Ghosts and Pumpkins

This is an easy to make, early math counting manipulative.  Just color with permanent marker one side of Lima beans orange and on the other side make a ghost's face.  You can cover a yogurt cup with paper or you can just use a plastic cup.  The child puts the Lima beans in the cup, shakes them like dice, and pours them out on the table.  They count how many ghosts, and how many pumpkins.  You ask which is more or which is less.  You can change the amount of beans in the cup after a few shakes.

Easy and cheap just the way we like it.

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Goodbye to Summer Week!

 

I LOVE family traditions!  This quote by Susan Lieberman pretty much says it all "Family traditions counter alienation and confusion. They help us define who we are; they provide something steady, reliable and safe in a confusing world."

As a mom I want to provide a safe, steady and reliable home life for my kids because I know how absolutely insane this world can be.  Family traditions help me do that.  They help me reconnect with my kids and provide consistency.  We have weekly traditions like game night, family home evening (where we give a spiritual lesson), and Saturday pizza and a movie night. My kids love these and we all look forward to them.

This year we started a new tradition!  My friend Leanne has been doing this with her kids for years and I knew as soon as my kids were old enough I wanted to do it as well.  We called it Goodbye to Summer Week.  The week before school started we planned out a whole week of fun.  We squeezed all the fun we could out of the week so my kids can go back to school with lots of good memories of the summer.  We did a few special things that we rarely do (like go to McDonalds) and we did some of the normal summer activities like swimming.  Here's a look at our week!



 

 Day 1: I gave into the McDonald's thing and we did happy meals but the real highlight was our family hike.  Jaxson wanted to hike a mountain but there aren't any in Michigan so he settled on a forest area.

 

 Day 2: we explored a new park and did some science experiments at home.  They loved the volcano!

 

Day 3: we met up with friends we haven't seen in over a year and explored the Detroit zoo for the first time.

 

Day 4: we took at step back in time and visited Greenfield Village in Dearborn MI.  The village is set in the late 1800s to early 1900 time frame.  We even rode in a Model T car! 

 

 Day 5: we hit the pool where we have a pass and then we went to a Chalk & Chocolate street fair.  You can't beat free chocolate!

 

Day 6:  I planned a fun day at home.  We painted the sidewalk, played in shaving cream and made a lot of mud pies.

It was such a great week! I felt like such a good mom and my kids were over the moon with excitement for each new activity. (Plus they slept like rocks each night.)  This might be a my new favorite tradition!  I can't wait to repeat it next year!

I would love to hear about other family traditions you have!

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Deal with it!

Friday's Five Favorites!

I had planned a different post for today, well yesterday but sometimes, ok often, life does not go as I plan.  It seems like the end of the world has come to my house the past few days.  We've had a number of wars and too many natural disasters, my carpets are the proof.  To say it's been frustrating would be an understatement!  Because of this I changed my mind on what this post would be about.  So here are my five favorite ways of dealing with the hard days.

1. Escape! After a long frustrating day I often look for a way to forget about it.  My first choice would probably be to escape to the gym or go for a run but because of the hubby's schedule that's often not an option.  Then I turn to a good book, a movie, or get caught up on my favorite blogs.  The main thing is I need to stop obsessing over how irritated I am with life.

2. Pictures!  I'm very much a visual person and just looking at pictures of when my kids are actually happy or even better sleeping, make me feel better about life.  Often after a rough day with the kiddos I look through my blog and try to focus on the good.  I also try to keep pics of them sleeping where I can see them, like on the fridge.

It's hard to stay mad too long when that face is looking at you from your fridge.


3. Compare!  I know this sounds wrong but really this often helps me.  I don't mean go comparing your weaknesses to other strengths, in fact when I'm feeling a little depressed I try to avoid pinterest.  Anyway, I try to look at a family that might be going through something hard.  I have a friend who's 5 year has a lot of physical problems and recently just had a major surgery.  When I'm annoyed with my almost 5 year old I think of that dear friend and instantly become thankful that he's healthy.  I guess what I'm saying is it's not hard to have a positive outlook when you look at the good instead of focusing on the bad.  I know easier said than done!

4. Music!  There are numerous studies out there about the positive affect that music has on people.  I don't need any expert to tell me that it makes me feel better.  I love cranking up the music and getting something done.  When I'm in the car by myself I sing at the top of my lungs to make myself feel better. I usually turn to fast paced, upbeat music that gets me going but sometimes I need turn to religious music that reminds me how good God really is.

5.  If all else fails, I turn to S.O.S. therapy. For me this means SCREAM OR SLEEP.  Honestly there are days that leaving me wanting to scream (hopefully not at or around my kids.)  But when I do scream a little I feel better, let it out!  And for me, sleep can solve any problem.  It is the best escape there is and when I wake up, I usually have a more positive outlook.  In general life goes better when I'm well rested.

So, there you have it a day late and a dollar short.  That's how it seems to go around here most of the time.  Hopefully this helps someone out there, even if it's just to know you're not alone.

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Tricky Picky Eaters!

Welcome to this weeks Friday's Five Favorites! 

Since we've started this blog I've had a number of people ask me how I get my kids to eat some of these meals.  The truth is that I don't.  They don't always like what I make for dinner but I don't cook just for them.  If I was only cooking for them we'd eat way too much mac n' cheese, pancakes, and cereal for dinner.

As new parents my husband and I tried to start some dinner table rules with our kids, thinking that consistency was what was needed.  Among others, one rule was that everyone had to take one bite of everything served.  Sounded simple enough to us but we met our match with Jaxson.  Overall he's a pretty good eater but if he's decided he does like something he will not eat it, not even one bite. 

Here's the proof.

We have multiple pics of this kid asleep at the table. He's so strong willed that he would rather sit at the table all night instead of take one bite.  No amount of bribes or threats would sway him.  I'm hoping we can correctly channel this determination so he uses it for good!

After a few too many battles at the table with this boy we decided to make a few changes and dinner time has been much better since.  Not perfect but better. Here my five favorite tips that have helped our family survive the chaos of meal time with those picky eaters.

1. Menu Plan.  I try to set up a monthly menu plan.  I do this for many reasons such as it keeps me organized and saves us money.  Because our family is small we eat a lot of leftovers.  Usually I cook two nights and then take one off and we eat what's left from the previous meals.  I try to make sure that one of those two meals is something they will eat good, that way 2 out of 3 nights they fill their tummies without a hassle.  Just a few of the meals that please everyone are Chopped Pizza, Creamy Italian Chicken, and Tortilla Soup. 

Also with meal planning I try to make sure there is something on the table that I know they will eat.  My kids love fruit so I often just cut up an apple.  Often I find that this gets them going.  They start eating the apple realize that they are hungry and start eating other things on their plate.

2. Give Choices.  We try to give our kiddos choices when it comes to what they eat so they feel like they are more in control.  Often I serve two different types of vegetables and tell them they need to eat one if they want their bedtime snack, which is always something they like.  We don't make a big deal of it, if they don't eat it that's their choice but no snack.  Sometimes we save their meal and when it comes to bedtime snack time they're willing to take a few bites.  But NO MORE battling for hours over a simple green bean.  I also try to throw in a few meals in our menu that provide lots of choices for them such as tacos or Hawaiian haystacks so they can choose what goes on their plate.

3. Make it fun. For kids life is about fun.  A little imagination can do wonders at the table.  Pretend you're all dinosaurs, animals, pirates or a royal family. Turn the meal into a picnic, game, or a friendly competition.

Turn their food into something fun, get creative!  Cookie cutters are a great tool for this.

Another great way to make food fun is by getting the kids involved.  My kids LOVE cooking with me and when they've helped make the meal their much more likely to eat it.  Give them a little ownership and watch them flourish!

4. Be the example.  My kids are 4 and 2 and I'm already blow away with how much their likes and dislikes resemble mine.  They both love broccoli and carrots which are my favorite veggies and neither of them care much for tomatoes, which as hard as I try I just can't come to like.  My husband loves mushrooms and eats them whenever he can and the other night I was blown away when my son decided to try one, and he decided he liked them!

5. Sneak in the nutrients.  Because I know my kids don't always eat everything they should we try to sneak in.  There are tons of great recipes out there for this.  I will throw in some veggies into our spaghetti sauce and we make a ton of smoothies at this house. 

We have a smoothie almost every morning with breakfast and often we have them for a bedtime snack as well.  There are tons of smoothie recipes out there.  Mine are always a little different but they usually go something like this;

1 big handful of spinach
about a 1/2 cup of other veggies we've done carrots, kale, lettuce, broccili and even celery
1 cup of lowfat yogurt
1 cup of water
1 banana
1 cup or more of frozen fruit

I often add in some flax seed for more nutrition and to make it a little more filling.  Sometimes I feel like it needs to be a little sweeter so I had some honey.  If I do it right we can't taste the veggies but they often do look green, like our St. Patty's Day smoothie.

If anyone out there has some tried and true, amazing tips on how to get kids to eat healthy we'd love to hear them!

Good luck!

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Back in the game!

I'm back!!! Where have I been you might be asking?

Running around like crazy!  For the past month or so I've pretty much felt like a chicken with it's head cut off.  We have been in the process of moving.  On top of preparing to move we've had family out to visit us, my husband's graduation events, a quick trip to New York, a not so quick trip out west to visit our families, planning and pulling off a family reunion, finding a renter for our current house, the big move, and then trying to get settled in our new home.  Whew! It's no wonder why I'm so tried!

Trying to get settled here has been one adventure after another. It seems that nothing as gone according to planned, which when you're a big planner, like me, that can really throw you through a loop.  For example, the first five days in our new house were spent without appliances, air conditioning and WATER.  That means no cleaning and painting like planned but more importantly no showers or working toilets.  I'm a mother with two young kiddos who are both potty trained so this turned into quite the ordeal.  When push came to shove there were times that my kiddos had to use a bag in a garbage can as their toilet.  It was great fun!

Lucky for you I decided against taking pictures of my kids pooping in a bag but I did take a picture of what it's been like to not have a dryer for a few weeks. Yep, those are the kidlets undies hanging from the cupboards.  We've had to get creative lately.

After the first week when we were basically just in survival mode, I tried to start doing the work that needed to be done in the house so that we could officially move in. (As of now most of our stuff is still packed away in the garage.)  With the hubby now starting to work, that left a lot more for me to do at home.  It was going much slower than I hoped for various reasons.  One afternoon once I got my daughter down for a nap and pulled out a new game for my son, hoping this would keep him busy and out of my hair so I could finally get some painting done. I had saved this game, Cootie Bug, for just such an occasion because this kiddo is a huge bug fan.  Problem was that the game was new and the parts were a little stiff and not working as he wanted.  I felt like every 10 seconds I was being interrupted to help him put in various bug parts into the buggy body.  This was not what I wanted.  Finally I got frustrated and snapped.  I rudely told him that he needed to just do it himself and leave me alone.  Yes, this was not one of my best parenting moments.  My ultra sensitive boy started to cry and a after a few minutes I started to feel bad.  All while painting, I remembered my Grandma Burdett and how patient, loving and positive she was.  I then started to tell my son about how big he was getting and because he's getting so big it means he can do things by himself even if it is hard.  I then told him about the story of The Little Engine that Could, a story that my grandma always told us when we were trying to do something difficult.  I still remember the first time I learned to water ski and her sitting in the boat telling me to say "I think I can, I think I can" over and over.  I told my son that it might be hard to push those small bug parts in by himself but if he kept trying he could do it.  For the next hour or so he played with the game as happy as a lark all by himself, occasionally I would hear him whisper to himself "I think I can, I think I can." This gave me plenty of time to paint and reflect.  I realized I needed The Little Engine that Could, talk just as much as he did.  I have been getting frustrated with  house projects lately and the whole moving situation.  I needed to remember that I am a very capable and strong person.  I can get through this if I have a positive attitude and work hard.

When Jaxson was done playing with his game he was so proud of himself for doing it all by himself.  This also made me realize that often I have been robbing him of a sense of self accomplishment by doing things for him.  In a way I have been enabling him.  As a therapist I saw many parents do this with their children with disabilities and I swore to myself I wouldn't do the same.  I've realized I've probably been holding my son back a lot lately by doing things for him.  Tough lessons learned and too bad I will be learning most of them the hard way with my oldest.

Going through these experiences has sure made me grateful for all the little things I take for granted, such as a flush-able toilet and my healthy body.  Wish me luck on our new adventure!  And here's to patience, hard work and a positive outlook!

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St. Patrick's Day for Preschool

I do a home based preschool with my 4 year old son.  We rotate with a couple of other families and each take turns hosting.  Today was my turn to host and we decided to do a St. Patrick's Day theme.  I think it's important to teach kids what the different holidays are about so they understand why we do the crazy things or traditions we do at that time of year.

We started out with a normal beginning and then talked about why we celebrate St. Patrick.  I had totally forgotten the legend that he had cast out all the snakes in Ireland and learned for the first time that he was actually not from Ireland originally. 

After our educational circle time we did a little scavenger hunt to find some hidden gold.  I more than LOVE doing scavenger hunts and try to slip them into our traditions as much as possible.  I usually write my own clues but because I procrastinated this I turned to pinterest and found this little gem. 

The girls at The Crafting Chicks had this hunt already to go with free printables.  Thank you!

 

For our crafts we made hand print four leaf clovers.  I'm a total sucker for anything with hand prints because I want to have something to remember how little they were and to watch them grow.

 

And while they weren't doing their hand prints they worked on lacing their rainbow and four leaf clover.   I made these out of fun craft foam and then punched holes in them.  I used yarn instead of shoe laces because it was much cheaper.  Buying these lacing activities can get pricey!  I did put some tape on each end of the yarn so it would easier to use for little fingers and not fray.

 

 Lacing activities are great for hand eye coordination and fine motor skills. Now if I could only get my active boy to sit still long enough to do it!

 

For snacks they gobbled up this small rainbow fruit tray.

 

And they devoured one of our family favorites homemade oreos!  I told them that the leprechauns like to play silly tricks and they gave our cookies green frosting.  You can find this recipe here.

 

To make our drink a little more fun I made rainbow ice cubes by putting one drop of food coloring in each.  I forgot to get clear plastic cups so I had to use my real tumblers and I'm happy to report that none got broken. The boys thought this was awesome and were more than willing to drink their rainbow water.  I will have to do this more often because it was so simple.

I absolutely love doing preschool with my little guy.  I love watching him learn, grow and interact.  I wouldn't miss this for the world!  I also love holidays because they get me to do fun stuff with my family!

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Creature Habitats

Some days I feel that my kids think it is my sole responsibility to sit around and entertain them ALL DAY LONG!  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE being with my kiddos but I do have other things I have to do, like constantly fight a losing battle with the laundry.  Because of this I'm always trying to think of new things to help my kids entertain themselves.  This activity takes a few minutes to set up but then you're free to do something else besides entertain for a while.

One day we came up with the idea of a creature habitat.  My son is very much into animals/bugs and learning everything he can about them.  I'm surprised with how long this will entertain him. Not only is this activity fun but it's also educational!

We start with an old Dinner Group pan that has seen better days but doesn't leak. You can use any old pan or container.

Then we decide what creature we are going to learn about.  This day it was worms.  We often will look up some info on our subject online or I just tell him what type of habitat that particular creature would live in.

Then we create it.  I send him outside to collect the specific elements that would be in the habitat such as rocks, leaves, trees (sticks) and whatever else he finds.  We usually add a little water because what kid doesn't love playing with water. 

I am a mom that believes that childhood is to be fully experienced which means getting dirty sometimes.  I'm fine with a little water and mud in the kitchen but we do set limits.  If anything leaves the table we're done.

We add our creature of the day.  Sometimes they are real like the worms and sometimes it's one of his toys.

Then I have one happy boy who loves to play with his little friend in his new home.  I really am surprised how long he will play with this.  He'll move those little guys all over their home, make up stories about them and on and on. 

He's happy and I can enjoy and few minutes of peace.  Often I use times like this to go to the bathroom ALL ALONE! :)

This post has been linked at Ginger Snap Crafts!

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Homemade Baby Wipes

For the past 3 1/2 years my husband and I have been in graduate school.  Since we pretty much have NO money, we count our pennies.  I'm always looking for ways to stretch our small budget.  Last summer my good friend Aryn told me that she makes her own baby wipes.  With four small kiddos running around her house she told me that doing so saves her money and that she loves them.  I was curious and asked for her recipe.  Once I got home I gave it a try.  At first I was doing it only to save money.  I figured I could do a little extra work to save some change.  Well, that change started to add up and I realized I even liked these wipes BETTER than the store ones I had been buying before.  I cut my wipe costs in half with these.

Here's what you'll need:

1 large roll of good quality paper towels

A 1 1/2 Quart size of canister

Baby Wash

Water

Here's what you do:

Cut the paper towel roll in half, my husband uses a hand saw. (We cut a bunch at one time and store them cut in halves so they are ready when we need them.)

Put one half into the canister with the cut side down.  You'll have to squeeze it some to get it to fit.

Mix 2 tbs of baby wash with 1 cup and 1 tbs of water.

Pour the water/baby wash mixture over the paper towels in the canister.

Let it sit for about 10 min so that the water can sink in.

Remove the cardboard center.

Find the end of the roll and pull it slightly up so they are easy to use.

And there you have it.  EASY & CHEAP two of my favorite words together!  I use these of course daily on my little ones' bottom, but also to clean their hands and faces and to clean up the many spills we have at our house.

This post has been linked at Ginger Snap Crafts!

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Disclaimer

First, let me explain why we have a halo and a witch hat on our parenting link.   Everyday of our parenthood journey we have to put on our halos and pull out every saint-like quality we can. We sacrifice so much in order to try our best to serve those little ones selflessly with patience, forgiveness, kindness, compassion and love filling our hearts.  Sadly, until those little ones are grown and have their own to care for they will not understand all that we do for them.

Living with a halo above our head is what most parents strive to do but for most of us we often fall short.  I find myself letting my halo slip DAILY and then the witch hat comes out.  And though, I TRY to hide my witch hat as much as possible, there are times I pull it out intentionally.  Growing up, my mom used to say "at 9:00 I turn into a witch so you better be in bed!"  Now I understand why.  There are times that it is crucial for our child's well being that we show that we are serious, firm and sometimes in their minds unfair and even mean.  I know I get called a 'mean mom' more than I ever thought possible and my oldest is only 4!

Here at Many Many Hats it is our hope and goal to help others get through the battlefield of parenthood by giving ideas, tips, hope and more than anything, support.  You are not alone!  Ann, my wonderful mother, has four grown children and has learned a few tricks along the way.  I'm the young mom trying desperately to learn all the tricks and become the best mother I can.

All that being said, we in no way think of ourselves as experts on the topic of parenting.  Being the best mothers WE can be is one of our passions; but just because something worked for us, doesn't mean it will produce the same results for you.  Every situation is so very different which makes life more rewarding but also more challenging.  We know we still have lots to learn about the subject.  So, we invite you to come learn with us.  In this section you can find some of our greatest success stories, but you will also read about our failures and the mayhem that accompanies parenthood.  We invite you to share your ideas as well!

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