Serving others, 2-year-old style

Here is what I used for the thank-you cards the boys
decorated. I put together the base of the ornament and they
added green and white ribbon to the red ornament and
colored on the white ornament that we signed their
names to. 

Here are the peppermint covered pretzels I made. I got the
idea from Blooming Designs. 

The final ornament that Calan made for the firefighters. 

Here is one of the firemen that
we met. We were there basically 2 seconds
and Calan is already running as fast as he
can to the fire trucks. 

As parents, Bob and I truly want Christmas to be different for our children. We love being able to give them things that they want or need, but we want them to see Christmas as a time where we help others, love family, and celebrate Christ.

We also know that doing those things can never start soon enough. 

Yes, as a 2-year-old, Calan does not understand the things we are doing or why we do them, but he won't know any different as he grows up. The things we are doing now before he gets it will just be the way we do things. 

We went shopping as a family for Children's Hospital's Snow Pile (basically toys bought for the parents of children in the hospital to pick from for all the members of their families since they won't have time to shop and be there for their child in the hospital). We also do several year-end givings to charities that are important to us. 

While those are wonderful things, they do little for a 2-year-old boy. He approved of the gifts we bought, but never saw or interacted with anyone. 

So, a friend and I decided to take some treats to our local fire station to say thank you to the men and women who work there. This station is probably a quarter mile from our houses. I did not expect the experience to be as wonderful as it was. 

I made a treat for them and Calan and his friend decorated thank you cards for them. And then we packed up and headed over to the station. 

Calan driving a fire truck with all the lights going. He sat there
for what felt like forever and then drove the ambulance for
what felt like forever. 

Basically, we got a one-on-one tour of everything! Calan could barely handle his excitement. He sat in the driver seat for what felt like forever. Every time I asked if he was ready to get down, he said, "No, mom, I driving." 

The men were so nice and wonderful to our little boys. It almost felt like our thank-yous weren't enough. 

I am so glad we did this. It showed Calan in a small way that giving to others really gives joy in return. 

I know as an adult when I am helping and serving someone else above myself, I feel happier, more content, and more peaceful than when I am just serving my own needs. 

This experience was definitely the
right way to go to get a 2-year-old started in a serving direction. 

Thank you Royal Oak Fire Station #3. Merry Christmas and God bless you. 

Turkey Feeders

My finished turkey feeder that I used to show the boys what to do.
I found almost all my supplies at our local Dollar Tree. I got the bird seed
at our local grocery store.

In order to keep busy this winter and to keep from spending too much money on class after class, my friend and I have decided to host a craft play date for our boys twice a month alternating at each other's homes.

My friend hosted the first one at the beginning of the month where the boys put together pumpkins and decorated with stickers. We played and ate lunch together heading home just in time for naps.

Yesterday was my day and we made very simple turkey bird feeders. I just kind of took a few ideas from different blogs and came up with something that was easy and not a huge mess. Our boys are almost 2 1/2 years old. I pre-cut everything the night before so the boys just had to stick it all together.

Here is what I did:

Supplies

• Plastic container
• Different color foam sheets
• Brown contact paper
• Googly eyes
• Double stick tape and/or glue
• Scissors
• Corn syrup
• Wild bird seed

Directions

Here are the finished feeders that the boys made.

• Take the different colored foam sheets and cutout feather shapes, beak, wattle, and feet
• Take plastic container and place two strips of double sided tape or add glue along one side of the container and stick feathers to container.
• Take the brown contact paper and cutout a circle for the turkey's face. Stick to front of container. 
• Add googly eyes, beak, and the turkey's wattle (the red thing).
• Stick feet to the bottom of the container. 
• In a mixing bowl combine some bird seed and corn syrup to make the bird seed stick together. I did this so in case a squirrel tips it over, which I am sure will happen, I won't have a huge bird seed mess to clean up. 
• Place bird seed in plastic container. 

We found a nice spot for the bird feeder on our deck that Calan can watch from our family room. I'm pretty sure the squirrels will destroy the feeder, but it will be interesting to see if any birds stop by this late in the season. 

We did not get reading done, but here are a couple books that Calan
has enjoyed reading about Thanksgiving:
1. "Thanks for Thanksgiving" by Julie Markes
2. "Five Silly Turkeys" by Salina Yoon
3. "This is Thanksgiving" by Harriet Ziefert

I {heart} the internet

I am not a teacher, but I need to teach. I am not creative, but I need to create.

And that is why I thank all those mothers who blog, post ideas, and offer so many free activities.

As a stay-at-home mother, I need to think of my household as a type of one-on-one daycare. Why do I need to do this? Because my children deserve a mother who is activity trying to teach them lessons and skills for life.

I am lucky to be at home with Calan and Maisie, but I do see there are a lot of positives about a childcare center - Structure, socialization, and classroom lesson plans.

If I was looking for a childcare, I would be looking for all those things. So when I am thinking about my home, I want them to have the same things.

I am not a teacher. I have no idea how to be a preschool teacher, or what I should be teaching. But I know where to look. The internet is full of free lesson plans and ideas. Any preschool theme you could think of is available is some way or another online.

This week I printed out the 1+1+1=1 Tot school pack for the Letter A. Calan is already doing a great job with it. So far we have matched fruit and colored. The packet is so complete from numbers and matching to coloring and drawing. And that is just on the Letter A. There are tons of packets available. I can't wait to see at the end of the week how he does.

I don't know what I would do with our days at home if it wasn't for Mom bloggers. Thank you. Each and everyone of you out there. You keep me sane.

Calan's scribbles. He worked on it while I was preparing lunch. 

Spring Chickens

Hand print paper plate chicken

I hosted a "Spring Chicken" play date today. I made bird nest cookies and deviled eggs and set up this cute paper plate chicken craft. The craft was a little more than what Calan is into doing, but it is good for older toddlers with a little preparation. 

Supplies

Construction paper (yellow and orange)

Yellow paper plates

Feathers (and any other fun decorations)

Googley

Glue

Fasteners

Scissors 

Hole-punch

Directions

1. Cutout two legs and a beak from the orange construction paper. (I did this in advance, so the kids just had to glue them on the plate)
2. Trace child's hand on yellow construction paper and cutout 2 hands for wings. 
3. Hole punch paper plate and hands and fasten with a fastener. (I did this so the wings were movable)
4. Glue on eyes, beak, and legs to plate. 
5. Decorate chicken. (I had feathers, stickers, crayons, pipe cleaners, and sparkle-glue sticks set out for them.)

Bird nest cookies: Melted butterscotch morsels, chow mein noodles, and jelly beans

April showers

It's time to kick off April with a little umbrella and rain craft. Surprising, my little guy has been a little into painting lately, so I have been rolling with it. I found the idea for this craft at All Kids Network.

Supplies

Paint (or crayons or anything to color umbrella)

Template of umbrella

Glue

White construction paper

Blue ink pad or blue BINGO marker

Directions

Color or paint or decorate umbrella however the toddler wants. Let dry. Cutout umbrella and glue onto construction. Let toddler press fingers into stamp pad and press finger tips all over construction paper for rain drops or if using a BINGO marker let toddler use that.

You can also add rain clouds with cotton balls, but I left that part out.

I am still trying to find crafts that have about 10 minutes of preparation and about 10 minutes of activity since that is all the time that Calan usually wants to do them. He liked the painting part, but all he wanted to do with the ink pad was put the lid on and off and then just squeeze the pad part. He did not really get the whole stamp your finger tips on to the paper, so I had to basically stamp his hand and then stamp it on the paper for him. But overall, pretty easy craft for any toddler to do.

Fishy, fishy

Paper plate collage fish

Once again we are sick here in our household. So, there has been little activities, but here is a craft we did a few weeks ago. It is no secret my son loves water and anything that has to do with it, so I set up this easy fish craft that he for the most part enjoyed. 

Staple tail at point and curved opposite from body of fish

I added just a little glue at a time. 

Supplies

Paper plate

Torn construction paper (multiple colors)

Scissors

Glue

Stapler

Directions

1. Cut wide triangle into paper plate
2. Staple triangle point to opposite side of plate. Make sure curve of body and tail are opposite directions.
3. Place torn paper in easy reach of toddler. (I put mine in a bowl for him)
4. Drip a little glue on to plate and let toddler stick pieces of paper till paper plate is covered. 

Calan actually had fun with this craft. Nothing stuck to his hands and he liked to make his fish swim around the house afterward. 

Toddler Tuesday: Travel road map

A travel road map made from felt and glue. 

The large house is a pocket that you
can park a small car in. 

Next Monday, I am taking part in another Busy Bag Swap. I figure with two kids, I can't have too many go to activities. For this swap, I decided to make a travel road map for toy cars. Calan is really into cars and trucks and isn't so into matching and sorting games, so I figured at least this activity he would use right now.

The idea was an easy one, but making 10 of them has been a little time consuming. It has been worth it though. I am super happy with how they turned out. Each one is decorated with trees, a lake, 2 small houses, 2 stores, and one large house that acts as a pocket to park a small car. I also found bulletin board road signs that I added felt to to make more durable. 

The back of the map includes a blue pocket for
extra cars a spot for the road signs.  I used extra felt
to hold the two sides together. 

The map folds up easily into thirds to fit into
any diaper bag or purse. 

The road maps fold easily into thirds for storage and have a pocket on the outside to store the road signs and extra cars. 

So how did I do it?

It was super simple. I used this template from Serving Pink Lemonade for the road and small houses. I cut the template apart to fit as many pieces onto each black piece of felt as I could. I cutout templates for the other accessories and went to town cutting out a ton of felt. If you want templates for those, let me know I will post them, but they were really easy to figure out. 

I cutout all the pieces for the houses, stores, and trees and glued them together with a felt craft glue. 

After getting all my pieces together, I hot-glued everything onto my green pieces of felt. 

I took a small piece of black felt and hot-glued it to the back to keep the two pieces together, and I added the pocket for storage. 

Calan has already been playing with his and he loves the extra road signs. So, glad that I added felt to the back of them because he has already tried to crush them and chew on them. Not sure how long they will last, but for now they are holding up.  

Post linked to a few bog hops here and here. 

Tried yogurt painting

Easy activity that takes little planning, and some extra clean up. 

Well. I tried. I'll keep trying. It was a complete failure, but it was pretty much just a big mess.

First, I took a paper plate and taped it to his high chair tray. I scooped out a 3 dollops of plain yogurt and squirted 1 (swear 1) drop of red, blue, and yellow food coloring in each.

I thought letting him stir in the color and mix them would be fun, but he started with blue and it stuck to his finger right away and he instantly placed them in his mouth, which then turned a bright shade of blue as well.

I then mixed the color into the yogurt more, so it wasn't so potent. That helped a little. Calan liked using a spoon to stir them up a little, but he wasn't completely interested in the activity. He watched me mix them and play with the yogurt.

I then thought that maybe flipping the plate and stamping it on to the tray would get him a little more interested. He did play with it for a little longer, but he was ready for a wash down.

The whole activity lasted about 10 minutes. This would be why i don't put too much planning into activities. He is just not quick into them yet, but hopefully if I keep trying he will one day craft for hours. (Well at least for 30 minutes.)

(After a long teeth brush and his evening bath, all blue food coloring is gone.)

Hot & Cold Hearts

My son loves water. Loves to drink it. Loves to play in it. Loves to splash in it. There is no other activity that keeps his attention like ones that include water.

So, for Valentines Day, we played with the ideas of hot and cold water.

Last night, I froze a few heart-shaped ice cubes that I put a few (probably too many) drops of red food coloring in to. 

I let Calan play with them for a little bit. However, the food coloring was dying his fingers, so that part ended more quickly than I had planned. I then placed the ice cubes in a plastic bag, and poured some warm water into a decent-sized container. That part Calan loved. Using the ice cubes and warm water, I kept talking to him about warm and cold. 

True to Calan form, he just wanted to play with the water and just kept handing me the ice cubes. 

But that is what toddler activities are all about. Nothing ever goes perfectly. It is about letting them explore the activity. They learn things from being hands on. So, while the water was more interesting to Calan this time; maybe next time the ice cubes will be.

Button Snake

Easy to make Felt Button Snake

This week I am hosting a Toddler Busy Bag Swap with a couple of my friends. A Busy Bag is just basically little activities that are small, quick, transportable, homemade, and reusable. I decided to make a button snake and a "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" matching game. The Button Snake was easy and pretty inexpensive to make. This is by no means an original idea. I got the idea by searching Busy Bag activities. Here is what I did:

Materials

Different colors of felt or other stiff fabric (I used 6)

2 large buttons

Ribbon

Needle and thread

Fold the ribbon over at
end so the button is more
secure and ribbon doesn't fray.

Directions

• Cut felt or fabric in any shape or size that will accommidate your button. I just did square because I was making 9 of them, but you could do circles, triangles, stars, etc. too.
• Cut slit into fabric large enough for button
• Cut a decent length of ribbon. I used 15 in.
• Fold ribbon over and into a point. I did this so that the button was more secure and the ribbon won't fray. Stitch a few times to keep in place.
• Sew on button.
• Repeat with second button

Extra pieces to work with

patterns as your toddler

gets older

Bonus: I had some left over felt that I cut into small squares so that as the kids get older the Button Snake can be used to work on patterns as well. 

I have only let Calan play with his snake once so far and all he wanted to do was wear the "snake" part around his neck like a scarf. So, he might not be ready just yet to play with it, but I am so excited to have all these activities for when he is ready. They will be great for errands, eating out, doctor appointments, you name it.

Get your own Button Snake by entering my first giveaway.

I {heart} this time of year

I have been addicted at looking through all the different heart-shaped and valentine decor that is EVERYWHERE. I am not a big Valentine's Day person. We actually don't do much for it. It is not on the top list of holidays for us. BUT, since the holiday is so one-shape focused and one-color (maybe two-color) focused, it is a great for teaching Calan red and hearts.

Here are a few things I have snagged:

Heart window decals. Calan had a good time helping me put  the hearts on our family room door. Though ,  once takes one off the door it is a little hard for him to get it back on by himself since it tends to roll up on him., but he still has fun trying and sometimes getting it. 

More window decals, valentine themed cookie cutters, and stickers. We haven't tried the cookie cutters yet,  but Calan did like the stickers. 

I love these little felt hearts that I found for a $1 at Jo-Ann. I think the tweezer sorting was a little advance for Calan. He did not quite get the squeeze, but he tried for a few minutes.

And this is why stickers are not easy for toddlers. It does take coordination. Calan is not very coordinated. Pretty sure he gets that from me. Poor kid. 

Polar Bears

Still trying to get him OK with stuff on his hands. Anyone have any tips on this?

From crafts to food to books to songs, Calan and I played with polar bears this past week. Calan loves bears. They were the first animal noise he would say. So, doing some lessons on polar bears was not a stretch for us. I did try to get him to recognize that a polar bear is white, but not sure if he exactly got it. I figure everything that I am doing is just planting seeds. He might not get it this lesson or the next, but at least we are trying to do something.

Snack

I toasted half of a Sara Lee Wheat Thin Bun and spread cream cheese to cover. Sliced banana for ears and a red grape for eyes. I drew a nose and mouth with frosting gels (not the prettiest idea, but it is what I had on hand). I got the idea from here.

Craft

I had two crafts planned, but the way the week worked out we only got one done. We made a puffy paint polar bear. To make the puffy paint, you mix equal parts shaving cream and glue. Calan painted the plate and then we let it dry for a day. I cut ears, eyes, and a nose out of construction paper and just asked Calan were they went. I attached them. He held it when we were done and said bear, so hopefully he learned something from it.
The craft I didn't have time for was gluing coconut to a polar bear. I guess we will save that one for a rainy day, which this winter there seems to be plenty of.

Books

There are obviously plenty of books out there to read on polar bears like "Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?" I fell in love with "Mama Why?" by Karma Wilson. It is a very sweet bedtime story and Calan loved it. By the end of the week, I would pause at the "Mama, Why?" parts and he would say it. I loved it.

Songs
I sing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" to Calan basically every night before he goes to bed, so this song was great because it goes to that tune and we were able to act out the different parts. (Though it was just basically me doing it and Calan turning around in circles, which is how he dances, or him just looking at me.)

Polar Bear Twinkle

Polar bear, polar bear, turn around,

Polar bear, polar bear, touch the ground,

Polar bear, polar bear, show your shoe,

Polar bear, polar bear, that will do.

Polar bear, polar bear, bend your knee,

Polar bear, polar bear, climb this tree,

Polar bear, polar bear, make a frown,

Polar bear, polar bear, sit right down.

Polar bear, polar bear, stand on your toes,

Polar bear, polar bear, touch your nose,

Polar bear, polar bear, wink your eye,

Polar bear, polar bear, say good-bye.

Toddler Tuesday: Fun with Kool-Aid

Flour, oil, salt, cream of tarter, and Kool-Aid

Just take these few ingredients and whip up some Kool-Aid fun with play-doh and finger paint.

Calan is once again not feeling well (I think this is going to be a long winter). However, I tried out a few fun Kool-Aid recipes I found online. I thought he might enjoy playing with Play-Doh and I thought I would try finger paint even though he hates things on his hands.

Calan liked playing with the Play-Doh up till the moment he realized he could throw it off the tray. 

And finger paint did not work for us. He hated it on his hands, and this is when he realized it got on his truck and he couldn't get it off. (Frugal tip: Use old t-shirts as smocks.) 

And, I was right. He liked playing with the Play-Doh for about 10 minutes and the finger paint was a complete flop. All I can do is keep trying different things with him and let him explore them for as long (or as little) as he wants.

Here is what I did:

• For finger paint, take 1 cup flour, 1 Kool-Aid packet, and 1/4 cup salt and mix it with 1 1/2 cups boiling water and 1 1/2 tablespoons (1 1/2 teaspoons equals 1/2 tablespoon)
• For Play-Doh, mix 1 1/4 cups flour, 1/4 cup salt, 1 Kool-Aid packet and 1 tablespoon cream of tarter with 1 cup boiling water and 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil. Mix with fork till cool and then mix with hands till well blended kneading and adding additional flour till no longer sticky.

Things that I learned from making it:

• Don't use wheat flour. It is all that I had and it obviously distorted the color. The Play-Doh was suppose to be blue, but looks green. I ended up adding green food coloring to both the play-Doh and finger paint to get richer colors.
• I ended up using a lot more flour in the play-Doh to make it not sticky, next time I might just start out using a 1/4 cup more flour.
• I added water to the finger paint till I got the consistency I wanted. Not sure if the wheat flour made it drier, but it was really gooey and sticky at first, I wanted a thinner consistency.
• I will probably split both in half, but still using whole packet of Kool-Aid per half. I think that it will make better colors and I don't need that much finger paint or Play-Doh in one color, which is what I have now.

Toddler Tuesday: One man's trash is another man's treasure

We have all heard the saying that kids would rather play with a box than the toy that came in it. Sometimes trying to come up with a toddler activity is as simple as looking in your cupboards and recycling bin.

Probably like most moms of toddlers, I have a small stash of toilet paper/ paper towel rolls, empty canisters, egg cartons, and whatever else that I might think could be a quick distraction activity when I need it.

Here are a couple examples:

• Pushing pom-poms through a container. He likes putting them in and can get a few out, but it is the fun of trying. He shakes and looks at it and tries to figure out how to get the rest of them out before starting all over again putting them back in. I have started asking him to put specific colors in, but he doesn't quite get that yet since everything seems to be blue to him. However, eventually that will click for him and will make this game a second life.

I used a small milk container and empty spice container to create this easy game.

• Black beans of fun. We have done this a few times and have tried a few different things. This weekend was pure fun and excitement. He tossed and sprinkled and had a blast feeling and listening to the different sounds the beans made in the baking pan and empty oatmeal canister. My husband thought I was nuts for this one, but since the beans are larger than something like rice, it was the easiest clean up and he had a blast. The last time I brought out the beans, I gave him different spoons/ladles to play with. This activity is a quick game however. Left for too long and the mess does get a little too uncontrollable, but for a quick mood pick-me-up, this is great. 

Using black beans, made this mess super easy to clean up. 

What are some of your favorite trash games to play with your toddler?

What's going on?

I am a blog addict. I love reading about others' lives and struggles and tips and joys. I love connecting with people. I love writing out my thoughts. I love blogging.

I know that there are a ton of mommy blogs out there. I am just ready to be one of them. 

My goal for 2013 is to expand our small family blog. 

Over the last two weeks, I have changed a little how I post. Each day will be a new post that correlates with that day's theme. As you might have noticed over the last two weeks, I have started to do this. Here is what you will find:

Monday Game Plan: This is where you will find what we are hoping to accomplish this week and a quick review of what did or did not get done from the week before. I will also be posting our dinner menu with a few links to the recipes that I am using. Most of the recipes are easy to prepare and convenient for a mom with her hands full. I decided that this would be a good topic for those that might feel a little overwhelmed each day. Setting my weekly goals keeps me sane, so I thought they might help someone too. 

Toddler Tuesday: Who doesn't need more ideas on how to entertain their toddler? Each Tuesday, I will share an activity or craft that I have done with my crazy toddler. I feel like he is a good test model since he has the patience of a fly, so if i can get him to do it than most likely your child will too. 

Wordless Wednesday: I am sure if you follow any blogs regularly, you might have come across a Wordless Wednesday somewhere else. On Wednesdays, I will share fun photos of my little ones from that week. What mom doesn't like to show off a little? 

Anything Goes Thursday: Here is where I will discuss any parenting issues, tips, or thoughts. Anything that is on my mind like cloth diapering for those who have liked those posts in the past. 

Grateful Friday: I will share anything I am grateful for (obviously). As my life gets busier and busier, it is nice to remember all that I am grateful for. For me it is a great way to refresh and get excited about the weekend. 

Although my daily blogs cover a lot of what I want to blog about, I will share more recipes, crafts, tips, thoughts, etc. throughout the week. My daily blogs are just a starting point of what to expect from Wilson's (almost) Irish Twins. 

I have also set up a Facebook fan page for the blog to better connect with readers as well as friends and family. Be sure to become a fan and share with your friends, too. 

Happy Blogging!

Toddler Tuesday: Salad Spinner Art

Easiest craft ever. Salad spinner, paint, and paper plates.

Calan was not feeling well this week, so crafts were to a minimum and not so easy to do with him, but we did try some artwork using my salad spinner. He loved pressing the spinner, but wasn't exactly a fan of me putting a paper plate in there. We were able to get a few before any major meltdowns.

Basically, take a paper plate and add a few globs of paint. Place the plate in the salad spinner and SPIN, SPIN, SPIN away.

Tip: Use a more watered down paint. We tried a thicker paint at first and it didn't splatter around as much as I had hoped. But when we put in his bath paints to see how those did, the splatter was much better. You could even try doing a couple globs, spin, and then add more paint to get a better outcome. Like I mentioned before, Calan wasn't feeling very well, so I didn't push him to keep trying. We got three plates and he was done.

Try using thinner paint to get more of a splattered look.

Toddler Tuesday: Tasty Snowmen

Raw sugar, marshmallows, corn syrup
skewers, and decorations.

What better way to get Calan excited about crafts then to add sugar? Last week, we made some marshmallow snowmen. It was a simple craft that was messy, but tasty.

What you need:
Skewers
Marshmallows
Corn syrup
Sugar crystals
Food markers, black and orange sprinkles, or anything else to doctorate your snowmen

Take three marshmallows and put them on a skewer. Then paint with corn syrup and roll in sugar. Add decorations, which should just stick to the corn syrup too.

Calan did really well putting the marshmallows on the skewer. But because he started to paint anything other than the marshmallows with corn syrup, I ended up doing that part. He helped dress the snowman in sugar and I added the face with frosting gels.

He started to have a little bit of break down when the corn syrup and sugar stuck to his hand until I finally got him to lick it and then it was pure joy. I let him take one bite and then it was clean up time.

We didn't do anything with the snowmen this year. We just looked at them for a few days and then tossed them. But next year, maybe we will package them up and give them out as hot chocolate stirrers. Sounds delicious to me.