Another Good Read

"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

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

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?

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

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

"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

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!