journal writing: the kid edition

While I'm trying super hard not to be too pushy about this, I'm super dang excited about Lovie learning to read and write. She knows how to spell several words and write them. For the most part. She can also figure out what a lot of easy words are by looking at the first letter of the word as well as the the image nearby. She's a smart cookie and I'm confident she'll be a reader and writer in no time...But I'm anxious.

I am. I don't know why exactly, but the idea of her reading and writing excites me so much. I just can't wait for it all to click. I can't wait for her to start thumbing through books. I can't wait for her to write notes unprompted. I just can't wait.

That said, the kid is only 4 (and a half!).

I want her to really enjoy being 4 and 5 and 6 and....

I want her to play and dance and sing and color and paint and fart and giggle and make bubbles when drinking. I want her to retain that innocence as long as she can. I have no desire to rush anything... I'm just super excited about reading and writing.

Enter the Mama and Me journal.

I got the idea via this pin one day while wasting time on Pinterest, and while Lovie's not really a writer and reader quite yet, I thought why not start this? She could draw pictures or get help to write something. Or she could just let it sit until the day came when she could read and write on her own.

One day last week we were talking about letters or reading or something and I mentioned the idea of the journal and how I thought it could be fun to do-- write letters to one another in a journal, just for us, and put them under the other person's pillow when it's their turn. She seemed kind of excited about it, but not horribly so, so I didn't bring it up again. Instead I printed out a cover image for a notebook I already had and started thinking about what I wanted to write and how I wanted to approach it.

I finally wrote the letter yesterday and stuck it under her pillow while she was watching TV after school. My intention was for her to discover it on her own and figure it out but then, out of the blue, while we snuggled on the couch just before bed, she said, "Hey me-member you said you would get a journal to write in and put under my pillow?"

Oh the smile that washed over my face as I nodded and whispered, "Why don't you go look under your pillow now?"

She looked up at me with such glee and ran off to her bedroom where I could hear an exuberant shriek quickly followed by the sound of her feet running against the hardwood floor back toward the living room. I thought her face might break from smiling so much as she handed the book to me and asked me what it said.

I read it to her, of course, and when I was done she immediately demanded I tell her what to write.

I laughed and told her she didn't have to write anything if she didn't want to, that she could even draw a picture. I reiterated that the journal was for whatever we wanted to share with each other. Well, she continued to demand that I tell her how to spell certain words. And when she was all done, about twenty minutes later, she dashed off to my bedroom, demanding I keep my eyes closed (even though she wrote her letter directly on top of me and I already knew what it said: Hi Mama I Love You So Much).

After I put her to bed, I went in my bedroom and opened the book and looked at her writing more closely. Her big smiley happy faces and rounded hearts made my eyes well up. She ran out of room signing her name so she had to put the last letter in front of the first letter, which made me laugh out loud.

I wrote her a little note back and tucked it under her pillow this morning before I left for work. When it's my turn to journal again, I plan on taping this photo of us I took yesterday while watching TV:

(could she look any less interested/exhausted. oh but she's not tired, oh no!!)

I will cherish this book (and hopefully many more to come) for ever and always.

still Living La Vida Montessori

Last week was the first full week of Summer Session II, Lovie's 5th week at Montessori. Everything is still fabulous. It gets old writing all positives but hey, it sure beats all negative stuff, eh?

Lovie brought home her journal Friday before last and it was full of letters and numbers and pictures, including one page which kind of blew me away.

I've never heard of this.

Sure I've seen the design and I probably have heard "quatrefoil" in my life, but not enough to stick in my brain. So seeing this in my 4 year old's notebook... well, clearly I had to take a picture of it and post it on Facebook to let everyone know how I'm being schooled by my 4 year old.

Seriously though, this is truly how the past five weeks have been. All a fantastic, wonderful learning experience that I'm trying to bring into our home as well.

We still watch a lot of TV during our downtime, but I've cleared a lot of the clutter out of our home and made more hands-on toys (play-doh, markers, paints, scissors, glue) more accessible to Lovie at any time she wants. I've even bought some beads and pipe cleaners (love the Dollar Tree) to see if Lovie would be interested in doing some crafting (and strengthening of her fine motor skills to maybe help her write better) while TV watching, and, unsurprisingly, she gobbled it up and is now a maker of bead bracelets.

Yesterday we all stopped at Michael's and spent well over $100 on craft supplies including more beads, stickers, drawing paper, etc. When we got home, we watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (fun movie) and crafted. Lovie was quite upset because the first thing she wanted to buy--purple glitter glue--was forgotten at the store, but after she got over that, she went to town with stickering up an empty toilet paper roll which we then turned into a flower vase--complete with flowers made from pipe cleaners.

Who have we become?

the only thing better: a father's day gift for gramps!

for my daddy, i picked up a frame yesterday with two 4x6 openings. light wood frame. the top opening will have a print of the blue and white top shown above. the bottom opening will have a print of the image below shown above. this example will be sort of what it'll look like with a light wood frame.

i found the quote on pinterest somewhere but changed some of the wording (hint: "sweet angel"). i created an image on picmonkey and added the words. super easy. and free.

as for Lovie's daddy, he'll be getting another one like last year's big hit.

easy DIY flowers the kid can do

Even though I was extremely disappointed Friday when I picked Lovie up from school and found no Mother's Day "gift"-- not even a "Happy Mother's Day!" from anyone-- I still managed to have her create something for her grandmothers.

We didn't have a lot of time and I'm not really the crafitiest of people out there but we still did something... and I was super pleased with the results:

It's a card made from a thick piece of construction paper folded in half. On the outside I wrote HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY and then I wrote a note that Lovie dictated. On the inside, Lovie hand wrote her name (and mine) opposite the craft: a vase holding flowers. All made with construction paper.

• I took three pieces of different colored paper and drew a bunch of different sized circles on them. 
• Then I gave the paper to Lovie and had her cut out the circles. 
• Then she took a big circle and dabbed some glue on it and covered the glue with a smaller, different colored cirlce; dabbed some glue on that circle and covered it with an even smaller, different colored circle. 
• Once our flower heads were made, we glued them on to green pieces of construction paper folded and made to look like stems.
• The vase is another piece of paper cut out to look like a vase and glued on the sides and bottom. So the flowers are actually removable! : )

HOW FREAKING CUTE, RIGHT? 

here's one way to publish your own book

The other week we made a cardboard Washing Machine. It's pretty kick ass if I do say so myself.

While we were making the thing, I ended up with several scraps of cardboard box which I gave to Lovie to do with as she pleased. She was excited when I gave the pieces to her but then said, "What do you want me to do with them?"

I told her she could do whatever she wanted--she could color on them, cut them, make play food (cookie), make a book, whatever.

"A book?" She was quite interested.

I folded one of the scrap pieces in half and told her we could put paper inside and that the cardboard would be the outside of the book which she could color and design herself.

This is what happened:

See the squiggly lines in green above the blob? Yeah, that's her "story". She even read the thing to me, flipping the pages and telling me an actual story! It's called "Kashie's Seasons." It's about a girl, Kashie (probably should be spelled Kayshie), who lived Once Upon a Time and who loved going outside and loved the different seasons. One day she got sad though but then she went outside and she was happy again.

Or something.

Seriously though, how awesome is that?! And SO EASY to do (held the paper in there with [pink] tape). She literally "wrote" on each page and drew a corresponding image! I should have her read it to me again so I can "translate" it for the future when she may not be able to read her "writing" because this is one of those things that I will save forever.

a How To and a DIY all in one

As hard as it is to believe, for some time now, Lovie's been throwing around statements like, "What can I do to help?"

At first I was a bit floored.

I mean, a 4-year-old is asking me what she can do. To help. Me. Yet my nearing 40-year-old husband... oh, never mind.

Once I heard her ask me this a couple times, I started realizing that this kid CAN help. Sure it may not go as quickly as if I did it myself, but why not start teaching her when she's more than willing? So I told her that I would LOVE her help loading the clothes in the washer.

She. Was. Elated. 

I told her to stand in front of the washer (loads at top) and I would give her dirty clothes which she was then to get into the washing machine. The first time we did this, it went well. I dislodged her undies and socks from her pants or tights and she just tossed them in the machine; but then I was like, "why the hell can't she take out her undies and socks in the first place?" So the next time she came running to me, shouting "What can I do to help?", I told her we could do some laundry and this time, I gave her pants and tights with her undies and/or socks still in them and instructed her to take them out before putting them in the machine.

This, as I'm sure you can imagine, took so much longer. I mean, a two minute task turned into like a half hour task-- not even kidding. But apparently she's got the point because... BECAUSE she now takes out her undies and/or socks when she undresses! I haven't said one word about doing so, she just caught on from having to do it when she helps doing the laundry.

WHO KNEW?!?

Anyway, the other week she was talking about going into our attic (storage room- heh) and getting a box to make something with. We've done a rocket ship and a wagon in the past but she wanted something different. I'm not sure why, but I suggested a washing machine.

Talk about being elated. (Her, not me.)

The day finally came yesterday. I was finally feeling better (sinus infection/cold from hell) and she was begging to making a washing machine. So why not?

My inspiration came from Pinterest, of course. (I thought the basket in the pin was absolutely genius and after having made one myself, it absolutely is what makes this DIY project a big time success.)

It's not totally complete as I'd like to cover it as much as I can with tape (someone insisted on using some pink because, well, it's her favorite color, of course) or crafting paper, but my girl is happy and that makes me happy.


Yay for super cheap, DIY, fun kid stuff!!

teacher thank you gift

On Friday, one of the teachers at Lovie's school told me that her last day would be Wednesday (tomorrow). I looked at her and nearly cried. She looked at me and told me, "This is going to be so hard and I'm going to be such a mess on Wednesday."

: (

Miss Alice has been there since we started when Lovie was 9 weeks old. She's loved on Lovie from the get-go because she reminded her a lot of her baby boy, who happens to be a mere one week older than Lovie. But more than that, Miss Alice has been an amazing constant in Lovie's life at this school. She always has the biggest smile on her face, she always greets the kids with such warmth and love. And Lovie's always adored her.

I needed to let Miss Alice know how much we appreciate her and how much we're going to miss her so I searched Pinterest, of course, and found some cute stuff. Lots of cute stuff. And then I came up with this:

I stupidly neglected to get a gift bag to put the S'MORES in, so I had to reuse a shoe bag. Oh well.

 

I wanted Lovie to be involved with this as much as possible (she made the S'more suggestion too!) so I had her make a card, which is tucked inside the gift bag:

 

 

While the world definitely could use S'MORE teachers like Miss Alice, I decided to change the wording just a bit... as well as have Lovie recite the directions to make S'mores (thank you Angie for the brilliant idea!) and answer some questions about Miss Alice (much like I did for Father's Day):

 

 

My intention is to say thank you but wow is this kind of sad. I mean, do you see that last bit of detail from my interview with Lovie when she told me she'd "be's sad when Miss Alice leaving"? I hope we don't make her cry, but I also hope she understands what kind of impact she's had on Lovie the past 3.5 years.

While tomorrow is her last day, I had Lovie bring it to school to give it to her today. And that's when I learned another favorite teacher is leaving end of July!

No fun!

TILTW: 6.8-6.14

 

*
I suck at being sick and not being able to breathe and not being able to control my cough.

**
Lovie and I now use the same hair product in our hair: Kinky-Curly Curling Custard. Stuff is awesome. Too bad it's not cheaper.

***
Did I mention I hate having summer colds?

****
Still looking for Father's Day gift ideas? Check out THIS easy, memorable one.

how to host a virtual baby shower

When I first realized the baby shower I wanted to host for my BFF (cousin) would be a virtual one, I started to freak a bit. How would we pull this off? I started researching ways to accomplish this--surely I wouldn't be the first to host such an event.

I didn't find too much out there, unfortunately. Seems like most stuff I found involved setting up a blog or Facebook page/event where everyone would log in to see pictures and posts regarding the baby shower. That's not what I envisioned though.

I wanted to host a baby shower. I didn't want the fact that the mom-to-be (MTB) was unable to attend in person to hinder the party. I wanted food, décor, talking, laughing, and belly rubs.

And that's just what happened, thanks to Skype (and our husbands for setting up the Skype stuff which I'm completely oblivious to) and the fact that my BFF's in-laws were throwing her a shower, too.

Having never met, my BFF's sister-in-law and I started communicating via email. At first we were going to try to coordinate both showers--from the invites down to everything. But that was just way too hard and I just didn't have the time, money, or energy for it. So we basically decided to go along the lines of Bees because MTB's baby bedding was bees.

I went a step beyond just Bees and went with Bees, Bugs, Gnomes, Mushrooms... basically a garden-y feel. And all approved by the MTB, of course.

First up were the invites for my portion of the shower in Chicago:

each handmade by me-- thanks to Washi Tape, Michael's, and Hobby Lobby of course. and this Pin that inspired it.

Then, I just expanded from the invites... The décor would be yellow and pink, primarily (like the invites), with spurts of cute bees, bugs, gnomes, mushrooms (all things MTB likes). And flowers because what are bees and bugs without flowers?

I'd seen the clothesline idea before on Pinterest and such so I knew I wanted to incorporate that. But I also needed a little more than just that, without going too crazy. So, also thanks to Pinterest, I discovered tissue pom flowers and streamer backgrounds.

Anyway, commence the pictures...

The room set up:

click to enlarge-- taken with my cell phone. the Skype camera is on top of the TV and their view would be of the food table and streamers, which is why I put the streamers there- they are actually covering three canvases of me, Taye & Lovie.

Clothesline in better detail, photos taken with a real camera:

All clothes are Carter's-- 12 months to 24 months. A couple Gerber bibs and a couple pair of Circo socks to balance it out.

 

Tissue pom flowers in better detail, photos taken with a real camera:

made all these myself thanks to this pin. I grouped them together onto a big box top and then pinned that into the wall.

Food table in better detail, photos taken with real camera:

I created the Menu right before the shower-- Washi tape and leftover paper from the invites to the rescue!

The fruit skewers:

I knew I'd serve fruit, but I didn't want just a bowl of fruit; I wanted to add height to the table and when I saw this basket at Goodwill, it just came to me. Styrofoam sits inside the basket, which is then jammed with the skewers I created, very easily.

Guest sign-in book:

Like the menu, I created the note for the book very last minute with a leftover invite. I wanted to have guests leave a note or wish inside a baby book of sorts... since we're all here in (or near) Chicago, I was elated to find a Chicago "baby" book to complete the plan.

How the virtual baby shower really gets pulled off--SKYPE!

Honestly, this could've only worked out better had they been in Chicago. It was a little different, yes, but it was still a baby shower and it was really a lot of fun!

 

The fabulous cake:

Oh Wow was I happy with the way this turned out. MTB is a big fan of cupcakes but because she wouldn't be at our portion of the shower in person, I figured I could save some money by getting a cake. And I was right and WOW was it yummy. I made the order over the phone two days before the shower and just prayed it would turn out- and it did, I think. I mean, I couldn't stop talking about how cute it was. And then when we cut into it? (While gifts were still being open in Pennsylvania-- a plus to doing a virtual shower if you ask me {being able to eat and stuff without disturbing the gift opening}) There was only six adults and we finished 3/4 of it, it was THAT tasty. Thank you Mariano's!

My pride and joy, the edible flower favors:

Ack, these turned out SO well. Yes, they're a little top heavy and they would probably look even better with shorter sticks, but whatever. They look and tasted awesome. They go along with the theme (what are bees and bugs without flowers, huh??). The colors match. I made them myself!! They weren't that hard or expensive. I adore them so! Thanks to this pin and this one and this one for the inspiration.

Overall this was a really fun experience for me. I actually enjoy having parties at my place... and seeing this all come together was just amazing. And again, the only way this could've been better was if the MTB (and Daddy to be) would've been there in person.

Now I get to box all this stuff up and ship it out to her before Sunday-- her first Mother's Day! And in a little over a month, maybe we can Skype again to see the new baby!

Yay!

flower cookies on a stick

My cousin's *virtual* baby shower is Saturday and I'm quite excited. I'm hosting the Chicago shower while my cousin will be at another shower at the same time, hosted by her in-laws in Pennsylvania. Last night our husbands got together via Skype to ensure that that whole thing (skype) will work- and it should. So yay! I'm excited. I hate that she won't be here in person, but at least we're of a technological age that we can make this happen at all.

I've been prepping for this shower for a while now and I just cannot wait to see it all come together. Last time I talked about it, I showed you the invites I made.

Super cute, right? RIGHT?

Well now I want to talk about the favors I made...

How cute are those?? And they're edible AND they weren't hard to make.

I wanted something to go along with the "theme" of the invites and shower (bugs, bees, garden-y) without spending a fortune. I can't even remember how I found them, but I did pin them here and here.

Supplies
 * Terracotta pots (Dollar Tree had them at 3 for $1!)
 * Weed looking stuff (Dollar Tree had a bag for $1)
 * Cookie Sticks (Party City had them 20 for a couple bucks) (if I could do it again, I'd get shorter sticks or a larger pot)
 * Refrigerated cookie dough
 * flour
 * colored sugar
 * Hershey kisses
 * egg carton egg holder thingies
 * glue stick
 * plastic zip lock bags
 * Washi tape

Direction for the pots
 * Cut the egg holders out individually to fit into the pots so the bottom (the part the egg normally sits in) is sticking up.
 * Poke hole in center big enough for cookie stick to sit in.
 * Glue the top of the egg holder and dip in weed looking stuff.

Direction for the cookies (20 cookies)
 * Followed these directions, except I used Hershey Kisses.

After the cookies cooled I wrapped each cookie (just the cookie part) in a Ziploc bag with the zip part cut off and taped with Washi tape. The cookies are in the freezer and before the shower, I'll stick them into the pre-made pots and weed, waiting for the flower.

I can't wait to see everyone's reactions! I think they're darling!

TILTW: 4.6-4.12.2013

Lovie’s dreams will be coming true on Mother’s Day when she gets to dress in the pinkest, princessiest (I know it’s not a word), gaudiest, ugliest pink frilly dance costume my eyes have ever seen. Like, my eyes burned when I saw the dress. Blech. But she couldn’t be more excited about getting to wear it... just not so sure she realizes she’ll be on a stage with an audience. (I tried talking with her about this just last night and she was all, “What’s a stage? What’s a recital?” I’m new to this whole Dance Mom thing so I’m not sure if I’m supposed to be making her practice and really, if I am, I haven’t a clue what. They read from Angelina Ballerina for a couple of minutes then do random dance stuff or something at ballet on Saturdays—all this while I’m peering in through a tiny window when other Dance Moms aren’t glued to it.)

 

My baby won’t stop growing. I’m not just now realizing this but… A) she’s pretty much completely potty trained to the point that she even goes by herself and is waking up dry, B) she’ll be moving into her big girl bed as soon as daddy puts it together and the thought of my girl in a real bed and not a crib with its side down almost makes me teary.

 

 

The invites for my BFF's baby shower went out end of last week and so far only one person isn't coming and that's because she'll be flying out to be with my cousin in person. I'm getting super excited about this shower, and thanks to Pinterest, have lots of decor and food ideas for the shower found on my partay ideas page, as well as my baby shower ideas page.

 

 

Last night I made the easiest, yummiest dinner: Schmarren.

 

 

 

It's like a thick pancake with fruit compote atop (so the juices can soak into the pancake-y part!). Probably doesn't look or sound yummy to most, but it's been a good 15 years since I've had it (Oma used to make it during lunch visits) and I was elated to find that it was so darn simple to make and just as good as I remembered.

 

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super cute, fun, easy DIY baby shower invites

 

My BFF (cousin) in the whole world is expecting a baby in mid-June. Her first. She's older, like me, (she's six months older at 41 nah nah!) and ridiculously excited for this baby. No, I mean like she-sent-me-a-handmade-card-with-a-photo-of-the-4-D-image-of-the-baby's-face-and-poem excited.

 

I knew as soon as I found out she was knocked up that I wanted to throw her a shower. Problem is that she's in Jersey City and I'm in Chicago and she's not coming back this way before baby is born. So I got together with her in-laws who are throwing her a shower in Pennsylvania and together, we're throwing showers on the same day. The one in Chicago will just be done without the Mama-to-Be in attendance... though she will be there via Skype (I hope this works out as I've never Skyped before).

 

 

I had my own ideas before putting these together... I was going with either cupcakes or ballerina because my girly girl cousin (so unlike me) loves cupcakes and dance. But then the in-laws were talking about doing a bee theme because my BFF bought some sort of bee bedding for the babee. ;) So I went with that. And am so glad. I mean, HOW CUTE ARE THESE?

 

This was SO easy to do and I think I even saved some money.

• I created the invite text with bugs on picmonkey.com- all for free and printed in only black on printer at work (free).
• I picked up soft pink, heavy card stock at Michaels for like $.69 a sheet. Each sheet is cut in half length wise then folded. So... 2 invites per sheet.
• I picked up the yellow paper from Hobby Lobby for like $.40 a sheet. Again, each sheet is cut in half both horizontally and vertically so I got 4 invite inserts to each sheet.
• I picked up 3D stickers with bugs and flowers from Hobby Lobby for like $3.50 a package (x 3 packages) and placed a couple on to each outside of the card.
• I picked up a pack of 25 envelopes from Hobby Lobby for like $4, I think.
• Washi tape (purchased online for $1 or so) is used to tape on the invite text paper on to the card stock.
• Glue stick (to adhere a little from what the Washi tape isn't holding).

the fortress and bedtime

We've been watching a lot of Tangled in our house lately. So much so that not only do lines get repeated while watching it, but we often reenact scenes. And what better time to reenact than at bedtime? Because every little thing comes up at bedtime:

I gotta go potty.
Read me another book.
Tell me a story.
I need a bandage.
The colors won't stop looking at me. (the light from her closet?)
I need some water.
Why won't this work?
Daddy needs batteries for the Wiggles. (the CD in the car skips so she thinks it's low on batteries!)
What does Mama start with?
What does Greasestina start with? (she can't say Christina)

And on and on and on.

I know you feel my pain. And I know that I need to buck up and say good night and get the hell out of her room but, well, I'm just so tired by then and I know what will happen if I try to leave so I give in. I know... I KNOW... the put-the-child-back-into-bed-with-no-eye-contact-and-no-emotion-every-single-time-they-get-out-of-bed-no-matter-how-many-times-that-is thing will work after just a couple of nights of doing it but I'm just too tired to do it. That's the truth.

So I give in to the million requests, including the ones where I'm the nasty mean Mother from Tangled and my darling Princess is, of course, Rapunzel.

And in order to really reenact it all we need a tower, right? So what better tower than her bed? MAYBE IT WILL GET HER TO STAY IN HER BED!!

So the other night, I got some cheap Walmart blankets and thought about it and thought it: How can I get these up onto her bed and get them to stay without looking like total shit? And then things started coming together...

I took one long crib bumper and shorter one and tied them together (they were in her closet) and rigged them from one side of her open crib to the other side- across the top of the crib sides. Then I laid blankets over top. But how would they stay up when Lovie inevitably moved and jumped around?

I got some clothes pins (big package for $1 at the Dollar Tree) and pinned the back of the blankets so they had some weight. Then I taped the clothes pins to the rails of her crib with washi tape. Bada boom, bada big a fort was made!

Lovie adores it. She calls it a Fortress- or her tower if we're playing Tangled.

The first night... it didn't work. She kept coming out of bed and I asked her if she wanted me to take the fort down. She said yes to try to call my bluff but this Mama can be a Mother and took it down. Man was she pissed. I kept telling her I'd put it back up the next night and it would stay up as long as she wanted or as long as she STAYED IN BED at bedtime.

Last night... it worked. She stayed in bed.

We still had a millions stall tactics, but at least we didn't have to strap her down* into her bed to get her to finally settle down and go to sleep.




*That's a joke, people; we don't ever strap her down into the bed.

Sticker Chart for bedtime

I get up before 5 AM during the week. I wake Lovie up at 5:30 AM. It's not easy, but doing so allows us more time together after work/school before she has we have to go to sleep. That said, bedtime for Lovie is 7 PM. Yes, that's early but did you see what time I have to wake her?

Anyway, we've always been pretty strict with a bedtime routine... but that doesn't make bedtime always fun. In fact, the older and more defiant she gets, the harder and longer the routine lasts. And mama needs her sleep!

Enter the Bedtime Routine Sticker Chart:

It's absolutely nothing fancy, and it's only been part of her routine for three nights but if all goes well, it may stick around for some time.

I threw it together in minutes and it's cheap, cheap, cheap.

Supplies
* Poster board
* Clip art printed on regular paper
* Washi Tape
* Marker
* Stickers
* Reward (I got a package of Princess erasers)

I picked up the poster board, stickers, and erasers at the Dollar Tree on my way home from work. Then I searched for Toilet, Wash Hands, Brush Teeth, Bath (wash face), Pajamas, Clothes (picking out clothes for next day), Bedtime Stories, Sleep in a Word document clipart. I printed each one out, cut, then taped (with Lovie's help) onto the poster board with Washi Tape ($1.99 a roll from Downtowntape.com). Then I made rows and columns with more tape. Then I wrote the days of the week on the left column. This all took maybe 10 minutes tops.

I asked Lovie what she saw in each picture and told her that after she did each of these things before bed, she would get to take a new sticker and place it in the box under the picture for doing a good job. If she fills a whole row with stickers, she gets to choose a reward (and I showed her the princess erasers).

She got super excited and kept asking, "OK now what's next?"

It's only been three nights but so far, it's going OK I think. It's really helped with the stall tactics because she's got visual prompts to guide her. And it's helped with her staying in bed while I read and hopefully getting her more comfy and relaxed. But it's far from perfect, of course (she has yet to get a reward).

TILTW: 12.8-12.14

*
Counting and time-outs work quite well with my perfectly well-behaved, non-whiny child.

**
I still hate potty training.
***
I missed writing this week, but I enjoyed being kinda crafty as exemplified here and here.
****
I need to make Lovie another blanket for the car. I knitted her one before she was born- it's super thick and was awesome for covering her in her infant carrier. Now that she's like a big kid, the blanket barely covers her legs in the cold car. It's been a while since I've knitted but it may be time to pick it up again.
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Less than two weeks till Christmas and only two weeks one day till Lovie turns three.

HOLY CANNOLI!

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WW: The Clubhouse

I love you so...

I haven't been feeling myself the past several days. It started Sunday night when I got the chills as I was laying down for the night. At some point in that evening I started sweating like I was sitting outside in the 95 degree heat and 100% humidity. No. Actually, I was sweating like I would if I were exerting myself in such weather. Every day since then, I've been experiencing the same feelings of sitting in a fridge for one minute (or a couple hours) vs sweating my ass off. On and off every day. Yesterday when I was experiencing the chills at work, I was shivering in front of a small heater. When I got up to pee, I thought I was going to pass out; I couldn't walk straight and it took every ounce of energy to make it to the bathroom. When I made my way to the bathroom and looked at my pathetic self, I saw that I was red in my face and my chest. I knew I had a fever- and a pretty high one. But I couldn't drive. Not without hurting myself or someone else. So I toughed it out at work and fortunately my fever broke about an hour before I had to pick up Lovie.

Whatever this is is leaving me with no energy. And Lovie's full of energy so it's a bit rough to deal with- especially since I'm doing this solo all week as the hubs is out on business till Friday night some time.

It's pointless to stay home- even though I know I should- because if I stay home Lovie stays home and that would require me to use up more energy than if I come in to work.

Because at work, I sit all day in front of a computer. And I do things like look at Pinterest.

That's where I got the inspiration for the first image above. I want to have that printed for Lovie's room. I just haven't decided if I want to include a picture of my lovebug with the wording or just leave it with just the quotes.

Anyway. Happy September!

Save or Toss?

As we approach a full year of daycare, I've got quite a bit of stuff to show for it- aside from the huge depletion of money (if we were able to afford daycare this past year, how were we not living in a mansion or something before? i mean WTF were we doing with all the money going to daycare before it went to daycare?!??!?), of course. Mainly, I've got a ton of papers.

First it was her Daily Reports that let me know what time her diaper was changed and if it was W (wet) or BM (poopy aka Bowl Movement) and if BM the was it BML (loose poop); what time she ate and what or how much; if anything such as diapers, wipes, clothing was needed. I started saving them (why?!? i dunno!) and finally tossed them when I came to terms with the fact that not even a grown up Lovie would want to see this stuff. Duh!

Then there's the Accident Reports that told me that she was playing with a toy when one of her "friends" came over and "accidentally" bopped her in the head with a toy and that Ms. gave her lots of "TLC" and held an ice pack on it.  Thankfully, we've only collected a couple over the year.

Next there's the Book Order Forms they give every other month or so rather than every week or whenever they come in. You know, the little pamphlet made on the thinnest paper known to mankind? I think I've opened up one in the past year and ordered none. Oops. Those pretty much got tossed right away. I just don't have the time to look through them, to be honest!

Finally, and most importantly, is Lovie's Artwork. Now this stuff... I love. I do. I know very well that she's not really creating anything; I get that the teacher simply holds her in her lap, grabs her hand, sticks it in paint and then slaps it onto a piece of paper. I get it, I do. I get that Lovie didn't think to make me something personally- like the mug holder I made in Shop Class back in 8th grade for my single dad who never dated or remarried and therefore only had and needed one mug in life.  There really isn't anything personal about this artwork and I really don't think Lovie would be damaged in any way if I just tossed it... but I can't.

I can't get rid of the pieces of paper with random scribbles on it. I can't. And I won't.

I'm not sure if it's because I have absolutely nothing (tangible or memories as my mom's answer is always "I don't remember") from when I was a child or what, but I really want Lovie to know about her young life. These are the absolute best, most amazing days of my life... and, while it's because of Lovie, she won't remember any of it!! How sad is that??!

I guess by holding on to this infant artwork, I'm hoping that it may spark some memory in me to share with Lovie when she's older... Or maybe she'll ask questions about when she was a kid and I'll be able to actually have something to show her from when she was little.

I know I was loved and wanted. I know this... but... I dunno. For some reason, it's extremely important to me that Lovie know just how much she was loved and wanted. The truth of the matter is that it's pretty impossible to convey this into words ... the love I have for her. So maybe by hanging on to some of the "little" things, it will help.

Anyway, rather than just toss all her artwork in a box and pray it will hold up for years to come, I decided to use it as ... well... art (some individual pieces also hang in her room, the bathroom, the living room, etc):

These hang in the hallway between the kitchen and her bedroom- the french doors on the left of this photo is her room.

I actually got this idea from a blog I saw one day a while back. And, sadly, I'm not sure whose blog, which sucks and I'm really and truly sorry to you if it was yours (just let me know so I can acknowledge it here!) I thought it was brilliant when I saw it- she used wire, I believe, to hang the pictures on... and she screwed them in to those eye hook things (the ones you hook through and then screw into the wall).  I remember the line was more straight than my sagging one. Mine is just a ribbon cord I found on clearance at Hobby Lobby tied onto push pins.