Grocery Shopping

If you have kids and have ever gone grocery shopping with them then you have to read this eBay listing.

I laughed myself silly. Honestly you'll enjoy it...

Title of the eBay listing: Lot of Pokemon cards that my kids tried to sneak by me

Vacation

We just had a fantastic vacation traveling and camping across 3 states (Utah, Idaho and Oregon). It was so beautiful and exciting. The kids had a wonderful time, I just wish they would have slept at night. My son got sick while we were in Oregon, but he doesn't remember being sick. All he remembers is the camping, hiking, swimming, playing, and fun that we had. He asks me almost once a day since we've been back, "When can we go back to the cabin?" So despite needing sleep desperately by the time we got home, the trip was a huge success and worth all the hard work.

Quilts

I love to quilt. Well, I must admit, I love to have a quilt I made. The process is tedious and time-consuming, and I fret the entire time. But in the end I'm always glad I stuck to it, and I can't wait to have an excuse to start another one.

Here are some pictures of quilts I've made...

Rain, Rain Don't Go Away!

I know it has been raining, A LOT. But I love it! Some days the kids get a bit ancie, but we've found some fun things to do. AMC theaters have free movies at 10am on Wednesdays, but you have to get your tickets a week in advance. Otherwise they are all sold out. I learned that lesson today... Also, they are not doing it on the 4th of July. We've also been doing the local library's summer reading program. The kids love to be read to. We've been trying to turn off the TV as much as possible, the kiddos are much happier when we play. Also, all this rain is really feeding our little garden that we planted earlier this year. Home-grown veggies, Woo-hoo! I always love suggestions for things to do on a rainy day, so I would love to hear your COMMENTS...

Happiest Day

I'm overcome with joy at the moment. For the past 8 months of our lives, my husband has been studying for the GMAT. That is the standardized test you take to get into a graduate business program. It has consumed our lives. My husband took the test this morning. I think it was the longest morning of my life. When the phone rang I thought my heart was going to come right out of my chest. My skin immediately got goose bumps, and when I heard his voice on the other end I froze. He said, "I got a 6....(already good) a 620!!!" Eight months of energy, worry and anxiety poured out of my body. I just started sobbing and blubbering out how proud I was of him and how hard he had worked. I was elated. We cried together and said a prayer of thanks to God. Now we actually have to apply to business school, but the hard part is over. What a happy day!!!

Berry Fun!

My son and I went to a blueberry patch with some friends and picked a gallon bucket of blueberries. We had so much fun. That's right, you can grow blueberries in Texas. The farm we went to is The Bailey's Berry Patch. The berries are huge and delicious. Unfortunately the first one my son chose to eat was not ripe and he refused to eat anymore. But he happily accompanied me for an hour and a half while I filled my bucket. I think this is a fantastic summer activity to do with the kids. Not only did I spend quality time with my son doing work, we came out of it with a great reward. Then, we went home and made muffins. He had no problem eating those. My son even took this picture of the Berry Patch and me peeking through the berries. It was a great day.

No TV

My son has been locking doors. That includes locking my daughter and I outside for about an hour. I was, to put it mildly, mad. So I took away TV for a week. The week is over, thank goodness, I missed using the TV while showering or making dinner. Oh wait, he locked me out again this weekend, so we have started over. Sometimes I think his punishments are worse for me than for him.

Preschool

In the fall I'll be doing a co-op preschool. I'm really excited about this. It will be about 6 kids and their moms. Each mom will take a turn teaching a week. So I'll only teach about every 6 weeks. I've been researching preschool curriculum online. There is a wide variety.
Including:

Letter of the Week
PreschoolCurriculum.com
Preschool Express
First School

You can also find a lot of neat curriculum ideas on Ebay. Most of them are just sent by pdf after you win the auction (they have buy it nows for next to nothing).

I like the idea of being part of teaching my child when he is still very young. I also like the idea that I know the other people who will be molding my son's mind, and the other children he will be associating with. I promise I'm not over protective! I think.

I got a break

So I got my much needed rest. It was bitter-sweet for many reasons. I went and stayed with my sister, but the reason I went was because she had a miscarriage. It makes me reflect back on my whole reason for wanting to get a "break" in the first place. It was pretty selfish. Sure motherhood is tiring and hard, it has it's ups and downs, but at the end of the day, I thank God I have my two little angels. So the bitter part was going to see my sister after she miscarried a much wanted and hoped for pregnancy. It broke my heart, and hers and her husbands. This wasn't the kind of break I wanted... I held her and loved her, but there wasn't much I could do but say I was sorry and that I loved her. I prayed a lot too. I think that is the thing that got me through. When I prayed I had an overwhelming sense of peace and reassurance that God was very aware of them and that I didn't need to worry. The sweet moments were being there for my sis, hanging out with her and being able to give her 100% of my time and attention. We stayed up until 3am watching pointless TV and talking, and then I slept in until 10:30 am. I went home missing her, and returned home to a family I missed. I'm going to try harder to not take things for granted.

A Really Long Time!

My husband and I have been VERY busy lately. So I haven't had a chance to post for a while. I'm ready to reclaim my life! But first I need to catch up on all the stuff that I have to do... I need a break too. I've had no energy lately, I'm so very tired. Since my son was born, I've never had a single night without one of the kids. I've decided when my daughter turns one and stops breastfeeding, that I'm going to take a little break. I'm going to let my hubby have the kiddos for a night and I'm going to go to my sisters, watch chick-flicks and HGTV, and sleep-in til noon or so, and then I'm going to do nothing the next day, absolutely nothing! We'll see... But it sounds nice doesn't it? Now don't get me wrong, I love my family so very much, and when I am away from the kids for a few hours I miss them terribly. But one night wouldn't hurt.

Educational Website

I LOVE educational websites! My sister just informed me of a new one www.sheppardsoftware.com. It is so fun and addicting! It has all different catagories like chemistry, vocabulary, geography etc... With quizzes and online games that start with beginner and go to expert. This site is for the school age kid (but fun for adults too).

If you want a great site for your little ones, starfall.com is the best!

Coming to a close

As the month is nearing its end, and the experiment is coming to a close, I've realized a few things.

First, no matter how hard you try, you cannot have a rigid schedule for young children. Illnesses, teething, phone calls, weather, visitors, car problems, and so much more make it impossible.

Second, having a flexible schedule really does work! Not only has it given the kids some balance and repetition in their ever changing world, but it is also comforting to them, like their favorite blanket that is always waiting for them when they go to bed. It is also good for me, because I know when I will have time to do certain things. It gives me a bit more drive to get chores done, because if I don't get them done when they're scheduled, there is nowhere else on the schedule where they fit in. I also enjoy that I set aside meditative time and personal scripture time. I have to make time for these things, they are essential.

I would say that so far the experiment has been very successful.

Experiment part 2

So the experiment is well under way. I have a schedule I try to follow. Yes, I said try. I do my very best, but sometimes I don't follow it to the letter. The kids don't seem to follow it that well either. For instance, they keep waking up BEFORE their scheduled wake up time... Yes I even put that on the schedule, and not once has it been accurate.

I must say, though, that putting activities to do with the kids on a list is very helpful. Also, nap time has been a huge success. So far those two things have been the best things to come out of the experiement.

The following is a sample schedule for a Tuesday:

TUESDAY

6:30- Feed baby
7:30- Get up, pray, shower, get dressed
8:00- Get 2 yr old, change diaper, pray, eat breakfast together
8:15- brush teeth, get 2 yr old dressed
8:30- Turn on music, color, art activity, and read books
9:30- Get baby, feed, change and dress her
10:00- Go to pool, playground, library or play group
12:00- Lunch
12:15- Nap Time (check emails, work on business, read personal scriptures, prepare Sunday school lesson, nap)
2:00- Watch a Movie, eat a snack
3:30- Turn on Music, Let 2 yr old play by himself, Make dinner
4:30- Pick up around the house
5:10- Daddy gets home, Dinner time, Scriptures
5:40- Clean up dinner
5:50- Play with daddy time
6:30- Baths, get kids ready for bed, brush teeth, medicine, prayers
7:00- Bedtime for kids
7:15- Mom or Dad go exercise
8:00- Do what needs to get done (emails, business, finances, relaxing)
9:30- Get ready for bed, pray, read
10:00- lights out!

The Experiment

I promised my husband I was going to do it, so here I go....

I'm going to plan a schedule that covers everything 24/7 for one month! It will tell me what time to wake up, go to bed, take a shower, get out of the house, etc... I have very moody children, and nothing seems to work to keep them happy for very long. I've concluded that it must be me that is the problem because I am the one constant in their life. I think the problem with me is that I have never followed a schedule a day in my life. I can honestly say I've never gotten ready for the day the same way ever! I'm just not a scheduled type of a person. My husband, on the other hand, gets ready the same way every single day, almost to the minute.

Here in is the reason for my experiment. I'm going to schedule every minute of my life for an entire month and see if my children are happier, my home runs more smoothly, I"m happier, and if we are all healthier.

The experiment will start August 1st and end August 31st. I'm going to keep a running log of the schedule and it's effects. At the end of the month we will study the data and see if I need to get my act together and become a scheduled person, or if chaos wins...

Change the World

As a mother we have the single most important responsibility in the world. Raising the nations future. That's why I feel so inadaquate at times. Especially on days when I'm low on patience or just plain in a bad mood. I just want to be the best mother I can be, that's probably why when I'm praying at night I ask God repeatedly to help me. I need His help so much.

I'm lucky to have a husband who'd do just about anything for me. He comes home and puts me back together on days that I've fallen apart.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that motherhood is hard. Really really hard. I'm so thankful for all the women out there willing to share advice, stories, and hugs. I think all women need to know they aren't alone, they aren't the only ones struggling from time to time. There are so many good resources out there. I just read a good article called "Motherly Advice" that suggest some books on taking control and managing your home. I love to stumble upon this kind of stuff. I hope that when I share, I'm able to help someone else.

Most of all I just wanted to say "Thanks Mom".

Family Traditions

My husband loves fireworks! My 2 yr old inherited this trait. We kept the kids up later than usual for the Fourth of July, and took them to see fireworks. It was so much fun. I'm excited that the kids are starting to get old enough that holidays and traditions that we are starting will be memories that they'll always cherish.

Some traditions we have started (and we're still just starting):
Getting a picture with Santa
Fireworks (4th of July)
Easter Egg Hunts
Learning, in depth, about the true meaning of religious holidays
Family Night once a week
Learning the Pledge of Alligence (4th of July)
Calling someone we know in the military and thanking them (4th of July)
Reading together as a family every night
Praying together as a family every night

We will add to these traditions as we get more children, and as they grow older. Traditions are definitely a part of parenthood that is fun and fulfilling.

MomAdvice.com

I was trying to find out if my blog was easy to find if you were searching for it. Well, it's not. But in my search I found a site called MomAdvice.com . Basically it is what I'd like my site to be in my dreams. I love the layout and look of the site, and it is fun and interesting. As for my site, maybe some day.......

MotherNature.com

I was just searching for some advice on diaper rash and ran into a site called MotherNature.com it has this book of home remedies for children with advice for anything you could possible think of. It is excellent information and it also lets you know when you should get your child to the doctor.

They WILL Eat It

One of the hardest things about some two year olds is getting them to eat a nutritious diet. I am no expert on nutrition, but here are a list of things I could get my two year old to eat:

Breakfast
Rice Chex
Blueberry Pancakes
Waffles with jam
Cream of Wheat (add milk, butter, peaches and a little sugar)
Oatmeal (add milk, butter, raisins, and brown sugar)
Side of fruit

Lunch
Meat and cheese sandwich (cut into bite size pieces)
PBJ sandwich (bite size pieces)
Grilled Cheese
Soups (vegetable, chicken noodle, chicken and rice...)
Side of Fruit

Dinner
Homemade Pizza (especially with Italian Sausage)
Grilled Chicken
3 Cheese Tortellini w/red sauce
Chicken Croissants
Fettuccini Alfredo
Barbeque Beef
Spaghetti (finely cut up)
Side of Vegetables

Veggies
Broccoli (steamed w/butter and salt)
Corn on the cob (a favorite)
Steamed Zucchini
Steamed Yellow Squash
Boiled Carrots
Green Beans (will only eat 3 or 4)

Fruit
Mandarin Oranges
Sliced Oranges
Sliced Strawberries
Kiwi
Peeled Apples
Canned Peaches
Canned Pears
Applesauce

This list is not all inclusive, but it does the job for some great ideas that your kid will most likely eat. At dinner, I don't give my kids a choice, they eat what the family eats, or they don't eat. This may sound harsh, but they know I mean business, and it works. Well, when in doubt, microwave some chicken nuggets and pour on the ketchup (you know you've done it!).

Start Early

I love to read to my kids. They LOVE to be read to.

Some of the first books that I read to them were:

Good Night Gorilla
Good Night Moon
The Hungry Caterpillar
10 Little Lady Bugs
Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb (Favorite of a 1 year old)

These are just a few, but they are a great start to any new kids home library. I would suggest starting to read to them as early as possible. My 2 year old already knows all his letters, shapes, numbers, colors and so much more. I know this is because he is read to often. The time and effort you put into reading to your kids will benefit them in ways that cannot be measured. It is worth every minute.