested. We have it, but it's packed in a box.

This was a really fun FHE. Miracle of miracles, the kids were really good, Clara especially, and they seemed to actually learn something.

TIPS

Tonight to help both the kids sit down, we asked Noah to be an example for Clara and we asked Clara to sit down like Noah. It actually worked, except we had to remind Clara to sit down about every 3 seconds. At least she didn't scream- that's a plus!

Favorite Fall Book

2009-10-31T08:31:00.000-07:00

This is my new favorite fall book. It's "The Little Yellow Leaf" by Carin Berger. It's about a little yellow leaf who is not ready to let go of her branch. She hangs on until she thinks she's the only leaf left, but she sees one more leaf who also isn't ready to let go. Together, they decide they're ready, and they let go and fly in to the wind.

I love this book mostly for the pictures. They're very fun to look at and very fallish because of the colors she uses. They're a little bit modern in style, and I really like it. See if your library has it or add it to your home library. It's a beautiful book to add to your shelves at home.

2009-10-27T19:28:00.001-07:00

We don't remember days- we remember moments.

A couple weeks ago I was busy cleaning the kitchen or something when I suddenly noticed how quiet it was. We all know what that means- usually a sign for trouble. So snuck upstairs to see what Clara was up to. I peeked into her room and found her sitting on the floor with a book in her lap and with more books scattered around her. I was relieved to find her out of mischief, more specifically not unrolling our mega size toilet paper roll, and I was pleased to find her perfectly content by herself with her books. That meant I could continue cleaning in a few more minutes of peace and quiet.

Before I rushed back downstairs to finish my chores, I thankfully stayed put and allowed myself a beautiful moment to sit and watch my child for a few minutes. From where I was standing, I had the advantage of seeing her without her seeing me, and trust me- she'd let me know of her disapproval if she knew I was watching.

I sat their for probably 10 minutes just trying to soak in every detail of the moment: the intensity of her eyes as they scanned the colorful pages; her mouth as it formed words like "Oh" and "wow" and all kinds of nonsense words; the sound of her adorable little voice; the size of some of the monstrous books compared to her tiny body; her small hands and fingers that turned each page; the vision of her surrounded by wonderful books. It was obvious the wheels in her head were turning, but I wondered what she was thinking about. For her, life is new and exciting and everything is a wonder. I realized as I sat there watching her that while I was trying to soak in everything about her, she was trying to soak in everything she saw in those books. I love watching my kids discover life.

As I watched her, tears welled up and my heart throbbed with joy. It was so exquisite that it almost hurt. I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about. I remember thinking, "If my kids get any cuter I'm going to go into cardiac arrest!" I was so glad that I took time away from cleaning so that I could have that moment with Clara. It was a simple moment but one that I will cherish always.

I learned two things from this moment. One, books are magical (really, I already knew that). Two, it's the small, everyday moments that are most important, and if we're not careful, they'll pass us by and we'll never get them back.

It's kinda funny- the more I take time to savor these moments in life, the more patient and loving I am with my kids. The more selfish I am with my time, the more impatient and not-so-loving I am. Funny how life works.

So, my challenge to you and to me, is to embrace each moment you have with your kids. Cling to them, savor them, "drink them in!" as Anne would say. Our lives will be more meaningful if we do, our children will be happier, and our hearts will throb with pangs of joy.

Favorite Halloween Books

2009-10-16T13:31:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share some fun Halloween books. My kids are loving these and want me to read them to them all the time. I don't mind because they're so cute (the books and my kids)!

The first is Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman. This book is fun because it introduces kids to classic Halloween characters, like witches, vampires, ghosts, bats and mummies, but it does it in a fun, very non-scary way. I think this book is my kids' favorite of all our Halloween books. It's about a witch who plants a pumpkin seed so she can have a pumpkin to make pumpkin pie with. But on Halloween night she goes to pick her pumpkin off the vine, and it's too big and heavy. So, a ghost comes to help. Then a vampire, a mummy and finally a bat. Can they get the pumpkin picked and have their pumpkin pie before Halloween is over? You'll just have to read it to find out.

This one is Room On A Broom by Julia Donaldson. This one is also stinking cute! It's about a witch who is riding on her broom but keeps losing things and having to fly down to the ground to find them. Every time, she meets someone new and they ask to ride on her broom. Pretty soon she's got quite a few passengers, and her broom breaks! Then, the witch flies into a great big dragon, who wants to eat the her (with fries)! Can her friends save her from the dragon? And what will they about the witch's broken broom?

This is such a classic and for good reason! Clara really loves this one because she loves clomping her feet, clapping her hands, and nodding her head like the clothes in the book. Her favorite is shouting Boo! every time she sees the jack-o-lantern. It's pretty darn cute!

We discovered the Jesse Bear books at the library, and I think they are so cute. They're written by Nancy White Carlstrum, and this one is called, What A Scare, Jesse Bear. I like these books for their cute rhymes and for how sweet Jesse Bear is. They're really cute books. In this one he and his family carve pumpkins, dress up in scary and funny costumes, go trick-or-treating, and go home and eat their goodies. Jesse Bear gets a little scared but learns that it's just pretend.

What are your favorite Halloween books?

The Color Orange and A Big Round Squash

2009-10-14T13:48:00.000-07:00

Today I had a moment of creativity. I pulled out my construction paper, glue and scissors, brought my kids to the kitchen table where we started making jack-o-lanterns.

I started cutting out a bunch of shapes: triangles, squares, circles. I told the kids that we would be using shapes to make the pumpkin's face. Noah knows his shapes, but Clara really doesn't, so I thought this would be a fun way for her to start learning them. Even though does know them, it was still fun for him to see how you can create different things using shapes. We did use some ovals, which was a shape he didn't know very well, so he still learned something new.

As we made them, I'd ask Noah, "What shape do you want to do for the eyes? For the nose?" etc... One time I told him he didn't have to do the same shape for both eyes. He liked that idea and did a circle and a square. After that he started to get more creative.

Clara had fun rubbing the glue stick all over everything for a while, but her attention span quickly ran out, so I had to entertain her with some stickers. But Noah LOVED it! He loved gluing and creating, and he even cut some of the shapes (like, the huge stems). He made pumpkin after pumpkin, even getting really creative and doing a pink, a blue and a green pumpkin. Who cares that they don't exist in real life! Being a kid is about being imaginative. I loved watching him create a different jack-o-lantern each time. Each one was unique- just like him!

Here are some of our pumpkins we made. I love the green one and the one with the humongous stem.

When we finished cleaning up, Noah helped me hang up our pumpkins all around the house as part of our Halloween decor. I know displaying his artwork always makes him feel so good, and I love seeing them around. Every time I see them I feel warm and fuzzy all over.

When the activity was over I didn't really want to stop playing with my kids. I was having just as much fun. Plus, I wanted to do something that Clara would really enjoy, since she didn't get as into the pumpkin thing.

So, I found my Halloween CD and stuck it in the CD player. Clara immediately started dancing and kept saying "more" when a song would end. She loves music, and she loves dancing. She twirls, kicks, wiggles, bobs her head to the beat, shakes, and laughs. I had fun dancing too to all the silly kid-friendly Halloween songs.

After the kids had lunch, I grabbed some pumpkin/Halloween books to have a little story time to help wind them down for nap/rest time. As I was getting ready, I realized there was a theme emerging from all my last minute play time ideas. The pumpkins were orange, the leftover mac and cheese they had for lunch was orange, the blanket I grabbed for reading time was orange and came with a small round orange pillow that looks like a pumpkin, and the books I grabbed were all about orange pumpkins. I pointed this all out to Noah, asking him what color everything was. He was very excited to see the similarities in everything. And when we read our books, I let him hold the pumpkin pillow.

At the end of all this, Noah collapsed onto my lap. I told him how much fun I had, and he said, "Me too, but it made me tired." Mwuah-ha-ha! My evil planned worked!

Websites You'll Love

2009-10-12T07:55:00.001-07:00

I've been introduced to some awesome websites with the cutest, creative ideas for activities to do with your kids (once again illustrating that pretty much everything I put on this blog is NOT my own, original idea). Here they are:

Children's Learning Activities

No Time For Flash Cards

Fall Crafts for Kids

DLTK's Sites

I think these websites are very useful because the ideas are simple but fun. I think you'll really like them. They have so many cute things for this time of the year. Have fun with your kids this week!

Do you have another site you really like? What Fall activities do you with your kids?

I have one more website I want to highlight, and it's for you moms. My friend and her sisters started this up, and it is so cute! I am amazed at how creative they are! They update everyday, so there's always something new.

Keep the Juices Flowing

Feasting

2009-10-07T08:56:00.000-07:00

Last night I picked up my May 2008 General Conference Ensign and turned to Elder Nelson's talk, "Salvation and Exaltation." I remember this talk and enjoyed re-reading it last night. It reminded me of some things I seem to always need reminding of. I thought I'd share some of what he said with you.

How can we best teach our children? The Lord has given us specific instruction:

"No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned;

"By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile-

"Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase in love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy."

When a child needs correction, you might ask yourself, "What can i say or do that would persuade him or her to choose a better way?" When giving necessary correction, do it quietly, privately, lovingly, and not publicly. If a rebuke is require, show an increase of love promptly so that seeds of resentment may not remain. To be persuasive, your love must be sincere and your teachings based on divine doctrine and correct principles.

Do not try to control your children. Instead, listen to them, help them to learn the gospel, inspire them, and lead them toward eternal life. You are God's agents in the care of children He has entrusted to you. Let His divine influence remain in your hearts as you teach and persuade.

In the same conference, Elder Ballard gave his comforting talk to mothers. In it he said, among many other wonderful things:

...pray, study, and teach the gospel. Pray deeply about your children and about your role as a mother. Parents can offer a unique and wonderful kind of prayer because they are praying to the Eternal Parent of us all. There is great power in a prayer that essentially says, "We are steward-parents over Thy children, Father; please help us to raise them as Thou wouldst want them raised."

I'm so grateful for our prophets and apostles, for their testimonies, their spiritual strength, and for their love. This last General Conference was so wonderful. I learned so much about what I need to be doing better. Every question/struggle I had was answered. I feel so spiritually fed, and I don't want that feeling to go away, and I don't want this renewed desire to do what's right to go away.

That's why I am going to be participating in a General Conference study group. Stephanie at Diapers and Divinity does this after each general conference, and she invites all to participate. I'm so excited to be a part of this because I know my life will be blessed because of it. Click on the picture below to find out more about Stephanie's study group and how you can participate.

"Follow the Prophet" FHE Lesson

2009-10-05T21:38:00.000-07:00

After General Conference I am resolved to be better at regular FHEs. I'm throwing my excuses for not holding them out the window and am ready to faithfully follow the counsel to hold regular and meaningful FHEs.

Tonight ours was on Following the Prophet, since our prophet and apostles just gave us lots of things to follow. I got my lesson plan idea from LDS Splash!. I liked how simple it was and very fun for little kids.

Supplies: simple prophet costume (I just used a tie and had my hubby tie it so we could easily slip it on and off)

Lesson: After your opening song and prayer, read a few or all of the following scriptures:

Amos 3:71
Nephi 3:7
D&C 1:4
Jacob 4:6

Talk about the scriptures with your kids.

Talk about the importance of "following the prophet." When Nephi said "I will go and do," he was following the prophet, who happened to be his dad.

Tell your kids that your going to play a follow the prophet game. Get your tie out and explain whomever wears the tie is the "prophet." While you all sing the primary song "Follow the Prophet" (we just sang the chorus), the person playing the prophet will lead everyone else in various actions. For Noah, he enjoyed this game the sillier the prophet's actions were. It was really fun.

The lesson on LDS Splash suggests to now talk about how everyone did at following the prophet and what happened when they did or did not follow him/her.

We skipped this and instead talked about the experience over the weekend of hearing the prophet and apostles speak to us. We all talked about what we liked about it and the things we learned. Then we talked about individual and family goals we could make to be more like Jesus and to follow the prophet.

I closed the lesson by bearing my testimony of the prophet. It was a very nice and easy FHE.

P.S.- I still haven't forgotten about my 5 things I was going to post.

10 Conversations You Need to Have With Your Children

2009-09-28T22:49:00.000-07:00

I went to a fireside last night with my boys, and the speaker talked about this book. I am anxious to read it. You can read about what I learned from the speaker here.

I'm feeling better now...

2009-09-26T22:00:00.000-07:00

First of all, I want to apologize about my craziness I leashed out on you all in my last post. I don't like using this blog as a place where I vomit all my inner struggles in your laps (was that analogy too icky?). I know you have your own to deal with. Heaven knows you don't need mine too. But I appreciated the chance just the same. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. In my defense, however, I went to bed late that night and woke up at 4:30 in the morning to the lovely call of heartburn. I had to do something to pass the time, and venting felt like a good idea.

You know what the interesting thing is, though? Not long after I hit "publish post," I stopped by another blog by another mother. Someone must have whispered in my ear to go on over there because her post was exactly the thing I needed to see. All of you who understood my feelings and were having some of them yourself, you need to take a look see as well. If you've never been to Diapers and Divinity, you're in for a treat. Go there now and see what I mean. I'm so glad I discovered her. (P.S.- She also gave me great advice in her comment to my last post.)

I've been thinking a lot about my last post, and I remembered something my sister-in-law said to me that at the time was an answer to prayer. It's something that will always apply to my life, but unfortunately, like most things, I too often forget it and need reminding. By the time I hear her thoughts in my head I've already let myself get down, and it's her thoughts that pull me back up.

She said those comforting words one day when a few of her sisters and I were gathered together one afternoon. We were talking about motherhood, as all mothers do when they get together. I don't remember the exact question I asked her (something to do with comparing ourselves with other moms), but I remember her answer (in my own words, anyway). She said:

I stopped comparing myself with other moms because I realized that they're probably comparing themselves with me. We compare ourselves with women who have talents in an area we are lacking, and because of that, we tend to put them on a pedestal and say, "They're good at everything." When in reality, they probably look at us and see something we're good at but they aren't and then put us on the pedestal. We're all good at different things. I realized there is a handful of things I am good at, so I focus on those things, and I'm not going to beat myself up for the things I'm not good at.

I loved that! And I get so mad at myself for forgetting it (have you noticed I'm rather hard on myself?). I think it's something we all can learn from. We all have talents that are different from each other, and while it's okay to want to improve ourselves in certain areas and to try to learn new skills, it's not okay to beat ourselves for things that come difficult to us. It's much more productive and beneficial to all to focus on what we are good at.

My sister-in-law's thought relates to my thoughts on my last, crazy post about struggling with what to do at home for preschool. I realized I have a silly idea that I should be the one teaching my kids everything. Whatever they learn in life should be learned at home first. Not only is that impossible, it's not healthy. Much of their knowledge in life is going to come from their own experience in the world. It's my job to prepare them for that experience. That does not mean I have to literally teach them everything before they experience it.

So, here's what I decided. I am going to make a list of the things I for sure want to teach my kids. I think this idea goes along with my sister's-in-law because I think that things I want to teach my kids will naturally coincide with things I'm good at. For example, I love books and reading and am good at teaching my kids to love them as well. So, a love of reading is something I for sure want to teach my kids.

I haven't made my full list yet, so I'll post that on another day. I would encourage you to look at yourself and make your list of things your good at/things you want to teach your kids. What are you good at? Some of you may be good cooks. Or you may be good at being physically fit. Or you might be good at being cheerful. You might be artistic and creative. You might have a strong testimony. Or you might be good at making new friends.

Try not to make your list too long, maybe only about five things. I'm not saying you can't be good at more than five things, but just focus on five things you are good at and want to teach to your kids. Any more than that will just get overwhelming, and we don't want that, do we!

Does this idea make sense? It makes sense in my head, but it's very probable that I'm not communicating it very well. I hope you get what I'm saying, and I hope it helps someone like it has me. Although, it would help me a lot more if I'd just remember it and stop needing to be reminded all the time! I honestly sometimes don't know how the Lord stays so patient with me.

I would love to hear what all your talents are! Don't be shy about it either. I give you permission to brag about yourself!

A realy long rant about my home preschooling woes

2009-09-24T05:18:00.000-07:00

A while back I posted about preschool. I don't think I explained me feelings very well, so here it goes again.

FOR ME, I feel that kids should be kids for as long as possible. They're going to be in school for the rest of their young adult lives, why rush things? There is so much pressure to get your kids in preschool, and I think many moms think it's what they HAVE to do. If they don't, they are guilt stricken by societal pressures and feel like horrible mothers. Sound familiar?

Now, here's my problem. I feel guilty. I feel overwhelmed. I feel pressure. And where's all this coming from? From ME! ALL me! Although I have no problem not taking Noah to someone else to teach him letters and numbers and seasons and whatever, I feel a responsibility to be doing that at home. But every time I think about doing it, I get anxious and my stomach ties up in a jumble of unconquerable knots.

You see, I'm a bit of a perfectionist. I say "a bit" because I don't consider myself a true perfectionist. My house is not always perfect. I like organization, but I do let things get untidy. My hair and makeup and fashion are not always immaculate (mostly not). Sometimes I let things go a little. But, I LOVE it when all the stars align, and my own little universe flows smoothly and flawlessly. It makes me feel happy and right with the world. So, I'm sort of an oxymoron. I have spurts of laziness and spurts of organizational genius. I'm a cyclical perfectionist.

I guess you could say there are certain areas of my life that lean more heavily to my perfectionist side. Thinking about at home preschool is one of them. I feel like if I can't do it perfectly than I can't do it at all. But I also feel that I have no hope of doing it perfectly because I don't really know how to do it! I've never been trained to be a child educator. I didn't go to school for elementary education. I was a music major!

I end up feeling anxious and overwhelmed, so I try to avoid the whole thing. But then I feel guilty for avoiding it, so I go back. And the cycle goes on and on...

It's not just that I feel I should do something at home, it's that I also want to. This is my last year with Noah, and I want to make it count. I want to teach him about the exciting world we live and have fun doing it. I should also mention that he wants to learn stuff. He always says he has to do his "homework." My final resolve is that I will do something, but I want to keep it simple, so as to avoid all overwhelming, send-me-to-a-loony-bin feelings.

Simple. Repeat it to yourself. Simple.

My next step is to go online and search preschool websites for parents and teachers. I've found a few that I like, but what is inevitable as I peruse through their buttload of resources? I feel overwhelmed. All hopes of "keeping it simple" are thrown out the window and whack a bird off it's perch on the tree next to my house. In place of them my mind whirls over thoughts of "lesson plan ideas," "theme days," "arts and crafts," "songs and rhymes," "circle time," "books to read," "printables," "shapes," "letters," "numbers"...Aaaaagh! I do this until my mind is a jumble of really-good-but-way-more-than-I-wanted ideas and I feel like I'll explode! Not to mention the giant, gnarling and twisting mess that once was my stomach.

Breath. Just breath. Turn off the computer. Walk away from the computer. Think happy thoughts. Remind yourself that it doesn't matter what you do with your kids, just as long as you're with your kids. Whatever you do with them doesn't have to be perfect. Just do something. Even if it's getting on the floor with them and becoming a human train, taking trips from the living room to the kitchen. Whatever. Just be with them.

Well, that's all good and fine, but there's still that annoying nudge from "Miss Perfect" that I should at least have one day a week where we practice letters and stuff or do an art activity because if I don't plan it than it probably won't happen, which leads me to my next beast to be conquered: scheduling. He's a tough one, but that's another rant for another day. For now, back to the rant at hand.

If I can just get over this idea of it having to be perfect, I'll be okay. That's going to take some time and probably some tears. The annoying thing is, I need to be a little bit perfectionistic with it or else I won't really get much accomplished. That means I need to somehow organize my thoughts and goals and out them construct a SIMPLE plan of attack.

Whew! I think I've said my piece, although I don't really feel much better. Just writing about being overwhelmed makes me overwhelmed. What a basket case I am! Will there ever be a time when I don't question my abilities as a mother and feel like I'm doing okay? (Actually, that's another favorite cycle of mine. Sometimes I feel like I'm a great Mom, other times not so much. Do you do that too? Or am I crazy?)

After all this complaining and venting, you're probably thinking what a pathetic person I am and wanting to tell me to get a grip already! But before you do so, I end my post with a little ray of sunshine. Yesterday I may have had a little break through. I'll let you know for sure after a few more days of experimenting.

If you've suffered through this whole post, first of all- I'm sorry. Second of all, if you should comment, I would feel much better if you could say something on the lines of "I understand how you feel." I'd feel so reassured, even if you're just pretending. Also, if I made absolutely no sense, I'm sorry for that too. It made sense to me, although when I see it all written out I can see how crazy sounding it is. The sad thing is, I really haven't even said the half of it. Oh dear...

Rained Out

2009-09-14T21:46:00.000-07:00

Today the rain ruined our plans, but it turned out to be a very fun night. We were supposed to go camping, but, like I said, the weather had plans of its own. Noah was so excited to go camping, and I didn't want to disappoint him, so we had a campout in the kids' room.

We fashioned a tent by attaching a blanket to the crib and the dresser. I layed out blankets and pillows and Noah's sleeping bag for a little bed. But I didn't want to stop there. I didn't want Noah to miss out on the things he was so looking forward to doing.

While Dad distracted them, I taped pictures of animals to the wall that I'd printed off the Internet or drawn myself. Then I told Noah that even though we didn't get to go see the animals in the mountains, they came to our house! I turned off all the lights and had him bring his flashlight on our animal hunt. He had so much fun searching for the animals I'd hidden throughout the upstairs. Once he found them all, he wanted to find them again and again. Clara loved it too, especially the owl (she loves owls!). I was a huge hit, and I think I will laminate the pictures so we can have those pictures around for another rainy day.

After the animal hunt, I hurried and drew a picture of a campfire and cut it out. Then, I made s'mores in the microwave (recipe at the bottom). I took the fire and s'mores to our campground, taped the fire to Noah's dresser and we ate s'mores around the campfire. Noah said, "I love rain." I think what he meant by that was, "I'm glad it rained so we could have a campout in my room." I am too!

After that we got ready for bed and gathered again "around" the campfire and sang songs like, "If Your Happy," "Popcorn," and "Itsy Bitsy Spider." Then we read a whole stack of books by the firelight (flashlight). Then we had prayers and said goodnight.

In theory, they were supposed to go to sleep, but the excitement was too much for Clara. She was quite silly, but it was fun. I let them be silly and play for awhile, until a little while later I had to take down the tent just for tonight so that Clara could sleep without fun distractions.

This ended up being so much fun! We would not have had this much fun in the mountains. Or, maybe we would have, but it would have been a different kind of fun. There's something about sleeping under a homemade tent at home when you're a kid. Seeing Noah experience that was pure bliss. We wouldn't have had this experience if the weather had cooperated the way we thought we wanted it to. I hope we have more campouts that get rained out.

Microwave S'mores

Large marshmallows
fudge striped shortbread cookies

Place one marshmallow on a cookie. Put in microwave for about 15 seconds. Immediately place other cookie on top to make the sandwich; press hard. Eat! (Don't stop at one, either!)

Understanding

2009-09-08T09:05:00.000-07:00

Reasons why Noah acts out, whines, disobeys, or back talks (or in other words, drives me crazy):

He's hungry
He's tired
He's overstimulated
He's been ignored most of the day (cry for attention)
I haven't shown a lot of love (little things like smiles, a kind touch, kind words, etc.)
I'm ornery
He doesn't feel well
I get mad at each offense, which only fans the flame

I wanted to make this list because I think I've been losing sight of the reasons behind his outbursts. I've been more focused on how annoying they are and how they're driving me bananas, which means I've been thinking all about Me! Me! Me! I think I need to focus more on him and why he's upset and what I need to do to help him be happier. Sometimes that means he'll need some good discipline, but discipline is almost 100% more affective when done with love. Lets just say I haven't felt a whole lot of love when I've disciplined him the last few days.

This morning, for instance, he was sooooo grumpy and whiny that I finally lost it. As I was cooling off in my room, I realized he hadn't had any breakfast. I'd forgotten to feed him (I know, you all wish you were as good a mom as me)! So, he's eating now and probably feels a lot better and hopefully will be much happier and agreeable. If I had stopped and tried to understand him, I wouldn't have lost my temper nor harbored ill feelings about him. He was hungry, so of course he would have been grumpy- I would have too!

My thoughts are taking me again to some things I've been mulling over the last few weeks. I'm reminded of Elder Wirthlin's words:

“But,” you ask, “what if people are rude?” Love them. “If they are obnoxious?” Love them. “But what if they offend? Surely I must do something then?” Love them. “Wayward?” The answer is the same. Be kind. Love them. Why? In the scriptures Jude taught, “And of some have compassion, making a difference.” Who can tell what far-reaching impact we can have if we are only kind?

I have to admit that when Noah has been getting under my skin, it's a lot harder to show love toward him, but I know if I do the reward will be all the greater. If I just try to understand him, have charity toward him, those moments when there is the potential for him to drive me bananas and make me lose my temper will be driven away. In place of those ill feelings will be love, compassion, and peace.

Great Expectations

2009-09-02T21:26:00.000-07:00

Do you think you could count how many times your kids haven't behaved the way you expect them to behave? Ha! Good luck with that! Isn't that their job? They're experts at it, especially when you're in front of other people or in a new place that's different from day to day. That's their specialty.

It's one thing to teach your kids to behave at home, but it's a whole other ball of wax when it comes to the library or the park or church or someone else's house. Even the most well-behaved child can throw you for a loop in a moment that really counts. We've all been there, right?

For me, it was the library. Noah was AWFUL at the library. He loved going, but he HATED leaving. Excursions to the library were not fun for us for a while.

Although memories of our first library outings are a little painful, they taught me some important lessons in parenting. One in particular is that kids need to know what you expect of them BEFORE you throw them into the new environment. I've learned from my own experience that pretty much all attempts to teach them in the moment will be completely useless and will only make you more mad and them behave worse. Then you're so mad when you get home that you make all kinds of unreasonable threats like, "WE'RE NEVER GOING THERE AGAIN! YOU'RE GOING TO STAY IN YOUR ROOM UNTIL YOUR 18!" This leads me to the other thing I've learned: if they don't know what you expect of them, how can you justify getting mad at them for not complying? Kids need to be given expectations, and they need to know what they are. I like to call these "Great Expectations."

These are both principles that I'm still working on. There are some things that you just don't think about needing to be addressed. We're so used to living in society and obeying social rules and such that we forget our kids don't know them. But I'm learning not to beat myself up about it. It helps me to not get upset if I ask myself whether I've taught him what I expect. Even if I have, I'm learning too that kids need lots of reminding. When we get home, I pull Noah aside and say, "Next time we do this...." or something along those lines. I know that this correcting needs to be done after we're out of the situation, not during (although, there are exceptions, as with most things). Then the next time we're going to be in that situation, I remind him what we talked about before. Am I making any sense? I wish I had an example of what I mean, but my mind is blank. I'll try to be more broad, and maybe I'll get my point across.

Concerning Church:
Noah is pretty good at church, but we've had to work hard at it. He still has things to get over. Some things we've worked on are: being fidgety, sitting on his teacher's lap, not singing, laying on the floor, and general reverence. To help him, I started talking to him at home what I expect of him and what Heavenly Father expects of him at church. There should also be consequences for their actions. Then I would remind him right before we go to church about these expectations. You can even incorporate agency into this and ask your child how they're going to choose to behave.

Concerning the Library/The Tree House Museum/Any place fun your kids hate to leave
For places Noah hates to leave because they're so fun, I make sure he understands that I expect him to leave like a nice boy and not throw fits. The best is when we leave a place happily and he is so proud of himself for doing what I expect.

Concerning Everything!
Kids need to know what you expect! I've started to try and use that word a lot more in our home because I really believe that everyone needs reasonably high expectations of themselves and of others. Noah is a lot better when he understands what is expected of him, which means I'm a happier Mom! And like I said, he's proud of himself when he lives up to what's expected of him.

I hope this didn't sound too preachy. I do not profess to be an expert in this at all! But I have seen the positive effects of laying out your expectations, so I'm trying to be better at it. I hope my thoughts were coherent. Unfortunately, I'm not as articulate as I'd like to be. Just add that to the "Needs Improvement" list. Oh boy, that list is getting really long...

Cupcake Day

2009-08-31T23:35:00.000-07:00

I know that cupcakes are the rage right now. There are so many cute ideas out there, and they just look like so much fun that I want to try my hand at them. But they're not something I want to do all the time because first and foremost, I'll "blow up like my Aunt Roberta" and second of all, they just take too much time. So, drawing from my sister's "cookie day" idea, I thought I could do a "cupcake day" once or maybe twice a month. The kids can help decorate and we can share our goodies with friends and family in order to avoid the whole blowing up part.

I couldn't sleep tonight (hence the late night post), so I skimmed through Betty Crocker's cupcake ideas. I found some really cute ones. These ones are my favorite. They're called Surprise Cupcake Cones. They're so stinking cute and look easy peasy to make too. I think I'm going to make them for Clara's birthday. The cupcakes at the top are called Dalmatian Cupcakes. They look yummy!

If any of you have any favorite cupcake idea sites let me know. Here are some that my friend has on her blog:

Bake It Pretty

Cupcake Swirl

A Few Good Reads

2009-08-20T21:38:00.001-07:00

Here are some books I really liked that my kids liked too:

"Bears On Chairs" by Shirley Parenteau and David Walker. First of all, the illustrations are so stinking cute. Aside from that, the story is equally adorable. It's about 4 bears who each have their own chair and no one has to share. Then along comes Big Bear, but where is his chair? The 4 bears must figure out a way for all the bears to have a place to sit.

The next book is "Bark, George" by Jules Feiffer. This one is hilarious! It's about a dog who every time his mom tells him to bark, he answers with a "meow" or a "moo"- everything other than "bark." So, his mom takes him to the vet and guess what he finds? You'll just have to read it.

Then there's "It's Lovely When You Smile" by Sam McBratney and Charles Fuge (the edition I read was called "I Love It When You Smile"). It's about a Mom who tries to get her little baby to smile when he does not feel like it. We've all been there, which makes this book even more endearing.

This last one is "How to Bake and American Pie" by Karma Wilson and Raul Colon. This is a good one for the 4th of July. It talks about all the things that we cherish about our country, especially our faith in God (I really appreciated that part).

Christmas Shopping

2009-08-17T07:54:00.000-07:00

I haven't bee a very good blogger lately. My thoughts and hands have been filled with lots of other things that are so not as much fun (no, I'm not talking about my kids). However, this morning I was thinking about Christmas (is it really already time to think about that?!). Every year I have a goal to be done with my shopping by a certain time, and it never happens. But this year I'm determined to meet my goal, and I have a great way to help me do it and I wanted to share it with you.

This is a trick my sister-in-law taught me. Not only does it help you get your shopping done, but it also prevents you from over-spoiling your kids. That's something I actually struggle with. It's so easy to want to give them all the things we know they'd love, but I just have to constantly remind myself that they're better off without everything. I feel like the less they have, the more likely they are to appreciate what they do have. Anyway, here's the trick:

My sister-in-law only gets her kids 5 things:

something from Santa
something they want
something they need
something to wear
something to read

Obviously you don't have to stick with that exactly. You could change it around a little or add something, like "something to watch" or "something to listen to."

This year I am determined to stick to this guideline and not be tempted to get just one extra thing that I know my kids will love. The past five Christmases have taught me that kids don't need much. They're happy with the simplest things. I don't want to ruin that by spoiling them too much.

Good luck being Santa this year. I hope you like this shopping trick. As always, feel free to add your tid-bits of wisdom.

Carnation Explanation

2009-08-06T19:57:00.000-07:00

In my last post I mentioned that I put Carnation in Clara's milk, and a couple people asked about that. The reason I do that is kind of a long story, but I'll try to make it brief. Clara was recently (a month ago) diagnosed with Celiac Disease. That means she can't have gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley. If you'd like to learn more about the disease, click here. As if having to rid our household of wheat wasn't challenging enough, lactose intolerance also goes hand in hand with Celiac disease. Fortunately, once the villi grow back she should be able to digest lactose just fine (again, if you want to know what I'm talking about, click here).

You're probably still wondering what Carnation has to do with being lactose intolerant. Well, since Clara can't have regular milk, I have to give her Lactaid or Soy milk. She can tell the difference, so I'm masking their flavors with Carnation. Plus, the Carnation gives her the vitamins and things her body has been deprived of because of the gluten in her system.

At first she was hesitant to this new "milk," but once she actually tried it she was hooked. She actually drinks this way better than real milk. Once we go back to good ol' regular cow juice, I'm nervous she won't want to. We may have to keep putting the Carnation in it.

Because of this recent diagnosis that thrust our family into a gluten free world, I'll probably have some posts dedicated to Celiac and gluten free eating. If any of you or your children have Celiac, I would love some advice. I've already been given some great advice from family (my brother found out he had it a couple years ago) and a dietitian, but I'll use all that I can get. It's going to be quite an adjustment.

Manners, Food and A Pat On the Back

2009-08-04T21:04:00.000-07:00

We have been trying desperately to teach Noah some manners at the dinner table. I'm not talking about the obvious ones: use a napkin instead of your sleeve, don't burp, sit still, chew with your mouth closed, etc. Those are all worthy things to be addressed by all parents, but it's kind of hard to teach your child to chew with his mouth closed when he won't even put the food given him into his mouth. Yes, we have a picky eater, and I know most of you can empathize. I know this is a common dilemma, but unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a common solution.

We've tried several things: force feeding (this only created a bigger tantrum and a mess all over him, me, and the floor), sending him to bed upon his boisterous refusal to eat (this punishment was quickly abolished when it was very clear he wanted this more than eating), making him sit at the table until he'd at least had one bite (while we endured his incessant wailing), and finally, feeding the "disgusting" food to him for every meal until he gave in (he never gave in, but rather, began to waste away before our eyes).

This brings us to our latest and final tactic. We've decided this a battle we do not want to make any harder than it already is. So, here's the rule: if he says anything rude about the food (says it's disgusting, yucky, or if he just plane fusses and whines about it) he is reprimanded and told that such things hurt Mommy's feelings. Then he is politely told he doesn't have to eat it and he can go play in another room while we enjoy a nice meal. But, he'll probably get really hungry because he won't get to eat until the next meal (the next meal will NOT be the food he refused because we've learned that he WILL let himself starve first). So far this has worked pretty well. The tantrums have decreased and meal times are quieter now. But I wasn't sure if he was really learning anything, until today.

Today I had one of those reassuring moments that told me all our efforts to teach Noah some manners are not in vain. Here's what happened:

We were at one of my cute sister's-in-law house during lunch time. She so kindly made us all tuna fish and tomato sandwiches. I knew Noah would not want to eat them since he is the pickiest eater on the planet (a title my sister-in-law challenged with one of her own children). But, I wasn't going to say anything, since I wanted to teach him that this was the food we were given, so this is what we're going to eat. As we all began to eat our yummy sandwiches, I eyed him nervously, ready to be embarrassed by my picky eater. He looked at everyone eating their sandwiches, then looked at the one sitting on his plate. He pulled it apart to reveal the tuna fish and diced pickles. I saw the nervous look on his face. Then the biggest surprise came. He put the sandwich back together, lifted it to his mouth, and took a bite! I tried to hide the relief that swelled within me.

The taste, I could tell, was a bit of a shock, but he was such a good sport. He chewed and chewed and tried his best to be a good boy and eat the food his nice aunt made for him. But, he just couldn't do it any longer. Pretty soon, my relief was squelched when I saw him spit the now mushy food onto his plate. I again geared myself for rude words like, "gross" or "yuck." But, again I was surprised. He said "I choked," which really means he gagged. Then he quietly said, "I'm not hungry. I don't want to eat."

I was so proud of him, and you might wonder why. Well, here are the reasons. One, he didn't say anything rude about the food. Two, he didn't throw a fit about the possibility of eating it. Three, and most importantly, he TRIED IT! He NEVER tries food at home that he's nervous about. I was so happy.

Later, I made sure and told him how proud I was at the way he behaved. He said excitedly, "I didn't say 'disgusting'!" Even though he's yet to show such nice manners at home, I'm glad to know he has learned something. Pretty soon, if we stay consistent with this, he'll show those same nice behaviors at our dinner table at home. I have a feeling it will be a while, but it's nice to know the possibility is there and that our efforts aren't for nothing.

So, the moral of the story is:

Keep at it! You never know how much your children are learning, so keep trying!

Also, when it comes to teaching your kids to eat, I think it's one of those things you have to customize to your child. They all respond so differently. What we're doing might not work for your kids. You just have to find what sort of works and be consistent with it. For some more ideas, here's my whole game plan for teaching my kids to eat:

For breakfast and lunch, I almost always try to fix something I know they WILL eat. I reserve the teaching time for dinner (because Dad's usually home at dinner, and he'd much rather eat something other than mac and cheese)
Since Noah's been so difficult, we've started early with Clara. If she doesn't eat what I fix for dinner, I don't worry about it. Even though she's young and small, I'm still going to expect that she eats what she's given. She guzzles her milk, and we have to put Carnation in it, so she's getting lots good stuff that way. Plus, she's not as picky as Noah, so she does usually try new things and I definitely don't want to lose that.

I'm always up for advice since I pretty much don't know what I'm doing.

FHE Lesson

2009-08-03T18:12:00.000-07:00

During fast & testimony meeting yesterday I could see by the look on Noah's face that he was a little confused why so many people were just getting up and talking. I quickly explained they were bearing their testimonies, and mostly out of curiosity as to what he'd say, I asked him if he'd like to bear his testimony. To my surprise he said yes. This from the kid who won't even stand up with the primary to sing in sacrament meeting. Luckily we had a few minutes to wait while other people bore their testimonies, so I explained things we talk about in a testimony. I hoped by doing this we could avoid an embarrassing situation by him talking into the microphone about a bug he killed or something.

When it was finally our turn to go up and we made it all the way to the stand, he got cold feet. Surprise, surprise. At least it forced me to share my testimony, which is always a good thing. On our way back to our seat, he had decided he DID want to do it, but I wasn't going back up just so he could change his mind again. I told him he'd have another chance to do it when we have another one of these special meetings.

The reason I share this little experience is because it was my inspiration for our FHE lesson tonight. Can you guess what it was on? Yep. Testimonies. Here's what we did:

Started with a prayer, of course, but we forgot a hymn (it was planned last minute)
I reminded Noah about church yesterday and how people were getting up to bear their testimonies.
Dad told us what a testimony is: the witness you have that something is true
The Holy Ghost whispers to our hearts if something is true. (By the way, kudos to his primary teachers! He knew that the Holy Ghost doesn't have a body. I'm pretty sure I've never taught him that, although I really shouldn't admit it.)
Read the following the scriptures: Ether 4:11 & Moroni 10:4-5
Asked Noah "What are some things we bear our testimonies about?" Then I told him: Jesus, the atonement, Joseph Smith, Pres. Monson, etc.
Then we had our own little family testimony meeting. I started, then Dad, and Noah ended it. Noah didn't really know what he was doing, but he had the right idea.
The Spirit was so strong, and we made sure to point out to Noah the feeling he felt was the Holy Ghost telling him the things we said were true.
ended with a prayer

It was a very nice FHE. It was very short (that's always best with little kids), but the sweetest Spirit filled our home. I know Noah could feel it because of the how reverent he was as we all bore our testimonies. I think it was one of the nicest FHEs we've ever had.

Tip #1: One thing I've learned when teaching young kids is less is more. I try not to get too wordy or his attention will be out the window.

Tip #2: When reading scriptures, don't just read it and be done. Explain what words mean as you read. For instance, the scripture in Moroni says to "ask God." I asked Noah what that means, then explained that it means to pray.

Feel free to add your own suggestions to this little FHE Lesson.

Cookie Day

2009-07-31T09:00:00.000-07:00

Lemon Poppy Seed Slices

Bradley and I finally did another cookie day. We have made a couple of different cookies, but didn't stop to take photos. We made Ginger Snaps and White Chocolate Cashew Craisin Cookies for our trip to Oregon. They were delicious! But Bradley has wanted to try the lemon poppy seed cookies for a long time, so we made them yesterday.

Elli doesn't like poppy seed muffins, so I didn't think she'd like these either. Well, she ate about 2 cookies, which is a lot for this little girl!

Here is the recipe:

3/4 cup butter (no substitutes), softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tablespoon milk

2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon lemon extract, optional

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup poppy seeds

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg, milk, lemon peel and extracts. Add flour and poppy seeds; mix well. Shape into two 8" rolls; wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 3 hours or until firm. Unwrap and slice into 1/4" slices. Place 2" apart on ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until edges are golden. Cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely. Yield: 5 1/2 dozen.

**I didn't have any lemons for zesting, so I just added a little extra lemon juice.

A Spoonful of Sugar

2009-07-29T19:09:00.000-07:00

I have had such a long absence from posting that I don't know how to do it anymore. I don't know how to get back in the swing of things. I feel like every post idea I do have is lame, so I don't want to take time away from reading my book (These is My Words by Nancy Turner- you have to read it if you haven't yet!) to write something even I don't want to read ever again, so why would anyone else? But, I've got to post something or I'm never going to get out of this slump. So, here goes nothin'.

A while back I had a moment of motherly inspiration. You know, when the heavens smile upon you and grant you a bit of wisdom telling you exactly how to handle whatever it is you happen to be trying to teach your child in that particular moment. I love those times. They happen to all of us. We just have to be listening, but unfortunatley, I'm not always a very good listener.

This particular moment I was getting ready to do the dishes (Yes, I have a dishwasher, but I like to wash my pots and pans the old fashioned way.). As I was about to start the hot water and pour the bubbles into it, I realized I had never done the dishes with my kids (at least this way- they've emptied the dishwasher with me before). I remember learning how to wash dishes and thinking it was so fun. I figured it was about time Noah washed some dishes.

I knew he would never want to do it if I bluntly asked, "Hey, Noah. You want to help me do the dishes?" The only reply I'd get with that request is, "No."

So, I thought of what else I could say. This is where the inspiration came. I asked Noah, "Would you like to play with bubbles with me?"

His eyes got wide and curious. "Yeah," he said. "Okay," I said, excited that he'd fallen into my trap. I grabbed two chairs, one for Noah and one for Clara, and put them on either side of me. Then I proceeded to teach them about washing dishes in the sink, the old fashioned way.

I told them how you need hot water and soap to get all the food and germs off the dishes. Then you need to scrub them with a rag. The most important lesson they learned, however, is the importance of playing with the bubbles. I scooped up some bubbles in my hand and blew them toward their faces. They laughed and of course wanted more. Noah blew bubbles of his own and Clara splash the soapy water around. By the end of our lesson in dish washing, there was soapy water all over the floor and counter (luckily my pans weren't very dirty, so the water was still pretty clean).

Noah not only loved playing with the soapy water, but he enjoyed using the rag to clean the pots and pans. I think he was so distracted by the fun of it that he didn't realize he was "working." All it took was a little sugar.

Like I said, this was a moment of heavenly inspiration for me. I admit that I don't always slow down and take the time to make everyday life fun. It's not always convenient to work this way. I had a watery, soapy mess to clean up, but that only took a second to wipe up (I think Noah helped with that too). I could have done the dishes myself, but here's how that scenario might have played out:

Noah: "Mom, will you play dinosaurs with me?"

Mom: "Not right now. I need to do these dishes."

Clara: Stands at my feet, bawling to be picked up.

Noah: "Mom, I want some milk."

Mom: "Either wait or you'll have to get it yourself."

Clara: Still bawling because she's being ignored.

Mom: Frazzled at trying to meet the demands of the house and the demands of those darn kids.

I think we've all had moments like this. Thankfully, I avoided this stressful scene by letting my kids work alongside me and having some fun along the way. I learned three things from this experience:

Stop and listen to those inspiring nudges
Have fun with your kids, even when you're "working," and they'll learn that work is fun when we do it together.
Mary Poppins was right.

More Sacrament Meeting Tips

2009-06-16T22:15:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I gave my own sacrament meeting tips. I've made some adjustments to that list of advice. Here's what I've been trying lately:

NO treats/snacks: I do this even for Clara. I've found that bringing a snack of any kind just makes my kids hyper, especially Noah. The only time I do brink something is if Daddy has to work during sacrament meeting, and I have to play the piano for the ward choir or some other musical number. I may need something to appease Her Highness Princess Clara while I play the piano. Other than that, I don't bring a thing. (I have to say, that does not include Clara's cup of milk. That's still kind of a staple because of her age, plus it's more of a security blanket for her than anything.)
NO books: I've also stopped bringing books. My kids are only interested in them for a minute or two, so all they do is take up space in my bag.
Bring NOTHING: I haven't actually gotten here yet. I'd like to get to where I don't bring anything to distract my kids because I'm learning that they're better when I have the least amount of stuff (they're not overstimulated that way). Last Sunday I only brought one thing: a notebook and crayons. I think for now I'll stick to just this and nothing else because both my kids like to draw, and it usually preoccupies them for long enough that it's worth it. Plus, it's a quiet activity. I would like to note that I don't bring out the "distractors" until it's absolutely necessary. I especially don't bring them out before the sacrament is passed.
Go Potty BEFORE sacrament meeting: I think it's very distracting for kids to get up and down in a meeting to go potty or get a drink. So, I try to have Noah go before hand.
Sleep: We often try to get Noah to fall asleep by softly tickling him (he's a sucker for that!). It makes the meeting so much easier.
Be careful where you sit: Some families don't seem to be as concerned about reverence or at least they have different ideas of what it means. I'm learning there are some families to stay away from. It's hard for Noah when the kids sitting adjacent to us have cool toys to play with. Plus, the kids are usually really loud and quite distracting.
Wiggly Toddler: Clara is not very wiggly. She loves to sit on my lap and cuddle, so sacrament meeting really isn't that bad with her. Trust me, though, it was with Noah! Anyway, if your toddler is wiggly, some advice I've heard is to try to get them to sit on your lap for a few minutes each week. Then take them out and let them get their wiggles out. Then try to get to sit on your lap a few minutes longer, and so on and so on.
Sing the Hymns: If you have older kids who don't sing the hymns, this is something a friend of mine does. If her kids get caught not singing, they have to sing a solo of whatever hymn they weren't singing at the next FHE. It's a pretty good motivator for her kids, but I think they think it's funny. If this would be considered cruel and unusual punishment to your kids, I wouldn't do it. You wouldn't want them to end up hating the hymns because of it.

This is my updated sacrament meeting tip list. I still don't really know what I'm doing, but I'm getting there. This is definitely a learning process, and thankfully, kids get better as they get older.

If you have anything to add, feel free (as always).

FHE: Work

2009-06-14T20:24:00.000-07:00

We had a fun FHE lesson this last week on Work, and I thought I'd post about. First of all, the reason I chose this as the topic was I have been struggling getting Noah to do his jobs everyday. They're not big jobs in the slightest, but I might as well have been asking him to eat slugs. He acted absolutely tortured, as I'm sure most kids do when their parents make them do jobs. So, I wanted to use FHE as an opportunity to teach him why we work and why it's so important.

I didn't have any fabulous ideas for a lesson, so I checked out a good resource for FHE lessons: LDS Splash! to see if they had anything, and they did! They had two versions: one for younger kids and another for teens. The main part of the lesson was teaching the hymn "Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel," and it had fun visual aids to help kids learn the song. Click here so you can see the full lesson and print out the visual aids. I made the lesson to fit our family, as I'm sure you would too. Here's what I did:

Opening song: "When we're helping we're happy"
Prayer:------

What is work? Dad and I talked to Noah about work. We asked questions like, Does Daddy work? What does he do? Does he work hard? Why does he work? (at the end of the discussion I had him tell Daddy "Thank you" for working so hard). We asked the same questions about me. Then we talked about when Noah works by obeying Mom and Dad, helping them, etc.

Why do we work? We talked about how Heavenly Father has commanded us to work, and that when we work we feel good, especially when our work blesses others.

We all have work. We talked about how we all have work to do, and that it is important for each of us to do our work. If one of us doesn't do our work it affects everyone else. For example, if Noah doesn't do his jobs and help Mommy, then Mommy has to do it on top of everything else she does, so she'll get very tired. This idea seemed to turn a light bulb on in his head.

Song: "Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel"
This was really fun. Noah participated better than I thought he would. I think he liked the pictures provided on LDS Splash!

Noah's Job Chart
In preparation for the lesson, I made a very simple job chart for Noah. It's basically a calendar with empty squares. Every day that he does his jobs, he gets a sticker and a fish point (something I'll explain later). At the end of the week, if he's done his jobs everyday, he'll get a quarter for his money jar.

Activity: Noah's Jobs
Noah has 5 jobs everyday: Put dishes in the sink after meals, brush teeth, make bed, get dressed, and help Mom. They're pretty basic, but he still feels like he's accomplishing something when he does them. He knows that's what his jobs are already, but I wanted to get them more ingrained in his head. *To reinforce them, I did some Google searches on coloring pages for each of the jobs. I was able to find something for all of them. So, for our activity Noah colored each of the coloring pages that went along with his jobs. Not only did he have fun, but I think it helped him really understand what his daily responsibilities are.

Prayer:------

Treat: ice cream (of course!)

Every time I have FHE (we're still not as consistent as I'd like, but we're working on it!) I am amazed at the almost immediate difference it makes. So far, Noah really seems to enjoy FHE, and he participates very well. I can see that he's learning things and is excited about learning. He seems excited to practice the things he has just been taught. For example, this weekend we spent the night at my parent's house. Noah was so excited to get to help Grandpa work in the yard pulling weeds. He felt so proud of himself for "working" so hard (I put that in quotations because, as you can imagine, his version of work is a lot different than ours, but in his mind he was working and that's what counts). I'm so glad he could feel the sense of accomplishment from working hard, and I'm grateful that our words aren't going in one ear and out the other. Our efforts aren't for nothing. Even when we think he hasn't heard a word we've said, he always surprises us. He's learning from us all the time, which is not always a good thing. Some things he's learned from me I wish he hadn't. Anyway, I'm rambling. I just wanted to say how much I am seeing that FHE truly is an inspired thing and that our families will be blessed if we strive to have them each week. Okay, my soap box is done.

*I found a cute coloring pages website. It's called funny coloring. There are oodles of other websites with cute free coloring pages, and they're not hard to find. Just type in what you're looking for and I can almost guarantee you'll find something. Do any of you have a favorite website with coloring pages?

Also, is there anything you would add to this FHE lesson? Let me know. Thanks!

cookie day

2009-06-11T15:25:00.000-07:00

This is an idea that I thought sounded fun. Every Wednesday my sister-in-law would make a new cookie recipe to try. So I handed Bradley my copy of Best of Country Cookies (a Taste of Home publication) and a post it pad. He went through and placed a sticky note on every cookie that he wanted to try. So we will decide each week which one to make, and pick up any ingredients from the store we don't have on hand. I will have Bradley take an active part in preparing the dough and baking it. Bradley hasn't had much interest in the happenings of the kitchen, so this might help him learn his way around a little better. Here are just a few of the cookies on the list:

sugar cookies
snow-topped chocolate mint cookies
final exam brownies
double butterscotch cookies
lemon poppy seed slices
peanut butter jumbos
double chocolate sprinkle cookies
quick chocolate sandwich cookies (home-made oreos)

We will start next week. I will follow up with photos and recipes.

If you want to do this too, make sure you have plenty of cold milk on hand for dunking.

** One thought to help with all the cookies that would be around tempting the parents to eat them is to choose someone in your family or neighborhood to share them with each week.

Thursday Activity: Playing with Jell-O!

2009-06-05T18:47:00.000-07:00

I know it's Friday, but I have a fun activity to share that I've been meaning to blog about but haven't done. I haven't been in a huge blogging mood lately, which is very weird for me. Anyway, here's the fun activity. Enjoy!

The activity is another one from The Toddler's Busy Book by Trish Kuffner. It's on page 138, and it's called Jell-O Jumping. Here are the EASY instructions:

4 large packages of Jell-O

baby bathtub (or any kind of tub or big bowl)

Prepare Jell-O according to package directions. Place it in a bathtub or small basin and let your child stand in it, sit in it, run his fingers through it, or paint with it.

This was so much fun! Clara was a little skeptical at first, but she loved it. She was very girly about how she played with it, while the boys (Noah's best friend also joined in on the fun) dug right in just as boys do. They all had fun smooshing the Jell-O between their fingers, standing in it, eating it (Oh, well. What can ya do?), and I think the boys even threw it at each other. We had the sprinkler on so they could easily clean off, although they all definitely needed a bath. That in itself was fun because the red Jell-O turned the bath water pink.

Some tips:

take the Jell-O out of the fridge and let it warm up a little before you let your kids play in it. Ours was quite cold.
4 packages was oodles! If you only have one child, 2 packages will probably be fine.
do this on a day when you have nothing to do and don't care about making a mess.

Hope you try it! It was a lot of fun!

Please feel free to share any of your favorite summertime activities. Thanks!

National Tap Dance Day

2009-05-26T19:15:00.000-07:00

Did you know that yesterday (May 25th) was National Tap Dance Day? I didn't until today. I took the kids to the library and had picked out a bag full of books. When I thought I had enough, the title of one more book caught my eye. It was "Rap A Tap Tap Here's Bojangles- Think of That!" by Leo and Diane Dillon. I grabbed it and on thumbing through the pages decided it would be a fun one to take home. I'm so glad I did! I sat down with Clara to read it and loved the short, rhythmic lines of each page, but I also loved the fun artwork.

When I came to the last page I found a biography of the real "Bojangles." I learned his real name was Bill Robinson (1878-1949) and he is known as the greatest tap dancer of all time; it was said "he talked with his feet"; his rhythms were so complex and fast it was impossible for other dancers to mimic some of them; he shared his wealth with less fortunate friends during the Great Depression; he performed on Broadway and several films, including four with Shirley Temple.

At the end of the biography I learned that on May 25, 1989, Congress declared that day (which was his birthday) as National Tap Dance Day in Bill Robinson's honor.

When I realized the special day was only just yesterday, I got to my feet and excitedly told the kids. They didn't find it near as exciting as I did, but I didn't care. I turned on a fun song so I could "tap dance" (in my flip flops) in the kitchen. Both the kids kinda looked at me like I was crazy, but I didn't let it get me down. I am no dancer, but I've always had great aspirations to be one. I know I looked silly but I was having fun. Eventually, however, Clara wanted to join in too. But Noah was still embarrassed to know me. I knew he'd love seeing real tap dancing, so I rummaged through our old videos to find my copy of "Singin' in the Rain". It would have been nice to have it on DVD because it took me forever to fast-forward and rewind my way through the movie to try and find some tap dancing. But, finally I found some really good dancing in "Good Mornin.'" Watching that kind of stuff can't help but make you smile. Noah was finally convinced that tap dancing was fun. He really enjoyed it and wanted to watch other fun dances. He LOVED "Make em' Laugh!" He probably would have loved Gene Kelly in "Singin' in the Rain," but he conked out from a fully day of playing, not out of boredom.

Anyway, it was a really fun, spontaneous moment (possibly more for me than the kids). I'll have to rent one of Bill "Bojangles" Robinson's movies so I can see the master in action. You can honor his special day too, and you could probably have even more fun with it than I did with a little more planning. Go check out this book and show your kids real tap dancing by him or any of the other masters like Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire (I really wanted to show Noah Fred Astaire dancing with firecrackers in "Holiday Inn" but I don't have that one). Then turn on some old music and be silly with your kids by showing off your own tap dancing skills.

Illustration Friday

2009-05-15T18:39:00.001-07:00

Even though I already posted today, I am just so excited to share two things with you all. One day while enjoying the blog Bookie Woogie, I noticed the cute family had another cute blog- Chicken Nugget Lemon Tootie. It's a blog where the three kids display their wonderful, creative works of art. Their stuff is really impressive! You really need to check it out. It gave me some fun ideas to do with my kids.

The other thing I wanted to share I discovered on Chicken Nugget Lemon Tootie. It's Illustration Friday. I went to the website and found a blog for amateur and professional artists, and every Friday they give out a theme for everyone to portray in their art. If you want to be sent them theme every week, you just give them your email address, and you can participate too. Chicken Nugget Lemon Tootie bloggers participate in many of the themes. Click here to view their very creative takes on the themes given. Some of their entries blew me away.

This was the first week Noah and I participated. I was nervous to do it, as if ten professional artists were standing behind me, critiquing my very amateur work. But that's the cool thing about this whole thing- no one has to see it. You can just do it for fun. This week's theme is Contagious. That's a new word for Noah, and a big one too. I wasn't sure if he'd understand it or not. I tried explaining that's how people get sick, but from the vacant expression on his face I could see that didn't work. So, I went to smiling and laughter, and that's what our pictures are based on. I started drawing mine, and Noah got inspired. Here is his first:

I call it "A Contagious Smile"

His second I call "If You Chance to Meet a Frown"

This next one is a little embarrassing, but I don't care. Just don't laugh.

I call it "Catching."

Kind of a fun thing, huh? I do think this might work better for older kids, like kindergarten or first grade and up. Noah's mind didn't focus on this as long as I hoped. It was on more important things, like spiders outside that needed feeding. He likes to help spiders get food by putting poor, defenseless bugs near their webs. I don't know how spiders have survived all these years without Noah to help them eat. I'm hoping he'll have more fun with this on weeks that the theme is more understandable for him.

Check out both websites and let me know if you start participating in the Illustration Friday and what you think of it.

Friday Book Review

2009-05-15T14:05:00.000-07:00

Since Wednesday is Recipe Day and Thursday is Activity Day, I thought I'd continue on and make Friday Book Review Day.

Today's is Good-night, Owl! by Pat Hutchins. This is the cutest book! It's about an owl trying to sleep in a noisy tree. His nap keeps getting interrupted by all the different varieties of birds and other animals:bees, squirrels, jays, crows, cuckoos, doves, and more. It gets so loud that sleep is impossible. Finally night time arrives and the birds are finally quiet because they're sleeping, but the nocturnal owl gives them a taste of their own medicine.

This book is fun because it talks about the different sounds that birds make. Kids also think it's funny at the end when Owl wakes all the birds up. Kids also learn about nocturnal animals. I also like the book because of the beautiful pictures. Your kids will love this book. Each time I read it, N makes a request for a second or third reading.

Do you have any favorite books that talk about animal sounds? Please share!

Food-Coloring Painting

2009-05-14T18:39:00.000-07:00

Since Wednesday is Recipe Day, I thought I'd make Thursday Activity Day. I'll try to post a fun activity every week, and if you're a contributor, feel free to post something as well.

Here's another fun activity from The Toddler's Busy Book by Trish Kuffner (in a previous post I mentioned how I'm going to try to do one of her activities a week with my kids). For those of you who own a copy, it's on page 239 in the Arts and Crafts section.

Food-Coloring Painting

You need:
Food coloring
Water
Paintbrush
Paper towels or coffee filters

Make your own paint by adding food-coloring to water, enough to get the color you want. Brush the mixture onto a piece of paper towel or coffee filter. Use several colors. When the paper towel is soaked, remove and let dry. Then mount on construction paper to display.

I mostly did this activity for C because I haven't been very good about letting her experiment with art, like I was with N. I thought she'd like this activity, and I was right. She loved watching the paper towel absorb the liquid paint and seeing the colors quickly spread on the paper towel. N also enjoyed it, and they each went through about 3 paper towels. I taught N a new word too: absorbing. I'm pretty sure he won't remember, but it's always good teach them something new, even if they might not really get it. Although, I'm always surprised at the things N does understand that I think he won't. Anyway, both my kids really enjoyed this activity, and their work is proudly displayed on the refrigerator.

I liked this activity because all the supplies are things you have on hand and it was easy to do and clean up.

Tips:

beware that little ones might try drinking the "paint." In the two seconds I turned to help N, C tried to drink her pink paint. Luckily, this paint won't hurt them at all if they drink it.
have little ones where a bib. N wanted to wear his apron, which was a good idea too. This activity can get a little messy with kids drinking and spilling the paint.
beware the surface you let them do this on. It might be a good idea to put something under the paper towel to protect the surface. I might have stained C's high chair tray. I'm not sure yet, though. I'm going to try a magic eraser to see if it gets it out.

*If you'd like to be a contributor, leave your email address in the comments.

Fruit Smoothies

2009-05-13T12:32:00.000-07:00

I decided that Wednesday is going to be my Recipe Day. I'll try to post a kid-friendly recipe (hopefully something they won't wine about or gag on) every Wednesday, but some weeks I might not have anything. Those would be good weeks for my contributors (and wanna-be contributors) to post there own recipe (hint! hint!).

On my post about eating healthy, I made a comment that I often make fruit smoothies in an attempt to get make crazy non-fruit eating children to ingest some of the healthy, yummy goodness that is fruit. Someone requested that I post my recipe. So, here they are (I have two). There's really nothing fancy about them.

Mixed Berry Smoothie

handful of fresh or frozen mixed berries
2-3 ice cubes
splash of orange juice
half a banana

blend until fruit and ice cubes are crushed and mixed.

Yogurt Smoothie

2-3 large spoonfuls of plain or vanilla yogurt
handful of berries (any kind you want)
half a banana

blend until fruit is crushed and ingredients are mixed

*Keep in mind that I use a Magic Bullet, which is a lot smaller than a regular blender. So, you may need to adjust your measurements.

*For both these recipes, you really can add whatever fruit you want and how much of it you want. I really just throw stuff together.

Great Idea

My sister had a really good idea. You can buy trays for making your own pop-sickles. My mom got some at Ikea (Good luck finding them on the website. I tried and failed. Let me know if you find them.), and they're really fun because they're tall like a real pop-sickle. Others I've seen are short and squat. Anyway, my sister's idea was to make fruit smoothies and make them into pop-sickles. It sounds delicious and fun for the kids to help make. That might be a fun summer activity.

I'd love for you to post your favorite smoothie recipe in the comments. Maybe one or two will make it in a later post.

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-10T07:07:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to wish all you mothers out there a very Happy Mother's Day! I am in awe of you and are always learning from you. Thanks for what you do, and remember that it's the most important thing you could ever do!

Preschool Dilemma

2009-05-08T21:05:00.001-07:00

I am a Dr. Laura fan, and today one of the calls reaffirmed my feelings on preschool. But, before I tell you what they are, lets go back to the day N was born. On a rainy fall morning, six weeks early, our little boy was born. Thrilled to have our premie healthy as any 40 weeker, we were in new mommy and daddy heaven (apart from our feelings of shock, fear, bewilderment, pain, and exhaustion, as are normal for any new parent). We made the huge adjustment that was parenthood and learned day by day what the heck we were supposed to do to raise our little guy to be healthy and happy. I thought my job was to love and kiss him, change his poopie diapers, feed him, bathe him, play with him, sing to him, read to him. Boy, was I naive.

Upon taking my little boy to play dates or other functions where mommies show off their adorable, brilliant babies, I would get questions like:

"What words does he say?"
"Does he know his ABC's?"
"Can he count to 20 yet?"
"Can he spell his name?"
"What are you doing for preschool?"
"Can he sing the Star Spangled Banner?"
"Can he count backwards from 100?"
"Can he spell chrysanthemum?"
"Does he know his 12 times tables?"
"Does he know and understand Einstein's Theory of Relativity?"

To which I would nervously reply, "Um, he's only 6 months old." The other mothers would then give me their fakest sweetest smile, turn up their noses and proceed to tell me all the amazing things their 6 month old has been doing for months. I sat their listening, pretending to be awed by their brilliant children and not at all embarrassed at my apparent brainless child. But inside my own brain was reeling- What have I done? I've failed my son already! I'm a horrible mother! Tomorrow we're starting on a strict schedule! Play time will now be replaced with learning time where we will learn every subject form reading to the history of America! Then we'll see who has the smartest 6 month old!

Well, I may be exaggerating a tad, but I wanted to portray the intense pressure I felt as a young mother. Some of you may understand me from your own experiences. Many mothers are pressured into thinking that if they're not educating their children academically every day and if they're children aren't able to do certain things by certain ages, then they are horrible mothers. At least, that's how I felt. That feeling took the fun out of teaching N. Instead, often it was very stressful. I felt like I should be doing some kind of formal learning time at home every day. To say that was overwhelming for me is an understatement.

Finally I came to the conclusion that I wouldn't worry about a formal learning time at home. I would just play with him, find teaching moments in play time, and let him learn and develop his brain by exploring the world around him and letting him use his imagination. I wasn't always confident with this philosophy. Often I would compare myself with other moms and wonder if I was doing the right thing. But I would reassure myself by saying, "He's not going to be twenty years old and not know how to count to 20."

Now that N is actual preschool age, I've wondered If I should send him away to preschool. N has just one year until kindergarten, but other kids N's age have already had at least one year of preschool. I didn't even bother looking into putting him in last fall because he had speech therapy and kindermusik. They're each only one day a week and no more than an hour and a half (speech is only 1/2 hour), but that's a full plate for a four year if you ask me. But, as this next fall- N's last year before kindergarten- has been approaching I've contemplated on what to do. He'll still be in speech and kindermusik, and really, that is plenty in my book. But, I've been comparing myself to other Moms again (Bad Marianne!) and wondered if he'd be behind all the other kids if he didn't do a year of preschool. Thanks to the advice of some older, wiser people in my life, I have come to a conclusion, which is my feeling on preschool that was reaffirmed today on the Dr. Laura show. It is this:

Let kids be kids. They're going to behind a desk for the rest of their lives! Don't start them any earlier than is necessary! This is the time for them to develop their imaginations, explore the world around them, be silly, and have fun! They'll learn so much more if they do all that with YOU! There will be plenty of time for them to learn the other stuff.

I love what Dr. Laura said to the caller who sounded as pressured as I once felt. She said, "Remember- you're raising a person, not a computer."

Now, let me explain that I'm not against preschool, ones that are at home or away. If you want to take your kids somewhere- great (just make sure class sizes are small)! If you want to do your own at home- great! I'm still not totally against me doing it at home. I've just discovered what my limitations are and what I can handle. Or, if you don't want to do preschool at all- great! There will always be learning opportunities. The main thing is to not feel pressured into whatever you do. That's what I learned. Find out what works for you and your child. Some kids want to learn things, but others don't want to sit and be taught (like mine). You might be a creative, organized mom who loves to come up with her own lessons or you might be like me who likes using the work of another mom's genius. Or you might also be like me in that you get easily overwhelmed, so you like to keep things as simple as possible.

This post is getting really long, and I'm getting tired. I hope this made sense. It did to me when I started, but my eyes have gotten heavy and my brain is working a little sluggish. I have more to say, though, so I think the rest will have to come later.

"Cat, Cat, Dog!"

2009-05-07T18:56:00.001-07:00

I've had "The Toddler's Busy Book" by Trish Kuffner for a couple years, but I don't use it as much as I should. I always forget I even have it. But today I remembered that it was on my shelf collecting dust, so I thought I'd flip it open and see if I could find something fun for N and I to do. I turned to the Outdoor Adventure section and found a game called "Red, Red, Red" (on page 139 for those of you who own the book). It sounded like something N would enjoy, so I thought I'd give it a whirl, but I modified it a little. I call our version "Cat, Cat, Dog!"

Here's how to play:

Have players stand next to each other behind a starting line
The leader calls out three animals- If the animals match ("cat, cat, cat") the players stand still like a soldier. If the last animal named is different ("cat, cat, dog"), the players run to a distant designated "safe" spot before the leader tags them.
If a player is tagged before they get to the "safe" spot, then that player now has to call out animal names. The original starting line then becomes the new "safe" spot.
Variations: instead of animals, you can do body parts or colors or whatever; instead of running to the "safe" spot, you can skip, twirl, hop, or you can pretend to be whatever animal was called out last.

This game is fun because:

Every kid LOVES animals
It teaches math: Kids have to name one animal three times in a row, then they have to name one animal twice and say a different animal on the third time. I was very impressed that N was able to this because sometimes he has a hard time with numbers.
Kids LOVE being chased, and the especially LOVE chasing
It's great exercise for you and your kids. You'll both need some quiet time at the end.
Parents will enjoy this too!

I had no idea just how much N would like this game. He absolutely LOVED it! He said, "Let's play this game all day!" It really was a lot of fun!

This book really has some great ideas. I made a goal to do at least one a week. Technically, there's one activity for every day of the year, but that's a little overwhelming for me. Maybe someday I'll get to that point, but I'm just going to take it slow for now.

Nursery Rhymes

2009-05-03T19:01:00.000-07:00

Hey diddle diddle,
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon.
The little dog laughed
To see such sport,
And the dish ran away
With the spoon.

Nursery rhymes have been handed down from Mother to child for centuries. Frankly, I've wondered why. I mean, if you think about their words, most of them make absolutely no sense and some have rather depressing endings, like "When the bow breaks the cradle will fall, and down will come baby, cradle and all." But, despite all that, kids love them.

My kids are no exception. I just bought this book (pictures above) not too long ago because I didn't have a book with nursery rhymes and I sadly only knew a few by heart. I found my copy at Wal-Mart, and I think I may have seen it at Target too. It's also fun because it comes with a CD for added enjoyment, and in case you were wondering, it is made by Priddy Books. Anyway, it became an instant favorite at my house. C is always dragging it off the shelf and begging me with her big cow eyes to read it, and N likes to try and say some of the nursery rhymes with me. I think his favorite is The Three Little Mittens.

One reason I bought the book is because Kindermusik does a lot with nursery rhymes, and their teacher has talked a lot about how important they are for kids development. I thought that was interesting, so I looked up WHY nursery rhymes are so beneficial to kids, and I found some interesting articles to back up what their teacher said. Here's what I found:

10 Reasons Kids Benefit From Nursery Rhymes:

Rhyme: The rhyming format found in nursery rhymes makes it easier for kids to pick out rhyming words, and studies show that kids who struggle with rhyming words, also have struggles with learning to read.

Rhythm: The rhythms found in nursery rhymes help children exercise their auditory memory skills. It's easier for them to remember the words because of the rhythms. Also, my kids seem to enjoy my telling of the nursery rhymes more when I really emphasize the rhythmic pulse, and I'll even bounce or tap on my kids to the beat.

Phonemes: Phonemes are the individual units of sound that make up words. Rhymes sensitize children to these sounds. The rhyme "Baa Baa Black Sheep" places three /b/ sounds in a row and later in the verse, dame and lane highlight the long /ay/ sound. This helps children develop a sensitivity to language, which prepares them to think about the sequence of sound in a whole word. This skill is crucial for learning to read and spell.

Listening Skills: They introduce the concept of listening from beginning to end. They're the perfect first stories because they're short.

Imagery: The colorful images painted in nursery rhymes help expand a child's imagination. Remember how I said The Three Little Kittens is N's favorite? A lot of times after we read our nursery rhyme book he's off pretending to be a kitten.

Fun: Any time you read to your children, it sends them a message that you enjoy spending time with them. Nursery rhymes introduce literature as something fun, helping your children develop love of reading. I enjoy reading nursery rhymes to my kids because they are fun to read. Some of them I know a tune that fits with the words, like "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", but others I've just made up my own tune. Sometimes the tune is quite dorky, but kids don't care. Singing as you read to your kids captures their attention and helps them listen better. If I don't sing the rhymes, I do a lot of vocal inflection and facial expressions. Not only do my kids have fun, but I have a blast too!

Humor: Most nursery rhymes are just plane silly, but kids don't care that they make no sense.

Vocabulary: Because nursery rhymes have been around forever, they often have words that aren't used in everyday language and often introduce math concepts.

Coordination: Many rhymes have hand gestures and clapping to go along with them. This can help a child develop coordination and motor skills.

Confidence: Reciting nursery rhymes gives a child practice and confidence in speaking in front of strangers.

I got the above information from two articles: Nursery Rhyme Benefits and Why Children Need Nursery Rhymes. The latter was very interesting. It had some additional benefits, so I'd encourage you to check out the full article.

Some of you who might be a little uncomfortable reading rhymes like "Jack and Jill" or "Humpty Dumpty" or any of the other more depressing ones. The article "Why Children Need Nursery Rhymes" gave a good suggestion. They suggested taking creative license and coming up with more happy endings. For example, instead of "Couldn't put Humpty together again" you could say, "Took him to the Doctor - now he's better again!"

If you don't have a collection of nursery rhymes in your personal library, I'd encourage you to get one. Your kids will love them, and they're very beneficial. There is a large selection of nursery rhyme books, so you don't necessarily have to get the one I suggested. Although, it might hurt my feelings if you don't.

Happy nursery rhyming!

Kindermusik

2009-04-29T20:12:00.000-07:00

Okay, I am a huge music freak! I've sung and played the piano for as long as I can remember, and I graduated college with a Bachelor's in Music, so I love to sing and dance with my kids. And I have a firm belief that there is power in music.

I know I've mentioned Kindermusik before, but this post is dedicated entirely to the subject. I first heard of Kindermusik when my oldest sister certified to be a teacher. I learned from hearing her talk about it what fun the classes are, but I didn't understand just how fun and beneficial they are until I finally got my kids enrolled last fall. I can attest firsthand to the validity of this quote from the Kindermusik website:

"...All the research in the world can’t accurately capture the look of pure delight in your child’s eyes when she experiences the sights and sounds of Kindermusik, both in the classroom and at home."

Here are some reasons we love Kindermusik:

they get fun CDs for home that they love to listen to. C lights up as soon as she hears the first note of the first song.
they get fun instruments to play with at home
as a Mom, I learn fun ways to teach my kids to use their ears and hear the music all around them
the classes also suggest fun activities for parents to do with their kids at home
the classes are fun learning and social experiences
Kindermusik has greatly helped N with his speech issues
C started when she was less than a year old, and it has made her very aware of the world around her. I really think it's made her smarter!
I love how they encorporate music in everything. It's not JUST about music. N learned about cities this semester, and the semester before that they learned about weather. The kids learn how music is everywhere, like the sounds of a busy city or in the wind.

These are just some of the things we love about Kindermusik, but you really have to experience it because I think there's a magic about it that you have to see for yourself. That might sound cheesy, but I really do think it's magical.

I highly recommend Kindermusik, especially if you're not musical but you want your kids exposed to music. You can enroll kids as young as newborn all the way up to 7 years old. I could probably blab on and on about it, but I'll spare you. Instead, go to the Kindermusik website and you'll find answers to all your questions. You'll find info on classes, you can find a teacher near you, and you can also shop for instruments. But, if you decide to enroll your kids, you probably need to get in contact with a teacher ASAP because classes fill up fast. One last thing I will say is that you might think it a little expensive, but it is worth every single penny!

Also, N and C's teacher has a blog with some fun suggestions for activities and things. Click here if you're interested.

Teaching Kids Healthy Eating Habits

2009-04-23T19:19:00.000-07:00

I happened upon this article on the LDS Church website. I admit I'm a horribly eater, which makes it hard to teach my kids to eat healthy. I'm glad I found this article because I think I really needed to be given some guidance in this arena. Here's a little bit (okay, a lot) of the article I'd like to share with you:

Let’s take a look at some of the things we may be doing wrong as parents and what we might do to change them.

1. We use food as a reward. From the time our children are small we are inclined to make them feel happy when they are sad by administering a “spoonful of sugar” in some form. If Doug falls down and skins his knee, we make it better with bubble gum. If Marty’s heart is breaking because Daddy went to the store without him, we placate him with a Popsicle. Children soon learn that feelings of discomfort or sadness can become happiness through eating. Such an early association between food and good feelings may well extend into adulthood as a self-reward habit involving a trip to the refrigerator every time a case of the blues arises. What the food-as-a-reward tradition lacks in quality it overcomes in simplicity. Most parents prefer the 30 seconds required to administer a candy mood-changer to the 15 minutes required to reward Johnny with a story about David and Goliath. Imagine the impact we might have on the lives of our children if we substituted rapture in the scriptures for contentment in cookies. Perhaps the child would even realize that there is more love involved in giving time than in giving substance. Or if time is short, a few moments of closeness and a few expressions of love might adequately attend the situation. Even a ten-cent balloon might be a healthier reward than a confectionery.

2. We use food as a punishment. When John doesn’t want to eat his dessert, his parents will probably be unconcerned. But if he balks at his broccoli, look out! Mom and Dad are likely to make such an issue of the matter that the mere sight of broccoli incites anger. Some parents will compound the problem by saying, “If you don’t finish your broccoli, you can’t have any pudding.” Then broccoli becomes the evil obstacle between John and that wonderful experience called dessert.

If you want your children to like carrots, don’t bully them into eating them. Why not try the more successful emotional approach used on television? Commercials on television associate foods with fun things like cartoons and toys. Why not develop some associations between good foods and happy, fun experiences like picnics and family home evenings? How about a pioneer dinner in the park featuring raw vegetables and fruits? Or let the little ones experiment by dipping vegetables in a variety of sauces and dressings in a fondue-style dinner.

3. We encourage snacking. To add to the conviviality of such occasions as watching television, reading, or socializing, we too often engage in snacking. And as an after-school ritual, the habit is probably firmly entrenched in most of our homes.
Children do get hungry between meals. But learning to live with that little bit of hunger, especially while yet young, may be healthier than eating at every urge. (Any Latter-day Saint knows that fasting becomes easier with practice.)

It would be best if we never developed the snack habit. If you don’t think you can accomplish that in your home, perhaps snacking could be shifted from cake and cookies to the less fattening fare of low-fat milk or fresh fruits. Of course, there is no guarantee that a well-established snack habit involving milk and fruit will not change for the worse when the child is on his own, but at least the youngster has been taught the proper principles.

Complete elimination of the well-embedded bedtime snack is also desirable, but if you can’t eliminate it, how about a glass of low-fat milk instead of a heaping plate of ice cream?

4. We eat opulently. A lavishly set table has become a symbol of success. “We always had more than we could eat at my home,” may be a braggart’s phrase, but that stuffed look is certainly testimony that it is not an empty boast.

“Waste not, want not” is a desirable ethic for frugal folk, but it might produce less obesity if it were applied at the time the plate was loaded up rather than at the time it is “cleaned up.” “Clean up your plate” is the prelude to dessert in so many homes that it’s no wonder a child feels he must eat till the food is gone, including what’s left in the serving bowls. Perhaps tables could be less sumptuously set with meals more carefully planned according to the basic food groups.
And when the food is gone, it’s gone. Some recent evidence suggests that less food will be consumed, and thus less need be prepared, if you can teach your children simply to eat more slowly. Is there really any sense in eating at each meal as though there was never going to be another one?

5. We serve too many desserts. I hesitate even to mention this last item. In many homes I’m sure it will be tantamount to heresy. But are desserts really necessary? In some homes they are so commonplace, they become ordinary and even a little dull. Reserving rich treats for special occasions would not only enhance the appreciation of both the treats and the special occasions, but would do much to eliminate obesity. If the dessert habit is too firmly entrenched, switch to fresh fruits. You may be surprised at how much your family will enjoy them.
The scriptures tell us that deathbed repentance is impossible. If we have a problem in our lives, we need to start as early as possible to resolve it, since repentance may take some time. And how much better it would be if we just never developed the problem in the first place. Poor eating habits, like all others, are hard to repent of, and prevention is infinitely more satisfactory than treatment. Therefore, start right now to try to correct your family’s bad eating habits:

Prepare less food.
Use more fruits and vegetables in your meals; cut down on fried and high-fat foods; serve desserts sparingly, using more fresh fruits.
As for snacks, particularly the highly processed varieties, a few days of standing firm against those pleadings for goodies might help extinguish that habit. Not having snack items around the house may reduce their consumption to almost zero.
Try to make meals a more leisurely and conversational experience.
Let’s help our children learn to eat the right amounts of the right foods for the right reasons.

I want to add my own two cents to that last sentence. By "right reasons" I think the author means that our body is a temple and we need to take care of it as best we can. We defile our body when we fill it with foods that aren't good for us. When I think about eating healthy with that kind of perspective it is much more motivating because I know my body is a gift from God, so I should respect it and take proper care of it, and I need to teach my kids to do the same. But I can't teach them to do something that I don't do myself. I'm going to be better!

I liked the suggestions in this article. What do you think? What are some of your tips for teaching your family to eat healthy?

By the way, if you'd like to read the full article, click here.

Do Something Fun

2009-04-20T19:12:00.000-07:00

Where we live there is an elementary school right behind us. All day every day N begs me to go over there and play, but every day I remind him that we can't go over there while the kids are in school. The kids are more than half the reason he wants to go in the first place. But, we usually end up going over there later in the afternoon just about every day. I do love having a park in walking distance.

Today when we went we were the only ones there. Most of the time I had to entertain C and try to keep her happy, which isn't always the easiest thing with Miss Attitude. But when we were just about done, I had a burst of energy. I strapped C in her stroller and started up a game of tag with N on the playground. He, of course, was thrilled with the spontaneous game. He squealed with delight as I got down and dirty, chasing him over monkey bars, crawling through tubes, and going down slides. After he'd get tagged by me, I would try to run away from him, which turned out to be harder than I thought. Not only did he love it, but I was happy to find that I had a ball too. It was so much fun. I felt like a kid again. Isn't that one of the great things about being a Mom? Being a grown-up can be so boring sometimes. It's nice that Moms and Dads get to revert back to their childhood now and then.

Usually, I'm one of those boring grown-ups. I'd rather sit on a bench for some much deserved rest while I watch N run around and get tired. But today I heard a voice in my head suggest getting off my lazy you-know-what and actually playing with my son. Hmmm, what a novel idea. I knew that doing that would make him feel happy and loved, so how could I resist doing it?

Doing something fun with your kids that you BOTH enjoy doing is so important. It makes them feel special and it strengthens the bond between you. I stressed the fact that it be something you both enjoy doing because I think that's major. Frankly, when N asks if I'll play dinosaurs with him, I can think of about a million other things I'd much rather do. Likewise, sometimes N doesn't want to do what I want to do. Having that kind of playtime with your kids only creates resentment, which is hardly condussive for a loving relationship. So, make sure you choose activities you both enjoy. Another other good thing about that is I think it will teach your kids not be selfish- that they need to respect other people's likes and dislikes.

Wow, this post is getting longer than I intended. My main reason for posting was to challenge all of my readers (and myself, of course) to get up and play with your kids when you usually just observe. Get really into it too, and you'll be surprised how much fun you'll have.

By the way, at dinner I asked N what his favorite part of today was (he had a fun-filled day of playing with neighbors, looking for bugs, splashing in puddles, and "shooting" with his toy gun), and he said "playing tag at the park." Aaaaah, that was good for my heart.

My Jesus Book

2009-04-10T20:01:00.000-07:00

There are some nice religious children's books about Jesus, but I haven't seen one that I absolutely love. So, I decided to make my own. I bought the mini pictures at Deseret Book, took them home and wrote a simple book about His life and what His life means to us. When it was done I had it laminated and spiral bound so it would last a long time. It's really simple, but that's what I wanted.

Here are some of the pages and what they say (sorry the pictures aren't very good):

"Jesus once was a little child like me."

"Mary is his mother.

God is his father."

"Jesus loves little children."

"He loves me."
"Jesus suffered and died for us because he loves us."

"Jesus lives! He was resurrected that we might live again too."

"Jesus gave us temples.

Inside temples we make promises to Him, and he blesses us."

"Because of Jesus I can live with my family forever."

"Someday Jesus will come again!"

"I love Jesus. And I know He loves me."

I didn't make this right before Easter on purpose. It just worked out that way, but it was great timing. I read this to my kids for our Easter FHE. They loved it, and I think it's going to be a great book for sacrament meeting.

It was fun making it and really easy too. Try one of your own.

Have A Hoe-Down With Your Kids

2009-04-05T21:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was driving in the car with my kids and they started getting restless, which means N started bugging C to get a rise out of her. So, I turned on the radio to the classical station (89.1 FM around here) to distract them with music. I've found they do better when there's music playing, and I've also found that they love the classical station (Hmm...could that possibly be because I'm a big nerd and that's pretty much all I listen to?) To my delight, they were playing the final movement from Aaron Copland's Rodeo. Most of you will recognize this as the "Beef- it's what's for dinner" song from the commercials that used to be on T.V. It's one of those songs that makes you want to get up and dance and wish you lived in the 19th century American West.

I cranked the volume, and we had our own little hoe-down in the car (don't worry- my driving was fine). The kids LOVED it! I looked in my rear view mirror and saw big smiles on their faces, and when it was over C clapped her hands to show her approval. N wanted me to play it again, which I would have gladly done if I could have.

I decided that Copland's Rodeo is a definite must to my classical music collection. Not only is it wonderful music, but it's great for kids. If you're interested in adding it to your collection I found a very good and inexpensive recording on Amazon that also includes Copland's Billy the Kid. Your kids will love it.

Preparing Our Children for General Conference

2009-04-01T11:47:00.000-07:00

It's General Conference time! Yay! It's so wonderful that we have this opportunity to be spiritually fed by our leaders, but how in the heck do we teach our little ones to sit still and listen? I always look forward to general conference, but I also dread it a little just thinking of how I'm going to keep my crazy four year old entertained through it all. I don't have the magic solution, but here are some ideas that hopefully you'll find helpful.

Have a bowl of yummy treats you don't usually keep in the house (like mini candy bars). You get to eat a treat after every talk you/your child listens to without falling asleep or being irreverent. This one's great for adults too! I know I'm looking forward to some chocolate!
Print off some LDS coloring pages for your little ones to color. Here's a link that will take you to the church's free coloring pages.
I found a cool blog called LDS Coloring Pages. One of the posts had some fun conference activities.
Make some fun family traditions that help make general conference something to look forward for the kids. My family used to have a big breakfast of Swedish pancakes on the Sunday morning of conference. We only had them twice a year, so it made conference really fun and exciting. I'm going to start that with my little family this year.
For FHE teach your kids about the Prophet and Apostles. Click here for the lesson on prophets in the nursery manual. Teach them "Follow the Prophet" from the primary songbook. If you had your FHE lesson on something else this week, just have another one. There's no rule that says you can only have one family night a week.
There was an article in March's Ensign on preparing children for general conference. Some of the ideas included: having older kids write what they learn in a journal, talk to your kids every day about how exciting it will be to hear the prophet, complete chores the Friday before, look for conference games and activities in the Friend, and more. Click on the link for the full article.

My final tip is to remember that the best way for kids to learn the importance of General Conference is through your example. You don't have to feel ike you have to prepare a million activities, so don't get too overwhelmed. If they see it's important to you than it will be important to them. I know this from my own experience. My parents didn't really do much. Aside from the Swedish pancake thing, the only other thing they did was turn conference on every T.V. and radio in the house, so you could here conference from almost every room in the house. We knew we couldn't play with friends. We knew it was important. I remember one conference when I was very little, probably four or five. I was playing with a toy, and my mother asked me stop playing for a minute because the prophet, President Benson then, was speaking. I remember thinking that he must be important for me to have to stop playing with my toy. I think that's when my testimony of the prophets began to grow, and it was because my mother's example.

Please share any other tips for preparing our kids for general conference, and I hope you all have a wonderful conference weekend.

TBA

2009-03-27T14:08:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't blogged much lately. I've been a little obsessed with reading Harry Potter (yeah, I know I'm a little late). But I finished last night (so good!!!), so my blogging time that became reading time can hopefully become blogging time again. I don't know exactly what I'll blog about, but hopefully it will be worth your while.

Lighten Up: A Little Inspiration

2009-03-18T20:54:00.001-07:00

I wanted to share a little inspiration with you that I received the other night.

I was reading my scriptures and came to a scripture in 2 Samuel 23:3-4:

"...He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.

"And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain."

Isn't that beautiful? The poetic lines could only have been written by the psalmist, David. I just love the beautiful symbolism in the words.

At first reading, I thought of "He that ruleth over men" to be some sort of government leader. But the Spirit gave me a little nudge, and I realized that I am a ruler over men. I'm a ruler over my children, just like all you mothers out there, and these verses, verse four in particular, are beautiful instructions on what kind of mothers we are to be.

I just love the first line in verse four, "And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds." First of all, the Savior is often compared with the Sun. Just as the sun's light covers the whole Earth, so does His light and goodness. We should be like Him- how would he parent our children? How would He react when your kids don't listen to you or when they flush a toy down the toilet? Also, when I think of the first light of day, I think of words like hopeful, optimistic, happy, joyful, positive, nurturing. I also think of a line from Anne of Green Gables: Tomorrow is always fresh- you've no mistakes in it.

As mothers, if we start each day with a fresh outlook, being hopeful and positive about what's ahead of us, nurturing our children with the light that is within us, being cheerful and helping our children feel the joy in life- if we do those things, then even if the day is not cloudless, our homes will be bright and beautiful because of the light that is radiating from us.

These are all things that I need to work on, which is why I was lead to this scripture. It's not easy to be cheerful and positive all the time. I don't think anyone feels that way all the time. But I do know that with some help from the Savior we can overcome any dark, negative feelings we may have and feel His light warm and uplift our souls.

Book Recommendation

2009-03-02T18:43:00.000-08:00

My book recommendation today is:

Mole Music by David McPhail

My sister showed this book to me, and I loved it immediately- so much so that I just had to buy it for my own library. It's about a mole who feels like there's something missing in his life. Every day he digs tunnels and watches the television at night. One day he hears a man playing the violin on the T.V. and decides to order a violin and learn to play. After years of practicing he becomes better than the man on T.V. and imagines playing for large audiences and wonders how his music might affect them. He laughs at this idea, but little does he know the impact his music has on the world above.

This is a sweet story all about the power in music. It can change people's lives. This is a must for your library!

Morning Devotionals

2009-02-25T19:56:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the long absence. My Internet hasn't worked very well, but I'm back and hopefully for awhile.

A couple of weeks ago I started having a morning devotional with my kids. We sing a song, read a scripture and thought from President Hinckley's book "Stand a Little Taller," and kneel down to pray. Then I give them a big hug and kiss. I want to do it every morning, but we've averaged about 4 times a week. I figure that's better than nothing.

I've really enjoyed it. At first N didn't want to be a part of it and was upset with me for making him sit for 5 minutes. But after only a couple of times he started to accept it as a way to start the day. It's turned into a great way for him to practice being reverent. Before we start each devotional I remind him how to sit reverently- on your bum (he tends to want to lay down or sit and stand constantly), quiet and listening with eyes and ears. He's already improved so much, and if I keep it up it will help him be better at church. I'm also using it to teach C how to sit on my lap without toys. She is still young, but I think she's old enough to learn to sit for at least 5-10 minutes at a time.

I've also really enjoyed our devotionals because it's made our days start on such a good note, and I think that's one reason N's more cooperative- he can feel the Spirit and it feels good. Even though it's only a few short minutes, it makes a big difference, and I love the opportunity to teach him the gospel. After I read the scripture and quote I briefly explain in words he understands what it's talking about. One day the topic was missionaries, and we had a very pleasant conversation about missionaries, missionary work, and how someday N will go on a mission like Daddy. Then we sang "I Hope They Call Me On a Mission." N seemed really excited, and I'm so glad we could have that talk. I know these devotionals will open a lot more conversations like that.

To get N involved in the devotional I usually ask him to choose the song we sing or I'll have him say the prayer. One day he wanted to read the scripture, so he got his paperback copy of the Book of Mormon and began "reading" from it. It was so cute! He just made up stuff about God and Jesus, most of which I couldn't understand. Then he wanted me to take a turn reading from my scriptures, which I did, except I really read them. We kept taking turns reading, and it was so fun. I loved it!

Another reason I like these devotionals is because they're not hard at all. They have required no preparation. They're easy and give me a great opportunity to teach my kids.

Have any of you done something similar? Have anything to add? I always want to hear!

Sign Language

2009-01-24T21:07:00.000-08:00

First off I have to say . . . I have been enjoying just reading all of your posts, Marianne. But, I will take your little nudge to post again and go with it.

Seriously, I always enjoy parenting ideas, and you have some great ones. I, on the other hand, feel like a non-swimmer in the deep end of a pool with no life guard, and so many out there are such great swimmers. Parenting is such a trial and error experience. It is much harder than I ever imagined, but there are so many resources out there to help, so much information out there to fill this world-wide-web thing to the brim. The trouble is sifting through it all and deciding what to hang on to and what to let go. Anyway, I am glad you started this blog to share what works for you. I hope other mothers find this blog, then give and take. I think that is the most important thing to remember:

Find what works for you and your family and go with it.

Just because your mother/sister/aunt/friend/inlaw/bff says it works and is the hottest thing since sunburn doesn't mean it will be the best choice for you. Ya know? So take advice from EVERYONE. Just because you take it doesn't mean you have to use it. :) You can tweak it until it is a custom fit for your family.

Wow. Just slap me and tell me to stop rambling already... I know you are all wondering why this post is titled "Sign Language" and I haven't even mentioned it. Oops.

And now, for the real info, not just the babble spilling out of my head.

SIGN LANGUAGE

First, a little background- When KTOM was working with Corban a few years back we were advised to use/learn/teach sign in our home to encourage his communication skills. To this day Corban loves sign language, though now his vocabulary is quite extensive. He loves the Signing Time DVDs and if I had the money I would buy them all. We used to rent them from the library constantly. They made it so easy to build a basic vocabulary in ASL.

I was searching online for ideas since I am the mildly crazy (hey-you-older-kids-aren't-singing-I-already-know-what-a-dork-I-am-stop-looking-at-me-like-that) Singing Time Lady in my ward. I love using sign language to keep the kids attention and help them memorize. Well, I found these little jewels hiding right under my nose- HYMNS and Children's Songbook. They are ASL videos of select songs. Even if I don't teach the entire song I can use certain words to help prompt the kids. Other ASL resources from the LDS church.

Other resources I use- (Both have videos to show you how to do different signs.)

http://www.signingsavvy.com/

http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/aslweb/browser.htm

Inhibitory Control

2009-01-24T13:04:00.000-08:00

One of the many things I've learned from Kindermusik is the importance of inhibitory control. Kids are great at wiggling around, especially when they're told to, but something they're not always so great at is stopping the wiggling. This comes easier to some than others. N is one of those others. When he first strarted going to Kindermusik classes I noticed he was often the last child to stop doing an activity. I'd never thought about the need to teach him inhibitory control (Yeah, I'm the world's greatest Mom. Good job, Marianne), but I learned it is an important step in learning how to sit still, among other things (Hmmm, maybe that's why he has a hard time at church?). Kids need to learn to control their physical bodies.

The way they teach this at Kindermusik is they'll play stop and go games. These are easy things to do at home. If you're dancing around with your kids, say STOP and have your kids freeze in place until you say GO. Or, if you're dancing to actual music, hit the pause button so your kids learn to stop when they hear the music stop too. That's good for their aural skills too. Basically, you can do this with any physical or musical activity. My kids love it. N is so much better at controlling himself. Sometimes he starts moving again before I say go, but we're working on it. C loves these kinds of games- they always make her smile. Hopefully learning this now it will help her not have ants in her pants when she's N's age.

So, if you have a wild child like mine who can't sit still for more than two seconds at a time, this would be a good activity for you. Anything to help you not go crazy, right? God speed.

5 Ways to Fill Your Home with Music

2009-01-24T12:23:00.000-08:00

1. Cut Loose. Ditch your inhibitions by starting music play with a wild kitchen dance or some loosey-goosey movement.

2. Sing Out. Anywhere, anyhow, anytime. Kids learn by repetition, so incorporate songs into your daily routine.

3. Feel the Rhythm. To help pre-walkers (and even older kids) catch the beat, gently bounce or tap your child's body while you sing or listen to music.

4. Shake, Rattle, and Roll. Keep a basket of shakers, whistles, bells, tambourines, drums, harmonicas, and xylophones on hand. And take them out of the basket — often. (Here are a couple of sites where you can buy musical instruments: mindysmuskids and kindermusik or you can check out your local music store) *Also, I'd like to add that ANYTHING can be a musical instrument, as we've all learned as we watch our kids play drums with pots and pans. Let your kids explore different timbres, tempos, and dynamics.

5. Give Them an Earful. Expose kids to the sounds you love — not just children's music.

*The original article can be found at wondertime.go.com

A Cute Blog and A Cute Book

2009-01-20T23:03:00.001-08:00

I really shouldn't be posting at this late hour, but I was just introduced to the cutest blog! I was on Shannon Hale's blog (another good one), and she wrote about a blog with her favorite review of her graphic novel Rapunzel's Revenge. The blog (man, I've said that word a lot!) is called Bookie Woogie, and the writers are a dad and his three young kids. Every Monday they review a book and create some accompanying fan art. Their review on Hale's book was the stinking cutest thing I've every seen! What cute kids and what a great dad they've got! You need to read this.

I wanted to tell you all about this not only because it's darling, but it's a great idea! They read a book together and make their own art work about the book. That's such a simple but fun thing we can all do with our kids. I'm excited to try it with N tomorrow. He loves to draw, so I'm pretty sure he'll have a lot of fun trying to depict what he reads in a book.

Now, I'll give my own review of Rapunzel's Revenge. We actually checked it out from the library today. I got it for me to read because I LOVE Shannon Hale, but when I opened it and saw all the pictures (it looks like a comic book) I realized N would probably like it too. I was right. While I was feeding C some dinner, N grabbed the book on his own and started reading it (by reading it, I mean he looked at the pictures and imagined his own story in his mind). He "read" the whole thing (it's not that short), cover to cover. Then, after C was in bed, he wanted me to read it to him for real. We haven't finished it yet, much to his disappointment, but we'll definitely start up again tomorrow. I'm glad he's interested in it because it's totally different than anything I've read to him. It will give him a whole new experience in reading. And I'm so excited to have him do some fan art when we finish it.

So, check out the blog and check out the book! And have fun with your kids!

FHE Lesson: Helping

2009-01-13T19:59:00.000-08:00

Gathering Activity: My Hands (Children's Songbook, p. 273)

Opening Song: Sunbeam (Children's Songbook, p. 60)

Prayer:

Picture: p.62 in Nursery Manual (or use your own- something that shows people helping others). Talk about how we should always help those in need because it makes them happy and makes us happy too.

Scripture: Deutoronomy 22:4 (something I've found that helps N get excited about scriptures is I have him read it. By that, I mean I whisper the words in his ear and he repeats the words. He loves this and always has to be holding his Book of Mormon too. He even graced us with his own reading of the scriptures. It made no sense and for some reason he read like it was Chinese- from right to left. Anyway, moving on...) Briefly explain what the scripture is saying.

Role Play: I had Dad carry some papers across the room and drop them. Then N and I helped him pick them up. Then I took a turn and dropped some books and N and Dad helped pick them up. Of course N wanted a turn to play. He was much more dramatic about it. When he dropped his books he threw himself on the floor too. It was pretty cute and funny.

Song: A Happy Helper (p. 197) or When We're Helping We're Happy (p. 198). We sang the latter one. We sang it holding hands and walking in a circle.

Testimony: Mom and Dad bore brief testimonies about helping others.

Prayer:

*We hold FHE in the family room. Usually we clean up toys beforehand, but not this time. We purposefully did not clean up toys because we wanted another opportunity to teach helping. N seemed to enjoy putting the toys away a lot more because he understood better that he was doing something good that made him feel good too.

*I always try to help N recognize when something makes him feel good. Like, after he helped clean up the toys, we asked him, "Don't you feel good inside?" He enthusiastically said, "Yeah!" Then we reiterated the moral of the story- helping makes us happy.

What was your FHE Lesson this week? Please share!

Sacrament Meeting Tips

2009-01-07T09:26:00.000-08:00

Is this a good example of how your kids feel at the end of church?

Now, is this a good example of how YOU feel at the end of church?

I hope I'm not the only Mom who's felt like this after church. I'm pretty sure I'm not, which is why I'm posting on the subject of church and children. I don't have a lot of experience in the area, and heaven knows I have a lot to learn. Even still, I do have a few tips to share. But I'll be expecting plenty from all of you!

Don't take the whole play room to church. I've learned that kids aren't better behaved if they have tons to play with. Here's what I take: a sandwich bag of cereal, N's "My First Book of Mormon," N's mini magna-doodle OR a notebook and pen, and 2 or 3 little board books for C. That's it!
Books and Treats AFTER the Sacrament. I learned this one from a friend. Her kids have to sit reverently during the sacrament. Then, if they're good, they are rewarded by getting their books and treats. *I'm not very good at this one, but I'm working on it.
Leaving the chapel is NOT fun. If we had to take N out we tried to make it not fun. It wasn't time to play. I'd try to find an empty room far from the chapel (since he's VERY vocal) and make him sit in a chair until he was ready to go back. *We have to take C out now, but she's still too young to be punished for being irreverent. She doesn't know! So, take your child's age into consideration.
Teach them at home. FHE is the perfect place to reinforce reverence. Teach them to sit and listen at home, and it will help them do the same at church.
Be clear and consistent. When we've been clear and consistent about our expectations, the results have been better.
RELAX! C is starting to get the age where she's hard in church, but I feel much more relaxed about it than I did with N. Since I've gone through this once already, I understand better that children are not wired so that they sit perfectly still and listen intently, so we can't get too angry when they don't. They have to learn it, which they will...eventually. Some kids are more wiggly than others, so it may take longer to learn, but they will. Just relax. It will end...eventually.

N isn't perfect, that's for sure. But now that he's older, which also makes a huge difference, he's a lot better than he used to be. I actually enjoy church now! The biggest struggle with him, though, is that he is still pretty wiggly and does not sit on the bench. He does sometimes, but most of the time he's on the floor or on my lap. I'm looking for a way to cure that. I think a lot of it is his age and personality, but I would like to help him learn to sit on the bench instead of the floor. Any advice?

I hope these tips help. If you have any other tips to add to mine PLEASE do!

Book Spotlight

2009-01-02T09:01:00.000-08:00

If Animals Kissed Good Night

by Ann Whitford Paul, pictures by David Walker

This will be your new favorite bedtime book. So cute!

Teaching Obedience

2008-12-31T13:51:00.000-08:00

We've had some trouble lately getting N to obey. When asked to do something he often returns our request with a harsh "No!" Needless to say, it's very frustrating. One morning it was particularly annoying, but I knew getting mad wouldn't solve anything. So, in a fit of desperation and with some help from above I'm sure, I came up with a plan. I quickly drew a little chart that says I CAN OBEY, and on it are 15 circles that say "I can quickly obey". The rules are 1. N gets a sticker every time he quickly obeys without complaining 2. N gets a prize each time he gets 5 circles covered with stickers 3. If he is disobedient he gets a sticker taken away.

Today is the third day of our little experiment, and it's worked pretty well. Today has shown the biggest improvement. He has been a lot more willing to do things that used to be like pulling teeth. He gets so excited when he gets another sticker and even more excited when he gets a prize. The prizes have been very simple, but you could call a rock a prize and he'd love it.

Here he is proudly holding his chart

To help him understand better the principle of obedience, that was our topic for our FHE lesson this week. I just used Lesson 14 in "Behold Your Little Ones," the church's new nursery lesson manual (so much better than the old one). We followed almost all their suggestions, except for an activity I had Joel give an example of disobedience and obedience. First, I asked him to do something and his reply was "No!", and each time I asked he got more whiny about it and threw a little fit. Then I asked N if Dad was obedient, and we decided he wasn't. Then I gave Joel another chance and asked him to do something. This time he said, "Yes Mommy. I will quickly obey." N liked the activity so much that he wanted a turn to see if he could be obedient.

I also talked to him briefly about how sometimes it's hard to obey, but it will always make us happy. That right there has been a big help with his obedience chart. I make sure and reinforce the feelings he gets when he obeys vs. when he disobeys. When he disobeys he is sad, but when he obeys he is happy.

The lesson went very well. He really enjoyed all the activities. The rest of the month I will try to similar topics that have to do with obeying (like helping and doing chores).

How have you taught this principle to your kids? Any suggestions?

Christmas Time Ideas

2008-12-24T08:23:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple things to do at Christmas time with your kids. Sorry I didn't post this earlier. I guess if you like the ideas you can do them next year. Or, if you already thought of these ideas, which you probably did being the wonderful mothers you are, then just say, "Duh, Marianne. We already thought of that like forever ago."

Teaching the Nativity Story

There are two primary songs that make life so simple for parents. They are "Picture A Christmas" and "The Nativity Song." You can use actual nativity pieces for visual aids or you can draw pictures of each nativity piece.

Family Activity

This was fun. For family night last week, after going to see the lights downtown, we came home and had hot chocolate to warm our frozen bodies. The, we all got ready for bed- Mom and Dad included- snuggled up on the couch with warm blankets and watched a movie. The movie we watched was "The Muppet Christmas Carol." I made popcorn, which is a rare treat for N. After the movie was over we made up beds on the floor, read some Christmas stories, and went to bed on the living room floor by the lit Christmas tree. N went straight to sleep because he was exhausted from staying up much later than usual. It was very fun, and N has since requested to sleep in the living room again. I've told him we only do that once because if we do it all the time it isn't as fun anymore. If you decided to do it I would recommend maybe turning off the Christmas tree. While it was fun to have it on, it made it hard for Mom and Dad to sleep because it was so bright.

What fun things did you do with your families this year?

Merry Christmas everyone!

Human Timer

2008-12-23T19:00:00.000-08:00

I've created a monster. A while back I started using a strategy to get N to do things without throwing a major fit. I learned his fits were caused because his world was turned completely upside-down if he was suddenly told to do something different then he was planning in his little head. So, I started giving him ample warning- "In 'blank' minutes we'll have to go home." He showed almost immediate improvement when I started this technique and has since improved by leaps and bounds, although I still have an occasional small fit.

The trouble is this: N has turned into a negotiator. He's started using my tricks on me! Little rascal! Now, almost everything I ask/tell him to do is answered with, "I'm going to [color] for 2 minutes first." Grrr. Kids catch on too quickly. This leads to why I am now the human timer. Sometimes simply saying "okay, 2 minutes are over " doesn't go over too well, so I've found that if I beep like a timer he's more willing to end his task and move on to mine. So, I'm a human timer. I'd rather have this than the fits any day of the week, but sometimes it is annoying. I just want to yell, "No! Not in 2 minutes- NOW!" (and you know I do sometimes- what normal mom wouldn't?) But, what can ya do? In the long run, if I have to choose between a ten minute tantrum with tears and screaming or a willing QUIET boy in two minutes, I'll choose the two minutes.

So...who's in charge here?

The Spirit of Giving

2008-12-22T18:34:00.000-08:00

I killed two birds with one stone today. I was able to teach N the spirit of giving and was also able to get rid of some toys before Christmas so that we're not totally overrun with toys Christmas morning.

I told N there are little boys and girls who don't have any toys, so I asked him if he'd like to help and give away some of his toys to kids who don't have any. I was very much pleased when he said yes. Although he did offer a few random toys that were really just junk (I made sure and told him we didn't want to give things like that), I was very surprised and happy at most of his choices. He wanted to give a big fire truck, two of his dinosaurs (which are prize possessions to him), some cars, and two books. We also gave a toy of Clara's she doesn't play with. I was so proud of him. He freely gave those toys because he knew they would make someone else happy. It was a very proud moment for Mom. I'm grateful I was able to teach him the spirit of giving.

How have you taught your kids that lesson?

A Glittery Christmas Tree

2008-12-22T18:22:00.000-08:00

This is what N and I did today for a craft/activity. It was easy, quick, and fun. Here's how we did it:

Supplies:

construction paper: green for tree, brown for stump, colors of your own choice for ornaments, and blue for the background
glitter
Elmer's glue
scissors

Instructions:

I drew a big triangle on the green paper and had N cut it out. This teaches them how to use their fine motor skills. N used to really struggle at cutting specific shapes, but he's improving.
Do the same for the stump
Glue the stump and tree on the blue paper.
Cut out or tear small shapes for the ornaments. (We would have had more on ours but N didn't want to do anymore)
Draw a zig-zag down the tree with the Elmer's glue, then immediately sprinkle your glitter over the glue making sure the glue is well covered.
Let dry completely - put it some place where it won't be bothered
When dry, pour excess glitter off of picture. You're done! Now your tree has pretty glittery tinsel.

*Tip: It might be easier to just use glitter glue instead of loose glitter and Elmer's glue

Pure Imagination

2008-12-20T22:06:00.000-08:00

N isn't doing preschool. My reason for not enrolling him is because I didn't want him over scheduled. I have him in Kindermusik, which is once a week for an hour, and he also does speech once a week for a half an hour. I felt like adding one more thing would be too much for a 4 year old.

Although I generally feel fine with my decision to not put him in preschool, I occasionally feel a little guilty. This feeling only comes when I hear of other moms who took their kids to preschool and whose kids loved it. I wonder if I cheated N on a great opportunity for him to learn and grow. I know I shouldn't compare myself, but it's so hard not to!

I had a wonderful talk with N's Kindermusik teacher, Ms. Susan, and she helped me see that I don't need to feel guilty. I value her opinion greatly because not only is she a wonderful Kindermusik teacher, but she also has a degree in child development, raised great kids of her own, and is constantly studying about children and their development- especially how the brain develops. She talked to me about how at N's age his imagination is going wild (boy is it ever!) and the best thing I can do is foster that even more. She gave me some suggestions on what I can do at home to help develop his little brain. I was happy that I already do some of them. Here they are:

Give him a pen/paints and a blank piece of paper- no lines that would inhibit his creativity
Give him play dough with no play dough accessories and let him sculpt to his heart's content (this is one of his very favorite things to do)
Let him go outside and explore the world
When reading, don't just read the story. Talk about what's going on, ask "what would happen if...", or make up a surprise new ending to see how he reacts
Make up stories
Talk about things and ask him questions, questions like: what's the weather doing today?

All these things encourage your child's brain to explore different possibilities, to branch out and make new discoveries.

Yesterday I put her advice to action. N was drawing and I sat down with him and drew my own picture. I drew a picture of a Christmas tree and started drawing presents of various sizes and shapes under the tree. He was, of course, very interested in my picture. I asked him what he thought was in the presents. It was so fun to watch him think. I could see the wheels turning as he thought of what treasure could be hidden inside the boxes. I can see that opportunities to do things like this with N are everywhere. I just have to pay attention to them.

N's imagination really is going wild right now. Sometimes it's not good because he imagines scary things and gets very worried if he doesn't know where I am (this I don't understand- we live in a very small house. I can't go far). But for the most part, I'm very glad he has such a vivid imagination because I know his brain is developing in wonderful ways. I love watching his imagination at work. I try to make sure I play with N each day, but I also try to make sure he has alone time to make his own fun. Ms. Susan helped me understand that doing that will help him so much right now. The more I encourage it the better off he'll be.

So, I'm not going to feel guilty anymore. If I was letting him sit on the couch and eat potato chips all the live long day then I would have good reason to feel guilty. Instead, his favorite things to do are drawing, sculpting play dough, making up stories with his toys, painting, and, of course, a movie no more than twice a day (I need a break sometime!) N's learning tons just by letting his imagination expand. Lets all help our kids grow by letting them use their imaginations and color outside the lines.

2008-12-10T21:30:00.001-08:00

Does anyone follow this blog? If you do let me know by clicking on the "Followers" section at the bottom of the side panel. Thanks.

I'd Love To

2008-12-10T20:56:00.001-08:00

I've gotten into a bad habit. Almost every time Noah asks me to play with him my first response is, "Just a second" or the also popular "In a minute." I didn't realize how often I did it until I noticed N was using it on me! How dare he steal my line! Since he was doing it too I became aware that I say it a lot. So, I started yesterday with my goal to quit that habit. I was better at it yesterday than I was today. Whenever he'd ask me to play with him, I'd stop myself from that easy response of "just a second" and instead would say "okay" or "I'd love to." Do you know what happened? We had so many more moments of playtime, he was happier, and guess what- so was I! And I still got things done around the house.

I noticed the "I'd love to" response didn't just make him feel good, but it made me feel good too. It changed my attitude, and I actually did love playing with him. I think my attitude was the underlying problem. I didn't want to be bothered by him because I had so many things on my to do list, squeezing in a few minutes of play time was becoming a burden rather than a blessing. Saying "just a second" wasn't just a response, it was a way to delay for as long as possible the annoying responsibility looming before me day after day of playing with my kids. You may think my wording a little too candid, but, honestly, that's how I feel some days. I know it's terrible, and I feel awful for it. I get so caught up in the monotony of the day after day after day after day... that I forget to appreciate what I've been given. When did playing with my kids become a burden?

Whenever I get like this I try to remind myself that when my kids are older their most important memories will be of their mother playing with them, not the memories of how clean the house was. I can't just dump the responsibilities of keeping house, but I do have to keep my priorities in the right order. Saying "just a second" to N all the time was sending him the message that he wasn't my first priority, and that's not a message I want to send. "I'd love to" sends a much better message.

It's so hard to keep those priorities lined up where they should be. I know I won't ever be perfect at it, so I can't beat myself up for messing up now and then. I guess the important thing is recognizing a need for a change and being willing to work at it. Soon "just a second" will all but disappear from my lips. And I'm willing to bet that we all will benefit from it.

Parenting Books

2008-12-03T21:08:00.001-08:00

I'm tired of my old post, so I thought it was time to post something new. I know not very many look at this blog, but just in case someone wanders in, I'll have something new and hopefully useful to look at.

When it comes to parenting books, I haven't read that many and I try not to. Too often parenting books are counter-productive. Instead of giving you helpful ideas and motivating you to be better, they can tend to leave you overwhelmed and feeling like a crappy parent. I think parenting magazines are even worse, which is why I don't like getting those even when they throw me a free subscription just for having a baby.

However, I have read a few that I loved, and I'd like to share them with you.

For the expecting mother, or the mother with a brand new baby have I got the book for you! It is called The Happiest Baby On the Block by Dr. Harvey Karp. You will be able to calm you infant in seconds with the strategies he gives. I recommended this to a friend who recently became a new mom, and she loved it too and even recommended it to her friends. Not only is this book helpful, but it's a very interesting read.

For teaching your baby to sleep, which is oh so important, try reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth. I haven't actually read this one, but my sister did and she relayed to me the strategies he teaches. I followed them as best I could considering I didn't actually read the book, and they seemed to work and helped create a reliable sleep schedule with my baby. I have a friend who swears by this book. My sister did tell me that this book isn't as enjoyable to read as the Karp book. I plan on actually reading it the next time we have a baby come around.

If you are frustrated and don't know how to handle the behavior of your child, no matter the age, I would recommend Picking Your Battles: Winning Strategies for Raising Well-Behaved Kids by Bonnie Maslin, Ph.D. It's a longer book, but it's interesting reading. I like it because she talks a lot about child development and why kids act the way the do. It really helped me when I was really struggling with the behavior of my toddler, and I still refer to it now and then.

For parenting with love, you need to read Parenting With Love: Making a Difference in a Day by Glenn I. Latham. I loved this book, and here's why: it's very short; he doesn't talk down to you at all, so the language is very easy to read and understand (so many authors of this type of book like to show you how smart they are); the principles are simple but they work. Some of the chapters I didn't read because they were geared to older children with problems that arise with older kids, but everything else I loved. When I applied his teachings, I saw a difference.

My very favorite parenting book is by the same author as the one I just mentioned. It's called Christlike Parenting: Taking the Pain Out of Parenting. This is the most wonderful book. One thing I like about this book is he doesn't write it from the view of one specific religion. All Christians will be able to understand what he's trying to say. What he does is use teachings and examples of Christ to show how to parent the way Christ would. It will change you for the good. I guarantee it. One reason I like this book is because even though when I read it I feel a little chastened because of things I do wrong, my overall feeling is a great desire to be better and fill my home with love. You will love this book! Every parent needs this book.

Last but not least, we moms need a good pat on the back, and I have the perfect book for that. It is I Am a Mother by Jane Clayson Johnson. After you read this book you want to shout from the roof tops "I AM A MOTHER!"

I hope these are helpful to you. Don't feel like you have to read them. The last thing I want is to overwhelm you because heaven knows we moms feel overwhelmed enough already! But if you do decide to read one or two, I think you'll like them. If you have any that you've read that you'd like to share then please do. You know me- I'm always up for suggestions.

Another Good Read

2008-11-21T19:43:00.000-08:00

"When You Are Happy" by Eileen Spinelli

Here's another good book you need to check out. We got it at the library today. I really enjoyed the sweet story about the relationship between a child and loved ones. Not only is it a good story, but it's written beautifully. It also has great illustrations that are colorful and interesting.

Homemade Christmas Ornaments

2008-11-19T18:42:00.000-08:00

I decided this year that I wanted the ornaments on our tree to be homemade, and I wanted most of them to be ornaments that I could make with N. So, I went to the craft store, got my supplies, and in less than a day N and I made these creations. I wasn't worried about how perfect they looked. I just wanted N and I to have some fun together. We haven't put our tree up yet (my hubby forbids it!), but I know N will be so excited to hang ornaments that he made.

Supply List:

Acrylic Craft Paint

Glitter Glue

Fun Foam

Craft Sticks

Red pom poms

Jute or ribbon

Scrap fabric

Googly eyes

Hot Glue Gun

Sticks gathered from yard

Fishing line

Wreath Instructions:

These are just unpainted wood ornaments you can buy at Michael's or any craft store. They were 99 cents a piece. They were pretty fast and easy to put together. It was cute to see N paint them. I think you can see which one is his (at least I hope you can!). It was good for him because he had to follow my instructions of only painting the bow red and the the rest green. He was so proud of himself.

Snowman:

1. Paint stick white front and back.

2. While drying, take your fun foam and cut out top hats. Glue on with glue gun when paint is dry.

3. Use the stick end of the paint brush to make eyes, mouth and buttons for snowman. Using brush end paint a carrot nose.

4. While drying, go outside and gather sticks. Your kids will love this part!

5. Break twigs to desired length and glue on. Let dry.

6. Tear small strips of fabric and tie on your snowman's neck.

7. Glue on a small loop of jute or ribbon behind the top hat for hanging.

Reindeer Instructions:

1. Paint front and back of stick brown. Let dry.

2. Glue on googly eyes and pom pom. Use stick end of paint brush for the mouth

3. Gather more sticks if needed. Break to desired length and glue on. Let dry

4. Rip more fabric for scarves. Tie on.

5. Glue a small loop of jute or ribbon for hanging.

Snowflake Instructions:

1. Paint 4 sticks per snowflake (I decided to paint mine blue) front and back (if desired). Let dry.

2. Using hot glue gun, make two crosses. Then glue the crosses together as in the picture. Let dry.

3. For the glitter, I just used white glitter glue. Make sure you let it dry.

4. Use fishing line for hanging or ribbon.

These ornaments were so good for young kids because the painting part was really easy. By the time we got to the detailed parts, N's attention span was done, so I did the finishing touches. These ornaments were also easy to mass produce because while one thing was drying, you could work on something else.

As we get closer to putting up the tree I have a couple other ornaments I want to make, and I also have some I want to save for next year. I think I will make this a tradition- make a new ornament with my kids. I had fun, and so did N. That's what it's all about!

Here's a list of some other great ornament ideas and instructions:

Popcorn Cranberry Garland

Cinnamon Dough Ornaments

Pipe Cleaner Ornaments

Peppermint Candy Wreath and More

Do you have an ornament suggestion? Or what is something fun you like to do with your kids during the holidays?

Children's Book of the Month

2008-11-08T17:49:00.000-08:00

I decided it would be fun to do a children's book of the month. For November, I chose "If You Give A Cat A Cupcake" by Laura Joffe Numeroff, illustrated by Felicia Bond. These two also wrote the original "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie." These books are so cute. I just think the story is cute and the illustrations are darling. N instantly loved this the first time we read it and we've read it every night before bed for about a week. This is the first of the "If You Give A..." books I've read him, so I'm excited to read more of them to him.

Any fun books you've read to your kids lately or is there one you've had forever that your kids never tire of? Please share! I never know what to get when we go to the library, so it helps to have specific books in mind.

P.S.- If you have something fun you did with your kids you want to share, please do. It's not too late.

What have you done that's fun?

2008-11-05T19:40:00.000-08:00

What's something fun you've done with your kids this week or recently? Anything to do with FHE, preschool lessons, fun books you've read, crafts you've done, etc. Please share! And don't worry if it's not extravagant. The best things are the simple things.

I took my kids to the Tree House Museum with a friend. N loves that place, so I bought a membership. If you haven't been you'll have to give it a try. Kids love it so much! If you don't know much about it check out their website.

I'm excited to hear what you've done! I'm in desperate need of ideas! I've gotten a little lazy.

P.S.- Sorry for the lack of posts. The creative juices haven't exactly been flowing lately.

A Smorgasbord of Fun

2008-10-15T19:45:00.000-07:00

So, I haven't posted much lately because, frankly, I don't have many ideas, hence the reason for creating this blog- to force me to be more creative and fun with my kids. I have done a few things lately that were fun. They're pretty simple, but maybe they'll be fun for you too. Sorry, this post is going to be long.

I went to Utah Idaho Supply (something I should have done a long time ago- what a cool store!) and bought a couple activity books for N. One was more geared for things like tracing, matching, recognition, numbers, etc. We've only worked out of it once, but N seemed to like it. The other is a Halloween activity book with puzzles, coloring pages, crafts, etc. The other day we made a spider bracelet. N had fun because he likes to cut and glue things. He didn't wear it long. It went straight to the refrigerator. Here are the instructions:

Fold a sheet of black construction paper in half.

Place four fingers along the fold and trace them with a white crayon.

Cut out and unfold. This is a spider with a eight legs.

Roll the legs around a pencil to make them curl down, and glue on googly eyes.

Staple a 1" wide strip of black paper around your wrist, big enough so it can be slipped on and off

Accordion fold a small strip of paper and glue one end to the top of the bracelet.

Glue the spider to the other end of the folded paper.

Make the spider creep and crawl with a back and forth rocking motion of the wrist.

After we made the spider bracelet N wanted to make a cat out of pink construction paper. I did most of the cutting, but he did all the gluing. He used so much glue that when we put it on the fridge, well, see for yourself.

N loves Hide and Seek. He watch The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (like 10 million times) and that got him hooked. I know this is a classic game that's been played for hundred of years I'm sure, but sometimes I forget about the simple games. Once it was introduced to N He loved it! Something they do at Kindermusik, which I'll talk more about later, is they pretend to be missing roosters. The person looking walks around crowing like a rooster. Your child is supposed to echo the rooster sound. Deliberately take a long time to find the lost rooster, and when you do, delight in making rooster sounds together. It's a fun addition to the game that N really likes.

Here's a game we played once that N really liked. I cut up strips of paper and on each one I put something to imitate- an animal, a flower growing, etc. I put the papers in a cup and each paper N would draw out we would imitate the animal or thing on it. He had a lot of fun, and I was really impressed with his flower impression. I think I might have gotten the idea for that game from the book The Toddler's Busy Book by Trish Kuffner.

You can also use the above idea and apply it to singing time. I put the names of songs on pieces of paper and each song we draw from the cup we sing.

Kindermusik! It's great! N loves it! C will start it soon, and I'm sure she'll love it too. If you don't know what it is, it's kind of like a music preschool. You can find out more about it on their website. In N's class they're teaching musical concepts through the weather. Right now they're talking about the rain. Last week the kids made rainmakers. You can make one using an interesting container and fill it with small items, like paper clips, beans, rice, marbles, etc. You can tell stories using your rainmakers- "I woke up to the sound of thunder...boom! boom! (stomp your feet). I felt the wind on my face, and it started to rain (when you say "rain" have them use their rainmaker)" You can make up whatever story you want. You can talk about temp by saying it rained fast and have them shake their instrument or say it rained slow.

More music stuff: C likes music too. Yesterday we had some fun. The three of us all had a musical instrument: N had the classic wooden spoon and pan drum set, C had a rainmaker, and I had a small hand shaker I bought at the music store and some jingle bells. We sat down on the living room floor making music together. I talked about tempo, making fast or slow music, and we talked about dynamics, making quiet music growing into loud music. It was really fun, and all three of us had fun. C was so dang cute, I'm not going to lie!

Again, more music stuff (have you guessed that I'm a music nerd yet?): This is similar to the rainmaker, but we made a kind of tambourine. I remembered doing this in elementary school, you might too. N and I each had two paper plates, and we colored each one on the backside. Then we turned one right side up and put dried corn (you could use beans, or rice or whatever) inside. Then we glued (you could probably also use staples) the two sides together. We ended up with our very own tambourines. We used them in singing time for a while.

Last but not least, is there anything better than taking your kids to the park? N LOVES it, as I'm sure all kids do, and C is old enough now that she likes it too. She loves going down the slide, and she loves it when I help her climb things- it makes her feel so big. Today she sat in a swing and had so much fun. All three of us were swinging together, and I had a blast. I love doing things with my kids that are fun for ALL of us. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy doing fun things, like all the things I've talked about in this post, but sometimes those things stress me out. You know what I mean? Some activities require a lot of effort from Mom to make them fun and entertaining to a 4 year old, and that can be mentally exhausting. That's why I love doing things where I can sit back and just enjoy the moment. So, don't let this post, or this blog for that matter, fool you into thinking that I'm a mother who spends every waking moment of my day entertaining and teaching my children. If I were I would go insane. I feel pretty good about life if at the end of the day I have succeeded in not losing my patience with N, there was a somewhat smooth routine followed, I laughed with my kids, I sat down and played with them a few times, they were fed, were read some stories, and go to bed happy. Trust me, that's not an every day occurrence, but each day that is the goal. I just have to learn to not beat myself up for when my day doesn't turn out the way I hoped. Just make the best of things, I guess. Anyway...I digressed a little. Uh, parks...they're fun aren't they. Yay for parks...and children.

Thank You Dr. Laura

2008-10-10T19:42:00.000-07:00

"Laaaaaaaaaaaa!" (sung high and exultantly) I was a little hasty in my last posting. After I'd vented and finished my post on what to do with a 4 year old stuck on "no!" I thought I'd check out Dr. Laura's website. I know she can be mean sometimes, but I love Dr. Laura. She's one of the few in the media that speaks up for the family and conservative values. Anyway, on her site she had a link on the left hand side that said "stay-at-home," so I clicked on it, and there was my answer: how to get through to your preschooler. "Laaaaaaaaaaa!" I clicked on it and found this. It talked about the very thing I am currently frustrated with- a 4 year old stuck on "no" and the frustrated parents that don't know what to do. Check it out here. I'm sure it will be helpful to all those going through what I'm experienceing. If you have anything of your own to add please do! Heaven knows there can never be too much help in this department!

The Wonderful Behaviors of 4 Year Olds

2008-10-10T19:11:00.000-07:00

Our latest teaching endeavors in our house have been challenging. N really is a sweet boy, but lately he's really become an expert in the field of whining and screaming. There have been many moments where I wanted to scream too (and did), but I do think we're making progress. I tried the ignoring thing, but for N, that just made him whine and scream louder. So, now when he whines at me, I tell him "I can't hear you when you talk like that," and I think it's working! He's catching on, and sometimes he'll talk nicely before I even say anything! Yay!

Our other thing we're working on is obeying. I'm starting to think that 4 year olds are incapable of understanding that word. N can be very helpful and obedient, but only when he wants to be. The last couple of days it has gotten particularly bad. Every time I ask him to do something, he just says, "No!" I try to always ask him to do things in a kind way, but all I get is a nasty "No!" So, today he's spent more time than usual in time out. By the end of the day, I had had it! I felt like I was going to have a nervous break down, and every time he asked for something, I just wanted (and did) to say "No!" so he could get a taste of his own medicine. Spiteful, I know, but it was either that or go insane or beat him black and blue.

I really don't know what to do. Please, all you experience mothers, tell me what to do! How do you teach your children to be obedient without nagging them or punishing them all the time for when they're not obedient. When it comes to punishing, I don't know what to do because he's such a drama king. Every time he goes to time out he screams and cries and scream some more, and it takes him so long to calm down that both of us have forgotten why he was in trouble in the first place. I try to always show my gratitude for when he is obedient, but I guess it's not enough. I'm kind of wondering if part of it is an attention thing. I'm noticing that he might be getting a little jealous of the attention that C gets. I think I'm going to try really hard to give him more positive attention and more one on one time. I'm hoping that will help his overall behavior.

I didn't want this blog to me my place for venting parenting frustrations, but I really needed to do it tonight! I promise not to do this very often. Just PLEASE help me!! I need your advice! And I'm sure your advice will benefit everyone because I better not be the only one with a stubborn, strong willed child!

Kid's Yoga

2008-09-27T10:51:00.000-07:00

I love finding new ways to implement "yoga" into the kid's day. These activites can be wonderful to get attention or help them refocus. A little silliness can go a long way. :)

Kids yoga is a wonderful way to teach your kids about their bodies and show them how to have fun with exercise and breath. This also helps with social skills when you have a group- there are some wonderful "games" you can implement into your kids yoga if there are groups. Always help child know the pose itself isn't important- but how it makes them feel. Their own stretch is important and they might do things differently from others in the class but that is ok. In any pose help them focus on their body not what everyone else can do. Don't do it if it hurts! In yoga, and in most exercise, you should listen to your body. Pain=stop.

In most yoga classes you start with breath connection and the sun salutations, then you work through a series of poses ending in shavasana or dead man's pose where you relax for 10 minutes or so. With kids that sitting still can be trouble. SO be patient and consistent. Ask them to try things, but if it isn't working leave it be and try again another day. Let this experience be about bonding with their bodies, bonding with you or other kids, and FUN!

Here are just a few to start off with. I am going to have to do a second post. :) Remember you don't have to be technical or picky about how they do each pose- especially in the beginning. You can also use one or two poses and inhale/exhale through them connecting steady breath with the pose.

Counting breath- Sitting or standing have the child take in breaths for different counts. 1-out. 1-2-out. 1-2-3 out. You can do MANY different varieties of this. The child will learn to understand his lung power and can extend his breath or just relax. Set goals for next time- or just do it for fun. I even use this to help Corban calm down "anywhere, anytime"- I will just ask him to take some deep breaths.

Belly Waves Breath Exercise - Have the child lie on his back. Take one of your child's small toys and place it on his belly. Have him take deep slow breaths while trying to make the toy swim (rise and fall)- you can do slow long breaths or let the child experiment with fast, medium, and slow breaths. You can ask them how each breath made them feel.

Sunrise/Sunset- like a sun salutation you can use the sun as your imagery or pick something else (basic- reach for the ceiling-reach for the floor or toes) You can make this slow or fast. Have them reach up like they are going to catch the sun and then tell them the sun is going down and they can follow it to the floor.

Cobra or snake pose- The kids lie on their belly like a snake and raise their bodies up curving like a snake (hips stay on the floor, chest comes up)- Hands are on the floor and push down to help support their chest.

Puppy- Down Dog. Ok. We call this puppy because we use the term puppy for Corban sometimes. He loves to pretend he is a puppy. I use snake and puppy together (like in regular yoga you do up dog into down dog. Down dog is hands and feet on the floor (push up pose distance apart) with the hips in the air straight at the ceiling. So they look like a triangle on the floor.

I try to combine (now that Corb knows most of the poses) to create his own sun salutation. Here is a link to an animated sun salutation. This is similar to the one I use in my own practice. There are MANY different ways to use/do yoga. Everyone seems to think their way is the chosen way. :) I say, find what works for you.

Hissing Cat or roaring lion- Get on hands and knees and they are going to breath in and out while they curve or arch their spine. It is usually inhale round the spine up to the sky, exhale (this is where you hiss or roar) arch your back and your belly moves toward the floor. Kids love this one!

Gorilla/Monkey- Stand hunched over, arms long toward the ground. The kids love the movement in this exercise. you have them grunt like a gorilla while raising the hands in (imagine trying to pick something up) to the chest/armpits. They bend their knees and bound sideways across the room and back. In a group let them take turns being the leader. They have to pay attention- long pauses, or quick directions changes.

Rocking Horse- Child lies on their belly, bends knees, and grasps ankles one at a time. In yoga we are trying to open the chest a lot. This one can take some time for the kid to be flexible enough to grab ankles. Then push the legs up and this opens the chest you can rock many directions.

Peddle laughing- lie on your back and have your child follow your lead then let them have a turn. Peddle like riding a bike- peddle, laugh, peddle, laugh, peddle- etc This is so funny.

Eyes Around the Clock- Take an analog clock place it at eye level for your child. Basically you will have them look up, down, left, right, etc. If they know their numbers you can ask them to look for that number. Stretches eye muscles. You can integrate time telling.

Flamingo- Balance and focus. Mimic a flamingo stance leg back or up sort of like the traditional tree pose. It helps if they have a focal point- something that will not move (spot on the wall or floor) then they can spread their arms like wings.

Sleeping man- (Shavasana/dead man's pose)- you can use a shortened relaxation exercise and then they lie on their backs and use the belly breath trying to hold still as if they are asleep. This is usually the final pose. See how long they will hold still and then try again and again. Don't get frustrated, let them learn. They will be able to hold still longer over time.

Group Activities- These are great if you have a ton of neighbor kids over being crazy and you need something to grab their attention. I am sure you will think of more- please share.

Garden- This is my FAVORITE! We do this almost everytime and you can do this with just one kid or with 20. Tell the kids you are going to plant a garden/ do yard work. Have them get into Rock pose and tell them they are a seed. Ask each kid what kind of seed he or she is. You can have a theme (flowers, fruits, veggies, etc) if you like. After each child names their seed you decide where to plant them. You take them from their mat, while they try to stay in rock pose, and place them randomly about the room. Then you have to cover them with dirt (just pat their back), and then need rain (gently tap your fingers all over them), and they need the sun to help them grow (rub their backs- warm like the sun). Then you get to stand back and watch them grow. They gradually stand and reach for the sky. This one is so fun. The kids want to do it over and over.

Rollercoaster- sit in a line with legs apart, holding the waist of the one in front of them. Lean as you speed downhill, right, left, etc. They follow the leader, raising arms and leaning. Take turns who is in front. Helps kids learn patience (follow leader and wait turn) and they get to be creative.

Any questions?

Any ideas? Would you like more? Let me know.

I know this post is WAY too long.

New Sunbeam/Nursery Manual

2008-09-25T21:40:00.000-07:00

This post is a postscript to my last post. I mentioned how the Sunbeam Manual is too mature for three year olds and how it doesn't even include a lesson on reverence. Well, I was on the church website today and found that they've come out with a new manual, so I decided to check it out. I skimmed through the list of lessons, and, low and behold, there was a lesson on reverence. I clicked on it and up popped the whole lesson. It was simple, short, and to the point. Yeah!! I've been wanting them to improve that manual since before I had kids. We were nursery leaders when we were very first married, so we learned that lessons for little kids should only last a few minutes and be very engaging. I'm very excited about this new manual. I think it will be a great teaching help for church and home. Go check it out! http://www.lds.org/library/display/0,4945,8184-1-4470-1,00.html

FHE Lesson Plans

2008-09-23T17:18:00.000-07:00

I'm back from my long absence. My stupid internet has been on the fritz, and it has been very frustrating. It's still not completely fixed, but I can at least get on the internet occasionally instead of never.

For this post I would like to introduce to you all my biggest reason for starting this blog. It seems to me there aren't many ideas out there for FHE lessons geared toward young children- sunbeam age and younger. Sure, there's the Sunbeam lesson manual, but am I the only who's noticed that it's way too mature for three year olds? I still use the lessons, I just condense them like crazy. I want to know what other things you all have done with your families. I would love for this blog to become a great source for FHE lesson plans.

So, the plan: I'll post a topic, and I'd love for all of you to leave a lesson in the comments that you've done with your families. Even though I myself am looking for lessons for younger children, if your lesson isn't geared to little ones I still want you to share it! We all have kids at different stages. Obviously, my children will grow up, and I'll need to adapt my FHE lessons as they grow. So, share share share!

The topic I will pose first is: REVERENCE (I was very surprised to find that is not a lesson topic in the Sunbeam manual).

Don't feel like you have share something grand. Simplicity is almost always best anyway. The more ideas that are shared, the more fun it will be.

Thanks!

Singing Helps

2008-09-01T20:22:00.000-07:00

I discovered this book a few months ago at Deseret Book. It's called "Super Little Singers" by Mary H. Ross. I was wanting some fun visual aids for teaching my kids primary songs and other fun songs. This is perfect. It is filled with full-color, ready-to-use visuals and activities for a wide array of songs, from "My Heavenly Father Loves Me" to "The Wheels On the Bus." What you do is cut out the pictures, glue them on to card stock or poster paper and then laminate them. It's a lot of work, but it's worth it. If you do one song at a time, pretty soon you'll have a pile of visuals that your kids will love (having Kinkos laminate everything for you will get expensive very fast, so it's more economical to do it yourself). One of the visuals I've done so far is so much fun. It's a tree with lots of little birds (those took a while to cut out) that are separate from the tree. I put a song on the back of each bird, tape the birds all around the living room, and have N go find them all. We sing the song written on each bird and then he puts the bird back home in its tree. He loves it.

The book also includes suggested actions for songs. I'm not always very good at coming up with actions, so that's very helpful. It also has singing motivators, like the birds and the tree I already mentioned. It's a really helpful book.N likes to sing, but he doesn't always like to learn new songs. It helps him when he has something to look at. The only drawback is it takes some time to cut everything out and stuff. I've cut my songs out when my kids are in bed, and I can just watch a movie and cut.

Anybody else have a resource they love for teaching songs? Any great ideas for teaching kids new songs? I'm all ears!

Homemade Play Dough

2008-08-27T17:47:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law, Sharlee, in her comment in the last post mentioned making play dough for her son. Isn't play dough the greatest invention for kids? My son sure loves it, especially as of late. His imagination goes wild, and sometimes I spy on him while he's playing and laugh to myself at his make believe. The things he says are so funny, and sometimes his snakes he makes have names. Like, one day he named one after his cousin, Tevya. So cute! I love it when I see him use his imagination, and I think that's when kids learn the most.

Homemade play dough is sooooo much better than store bought. It's super easy to make, hardly costs a thing, makes a lot, and lasts for along time (provided your son puts it away when he's done! I've gotten mad at him enough times now that he's much better about it). So, just in case there are any of you who have never made your own play dough, I'm providing a recipe. It's a really good one (granted, it's the only I've tried).

2 1/2 cups flour
3 Tablespoons oil
1/2 cup salt (I discovered the hard way what happens if you forget the salt!)
1 Tablespoon alum or cream of tartar (I have no clue what alum is)
2 cups boiling water
Food coloring

Stir ingredients until mixed. Add food coloring (I add a lot because I like the color to be vibrant) and mix with your hands (It gets pretty hot. You can use gloves or tough it out- your hands get used to it). Store in the refrigerator in an air tight container and it will last a long time.

Happy play dough making and sculpting!

Being More Spontaneous

2008-08-25T21:38:00.001-07:00

One of my goals is to be more spontaneous with my kids. By that I mean that I want to be more willing to put down whatever it is I'm doing and sit down and play with my kids if they ask me to or even if they don't ask me to. I am convinced more and more that one of the best ways to teach your kids is to simply play with them. There are always teaching opportunities in play time, but the most important lesson kids learn is that they are loved. I see that in N all the time. On days when I'm more concerned about all the things I need to get done, he's more grumpy and less inclined to do things I ask him to do. But on days when I take time to give him my time, it's the complete opposite.

It's hard sometimes to set aside the many tasks ahead of me so that I can play with my kids. But the second I do I immediately feel the blessings for doing so. I recently learned a poem that has often come to my mind and reminded me of what's really important in life. Here it is:

Cleaning and scrubbing can wait for tomorrow,

For babies grow up, I've learned, to my sorrow.

So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust, go to sleep.

I'm rocking my baby, and babies don't keep.