I said I wasn't...

but I did...

on to potty training #3 and seriously hoping that it's easier than potty training #1.  I always heard that it was the boys that were the tough ones but big sister fought me til the bitter end and my son was a dream.

Messages from Santa

Have you heard about the Portable North Pole? 

(source)

Last year my neighbor told me about a website that sends your child a video from Santa.  Her daughter was enthralled with all that he knew about her and his message especially for her.  It arrives by email, because in this day and age even Santa has no time for the postal service.

As a parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle,  you are able to select several different options for a more personalized experience including their age, the special gift that they want, if they have been naughty or nice, and a few other things.  All of this info is then taken and put into Santa's special book of files which he reads out of in the video. 

I made one for each of my kids again this season.   After watching them several times a day, I'm not too sure that his message actually sinks in but hopefully your children are better listeners!  Click on the video message from Santa link to start.

Dog tag

Last year I made my oldest girl a little something for her backpack.  She was in first grade, her first year that she would be in school all day long.  I knew that it wouldn't be that difficult for her spending all day away from mom because she is such an outgoing child.  (I'm so grateful for that!)  But still, I just wanted to give her a small reminder of home so I came up with this:

Just a simple little backpack tag made out of felt and embroidery floss.  I think it took me a total of 20 minutes and I tied it on the zipper pull with a piece of yarn.

And the back:

After a year I am very surprised it has held up this well.  I kinda expected it to be mauled to death by now!



Scenes from the week

This has turned out to be an interesting week.  It started out so nicely and now it's getting cold and windy.  The cold I can hack, the wind I hate.  I guess winter in finally on it's way.  Everyone except my oldest is sick.   The truck is in the garage...again. 

The house is decorated for Christmas and has been redecorated about 35 times and counting.  I joke to the husband that I should just dump everything out onto the middle of the floor and let the kids have at it because nothing ever stays where I set it.



It appears that a couple of our wise men and Joseph got into a little scuffle on their way across the desert.  I'm thinking that maybe the Little People set would be a better choice for the next few years!

Some of us get a little stir crazy when it rains, or is too cold to go outside, or when mom has a lot to do.  I just pray for no broken bones.

A little something I'm working on for big sister.  I love that I can find plain (cheap) shirts that can be jazzed up a bit. And this 7 year old girl is all about sparkles.

The Elf

Our little elf friend has made his return again this year and I must say that he is not exactly doing his job.  Oh sure, we've read his story, talked about his jobs, looked for him each morning, and asked lots of questions about how he can do what he supposedly does.  But, the kids just aren't that mindful of their behavior around him.

Maybe I should start leaving cryptic letters attached to him when he comes back from Santa.  Then again, that probably won't work either!



Punching Bags

That is what my two oldest children have been using each other for lately.  Punching bags.  It is getting progressively worse.  I don't like what you have said to me...whack.  I don't like the way you said that to me...whack.  I wanted to play with that first...whack. 


I am at my wits end with all of this behavior and I really don't know exactly how to stop it.  I remember when I was younger my sister and I used to scratch, kick, hit each other and my mom would get so angry that we were doing those things.  I didn't get what she got so upset about.  It didn't really concern her, or so I thought.  When my kids hurt each other it hurts me as well and I just want everyone to love each other and get along -ALL the time.  Unrealistic?  Very.  But it is a dream of mine. 


I guess I can keep dreaming.  But until it comes to fruition I'm doling out lots of time outs!

Not an uncommom occurance

Believe it or not having a big pile of leaves on my (ugly) kitchen counter is not out of the norm for my house at the moment.  Walking home from preschool today my 4 year old grabbed a handful as he came into the house and announced he had to bring them inside so he could start storing up food for the "pet buck that Santa is going to bring".  Ummm, yea.  I'm not sure how to really break it to him that Santa will, in fact, not be bringing a pet buck.  At least not this year.

Tooth Fairy Pillow

I was thinking the other day that it's been awhile since we've had a visit from the tooth fairy.  When my oldest was in kindergarten she came pretty frequently but her visits are few and far between now.  Not that I'm complaining.  I find loose teeth to be kinda of nauseating.  I couldn't pull any of my own as a child because I was deathly afraid of wiggling and yanking a tooth out of my mouth. Yuck.

But that is not the point of this story...

After the first one came out I wanted her to have something cute to put the others in.  I had one of those generic little treasure chests from the dentist.  I'm sure you may remember what I mean.  You could only open and close the lid a few times before it would snap off.  I really hated that!  So I grabbed some fleece and leftover embroidery thread and whipped up this little ballerina.

I stitched a little piece of felt onto the back for the tooth to be kept safe. 

The pink material was actually part of a onsie she wore as a baby.  Sigh...where have the years gone?

Say click

Every now and then I grab my son's camera and go through the pictures that the kids have taken.  I do this mainly just to delete the majority of them so he has enough memory to take more.  I have a good laugh most of the time.  There must be an endless source of fascination taking pictures of the floor, ceiling, TV and sofa cushions because I have erased literally hundreds of those shots. 

But every now and then I come across a few gems that I keep:




I can't even say how many pictures have been taken of my backside.



 Everyone looks better in a mustache, no?

There is just something about this one that I really like



Of course what I like best is getting a glimpse through his eyes of things he thinks are important in his life.

My most dreaded chore

Two of my children sleep in bunkbeds.  Perfect for a room that would not allow two singles side by side without giving up a lot of play space and feeling a bit cramped.  I really do like them and they work well. 

However when it comes time to change the sheets my love turns into disgust, exhaustion, and sometimes some not so nice words.  Starting with the dreaded top bunk I couldn't help but snap a shot of this:

Now, my oldest is on the small side for a 7 year old, but where exactly is she sleeping?

Holy Cape Batman

Last year for Halloween brother wanted to be batman and I was all too happy to help him.  I made him this simple cape and a mask with my mad sewing skills.  I think it only took about 3 hours.  Okay, so as you may have guessed I'm not quite proficient with my sewing machine seeing as this should have probably taken only 1 hour or maybe even less.  However he was thrilled and his preschool teacher even commented on my work so I guess the 3 hours was well worth it!  Oh who am I kidding, I would have spent double that time to make him happy.

And some pics for good measure.  The cape I made reversible just in case in later years he wanted something different.  The back is lined in blue.

The mask is made out of felt with elastic sewn onto the sides so he could easily slip it on and off.  I also sewed a piece of fabric in the same pattern onto the back of the mask because I was worried that the felt would feel a tad scratchy.

Here goes something

Blogs, blogs, blogs.  They seem to be everywhere nowadays and I am no stranger to reading them.  I can't exactly remember how I even came about reading them, but I do know that I stumbled upon The Pioneer Woman one day and I have been hooked ever since.  They seem to be a great way to connect with people across the globe to share ideas and life in general and I think that's what I'll plan to do here.  I stay at home with my three kids for now so my life is not the grandest, most exciting, or glamorous thing at this moment but for now I find it to be almost perfect and I wouldn't really want to be anywhere but here.