Children are worth it!

New Pages to check out!

2012-01-25T10:54:00.000-08:00

For your reference. I have made a Recipe for kids page (look on the top of the blog to click on the link) that features recipes I like to make with my kids such as Playdough, muffins and cookies. I will keep adding to these once an awhile. I also added a page that will give calendar items in Cache Valley for kids. I have them listed by date. There is story time, events at the Stokes Nature Center, and others I found. If you have a calendar item to add please e-mail it to overlyactive11@gmail.com and I will get it on there.

Monster or Dino Feet

2012-01-21T18:20:00.000-08:00

Dino Feet Craft

We had a great time making these dino feet. Mostly the kids had fun stomping around with them when they were complete.
Materials:
Empty tissue boxes
paint
colored paper
tape
First paint the whole box with paint to cover. We used green. After it is dry. Used any colored of paper to make claws. We cut triangles out of construction paper. Most of the girls wanted their claws painted pink. Then fit each box to your child's feet by using tape so their feet won't fall out while stomping.

Fun Easy Craft for kids

2012-01-18T18:19:00.000-08:00

Ball Toss Toy

Supplies needed:
Empty Plastic water bottle
String or yarn
Heavy Aluminum Foil (or two pieces of regular)
Stickers, colored paper to decorate

This is so easy and fun to make.
1. Cut off the bottom of your water bottle
2. Decorate with stickers or glue colored paper to bottle
3. Tie a piece of string or yarn to the lip of the bottle
4. Squeeze a piece of aluminum foil around the end of the string being careful to leave enough string so the ball can reach the hole on top.
Now you have a new toy to play with that requires a some concentration and motor control!

Free USU Gymnastics Clinic

2012-01-09T21:04:00.000-08:00

My friend told me about a free Gymnastics Clinic they are holding at Utah State this Saturday. Here is the details if you are interested and your children are the appropriate ages.
Date: Saturday, Jan 14, 2012
Time: 12:00 pm (noon)- 1:00 pm
Where: Hyper Building Room 211
Ages: 6-12 years old
To register: Email participants name and age
Parents Name, phone and address to: GymnasticsClinic@UtahStateAggies.com
The first 60 children to registered are allowed to participate-- so register quick!
I registered on Saturday via e-mail and got word back today that we were one of the 60. For more information see KSL news article.

Healthy Snacking

2011-12-09T09:00:00.000-08:00

So I'm cooking dinner and I'm in the middle with my hands dirty from meat or veggies and it never fails...."Mom I need a snack, I'm so hungry!!!" It doesn't matter that I tell them we will be eating soon there is always groans, or tantrums, or "I'm going to die, I'm so hungry." comments. Does anyone else have this problem?
I started doing a few things different that have seemed to help that I thought I would share and then if anyone else does something they like I love some more ideas!

First I decided I wanted to have snacks available for them. So I got a couple baskets and I try to keep it stocked with different things like fruit, bread, nuts, dried fruit, muffins, etc.
I also like to portion these snacks into little snack size Ziploc baggies so it's easy to grab and go if you are heading out the door. My mom gave me that idea and I love when I have planned ahead and have these ready.
I also try to dedicate a shelf for snacks in the fridge that need refrigeration. (boiled eggs, cheese, cut vegetables and fruits, bottled fruit, yogurt)--I couldn't take a picture of my fridge because it's cram full of Leftovers from Thanksgiving that we ate this week.
I started "closing" the kitchen an hour before meals and at least an hour after meals. I want my kids to eat meals and not just snacks all day. I put too much work into those meals and they better eat up! =)

This is my meager attempts and I hope it continues to help the before meal battles.
If you want more ideas for snacking the Mayo Clinic has a great article called, "Healthy Snacks for Kids, 10 childfriendly tips.

Christmas Gifts

2011-12-05T08:00:00.000-08:00

The whole Santa thing is so confusing for kids as they see friends, cousins, and others getting way more from Santa then they did. My mother-in-law was telling us about the kids in Russia who get 1 present from Father Christmas and that is all the presents they open at Christmas. One thing that I thought was fun is they carry a basket around to family (kind of like our trick or treaters) and get candy from Grandmas, Uncles and Aunts on Christmas.
Christmas is for children. The magic of Christmas is not in the gifts. It's the Christmas lights, singing carols together as a family, reading the Christmas Story, making Christmas cookies, delivering treats to neighbors and family, and playing secret Santa. The magic of Christmas is being with those you love.
Buying gifts just because it's a great sale, can be so tempting. But is it all that necessary?
I love our sisters idea of giving three gifts like the wise man gave Baby Jesus Three gifts. She gives one gift for their physical needs, one for spiritual needs, and one for cognitive needs. This really helps us think outside the box for gift ideas. Last year for cognitive needs we gave our boys each a fun book of music for their instrument. For spiritual needs we have given church videos, or quiet books they can read during Sacrament, and physical needs, we have given a new outfit, or a new soccer ball.
I've heard of some families doing away with all gifts and giving there Christmas to another family in need or using the money to go on a family vacation. I think it's great to have an open mind and don't go over board on buying and spending money just because it's "on sale."

No more thumb?

2011-12-04T14:59:00.000-08:00

This is Pumpkin sleeping today without sucking her thumb. We have been working on this for a long time. We have tried many things. To read my last entry about this click here. There was some great comments from readers about people including them self who sucked their thumb and their thoughts. It was written Oct 23, 2009 and I thought we were almost done with the thumb and now here we are two years later and I am really hoping we are done. She is in Kindergarten and we told the kids that when they turn 5 they can have chewing gum. I just don't think kids are wise enough to keep it in there mouth before then. Well she turned 5 and I told her she wasn't ready because she still sucked her thumb. (Oh, I'm so mean!) Well, this really got her wanting to do it so she could have gum. She is working for her own pack of pink, gum tape. For the last 20 days --maybe more, we have had her wear a large shirt that I sewed the openings up. Then we use masking tape around the wrists so she can't wiggle her hand up through the shirt. This is all her own choice. She is the one that keeps reminding us to tape her shirt. Once she has not sucked her thumb for 30 days in a row we are taking her to the store for her bubble gum. The worse day was after she didn't suck her thumb for 25 days in October she took a nap on Sunday and we didn't put on the shirt and so she started sucking her thumb. I told her how sorry we were but she would have to start over on counting un-sucking days. She was so upset! But nevertheless we have continued on the quest and today during her nap at day 20 she didn't wear her shirt and she isn't sucking her thumb!!!
Don't worry, after she is all done we will get more experience and start working with her sister Peanut who is three. Let's hope the process doesn't take so long. =)

Simple Pleasures of Kindness

2011-12-02T15:03:00.000-08:00

Have you ever caught yourself realizing how months have past without you really acknowledging it. Time is crazy like that. It feel like my youngest, who is 3 right now, was just barely born. Time has just flown by. I feel so extremely blessed to have such a beautiful family. I really have been spoiled. Four wonderful children, a loving husband, I couldn't ask for more then that. I acknowledge that I have had it so good all of my life. When I see others in the world who aren't sure where there next meal will come from or where they will sleep it makes me sad. I want to be able to do what I can to help others. I think that's why I love teaching children so much. If I can impact a child's life for good, I hope that will effect the world in some way. I believe every good deed, every smile, and every kind word given by you can and will change the heart of someone that will in turn make this world a better place to live. I try to remember that with my own children. If I can instill in them goodness and love, that will in turn bless them and the world around them. As time blurs by, make time for the simple pleasures of kindness. I thought of a few that don't require a penny. If you think of some post them in comments!

When your waiting in a long line at the grocery store, a restaurant, show graciousness by not complaining and making the teller feel bad
In the car, show patience and self control as others around you are being overly cautious and slow
When your child is throwing a fit, show maturity to not let it emotionally effect you and let the moment be it's moment and then let it go
When your getting out of your car and someone parked next to you is blocking the way by their car door, be kind by just waiting in your car patiently, you can even pretend you have something to do until they are done loading. Then as you get out of the car wave and sincerely smile.
Open the door for someone else
Get to know the children's name of your neighbors and say hi to them by name when you see them playing
Offer to babysit someones kids so they can go Christmas Shopping or wrap presents
Send a Birthday Card or just a letter to someone you love by snail mail

I just know if you take time everyday to do simple pleasures of kindness it will make your day, week and years more glorious and happy. Pass it on! =)

Maturation Clinic-Advise for Parents with Pre-Teens

2011-11-27T15:07:00.000-08:00

So it's a little crazy that I have a fifth grader who is old enough to go to the maturation clinic. What is crazy is it doesn't seem like that long ago that I was a fifth grader going to the clinic with my mom at Woods Cross Elementary School. I remember going to the library with all the girls and meeting in the well loved "Kiva" for our clinic that we all so embarrassed about. The clinic at my kids school was very well done. The Bear River Health Department sent representative to talk to parents before the children joined us. I really liked the information that was presented to the parents, I wanted share some things I found helpful to me.
Make sure your growing pre-adolesent is getting 9-10 hours of sleep. Brain cells replenish during sleep. Brain connections are strengthened. Some ideas to help:

Take time before they lay down to share how their day was. This will help them relive their day out loud rather then in their brain in bed. This helps them wind down.
Turn in all cell phones to parents room or a central basket on the kitchen counter to charge up.
Set up a bed routine and try to stick with it-going to bed about the same time every night
Don't watch TV or movies right before bed.

The rest of the presentation was on drug and alcohol prevention.
In the Sharps Survey taken by Utah Teens in 2011. Teens are saying that parents have the most influence on their decision making. More then their friends or other adult role models.
Teens who are using drugs, and alcohol were asked how they perceived their parents felt about them being involved in substance abuse. Here is an example of the question, How wrong do your parents feel it would be for you to smoke marijuana? They choice of answers were: Very wrong, wrong, a little bit wrong, or not wrong at all. The results of these questions showed that, if parents have a clear and strong standards against substance abuse and communicate that to their children the chances their children will get involved is very small. It's time to talk to children about it earlier. Parents should talk to their children before they are 10 years old about the importance of staying away from drugs and alcohol.
Children are less likely to abuse drugs and alcohol if they feel loved and valued by their parents. Here are some ways you can do this:

Talking and Listening to your children is a major key to the psychological, physical and spiritual grown of your child.
Comment and recognize your child's positive attributes
Spend time with your child
Help your child identify healthy ways they can cope with stress or depression such as music, sports, art, or exercise.
Parents need to show the child love no matter what the child has done--unconditional love.
Eat Dinner Together.
Teens also said they feel validated when their parents hug them--but not in front of friends. Do it before bed or before they leave for school. Let your child initiate the release of hug. They may need a longer hug.

For more information on Drug and Alcohol Prevention and help go to BRHD.org

10 Things Parents need to know for Halloween Safety!

2011-10-30T19:56:00.000-07:00

Ten Things Parents Can Do to Make Halloween Safer
"The Mentalist" Actor Tim Kang Tells Parents How They Can Build Safety into Halloween This Year
Halloween is one of the most exciting times of the year for children, but sometimes the most hectic for parents. Nearly 94 percent of children between the ages of four and twelve participate in Halloween activities each year. Tim Kang, actor from the hit CBS show The Mentalisthas partnered with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) to help educate parents about what they should be telling their children to keep them safe. Parents need to take a moment to consider basic safety precautions that will make Halloween a safer night of fun.

CHOOSE bright, flame-retardant costumes or add reflective tape to costumes and candy bags so children are easily seen in the dark. In addition, carry a glow stick or flashlight.
PLAN a trick-or-treating route in familiar neighborhoods with well-lit streets. Avoid unfamiliar neighborhoods, streets that are isolated, or homes that are poorly lit inside or outside.
NEVER send young children out alone. They should always be accompanied by a parent or another trusted adult. Older children should always travel in groups.
ALWAYS walk younger children to the door to receive treats and don’t let children enter a home unless you are with them.
BE SURE children do not approach any vehicle, occupied or not, unless you are with them.
DISCUSS basic pedestrian safety rules that children should use when walking to and from houses.
CONSIDER organizing a home or community party as an alternative to “trick-or-treating.”
MAKE sure children know their home phone number and address in case you get separated. Teach children how to call 911 in an emergency.
TEACH children to say “NO!” or “this is not my mother/father” in a loud voice if someone tries to get them to go somewhere, accept anything other than a treat, or leave with them. And teach them that they should make every effort to get away by kicking, screaming and resisting.
REMIND children to remain alert and report suspicious incidents to parents and/or law enforcement.

“Child safety is vital year round, but Halloween is an especially important time for parents and children to pay extra attention to their surroundings and not let their guard down,” said actor Tim Kang a spokeperson for NCMEC. “Parents need to exercise a few basic safety precautions to help ensure that Halloween is both fun and safe.”

Taken from National Center for Missing and Exploited Children webpage.

Recharge with the General R.S. Meeting

2011-09-25T18:30:00.000-07:00

I look forward to each year when I can be recharged at the General Relief Society Meeting. If you were unable to attend last night's meeting you can view it or read it online here. As a mom I need a spiritual uplift and encouragement, and this did it for me last night. Pres. Uchtdorf encouraged us to remember that we as individuals are not forgotten by the Lord. He loves each of us and is aware of our needs. The other thing I really got out of his talk is to remember to see the beauty of now. Don't be so focused on getting the "golden ticket" of life and not enjoy the chocolate that is before us. I'm so grateful for his words of encouragement and love. I hope you take the time to study these words because they can help you be a better mother, wife, and sister.

Healthy Living--Homemade Bread-updated

2011-09-23T07:00:00.000-07:00

Whenever I can make something from scratch that is healthier for my family I try to. At first the challenge is finding a good recipe and then it's mastering it. After many years of experimenting with many recipes I have found a winner.
This summer I took advantage of the free cooking class offered in my Cache Valley Savings Guide (have loved the coupons in here!). The cooking class was at Love to Cook Kitchen Kneads (my favorite store). The class was a whole wheat bread baking class. I learned so much from this class plus got a free bread pan and two loaves of bread! I would highly recommend taking this or other classes at the store. I was the only person in the class so I was able to really get a lot from the class because I felt like I could ask as many questions as I wanted and have her repeat things. One of the things I feel you have to experience is the feel of what the dough feels like. If you put too much flour in you get a crumbly bread and if their is not enough flour the dough is hard to work with because it's so sticky. Well I thought I would share with you the recipe they use. I really like it because it uses 100% whole wheat and it tastes delicious even after several days of making. Its great after freezing. The texture stays together well for sandwiches and we love it for toast. I like to make two batches in a day and freeze all but one or two loafs. Then I only have to make bread every other week or so.
Ingredients:
Whole Wheat Bread Recipe:
5 cups Warm Water (baby bath warm)
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup Dough Conditioner or 3 TB Dough Enhancer
1/4 cup Honey
1/2 Cup Gluten
2 TB SAF Instant Yeast
1 TB Salt

12 Cups Whole Wheat Flour, Divided
Mix water, oil, dough conditioner and honey in your mixer. In a smaller separate bowl combine a few cups of flour, yeast, gluten, and dough enhancer and mix. (I just add it one at a time in the mixer) Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl and mix gradually adding a few more cups of flour. When the mixture looks like a thick paste, add the salt. Continue adding flour 1/2 cup at a time until it pulls away from the sides of the bowl cleanly. The dough should be soft and moist but not sticky. Put the lid on the mixer, turn up the speed one level and knead for 5 minutes. Portion the dough into 4 (23 oz) loaves. (These are pretty small loaf pans I have bigger loaf pans that take about 30-35 oz of dough) Grease, yes grease with shortening your hands and counter. You should not put any flour down on your counter. Shape into loaves and put into a greased pan. Let rise until doubled. Bake 25-30 minutes at 350 degree oven. Internal temperature should be 190 degrees.

Some things I learned or have done differently since the class.
1-I bought a digital scale to weigh my dough. If your pan has not enough dough in it you may raise your dough too much which will cause your bread to fall and be hard. The dough fills about 3/4 of the pan from the bottom up.
2-I bought cinnamon chips at the store to make cinnamon bread--great for breakfasts!
3-When I put the dough in the pan, I know press it really good into the pan so their isn't any space at the bottom of the pan not filled with dough. Before I will keep the rounded shape of the loaf and let it fill it. That potentially will make your bread raise funny.
4-My temp. of the water is a lot less now. I use to microwave the water and it was really HOT!
5- I always use both Gluten and Dough Enhancer and it really makes a difference. This helps the bread raise better and you get a more consistent fluffier bread.
6- I still raise my bread in a pre-heated oven (lowest temp of the oven) but the bread in and then turn the oven off. This is what she did for the cooking class and it works so well. Once the bread is raised, I take out of oven and preheat oven and then cook the bread.
7-I use to coat my counters with flour so it wouldn't stick, now I make sure the dough is not sticky before I put it out on the counter. To test I stick my finger in the dough to see if it sticks if it does I add a little more flour. Use Shortening on hands and counters to shape the dough.
8-When doing filled breads like cinnamon bread or pizza twists I now check the temperature before I take it out so it's not doughy. Internal temp. should be 190 degrees.
9-I use freshly ground wheat whenever possible.
10-I haven't had luck doubling this recipe because it just makes too much for my bowl. Next time I'm going to try to 1 1/2 times the recipe. I'll have to find my trusty calculator!
My next challenge is Homemade Flour Tortillas. Anyone got experience in that? I tried one recipe last week that didn't go too bad but I'm still going to search.

Quick and Easy Meals-Part 4

2011-09-21T15:41:00.000-07:00

Casseroles

German Pancakes. 1/4 cube butter (melt in pan), 12 eggs, 1 cup sugar, 2 cups flour, 2 cups milk, 2 tsp vanilla, 2 tsp salt, Blend from the eggs down and pour in over the melted butter and cook at 400 for 15 minutes. Serve with powdered sugar, jam or syrup.

One Dish Meal. 4 pork chops, 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 can milk, 1/2 medium onion cut finely, 2 cups sliced potatoes, 1 cup baby carrots, Season pork chops with salt and pepper and brown in oil. Add cream of mushroom soup and one can of milk. Stir until smooth. Add onion, potatoes, and carrots. Simmer ½ hour or until vegetables are tender.

Chicken and Rice Casserole. 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 soup can milk, 3/4 cup uncooked regular rice,1 pkg dry onion soup mix, 4 chicken breasts, Mix mushroom soup with milk and dry onion soup mix Reserve 1/3 of this mixture. Mix remaining with rice and pour into 9 X 13 pan. Place chicken breast on top of rice. Pour reserved soup over top of chicken, cover and bake in 350 degree oven for 1 hour and 15 min.

Ravioli Casserole. 1 jar spaghetti sauce, 1 pkg frozen cheese ravioli, cooked and drained, 2 cups cottage cheese, 4 cups mozzarella cheese, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, Mix cottage cheese and sauce together, Layer ravioli, sauce and cheese in dish, Bake uncovered at 350 for 30-40 minutes

Enchilada Casserole. Brown a pound of hamburger. Add a can of old El Paso Enchilada sauce and a can of corn. Layer in a casserole dish with taco shells broken in half and grated cheese. Bake in oven for about 20 minutes (350 degrees) or until bubbly! Yummy and easy!

Chicken Enchiladas. Cook 2 chicken breast cut up with taco seasoning. Mix this with 1/2 can cream of chicken soup, 1/2 carton of sour cream and 1 cup cheese, put in tortillas then cover with the other half of soup, sour cream and 1 more cup of cheese.

Chili Pie. Canned chili and homemade cornbread on top.

Rotini. 12 oz rotini cooked with salt and olive oil in the boiling water then layer noodles, shredded cheese, parmesan, 1 pound ground beef, spaghetti sauce then shredded cheese again Layer all then bake 20 minutes.

Chicken. 6 chicken breasts, 1 cup sour cream, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/4 tsp black pepper cook for 1 hour at 350. Serve with Rice.

Chicken. Cream of chicken soup, 1 cup salsa, 1 cup sour cream, 4-6 chicken breasts. Cook 1 hour at 350. Serve with Rice

Website Helps
http://www.thefresh20.com/--This website plans 5 meals for you with recipes, shopping lists. They offer gluten free, basic family, and vegetarian plans. It costs $5 a month or you can pay annually for $49. They focus on Fresh Food, non processed foods.

http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/dinner-entrees/quick-meals/ --Easy recipes

http://www.bettycrocker.com/menus-holidays-parties/mhplibrary/everyday-meals/5-ingredient-dinners-fast --5 ingredient meals that are fast!

http://allrecipes.com/recipes/everyday-cooking/quick-and-easy/15-minute-meals/main.aspx -- Type in ingredients you have and it will find a recipe for you. You can also search by how much time you have.

http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/recipes-2/main-dishes --I love this blog. It’s got lots of recipes and meal plans complete with shopping lists. She gives some great ideas. She has many gluten free recipes as well.

The most important thing about meals I think is you feed both body and spirit and your gather together and enjoy one another. It doesn't need to be an elaborate meal to do this. Happy Harmony at Home.

Quick and Easy Meals-Part 3

2011-09-18T15:40:00.000-07:00

Sandwiches

Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato Sandwiches, Egg Salad Sandwiches, Tuna Melts, Melted Cheese on Toast, Turkey Avocado.

Frozen Meals

Take any meal you make and double it. Label it well and freeze for another day. Soups freeze well, casseroles, get more tips, ideas, and recipes for frozen meals go to: http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=762

Salads

Chef Salad lettuce and any of the following: ham, turkey, cheese, eggs, beets, peas, carrots, spinach…

Mac Salad Cook elbow macaroni, add frozen peas, bacon, cheese, tuna, and salad dressing to taste

Chinese Chicken Salad: Cabbage, Chicken, Ramen Noodles, Candied almonds and poppy seed dressing (2 TB sugar, 2 TB rice vinegar, 1/3 oil, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, 1 1/2 TB poppy seeds)

Sticky Chicken Salad. 3 chicken breasts, 1/2 cup sour cream, 1 cup bread crumbs, 1-2 heads romaine lettuce, chopped 2-3 tomatoes, 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, 1/2 red onion, sliced thinly, Ranch dressing, Sticky Dressing, (2 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup Franks hot Sauce, 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar). Dip chicken breasts in sour cream and then into the bread crumbs. Bake on a cooking stone or deep fat fry until crispy and cooked through about 20-30 min at 350. Take chicken out of the oven and slice chicken breasts into long strips. Combine all sticky dressing ingredients in a sauce pan. Stirring constantly on medium high heat, boil for only 1 minute. Arrange salad with chicken strips, chopped lettuce, shredded cheese, red onions, tomatoes, ranch and sticky dressing.

Quick and Easy Meals-Part 2

2011-09-14T15:36:00.000-07:00

Meal in a Bag-- Michelle and Trent Snow--Over 100 recipes for storable meals—the idea is to organize your food storage by meal. You put all the ingredients for one meal plus the recipe in a bag. My mom has really enjoyed having these meals in a bag ready to go. They make a great gift as well.

Microwave

Cauliflower Cheese Dish. Cook one head of Cauliflower in microwave with ¼ cup water for 5 ½ minutes, Cover the top lightly with Mayo, sprinkle with paprika, Cover with cheddar cheese, Cook again for 1 minute

Baked Potato- Use a potato bag so your potatoes are not soggy. See this website to make a potato bag. http://tipnut.com/make-your-own-potato-baker-bags/

Acorn Squash-Cut in half and take out seeds. Put butter on top and microwave for 7 min. Perfect and quick cooked squashed.

On the stove

Burn Butter over Noodles. We love to burn butter & pour it over noodles. If I have mazithra cheese on hand we add that too.

Spinach Egg Scramble. Cook 2 slices of bacon, but up into bite sizes. Scramble eggs (6 eggs beaten, add 1/4 cp whole milk, beat until creamy smooth) mixing in with bacon pieces. Meanwhile, heat up spinach in a pan. Add to the spinach, 1 TBS of butter and few sliced almonds. OR you can cook green beans with bacon slices. OR you can do both. Serve with cornbread with honey butter and hot cocoa to drink.

Scottish Blitter. Water, sliced potatoes, sliced onions, butter, salt. Eat with a side veggie and bread.

Sweet n sour hamburger over rice. 1 lb cooked hamburger, then add 1 c ketchup, 3 tbsp vinegar, 3 tbsp brown sugar, warm then server over rice.

Ham Fried Rice. 1 cup raw rice (2 cups cooked), Ham, 2 eggs scrambled, Onion, Butter, Peas, carrots, broccoli, Soy sauce to taste, Fry ham, eggs and onion in butter till onion is clear. Throw in rice, and vegetables, Add soy sauce to taste.

Taco Soup. 1 Can Red Kidney Beans, Can Whole Corn, 8 oz. Tomato Sauce, Pint Whole Tomatoes, pkg. Taco Seasoning, 1 lb. Hamburger-Browned, drained, 1 onion-diced and sautéed, Cook all these ingredients together, Pour over crumbled tortillas. Top with cheese, sour cream and green onions. (Great in the crock pot too!)

Stroganoff. Pound of Hamburger (cooked and drained), Cream of chicken or mushroom soup, 2 cups of sour cream or plain yogurt, 1 TB Worcestershire sauce. Serve over noodles

Tex - Mex Tacos. Simmer over medium heat, 1/2 - lb. hamburger, browned & drained, 1 (16 oz.) can refried beans, 16 oz. tomato sauce, 1/2 cup salsa, 1/2 cup evaporated milk, 2 cups cooked rice, Serve over broken tortilla chips and lettuce. Top with shredded cheese.

Creamed Tuna. 2 TB butter, 1/4 cup flour, 1/2 tsp. Salt, 1 tsp instant minced onion, 2 cups skim milk, 2 6 oz cans tuna, water-packed, Melt butter in pan over medium heat; blend in flour, salt and onion. Add milk slowly and cook over medium heat, stir constantly till thick and add undrained tuna. Serve over toast, Serve with peas or favorite veggie

Poor Mans Soup. Hamburger, 1 quart of stewed tomatoes, 1 cup salad noodles raw, 1/2 pint salsa warm on stove till noodles are soft.

Best Tomato Soup Ever. 1 can tomato soup, 1 can diced tomatoes, 1/2 block of cream cheese, 1 can milk. Heat up soup and milk, heat cream cheese in microwave for 1 min. Whisk in cream cheese and then stir in diced tomatoes.

Eggs Ala Goldenrod. Hard boil 6 eggs, cook and peel. Cut up egg whites and set aside, White Sauce, 4 TBS butter, 4 TBS flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 2 cups milk. Make up white sauce add egg whites. Toast Bread serve with sauce and sprinkle mashed up egg yolks.

Quick and Easy Meals-Part 1

2011-09-11T15:36:00.000-07:00

I was asked to give a presentation to my ward Relief Society Sisters. They wanted me to share ideas to keep meals simple and quick for busy women. We all know how important eating dinner together. But it can be hard to do someday's when you are all running to and fro. I thought I would share with you the information I gathered. I got a lot of recipes from friends and neighbors and compiled these in sections of: Crock Pot, Microwave, On the Stove, Sandwiches, Frozen Meals, Salads, Casseroles, and Website Helps.

If you have recipes that you use that are quick and easy please post them in comments. Hope this helps keep your meals simple gets your family together!

Part 1:

“Consider 5 fundamental practices that have the power to fortify our youth: family prayer, family scripture study, family home evening, family dinner together, and regular one-on-one interviews with each child. It takes courage and will power to avoid over scheduling so that your family can be home for dinner.”—Elder Larry R. Lawrence.

Tips in keeping meals simple-

Plan ahead—try to make a meal plan for a month or week at a time and then check your plan the night before or morning of, will save headache later on-make a shopping list at the same time so you will have everything on hand when you need it
In planning meals I like to alternate meats and this helps me plan. Example: Mon-Beef Tues-Chicken Wed-Pork Thur-Veggie Friday-Fish Sat.-Leftovers Sunday-Breakfast
Food Storage—if you have items on hand that you use a lot; you won’t be running to the store a lot.
Use what you have to avoid waste and don’t be afraid of adapting a recipe to fit with what you have
Make mixes of commonly used items
Make multiple meals at once and freeze for another day

Crock Pot

Pork roast, 2 apples sliced, 1 onion sliced, 32 oz veggie broth, fresh rosemary chopped and 4 cloves garlic minced. Put everything in Crockpot, cook on low 8 hours high 4-6 hours....

Pulled pork in the Crockpot. One pork roast (have the butcher cut the fat off if you can), on jar of picante salsa, 1-2 cups brown sugar, I do about 1 1/4. Let it sit in crock on high all day, the longer it cooks the better it is. You can pull it apart about half way through. You can eat it on sandwich rolls or in tortillas or in salad.

Ribs in the Crockpot. Smother in bbq sauce, so tender after cooking all day!—Serve with baked potato or cook potatoes onions and carrots with it all day.

Carnitas in the crock pot. 1 pork shoulder roast, 1onion chopped, 4cloves garlic minced, 3/4 c water, 1/4 c brown sugar, 2tsp chili powder, 1 orange quartered, 1 lime quartered, 1/2 tap salt, 1/4 tap pepper. Put everything in the Crockpot for 6-8 hours on low. Shred and serve with tortillas, lettuce, cilantro, tomatoes, and limes

Beef Roast-Roast. 2 cans mushroom soup, 1 dry onion mix cook on low.

‎Pork Roast. 3 pound pork roast in crock pot with an envelope mushroom onion soup mix and a can of whole cranberries. Cook on low 5 to 8 hours. This is the best roast ever!

Chicken soft tacos. Just throw a few chicken breasts into the Crockpot, pour a jar of salsa over the top and let it cook on low all day (or on high if you only have a few hrs). Use it as the base for tacos, adding whatever other ingredients you enjoy. OR pour

BBQ chicken sandwiches. Pour BBQ sauce over the chicken breasts, after putting them in the slow cooker. Serve on hamburger buns.

Nature Scavenger Hunt

2011-08-09T15:44:00.000-07:00

Going camping or going to be outdoors with kids? I just love when it gets so hot to hit the mountains because it is cooler and so beautiful. This idea is nothing new but every time we do it, we discover new and exiting things. I made this easy and fun scavenger hunt to do with the family. You can make teams or do it as individuals. I decided to just have everyone pick 10 things to do on the list and then come back to camp. It's not a race--everyone who does 10 things wins a prize. Here is the document I did today. It's not fancy or beautiful just plain and simple Overly Scavenger Hunt and here is one I found that we did two years ago. Camping Treasure Hunt. Use it, change it for your family needs. Go hit the trails. Here are some of the ideas on the list:

Find 4 pieces of human litter and put it in the trash or bring back to camp
Find a dandelion and bring it to show the group
Watch an animal eat
Listen to a bird sing
Listen to the water from a stream or creek for a few minutes without talking
Find an insect and write what it is called on the back of your paper
Feel the texture of three different kinds of trees
Feel the texture of three different kinds of rocks bring back your favorite to camp
Find an animal hole in the ground
Watch a butterfly or moth fly

Traveling results

2011-07-30T16:26:00.000-07:00

We are now home from our trip to Oceanside, CA. What a trip. We were gone 7 days and had a great time. I thought I would share what worked the best for traveling plus our favorite activities in Oceanside.

What entertained my 3 year old the best in the car
Coloring book from the dollar store. We were working on coloring the whole picture instead of just one little scribble then turning the page to the next picture. When I would help direct her she was entertained with this for quite a while.

5 year old--
Winnie the pooh book on tape and car bingo from http://www.momsminivan.com/

8 year old--
He spent over an hour working on Mad Libs on his own. He really liked this

10 year old--
He loves to read so he spent most of the drive reading Harry Potter.

Group Activities that we enjoyed in the car
We rented a Red Box on the way home and watched Gnomeo and Juliet
We watched two musicals, Joseph and the Technicolored Dream Coat and Fiddler on the Roof. I'm surprised how much they enjoyed these musicals, and its fun to hear while driving as well.
License Plate Game--The older kids enjoyed this and it helped them with some geography as well Print off this easy map to play. http://www.eduplace.com/ss/maps/pdf/uspostal.pdf
pipe cleaner creations--This was a hit. I brought some colored pipe cleaners and gave each child 3 and they got to make what ever creation they wanted. My girls wanted to do this game a few times.

Best Snacks in the car
Pretzels, Licorice, Beef Jerky, Travel Yogurts, cookies,

Food for the Trip
Pumpkin bread (frozen before to take)
Sweet Chex Mix
Chocolate Chip Cookies (made ahead and put in ziplocks in freezer)
Homemade bread for Sandwiches (freeze before hand)--we ate lots of PB&J's for lunch
Muffins (wrap in saran wrap and freeze in a ziplock)
Fruit and Veggies (You can take them over the CA border as long as they are store bought)
crackers, summer sausage, and cheese (had the meat department slice for me)
Kershaw Camp Tool-great to take to cut bread, sausage and cheese, melons, and the oranges we brought. It has a cutting board and multiple tools that can attach to the handles. A great buy that we will take camping and to picnics.

Oceanside Favorite Activities
Unstructured Time on the beach: building sand castles, boogie boarding, Frisbee throwing, burying people in the sand, reading
Mormon Battalion Museum--This was the best attraction in Old Town San Diego. Recently remodeled and just a beautiful site! So well done, free, and air conditioned. The kids loved the interactive tour and then panning for gold. Definitely a must see!
Balboa Park--We spent a day here and could have spent another day. Beautiful gardens, free parking, concert in the park, playgrounds with tons of shade, museums galore, water fountains. We spent the majority of the day at the Natural History Museum and learned about Penguins, polar bears, dinosaurs, gems, and 3D videos. (We had 2/1 Happening Book coupons which made it much more affordable)
Coaster to Old Town. This was more expensive then driving and parking but was exciting to see a different view of San Diego. On the way home we traveled with many commuters and I had a nice visit with a gentleman coming home from work. Tickets for 5 and up were 10-13 dollars. The boys also took this home from the Padre Game which worked out well.
Seal Watching in La Jolla at the Children's Pool--This was fun but the parking situation was crazy. Maybe this would be less busy on the weekday.
Oceanside Farmer's Market and Sunset Market. This is every Thursday and had tons of vendors. We didn't make it to the Farmer's Market because this was in the morning. Live entertainment, food, kids corner and more.
We loved being with our family and enjoyed the nice weather of Oceanside, CA. We will remember this forever. But really the most important thing is we were with family and spent time with each other. This could be done anywhere really.

Traveling with kids

2011-07-18T14:09:00.000-07:00

We are going on a long drive soon and I mentioned this to a friend and she gave me a great little booklet with awesome ideas to keep kids happy for the drive. I go bonkers when the kids are fighting in the car! I really hope some of these ideas will help. We did get a DVD player for the van which will help.
Some of the things in our bag of goodies is a:
1.Travel Tray
Magnetic because it's made from a cookie sheet. Contact paper is on one side so it can be written on with dry erase markers. Other side has a file folder I taped together with a few games in it like, travel bingo, and tic tac toe and dot game. I also printed off a blank US map I found on-line for the license plate game. These travel trays can also double as snack trays as well. This cost me three dollars because I used what I had at home and bought the trays and markers from All a dollar.
2-Boredom Buster can--Inside there are little games you can do with the family. Here is a few examples:

Your Monkey’s Mustache- One person is “It” The others select a phrase that it must answer to every question. The answer can be “your monkey’s mustache” or “six smelly sneakers.” Then each person in the group gets to ask a question such as, “Who is your best friend? Or "What are you going to eat for dinner tonight? The person who is it has to keep from laughing. The winner is the biggest grouch.

Alphabet words- Starting with A find words on signs that begins with each alphabet letter. The first person might spot the word “all” on a road sign and the second might spot the word “brake.” After you get through the alphabet, find all the numbers from 1 to 100.

Gummy bear contest: See who can suck on a Gummy Bear and make it last the longest-you can do this with life savers or other candy.

Counting Cows-Play as individuals or teams. First decide on a destination where you will stop counting. Then, count the cows on your side of the road. The goal is to have the highest number when the destination is reached. Pass a cemetery on your side and you have to start over again. If there aren’t any cows on your route, you can count yellow cars, mailboxes, etc.

Twenty Questions—one player thins of a famous person, place or thing. Everyone else gets to ask the player 20 questions, which must be answered “yes” or “no” Whoever guesses correctly gets a turn to think up something.

Geography-Start with any place in the world—Kansas, for example, The next person has to think of a place that begins with the last letter of Kansas such as South Africa. The next person needs a place that starts with A. You can not use the same place twice in the game and it has to be a real place.

Rock Paper Scissors- Two players each put one hand behind their backs. Each person turns that hand into scissors, using the index and middle fingers; or paper, by holding the hand flat with the fingers straight; or a rock, by making a fist. Both players say One two three, and show their hands. The scissors beats paper because it cuts paper. Paper winds over rock because it can wrap up the rock. And rock beats scissors because it makes them blunt.

License plate ID—See how many different states you can identify on license plates. Use a copy of a US map and color each state as you see the license plate.

License plate lingo-The goal of this game is to come up with a phrase using the letters on another car’s plate. So if you see the plate LMT 823 the first person to call out a somewhat logical phrase such as Love me Tender or Lost my tooth earns a point.

Thumb wrestling-This is a little more active game but still can be done in the car with non drivers.

One minute of words—everybody gets a pencil and paper. Choose someone to be the time keeper. The timekeeper picks out a letter and tells it to everyone and shouts “Go!” Players write as many words as possible that start with that letter. When the minute is up the player who has written the most legitimate words wins

3. A few activity books we already had like: Mad Libs, hangman, dot to dot with numbers
4. A book to read to the whole family (we are reading the Chronicles of Narnia
5. Three new coloring book/activity book we got at Dollar Tree
6. Baggies of Crayons
7. A few pencils
8. Pipe cleaner for one of the games in the Boredom Buster bottle

Contents spilled out

Filled bag with all our stuff!

This is our bag full of our travel goodies.
Other Items to Bring:
Book on tape to listen to.
I pod with our favorite tunes.
Movies
Individual Reading book for each child
Thermos with ice and water to refill kids water bottles
Snacks that don't make a big mess (licorice, carrot sticks and bell peppers, beef jerky, granola bars, trail mix in individual snack packs, grapes, animal crackers)

Got any other ideas for our long hours in the car? I'd love to hear them!

Recipe Blogs and Website Links for Healthy Food

2011-07-12T10:54:00.000-07:00

My awesome cousin Beth sent me these great website links for Healthy food. She also has an awesome blog called Liz Eats Food that I think is fun. Check it out! Hope this helps.

"This is one I turn to often: www.heavenlyhomemakers.com Laura is very good about the quality of food she buys and has a good balance of healthy and practical. I get lost in her posts often because she is so inspirational. :)

This one is a bit more "strict" on the kinds of food they eat: www.simplehealthytasty.com Tammie's family doesn't eat diary or meat. Everything else is as unprocessed as possible. She was in my ward in Eagle Mountain. When we changed our eating habits, I turned to her for guidance. I learned so much from her and followed much of her advice for about 3 months. We all felt SO good!!! Then the holidays hit.

Since then I've had to really look at what will work for our family and feel that I've come to a good place. Part of my problem was that we had a lot of food storage that didn't work with our new lifestyle. Like white flour, sugar, white rice, etc. So now I only buy items that work with our new habits, but to use the stuff in our storage I will mix it. Like all the rice I made. When I go to use it, I will use a bag of white and a bag of brown. Same when I make bread or cook pasta. So if you look at the recipes on my blog and see that I still use white flour or sugar, etc. that's why. :) I actually hate doing it, but I can't just throw it out.

Now when I find recipes, I just adapt them to our lifestyle. Like this one: http://clawsonlive.blogspot.com She has a lot of good recipes, I just tweek them. I really like allrecipes.com as well. Same idea though. Adjust them to fit our needs.

I think following Tammie's recipes helped me see what "healthy" really was. We don't eat a lot of processed food as it is, but cutting out and changing what we did was very cleansing. Now I have a hard time eating foods that before didn't bother me at all. And I see effects from food in my kids that I didn't see before either. I'm glad though, because from what I learned it just helps me be more aware of what I am feeding my family. So I am a lot more picky about the quality of the food I buy and the quantity in which I consume it. I eat to live. Not live to eat.

As I read back over this, it feels very vague. But I don't want to put my personal beliefs and opinions in here too much and taint or sway your choices. I am interested in hearing about what you decide to do though! Oh yeah, go look up Tammie's green smoothies. Delicious! There is actually a Green Smoothie Girl, but I haven't found any of her recipes on her website. So we make up our own."

FREE SLURPEE DAY

2011-07-11T12:32:00.000-07:00

It's 7/11 and a great time to take a walk or bike ride down to your local 7-11 store and get a free Slurpee. My kids had the best time choosing what flavor and drinking down their mini Slurpee.

Healthy Living

2011-07-06T21:29:00.000-07:00

I love learning! Tonight I went to a class on healthy living. Kristen Bowen gave us some great tips to help us feel healthy and how to pass it on to our family. She suggested that if you wanted your children and husband to be living healthy you make the change yourself first and be the example and encourage but don't nag.

Use Celtic Sea Salt--put in in your salt shakers. But if you feel stressed during the day you can put 1/2 tsp in a glass of water and drink. This will mineralize your adrenals. You can do this up to four times a day.
Drink more water--Drink half your weight of water in ounces plus add 25 oz to that. Example if you weigh 175 pounds you should drink about 112 oz of water a day. That's a lot. If you are eating a lot of water rich foods like fruits and vegetables then this could help. I say you better be close to a toilet during the day!
Drink a glass of water right when you wake up and then wait a half hour before you eat breakfast. This will help with your digestion.
If you have a hard time with digestion and pains regular try to not drink while eating your meals. Drink your water before and after meals.
Exercise everyday. She recommends rebounding exercise on a mini trampoline helps with your lymph health
Neutralize your diet by cutting out white flours and sugars and adding more green leafy vegetables
Add more Magnesium in your life. It's very hard to get enough magnesium through your diet so she recommends doing trans dermal magnesium (foot baths) --I'm still not sure on this one personally because it's pricey and I couldn't see much research on it. Let me know if you heard of this.
Add Chia Seeds to your diet--only get the dark seeds. --High in fiber, good for digestion, high in Omega 3
She soaks the seeds overnight with 1 part seeds and 8 parts water and puts 1/4 cup/person in smoothies.
Stay away from Caffeine and energy drinks. Energy drinks actually creates holes in your pancreas.
For UTI's use d-mannose. An alternative way to treat can use with little girls as well

I was really impressed with Kristen and will try to do a few of the things she has suggested. Kristen Bowen has a blog and a radio show every Saturday Mornings. Check out her website.

Half Day Summer Camps

2011-07-02T15:06:00.000-07:00

Stokes Nature Center has some fun Summer Camps available.

Knee High Naturalists for ages 4-7

Thursday, July 7, 9am-12pm

Tuesday, August 2, 1-4 pm

Thursday, August 4, 9 am-12pm

Totally Trees for ages 4-7 and 8-12

Tuesday, July 19, 1-4 pm (ages 4-7)

Thursday, July 21, 9 am-12 pm (ages 8-12)

All classes are $30

These look like some fun and educational classes that will get your kids outside.

The Five Love Languages

2011-06-30T09:00:00.000-07:00

I picked up the audio book at the library last Thursday and finished most of it in one day. It was my baking day so I listened to it while I cooked in the kitchen. I loved the concepts in this book. It's by Gary Chapman. I have seen others read and talk about this book but had never read it myself. I'm glad I finally "read" it.
Chapman believes all individuals have a love language they prefer to receive from others. Here are the 5 languages and a few examples:
1. Words of Affirmation
Words of encouragement and praise, Complements, Hearing "I love you, I need you" Hearing Thank you and I appreciate what you do.
2. Giving Time, and Full Attention
Doing things together, quality conversation, going out to dinner, sitting on the couch together, going for a walk
3. Receiving Gifts
It doesn't have to be expensive but just receiving something shows them they care. Flowers, candy bar, a new outfit, card.
4. Acts of Service
These can be as mundane as making the bed, doing laundry, dishes, dinner on the table when they get home from work, mowing the grass, doing errands for them etc.
5. Physical Touch
Holding hands, massages, back scratches, and of course sexual intercourse.
Chapman talked about how each of us have a love tank within us. If our love tank is full then we fill good about our relationship. Our spouse fills our love tank by speaking to us in our love language. When we are dating we do all of these things to try to find out what our date likes. When we get a positive response then we repeat and give more. Sometimes in marriage we forget to keep giving those things that make our spouse happy. Or we could be doing tons of service to our spouse and not seeing any results but really all they want is to go on a walk with us every night. I decided to talk to Devin about what he thought was his love language and see how his love tank was. I was right when he said his love language is Physical Touch. My own language is Acts of Service.
The last part of this book focused on our children. We can apply these same principals with our children. This really made sense to me when he said if our children's love language is words of affirmation that for that child when a parent puts them down verbally it is even more devastating to them. This gave me some things to think about. I would highly recommend reading this book if you haven't. I believe it could really help any relationship.

Reading this summer!

2011-06-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

Have you been to your Library or Bookmobile lately. This is when all the Summer Reading Programs are in full sweep. Every library I have been to does some kind of reading program to encourage children and adults to read. Our family looks forward to this every summer. Besides the library program the governor has a challenge as well. We got copies of this program from our library. If you read 20 minutes a day then you qualify to get a free kids meal at McDonald's. This program has such fun ideas on the calendar to encourage more reading and learning. Here is a link to get the Governor's 2011 Summer Reading Challenge
We do our reading in the afternoon when it's super hot outside. We take at least an hour break where the younger kids read with mom and then take a nap and then my older kids have quiet time where they read on their own. It doesn't really matter when or where but challenge yourself and your kids to find the time to read this summer.

Encouraging Culture --Noon Music-2011

2011-06-25T19:17:00.000-07:00

Every day but Sundays this summer at Logan High School Auditorium will be Free Concerts at Noon. Usually the concerts are held in the Logan Tabernacle but because of construction they have been moved to the High school.
The kids and I went to one a couple weeks ago and had a great time. We were listening to Fry Street Quartet and it was amazing! The greatest thing is we didn't have to leave half-way through the concert like we have in the past. Most likely it's because, my kids are getting older. I'd like to think it was because they are amazing children but really it's hit and miss. This time we were lucky enough to sit through a whole concert. It also helped that it was only 45 minutes long. During a very beautiful peice my 8 year old turned to me and whispered, "How was God Created." We then had a quiet conversation about God and creation. What a sweet experience it was for me. I believe it was the music that created a space for him to contemplate. It was a priceless moment I will remember for a long time. I was so grateful for this opportunity to share this with my children.
For a full schedule of concerts please visit: www.cachecommunityconnections.com
These are not more then an hour and will all be very good. Every Monday is the Utah Festival Opera Company. My sons piano teacher will be playing July 8th so we will for sure go to this one. I always love to hear the Lightwood Duo and they are on Aug 3rd.
Concert Etiquette is very important to show respect to the performers and to the audience members. Here is a few ideas that can help.

I always talk to my children about how we need to remain seated and sit quietly.
If they need to talk it needs to be a whisper.
Clapping should be held until all movements of a piece is complete (if you watch the performers and or the conductor, you can really tell when it's time to clap)
I like to point out things during the concert I think might be interesting, (like "watch that guy really get into the music", or "Wow this is a scary part of the song")
Bribery is great in these situations. We always get a little treat to the kids after a concert. Sometimes we have to remind them during the concert that if they don't stay quiet they won't be able to get a treat with the family. It usually takes only one reminder and then they are quiet again.
Don't feel bad if you can't stay for the whole concert, if you can see your kids getting restless, don't be afraid to tell them, "You have been doing so great but I think we need to go after this song" Only you know how much they can handle and you might just want to start with half a concert and then work up from there.
If you have small children, sit close to an exit so you can escape quickly when they fuss

Hope you find some culture this summer. If you hear of a great concert or event please share in comments so more can enjoy it!

Ice Cream for Dinner!

2011-06-21T16:52:00.000-07:00

Tonight we are having Ice Cream for Dinner. Crazy but it's a tradition for the first day of Summer.
Every family member gets to choose an ice cream topping. Tonight we have planned
Vanilla Ice Cream
Bananas
Strawberries
Brownies
Candy Bars
Chocolate sauce
Caramel Sauce
Sprinkles
So unhealthy but it brings us some extra excitement to the dinner table and everyone gets to help out with planning and preparing the meal.
Traditions are what make some of the best childhood memories. I encourage you to make and keep a family tradition and then share it in comments. Happy Summer!

Family Fitness

2011-05-29T14:49:00.000-07:00

We went to a great Pack Night about Family Fitness and Melanie Douglass gave us some fun ideas to do as a family. Here are these simple fun games you can incorporate in your family night activities, or during the day when your kids don't know what to do. These would make great birthday party games as well!
Obstacle Course
Create any course you want using garden hoses, wagons, bikes, balls trampolines, swing set, or anything else in your yard.
2. Let your kids help design the course.
3. Incorporate at least 3 different movements: run, walk, crawl, hop, run backwards, plank-walk, drop for 10 pushups..go for it!
4. Either allow two kids to race against each other, or use a stopwatch to time each participant.

Candy Drop
1. Group two big spoons and 5-6 pieces of wrapped candy or pennies.
2. Kids race against each otehr holding the spoonful of candy. If they drop a piece of candy from the spoon, they have to stop, pick it up, and then continue the race.
3. First kid to cross the finish line with al the candy/money in the spoon wins.

Sit-up and Toss
1. Use a hula hoop or garden hose to make a circle for a target.
2. Kids sit on the ground 4-6 feet away from the target, holding a ball overhead.
3. With bent knees and feet flat on the ground, have kids roll back, come up to a sit up then toss the ball into the target.
4. Every target hit equals a point!

Band-aid Tag
1. Parents should be "it". Chase kids around and "tag" them on the shoulder, knee, ankle, hand, hair, etc.
2. Wherever the "it" person touches, become injured and have to hold your shoulder or knee or hop on one foot if it was their leg.
3. Once a player has 3 injuries, they become it.

Freeze Dance
1. Play music and encourage kids to dance..any style they want!
2. Randomly stop the music during the danceing
3. When the music stops, all freeze, the last person to strike a pose or freeze is out.
4. The winner is the last one dancing

Crazy Jumps
1. Use a garden hose to form a jump line.
2. Kids run to the line and then try to jump the farthest like the long jump track even.
3. Kids can do any creative form of jump they want-strike a pose, do a carwheel, run backwards

"Physical activity isn't just for weight loss...It saves lives, provides a mental and physical boost, and helps us find our happiest, healthiest self." Melanie Douglass, R.D., NASM

Summer Activities

2011-05-24T09:50:00.000-07:00

So our summer starts on Wednesday! I'm excited but also know that I need to be sure to have some constructive, fun, and educational activities planned to keep my older kids happy and thus the whole family happy. I decided to put together a weekly activity that we can all look forward to and break up the week. So once a week that we are not on vacation we have planned a fun "field trip" for the kids and I. Here are things we have planned:

Wednesday June 1^st, Stokes Nature Center invites all ages to Nature Night on Wed, June 1st from 4p.m. to 7p.m. The theme for June is “Bugs”! Participants will play bug games, make bug crafts, learn bug facts, and go on a bug hunt. This program is free. All are welcome to drop-in; activities are ongoing. For more information: (435-755-3239) or visit www.logannature.org

Saturday, June 4^th, come join us for music, fun activities, and learn about water conservation, water quality, wildlife, recycling, energy, the environment, and the Bear River Watershed. Teens and children are invited with their parents to participate in the TENTH annual Bear River Celebration and Free Fishing day from 10 am to 2 pm Saturday June 4th at Logan’s Willow Park West pond area. Pack a water bottle and sun block and enjoy free fishing, booths, activities, giveaways and prizes. T-shirts will be given out to the first 200 youth who complete the booth activities

Wednesday June 8^th, Fry Street Quartet—Logan Tabernacle Concert at Noon—Think Cub Scout requirements, and amazing musical experience for FREE! (Every weekday they have Free concerts at the tabernacle at noon)

Family Information and Resource Center- 1:00-2:00 Around the World in 80 days-- The Logan Family Center is a small white building on the playground at Wilson Elementary School, 2 doors south of the Island Market, a half block from the bus stop at Center Street and 400 East.

Providence Splash Pad-- 310 West 250 North in Providence

Logan Fire Department—think Cub Scout requirements!

Water Games in the park and making boats for the river,

Tour of a local Grocery Store

Logan Aquatic Center

Some other ideas we had were:

Take a bus ride adventure

Go to the zoo

Daughters of the Utah Pioneer Museum

Tour the post Office

Any others you have done or are planning on doing? Please share in comments.

If you would like to join us on any of these adventures, please let me know and I'll give you more details.

A great resource to check out is: The Summer Activity Guide 2011

This guide has lots of fun camps that teach kids a variety of things.

Happy Planning and Doing!

The Tiger Mother

2011-05-03T13:33:00.000-07:00

I really haven't had time to post to this blog for a long time. Today I really wanted to share some thoughts I had while reading a book I recently finished reading called "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother." If anyone else has read this book, I would love to have a discussion about it because I found it so interesting and so different from any other books about parenting then I have ever read. This book is by Amy Chua. I bought it on Amazon since our library didn't carry it-which they really ought to.
Chinese Parenting vs. Western or American Parenting. Amy gives lots of examples of stereotypical parenting from both cultures which are not always true but generally pretty close to accurate.
She wanted to raise her children the "Chinese Way" even though she lived in America. The book tells of her journey of parenting in America and how her perspectives change when one of her daughters didn't quite respond the way she planned.
What makes a Chinese mother? This is what Amy said are believes of Chinese Mothers: 1)schoolwork always comes first; 2) an A-minus is a bad grade; 3) your children must be two years ahead of their classmates in math; 4)you must never compliment your children in public; 5)if your child ever disagrees with a teacher or coach, you must always take the side of the teacher or coach; 6) the only activities your children should be permitted to do are those in which they can eventually win a medal; and 7) that medal must be gold.
How do they keep this much focus all the time and have such great success. These are things Amy's daughters, Sophia and Louisa, were never allowed to do: Attend a sleepover, have a play date, be in a school play, complain about not being in a school play, watch TV or play computer games, choose their own extracurricular activities, get any grade less than a A, not be in the #1 student in every subject except gym and drama, play any instrument other than the piano or violin, not play the piano or violin. (She talked a lot about her children's music studies in the book which I found fascinating!)
Reading these lists you may think she is absolutely crazy. I kind of did too. But, after reading the book, I don't think she was. She really loved her children and they knew that, and she wanted to give her children a good childhood where they learned skills, strong work habits, and inner confidence. I do believe you can instill these very things in your children and not be quite as extreme as Amy was. Reading the book made me really think about my parenting style. I am not a Tiger Mother but in somethings I have a few stripes that I could identify with.
Here is a couple quotes from the book I liked, "Chinese parenting is one of the most difficult things I can think of. You have to be hated sometimes by someone you love and who hopefully loves you, and theirs just no letting up, no point at which it suddenly becomes easy. Just the opposite, Chinese parenting--at least if you're trying to do it in America, all odds are against you--is a never ending uphill battle, requiring a 24-7 time commitment, resilience, and guile. You have to be able to swallow pride and change tactics at any moment. And you have to be creative. pg 161-162
My thought is---That is why Chinese parents only seem to have 1 or 2 children. How could you keep of this resilience through 4 or more children.
"That's one difference between a dog and a daughter, I thought to myself later. A dog can do something every dog can do--dog paddle, for example--and we applaud with pride and joy. Imagine how much easier it would be if we could do the same with daughters! But we can't; that would be negligence. pg 119-120
Birthday for Amy--"At Jed's urging, Lulu handed me her 'surprise,' which turned out to be a card. More accurately, it was a piece of paper folded crookedly in half, with a big happy face on the front. Inside, "Happy Birthday, Mommy! Love, Lulu" was scrawled in crayon about another happy face. The card couldn't have taken Lulu more than twenty seconds to make. I gave the card back to Lulu. "I don't want this," I said. I want a better one--one that you've put some thought and effort into. I have a special box where I keep all my cards from you and Sophia, and this one can't go in there." Then Amy explains later that It's too idealistic to expect children to do the right things on their own. pg 103-104

I really appreciated the things I learned from this book. The thing I learned for myself is that I can do better as a parent. I can make the sacrifices of my own time to spend helping them with their homework so they can be better students. I won't begrudge the hours spent at music lessons, and music practicing because I know that time is quality time spent with me. I think we can expect more from our children. They are smart, they are capable of so many good things. By not expecting the best from them is not believing in them. By letting them just turn on the TV or video games day in and day out is not letting them live up to their potential. I would highly recommend picking this book up to read, I think you will like it.

Keeping Kids Safe-Online and Parenting Ideas

2011-01-24T10:30:00.000-08:00

Our friend is a police officer and was featured in this great video about keeping your kids safe online. He address some great issues that you may find very helpful! It is five minutes long so when you have some time, it is great!
Detective Bird gave a great talk in church yesterday about parenting. I really enjoyed it and thought I would share some thoughts he gave that I really liked. He has quite a perspective being a dad himself and also working in the school and with families with troubled teens.
1. Take care of yourself-if you are not fully functioning then you can't expect to take care of your children.
2. Take Care of the Team
This team is anyone who helps you with your children. For example your neighbors, teachers, scout leaders, grandparents, and especially your spouse.
With your spouse be sure to feed your marriage with regular date night. With teachers and neighbors, counsel together and work together so you can help your children with specific problems they are having.
3. Love your Children--be a provider of good times and good things.
Tell them you love them unconditionally. "I love you if you do awesome things and I love you even when you make mistakes."
4. Discipline your children--Set appropriate limits. Teach responsibility by giving them jobs that you know they can handle. He uses the $5,000 rule to decide if they can handle the job. If you told them you would pay them $5000 for completing the job without your help then they can handle it. Make sure you are clear on what their responsibility is. Then be sure to tell them "If you have any questions Ask". After they succeed be sure to celebrate with them and share in the joy. If they blow it-it's OK. This helps and teaches them. It's better to blow it when the price is small. When you need to discipline give a lot of empathy. I'm so sorry this happened, but his is whats going to happen now. Stay away from the three R's. Rant, Rave and Rescue. Let the consequences teach them and then give them opportunities to try and try again until they get it right.
5. Keep Smiling-Don't nag

Sitting by my Babe

2011-01-16T13:34:00.000-08:00

When we had our first baby there were a few times when I had to crawl back in the back seat to soothe and calm down our screaming infant. My husband would jokingly say, "I feel like a cab driver." I see husband cab drivers all the time. For the sake of their marriage I hope it's only an occasional event and not routine. I think it's important to sit by my sweetheart. For all the hours of the day I spend caring, feeding, dressing, bathing, diapering my children, I think I can let them sit on their own in the car so we can sit together.
I feel the same way at church, concerts, or the movies. Kids can sit on our lap but I want to sit next to my husband and hold his hand, if possible. I think children find security seeing their parents show affection and care for each other. Sitting by each other may seem like a small thing that would have no consequence and no matter at all, but sometimes the little things turn into big things. Little things are often the glue that holds a family and marriage together.

Exercising Tips

2011-01-14T14:58:00.000-08:00

This is the time of year that it is hard to get a lot of exercise when it's so cold outside. Even though you as the mom and dad are not directly helping your child by exercising, they are indirectly helping them in so many ways. Seeing you being healthy will help them follow your example when they are older. The endorphins that you get from exercising will help your mood and help you be a happier parent.
I've been exercising for a long time and found a few things that help me keep going and see results.
1. Do it everyday at the same time, if it's scheduled it will happen much easier!
2. Spice up your routine and don't do the same thing everyday. But make a plan at the beginning of the week so you don't sit there and think what should I do. ie. Monday-I will run for 30 minutes, Tuesday I will do the Wii Fit for 45 minutes, Wed. I will do the Elliptical for 30, Thursday, I will do weigh training for 45 minutes. etc. (If you are looking to lose weight aim for 1 hour of exercise a day, if you are trying to maintain a healthy weight do at least half an hour)
3. When you exercise, use as many muscle groups as you can. For example if you are on the treadmill, don't hold on the treadmill unless you have serious balance issues. Using your arms will increase your heart rate and give you a much better workout. Use a balance board or ball while you do some of your weighted arm workouts.
4. When working out with weight machines, maximize your time by rotating through 3-5 machines. If you sit and rest for 1 minute after every machine, you add so much time to your workout where you are just idle and not keeping your heart rate (not to mention it annoys everyone at the gym who wants to use that machine). Just be sure to do a totally different set of muscle groups, that way your muscles can rest while using a different muscle group.
5. Most gyms offer personal training. Golds Gym gives you three free ones when you sign up. Planet Fitness offers free group classes. It's so worth it to meet with a trainer and talk about your goals and how you can best achieve these.
6. Don't be intimidated to try something new at a gym. Ask questions, most people find it very flattering if someone asks them how something works.
7. You don't need a gym membership to get a great workout. Get some videos from the library, dance in your front room to music, use things in your house to lift. Using your own body weight by doing sit ups, push ups, and stretching are all great workouts.
8. Always stretch out after your workouts. When I don't I can really tell because I'm more sore.
9. When you do use weight machines, try to do three sets with 8-12 repetitions. The first set make that your lightest weight, second set heavier, and last set make the heaviest.
10. Do things you enjoy and if you don't enjoy it do it anyway because your children want you to be around when they are having their children.

Caring for Husbands

2011-01-04T20:43:00.000-08:00

I know I usually write about children but I can't help writing today about caring for husbands because I am reading Dr. Laura Schlessinger's book called "The Proper Care & Feeding of Husbands." I read this book several years ago and picked it up again at the library because I needed a refresher. I have lots of New Years goals and one is to improve my relationship with my eternal companion. I read once that anything you feel important in your life you should read a book about it once and a while. I like to do this with marriage, parenting, gospel topics, and money management.

Dr. Laura is totally traditional in her ideas of marriage and relationships and she is not afraid to say so. She says it how she feels and puts a few strong words behind it. Despite her occasional bad word I totally agree with her and would highly recommend this book to anyone wanting a great relationship with their husband. Since she does many radio shows she has tons of examples of relationships and her advise to them in her book. Some are hilarious and some are quite sad. Here are a few quotes in her book that I found enlightening.
"How can husbands fell respected, appreciated, or loved when they are the constant brunt of their wives negativity about everything? As much as men's bellies need to be filled with delicious "home-cooked meals," their egos need to be filled with 'yummy food' as well. I have found that if I speak blessings about my husband, then blessings are what i get in return."

We as women, want to know that we are lovely and desirable in general because of our shapes. Ladies, what makes the male ego issue any different from our body ego issue? A wife can tear down a husband's necessary sense of strength and importance more easily with a look or a comment than can torture in a prison camp.
She then gave the example of Eve who felt her husband "didn't understand her" and didn't do things right to help her feel happy and satisfied." This all changed when she finally recognized that her husband had goals and desires, frustration and needs, all his own. She realized that she had virtually ripped his love of golf away from him because she'd always felt that if he loved her, he'd want to be with her, he needed to do things around the house and with the kids, and she needed a break. She admitted never even considering that maybe he needed a break, too. I loved this comment that she made at the end. "Now several years later, we both are much more caring about each other, and willing to see the other's need and point of view. Funny as I changed, my husband didn't seem so bad. Did he become more pleasant in response to my more pleasant attitude, or was he really not all that bad to begin with?"

Sorry this is longer then I planned on. I just have really enjoyed the thoughts that this book gave on how we as women can improve our marriages simply by improving our attitude, words, and actions we make towards our husband. She gives so many personal examples and hard not to see yourself a little in all of them. It really makes me evaluate how I can be a better wife, friend, and lover.

Developing Stress Response in Infants

2010-12-22T22:26:00.000-08:00

Who wants to see their child distressed? No one does. But isn't it inevitable and normal for all children to go through stress in life? One way we can help develop a healthy stress response is to gradually give them space to safely explore their environment.

"Healthy stress regulation systems prepare children to meet a range of challenging and stressful events without becoming overwhelmed. Over a lifetime, emotionally healthy individuals draw on this internalized system to tolerate both normal daily stress and larger, more catastrophic stress. The ability to moderate stress to tolerable levels is key to emotional health and resiliency. The absence of healthy stress regulation results in individuals who are easily overwhelmed or who respond in maladaptive ways." (by Heidi Holman)

Loving your children and creating a secure attachment and bond is so important. This will effect all the emotional relationships they make in life. We should seek to make sure our children are well loved and cared for. Holding, rocking, hugging, giving eye contact and give them the physical attention and fulfilling their emotional needs. Could this be overdone to the child's detriment? An interesting TV documentary, "Hyper Parents and Coddled Kids."addressed some of the issues of this parenting style. This has been a highly controversial issue lately, I believe this type of parenting starts in infancy. I think hovering or "helicopter parenting" is tough because parents are truly doing so much for their children but this is showing it's a little too much.
As you let your mobile infant move away from you, and try to figure out things on their own, their stress response is being developed. If they are so dependent on mom or dad because they are always hovering over them, telling them what and what not to do, it may be more difficult for them to adjust when they are left with babysitters, nursery, or preschool. If they are use being able to play without mom or dad right there they are more likely to be more comfortable in a new environment. I have always been curious why some babies/toddlers are just fine going to a babysitter and other children scream and cry into hysterics no matter what the sitter does. These are children who are well loved at home. I took a class recently about child development and they mentioned that many children who get really upset when mom and dad drops them off to day care or to school have not developed a healthy stress response because parents have not given them the opportunity or space to do so.
I remember that most of my babies went through a stage where they would cry as soon as I walked out of the room and then when I would reappear they would stop crying. This is a normal stage of development and we can help them through this by playing peek a boo games, and giving them a more contained area to play in. When they are very small, the safe contained space may be a playpen. A playpen is a perfect place for them to be where you know they are safe and can play independently and explore without you. Start with a few minutes a day if baby is not happy with this. Gradually add minutes where they have some independent play time. I incorporated "playpen" time in baby's routine once or twice a day. I found it was a great time when I need some personal bathroom time or a much needed shower. When they get older you may want to expand the area to a toy room or their own bedroom. Even though it's so important for children to be able to explore safely in their environment on their own, we need not forget that we are their best playmate, let them lead out and then give them space when it's time to grow.

Developmental Concerns-Who can Help?

2010-12-17T22:25:00.000-08:00

If you have any concerns about the development of you child in a certain area, it is so important to get it checked out early. Early Intervention has shown to help so many children. The earlier you recognize a developmental delay in your child the more you can do to help them reach their full potential. Watch for signs as they play, learn, speech, and act.
There are many places to turn. Here is some that I have found helpful, and please if you know of others, please share.
1. I would start with your family physician or pediatrician. Tell your doctor your concerns and see if they see the same thing and have suggestions or local places you can get help. If they tell you to not worry, they will grow out of it, it may be true but if you are still concerned I would get a second opinion. Mothers are with their child the most in a day and know what makes your child tick. If your gut tells you there is a problem, find someone who can help.
2. Up to 3 Early Intervention-This center is based at Utah State University but is only one of fifteen early intervention programs in Utah. They offer families many services including, a full assessment of your child's health and developmental status, then they offer many classes, therapies, and strategies based on your child's needs.
3. For Children over three years old go to your local public school. Every school is different in what they do for preschool children who need extra services before kindergarten. For example in the Logan School District they have a preschool devoted to children with developmental or speech delays. They continually are testing and admitting students all through the year if they qualify. The school is Riverside Preschool. Cache County School district does it within the elementary schools. Making a few phone calls to the local schools and the school district you could find what services and testing is offered in your area.

4. Check out the CDC webpage. It has so many resources and information at your fingertips for parents about developmental milestones and warning signs you should watch for. This may answer many questions right at home.

5. Head Start serves children 0-5 years old of low income families. Eligibility is based on income level. They even have a home visit program used to help pregnant women educate and then later bond with their baby.

I've been doing a preschool this year in my home and I've seen a few children who have shown signs that they need a little extra help. It's hard to tell a parent concerns but on the other hand it's doing the child a disservice if you choose to ignore signs. You may have a child in your daycare or preschool, a neighbor, niece/nephew, or grandchild who you can see may have some developmental delays. This is so hard because we are worried about offending someone. But think about if no one ever says anything until they are a really problem in school, it's so much harder to address these issues. Much care and tact should be used in approaching the parents, but if you do it with a pure love and concern for the child, it could really help the child and their family. I feel strongly that if we address speech/language, physical motor skills, emotional, behavioral, or cognitive developmental delays early, the better chance the child has to be successful in life.

Doctor Shots

2010-12-10T21:26:00.000-08:00

Today was not a fun day at the doctor's office. First we waited an hour to be seen (so the girls were pretty tired), then each of my girls got shots. Peanut got 4 shots and Pumpkin had 5. It's a hard thing for me to see them cry especially when it's inflicted. I prepared them by talking about what was going to happen and what it might feel like. Peanut is still sore in both legs tonight. I was grateful for a tip I learned last week and I think it helped.
A study was done with children and babies who were given shots in a doctor's office. One group of the children were sitting on the table with their parents on the side and the other group of patients were being held by their parents. The children who were being held by the parents cried just as long but their levels of cortisol were significantly lower. Cortisol is the stress hormone in our body. I believe this indicates that children being held by their parents have a less stressful experience. It made sense to me so we tried it. I just sat up on the patients table and held them on my lap. I held their arms in a hug and my legs helped keep their legs still. It went pretty slick and we didn't have any kicking or screaming just the normal shock of "Owwie, that hurt and I can't believe you just poked me cry." So next time your kids have shots you may want to try it. If anything I felt like I was more part of the process and was helping, rather then just being a bystander watching.

Utah Upstart-At Home Preschool Program

2010-12-05T11:59:00.000-08:00

My daughter was chosen to participate in this years Utah Upstart, At Home Preschool Program. We have been using the software for about 3 weeks. She absolutely loves it and is learning so much. I think this program is amazing. She is learning her ABC, pre-reading skills, how to spell her name, numbers, and science. I would highly recommend anyone to it. The program is designed to track the progress of the child and give specific activities that the child needs to learn all the letters and other kindergarten readiness skills. The great thing is it's funded by grants so it cost nothing to participate. Also there are some who were selected to participate who didn't have a computer who will get a computer to use while in the program. It is hard to get in the program because the demand is high and the funds can't compete. But it would be worth it to try so follow this link to pre-register. Have you heard of this program before, or has any of your children used the program before? What did you think?

Free Christmas Music

2010-11-21T15:26:00.000-08:00

My husband has a hard time waiting till after Thanksgiving to play Christmas songs. Especially if it starts snowing, he gets the tunes going. I love Christmas music so I can't really complain too much. Yesterday, he was looking up something on Amazon.com and found a whole album of children's Christmas music for FREE! The kids love Veggie Tales and this album was pretty funny. The Album is called Singing Christmas Tree and it was really easy to download and it went right into our i-Tunes library of songs. Here is the link. We also found several other songs and albums for free as well. Sometimes an artist will give one song for free to get a taste of their music. I thought this was way cool! Have a great holiday!

Traveling in the car ideas

2010-11-03T16:00:00.000-07:00

Just coming home from a Disneyland trip I have been thinking about what helped keep the kids content for the long car journey.
1. The best was the DVD player. We didn't watch a lot of movies but when the movies were on, all was well. We put all our kids movies and since we traveled on a Sunday we also brought a case of church movies. The kids each took a turn to choose a movie.
2. Homework. The kids had a weeks worth of homework to do so we arranged with teachers to get their homework beforehand so they could do it in the car. That took a lot of time.
3. Coloring Books. My mom got each of the kids a coloring/activity book from the dollar store. They loved getting a new book to color in. The crayons were a little messy so maybe a little container to keep them in would be a good idea.
4. Library books on tape and Playaways. The Librarian gave me this idea-thanks Shawn. The playaways (these are digital books with their own output devise) were really cool because each kid could have their own book and set of head phones and they thought that was really fun.
5. Stopping to eat meals. As much as it was a temptation to keep on driving to get their faster I think it really helped to all get out and eat meals out of the car. We brought a cooler so we could make sandwiches and it gave the kids a chance to get the wiggles out.
6. Leapsters or portable playing device. We didn't bring any of these but with a long drive I think this would have been a good idea. We did use a cell phone a few times that had some games the kids like to play. "Angry Birds"
7. Quick and non messy snacks we found-fruit roll ups, pretzles, twizzlers, work good.
8. Musical Chairs-If possible I think changing up the seating is good just to give kids a new face to look at. With car seats that might be too much of a pain but the others not in car seats could change it up.

Well that's not that many ideas and I wish I would have done a little more prep time so I was more prepared but we made it safe and sound without too many tears. I would love some more ideas for future trips we have planned. Please share when you get a minute.

Music Lessons

2010-10-20T14:43:00.000-07:00

Numerous studies have shown that children how study music (learn an instrument) succeed better in school. Here is three studies that demonstrate just that.

The University of Irvine conducted experiments testing music study against the benefits

of computer learning in preschoolers. Additionally, they tested students who studied

music against those who simply did not, and the results were astounding. Of the three

groups of tested preschoolers, those who studied piano lessons performed 34% higher

than their peers who had not had any musical training.

Other studies have shown that 2nd and 3rd grade music students, because of the

counting involved in musical rhythms, scored 100% higher in math than those who

learned mathematical counting in a traditional setting.

And college students who have studied music have typically scored 98 points higher

than their non-musical peers on their SATs. (http://www.adamgmusiclessons.com/Music_Lessons_Article.pdf)

Most people I know understand all of this information but the hard thing is actually putting this into practice. It's a lot of work, money, time, and frustration having your children learn an instrument. But I'm here to tell you it's so worth everything you put into it. It's like anything in life the more you put into it the more you get out of it. You personally have to decide how important is it to you to have your children learn to play an instrument. Here is some questions I have had from a few friends who were thinking of starting there kids on an instrument. I'll try my best to answer them. Please offer any of your own experiences and opinions.
How old should I start my child in private lessons? I have a believe that your never too old and never too young. But I will say I wouldn't start formal lessons until age 3 or 4. I would lean toward 4 though unless you have a child who really wants to or they are just really quick at learning and very responsive to new things. With that said, if you do want to start them that young, you really need to be involved with the lessons and every practice. The Suzuki Method encourages young beginnings and a lot of other music methods are starting to make method books for young learners (pre-readers.) You also want to find a very patient teacher who is great with kids. For this young age, playing the instrument with you everyday is so much fun, you make it a game and make it exciting and rewarding for them.
If you want to start your child later after they are more independent I think 8 years old is a good age. They are a little more responsible and you would not need to be as involved with the process, but I would encourage you to still be as involved as your child will let you. (As long as you are positive) The more parent support and encouragement a child gets they will succeed more. Even if you just pop in while they are practicing and say "Wow that sounded great, can I hear you do that again" Or "It sounded like you were having trouble with that part, do you want some help?"

How much of a priority should it be? This is a tough question, because it really is up to you. For me it's a high priority. It's something all our kids do, and that's what we tell them, "This is what we all do?" Our kids play their instrument before they watch TV, or play with friends. We know that if it doesn't get done before then, it just doesn't happen. Homework and school work does come first. We really try to have them do practicing before school and that is so nice.

If I know how to play an instrument, would it be ok for me to teach them? I think it can work. Depending on how well you get a long with your child it can work great! But even though I do know how to play piano and the flute, I have decided to have my kids take from another teacher. I practice with them but it's nice to have someone else to check with every week. The best situation would be to find another teacher that you can swap lessons with.

It's just too much money to take lessons, we can't afford it.
I totally understand this. Especially if you have three, four or even more taking lessons at the same time. There are other ways they can learn an instrument. Have them pick an instrument when it becomes an option at school. School orchestra and band is a great way to learn. You can get great deals on rentals and also buying a used instrument can be very affordable. We got our son a violin on KSL .com for only $60. If you play an instrument you can teach them yourself, or work out some kind of swap. Even if you don't play an instrument a lot of teachers would work with you if you wanted to take to swap with a skill you have. If there is a will, there is always a way. Get creative.

How far do we push them, or how long should they take lessons for? I think to make lessons worth it for your child is they need to be able to play something on their instrument for fun. That's when they can enjoy playing is being able to play the music they love to hear. You could make a piece goal where after they can play a certain piece they can stop playing or once they get to a certain level they can stop. It really necessary to set a goal so they have something in mind. My goal for oldest son who is playing the piano is that he can play from the hymn book well enough to accompany a congregation. You could also set an age goal, once you are 16 you can stop playing. I really would discourage starting any instrument if your child is already asking how long do they have to play for before they even start taking, you are going to be in for a long battle. But every child gets to a point where they want to quit. That is so normal and then is when you need to have a discussion about why your doing this what this is helping that with and then set some goals.

What can I do to keep them motivated?
Buy them fun pieces of music or books for birthday's, Christmas, or after they play in a recital.
Take them to concerts where they will get excited about their instrument. If you have a piano player, take them to a Jon Schmidt concert for sure!
Get recordings of music they are playing or other great classical music
Get them performing, play for Grandma and Grandpa, have weekly family recitals in your home, go to a rest home and play for residents there, play in church for prelude or a musical number, etc.
Give them lots of encouragement and don't let them say this is so hard, "It's not hard, it's just new."

We've Been Booed!

2010-10-17T15:48:00.000-07:00

We got booed this week and the kids just thought that was so cool. Someone from the neighborhood left a treat, a Boo Ghost, and a poem on our door step secretly. Then we are to make or buy a treat and do the same for two more neighbors. You should find a door that doesn't have a ghost on it that say's "We've Been Booed!" The kids wanted to go around the neighborhood and see who hasn't been booed. The thing I liked about this one is you can print it off the internet so you don't have to run to the copy center to copy the ghost and poem. There is still two weeks until Halloween, I'm sure you have time to get it started in your neighborhood. Here is the link for the poem and ghost. Happy Booing!

Wishing only wounds the heart

2010-10-12T21:30:00.000-07:00

Don't dream too far, Don't lose sight of who you are...(Words from "I'm Not that Girl")

This really sad song from "Wicked" has a very melancholy melody and theme. The message I take from it may be a bit unconventional. Sometimes I find myself wishing today away.

Oh I wish I had my degree already and wasn't in school, it's just so hard. Or, I wish my baby would sleep through the night, I'm so tired. I'm so bored, I've already cleaned my house today, my baby is sleeping, I'm so lonely. Or I wish we didn't have to buy diapers anymore.

All of these things I know I have said before, and maybe you are saying them now. But we all someday will get to a place where we look back and want those times back or wish we would have treasured that time more. I think of my brother who is out of state and wishing he was closer to family, just like I wish he was closer to us, but how could we both enjoy these times we are in right now! I think there are several things we can do:

1. Count you blessing: Look at today, and find everything you can that is great. This really helps me realize I do have many things to smile about, (well someday's it maybe only one, but finding one is important!)

2. Journaling: Put your thoughts and feelings in writing and take time to remember yesterday--this helps me keep life in perspective

3. Take one day at a time: Don't get caught up in getting so busy that we can't enjoy today--(I'm preaching to myself on this one!)

4. Serve--However busy you are or how much you really don't feel like serving anyone, it will change you for the better in every case. As you serve your life is lifted to new heights and not just you but others around you are changed. Your children will catch it. I know my mom serving others has made me look outside of myself because she did the same.

5. Take time to meditate--A quiet minute might be all you have but take time to mediate or pray. Don't lose sight of who you really are. You are so much more.

I would love to hear your ideas of things you do to keep today beautiful and not just wish it away.

Sleepovers

2010-10-08T23:20:00.000-07:00

So my husband and I have heard from four different people we respect that sleepovers are not a good idea for kids. Most of the reasons why have been very similar. Two policeman we know said that they have seen many kids 1. got in trouble with the law for the first time at a sleepover; 2. experimented with drugs or alcohol 3. were molested by other kids their age, an older sibling, or an adult, 4. saw inappropriate movies or pornographic images.
That was enough for me to decide our kids are not going to do sleepovers. If a friend has a sleepover party we will let them do a later night and then come home at curfew. Growing up we had a saying, "Nothing Good happens after midnight" I think you could put any curfew time in that phrase.
One parent we talked with said that their kids had the hardest time with the no sleepover rule when they were younger like 8-10 years old and then it became a no issue because the kids got use to the rule. I really enjoyed a talk given by Elder Larry R. Lawrence last week during General Conference. His talk was entitled "Courageous Parenting" Wow, what powerful examples and words he used! Here is what he said about sleepovers.

May I express my personal warning about a practice that is common in many cultures. I am referring to sleepovers, or spending the night at the home of a friend. As a bishop I discovered that too many youth violated the Word of Wisdom or the law of chastity for the first time as part of a sleepover. Too often their first exposure to pornography and even their first encounter with the police occurred when they were spending the night away from home.

Peer pressure becomes more powerful when our children are away from our influence and when their defenses are weakened late at night. If you have ever felt uneasy about an overnight activity, don’t be afraid to respond to that warning voice inside. Always be prayerful when it comes to protecting your precious children.

Couldn't even see the floor!

2010-10-01T21:20:00.000-07:00

Is your kids room this messy? I really don't think my kids have had it messier. We had so many clothes and toys on the floor I could barely get in the doorway. I ignored it this week and then today I said "Enough! We have to do something about this!" So we (I helped) set a timer for 30 minutes and started cleaning. We even cleaned out drawers because they were all disorganized. When the time rang we only had a little bit left on the floor and it was so great. I knew if I didn't help them it wouldn't get done, or it would take them all afternoon, and we had soccer practice to get to.

Any ideas to teach cleanliness without you being the one to always do it? I don't want to raise a slob. I hope my boys will be a blessing to their wives by being clean and already in the habit of cleaning up after themselves. One idea I heard from my boys friend is he doesn't get breakfast until his room is clean. I'm thinking that would be a good idea. My boys are very into food so that may work. It's so much easier to get it done in the morning too and then just keep it clean. Any other things that have worked for you?

Encourage Individual Spirituality

2010-09-29T07:30:00.000-07:00

One thing our schools do not teach our children is spirituality. We can't rely on anyone else to teach this to our children. I know that once a week in church is not nearly enough to help our children be strong and spiritual giants. Because of this we as parents need to attend daily to this aspect of our children's life. Just like feeding their bodies, their spirits are hungry and waiting to be fed.

Each of our children are so different and learn in such different ways that I want I help each by doing many things that will touch their spirits and help them recognize where those feelings come from. My children are still fairly young but we are trying to set up some spiritual traditions that will hopefully spiritually fortify them and they will want to continue this throughout their life. I liked this quote that was in this months Visiting Teaching Message:

“What can we do to better prepare our children spiritually for their eternal roles?” asked ElderM. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. “Perhaps the most inclusive answer is: Teach them how to live the principles of the gospel.” This teaching comes through daily prayer, scripture study, and family mealtimes as well as weekly family home evening and Church attendance. Elder Ballard explains: “We prepare each day, right now, for eternal life. If we are not preparing for eternal life, we are preparing for something less, perhaps something far less.”²

Here is five traditions we are working to establish in our home:

1. Personal Prayers: This hasn't been something I have been great at. We took a Marriage and Family Relationship class recently that confirmed to me that I need to be better at this and help my children in the same way. So this summer I started kneeling down with each of my children before they go to bed and say a personal prayer. My two older boys have lately been telling me they want to do it on their own, which is wonderful. My two girls will now not go to bed until I say prayers with them. This just makes me tickled to think they are remembering and want to do it.

2. Mormon Messages: We have recently been watching one or two Mormon messages on Sunday afternoons. Wow, these have been such a blessing. The messages have all been so powerful and spiritual. Last week I was crying as we watched one about the power of the priesthood. One of the kids said when it was done, "Mom I can tell you were crying" And I took the opportunity to explain that this is one of the ways the holy ghost speaks to me. It was a special time. You can find Mormon messages on lds.org

3. The Friend Magazine: I'm way excited that my children are at a point that they are fighting over who gets to look at the new Friend Magazine first. I don't like the fighting but you know what I mean. =) They devour those stories. During quiet time on Sunday instead of a regular story book I read their choice of magazine article. I've done this with the boys for a long time and now they are old enough that they are reading them on their own.

4. Scripture Study: In the morning we have decided to gather before breakfast to read scriptures. We have a goal of starting every morning at the same time. We even wake up the little ones if they are still sleeping. We don't read a lot but those that can read have their own set of scriptures they read from and the girls read one or two verses with help from mom or dad. We are getting more out of our reading then we were when we were doing it while eating breakfast. My challenge is to have breakfast and lunches ready before scripture study so I can be more a part of the activity. At night we read a few pages of the Illustrated scriptures you can get at church distribution. This really helps the children "see" and understand the stories.

5. Family Meals: I believe the tradition of sitting together as a family during meals will help a child in many ways. At dinner we give each person an opportunity to say their best and worst thing of the day. They love their turn and giving them a highlight during dinner I think really strengthens them as an individual to know they are important in this family.

I'm grateful for the spiritual traditions my parents gave to me that I can pass on to my own children, just as I hope my children can pass on to theirs. I would love to hear some of your traditions that are working in your home. Please leave a comment!!

Family Minute

2010-09-25T09:22:00.000-07:00

I really enjoy the Family Minutes on the Radio with Mark Merrill. My friend sent this to me and I really like it. Its a tool you can use when your child has done something wrong (this could only be used for children old enough to read and write). After I have found that that have done something wrong, often, my child gets really upset and angry. This worksheet really helps the child identify the problem and the feelings they are having. They take it to their bedroom and work on this worksheet. When they are done then they bring it to you and you can discuss it together. I have used it a few times and it really helped. By the time my boy brought me the paper, he wasn't upset anymore and he was ready to discuss the problem. Not to mention I was ready as well. Try it and let me know if it worked for you. You may have a technique that already works well for you, please share. Here is the link if you want to be able to print this out to use. Thanks Lisa for sharing this with me!
http://www.familyminute.com/tools/training-tools/think-about-it

Be specific in your Praise

2010-09-14T21:14:00.000-07:00

Another tip from our experienced parents, and newly empty-nesters. When you praise your children, be very specific. Also be careful about the kind of praise you give. If you are constantly saying to your "cute" little girl. You are so cute. What message are you really sending. Is being cute all that is important to you? Is that her talent? The example was given of a girl who was told this constantly by friends and family and at the young age of 2 or 3 she was spending much too long in front of the mirror getting ready in the morning because she wanted to make sure she was cute. Praise that would be more beneficial to your child could be, "Wow, look at your drawing, you worked hard on that." or "Thank you for helping today in the kitchen, you are a great helper."

The wife cited a study about the difference praise from others can really effect a child's thinking and then behavior. I found an article that references the study, I'll do a quick summary and then you can follow the article link and read more if you are interested (it is very well written).

Basically a study was done on two different fifth-grade classrooms. Both equally smart children. After performing a test out in hallway half the children were praised with "You must be smart at this", and the other half were praised with "you must have worked really hard." Those who were praised fro the intelligence in the end of the study always chose the easy questions and opted out of the hard problems. The opposite group were not afraid of trying harder problems and were not afraid of getting the answers wrong.

I know I can really work on this, with all of my own children. Being specific in what they do and how I appreciate them.

Research Article on Praise

Love your children and your husband the way they want to be loved

2010-09-09T13:47:00.000-07:00

I've been mulling over this idea for a while since we had a great evening of dinner, fun and games and then a couple spoke about things that they felt really helped them raising their family. They are recently empty nesters and had some wonderful thoughts.
Love your children and your husband the way they want to be loved.
Basically it is to truly take an interest and not only an interest but learn to love to do the things your children love. He gave the example that when he got married his wife just loved horses. He hoped that she would get over it and move on to other things they enjoyed together. He got her a couple horses and he helped take care of it. At first he hated and despised taking care and cleaning up after the horses. She just loved these horses and loved riding them. One day he had a moment where he realized that she was not going to get over horses and so he decided that day that he would start loving horses as well and find enjoyment in it because it meant so much to his wife. He even prayed for help to find the joy in it. Now he loves every part of having horses. It's a great thing they enjoy together. It's brought them closer together.
This can be applied to your children just as easily. Is there something that your child loves that you could really love them the way they want to be loved and take an interest in it? It really has made me evaluate my own relationship with each of my children and my husband. How can I better love my family. It can be really simple things like back scratches, foot rubs, or just listening to them when they come home from school and work. Don't we all want to be loved the way we want to be loved? I know by doing this it will come back to us in love ten fold. I think it''s definitely something to consider and mull over.

Scary Automatic Flushers

2010-08-27T10:59:00.000-07:00

Our youngest is potty training and it's going much better then the older kids. We have only hit one problem. Going to the bathroom in public. Just last week we went to a public bathroom with automatic flushers and while she was sitting on the toilet it flushed and it was really loud. It scared her so bad she refused to even sit on the toilet. Now going anywhere besides our own toilet is really scary for her. Dilemma!
Well I talked with a friend who gave me really great advise. She actually sits on the toilet with them so the toilet won't flush while their on it. We tried it and it worked. Now I don't think I want to be doing this for a really long time but for now while she is getting use to the whole toilet thing, it's better then pee all over the supermarket floor. Anyone else found anything that helps with going to the bathroom in public?

Summer Blues

2010-08-08T20:35:00.000-07:00

We are encroaching school very soon and my kids are getting blue. There just seems to be a little more whining about doing their jobs and a little more fighting. I wish I had a simple solution to keep spirits up but I'm lacking for ideas. Please post your ideas in comments to keep summer fun until school starts. Here is a few that I've found that have helped.
1. Make a daily plan with your kids. This works well in the morning to talk about the things they want to do that day. If its play with friends, go to the park, have a picnic, go on a bike ride, do sprinklers in the backyard, or make cookies together. I have also tried this when the kids have had play dates with friends. I tell them I want them to be able to do a variety of fun things. One day my oldest and his friend made this plan.
--Play Lego Star Wars (on the Wii) for 1 hour
--Make a treat and eat it
--Play outside
--Play Lego's in my room

It worked so well, no fighting with the boys, they had a great time and they enjoyed doing a variety of things.

2. Work on Scout Requirements. If your boys are 8 years or older they had so many scout requirements that work well to do in the summer. You could have them choose one thing to do a day for the rest of the summer.

3. Do a little bit of school readiness everyday. Math facts, spelling, handwriting are all going to be a part of their day all day in just a few weeks so help them prepare by doing a few worksheets everyday. I have a new favorite website for homework help. It's called spellingcity.com. Make a parent account and you can make your own spelling lists for the kids and it saves them for you. The kids can play games with those words and later get quizzed on them. I'm totally going to use this during the year with their spelling lists.

4. Make a family goal to accomplish something before school starts. It could be a book you read together as a family, have a family walk every night, a work-yard project, not use your car as much as you can, getting every ones teeth brushed everyday, whatever it is. And then you can have a reward for the family for accomplishing it.

OK this is all I have, I'm needed some other ideas for my own sanity, please... anything has got to help! =)
Happy August to all and enjoy the rest of this time with your children.

Why do my kids go to a Charter School?

2010-07-23T15:12:00.000-07:00

With the school year approaching I have been reflecting on why I am choosing to send my children to a Charter school when a brand new school will be opening up that they can walk or ride their bike to. My oldest child has been going to the same charter school for 4 years. Here is why I like our charter school:

I really love the consistency and continuity of the curriculum. Each teacher at the school teaches the same math, spelling, and reading program. When my kids go to another teacher for the next grade all the kids are on the same level and they are not trying to relearn because the new teacher has a different approach. This consistency is so comforting. Parents are also encouraged to take a class so we can better help our children at home with homework. This class has helped me so much.
I love the small feeling of the charter school. We feel like part of the Thomas Edison Charter School family
My kids have had an amazing academic experience every year and I see them progressing and challenged. I've never heard them complain that they are bored.
The positive environment the teachers and aides teach with (They are all trained by the Glenn Latham's positive approach to learning)
The arts play a big role in the education. Every grade attends PE taught by a PE teacher, music by a Music specialist, Art by an artist (a kiln has been installed in the new addition of the school so the students can preserve their artwork), Computer, Science, and Library are all taught by specialists. They also have an orchestra, band, and choir.
I love love the dress code. I never have to worry about what my kids where to school because I know and they know the standards, (solid colored shirt, solid colored pants or long shorts, no logos) We don't have to worry getting the name brand jeans or the "in" t-shirts. We never have battles about clothes for school and I really appreciate that
Parent Involvement is an essential part of the school. All parents are required to volunteer in some way at the school. It could be as simple as helping correct papers, reading with children, or serving on the parent board. The more parents that are involved is always a better situation for the students and teachers. With parents involved and helping the school can be a great place to be and the teachers can focus on the students more.
I feel welcome and wanted at the school. When my oldest was ready to go to Kindergarten. I wanted to make an educated decision about where to send him to Elementary school. So I went to both school, the charter school and the local school. I went to our local school first because I actually was working as a music therapy supervisor in the special education classroom. I asked the secretary if I could see a Kindergarten class. She looked at me like I was crazy. She told me I would need to schedule an appointment to come so the teacher would be prepared that I was coming. But I was introduced to the principal who took me to the library and answered some questions I had. He then let me go visit one of the kindergarten classes. They were watching an educational cartoon. I'm sure it was just an off day but I wasn't impressed with the environment. I then went to Thomas Edison Charter School and asked the same thing and they took me to a kindergarten class and I stayed for a half hour and just watched the teaching. I was so impressed. The kids were at their desks doing Phonographs and then they did some math. They had two aides that went around to the children that needed assistance while the teacher was teaching. The teacher was very positive encouraged participation. The kids were not bored they were sitting tall in their chairs and were actively listening. I knew this is where my son would learn and get the most from his education.
I love our principal, Eldon Budge. He knows me and my children by name and always says hi and is open to feedback and questions.
It's a public School and is FREE- Most people I have talked to about charter schools don't know that it is a public school and is free to everyone that goes.
Starting this year the school grades offered are K-8th grade. If my children choose, which I will encourage they can stay at TECS until they go to high school. The Jr High and Middle School drama and teasing is much lessened. I helped with the middle school end of year party and was very impressed with how well behaved these kids were. They dress modestly and in turn their behavior is appropriate.

My advise if you are even curious about a charter school is go visit and ask questions. If you don't set foot in the school and the classroom it's hard to know if it's right for you and your children. My oldest will start fourth grade this year and I'm excited to begin another school year of learning. It's worth the driving back and forth to drop and pick them up from school, and even worth not having all their neighborhood friends in the same school.
Here is the website to our school if you want to check it out. Thomas Edison Charter School

Keeping Busy

2010-06-24T21:18:00.000-07:00

So I haven't been posting as regularly because I've been working on my new project. I have started a new preschool called Music Train Preschool. This has been really fun but has taken quite a bit of my time organizing. I started a Music Train Preschool Blog which I will help me communicate with parents throughout the school year. I will feature our weekly theme and give ideas that will help them reinforce the skills we learn in preschool. I am really excited because I just filled my Tuesday and Thursday Class with the cutest kids. I will only take six children per class. This will help me give more individual attention to each student. Music will be an integral part of our Preschool. I will use music (singing, instrument playing, dancing, rhythm, and rhyme) to reinforce all the learning. It is something I know I will enjoy. Most children I have interacted connect so fully with music. The music helps engage and provide a whole learning experience. Even though music will be a central part of the preschool experience I am planning a very well-rounded environment filled with, arts and crafts, reading, math, snacks, outside play, show and tell, field trips, free-play, and more. My personal philosophy is Preschools primary importance is to prepare children for Kindergarten by providing an opportunity for children to interact nicely with other children their age, and learn how to be away from mom and dad and listen to another adult. If they learn more then that then off course that is wonderful. If you have any question or are interested in learning more please visit my blog at: musictrainpreschool.blogspot.com Even if you aren't signed up for Preschool you may find some of the posts interesting if you have a preschooler at home.

Encouraging Summer Reading

2010-06-08T14:48:00.000-07:00

My kids are excited about a couple of reading programs this summer.

1st -- Library Summer Reading program. I'm sure all Libraries have some program that encourages reading. We get coupons, and this is for even the adults, each week if we read so many hours. It's so great. At the end of the summer there is a fun party. My kids look forward to it every year.

2nd --I've had several e-mails about the the Borders Books. Here is the link to the form:

http://media.bordersstores.com/pdf/summerreading.pdf

After your child reads 10 books - they get a FREE book from Borders! On the bottom of the form there is specific books that you child can choose from. This is for children 12 and under. Most of the books are chapter books but hey it's a free book to work towards!

3rd --The Read and Win Program

For Children 6-12 years old. Deadline is July 22nd. Read 10 books and receive a free ticket to the Utah State Fair in SLC. For a form you can e-mail Jamie at jamie@utahstatefair.com The state fair is Sept. 9-19.

Any other ideas? I would love them in the comments!

Happy Reading!

Eating more Veggies

2010-05-20T10:45:00.000-07:00

Have you heard of having a rabbit bowl in your fridge? A rabbit bowl is a bowl or container that has veggies ready to eat at all times just like rabbits. My friend Alison has a rabbit bowl and my kids started telling me about it so I had to ask her about it. Alison heard it from Hannah Keely. It's been a hit, as long as I keep it stocked.

So now when the kids are hungry they can get in the rabbit bowl anytime. I even use it when they want a cookie or treat in between meals. I tell them they can have a cookie after they have a couple veggies from the rabbit bowl. They also love when I put fruit in there too.

Love and Logic Quick tips

2010-04-23T20:26:00.000-07:00

I've been wanted to put up a post about a class I took a while back. It was a Love and Logic Basic Class. I'm just going to put some of my favorite tips I got that night.
1. Set a good example by stopping yourself before you show anger or frustration, yell, threaten, lecture, use sarcasm, criticize, blame, etc. These are traps that let the child focus on our emotions rather than their bad decisions. (I found this is true in our marriage relationships as well.)
2. When our kids make bad choices let experience and natural consequences do the teaching. Don't rob or rescue them from these teaching moments.
3. When toddlers do something you don't like, use the "Uh-oh" Song. The "Uh-oh" song is actually sung while you take your toddler for a little away time. This allows you not to get angry and the toddler away from the situation. Example, The child hits dog with a toy hammer, or toddler is throwing food (or spitting) from high chair, throwing dirt from your potted plants in the house, they are screaming and crying for no apparent reason while you are having dinner, story time, or company is over. This down time is short, just enough time for them and you to calm down. This is what I sing, "Uh-oh, time for a little play-pen time" and then I as nicely as I can sing this while I carry them to their play-pen. And yes I think you can start this as early as 1 year old. Kids are smart, why let them get away with something now and try to back track latter when they are older.
4. When kids whine or argue use a "brain dead" statement by saying in a calm voice, "I know" or what did I say?"
Grandparents can use these same strategies when watching their grandchildren. Grandchildren respect their grandparents when they know where the limits are while visiting.

Examples of situations where you can use love and logic.

Kid is begging for a toy in the store (Empathy and choices you can live with)
"I can see why a kid would love a toy like that." (wait and stay quiet for a minute) "Do you have the money to buy that?" "No? Some kids put toys like that on a wish list for birthdays or Christmas. How would that work for you? and "No? Some kids do extra chores to earn the money. How would that work for you?"

Kids won't eat what you cooked. (Consequences)
"Dinner is on the table for ten more minutes, get what you need to hold you over until breakfast"

Kid won't pick up the toys he played with. (Enforceable statement)
"Whoa, I see toys on the floor. Grandma might trip on those. Grandpa will tell you a favorite story as soon as those toys are back in the box. Ready, set, go...!"

Online School Helpers

2010-04-09T09:23:00.000-07:00

I've discovered a couple websites that my kids have enjoyed to help them with their Math and Spelling.

Spelling: We do a word search each week with their spelling words. If we have time, I have them enter their own words by typing them into the computer. This really helps them memorize the words. This is the word search website we like. I usually just type in word search maker in my Google search to find it. It even saves your past word searchs. I like that you can select what directions up, down, backwards, forwards, diagonals to fit the age of your child.

Math: Are you kids tired of their flash cards? This is an online math game to test speed and accuracy. You can make it as easy or as hard as you like. Click here for the math game. We have used this during spring break to keep their minds active.

Have you found any websites that are helpful for your kids in reinforcing school concepts? Please share in comments.

Setting up rules in your home

2010-04-06T20:15:00.000-07:00

I've been contemplating an issue I keep running into that I'm going to try to write out. My thoughts are still developing.
Here is a couple scenario I've had with my own kids lately to preface my thoughts.
A school choir concert is happening where my child will be performing with the rest of his class. My child doesn't "feel" like going.
My child is playing with his friends at our home and cub scouts is going to start in 15 minutes and all the boys say they don't want to go this one time.

Wouldn't it be so much easier to just stay home, I think to myself. I'm tired, or I'm in the middle of making dinner we all could just stay home. But then I awaken and think, he has teachers, leaders and peers waiting on him, counting on him to do his part. If he doesn't go today how much easier will it be for him to say the same thing next week or next time?

What if the same child says, I don't "feel" like going to church today? When does his agency come into effect? Doesn't he get to "choose" to do what he wants to? This has probably happened or will happen for school as well.

So here is my thoughts in this matter because I think this will only be the beginning of battles that I have to decide if I am going to fight or not. First of all I have to decide what do I value. Because what I think is most important and want to instill in my own children is worth fighting for. If I want to my children to know that church is very important, then I'm going to insist that my children come to church with me. To me music lessons are important enough that I will insist they keep playing until they reach a certain age or level of playing. That's what every parent needs to decide for themselves, what is important enough. Another thing I think is really important is to support each other by attending their activities. This shows that we care and love each other, even though their part may be small. My parents were so excellent in teaching this to me. They still do everything they can to come to any of our performances or activities.

I am developing my mantra that I say, "In our home we, ________________, and you can decide what attitude you will have doing it." I think when your children live in your home their are certain rules that you can set for them to obey. After they move out of the house they may choose to live by certain rules and that is their choose but when they are in your home, they abide by your rules.
I wanted to end with a part of an article I found that I really like.

Family Rules

Firm and unwavering family rules help these youth stay on course. A group of teenagers from the Atlanta Georgia Stake admit that they appreciate the rules their parents set. “I’d never tell my parents this,” one young man says, “but I don’t mind the rules we have at our home. Sometimes I’ll ask my parents to let me do something I know I shouldn’t, and I complain when they say no, but I’d be really disappointed if they gave in to me.”

Jennie Busker appreciates rules because they provide an excuse to give her friends when they want to do something she feels uncomfortable about. “Once my friend wanted me to go with her to her boyfriend’s house after work,” she relates. “I didn’t want to go and said I didn’t think my mom would let me. She kept pushing me to go, and I’m afraid I would have if my parents hadn’t said no.” Other youth agree. “Sometimes it’s hard to tell your friends no. You don’t want to hurt their feelings, so you need to have your parents as a backup.”

In order for rules to be really effective, they should be fair and consistent. Some family rules, many Atlanta teens say, are non-negotiable—no dating before sixteen, and church attendance, for example. Others are more open. Families often use family councils or family home evenings to discuss such rules. After hearing the input of their teens, some families have established a curfew. Others have a variable curfew and ask only that their children let them know where they are at all times. Within these broad guidelines, the youth are generally allowed to plan their own activities.

Consistency is another must in establishing rules. Once a rule is set and a consequence decided upon, both parents need to follow through. “Next times” do not always work. “If I hear ‘next time you do this’ too often,” one girl says, “I know nothing will ever happen. I know I can go out and break the rule.” When parents do not remain firm (unless circumstances suggest otherwise), their children feel the rules and the values they represent are really not very important.

Sometimes following through on the consequences may seem harsh. Laura Busker tells of one experience she had. “My mother had told me that I could not go out one Saturday night until I finished my seminary homework. (My mother is the teacher.) Well, I put it off and put it off and when my date came, I had not started. I wanted to leave, but Mom stood firm. I had to do my work while my date waited. That may seem silly or mean to some people, and I wasn’t too excited about it at the time, but that experience taught me how important seminary and learning the gospel were to my mother. And you can be sure I never put it off again. I learned my lesson.”

Although follow-through is important, circumstances also need to be considered. In some situations, consequences might be more effective if they are a little more lenient. Kim Kotter of the Tucker Georgia Stake had gone to a stake dance with some friends from her ward. When it was time to come home, they could not find one of their group. By the time they found her and arrived home, Kim was much later than she should have been. Kim’s father recognized the difficulty of her situation and, instead of becoming angry, picked up the phone and said, “Phone, may I introduce you to Kim. Kim, this is the phone.” In this humorous and calm response, he let Kim know that her curfew was still important and that he would have liked a phone call telling him of the problem, but that he also understood what had happened.

When parents remain firm in their standards and guidelines, children also learn to stand firm. Jane Danneman, a counselor in the Young Women presidency of the Marietta Georgia Stake, says that teens do not bend to peer pressure unless their parents do. If parents give in to the repeated requests of their children, their children are more likely to give in to the repeated requests of their peers. Teenagers are quick to notice any form of hypocrisy. If they see that their parents are not truly committed to the gospel and to living its standards, they feel no need to be committed themselves. But when parents are unwavering in the rules they set and the lives they live, their children are more likely to stand firm, too.

Guidelines and rules are important in the lives of these Atlanta youth, but most who are doing well do not think of their parents primarily as law-givers. A common feeling among these teenagers is that their parents are friends—people they can talk to about anything.

Friendly Rules by Anesen, Ensign Jan. 1985

Conference Games

2010-04-01T11:23:00.000-07:00

I'm looking forward to conference this weekend. There are things we can do before conference to help make this special weekend a good experience for the whole family. Here is some ideas:

Have some quiet activities ready that will help keep interested.

Some I thought of...Puzzles, play dough, coloring, The Friend Magazine,
Just keeping your kids quiet while you try to hear conference can be a chore. My mom just told me the lds.org website has a resource for parents for conference games and activities. Visit this website at: https://beta.lds.org/general-conference/children?locale=eng I think this is new. I really like the conference bingo because it has seven different bingo sheets so everyone doesn't get bingo at the same time. There is also some online matching games to familiar your children to the prophets and apostles.

One thing our extended family has done for years that helps everyone is to share with each other our favorite talk, or thought that you got out of conference. Many tears has been shed as we share with each other our testimonies and things that touched us.
Taking a break in between conference to help get wiggles out is really important. Go for a walk, stretch, anything that helps change the scenery will help. In Logan we might be shoveling snow in between conference, who knows.

I would love some more ideas. What do you do to help make conference special in your homes?

Let your Babysitting worries vanish away!

2010-03-19T19:32:00.000-07:00

Picture of our coupons (the date night coupons are red but I'm out so I couldn't take a picture of one--tilt your head and you can read it! =)

Who doesn't ever have to go to the doctor, dentist, hair appointment, volunteer at the Elementary school, go to a craft store, or go on a date with your spouse. We love our kids and love to spend time with them, but there are times when we can't take them with us. For me it seemed like I was always using the same neighbor, or family member and I hated using them especially if they didn't ask me back to return the favor. And if I always hire a sitter for everything, I would go broke!

Here is an idea that may work for you... So I'm all about cooperation and her is an idea that I am loving! My friend Alison told me about her cousin who started a Babysitting Co-op in her neighborhood and she wanted to start one where we live. So we did and it has been great. Let me tell you about it and you may want to start your own of if you live in my neighborhood, you may want to join!

Here is how it works:

1. We will have a group of girls/families that will be a part of the co-op that you can swap babysitting with. You will be given a list of their names with contact information on it.

When you need a babysitter, you simply e-mail or call someone on the list to see if they are available. You can also send a group e-mail out to the whole group and say you need a babysitter at this time and date. Then anyone who is available and willing can get back with you. You may also choose only to ask a few people that you know really well to watch your kids. That is completely up to you.

2. You "pay" your babysitter with co-op coupons. You "earn" coupons by babysitting

3. Everyone gets 10 babysitting coupons to start out with and 1 date night coupon.

Babysitting coupons = 1 hour per child (example: 3 kids & 1 hour = 3 coupons or 2 kids- 2 hours=4 coupons)

Date Night = 4 hours for all your kids so you can go on a date

4. You can be as involved as much or as little as you want or need.

Everyone starts out with 10 regular coupons and 1 date night coupon with a list of those who would like to do. We made these coupons different colors so it would be easy to find them.

We thought we would start out with 15 girls and see how it works. This is not a click or club, we don't want to make people feel excluded.

Side note: There may be somewhere you need to go that you would like to keep private. I think it would be a good idea to have a policy that you don't need to say where your going or what your doing. (what if your pregnant and don't want to share with everyone quite yet, or you just don't want to have to tell everyone you are doing a secret service, whatever it is) Privacy will be respected.

Also with the flu season in full force, please be cautious in sending your kids if they are sick.

So we have been doing this since December and I think it's working very well. I really like that if I need to go somewhere I can send a quick e-mail to the whole group and whoever can and wants to babysit for me replies back to me and says they can. It saves a bunch of time and you don't feel like your asking someone and they really don't want to but they can't say no so they say yes. I also like to make sure I'm watching enough of other people kids so I have coupons for when I need them. If I run out of coupons I know I need to babysit some more. Alison made really cute coupons and then we laminated them so they would last for a while. Let me know if you have any questions about it.
If you want to start a group my first suggestion is to find a friend you really like to help you start it. Then work together to create a list of people who would potentially use the co-op. Then contact each of them by phone or e-mail to explain how the co-op works. Then make enough coupons for the whole group. Pass out the coupons and give each family the list of everyone in the group with their e-mail, phone and address. You may also want to include a list of rules so everyone would remember how it works. One of the rules is if someone decides to not be in the group anymore they simple return their 11 coupons to the group leader. Easy right, well it did take a bit of time at first but now that it's running it is smooth sailing just as long as people use and earn coupons. It just may be the solution to your babysitter worries.

Homework Helps

2010-02-17T12:24:00.000-08:00

These are pictures of the homework tote I won yesterday at a class. Look below how I'm going to use this to help make homework a breeze!

I went to a very helpful class last night that focused on ideas to make Homework a little easier for both parents and children. Here are the things I'm going to try to do:

Set a regular time-- For us this will be a different time everyday depending on the schedule. But it made a lot of sense to me when they said if everyone in the family is doing "homework" you will have less contention about doing it. Sometimes my younger children will be watching a cartoon while the older children are doing their homework and it is such a distraction for them. Early grades spend about 10-20 minutes plus 20 minutes reading time. 3rd-6th grade spend about 30-60 minutes and Higher grades spend 1-3 hours a night. So now we will all participate in some type of homework based on their age level. I'll get more into that later.

Have a regular place-- Not every home has space for a special homework place but you can convert the kitchen table, bar, The child's room at a desk or in the front room about the sofa table to a regular homework place very easily.

Have supplies handy--Keep school supplies in a tote or old shoe box so all the materials needed can be placed at the regular homework place. I really liked this idea. Half the time at our house the kids are running around looking for a sharp pencil, and then some crayons, and them some paper. I was lucky enough to win the homework tote the presenter gave out last night. Here is a list of items that could be in here:

Crayons, pencils, markers, pencil sharpener, erasers, glue or paste, tape, writing paper, construction paper, hole punch, stapler, scissors, dictionary, paper clips. I'm going to add some board books, flash cards (index cards), and coloring book or pages for my younger ones not in school.

Check Homework--After homework is complete it's important to look over it. Make sure it's their best work. Is the handwriting legible? Did they understand the concepts? Compliment them on a good job. Ask them questions about their work.

Reading Practice--This is a good time to hear them read after they complete their written homework.

So we are going to try this new idea of Family Homework Power Hour. Everyone will get to spend time during this homework hour doing reading, worksheets, flashcards, coloring at the kitchen table. I'll put the homework tote up and set the timer and off we go. I will also make myself available to help. Tonight is the first night we will try it. Cross your fingers and hope for the best. (Whenever I start something new, I usually have one child kicking and screaming because it's a change) I'm going to try to involve even my 18 month old. She loves to color and be read to. I know she won't last the full hour but it will good for what she can do. I think I will have some quiet toys she can play with after she has had her full of homework.

School is your child's job.

Make sure they understand that you expect them to do their best work and to finish their homework.

If the homework is consistently too difficult talk with the teacher.

Using rewards can be helpful but shouldn't be over used. Some non-material things can work as great rewards like: Getting five extra minutes playing video games, Picking the book you read at bedtime. Do what works for your child.

What you do at home to support your child's learning is very important.

Parent Involvement=Student Success

I'm so excited to start using the homework tote and the family power hour.

FYI: This Presentation was done by Claudia who represents The Family Information and Resource Center. Find them online at www.Loganfamilycenter.org or read their blog at www.Loganfamilycenter.blogspot.com

A toy I can make!

2010-02-01T12:00:00.000-08:00

I am not the most creative person, and I rarely make things but I have found an easy toy that my babies have enjoyed, and I actually can make it. I have made one for each of my kids and now I've made a few for neighbors and family for presents. Here are the simple steps.

Materals needed: empty can with lid (I use a hot cocoa container or a formula can)

used canning lids

colorful stickers

razor blade or knife

Step 1: Clean out the can with a damp paper towel (don't get too wet because the container is cardboard

Step 2: Make a opening on the top with your razor blade or knife. The opening should be just big enough for a canning lid to slid through the opening. (pictured below)

Step 3- Decorate outside of can and each lid with stickers. I like to write the child's name on the can somewhere with a permanent marker or with stickers
Step 4: Your done! Now try it out. This is Peanut playing with her new toy. She will put all of the lids in by herself and then she brings it to me to open again and again. It's a fun game for her. She likes the praise I give her after she puts them all in.
This is the finished product. Very simple as you can see but my kids loved it between the ages of 9 months to about 2 1/2 years. Great for hand-eye coordination and fine motor skill development. It's a precursor activity to doing simple puzzles.

The toy doesn't last forever so that is why I made one for each of my kids. But hey it cost near to nothing to make and you recycle garbage! Win Win!

Let me know if any of you try it and like it. Have you made any toys you can share with us. If it's too complicated I may not be able to do it, but I'll try! =)

Reading great books to our children

2010-01-22T11:49:00.000-08:00

I was so grateful for many other mom's who told me when I was expecting to build in reading to my first baby from day one. I took it to heart and I would read out loud to my baby when I was nursing. I also got some really fun board books as baby gifts that I would read while he sat on my lap. Somedays we could read one page, and other days we could read the whole book. But I found that if I didn't include it in the regular schedule it didn't happen. So I started reading a book before every nap and before going to bed at night. It became and still is one of my favorite time of the day. When I have more then one child who is getting ready for bed or nap time I like to let each one choose a story to read.

We don't own a ton of books but they sure get used. Part of the fun is reading a book over and over. Repetition is so good. It's fun to stop reading and have them fill in the blank, I'm surprised how much they remember.

The other thing I think is really important is having a routine of going to the library. It not only saves you money by not paying any late fees but it also is something your child will look forward to. I don't think you have to have a huge library to experience benefits from going to the library. Just by allowing your children to have the choice to pick a number of books give them some control over their environment. They are so use to having us tell them when to go to bed, what to eat, where we are going, etc. it's so healthy to give them opportunities where they get to chose.

I like to look for books that emphasis things I'm trying to teach my children. When they are learning to potty train we get books about going potty, and when we are learning about respecting others or obeying I find books that will help discuss this.

I'm sure you all know that reading has so many proven benefits to children. Without making it a priority it's sure easier said then done. Benefits I have seen from reading to my children:

1. Providing physical closeness and cuddling

2. Gives them opportunity for healthy choices

3. Develops the love of reading

4. Helps them to start recognizing words, letter for reading readiness

5. Provides learning opportunities

What ways have you noticed reading helps your kids? I'm sure we could get a top ten list.

Also where and when do you like to read to your kids?

Playlists for cleaning!

2010-01-08T06:30:00.000-08:00

So with the new year I thought I would share a fun cleaning tip I started using a few months ago. This goes nicely with a new years resolution of keeping my house clean. This is a challenge for me so I wanted to make it fun. So being a music lover and also a wannabe fly baby I always clean to music. I also like to set a goal of getting so much done in an allotted amount of time. So I started making playlists on my I-tunes. It is awesome. I have a Blessing your home playlist, Kitchen clean up playlist, a 10 kid pickup list, a Zone clean up list. I fill the lists with my favorite music that will help energize and inspire me. This year I'm going to add a e-mail/blog read playlist. When the music is done, I need to do something else. What this does for me is it keeps me focused and doesn't let me get carried away on something so long that I forget other aspects of the day. Call me crazy but it's music therapy for me. So I'm going to fly away now and start my hourly dream clean! Happy new year goals for you.

Food Co-op

2010-01-05T19:32:00.001-08:00

Do you enjoy having fresh fruits and veggies for your family? By providing a variety of foods to my kids I hope it is helping their diet to be well rounded and nutritious. Good habits can start young.

It can get expensive to provide a variety of fruits and veggies year round. I have found a way to save money through two Food Co-ops. One I have already blogged about (Community of Food Co-op of Utah) and I discovered a new one called Bountiful Baskets. Bountiful Baskets is in four states: Utah, Arizona, Washington, and Idaho. You get a ton of variety wonderful fresh quality. It's run by volunteers and the food is purchased in bulk so you the benefit of great prices.

Last week we got, green lettuce, radishes, celery, onions, pineapple, bananas, oranges, pears, mini watermelon, apples, and Brussels sprouts. I might have missed something. So it filled a cooler and we couldn't put the lid on it was so full. We paid 19.50 for all that. I have a friend who for several months priced it out and she always came out ahead. I don't even bother to count-it's a great deal. Anyway don't take my word for it. Check out their website. They do this every other week. I have a membership to Costco and my complaint of getting fruit and veggies their is you get a ton of one item. It wasn't working because a lot of the produce would go bad before we could use it all. The amount you get with the co-op is a reasonable amount for one family to eat without getting sick of it before its gone.

I had been doing another food-coop which I still also love but their isn't a pickup site close to my home so it makes it more difficult. The Community of Food Coop of Utah is done once a month and includes not only fruits and vegetables but grains and meats. They even take food stamps. It's worth checking into as well!

Christmas Aftermath

2009-12-29T16:32:00.000-08:00

My kids are quite wound up with all the Christmas celebrations and no school for another week. Just a few things we have done to keep them doing productive things:

Make some play dates with school and neighbor friends

Have some cousin play dates

For your boys or girls that are involved with scouts and activity days, Do one activity a day that will help them pass off a requirement.

Have them help you with some household cleaning or projects.

Have a game party (each person picks a favorite game and write their name with their game on a piece of paper. Take turns by pulling out the name out. We had games like hide and go seek, tag, memory, Wii Mario Cart.

Do a puzzle activity and involve the whole family who can participate
The kids got bubble bath for Christmas, on a cold day a nice hot bath is a fun idea.

What kind of things have you done to keep the kids busy over Christmas Break? Share some of your fun activities!

Small and Simple Things

2009-12-06T13:13:00.000-08:00

Anyone read Marjorie Pay Hinckley's book Small and Simple Things? I picked it up at the library and it made great bathroom reading material. I found some wonderful gems of wisdom on parenting that I thought I would share here.

"When our children were all at home and making bread was part of the routine, a friend found an antique bread mixer for me. It was a simple bucket with a hook attached to a handle. A clamp secured it to the table and it was operated by the children, who took turns "spelling each other off" as we did away with old method of kneading. It is one of the objects that remains a family treasure because of the part it played in our communal venture of bread making. Even still, the smell of bread baking somehow slows down the world and feeds my soul in a small and simple way."

--I love that she reminds us how simple traditions we do in our home now if we allow our children to get involved will provide treasured memories for a lifetime.

"The trick is to enjoy life. Don't wish away your days, waiting for better ones ahead."

"It is good to kneel as a family and to hear daily expressions of gratitude to our Heavenly Father for the blessings we enjoy. The Lord intended his children to enjoy the good things of life. With all that we have, we must also have grateful hearts. We must teach our children not to take all that they have for granted. Thank you is a wonderful phrase. Use it. It will add stature to your soul. Never let a day go by without saying thank you to someone for something--and especially to your Heavenly Father.

"I know it is hard for you young mothers to believe that almost before you can turn around the children will be gone and you will be alone with your husband. You had better be sure you are developing the kind of love and friendship that will be delightful and enduring. Let the children learn from your attitude that he is important. Encourage him. Be kind. It is a rough world, and he, like everyone else, is fighting to survive. Be cheerful. Don't be a whiner."

--I sure love this because I know I could be so much better at this.

"Children rise higher when they are treated with respect. Use courteous and respectful language when you talk with your children and other. Bruno Bettelheim, a world-famous psychologist, said, "You can't teach children to be good. The best you can do for your child is to live a good life yourself. What a parent knows and believes, the child will lean on." You don't teach a child not to yell by yelling. We cannot expect to be respected if we treat others in demeaning ways."

I didn't even write half of the great quotes here but some of my favorite. If you need a pick me up and inspiring read this is a great one.

Count Down til Christmas-homemade project

2009-12-01T05:43:00.001-08:00

I love advent calendars and so do my kids. I made an advent calendar that is very simple that you can do at home with your kids very easily. You can find the complete file on excel and pdf on sugardoodle.net. Click on the above link to go directly there. It's a chain advent calendar. Simply cut the strips and tape or staple them together in a chain. The fun thing about this calendar is each day their is a task for your children to do to help keep the spirit of christmas in your home. Most of the tasks are services that they can do by themself. It starts December 1st, Enjoy.

Help me Hannah!

2009-11-30T20:16:00.000-08:00

I have a good friend who bought me this book she loves. It is called Hannah Keeley's Total Mom Makeover: The Six-week Plan to completely transform your Home, Health, Family, and Life. (quite the title) Well after staring at the book for a few weeks I finally broke into it last night. It is very well organized with daily tasks 5 out of the 7 days a week for six weeks.

The first day talks about what challenges mothers have today. These are different then the challenges our grandmothers and our mothers had when they were young mothers. We have so many options and choices about what to do, how to do that it is hard to decide. For instance, are we going to work full time, part time, at home, or not at all. Do we keep our kids home for school, send them to charter, private, or public school. The choices we make determines whether we sink or swim. So the first step to becoming a Total Mom according to Hannah is to forget about what you should be doing. There is so many things we should or could be doing that by trying to do all of these things will wear and tear us down. Quite feeling guilty. These feelings will leave us feeling powerless and hopeless.

Hannah challenges us to make a decision to change. Whatever in your live needs changing, commit to start today. Decisions have power behind them. Stop wishing for a nicer home or wishing we were 10 pounds lighter. A true decision comes with a launchpad underneath, like I will take steps to become healthier. Start now!

Each day there are journal entries to write so you can keep track of your progress and do some self reflecting.

Week One, Day One:

1. Things that bug me in my home, health, family and life (any burdens you have been carrying around).

I should have a cleaner and more organized office room: The office room is a disaster. I don't even know where to start.

I should be scrap booking for all my children these cute books that they will treasure in years to come

I should have more room to store my food storage so I can organize the food properly

I should eat less sweets and eat more fruits and veggies, but sometimes I just don't want to

I should be more patient with my children's constant nagging and needing of attention especially when I'm on the phone and driving

(these are really hard things, lets see what Hannah can help with!)

2. My firm decision about this six-week journey

I have decided I want to enjoy being mom more. I want to provide a home that my children feel loved and a place they want to bring home their friends.

Now I'm going to check out the Total Mom Makeover club.

Classes for Daddy and Kids

2009-11-20T01:12:00.000-08:00

Thought I'd share something we just discovered. My brother in law takes his kids to Home Depot once a month to do a building workshop. We thought that is such a great idea to do something with just Dad and the kids.

Here is some more details I found out. Home Depot does it every 1st Saturday of the month. Lowes does it every other week. Lowes has a sign up online and also tell you what you will be making that week. But these classes could be a family activity as well. The great thing is these are free classes!

Infant Activities

2009-11-19T19:08:00.000-08:00

When you have a little one, sometimes it's hard to know what you can help with their development and in bonding with you. Here are some of my favorite games to do with my newborn-two year old babies.

1. Play Pat-a-cake

2. Play Texaco Texaco all the way to Mexico with their legs while they are laying on their back.

Do the Kicks Kicks Kicks, (kick legs one at a time)

Do the Splits, Splits, Splits (open their legs)

Turn a round round round (move their legs in a circular motion)

Get out of town town town (lift both legs up in the air)

I got this from watching my sister-in-law do it to her baby and improvised on the actions.

3. Mirror Play - Talk to her about seeing herself in the mirror (It's fun when they get excited and recognize themselves

4. Peek a Boo

5. Hide a way toys, or books (wrap up a few toys and books in a towel, or bag and place them somewhere your baby will discover it. You can have part of the toy showing to entice them to explore. Great to do this before Christmas and Birthday's so they get a little practice =)

6. Baby Massage --Touch is so important and I have love using massage to help relax my babies before bedtime. Use a little Grape seed oil and massage all their little parts from top to bottom. Just be sure when they get fussy it's time to stop. You want them to enjoy it. There are many books you can get and also a lot of classes. I also found some information on the web. I was lucky to have a trained infant massage instructor teach me with Pumpkin when she was a few months old. We were part of a study that used infant massage everyday. It was really cool.

If you have a favorite activity you like to do with your infants please share.

A Thought on Priorities

2009-11-17T20:05:00.000-08:00

Whenever I find myself not enjoying what I'm doing, being a mother, I have to look at if I'm too busy. I know when I'm too busy, I start snapping at my kids, I'm impatient, and I'm not seeing the beauty of my children. Almost without fail when I'm like this, I'm trying to do too much. How can we enjoy life if we are trying to do too many things? One of my favorite quotes in my house is, "In all of living have much fun and laughter. Life is to be enjoyed not just endured." --Gordon B. Hinckley My goal is to do this. But it's a struggle for me especially when I have put to many events and projects to accomplish. Does anyone else struggle with this? What do you do to keep your persective as a mother? What helps and reminds you to enjoy today and not wish it away?

Update on Thumbsucking

2009-11-06T12:21:00.000-08:00

Pumpkin has been working on stopping her thumb sucking at night and at naps. I really thought we were making some good progress by using band aids. She would come out and show me that she still had her band aids on and she would get a treat. I was so excited that it was working and so simple. Well, as I went to check on her during nap I found she was sucking her thumb with the band aids on. That stinker was getting treats and getting to suck her thumb! =)

Back to a new plan. We put a pair of socks on her hands and then duck tape them. We rip the duck tape in half vertically and then it's not so big. I've used masking tape too and it was fine. This so far has been working pretty well. She has only taken them off one time. If she keeps them on she gets a little treat.

Free Online Parenting Classes

2009-11-02T09:00:00.000-08:00

I just heard about this great resource for parents. Check it out at http://www.utahparenting.org/tips.php If haven't taken any of the classes or really checked out the site throughly but from what I can see if looks like a great site of info!

Treat or Treat Thoughts

2009-10-27T13:16:00.000-07:00

There is a big trend to do "Trunk or Treating" and commercial sponsored treat or treating at the mall or area businesses. Most of these started I think to keep the kids safe. That is wonderful, but unfortunately I think these events can exclude others. I think specifically of our older neighbors who don't like to get out in the dark and cold but would love to see the neighbor kids all dress up. How sad would it be if they got no visitors on a day they look forward to. We have really tried to make an effort to visit these folks with the kids.
Halloween can be a unifying time for communities and neighbors. I really started thinking about this when we left to go to the church trunk or treat one year. As we left the neighborhood I saw a family, of a different faith, just start out on their trick or treating. They were sorely disappointed to find at each door, no one home. I hated to see them left out and feel excluded. Since then we decided to stay home from the trunk or treating. You may also want to include these neighbors by inviting them to the "Trunk or Treat" but some of them don't feel comfortable. Those who live miles away from others, trunk or treating is ideal. But for us who live in a neighborhood, it's not necessary. The other idea we have done is to keep one of the adults home to hand out candy while the other adult goes out with the trick or treaters. Everyone is in a totally different situation with where they live so you have to do what you feel is safe and good for your children. These are just my two cents in my situation.

Here is a few safety points to talk over with your kids before the big day comes.
Cross the street at the corner, make eye contact with drivers, looks both ways before you cross
Walk on sidewalks and face the traffic!
Watch out for cars turning or backing up.
Wear glow sticks, reflective tape, and take a flashlight.
Don't eat your treat until has been inspected by an adult.
Do not enter a home or apartment without an adult.
Plan route with your parents and decide when you will be home.
Wear a watch!
Only visit houses where the lights are turned on.
Dress for the weather even if you can't see your costume as well. The best costumes are those that are built in warmth.
What do you do on Halloween? Take the poll on the home page. Thanks and have a great Halloween!

Thumbsucking and Pacifiers

2009-10-23T21:32:00.000-07:00

AT WHAT AGE DO YOU THINK A PACIFIER AND THUMB SUCKING SHOULD END?

8 Total Votes

1 year 3 37%

18 months 4 50%

2 years 1 12%

3 years or older 0 0%

This is a touchy subject for me since my husband and I have been working very vigilantly for the last 3-4 months on getting our daughter who is 3 years old to stop sucking her thumb. I can't say we have the answers because we are still working on it but I can tell you what we have done and what hasn't worked.

First, the difference between pacifiers and thumb sucking is such a different thing. We have had one out of three children suck a Binky. The thing I didn't like about Binky is it seems like we were always trying to find Binky's in the middle of the night, or in the middle of church. It could be stressful. But weaning from the Binky was so much easier then weaning from the thumb sucking.

Thumb sucking was so nice when they were babies. All my thumb suckers were great sleepers. Went to sleep on their own at a very early age. But when they get older, it is very hard to break the habit. The thing we have learned so far is it's so much easier to break the habit when they are younger. We started working with our first thumb sucker when he turned two years old. We just put socks on his hands and would check on him during naps and at night to see if the socks were still on. When he learned to take the socks off we used the Carter one piece PJ's with socks underneath and ducked taped his socked hands. It took a couple weeks and he completely stopped. Yes it was hard for us to explain to a two year old who didn't really understand but it worked without too much drama. We didn't start working with our daughter until she was three.

We started with THUM polish you paint on their finger nails. Totally didn't work. Then we tried Thumb Guard. Our niece used this and learned to stop sucking her thumb. These are a soft plastic guard that are attached by disposable bracelets that lock on to prevent thumb sucking. Sometimes if we didn't put the guard on tight enough she could get her thumb out and still suck on it. The first month we tried it we didn't take off the guards everyday. Her thumbs got so red and sore. So the second month we learned to put the guards on at nap time and then we took them off in the morning. This helped keep her thumbs healthier but she still had really dried out thumbs. After we ran out of bracelets the second time (the replacement bracelets were really pricey) we thought she was done and were way excited. A week later she started sucking her thumbs when she went to bed. I was so discouraged.

We have finally found something that is working. We put a band aid on each thumb when she is going to bed and we tell her that when she wakes up if she still has the band aids on she gets in the treat basket. She loves it. She has gone at least a week of keeping the band aids on. After she gets her treat we take off the band aids and wash her hands so they stay healthy. The key here is she wants to keep the band aids on so it's her decision. Also we have to be committed to remembering to put the band aids on and reinforcing the behavior of not sucking her thumb. I also think the thumb guards helped initially break the habit and the band aids are now just a reminder to her.

We really have been working on this since her third birthday in June. You decide what is more painful for the child. It's a hard call. We have an 18 month that we are deciding now what to do. I think were going to go for starting younger. What if parents don't intervene? Will a child just stop on their own? I haven't known any adults who still suck their thumb, at least I haven't noticed Devin doing it at night. =) Just kidding.

Girl Stuff

2009-10-21T13:29:00.001-07:00

So you may think this is crazy, but my husband and I have had little discussions now and then about what ages our girls will be when they can wear makeup and other getting older things. Since we are still working on not sucking thumbs we have a while till we need to really worry about it. Well, the other day we sat down and wrote it down. We discussed when we thought it would be OK for our girls to get their ear's pierced, makeup, fingernails, sleepovers and such. We had to compromise a little bit but we feel good about the ages we set. Even though you may not have girls even close to these ages it's a good idea to think about it now before they ask. Then it's not something your children can have to put a wedge between your husband and wife relationship. It's always better to be on the same page with big decisions.

Here is what we decided. You may think some of these ages are too old or too young. That's why we have our own kids to decide what is best for your family.

Sleepover with a close friend- 5 years old,

Paint own nails-8 years (mostly because of the mess. We thought when they are 8 years old they can be more careful to do it on their own. Mom can still do it for them when they are younger)

Ears Piercing- 12 year old,

Make up- 14 years old.

Marriage and Family Classes

2009-10-19T12:45:00.000-07:00

The Extension office offers Marriage and Family Classes that look really well done. I think they are free so if you live in Davis County or close by you may want to take advantage of this great opportunity. Here is the next class:

Making the Magic Last

November 4, 2009

Place: Davis County Courthouse Room 230

Time: 6:30-8:30 PM

Please RSVP 801-451-3412

What are the secrets to a lasting, satisfying, and successful relationship? Come learn what Dr. John Gottman's research has found. Couples will go away with skills that strengthen their coupleness, and can improve parent/child relationship. New and expecting parents are encouraged to register for this class.

The next class is

November 18, 2009

same time and place

This class is the Creating a Family Legacy Series. A family consists of many parts, yet is one unit. Parents and children comprise a household. A family legacy is creating a family philosophy. This session introduces couples to the process of developing their own identity as a family. The class also suggests ways to include the children in creating a family legacy.

Language Development-18 months

2009-10-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

Peanut (my 16 month old) does a lot of babbling but not making a lot of words that I can understand. I always wonder how much is normal, am I to worry and what can I do to encourage her language skills. In thinking of this I referred to a binder of handouts I got from Parents as Teachers. So off and on I will share with you some things I got from here.

Some ideas to promote your child's language:

1. Use stretch talk or expansion--this is simply repeating his short sentences or one word statements into more information. Like if he says, "bear down" You can expand by saying, "Would you like me to get your bear down for you?"

2. Use imitation--Just repeat his words back pronounced correctly without saying he said it wrong

3. Use parallel talk--Just talk to him about what he is doing while he is playing or eating. I like to do this on walks and narrating the scene around me

4. Read books to him every day--talk about the pictures, let him turn the pages. You don't necessarily have to read the story--this can be frustrating when they turn the pages before your done reading so just follow their lead. When they are ready to hear the whole story you will know.

5. Teach your child the names of body parts. Once he knows the easier ones add to include harder parts like chin, elbow, eyelashes, cheek

6. Sing songs to your child. Rhythm, melody and rhyme are fun for him. Repeat his favorites and someday he'll start singing with you

7. Continue to recite nursery rhymes. Once he is familiar with a rhyme trying excluding words and see if he can fill in the blank. Listening and playing with words helps your child get ready for reading.

One I would add is try sign language with your children. Always say the word with the sign. This is a way they can communicate with you. They often can sign before they can speak but a lot of the time those are some of the first words my kids have said is the words they regularly sign.

Don't compare you child to other children. All children learn on their own timeline. According to this handout it says that by the time your child is 18 months they usually start putting words together and have a vocabulary of about 50 words. If you don't see a growth spurt by the time he turns 2 consult your pediatrician.

Extra-curricular Activites Poll Results

2009-10-09T13:56:00.000-07:00

WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES? (CHOOSE 2)

Music Lessons: 9 --90%

Team Sports: 0 0%

Scouting/church activities 9 90%

Individual sports (swimming, karate) 2 20%

Speech/drama 0 0%

Job/Employment 1 10%

Total Votes 10

I once heard a family say they were really glad they had mostly girls because they didn't have to involve them in extra-curricular activities. I was saddened by that because I think girls need just as much opportunities to develop their talents as boys do. I really appreciate that my mom and dad felt it was important for me to take Music, dancing, and swimming lessons. From these I not only learned how to dance, play the piano, and not drown in a poll but I also learned about myself. I learned that I am capable of things but I have to work hard to get good at something. When something got hard my mom taught me not to quit. She helped me see that I can get better at something if I really want to and I practice. I hope to instill these same values in my own children by encouraging them to develop their talents and give them opportunities to learn. I don't ever think they will become professional musicians but they will learn how to be better people. My only concern is they get too involved that they don't have time to just play and be kids. I have to be careful about that because I as a person tend to over-schedule myself, I don't want to do that to my kids.

Check out the next poll about sucking thumbs and pacifiers. I'm in a little conundrum and would love your opinions.

Canning Applesauce

2009-10-07T13:31:00.001-07:00

My kids love applesauce! My mom and I did some this weekend and my sister in law did more today. It fun to can with other people. After many years of experimentation my mom has got a really slick way to can applesauce so I'd thought I would share.

1. First thing is to find apples. Explore your options before buying them. Check your family, neighbors or drive around and look for trees that have dropping fruit (one of my friends has really good experiences doing this!). They probably would love you to use their apples.

2. Wash and quarter the apples (no peeling or taking out cores is necessary) I do get rid of worm holes.

3. Put them in a steamer/juicer. This is also something you can borrow from family, friends or even your local extension often will lend them out for a dollar a day. By juicing the apples you get two produces, applesauce and juice plus your applesauce won't be runny.

4. Steam apples for about 1 hour. Be sure to put a pitcher to catch the juice that will be draining from the juicer. I put my cardboard table up to the stove to place my pitcher on. In my juicer I get about 2 quarts of juice before the apples are ready to puree.

5. Transfer the apples to a Victoria/Food Strainer (which I got from the DI). You can also rent from the extension office.

6. Puree all the apples and put in your jars with lids. (no sugar necessary)

7. Process your applesauce and apple juice for 20 minutes in a boiling hot water bath.

8. Leave them out on your counter and enjoy the pops of the lids sealing. That's so gratifying to hear! Your kids and husband will love the applesauce without the extra sugar and preservatives the store bought kind has in it.

Applesauce cooling after processing

These are the supplies I use to make applesauce. Most cooking supply stores have them for purchase.

Preschool Options

2009-09-30T13:34:00.000-07:00

There are so many options for preschool. I thought I would tell you about some I've tried and have checked into. You may know of others that you prefer. Please share and let me know. I've got a 3 year old that I'm looking to start preschool next fall. You may think-why worry about it now? Some preschools have long waiting lists so it is time to at least start thinking. Preschool can be expensive, but I've found that there is affordable and free options as well.

1. Your local university or college may be a good place to look. We have an amazing preschool. The toys, materials, and playground equipment is just awesome. You have to register for this particular one basically at birth to get in. We had our oldest enrolled here for a year. He loved it. The teachers were great, they did parent teacher conferences and I could tell they loved all those kids. They had a unstructured learning discovery philosophy which I think was really neat but some children don't do as well in this environment. Knowing your child's learning style could be helpful in determining what preschool would be the most beneficial.

2. One year I joined a neighborhood preschool where four or five mothers rotated having the school at our homes. This is a very affordable way and you can really tailor it to what you want the children to learn. We chose to focus on one letter per week. This gave us a focus but also allowed for creativity and for each parent to do what they do best, (i.e. music, arts and crafts, reading). The group put together a preschool kit that traveled from house to house with things like paper, scissors, crayons, paints, music activities, and a calendar to do the date and weather.

3. I just heard of a new preschool option which is for Utah children. It's called Utah UPSTART. It is a free on-line program for any 4 and 5 year olds that are not in kindergarten. You musts commit to spend 15 minutes a day on the program 5 days a week. Pre-registration for next year has begun. (I just signed up today!) Everything is done on-line from what I could tell. Check it out here.

4. There is a free preschool every week at the Family Information and Resources Center in Logan. This is very open to anyone 3-5 years old. A parent must attend with the child. They also have a free lending library which is really fun. For more information on that click here. You may have something like this in your area. It's worth checking into.

5. The last idea is to just do it on your own. Your public library has a wealth of information that can help you tailor a preschool for your child. You can do your own field trips that your child will like. I really like the Ready! Set! School! resource that will help with lesson plans. There is also so much available online. Coloring pages, handwriting worksheets and much more. If you choose this option you may want to have regular play dates where your child gets to interact with children her/his age to get socially ready for school.

Protecing children's innocence

2009-09-27T13:49:00.000-07:00

My kids are still very young. One thing I love about children is their innocence and purity. When I first hold my newborn babies I can't help think of where they came from. They are so sweet and pure. I treasure that because unfortunately we don't remain as innocent throughout our life. It seems like the world wants our children to grow up way too fast. Children in grade school are walking around with cell phones, watching adult shows, talking with attitude and vulgarity, and much more. It worries me. I think children need to develop some maturity before being introduced to certain things. I don't want to put blinders on and pretend my children aren't going to be exposed to things. So we definitely need talk about things to help them avoid and recognize evil. But I want my home to be a place they can be protected from the garbage that is out there.

One really simple thing we have consciously done is to be careful about the movies and television show the kids watch. Have you noticed that once a child starts watching more mature shows, they aren't satisfied in watching Sesame Street (our older cousins call them baby shows) anymore. I say let them watch those "baby shows" as long as they will!

Rating can be difficult. I found this online which was really interesting:

The movie rating system is a voluntary system sponsored by the Motion Picture Association of America and the National Association of Theatre Owners to provide parents with advance information on films, enabling parents to make judgments on movies they want or do not want their children to see. Parental Guidance Suggested. Some Material May Not Be Suitable For Children.

A PG-rated motion picture should be investigated by parents before they let their younger children attend. The PG rating indicates, in the view of the Rating Board, that parents may consider some material unsuitable for their children, and parents should make that decision.
The more mature themes in some PG-rated motion pictures may call for parental guidance. There may be some profanity and some depictions of violence or brief nudity. But these elements are not deemed so intense as to require that parents be strongly cautioned beyond the suggestion of parental guidance. There is no drug use content in a PG-rated motion picture. I don't think we can just assume that PG's are going to be fine. There is a great website called: http://www.kidsinmind.com/ This website will rate a movie in the categories of Sex and Nudity, violence and gore, and profanity. This has been so helpful in determining if we want to watch a certain movie.

My husband had a really great idea, he told the kids if a PG movie is made from a book they have to read the book before they watch the movie.

This can be difficult especially if they watch a movie at a friends house. After some learning lessons we learned to tell our kids they have to check with us first before they watch a movie at a friends house if it is PG.

I know how sensitive those little minds are. Those scary, violent, or bad words in a movie can effect them for a long time.

My brother shared with me a time when we was invited over to babysit for a neighbor when he was 12. He turned on a movie they had after the kids went to bed that he can still remember a bad image he saw from that movie.

That made me really think about the things that I have in my house that my babysitters, and kids could get access to when I'm not home and I would have no idea. For that reason we have put a security password to get onto our computer and really are careful about the movies we own on DVD.

I have really struggled with the wording of this. I hope this makes sense and does not offend. If anyone has any ideas of what they have done that has helped with protecting their children please share.

I found this short article that I thought was enlightening.

Music, movies, and magazines have a lot in common with mushrooms. For example, they come in countless varieties. Just as some mushrooms are edible and desirable and nutritious, certain kinds of music, movies, and magazines provide nutrition for the soul as they edify, entertain, and uplift.

And just as there are different kinds of poisonous mushrooms, so are there different kinds of music, movies, and magazines that poison the spirits of men and women. Some of these poisons are very much like jack-o’-lantern mushrooms because their impact is so repulsive and objectionable that we immediately reject them.

But there are other kinds of music, movies, and magazines that work very much like the “destroying angel”; that is, at first we have no idea that what we are listening to or watching or reading is slowly and surely poisoning our very souls.

Often we hear people comment on different entertainments, and we will hear something like, “This tape by the Dirty Gym Sox has ten good songs and only two bad ones.” Or, “It was a great movie (or video), with only two or three bad scenes.” Or, “Most of the articles in this magazine are very interesting and insightful.” But in 1988, only a few toxic mushrooms in a whole dishful put five Oregon people in the hospital on the verge of death Just as mushroom hunters develop safety checklists regarding the color, size, and shape of edible and poisonous mushrooms, our loving and protective Heavenly Father has provided us with several checklists to determine whether the things we view, listen to, and read are poisonous or wholesome.

1. The thirteenth article of faith [A of F 1:13]. Just ask yourself, Is this virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy? If so, “seek after these things.”

2. In Doctrine and Covenants 45:32 the Lord says: “But my disciples shall stand in holy places, and shall not be moved” [D&C 45:32] (emphasis added). With the music you play, the videos and TV programs you watch, and the magazines you have lying around, is your home a holy place? Would you feel comfortable if the bishop or stake president were to walk into your family room while you were listening to music or watching TV or a video? Would they feel comfortable in your home?

3. In his Sermon on the Mount, the Savior admonishes us to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness (Matt. 6:33). He did not suggest that we just keep the gospel in the “top ten.” He lovingly encourages us to make the gospel the top priority in our lives.

4. In the very closing verses of the Book of Mormon, Moroni extends the invitation to “come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness” (Moro. 10:32; emphasis added). The real question is not whether heavy metal is worse than hard rock or whether certain TV programs are worse than certain movies. If we wish to avoid being poisoned spiritually, we must ask: Is this music, movie, TV show, or literature ungodly? For example, does it leave me feeling unworthy to approach my Heavenly Father in sincere prayer?

5. The Apostle Paul gave the Thessalonians some great counsel that would protect them, and us, from the poisons of the world. “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.Abstain from all appearance of evil” (1 Thes. 5:21–22

By: Elder Spencer J. Condie of the Second Quorum of the Seventy

Toy Rotation and storage

2009-09-20T15:16:00.000-07:00

Do you have too many toys in the house? Well you may have too many or maybe they just need to be organized so their not out all the time. We have found that if all of the kids toys are always accessible to them, they don't seem to play with them as much. So we decided to organized all of our toys in Rubbermaid containers and label them (see pictures below). Some toys are just hard to store because they are so big. So we just did what we could to have some order.

The thing I love about this, is my kids know they only can have one box of toys down at a time. Before we get another box down the other one has to be cleaned up. Even the friends kids are great about choosing a box and then picking it up. The other thing I love about this is they get so excited about a toy they have forgotten about, and one box can entertain for a long time.

We do have some toys that always stay down. These toys get rotated as well within the other toys. The other thing I also don't like is a lot of toys in the kids room. I love to have them play in their room but I have them take a box a toys and play in their room and then when their done it gets put away. They have a hard enough time keeping their clothes picked up. If they always had a lot of toys stored in their room, I'm not sure I would want that battle. Plus I don't like them playing with toys when they are having quiet time/nap time.

When birthdays and Christmas come and we get more toys, I go through and organize again. If I can't find a place for toy, we have a toy donation day when my kids find some toys they don't play with anymore and we give them to charity or our church nursery. I am always surprised at what toys they pick and that it's not a big deal for them. I just snapped these so you can get an visual idea of what I'm talking about. Do you have a way you keep your toys that you and your kids love? Please share! This is only one idea.

This is the area that always has toys in it. It's down low so the kids can get them at all times. Some of these toys get rotated with others when I think the kids have lost interest in them.
These cupboards are in our laundry room. The buckets fit perfectly on the shelves. We have a box with just baby toys, and one with cars and trucks, we also have a character bucket with a lot of McDonald's toys, dinosaurs, animals, and such.
More buckets with labels, little people farm, play dough, marbles, games, magna cars.

P.S. If you haven't voted on last weeks post, do it now you still have time.

Tooth Fairy Poll Results: new poll

2009-09-13T20:49:00.000-07:00

How much does your child's tooth fairy bring?

Total votes 13

Results:

25 cents or less 1 vote 7%

between 25 and 50 cents 2 votes 15%

Between 50 cents and $1 7 votes 53%

More then $1 1 vote 7%

We don't believe in the tooth fairy 2 votes 15%

I thought this would be a fun survey because it seems like our tooth fairy is visiting quite regularly and I wondered how much other tooth fairy's give. Very interesting. After putting in the results though I can see how the categories are pretty confusing-sorry about that. I'll work being more clear. I wonder what you do with the teeth if you don't believe in the tooth fairy?

The last tooth that our son lost he put his tooth under his pillow and the tooth fairy didn't come. He was so upset. We told him maybe he needed to put it in an envelope so the fairy could find it more easily. Well the second night still the tooth fairy didn't come. So we suggested he label the envelope with "Traedens Tooth" It worked! The tooth fairy found it. (Devin and I had such a busy week and were so exhausted that we had forgotten!) Do you have similar experiences?

side note: We have been reading Fablehaven to the family and their are great stories of Fairy's in there. I think fairy's are pretty cool. If you have older children I would highly recommend this as a family read.

This next poll is inspired by the numerous choices of lessons and activities your children can be involved in. We have only just begun with our children being involved with extra curricular activities for our kids. What activities do you feel is the most important in developing talents and life skills. You can vote for two on this poll. Swimming lessons, music lessons, sports, scouts, dancing, 4-H. What activities do you think will help your children the most in life. Are there some that are better done at home? Time and money constrains us to pick and choose. And when you have two activities in one day what do you choose? I'm still formulating my opinions and would love your input via comments and voting.

Breakfast-Most important meal of the day

2009-09-11T14:45:00.000-07:00

So I really am not obsessed with food but it seems like a lot of my posts lately have been about mealtime and eating. Here is one more. A while ago I was tired of thinking so early in the morning.....What should we have for breakfast. The kids unceasingly choose cold cereal. I can only handle so much cold cereal, plus I don't really it's that great nutritionally. I was also tired of complaining from the kids so Devin and I decided to make a breakfast schedule. Now we don't have any morning meal crisis because everyone knows what we are having and yes they will get their sugar cereal every Saturday morning. Here is our breakfast schedule:

Monday: Hot Cereal (oatmeal, cream of wheat, cracked wheat, or rice pudding)

Tuesday: Eggs (we vary from scrambled with toast, ostrich eggs, and fried)

Wed: Cold Cereal

Thursday: Hot Cereal

Friday: Pancakes/waffles/ or french toast

Saturday: Sugar Cereal

Sunday: Family Choice

(With every breakfast everyone gets one glass of juice with their daily vitamin-this is the only time in the day we allow a glass of juice so this is really special! =))

This has really helped us get up and my kids set the table in the morning so they look up to see what is for breakfast and they set the table accordingly. The morning is still crazy but this is one less thing to worry about.

Do you have any fun breakfasts you kids just love? Please share!

Baby Products I love

2009-09-03T14:00:00.000-07:00

What baby products could you not live without? Well we really could do without a lot but I find a few items so helpful. Here is a list of ones I love and why. If you click on the links you can see a picture of it.

Baby Backpack- Graco brand. This particular brand has been perfect. We have used it once they are about 6 months till about 3 years old. I use this to mow the lawn with my baby, we take hikes and walks with it. I've also used it in the store when I have more kids then I can handle in the shopping carts.

Jogging Stroller/Bike Trailer- We got a trek brand from a local bike shop. We have been really happy with it, that we bought a second used one. I love the versatility of both. We go biking as a family and we can put two kids in it. When they are newborn's we put them in it all by themselves with their car seat. After four kids and 8 years its still going strong, we love it!

Diaper Bag from JJ Coles- I have used two different ones from this same company and have loved both. The small one was perfect for just a few diapers plus everything I normally have in my purse. This was the only thing I used for my purse and I loved it. The larger one I loved for when I had two in diapers and needed to carry more around.

Bundle Me from JJ Coles--If you have a baby in the winter months this is a must. I just loved knowing they were comfortable. It is so easy to use too.

Advent Bottles--These bottles are wonderful. I love that you can get different flow nipples for the different ages. These are great for nursing babies. They last forever! Worth every penny!

Breast Pump Medela- I got the electric breast pump for my third baby because I was going to be working. It is so nice because it doesn't take very long to pump. The company support is wonderful as well. I had a part break after having it for two years (I was using it with my fourth baby) and they sent me replacement parts for free with no questions.

Pack-N Play--We have gotten so much use out of our portable crib. We take it camping, to grandma's. and even use it everyday for naps and "playpen playtime." We just have a very basic one that also converts to a higher bed bassinet which is great for newborns.

What products do you love? do share in comments!

Helping your local schools

2009-09-01T10:45:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law, Brittany just gave me a stack of Box Tops for my kids to take to school. I think that is so neat that she would take the time to save these for a school her kids won't even go to. Before my kids were in school I used to give my box tops and Campbell soup labels to my piano students. It really doesn't take hardly any time. My piano students thought that was really fun to get some extra to take to school. These little things really do help the schools. At our last Parent Organization meeting there was a report of the money we received from each company. I was amazed! So just a little plug to help out a school and start collecting.

Our school collects:

Box Tops, Campbell's Soup labels, Capri sun packages, Macey's Grocery Store receipts, Cream of Weber lids. Does your school collect others? Do you know of any cool things your school was able to purchase because of the extra money?

It's been a while since I've done a post. I'm trying to get back into the swing of things now that school is underway. I thought I was busy in the summer =). I hope to post something at least once a week.

PS. There is only two more days for the latest poll on the Tooth Fairy. Check it out and vote on the homepage of childrenareworthit.

Dinner Conversation

2009-08-22T11:00:00.000-07:00

Family meals are so important to keep families connected. One thing I found hard, was to let everyone, even the young ones, feel part of the conversation. So I started something that all the kids love. After we get everyone served we go around the table and share "the best and worse thing of our day." This really has been fun to see what the kids remember. It's cute when the kids say, "The best thing is ...... and my day was so great I didn't have any worse things." All the kids like to have a turn to share something. It really makes them feel special. What has helped your mealtimes a time you can enjoy as well as your children?

Super Baby Food Diet

2009-08-13T13:01:00.000-07:00

Third attempt to put superbaby food diet on. Click here. Let me know if it works for you.

Thanks

Super Baby Food

2009-08-09T06:14:00.000-07:00

When my oldest child was about to start eating solids I was so clueless as to what food was best to start with. How long till I started another food etc. etc. I was frustrated with how little information the doctor office gives. I really wanted to avoid any food allergies. So I did some searching for a book or literature about baby food. I found the best book called, Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron. It was exactly what I was looking for. It teaches you how to make your own baby food (which is so much cheaper), what foods are best to start with and which foods you can introduce month by month. I love love it! I don't do everything she suggests. Some of the foods she lists are just not available or in my mind edible so I skip over these things. She has a great section on Yogurt making which is very basic and helpful. There are also lots of recipes in the back that are great. From her material I made my own Excel sheet that I use to keep track of which foods I have introduced to my baby. I have put it on Google documents for those of you that would be interested. It has been very helpful for me and I can give it to babysitters to show which foods my baby can and can't have. Click here to view. Let me know if you have problems using the document. FYI. I have a new poll on the left hand side of the blog so be sure to vote!

Healthy Recipes: Chicken Tortilla Soup

2009-08-04T06:16:00.001-07:00

We have oodles of zucchini from our garden so I'm always looking for good recipes that my kids will eat this plenteous vegetable. My next door neighbor gave us this recipe and it's now a family favorite. This is my very favorite way to use up our zucchini from our garden because it is so delicious and easy in your crock pot. My husband does not dig zucchini but he love, loves this soup. If you chop your zucchini up small you won't detect it.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

2 TB olive oil

1 garlic clove

1 medium onion

Saute-then add the remaining ingredients in a crock pot

8 cups water

2 TB chicken bouillon

3 cups salsa

1 cup cilantro

3 small zucchini, chopped

2 cups of black or pinto beans (soaked and cooked previously)

Cook on low for 5 hours

Then add:

4 cups of broken tortilla chips

3 chicken breasts cooked and chopped

Cook on High for 30 min-1 hour

Serve with grated cheddar cheese, sour cream slices of avocado and tortilla chips if desired

But this soup is great solo.

If you want to do it on your stove it's just as easy. After sauteing add the next 6 ingredients and simmer on medium heat for 30 min that add the chips, and chicken and simmer for 10 mins. and Wallah you have yummy soup!

Mommy and Daddy Dates

2009-08-02T17:00:00.000-07:00

I remember growing up my parents making an effort to having one on one time with us. These "dates" with mom and dad were some of my favorite memories as a child. Their is something special about being with my parents one-on-one. I think I felt closer and more willing to share my feelings when I was a teenager because of this effort. Because of this I really want to do the same for my kids.

My husband decided that each month we would alternate with the children in having dates. This is how our schedule works for three children:

August--Dad goes on a date with Child #1 and Child #3 Mom goes on a date with child #2

September--Mom goes on date with Child #1 and Child #3 Dad goes on a date with child #2

This way each child has a date each month.

We set up a schedule and write it on the calendar so we wouldn't forget. Well, we did good for awhile and then things got crazy and we forgot about it. So now that school is going to be starting again in a few weeks we are going to set up another date schedule and commit to do it.

Once our kids our age three they are old enough to go on dates with mom and dad. The child gets to help plan the date. We plan dates that require little or no money, which helps our tight budget and allows us to be more creative.

Some of the activities they have chosen have been: Playing ball at the park with Dad, Riding bikes, Playing a board game, Going to the library and playing a computer game.

I'm so grateful for the individual differences each of the children have and having one on one time really helps me show them I value them as an individual. I'm recommitting to doing better at doing daddy and mommy dates with our kids. Have you tried dates with your kids? What works for you? What have been your favorite dates?

Naps-Hold them sacred

2009-07-28T09:58:00.000-07:00

Poll Results: What age do you think naps are not needed?

Total Votes: 5

Age 3--0%

Age 4--60%

Age 5 or older--40 %

I have no idea--0%

According to Judith Owens a pediatric sleep expert we are about right here is what she says:

Most children under the age of 1 take two naps a day — usually one in the morning and another in the afternoon. By 18 months, most have given up the morning nap but still need an afternoon snooze to make it through dinner without a meltdown.

Even when you've kissed the morning nap goodbye, your toddler's likely to continue needing her afternoon nap for quite some time. At age 4, more than 50 percent of children are still taking naps. And even though the majority of children (about 70 percent) stop napping at 5 years, 3 in 10 still need a nap at this age.

That said, every child is different. Much depends on how many hours your toddler sleeps at night. Toddlers need approximately 12 to 14 hours of sleep in each 24-hour period. So if, for example, your child goes to bed at 8 p.m. and doesn't get up until 8 a.m., she may get her full quota of rest all at once, giving her no reason to need a nap. But if she doesn't get 12 hours at night, then ideally she should get some zzz's during the day. (more from Judith click here)

I don't watch a lot of TV but one of the shows I've seen a few times and quite enjoy is Supernanny on ABC. Have you ever thought, I sure wish Jo would come to my house and help me? She has some really good ideas. It seems like there are many homes that struggle with bedtime and nap time. These habits children establish can run deep and when mom or dad tries to change them there are often lots of tears from both child and parents. I saw one episode where the mom went into a toddlers room over 30 times putting him back to bed. By the time he went to sleep mom was a wreck.

I know by the end of the day I'm ready for some alone time to wind down and decompress. If my kids have trouble settling down it enough to put me over the edge. So what does this have to do with naps. I really believe their is a connection between naps and bedtime.

When my babies are getting a little older (usually around 2 months), and I feel they are ready to start going to sleep on their own, in their own crib, then I start sleep training during the day with naps. I always start with naps because I'm much more with it during the day then in the middle of the night or right before bed and exhausted. I'm also more patient and have my wits about me. Having your babies learn to go to sleep on their own can be really hard, but it's so worth the effort to be able to lay your baby in their crib and go to sleep without a big ordeal and tears.

What can help establish regular naps? Here are things I do that I've found help.

1. Hold nap time and bed times at a consistent time as much as possible. Once you get a consistent time you can play with the schedule when you have an appointment or an irregular day. Kids can be pretty flexible as long as you don't always change on them.

2. Have some traditions that help settle your kids-If you always do the same thing before naps and bedtime this really helps your kids and babies know its time to rest. We go to the bathroom, read a story, turn on our relaxing music, and give kisses and sing our nap or bedtime song.

3. Establish rules about leaving the room and bugging mom and dad and follow through with consequences.

We have really made it clear in our home that once it's bedtime or even nap time it's time for mom and dad to be together or to be alone. My kids like their doors open and lights on so they can read books. If they leave their room I say, "That's one, if I get to three doors are closed and lights are off." If they get out again, I count, "That's two." Third time, "That's three" Then I close the door and turn the lights off. I usually don't have to do this but I did at first because kids want to know if your going to follow through.

4. For nap time- I keep my kids in separate rooms. My kids at night time share rooms. We have two in each room but during the day I like to keep them all in different rooms.

5. Replace Nap Time with Quiet Time when your child is ready. Like Bonnie and Alisha commented on a previous post. Naps vary from child to child. My first child took a nap everyday until he started first grade. My second child at the age of 4 took a nap only once in a while but he was still given the opportunity everyday. When your kids are fighting going down for naps which they all will at one time or another, I say "That's is fine, you don't need to take a nap at all. Mom still needs a little quiet time so you can choose a quiet activity for an hour on your bed." Our rules for quiet activities they can choose an activity (no electronics like a Leapster, TV, or toys). Often my kids will choose puzzles, books, and magazines. When my kids started to be able to read the clock they were very prompt in coming out when it had been an hour. During the summer my one and three year old always have a nap. For my six and eight year old I'm very flexible with. Today both were so cranky because of the late night the family had so I had them both took an hour of quiet time. My six year old feel asleep but the older one just had some down time which really helped his attitude the rest of the day. Sometimes I think kids just need a little time to think and be still. When they get older I can see this as a good time to encourage them to write in a journal or read scriptures.

I guess you can see I hold naptime very sacred. It is my time to regroup, study, ponder, and sometimes do a creative project that I can't do well with all the kids up. I read an excellent book last week I'd like to share a quick thought. "Eternally, woman spills herself away in driblets to the thirsty, seldom being allowed the time, the quiet, the peace, to let the pitcher fill up to the brim... No longer fed by by a feeling of indispensability or purposefulness, we are hungry, and not knowing what we are hungry fro, we fill up the void with endless distractions, always at hand--unnecessary errands, compulsive duties, social niceties. And for the most part, to little purpose. Suddenly the spring is dry; the well is empty...Every person, especially every woman, should be alone sometime during the year, some part of each week, and each day." --From 'Gift from the Sea' by Anne Morrow Lindbergh

I have found this very true with myself. I love be mom and serving my children, but I get to a point where I can tell I haven't taken enough time for myself to recharge and I'm more impatient and cross. I challenge you to find some alone time. Set a goal to find a little time to fill your pitcher so you can keep giving to your children. Nap time is just one time during the day you can try to find some quiet time to recharge.

Congratulations!

2009-07-26T14:04:00.001-07:00

So the winner for the contest is Jeana! Jeana is both a follower on Facebook and on google friend and she invited 25 friends to check out this blog. Wow! That is awesome! Jeana has won the cookbook Set for Life! This is my favorite and most used cookbook in my kitchen. I featured the granola recipe from that book. It's a great cookbook and even has some great advise on good eating habits for children and adults.

I decided to wait till tomorrow to post about napping, since their is still one more day to vote on the poll.

Have a great day!

Check out the new look and Win a Prize!

2009-07-21T22:51:00.000-07:00

I got a fun background from Leelou Blogs.--come over and check it out! She has some really cute templates. But it took me forever to get the layout fixed. I need some feedback on colors of text a layout. If you can't read it or if it gives you a headache please let me know, I would love some suggestions.

Also...I had a napping poll that was deleted with all the carryover. So if you could be so kind to vote again or vote for the first time that would be awesome. I only gave a week to respond because I wanted to do a post on Sunday about napping, and I'd love include your opinion. I have so much fun writing these posts and I hope you enjoy reading them. If you have any suggestions on topics or anything please comment below. Also if you have any friends, or family who loves children: invite them to read. The more the merrier, all of us benefit because we get more awesome ideas.

How do you keep up with your favorite blogs? I read all my blogs from igoogle. This is a customized homepage that you can add google reader to. Then you can subscribe to your favorite blogs and whola whenever something new is posted it shows up on your igoogle home page. The other great feature is if you are just swamped because it's been a while since you have checked it you can click mark all as read and bam-they all disappear. Has anyone figured out how to use NetworkedBlogs on Facebook? I haven't found an easy way to check if the blogs you are following have new posts. These are the only ways I know how to follow a blog. If you know of others please let it be known!

Last thing, On the main page of my blog on the right hand side is a place you can click to follow. You can do it through facebook or google or both. Right now there are only three people on the google friend connect (I'm one of them so there is really only two) and we are so lonely. So to encourage you to invite people to read this blog I'm going to give away an awesome prize. (I've seen other bloggers do prizes so here goes)

Here is how it works:

1. Sign yourself up as a reader for either or hopefully both google friend and facebook

2. Invite your friends and family to join (if you have questions on how to do this let me know)

3. Finally post a comment to this post by Saturday July 25th that you did the above requirements and how many friends you invited

By doing this you will get one entry into the contest. The most enthusiastic invitee (whoever invited the most friends) will get five additional entries in the contest. The prize is a book that I have featured on the blog. I will do the drawing and will have my husband pull a special name out of the hat and you will be notified as a winner! Your prize will be delivered to your home via mail next week! Have fun and Good Luck!

Healthy Recipes: Homemade Granola

2009-07-20T15:38:00.000-07:00

Since I am trying to feed my children a variety of healthy foods, I thought I would occasionally share some recipes they enjoy. My mom would make this for us as kids. I love it hot right after it's been cooked with cold milk. Here goes for the first one which uses a lot of food storage items as well:

Favorite Granola

(From my favorite recipe book- Set for Life by Merrill She also has a great section in the back about healthy eating for pregnancy and nursing and great ideas for family eating as well)

4 cups old-fashioned oats (I also use a combination of other flakes like barley)

2 cups rolled wheat

1 cup unprocessed oat or wheat bran

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup nonfat dry milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 to 1 cup raw sunflower seeds

1-2 cups slivered almonds

Mix these dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Heat the following until the sugar is dissolved:

1/2 cup oil

1 cup water

3/4 cup brown sugar (you can substitute honey)

Add after heated:

1 teas vanilla

Simply add to the dry ingredients until mixed well and bake in a 200 oven for 1 1/2 hours. For chunky granola do not stir during baking. Break into bite-size pieces and add 2 cups of dried fruit (our favorites raisins, dried apples, pineapple, craisins, coconut and dates). Store in an airtight container. Serve as a cold cereal. Excellent as a topper on Yogurt Parfaits.

All the main ingredients in this recipe you can get at a health food store or most grocery stores. Let me know if you try it out.

The worst cleaning job-mopping

2009-07-18T14:00:00.000-07:00

This is pretty random: but last week I was dreading the inevitable...my kitchen needed a serious mopping. The crusted spaghetti, sand, visible muddy footprints and other food chunks that my dog wouldn't even eat (yuck!) was my first clue. I had a brain storm and remembered when I was little I loved to mop the floor. It's because we put sponges on our feet and skated around till it was clean. We had a blast. So I decided to try it and involve the kids. It worked! I enjoyed doing it with someone and my floor got clean.

After I posted last week about chores I wondered if I overwhelmed many with the chore chart for my kids. It really looks like a lot that they have to do. But because I started having him help with little things around the house when he was two and three years old, he became more and more capable and responsible. Also a lot of the things listed aren't really jobs but they are things I want them to get in the habit of doing like reading scriptures, praying, brushing teeth, and exercise (ride bike). If your just starting out doing separate chores for your children, remember to start small so you don't overwhelm your kids. It is so rewarding when my kids just do something because they know they are suppose to and I didn't even have to remind them about it. But just as I discovered with my mopping, jobs are funner in doing them with others. To help each other get motivated we like to turn on the kids fun music to listen to while we clean. Or we will help each other do the dishwasher, (each of us have certain items we are responsible for, plastic, glass, and utensils) and sometimes we have races. One thing I like to do is give them a little treat when they get so many jobs done. It just depends on the day. Sometimes they are so motivated to get up and get going and other days they need a little more encouraging. So I have to keep my thinking cap on.

Boyack in her book "The Parenting Breakthrough" says there are things you can do to help make doing chores an excellent opportunity for growth and training and about how in the world you can get your kids to work. Briefly they are:

Develop a Backbone: Using chores as a training method cannot be done by invertebrate parents. Parents must be in control and have their wits about them or it will fail. But also having a militant attitude and a total control-freak mind-set will also fail. Be firm and clear and unmovable.

Remember the Importance of Work: She said that work at home should be a priority. The training for the work we do as adults rests largely in learning how to work as a youth.

Use Lots of Methods: Some methods or chore charts work for a while and then they need to be modified for the age of your children or just for variety. Do what works for your kids. Some ideas she gave was the 1. pocket chart with a pocket of to do and done. 2. Zone Management-divide the house in zones and each person is responsible for keeping his zone clean and tidy. 3. Chore wheel 4. Random choice-kids choose their chores by random ways, drawing slips of paper, popping balloons with chores written inside 5. Monthly rotation 6. Blitz method--This works when you don't have a lot of time and everyone pitches in to get the house picked up7. Sixty-second straighten: See how much they can do in their room for 1 minute. This can be fun variation.

Define the chore clearly and then have them report when they believe it is complete. This is when the training is emphasised. You could even have on a card step by step process of cleaning the sinks or their room. This will help them see the process and understand your expectation

Set a definite time frame: Have a time frame when the jobs need to be done.

Have a no-nonsense attitude: Don't cave in to whining and complaining and back down or give second chances.

Use Rewards: Stickers, a kiss from mom with red lipstick, coupon for ice cream, etc.

Use both arms: If your married use your spouse to back you up on chores.

Be persistent: Just keep plugging away day after day, week after week, month after month and it will get better and easier but never perfect.

Potty Training Question

2009-07-14T14:52:00.000-07:00

I got a question and started replying to it and it ended up way too long for a comment so I decided just to make it it's own post. I would sure love some other feedback to help this mom who is frustrated with potty training.

Question: I read in another section that your goal was to have your kids potty trained by three. That was my goal as well and my 3 and a half year old still has accidents and has only stayed dry all night once. I feel like potty training is a never ending process and I know I made many mistakes that probably contributed to this, but do you have any suggestions? We did give her a big surprise for staying dry all day for a week. A great book I read was "The Everything Potty Training Book." It had several different methods and many great statistics and information. I also like "My Big Girl Potty" for my daughter, there's "My Big Boy Potty" for boys.

Reply:

First of all, I probably did say my goal was to potty train by age 3 but this may not be realistic for every child. I have never read, "The Everything Potty Training Book." I think I've read the "My Big Girl Potty" if its the one that is written for children like a story book. My kids really liked this book.

I believe children will be ready at different times even though we would love for them to be potty trained early. Also, I think children could use going to the bathroom as a power struggle with parents because they are in control of this. Maybe she just needs to know that it's her choice to go to the potty and let it be her thing.

You may ask her if she would rather go back to wearing diapers during the day until she is ready to go potty every time in the potty. If she does then go back to diapers. Don't let it bother you one bit. Maybe it would be good for the whole family to take a break because it sounds like the fun of being a big girl is gone for both your 3 year old and mom and dad. If you are frustrated with it then your child is probably frustrated too. In the Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood book it says, "Like any task we're expected to perform under pressure, potty training becomes an undesirable chore." pg 35 If your child wants to continue with her big girl pants then one idea is to lay low and tell her that you know she is a big girl and you have every confidence that she can go to the bathroom when she needs to. Tell her you are going to stop reminding her and that when she needs to go to the potty she can choose to take you with her or go by herself. Take out the reminding and you being extremely anxious about it. Another thing that helped my first was when he had an accident I really had to not get upset (and believe me it was hard) but I instead talked about how sad it was. I like how Love and Logic words this response: "Oh, you had an accident! That's too bad! I love you, Sweetie." Then you can make them apart of the clean up by asking them to put their clothes in the laundry and getting you a rag to clean it up, etc.

Now the nighttime water (or in other terms bedwetting) is a completely different story. My oldest was 6 or 7 before he stopped wetting the bed. We tried everything. After consulting our physician on many occasions at well visits he recommended a bedwetting alarm. This really worked. In the instructions of the bedwetting alarm it talked about how children are not doing this on purpose, they simply sleep so soundly that they don't wake up to go to the bathroom. It is a physical response and their body has not learned to tell their brain when they need to go. The alarm requires parents to be extremely involved but it was well worth waking up a few times at night for a couple days and taking him to the bathroom.

It doesn't work to not give them any water hours before bedtime or waking them up before you go to bed to go or lectures about wetting the bed, or even having them clean the mess up. Believe me we tried all these things. There is also medication and herbs that you can try but I really didn't want to add other side effects that go with Meds. The thing with the alarm is they really need to be a little older--I think the age recommended was five. In the meantime don't sweat it--after I have talked with other parents this is really common for a lot of children.

I know they are really expensive but you can get overnight diapers for bigger kids. I would just use diapers if they still will fit your girl. I also put water proof sheets over the mattress so it doesn't get ruined and I also put a waterproof pillow case over the pillows.

I hope this helps a little bit. But try to look at the long picture here and realize that as long as they are potty trained by kindergarten you will be just fine. =)

Teaching Children to work

2009-07-01T14:27:00.000-07:00

My sister in law Deonne recommended the best book about chores and teaching your children responsibility. It's called "The Parenting Breakthrough" by Merrilee Browne Boyack. First of all I love Boyack's opinions about teaching children and discipline. In my opinion she has it spot on. She gives so many ideas to get children to do their chores and help out at home. My favorite part of the book is the "Master plan" She talks about how we as parents need to decide "How I want my children to turn out" Some of the things I thought of, I want my children to have their own testimony of the gospel, be able to keep a job and know the importance of hard work, love to learn and read, get a long with their family and want to come back and spend time with their aging parents =). After you do this then you need to set realistic goals and learning objectives to accomplish this. This is the part I love. By the age of three my child will: Learn to dress self, use the toilet independently, brush teeth, pick up toys, say prayers, etc. She has a list for each age that is really comprehensive but she recommends you supplement things to the list as well. Here are things listed on a five year old--Straighten room, vacuum, empty garbage cans, set table, clear table, make own lunch, warm up canned food, get allowance.

So I have really liked this to help my kids learn valuable lessons of life and they are really learning how to help around the house. I really believe children need to do more around the house then clean their room. As a part of living at your home their are things that can teach them it's not all about them. I have found that when they are in charge of cleaning something they start realizing that they have an impact -they are a contributing member of more then just themselves. I love this quote from the book.

" Doesn't it seem these days as if we find ourselves surrounded by work-phobic youth? These kids are largely a result of lazy parents; that is, parents who take the easy road. Sometimes I wonder if my children are the only ones who do chores beyond self-maintenance. Self maintenance tasks are pseudo-chores: 'make your bed, pick up your toys, brush your teeth. These don't contribute to the family. By and large, parents have forgotten how important work is in the home. They have a hard time getting their children to work, so they give up. It's easier to hire maids and gardeners or to do it all themselves." pg 51

I think about my grandparents generation and even my parents generation and they helped on the farm. Feeding the animals, picking vegetables, making bread. Because of so much convenience in our life it can be easier to just do it yourself. But I think we are doing our children a disservice. It will be harder for our kids to adjust to real life when they move away from home. Will they just automatically know how to do their own laundry, clean the bathrooms. I would rather have them already know because their are plenty of other things they need to adjust to.

I think summer is a great time to start implementing a new job plan, because your kids have more time at home. For a long time each of my kids had a cup of index cards. I wrote and drew a picture of the job on the card. When they got done with the job it went in the cup. When all their jobs were done they got to go play. My two older kids now have a chart that they mark their jobs off on. This has worked really well since some days they have different things to do. I have put the job chart to give you an idea on Google Reader.

I'm new to loading a document so let me know if this doesn't work for you. Your welcome to use this and modify it to the needs of your family. It was really easy to create and works great for my kids. I update it as necessary and then we laminate it so they can use it over and over. I get some dry erase markers and they mark it up each week. We do fun things when the kids need some motivation. Sometimes I put a M&M on each index card they can eat when they get a job done. We let them do half their jobs and then take a break and watch a cartoon. For some families I know it works better to do all the chores on Saturday or Friday because of all the extra activities planned in the middle of the week.

You will have struggles when you try to implement a new job chart. But just remember the big picture-you are teaching children responsibility and work values that will help them for the rest of their life. I believe it's worth it!

PS. I have a poll on my blog I'd love for your input. 7 more days till it closes.