Preston loves when Phil tells him stories. He listens so intently and gets involved in the story. I love watching his facial expressions as he listens. If Phil isn’t home to tell the bedtime story then I have to. Each and every time, Preston informs me that, “Daddy tells better stories than you do!”
I saw a growth chart recently online that I loved. I have been meaning to make one for my kids for a few years but never knew how I wanted to do it. This was the perfect solution. Amy at www.amyscreativevinyl.com made the vinyl for the growth chart like the one I saw online. I LOVE IT!!! I got an 8″x8′ board at Lowes and had them cut it to 7′. I just found out that Lowes will cut your boards for you! Then I painted it an off white color, sanded the edges lightly, applied a thin coat of stain, and applied the vinyl. When I grew up, we marked our heights on the back of a door. When we moved we had to leave it behind. Having the growth chart on the board is great because it looks cute enough to leave out as a decoration, or if you want to put it out of sight it will easily fit into a closet, and it can go with you if you move!
I recently discovered you can pop popcorn kernels in the microwave. Pour about 1/4 cup kernels in a brown lunch sack, fold over once, and tape shut. Microwave it for about two minutes or until finished popping. I love doing this for a few reasons. First, the kernels are much cheaper than buying microwave popcorn. Second, you don’t have to add any oil or fat to the popcorn. Third, it’s much healthier than the microwave kind because you don’t have all the additives and extras they add to the microwave popcorn. Fourth, you can top it with whatever you want. You can use real melted butter, salt, garlic, etc. Fifth, it tastes yummy!
These are the best children’s toys ever! I bought them on sale several years ago. While bathing my daughter one day I became very frustrated with all the bath toys she was playing with. They all had small holes that trapped water inside and every time she squeezed them, black gunk squirted out! I got the set of beach toys out and they have remained in our bathtub ever since. There are buckets, shovels, cars, and boats etc. included in the set. They love them. Last winter I had another bright idea. My kids wanted to play out in the snow but I didn’t want to join them in the cold. So, I grabbed the beach/bath toys and set them out on the deck in the snow. They loved scooping up snow and molding it into shapes. I laid a towel down for them to sit on so they stayed dry. We have also taken these toys to the beach and they loved them there too. We’ve had them five years and all three kids play with them daily. I’ve also put them through the washer and the dishwasher several times to clean them with no problems. So, the next time you need children’s toys that are inexpensive, hold up great, and are multipurpose- go buy a sturdy set of beach toys.
We have two sons who spend the majority of their days rolling, ramping, and racing their many cars all over the house. We found the perfect racetrack for them. It is a piece of vinyl soffit found at any home improvement store in the siding section for about $12. It has three lanes and bends slightly to give the perfect incline. It’s 12″ wide and 12′ long and can be placed anywhere. My boys have had it on our outside front steps, our stairs inside, and leaned up against our couch. They have had so much fun sending their cars down the track and watching them race down. The best part is that it is thin so can be stored anywhere, it’s very inexpensive, and it keeps the boys busy for hours!
I love watching General Conference each April and October. I love being home all weekend with my family watching conference on the tv. I love having big breakfasts and soups to eat for lunch and dinner. I love hearing our church leaders give us inspired words and guidance. The one thing I didn’t love was having my children cause such a ruckus that we couldn’t hear much of what was going on.
In April I made a General Conference Basket for the family to enjoy. It worked very well for my three and six year old kids. I took different General Conference packets I have found on the web and customized them to what I wanted. I make one for each child. There is a photo of each Prophet and Apostle and a blank head next to it so they can color what they look like when they speak. I also have a tie on the page for them to color to match the speakers tie. I have a spot for them to write or draw pictures of what they are speaking about. At the bottom there are different things they can color if it applies to the speaker, such as if they are bald, wear glasses etc. I also have pages for other speakers who are not Prophets or Apostles including pages for the women who speak. At the end of the conference packet, I include several coloring pages, word searches and other fun things from the Friend Magazine. If they finish or get tired of coloring about the speaker, they can flip to a page in the back of the packet and work on that. I bind all the pages together into a book to make it easy to flip through. The first year I printed a packet from the internet I didn’t bind it and pages were flying all over the room!
I also made Conference Bingo Cards that we all really enjoyed. There are several topics on the card including prayer, faith, temples, etc. We play by covering our entire card with pieces of candy (m&m’s, gummy bears, mini marshmallows etc) and as we hear someone discuss one of the topics, we get to eat the piece of candy on that square. The person who get’s bingo first gets to eat the remainder of their candy!
I put the packets, bingo cards, and candy in a basket along with crayons and a few other little things for the kids to do. I have found with my kids that if you make things visually appealing, for some reason they like it better. That is why I bind their books and have everything arranged nicely in the basket.
Here are my packets and bingo cards. You can download them and use them for your family. Don’t forget to add coloring pages and word searches etc to the back of the packet. You can find several of them put together online or browse through the Friend Magazines.
Today is Saturday and I worked all day. Phil was home with the kids. When I came home, I walked into my bedroom and found eleven pairs of my shoes all lined up in a row. They were shiny clean and looked brand new. Ella saw her dad shining his shoes a few weeks ago and thought it would be nice to shine my shoes for me. Phil told her they could shine my shoes the next Saturday that I worked. She remembered that today and when they put Brennen down for his nap, Phil, Preston, and Ella spent two hours shining my shoes!
I have the best family ever.
Ella is such a good reader. She enjoys reading. Brennen is starting to really enjoy being read to. I walked into the family room today to this sweet little scene. Ella and Brennen were sitting on the couch together while Ella read him a book. It made me happy that she would share her talent with her baby brother.
Brennen is at the stage where he loves wearing other people’s shoes. He gets so frustrated if he can’t get them on himself. When he does succeed and gets the shoes on, he is so proud of himself and stomps around in them for an hour. Today, I heard a “clomp” on the kitchen floor and looked over at Brennen. He had on one of Ella’s church shoes and it made me laugh.
Phil took Preston and Brennen for a hike today while I had a photo shoot. It was a nice day and I was happy they were going outside for a while. When they came home Preston handed me this bouquet he picked along the way. Phil said they really had to search for flowers in the woods since it’s the end of the season and they are starting to die.
I’m grateful they thought of me!
