Our Christmas Ornament This Year

Every Christmas the boys and I try to come up with a new ornament to give to all the aunts, uncles, grandparents, great aunts and uncles.  We have made a tradition of getting our family picture taken at Christmas time so I generally like to include a picture of the boys.  I am very sentimental and like to show off how my cuties are growing.

We decided this year to embrace recycling.  It appears we go through a number of Trader Joe’s Yogurts around here.  My boys aren't big milk drinkers but do enjoy yogurt with their cereal on the mornings when Daddy is in charge of breakfast.  I generally toss all of the old cups into the recycling bin but this year we decided to turn them into Christmas Bell ornaments.

As you can see the actual painting was a task that both boys took to immediately.

This project required the following items:

• Yogurt Cups
• Arcyllic paint in Christmas colors
• Red yarn
• Modge Podge
• Little bells
• Thumb nail prints of a Christmas portrait of the two boys together.   (We printed from our inkjet printer).
• Scissors, paintbrushes, paint pallets and paint friendly work surface.

The boys loved sitting down to paint the yogurt cups.  If they wanted to use a light color, who knew that yellow was a Christmas color, we tried to paint the entire cup with a white base or primer layer.  I did my best to keep track of who painted which cup and then wrote their name and date on the inside of the cup for posterity.

We stretched this out over a couple of days because we made so many for both sides of our very large families.  It was also a project my four and a half year really got into.  Yes, we even worked on it before we got dressed in the morning it seems.

To finish off the bells I just added some yarn, a bell and modge podged the picture of the two boys on to the bell.  The only purchase we made for this project was the little bells, everything else we had on hand.

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Label It

 
 A friend recently asked for help organizing her kids' toys.  She had already purchased Closetmaid cubes and shelving units and was looking for good suggestions for labeling the cube bins.  My boys go to a Montessorri based preschool and I love that they really work hard to teach children to put away their own toys.  They do an awesome job of using photo labels to help kids remember where things go on each shelf.
    I borrowed from that idea.  I stitched Avery conference ID badges on to the bins so that I could switch out the photo inserts when we change our toy stash.  (Someone also suggested using industrial Velcro that you can purchase at the hardware store or Home Depot.  I thought this was a great suggestion as long as your kids don't realize they can pull the labels off!)

    I just did Google searches to find pictures of the items that we would be storing and then wrote down what the item was using a sharpie. If I had been willing to I could have typed out the words to make them look extra splashy but most of my projects are completed with little people's assistance or at least interruption, so writing it out worked just fine for us.

I like the idea of having both the words and the pictures on the labels so that the boys have some letter and word recognition practice.  It has also come in handy because I store their clothes in the same closet and set of drawers under their trundle bed.  Each boy has his name on his drawer or bin to help him keep track of his own clothes.  (I'll do just about anything to get help putting folded clothes away.  For some reason that is one of my least favorite jobs.)  Some bins hold communal items like pajamas, socks and undershirts because I just couldn't keep track of who wore which.  This is another benefit of a 19 month age difference!

  I am sure that there are fancier and prettier labels out there but these seem to get the job done and are even Daddy proof for the most part.

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The Background or Backbone to Organizing My Shoebox and the Lives in It

To some extent I think I am hard wired to be organized.  When I was only a tween I would organize the books on my shelf in rainbow order.  I loved arranging and rearranging my room whenever I cleaned it.   That’s the thing though, I was born and raised in a rather disorganized household.  Both of my parents are sort of magpies, they hate to throw things away, have no interest in keeping the house clutter or dust free and honestly just aren't that neat.  I’m not saying they are dirty just scattered and cluttered.  It drove me crazy growing up.  I vowed that I would have a tidy house.  I just didn't know how to maintain it with out seeking outside help. I knew how to clean like crazy but how could I create an environment that felt peaceful and stress free?  It isn't a perfect system (I don't live alone!) but there are some basic tenants I'd like to share.  

My challenge now is that I have two preschool children, a baby on the way,  and a busy husband and we live in a house that is less than 1000 square feet with no garage, or basement and no storage space in our attic.  Luckily I am a SAHM so I do have some time to devote to organizing our little shoebox but it requires systems.

Follow a Routine- I am ever so thankful that I found the flylady.nety.  The Flylady has created a wonderful system that ensures that everything gets done to keep your house clean without driving you insane.  She has wonderful daily, weekly, monthly routines that keep your house in order.  I can’t say enough about her- follow her and you’ll see what I mean.

Take the Time to Coordinate with Your Spouse-  following some sound advice from the book  Family, Inc. my husband and I are now working better as a team at managing our household.  The authors Caitlin and Andrew Friedman have developed a system for running their household using sound business management tools.  In their book they outline how you can implement work related solutions into your own household.  I bought the book after reading an article about it.  I thought it would appeal to my husband because he likes to read “business” books.  I knew a "touchy feely" book on organization wouldn't appeal to him.  So far the solutions seem so obvious but we just weren’t doing them.  We have implemented a weekly meeting so that we can go over the upcoming weeks to do lists, calendars and issues.  We also finally synced our calendars so we don’t spend so much time trying to figure out what we are doing!  I love my big wall calendar but have now realized I can’t live without our Google calendars that go everywhere with us. 

A Place For Everything and Everything in its Place- Seriously, the old adage is true.  You really have to have your household set up so that you know where everything goes.  We have put a good deal of time and effort into creating storage solutions in our house because our space is so limited.  We have added closet organizers, kitchen cupboards, extra shelving units and all sorts of solutions to keep things organized around here.  I also label like crazy so that I get help in putting everything away.  It is one thing if I know where everything belongs but it is heavenly if the whole family can help.  I also rely heavily on the fly ladies saying that “You can’t organize clutter.”"You Can't Organize Clutter."  It reminds me to get rid of things rather than save everything.  If we aren't using it, we try to get it out!   It is honestly so much easier to keep track of important things if we don’t have clutter laying around.  Having a place for everything also helps keep our rooms neat.  Every night when I put the boys to bed or check on them, I do a sweep of their room, toys in bins, books on shelves, everything off the floor.  This way I know that the path is clear for us if they should cry out in the middle of the night and for them when they wake up far too early and race to our room.  I like that I can tidy their room, with their help, so quickly because everything is organized.  I will try to identify little tricks I use to make all of this possible.  I hope that you'll share some of your ideas as well.

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Worth Posting Since I Found Even My Dreams Were Disrupted by Current Uproar

Dear Christianity (that includes you Christian right),

Let's just take some time to focus and remember that Jesus' primary message was one of unconditional love.  He didn't have any asterisks in his message.  He didn't exclude anyone based on their sexuality for example. Jesus made a point of including everyone.  Aren't there enough parables and references to this powerful all encompassing love?

 
          Jesus seemed to focus most of his negative energy on his religion's hypocritical leaders.  I think there are a few stories in the Bible about Jesus getting frustrated with priests that are rule driven to the point of not being helpful.  I don't know maybe he told a tale or two about getting angry in the temple. The story of the Good Samaritan might be a good story to reflect on as well.

How about we turn some of our focus and attention on some truly Christian individuals and companies?  You know companies that show unconditional love for all of their brothers and sisters, not just the straight ones.

Personally I'd feel more comfortable knowing my children were

 growing up in a world without those ugly asterisks.  As a parent, I'd like to pave a way for my little ones within a church that was truly teaching how to love.  Unconditional Love is just that- unconditional.

Sincerely,
A Parent

          "Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples."

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Prayer Board

Last fall my church had a program called Serve Strong in which we were given several challenges to serve.  As part of the amazing preschool curriculum it was suggested to create a prayer board in which we could post pictures of images that we were covering in prayer and hang it in a central location in our home.  I loved this idea to help my boys remember the people and things we are praying for every day.

This concrete visual reminder has had an incredible impact on our lives.  My Uncle Fred was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and fought it for almost five years.  He and his family lived in Australia (along with the rest of my Dad's side) and my boys haven't made the trek down under yet.  Although my oldest had never met my Uncle Fred, because his picture was on the prayer board he became a very real person to my son.  My son constantly reminded us to pray for him.  He even reminded my Dad to pray for him at the large family Thanksgiving dinner.  Month after month my son prayed so earnestly for my uncle, that it often brought me to tears.

When my uncle did pass away a few months ago, it was easier to tackle questions about heaven because we had been praying for my uncle for so long.  Just to share the true impact the prayer board had on my son, during a discussion about my uncle, my son paused and said "Now that Uncle Fred is in heaven someone should name a baby after him."  I agreed and smiled to myself because my uncle was actually Greek and had three boys.  There is the possibility that he will have three first born grandsons named after him.  After his passing we also learned that Fred is actually his Aussie nickname.  The prayer board made it possible for my son to really get to know and care for someone that he had never met who lived thousands of miles away.

This visual reminder helped keep our Christmas intentions at the forefront of our minds too.  I would like to think it kept some of our wants and "gimmes" at bay as a result.  

This board has been helpful to me as well.  I included a spot where I can write down all of our intentions.  I try to change the board each month which also gives me a chance to reflect on which intentions will be repeated and which prayers have found their answers.  I always ask the boys what we should which keeps me tuned into what is on their spiritual radar.  Since it is on the wall in the kitchen we always have a visual grace at hand for each meal.

I made the prayer board using a cookie sheet, some decorative clips (any office supply clips would work), and ribbon.  I change up the paper background, pictures, ribbon and magnets depending on the season or month and our intentions.  You could definitely paint the cooksheet to spice it up.  I know that Hallmark sells fancy metal boards that you could use but I opted for a cheaper route.  I do love the seasonal magnets they sell though!

So what is on the prayer board this month?
I volunteered this past Saturday evening for a couple hours when our church hosted the SOS Homeless Shelter and the experience continues to weigh heavily on my heart.  I spent some time playing with a four year old brother and three year old sister.  They were beautiful children with wonderful vocabularies and boatloads of energy.  My heart broke for their mother who was growing more and more agitated when it was ten thirty at night and she still couldn't settle them down and get them to sleep.  I couldn't help but imagine myself in the same situation.  How frustrated I would be with people cleaning out the adjacent tarped section of the family room or the eleven year old that kept turning on the bright overhead florescent lights.  So many things were out of her control and directly impacting her children's lives.  
There were also two pregnant women that made my heart ache, knowing how the nesting instinct would be kicking in yet they are in such a hopeless place for nesting.  How can you raise your child without a home?

It is also true that there would be no way to tell that the assembled group of people were homeless.  They looked exactly like anyone else.  How close we are to being in their shoes is something I often forget.  The group was largely women and children too.  I had a brief discussion with one gentleman about how different our church may seem to people but why I love it.  I learned that four of the volunteers I met worked every night of the week and the directors actually take the week off of work in order to run the program for the week!  I was humbled beyond belief by everyone I encountered.  The man I had the discussion with also chided me for showing up on the last night and told me to work again in January.  One volunteer even used the expression "break yourself open and pour yourself out."  God was at work that evening.  I pray that he continues to work on me and more importantly that he can help the people I had the privilege to meet.  I pray their housing and work situations improve drastically. They will stay on the board and in our hearts along with our other intentions.


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Happy 4th of July - Patriotic Muffin Tin Monday!

Admittedly I could have been  more creative for this holiday lunch but as so often happens around here I was a bit pressed for time and hungry children = cranky lunch, so here is the best I could do under the circumstances.  To help celebrate the fourth we used red, white and blue latex cupcake holders, salami cut into stars, star (and space ship) gold fish and strips made of string cheese and red peppers.  The big hit was the star shaped salami.  The boys loved it!  It really is the little things in life that bring about the sparkle. We also decided that making little sandwiches out of the pita, hummus and red peppers was really yummy.

 For dessert I filled cake cones with whip cream and strawberries.  To my great surprise Little Brother hated the whip cream on his strawberries and demanded washed off strawberries instead.  Big Brother in turn decided to just eat the whip cream.  He is sticking firmly to the notion that he only likes strawberries that we have hand picked.  I will consider the actual lunch a success that they didn't go crazy over the dessert.

If I get good at this muffin tin thing I will cut my cucs and bread in star shapes too.  

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Every Child is Unique and Potty Training Proves It

Big Brother extolling the merits of big boy pants.  Little Brother looking super cute in them.  Gerber trainers reinforced with extra cotton and  a tie dye PUL section = homemade training pants that really work.

It is quite special to have two boys because it helps to illustrate the differences between siblings.  From day one, minute one, they were such distinctly different little creatures- looks, personality, temperament, build, you name it.  I have my curly brown haired, brown eyed boy and my straight blonde blonde boy with blue eyes.   I think the difference is also very apparent when addressing things like potty training.  Since they are so different in every way it makes it easier to know that younger brother may just be a bit more of a challenge when it comes to potty training.
My oldest has a bladder of steel so potty training was effortless.  Seriously.  When he was two and half my husband was changing a particularly nasty diaper and was annoyed that there were no clean diapers in the boys' room.  He turned to my son, asked if he'd like to start wearing his big boy underwear, my son said yes and the rest was history.
Now that is the abbreviated story.  We did spend a decent amount of time hyping the merits of big boy pants.  We had a couple of potty books and had practiced going potty on the little potty, so it wasn't unfamiliar territory but when he made the choice we never looked back.  He never had set backs or crazy accidents.  He immediately slept through the night without a wet bed.  Again, the kid has to be reminded if he starts to get a bit agitated that maybe it is because he hasn't peed in eighteen hours so he is an unusual case.
Younger brother is two and half and I don't quite see the same thing happening. He is running around in training pants right this minute but I am keeping my hopes in check.  I recognize that his bladder is not like his brother's steel trap.  I also don't want to push it.
Every friend that pushed the potty training had disastrous effects.  There were so many set backs to their adventure- especially those that followed that three day force feed your kid candy and don't leave the house program.  Sorry, that is just my perspective.  EC may be a very different and a more natural progression so I'll exclude the two people that are following that "movement."
Potty training and/or potty waiting is for me another opportunity to celebrate the fact that my kids are not cookie cutters of each other or of my husband and me for that matter. They both have their own lives to live and their own time lines.
Being a somewhat anxious person, I am also proud that I have learned to give them some space with these milestones.  I guess because I am so baby crazy I really haven't pushed any developmental markers.  I let them sit, walk, and talk when they were ready because no amount of fretting would have changed those outcomes.  This revelation has not worked for so many other areas of my life that I can not control yet continue to perseverate over so allow me some bragging rights, please.
Recently I have noticed a few mothers get so anxious about potty training that it makes me sad for them.  I worry that they will have issues if they turn it into a battle of wills.  My first was so easy but he is such a different person from his younger brother that it isn't a surprise.  It also isn't a strike against my little guy that he will with out a doubt train at an older age either.  He is just a different person.
He can't stand to have bunched up socks in his shoes but he is completely unfazed by sitting in a wet diaper.  I also know that he'll eventually wear the big boy pants full time, so I won't fret until, say, after he is four.
Having said all of that he does look super cute in his homemade training pants!  I also wouldn't mind a break from diapers but hey, it is a journey.
And as a perfect post script before I finished editing this I noticed the kid had wet his training pants.  "Hey buddy, did you go pee pee?"  
"No."
"I think so, look at the front of your training pants.  They are wet."
"No they aren't."
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