Mommy Tricks

One thing I covet about knowing so many other moms is learning all the tricks of the trades. Like, last year someone told me to rub baby powder on sandy (dry) feet. Was I AMAZED how the sand just fell right off. We now keep a bottle of baby powder in the van for post playground clean up. And yes, it is baby powder that was given to me when I was pregnant with Brady. Never heard of this trick? Try it and then pass it on…

 

So here are some of my tricks that I have that have made our life easier in one way or another.

 

THE BOO BOO SOCK

My girls have never let me put ice on their bumps and bruises, until now. I think ice packs were always too cold, but then by the time I wrapped it in a cloth you couldn’t feel any chill at all. Family Fun magazine offered this trick. Feel an old baby sock (I bought new ones since ours are already packed away) with rice. Hot glue or sew it closed. Use the other matching sock as a cover. Place it in the freezer.

Advantages of this boo boo sock over ice packs: 1. It is cold but not too cold for little hands to hold. 2. It has a cover to wash. 3. It is free because you have socks and rice at your house! (or I paid $1 for a new pair) you can’t beat that.

 

CHILD SIZE CLOSET

Both of my girls take huge pride in not only dressing themselves but also picking out their clothes. We only had Reese’s PJs at her level initally. Well then I was fighting a battle every morning because she wanted to wear PJs. I even tried picking her up to let her choose, apparently not the same. I ordered her a rack like Brady’s on amazon and we have had a happy Reese since then.

 

Where to get it: http://www.amazon.com/Neu-Home-1346-Closet-Doubler/dp/B000KFZE7Y/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1303484715&sr=1-1

As you probably can guess independence is huge in our house. Well Brady wants to fold clothes when I do laundry. But she wants to do it as well as mommy. So I bring you the…

FLIPFOLD

This originally was a gag Christmas present for Karl. On our favorite sitcom Big Bang Theory, Sheldon who is socially awkard and highly OCD uses one to fold all his shirts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kZUWkB7eZE

 

Well it turned out to work perfectly for a 3 year old who wants to independently fold a shirt like mommy.

 

Where to get it: http://www.amazon.com/Dial-Flip-Fold-Blue/dp/B000ILFRI6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1303485177&sr=8-1

 

Okay, your turn to share….

Wordless Wednesday: The Result of an Unsupervised Child

Easter Fun with Daddy

The girls and I are traveling to NC and VA this weekend and will miss spending the Easter holiday with Karl; therefore we decided to go to some of the festivities in town this past Saturday. We had a blast, as always. We just love our family outings.

 

We went to our local Chick-fil-a’s Egg Hunt. The coolest thing about this event was they sodded a third of their parking lot so they could have a lawn to play on!!!! We started off at the face paint table. One ‘worker’ with 6 paint sets equated to me doing something quick on my girls’ cheeks. Nothing special but it made them happy.

These next two pictures mark a huge moment, the first time Brady EVER willing went up to a dressed up character. And she did it twice. I think she is showing she is ready for Disney this fall!

There was also moon bounce house, Jesus stories, craft table and baby lamb!

Now for the so called Egg Hunt they just dumped a bunch of eggs on the sodded parking lot. Then said go, which created a mass of kids in the center. It was funny because Reese had to open each one and then dump it in her basket before picking up another egg. Therefore she got like 5 eggs when every other little kid got like 20. Look at all the other baskets in the pictures compared to hers…it cracked me up. So methodical

We also went to Toys R Us for their event. I am only blogging about this because I want to remind myself to NEVER go to it again. Not that great and the the girls didn’t enjoy it that much.

Wordless Wednesday: Movie on the Lawn (for free)!!!

Tuesday Tidbits

I just wanted to share this sweet picture of my Brady BOO. I think she is such a fashionista, it cracks me up! By the way she picked this dress out for herself from TJ Maxx, but note that it is Guess brand. Told you she is a fashionista!

Speaking of fashion, this is the picture Brady drew of me. I was at Zumba when she drew it. She today Karl that I was wearing high heels and earrings. I guess this is the way she wishes I dressed, because I don’t know that she has EVER seen me in high heels!

 

We have two large teddy bears, Tuku and Blue. We dressed them in the girls Taylor Swift shirts the other day and the girls got a kick out if it.

Reese is waiting for gymnastics to start here. I think she is just a cutie pie!

Dewy’s trip to the vet for a recheck!

Still The One…

Yep, Dewy is still the one, number one that is!

 

Saturday at 12:40 the family is sitting down to lunch. Karl is reading the paper and I ask him to hand me the page about the deal reached to avoid the government shutdown. I read the article and then turn it over to the calendar of events for the day. At 1:00 is the local wiener dog races. We had a blast last year and had been waiting for the signs to be put out with info like last year.

 

Well those of you who know Karl well, know to be told at 12:40 about a event that starts at 1:00 is very unsettling. However, we had such a blast last year we couldn’t skip out. So in 20 minutes we let the dogs out, packed snacks for all, got the girls on the potty, shoes on, out the door and to the event by 1:00! WOW, we did leave Pace at the house this year because he didn’t enjoy himself last year.

 

We are glad we got there. Dewy was in the weight class, 10-15 pounds, with the most participants again.

This board only shows some of the racers. There were about nine initial heats in Dewy’s weight class. I thought you would enjoy seeing some of the names of Dachshunds. While we waited out turn to race, Brady enjoyed photographing the event, while Reese walked about and observed her surroundings.

Dewy smoked all the dogs in the first heat coming out on top. Here he is with the winnings from the first heat.

While we waited for the race against the other heat winners we enjoyed some snow cones.

Also I enjoyed seeing this dog race that is paralyzed in the back half (common problem in Dachshunds). He has a custom made wheel chair. He is five years old and full of life!

Well it was finally our turn and guess who is the Pensacola Weiner Dog Race Champion (in the 10-15 weight class) for the second year in a row

DEWY!

You gotta love Dewy trying to give out kisses even in his championship snapshot

Craft of the Week: Space Mud and Stepping Stones

 

As promised and requested here are the past two weeks, craft of the week. First is SPACE MUD!!! I loved making this as a child. I would beg my mom to buy the supplies all the time, I think until I was like 16. So needless to say I was pumped to do it again.

Space Mud

1. In one bowl mix 1 cup of hot water, and 2 ½ T. Borax

2. In another bowl mix 2 cups glue, ½ cup room temperature water, and food coloring (optional)

3. Mix together both bowls until all liquid is gone. Store in a zip lock bag.

 

Every kid needs to make this at least once in their life. I only allow this to be played with outside. Ours is still in great condition and it is over a week old.

 

 

The other craft was a Tinkerbell Stepping Stone. I bought, well stole, the kits from Target’s clearance section. They were only $2.49 and each kit came with enough plaster to make 4 stones each!!!

There was a picture that Brady used to aid and her painting. I was quite pleased with her patience as she copied the colors. Check out below how well she did! She even painted a border like the photo.

Mat Sat.

I know I have uploaded a lot of videos of Brady’s love of language on here. I think there are a few reasons for this. 1. It is amazing to watch this journey. Not even a half of a year ago could she even name letter sounds. 2. I am math minded and Karl is amazing at Science, however we both seriously lack in the language department. Therefore I LOVE that her passion is reading.

 

Without further ado, I proudly present Brady reading a book to us for the first time EVER!

 

She keeps wanting to ‘read’ the pictures and not the words.

I’m Back

Sorry for the 8 day disappearance. Our family had QUITE the weekend and I have spent the second half of the week trying to ‘catch my breath’!

 

Between Saturday early AM to Tuesday AM this is what we juggled:

 

• All four of us catching the 24 hour stomach bug
• Reese having SEVERAL relapses in potty training, including in the middle of the Chick-Fil-A jungle gym
• My getting too brave in fingernail trimming by not using the infant safety clippers and taking off the end of Reese’s thumb, which kept reopening for three days
• Brady putting her tooth through her lip while trying to do an air turn, yes second lip injury in a week

Let’s just say there were all sorts of bodily fluids everywhere, yep count it up four different types of fluids! On Saturday when I was cleaning Brady’s vomit, Reese kept hollering to be excused from the breakfast table, but I was busy so I left her there. Well, she needed to be excused for a reason, and I was soon cleaning up pee. Before I could finish that task, Brady was throwing up again.

 

There are more similar stories about the weekend, but I am sure you wished I had already limited the details, so I will leave it at that!

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But I feel great now, and will be updated the blog for your reading pleasure!

Word Families

I have posted about Brady’s love at preschool before. SOUND BOOKS AND FAMILY BOOKS! So those links are from like 6 weeks ago. Well today Brady wanted to do her family books for me and OMG she is now blending which means she is READING!!!!

 

 

 

I am so proud of my Brady girl. Soon Karl and I will have to find a new tactic to communicate besides the spelling aloud code.

 

When I was filming her, the proud face she gave me after each word reminded so much of this video…

 

 

It is amazing how EARLY personalities show!

“Her injury Just Saved you Money”

In a store today, Brady and Reese were spinning around holding hands (while I was chatting with the store owner). Reese fell and busted her lip and ripped her frenulum on her upper gums.

 

Sidenote: Frenulum is that fold of skin that attaches your gums to your upper lip. The dentist says he wants to do a surgical procedure to clip to separate it. He says it was too thick and would cause her gap teeth to remain as an adult. I personally wanted to leave it because I think her gap teeth are special to her look and I saw no reason to try and change the way she looks.

 

 

So back to the injury. When I noticed the ripped frenulum, I called the dentist and asked whether or not to bring her it. Long story, short the receptionist told me that Reese just gave herself a frenectomy (the surgical procedure) and just saved us the $300 dollars it would have cost to get it done! HAHAHA I think that is the first I have ever heard those words.

 

Here are some pictures of her 30 minutes after she fell. I know some of you would get a kick out of her already full lips, very swollen. Angelina Jolie has got nothing on my injured Reesey Poo!

Wordless Wednesday: Romeo and Juliets