Mrs. H

Wacky Wednesday

I know this was the post you missed most last week!

Well, here you go! From the mouth of our lil babe:

-Twirling around on the floor, she then fell down, and said- “That’s a dance move, Mommy.”

– Doing more twirling… “I’m getting so dizzy!” Ya think? It happens to the best of us!

-“That’s not a dance move- that’s a door!” Wow. Good observation. Too bad you ran into it while doing your dance move!

– “Hey! I have an idea! I can dance with Dorge!” Again with the dancing. She loves to dance!

– After dancing with George…”I have a nother one idea- maybe my piwow would want a dance!” I’m sure her pillow loved dancing with her. When she fell on it in the end might have been a tad painful for the poor pillow, but it seems to have survived.

– “I jump for Joy and I’m Becca Joy!”

– “Are you not appeared?” (Disappeared)

– “I have another one idea. I’ll be right back.”

– Then, in case I decided to “appeared” when she left, “Don’t go anywhere else. I’ll be right back.”

– Before saying our prayer at dinner one night, I was cutting her food so it would cool. She looked at her Daddy, who had folded his hands, she had folded her hands, and I was still cutting… “Calm your hands, Mommy.” (This is what we used to have to tell her before a prayer when she would be franticly flapping her wings…)

– “That’s the best idea ever!!” Thanks for your approval! Glad you liked my idea. 🙂

Hang-Up Activity Organizer – Product Review

When you’re on the road, wouldn’t it be nice to have one central location for diapers, wipes, and cremes? One central location for books, magazines, games, and tech? Well… that’s totally possible! We have had one Hang-Up Activity Organizer behind the passenger seat (for Becca) for a while, and recently added a second behind the driver seat for all of the baby supplies we need.

Let me begin my review by saying – I do not sell Thirty-One Gifts. I know several folks to who do if you are looking for a consultant and want a recommendation. This post is not a promotion for any one consultant, and I believe that the product link allows you to search for your own consultant to give her the credit. (Be sure to check tho in the top right hand corner of the screen if you are specific in who you want to buy for – because I can only see my consultant up there.)

We’ve had this product for a while. Like over a year. So I feel like I’m highly qualified to list its benefits and a couple of downfalls.

Here’s the product: CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE

What we like about this product:

It’s super easy to install in your car. No directions needed. I like that kind of installation!!
It has multiple pockets of various sizes so that you can truly store anything you need. (I even have a friend who owns her own small business who uses it to organize business materials so she can quickly grab the right thing if she sees someone who needs something while she’s out!)
It fully protects the back of the seat in front of it from muddy shoes and marks created by repeated kicking.
It’s easy to clean after those muddy shoes have attacked it – just wipe and go!
The top pocket is large enough to hold a tablet for movie viewing without the child having to hold it the whole time – also making it easily visible to the person in the middle seat, allowing for sibling sharing without a fight over who’s going to hold it!
The bottom pocket is super stretchy… we haven’t yet found a limit to what it will hold!

A couple of downfalls:

Because it’s strapped to the seat back, it’s not accessible to a child who is properly strapped into a 5 point harness car seat – they can only SEE the thing they want… not reach it to get it themselves. So, if you use it for toys/books, keep that in mind. It could result in lots of Mommy or Daddy reaching back to get the next thing. (You get used to it, though, trust me. I can now reach from either the passenger or driver seat and get what she wants without my eyes leaving the road.)
The stitching on the top pocket (after a year of constant shoes) is fraying quite a bit. It’s easy to trim off the excess, but you should know that this can (and WILL) occur when you buy this product and put shoes on it consistently.
Because of the fraying, I don’t see this lasting (and looking nice) for more than 5 years, but by that point, our kids will be much older and won’t need as much crap to keep them entertained (or clean) on a long road trip.

All in all, it’s a fabulous product that really fits our needs right now. We don’t ever have to leave home and then realize we’ve forgotten a diaper or discover the diaper bag is void of wipes and be in a sticky situation… So if you have young kids, this is a product that I would definitely recommend. It’d also be a great baby shower gift if you’re looking for something unique and different and don’t like to shop registries.

Being Thankful

So what’s a good way to encourage thankfulness in your preschooler? Helping them think of all the things they have that are blessings! Here’s an easy activity you can do TODAY!

I’ve programmed pieces of construction paper with the letters of the alphabet, and then throughout the past few days, Becca and I have added to the list. (It’s now much longer than what this picture shows!) Then later this week, I will take the pages down off the easel, and put them together in book form.

There’s so many options of how to do this. You could make an “I’m Thankful for my Family” book and put each person’s picture on one page and then write their name. That would be perfect for a young child who is just learning everyone’s names.

For us, list form is fabulous. I’m sure she’ll be thinking of things to add to our lists later, so I don’t plan on laminating this one. But you totally could. I just like the idea of having a running record of our thankfulness!

Note: I’ve just had her tell me things she’s thankful for as they pop into her head, and I put them under the correct letter. Later this week, before we pull down the list, I’ll change up the challenge- and ask her to think of things that begin with the specific letters we haven’t filled up yet. 🙂

What are you thankful for?

‘Tis Only a Season

My life seems to be full of cliches… “Seize the day,” “don’t forget to stop and smell the roses,” “life’s what you make it,” “nobody’s perfect,” and “let it go,” seem to be the themes lately. The other night Cody and I had a convo about this season of our lives. And how short 18 (or 20 in our case) years of having kids at home will really be. Just a blip on the radar. So right now, it’s ok to be in survival mode. Because we probably will be for the next 17 1/2 years, and then we can figure out life for that season.

Tis only a season where I’ll wake up to a crying baby at 2:15 because my lil boy has bonked his head on his crib and woke himself up. (And subsequently after the diaper change, bottle feed, and rocking, be unable to go back to sleep and decide to write this entire post on my phone…)

Tis only a season where I live with wet spots, ketchup stains, and random stickiness all over my clothes (and occasionally in my hair), and then wonder when was the last time I had time for a shower. (Seriously, ya’ll some days, I just double the deoderant bc I’m not sure- was that last night or the night before?)

Tis only a season where in the middle of talking to a client on the phone I’ll hear a loud thud (as Becca drops her Little People house off the end of her bed), and then “A,B,C…” Sung at the top of her little lungs.

Tis only a season where the mountains of clean laundry overtake the living room, cover the stairs, and invade the empty cedar chest.

Tis only a season where the cabinets get a virus and throw up everything they hold into the sink… Daily. (Thanks for that visual, mom!)

Tis only a season where half the grocery budget each week is spent on diapers big and small, nighttime diapers for the big, diaper disposal bags, and diaper cremes. Not to mention the formula that ends up in those diapers…

Tis only a season for “I don’t want hot dogs,” and “Mommy, can I have hot dogs, pwease?” (All spoken in the same forty second interval…)

Tis only a season for giggles, snuggles, and wiggles.

Tis only a season for tiny smiles, little squeals that pierce the quiet air, and little fingers that reach out to hold mine.

Tis only a season that Elmo and Abby, Peep, Quack, and Chirp, Daniel, Peg, Jake, Doc, Sophia, the Lil Einsteins, and the Super Readers will be part of our daily friends repetoire.

Tis only a season. All too soon our baby boy will be crawling. Then walking. Then running to chase his sister who will soon be figuring out if she wants to do sports, or pursue gymnastics, or maybe join an art club. Which will turn into more extracurriculars and a season of driving and becoming one of those moms who basically lives out of the car from one carpool line to the next. But twill only be a season.

“So I will dance, with Cinderella. I don’t wanna miss even one song. ‘Cause I know something the Prince never knew…. ‘Cause all too soon, the clock will strike midnight, and she’ll. be. Gone.” (Excerpt from Steven Curtis Chapman’s song, “Cinderella”- see below for complete lyrics.)

It’s just a season. So I must strive to be the very best Mommy I can be, in this season while I’m still “Mommy.” Because all too soon, that clock is gonna strike midnight, and I’ll. be. “Mom.”

Full song lyrics:
Cinderella – Steven Curtis Chapman

She spins and she sways to whatever song plays
Without a care in the world
And I’m sitting here wearing the weight of the world on my shoulders
It’s been a long day and there’s still work to do
She’s pulling at me saying “Dad I need you!
There’s a ball at the castle and I’ve been invited
and I need to practice my dancin’
Oh please, Daddy, please!”

[Chorus:]
So I will dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
‘Cause I know something the prince never knew
Oh I will dance with Cinderella
I don’t want to miss even one song
‘Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight
And she’ll be gone

[Verse 2:]
She says he’s a nice guy and I’d be impressed
She wants to know if I approve of the dress
She says, “Dad, the prom is just one week away
And I need to practice my dancin’
Oh please, Daddy, please!”

[Chorus:]
So I will dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
‘Cause I know something the prince never knew
Oh I will dance with Cinderella
I don’t want to miss even one song
‘Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight
And she’ll be gone

She will be gone

[Verse 3:]
But she came home today with a ring on her hand
Just glowing and telling us all they had planned
She says, “Dad, the wedding’s still six months away but I need to practice my dancin’
Oh please, Daddy, please!”

Goodnight, world… Less than two hours til the alarm goes off and I have to get up so I can make it to the grocery store when they open at 6 so I can shop kid-free… Tis only a season.

Microwave Puff Paint

Well, I’ve mentioned before how much I love the ideas from Jean over at The Artful Parent… and THIS idea for Microwave Puffy Paint is no exception! What a super fun way to tie in cooking with art! Becca really loved this one. We made the puffy paint (recipe below), and then used Duple blocks to make prints on cardstock paper. Then, we watched them puff up. It was amazing. And super, super fun. I think we’ll have to do it again soon. Note: this recipe makes a LOT of paint! We had some left over, which I’m attempting to keep in the fridge. We’ll let you know how that works out.

We also added colored glitter to ours… which added some sparkle to our pictures, but not as much as I would have thought. Live and learn. Probably not a real great idea to add glitter to this paint… it doesn’t really show up, and just wastes glitter.

The recipe:

Microwave Puffy Paint

1 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup water
Food coloring

Whisk your flour, salt, and water together really, really well – so there are no clumps. Then divide, and add your food coloring.

You can put it into squeeze bottles, or dip items like we did. Do your painting, then stick the cardstock, cardboard, or paper plate into the microwave for about 30 seconds. Watch it puff up! If you don’t have much paint on your page, it won’t take the whole 30 seconds. If you have a lot more, it might take a little longer.

Enjoy!!! It’s SOOOO much fun!