Tag: kids

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Quick Trip for Garden Decor

On my way home from work today I stopped off at one of my favorite discount stores. They have a great section filled with all sorts of outdoor items. I found some upside down hanging planters for only $0.99. I was really excited because they are normally between $15 and $20. I got three and plan to use them for peppers, tomatoes, and strawberries. We already had one with strawberries at home, but the strawberries seem to disappear the second they are ripe so I figured an extra one couldn’t hurt.

In addition to the planters, I got some soil, plant food, and some seeds. I kept walking through the various aisles in search for some cute, kid friendly, garden decorations. I found a pretty wind chime with butterflies that I know he girls will love. I also found some pink and purple bunnies on little wooden posts that will be great for Easter time.

Speaking of holidays, I also found a couple giant four leaf clover window clings that I can hang up on the sliding glass door for St. Patrick’s Day. I think they will look great accompanied by homemade rainbow light catcher ornaments I plan make with the girls.

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Halloween Parties for Grown Ups

This Friday night is when all the adults get to have their Halloween parties. The clubs and condo party rooms will be full of people in costumes, eating spooky snacks and having lots of fun. Downtown will be especially interesting this weekend, with just about everyone local going out in costume and only the out of towners still in street clothes.

Halloween is actually Saturday night, I am glad that I can go out and have some fun with my friends this Friday and then stay home to pass out candy to the kids on Saturday night.

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Talula does the Hula?

Did you hear about that judge in New Zealand that has gotten sick of all the stupid names parents are putting on their children. It seems some parents thought ‘Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii’ was a good name for their daughter. Well it has caused this poor little girl all sorts of embarrassment and she never even told her closest friends what her real name was. When someone asked her name, she would just say ‘K’. The judge changed her name and it has not been released what her name was changed to so they could protect the little girls identity.

Don’t parents even consider what consequences a stupid name like that does to a child? I thought Frank Zappa was the only idiot that would name a child something stupid like Motorhead, Dweezle and Moon Unit. Guess he’s not the only one.

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Pumpkin Patch Hunting

Today I went to the local Pumpkin Patch and hunting the most perfectly round big pumpkin I could find. I had a large one last year that was taller than it was round and it carved really nice. But I wanted something different this year.

The pumpkin patch had the pumpkins grouped by size. The really big ones were $40! Wow! I couldn’t believe that people are willing to spend $40 on a pumpkin that they don’t even eat – they just carve it and set it outside to decorate their porch.

The one I decided to buy was beautiful and I only paid $25. I think I could have found one cheaper, but this is a charity sale for the church youth group. I figured that since Halloween is supposed to be a holiday for the kids anyway, that supporting a youth group with my money was the right thing to do.

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Easy Easter Egg Tarts

I was on a mission to find something simple and easy to make for dessert for the neighborhood picnic this year. Well I found a a delicious looking fruit tart recipe. It has a sugar cookie crust and is topped with a yummy cream cheese frosting and fresh fruit. Because I’ve been short on time I’m using a store bought refrigerated cookie dough that I just have to slice and bake and a tray of fresh fruit. The cream cheese frosting has just a little vanilla and  powdered sugar mixed in with whipped cream cheese. This is just the type of thing I was looking for. Simple, fast, easy, and will still have the crowd oohing and ahhing.

To make it festive I thought I’d bake it in the shape of a giant Easter egg. Then, I thought it would be fun if I made them in individual sizes. I’m going to bake  a few dozen egg shaped cookies and then bring the frosting and fruit with me. Of course I’ll decorate a few to give people an idea of what to do.

I bet the kids will LOVE to decorate their own tarts. It’s a great way to get them to eat fresh fruit and have fun doing it. I’m excited for them just thinking about it.

I can’t wait to dive into these yummy Easter Egg tarts!

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Baseball

My sister’s kids love baseball and they play every chance they get. In the back yard or on a team they do not care. So for our summer trip this year I am taking them to see a real live major league baseball game in Atlanta. I do not like the Braves, it is just the closest team with a fan friendly start time for this trip. I know the kids will have a great time and so will I; I love baseball too. This will be a very fun trip for us and I can not wait till July for the trip to be here. My husband and I went on our first date to a baseball game and it has been in a sweet spot in my heart ever since then.

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Health Insurance

I don’t know about you, but I think that insurance is a very important thing to buy. Life insurance, automobile insurance, homeowner insurance, dental, vision, and health insurance. They are all very important things to have. So when Lucy told me that she didn’t have any health insurance for her, or her kids I was pretty passionate about encouraging her to contact a north carolina health insurance agent first thing Monday morning to get some price quotes on health insurance for her and her kids. I am a firm believer in insurance.

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Mid-morning Parenting Rant

This morning after breakfast my daughter had the biggest melt down I’ve seen in ages. You would think we were really doing something awful to her, when in fact she was just upset because I wouldn’t let her sit on my lap while I was working at the computer.

I love spending time with my children, seriously I do. However, I still need some grown up mommy time to myself. It drives me insane when I am trying to get a little bit of work done and one of the kids decides it’s the end of the world until everyone else int he house stops what they are doing and runs to give them their complete and undivided attention.

I make sure I sent a good amount of time each day with the kids without trying to be distracted because I don’t want them to feel they have to compete with us for attention. Sometimes though it goes without fail that as soon as my husband and I are trying to do something else they are stuck to us like glue. Then at other times when we want their attention they are no where to be found. Kids are silly little creatures.

I suppose if I really wanted their attention all I would have to do would be to either walk into the bathroom or put my phone up to my ear. Those two events are bound to draw them to me like magnets.

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Countdown to Christmas Begins

Countdown to Christmas
image credit: Jamie in Bytown

The countdown to Christmas has already begun in our house.  The kids ask daily how many more days are left until Christmas is here.  I haven’t quite figured out a fun and creative way to count down the days with the kids.  Right now we are just marking off the days on our wall calendar.  It’s not that exciting and definitely not pretty.

Occasionally, I’ll feel crafty so I’ve decided to take a look around Pinterest to see what might be fun and not that hard to make.  The standard paper chain is my back up and I know I can manage to glue or staple a few strips of construction paper together.  No matter what idea we decide to go with, I just want it to be something that is fun for everyone.

What kinds of things do you do in your family to count down the days until Christmas? I’m open to suggestion and would love to hear from all of those crafty people out there that have ingenious ideas that I could never come up with on my own.  I promise I’ll share your ideas with other families that are clueless about what to do too, honest.

27 days before Christmas, let the countdown begin.

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Supplies for Adventures in Potty Training

Potty training is big milestone in every child’s life.  It can be harder than people think and take pounds of patience.  It’s important to make sure you start potty training when your child shows you signs that he/she is ready.  If you force it on him/her it probably won’t turn out like you expect. There are a a few things that you will need in order to be successful in your potty training adventure.

Potty training supplies:

1. Pull Up training  pants – feel free to get your favorite brand or even the local store brand. I’ve tried a few different brands and found that it really depends on the child.  Some brands have characters that children prefer over others.

2. Child size potty – I like the kind that is convertible.  We have one that turns into a step stool when the lid is closed.  It also plays music as a reward when anything is out into the potty.  Another great feature about the potty we have it that the seat that the child sits on can be used on a adult sized toilet as well so you don’t have to buy any additional inserts.

3. Child size potty seat insert – this is important if your child is really little.  A big adult toilet can be scary.  Kids can often be afraid of falling in when there is a lot of open space around them. A child sized seat will eliminate all of the extra room and prevent and accidents of falling.

4. Stickers – we have always used stickers in our home.  Our kids love to have stickers.  We tried temporary tattoos once too because they don’t peal off when you put them on a hand.

5. Incentive chart – When children can see their progress they get excited.  My girls like to count the stars or stickers they earn on their charts when they use the potty.  We always give 1 sticker for pee and 2 for poop.

6. Lots of dry clothes – accidents are inevitable.  It’s always a great idea to travel with a few extra sets of dry clothes with your kids during potty training time.

7. Patience – Remember your child will learn to use the potty.  It probably won’t happen over night.  Just keep encouraging your children and before you know it you will have your own potty training success story.