Chill OUT (Jar)

Today was one of those days that almost made me want to turn in my mom card and declare, "I'm done." Hehe. I don't often have those days as a mama, but being sick when the husband is at work all day long (and night, too!) can usually push me to the edge. All I wanted to do was sleep or at the very least, lay horizontally and moan pitifully at the world. Lily and Sage were good for a while, but as the day wore on, they got progressively stir crazy. After about the 100th time of Sage swiping every single thing off the table or Lily getting upset because she was told no, she couldn't watch another episode of Cake Boss, this mama had reached the end.

So what do I do when I'm going bonkers and my kids are going bonkers and we're all driving each other insane? Why, we get creative and craft something of course!!! Especially dour moods call for especially sparkly projects. Frustration, you have met your match in this household. I present to you, the "Chill Out Jar."

Some of you may have seen this on pinterest under similar names such as the Time Out Jar. We've actually used this quite a bit over the years for Lily when she gets stressed or upset, but the last one started leaking and it's been about a year and a half since we've had one in the house. 

Basically, it's like this. The jar (plastic bottle in this house because Sage likes to throw) is full of colored water, a bit of glue, and a crap ton of glitter. You shake it, you zone out on the sparkly swirliness and poof! Your mad gets gone real quick. Fun for all ages, too. Sage zoned on it, Lily took a turn, then I got distracted while I was taking pictures. 

Lily helped me pour the glitter and count the food drops. Most important jobs, you know. I came up with the quick little poem for the side and used my trusty label maker. The poem had the added benefit of covering the bits and pieces left over from the bottle wrapper. Creative laziness, no? Sage shook the crap out of it to test it. Success! 

I know in the past this has been a life saver with Lily when she had her tantrum phase. I'm sure it will work with Sage muffin too, but if not, it's still good. After all, it's a  homemade toy that reaches both ends of  the 8 year age gap between my kids. That's a lot of win in my book. Plus, sparkly.

If you would like the instructions to make your own Time Out/Chill Out Jar, you can visit here. There are bunches of recipes on how to do this, but According to L is my favorite because who doesn't want to say something looks like "glitter poop" at least once in their life? Also, she shows pictures of her kid using the jar over time as proof it works. 

Dealing with back-to-school stress.

Most of you have heard me talk about my daughter, Lily. She's the one who says stuff like, "Mom, I love you, but we've GOT to talk about this cake I'm designing." This girl picked me flowers as she pranced home from school today. She doesn't mind playing superhero in public. Just the other day she and I had a conversation where she explained to me that there are only seven albino zebras in the world. She knew that because she reads the Nat Geo Kids magazine from cover to cover every month. My newly minted third grader (small heart clutch here) has just completed her second week in school. Usually, back to school means a few tears here and there as she adjusts to the new schedule. This year though... this year has been the worst yet.

 There's some new policies in place at her school and others which will be more strictly enforced. For instance, the tardy rule states that students must be standing with their classmates by the time the bell rings to be escorted inside. You're not in line, regardless of bell, you're tardy. Last year, Lily walked in, went to her room, and sat down. Tardies mean you go to the office and get a red slip to take to your teacher. The behavior plan has gone school wide and it's complicated. I'm all for color charts, since I'm about 7 months away from being a teacher. Really, though? SEVEN different colors? Isn't that a little much? I'm not really complaining, just concerned at some of the things other moms are saying.

Lily already has three tardies. She stops to talk to the crossing guard every morning after. She walks to the door while looking at whatever catches her fancy. She very nearly meanders her way to class. It's not because she doesn't like school. It's because she's easily fascinated by the world. Lily came home earlier this week in tears. Not just a few minutes and then the upset was forgotten. She was sobbing. "Mom, everything's different and I don't know how to do the right things. It's all so different, even the kid who bullied me last year doesn't bully me anymore."

Oh that broke my heart. If Lily is upset that she's not getting bullied, I know this is serious. How do you handle your child's pain? How do I teach her how to be responsible, to realize that change is inevitable, without making it sound like I'm mad at her for struggling?

"Mom, I'm so overwhelmed. I just want to cry."
"I don't want to be tardy, I just want to be absent."
"School isn't fun anymore."

The last one, more than anything else, worries me. It's kept me tossing and turning at night. I absolutely love learning. I love nerding out on how the world works. I like being able to answer random trivia questions. I love being in the classroom and I have a slight obsession with school supplies. I am 28 years old, and I still get a thrill when I see I got an A on a paper or a test. It's not the grade, it's the satisfaction that I've done well and I've achieved a new level of knowledge. I want all of this and more for my daughter. I have buckets full of pride that I'm considered a good student. If nothing else, I want my legacy to her to be that love of all the things there are to learn in the world.

She's arguing with teachers. She's crumpling her homework. She yells at her sister. She yells at me. She's pushing limits. While it is easy to get frustrated at first and angry at her, I can't. I can see the pattern. She doesn't feel any control. She's hurting.

I'm probably blowing this whole thing out of proportion. What mama doesn't do that when her kid is hurting? I've been at a loss as to how to help her avoid that anger and frustration so that she can get back to enjoying school. I tell her that it will be okay and she'll get the new schedule down. I tell her that the new color system gives her more chances to be good instead of bad. I tell her that she's a smarty pants and that she should be proud of herself. I tell her that third graders have more responsibility than second graders, which is cool because that means they get to do fun, new things. I tell her not to worry.

I have asked other parents for advice and read various articles on the internet. I've thought about the strategies I've learned for teaching when I have my own classroom. I've gathered a  few ideas on how to help Lily get back to her normal, happy self. Some are to spark her curiosity and get her excited about learning new things. Others are geared towards shifting schedules and setting a new routine.

1) I am going to take her to our local museum. She loves that place.
2) I'm going to find some cool science experiment we can do at home. I'm thinking rubber eggs or maybe even rainbow daisies. She'd get a kick out of flowers turning colors.
3) I'm going to get adjust bed time and wake up time. We'll leave 10 minutes earlier in the morning so she doesn't get another tardy.
4) We'll go pick out a new book.
5) I will talk to her teacher and her counselor and her principal if I have to so they are aware of the stress the environment at school is causing my child.
6) We'll take a break before doing homework. In the past, we always do homework right after school. I'm thinking she needs the break. It may not work out, but we'll try.
7) I'm going to revise and update our rewards and behavior rules at home. We have had the same ones on the fridge for a year now. It's time for something fresh.
8) I'm going to give her more choices. Even if it's just what we have for dinner or what song we should listen to on the stereo, I'm giving her the opportunity to feel like she has control.

Any other suggestions? I would love to hear your own experiences and how you've handled your child's stress. I don't think there can ever be enough good, heartfelt advice when it comes to making your babies happy. Thanks for struggling through this with me. For those of you who have offered advice, thank you. Sometimes parents need reminders that they're doing the best they can.

PONY PARTY Part 1: Rainbow Dash

Look what I got in the mail yesterday.

A WHOLE BOX OF YARN! 

Aren't the colors pretty? A little scattered, I'll admit, but that's because I'm working on my latest project.

Lily's birthday is a little over a month away. She'll be 9 years old. 9 YEARS OLD. Every year I do this. I wonder how the heck she's grown so fast. Then I cry about it a little.  

Lily l-o-v-e-s My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. We watch it all the time. We have conversations about the "mane six" characters. My husband can quote the characters. I'll admit, I am a bit of a pony geek too, it was one of my favorites when I was little. 

I had the idea brewing to make her the ponies as a birthday gift, but had no idea how to pull it off. So I did a bit of searching and found out that MLP crochet is actually a pretty popular activity. Who knew? There are some gorgeous patterns and plushies out there. I bought a few because they were so cute. (I don't normally buy patterns, but the madness overtook me.)

AcrylicSheep on etsy had the pattern that I decided to actually use. Look at her adorable ponies!!!! 

Find this picture and the pattern here.

They're small enough to realistically do all six and the pattern gives you instructions for all the pony accessories! I may have become a pattern-buying convert. I'm so excited! With my first week of school out of the way and homework already piling up, I need quick and easy. This fits the bill without sacrificing cuteness or the end product. I love that I can do any pony from the show with this pattern. I may have to add in one or two extra if I have time. Lily would die if I could pull off some of the other characters like Princess Celestia or Princess Cadence. (For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, I apologize. I guess I should have put up geek warning sign at the top of this post.)

I've started on Rainbow Dash first. She's one of my favorites. 

The pattern was very easy to follow. Since this is my first attempt at amigurumi, I'm extremely pleased with how little Dash turned out. 

I'll post each pony as I complete them so be prepared to see lots of pony pictures over the next month. Next, I think I'm going to work on Pinkie Pie. 

Did you know that there is enough guy fans of this show that they have their own "BRONY" convention? Isn't that kind of awesome and goofy at the same time? Girl fans go by Pegasisters. The things people come up with these days! Very clever...I do love wordplay.

What do you think? BEST PRESENT EVER, or what? My kids are so lucky to have me as a mom. Hehe. It's a good thing I'm pretty humble about it.  *wink wink*

I have shared this post with Hooking on Hump Day Show and Tell Saturday Frugal Friday and Overflowing with Creativity!

Hat Party!

I finally have to admit that autumn is just around the corner. Everyone's talking hats. I'm crocheting lots of hats. Since I just recently sold my first crochet creation, a cutie owl hat, I've since sold several more and keep getting orders. Cool for my yarn addiction, not so cool for my homework in the upcoming weeks. Let's be serious, though. Yarn totally wins!

My favorite hat was the zebra hat. This one was for Lily as she was watching me make hat after hat. She asked me, "Mom, I might like a hat. Did you consider that?" We spent some time on pinterest and she decided on a pink zebra hat with googly eyes and long braids. I looked at several different versions being sold on Etsy and came up with my own design. It's a mish-mash of cute ideas.

I had to dig out my pom-pom maker for this hat and I can't seem to stop making the little fluff balls now. Sage likes to toddle around with them and throw them at the nearest innocent bystander when she feels she's being ignored. I have this idea of a pom-pom garland for my window. We'll see if it goes anywhere. I bet I could promote Lily to official pom-pom maker.

I also made a hat for myself. Having dreads usually means hats are hard to find, unless you don't mind wearing slouchy beanies or tams all the time. This hat, like so many of my other projects, has no rhyme or reason. I picked a stitch and a color as I looked through pictures for inspiration. Few rows of stitching are the same. I love the big happy flower on the side. 

I am now venturing into superheros and monsters. No, seriously.

 

It's the AMAZING Spiderman hat! 

The webbing will haunt me. Spent waaaaay too much time worrying away at that part. I finally ripped out the original yarn and replaced it with puffy paint. It's off to be loved by a cutie little guy in his up and coming photo portraits. 

Currently on my  hook is the wing for a Captain America's helmet. Is it weird making these is giving me the urge to have a hero movie marathon? I also get to try a monster hat next. And then maybe a My Little Pony. Lily's birthday is a few months away and she would die for a crocheted set of the "mane six" characters. Now that the idea is in my head, it's not going anywhere and I want to try it so I can play with them too! I'm such a sucker for kid's toys.

If you haven't noticed yet, I have started an FB page! I would love for you to join me and share your crafty creations or say hello! 

I've shared this post at Hooking on Hump Day!

Random Roundup: what I've been up to.

Those of you bloggers out there who do this regularly in the summer have my deepest respect! It's tough to fit in. I have five million things to blog about, but no time. So, I'm doing a roundup of things I have been wanting to blog about.

#1: My dreadlocks are now 4 years old! Happy dreadiversary!



I'm kind of to the point where I want to cut them. I have to do so in 6 months anyway, and I'm really loving on short hairstyles right now. Dreads are hot, yo. I'm waffling. I would keep them forever if I knew I could, but teaching with dreadlocks in my area is probably as possible as Lily eating broccoli. So now that I know I have to cut them, I want to cut them when I want to, not when I have to. And yes, I'm listening to how much sense I'm not making. I think it's time to break out some funky dye and do something wild. When in doubt, add a rainbow. That's my motto.

#2: Colored. Ice cubes.



I randomly saw this on pinterest and can't remember who had the original idea to credit. I threw some neon food dye in a batch of star shaped ice cubes and let the kids play with them in the pool. They were so entertained I was able to read a whole chapter in my book. That's rare during the monsters being awake portion of the day. You should probably put kiddos in older swimsuits in case of staining.

#3: The coolest mushroom in existence.



It's called a lionhead mushroom. It's furry. And delicious with a bunch of other mushrooms in mushroom risotto.

#4: ANT INFESTATION.



I feel like a mass murderer lately. They just won't. stop. coming. out. of my front porch. Normally I'm a let live type, but it's gross and Sage sits there and tries to eat them. Ugg. I have kids and dogs and can't use chemicals.  Tried a gazillion non-chemical remedies. Verdict? Soapy dishwater and cornmeal. Worked amazingly. My walkway is covered with the little ant bodies. (Note to self: spray off the walkway.)

#5: Lily left us last week. So Sage decided to practice for when she gets her Hogwarts letter.



She crawled into one of Dad's shirts and grabbed my wand off the bookshelf. Much hilarity ensued.

#6: Sage also had her first painting session! She painted almost as much as she ate the paint.



I simply put food dye into corn syrup. Once her masterpiece dried, I sprayed it with some top coat and I'm going to frame it for our wall. Clean up was not easy, but the rainbow colored water did look pretty.

#7: I made another baby shower gift. This time it was an owl lovey. Turned out super cute. It even rattled! Working on writing the pattern for it, possibly to share later.



#8: I wore makeup. Haha. I nearly made it to 60 days makeup free! Oh well. It was date night and the Hubster got all fancy, so I did too. I forgot how much fun makeup is when it's not a daily chore!!



So there you go. What we've been up to lately, if you leave out about half the stuff we're doing. Hehe. Who agrees with me that there needs to be at least two more hours added to the day?

Anyone?

Anyone?

Flowers and teefers. Day in my life.

So it's my favorite time of year again.

The roses at my house are in bloom...making my house look much prettier than it usually does!

Every year, our rose bushes burst into sunny yellow happiness and remind me why I live in my tuna can of a house. For about a week or two, once a year, we're the prettiest house on the block. Provided that we've remembered to mow our yard and kill the dandelions.

There is no possible way to be grumpy when looking at my yard during this time of the year. It's fantastic. The girls wanted their pictures taken. Lily was being a ham, as usual.

She's wearing the tie her dad was supposed  to wear at my sister's wedding. He snuck out of it because I was so busy. Harummph. Lily also likes to smirk somewhat evilly at the camera to warn me that she's about to get into mischief. Or ask my a question/make a comment that makes my brain all explodey. Just the other day she golfed her first nine holes and loved it. She proceeded to tell me that she's going to be a better golfer than Tiger Woods. Seriously, how the heck does she know who Tiger Woods is? She wants golf lessons, so I guess we're adding that to the list of things to do this summer. Lily is interested in everything and that makes summer a crazy time for us as we try to get her into as many activities as possible so she can explore. So far this summer we're doing horse riding, golf, swimming, and art lessons. Possibly a Harry Potter Science Camp. I'm taking donations for all of this. Please be generous. *wink wink* I'm also constantly searching for books for her to read. She's reading faster than I can find book series for her.

Sage Muffin still has the cutest jack-o-lantern smile ever. I am really going to cry when she finally gets another tooth on the bottom.

She just got a fourth tooth and guess where it is? Yup. Still up top. Haha. This is the slowest teething child I have ever met. 18 months and 3.5 teeth. That has to be some kind of a record. Being mostly toothless does NOT slow down her eating. This kid eats. Lily doesn't. I've spent the last 8 years of my parenting life fighting for every morsel of food to go into Lily's mouth. Sage eats her portions AND Lily's portions AND mine AND Nic's. There's no stopping her. The other night at dinner out, she ate calamari, shrimp, bruschetta, brie, clam chowder, my mahi mahi, Grandma's steak, and a couple mouthfuls of pineapple salsa that was too hot for ME. Oh, and she chewed on a lemon wedge for about 10 minutes. We call her our hobbit eater. She has to have first breakfast, second breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, second lunch, afternoon tea (milk), supper, dinner....the list goes on. It's about 90% fruits and veggies, so I don't stop her. I'm going to have to up our bountiful baskets to two a week here soon to accommodate her! She also ate her first mouthful of dirt as we were planting Grandma's herbs. Possibly a bug or two. Heh. 

I can't help but smile at my flowers and my girls. That's what summer is all about to me. Playing hard, getting dirty, and sighing at the flowers. I can't wait to enjoy this sunshine and happy time!!! Just remind me in August when I'm ready for school to start again that I felt this way! By then I'll probably be ready to hide in the spider corner of my laundry room just for some quiet. ;)

While we're on the topic of flowers, can anyone tell me what type of clematis this is? Or if it is a clematis?

It's really pretty! I would love to find this variety to plant in my yard somewhere. Thanks in advance for your help!

Happy SUMMER!!!!!

Solid Food Sage Monster, Volume 2

To read Solid Food Sage Monster Volume 1, click here.

So the Saga of Solid Food continues. :) Now if you've met my baby girl, you know she's an eater. It's her favorite thing in the world to do. Since we've started doing solid foods, she's grumpy if people are eating around her and she's not getting any. She's also messy. We gave up trying to feed her in clothes after one shot. I do more loads of bibs than any other laundry. Ha. 

So, in SFSM V.1, I mentioned that we had tried rice cereal. We have since stopped using rice cereal and switched to oatmeal. She was having potty issues, tummy problems, and general crankiness. In searching for the answer, I found info that stated that some pediatricians think that rice cereal is BAD for babies. Apparently, "it's not that different from giving babies a spoonful of sugar." (You can read the article here.) So we waited a few days and tried oatmeal and she loves it. Oatmeal might not be a good idea if there's a history of gluten intolerance in your family, but we're fine there. All of the problems have been alleviated. If you're interested in more info on the rice cereal issue, read this or this or this.

The list of accepted foods is growing. Sage still chomps on sweet potatoes like they're candy. We've also added apples, bananas, avocado, carrots, watermelon, and pears. She wasn't so sure about the avocado alone, but with pears, she loves it. Carrots didn't go over well the first time, but it was an organic jar of food because we were out to Grandma's house. They tasted nasty and bitter. If I wouldn't eat it, I'm not making my baby eat it. 

Luckily, I got my first Bountiful Basket this week and it had carrots so I can make Sagey Poo some yummy fresh food. As a side note, if you don't get bountiful baskets, I require you to immediately click on the link I've kindly provided and participate. 

See this lovely array of fruits and veggies? $15 dollars for all. It's all amazing quality and fresh. It filled up a laundry basket. Bountiful Baskets is a food co-op. You participate by contributing a weekly fee on a Monday and then pick up your produce the following Saturday. Every couple of times, you volunteer and help them sort and what not. Easy peasy. Seriously, go to the website. Learn. Enjoy. You're welcome.

Okay, winding back on topic now....

I've been making baby food like a mad woman this past week. It all started, as good stories often do, when my husband brought me home 9 baked sweet potatoes from his work. I had asked him to bring a "few" home since they throw them out anyway because I wanted to try my hand at making baby food. He brought 9. NINE! So I got out my blender/food processor Bullet thingy, peeled some sweets, and away I went. 

It's a bit of a messy process, but quick enough that in 20 minutes I had two ice cube trays full of pureed sweet potato goodness ready to pop in the freezer. If you're looking for a great set of instructions and pretty pictures, head to Rust & Sunshine's post about it. The picture below is from her blog and gives you an idea of what you'll end up with.

Photo from Rust & Sunshine

Besides sweet potatoes, I have made plums, apples, apples and prunes (dried plums) mixed, peaches, and more sweet potatoes. Tomorrow, I'm all set up to make carrots and peas. I have also spent more hours than I care to admit looking at baby food recipes on Wholesome Baby Food. Since Sage likes her new high chair and will happily watch me while playing with her toys, I can whip up a batch or two pretty quickly.

All together, I have 112 one ounce cubes of baby food prepared. That is over a month of meals for Sage as she usually eats two cubes, twice a day. Overall cost? About 10 dollars. Since the organic jars of baby food run about $.80, I have saved $35.00. Can't beat it. Word to the wise though, use a good sharpie marker to label your bags of food. I had a DUH moment and used a water based marker. Haha. Luckily, I remembered what was what. 

I still had SIX sweet potatoes left to deal with. Honestly, what was the man thinking? I had sweet potato for lunch two days in a row and made a pie. I finally had to admit defeat and throw out the last three. You win sweets, you win.

One last thing, if you don't have one of these nifty food keepers for your baby, get one. Now. I'll wait.

Did you get one? Good.

Sage LOVES when I put one of the frozen cubes of baby food in this. She'll happily gnaw on it until there is nothing left. It's also how we fed her watermelon. Boy howdy, did she like that. She hasn't quite figured out the hand coordination required to hold and eat at the same time, but luckily, she has a patient mama who will hold it for her if need be.

Whew. What a novel. If you made it this far, thanks for reading!!!

Play dates, painting, and pictures of tiny roosters!

There has been much play going on lately at our happy house. So much play, that this Mama bear hasn't gotten much time to herself to simply sit. It seems like summer is determined to move at the speed of light, so I am trying to cram every bit of fun in that I can. So far, I seem to be exceeding my own expectations because I am dead tired at the end of each day. We have had a couple of fun adventures with a few more in the works.

We had a play date trip to the local dairy farm, Reeds Dairy. Hubs and I took the girls and met with a few other mamas and kiddos to play in the sun and visit some animals. (My dear spouse has no problem being the lone dude at a mom and kid party.) The dairy had a picnic area complete with petting zoo.

Lily loved the calves, especially the one that decided she was lunch and kept licking her.

I loved the chickens as it is a dream of mine to one day have a chicken coop. There was one tiny rooster that Nic was positive he could fit under his shirt and take it home.

Sage was absolutely fascinated by the pony, even though her dad didn't really care for the smell. She promptly fell asleep after we left the pony area and slept the rest of the time. Hee.

 The dairy also has an ice cream shop with the BEST grilled cheese sandwiches ever. Nic is now on a mission to try convince me that we simply MUST have the dairy milk delivered now because it is oh so delicious.

The other really fun thing this past week was Lily's art class. She is loving this class and I am sad that it only has one session left. I am looking into finding other art classes for her to take during the school year. Harder than it sounds where I live. Unless I just have no clue where to look. Hmmm...

Lily's class was about watercolors this week. They played with different techniques to use when painting with watercolors, like using salt and crayons for resistance. Then they used those techniques to paint a picture of a place they liked. Lily chose the beach since our much awaited beachy vacation is just a few short weeks away.

Lily really liked playing with the watercolor markers and different blues for the sky. She also has to take the elevator down after every class. :)

The class is in the upstairs of our local gallery, and a new showing, Environmental Considerations has just started. It is full of large canvases, bright colors, and neat sculptures. Totally up my alley artistically. I'm a free spirit by nature, and I like my art the same way. The two artists are very talented and if you live in my area, you should stop by and check it out.

I was pretty impressed with Lily's take on the paintings in the gallery. She asked a lot of questions, wanting to know what they were and how they were so big. She actually considered the art, even though she didn't quite understand it. It was a fun little mom and daughter date and she wants to look at it again after her next class. I love that she is so interested in different types of art and wants to be an artist when she grows up. It's an obsession that takes after my own heart.

We have a busy week coming up and if I make it through, it will be a blast. Dance class, gymnastics, Princess Dance Camp, a pedicure for me (YAY!!!!), fundraiser lunch, baby shower (making a gift for the mama-to-be) and a few other things I'm probably forgetting. It's right about now that I REALLY miss coffee.

Solid Food Sage Monster

So we have started the Solid Food Adventure in my house. Miss Sagey Poo is taking to solid food like her sister takes to chocolate bars. It's a pure love.

I knew we were good to go with rice cereal, because we tried it a month or two back. Her tummy got upset so we held off on trying anything else, but there were no allergy issues. So this week, we've tried applesauce and sweet potatoes so far. It's kind of hard to wait 3 days between each food! It's so exciting, we want to just barrel ahead. Sage is now under the impression that a food utensil going towards a mouth should be heading in the direction of her mouth, so I think it's excitement all around.

I did buy some canned baby food, the organic Albertson's brand. The more and more I think about this new foodie journey though, the more I'm leaning towards making Sage's baby food. Have you tasted baby food? It's nasty. It's bland. I want Sage to like carrots, not something that once upon a time tasted like carrots. Not to mention, even with organic food, do we REALLY know what goes into those jars of baby food? (Now I sound like my paranoid hubster.)

This article has some pretty interesting info on baby food. Namely, that bland, gross canned food may not be the way to go. I love the idea of spicing baby food. On the off chance that it helps to make her less of a picky eater, I will dive right in. We all know how I would love to have a child who isn't a picky eater.

The underlying reason behind me making my own baby food? I want to be more involved as a mama. I made a promise to myself that when Sage was born, it would be different than the mess I found myself in when Lily was a peanut. I was young and had no idea what I was doing! While I realize that's true of all first time parents, my views on parenting from then to now have completely done a 180. I've promised myself to be more educated and less go with the flow because it's popular or EASY type of parent. I'm implementing more art and less TV with Lily as a way to connect with her. Making Sage her morning and evening snacks gives me that same type of connection. It also provides some serious satisfaction that as a mama, I've taken the time to care more and hurry less.

I'll let you know more as I get into this food making journey and we'll see if the costs outweigh the benefits. It could be that I end up scrapping it because it takes time away from both my girls. It could end up actually being more expensive. Who knows?

Here's some more info on homemade baby food:

Rust & Sunshine has a lovely post with easy instructions and pictures regarding her homemade baby food.
Weelicious has every baby food recipe you could ever want.
Wholesome Baby Food has some fantastic tips and techniques.

Move over Jackson Pollock, Miss Lily is in town.

Miss Lily had her art class this week and we had so much messy fun!The theme this week was a Jackson Pollock style painting. I absolutely adore how it turned out and am taking it to be framed so we can hang it in our living room. Isn't it stunning?
I really wish I had my camera during the process, so I could post more how to pictures, but I'll try and explain the process. The art teacher explained who Jackson Pollock was in a 30-second biography. Smart to keep it short since there was paint and cool stuff to play with in front of about 50 or so kids.

There were five stations set up: Drip, Splatter, Spray, Roll, and Smear. Each child was given a poster board sized piece of light weight cardboard and a slightly larger sized piece of white paper to keep messes on the cardboard. Which sort of worked.

Drip was a station with kiddie pools on the floor. The kids put their pieces of cardboard in the pool, grabbed a cup of paint with a sponge brush and dripped paint until their hearts were content.

Splatter was a cardboard box with paper on the floor and walls to protect against messes. The kids had these cool foam brushes in two sizes to throw paint on their canvas. This was a station where bystanders walked away with more paint on them than on the intended targets. Haha, We did this station first. I would say save this for one of the last, as all the cool splatter was eventually covered by the other stations.

Spray was another cardboard box and paper set up. Kids were given water guns with watered paint in them to spray paint. Guess which station was Lily's favorite? This could be an art project in of itself, and with towels on the floor, the mess was actually the smallest here.

Roll was a table filled with beads, foam stickers, fish rocks, and buttons. Jackson Pollock used to hide bits and pieces of things in his paintings, so that was the idea here.Kids could grab whatever and roll it around in the paint and stick it to their cardboard. Plastic gloves were given to kids to protect their hands, but wow, was this a mess. There was a lot of handprints in paint going on.

Smear was a station with pieces of sponge and paint. This station, along with Roll, was one of the stations where kids actually touched their art as they were working on it. If it was me, this is where I would start as it gives a colorful background to do some of the other stations on.

The mess this created was incredible, but it was so much fun and the kids were absolutely free to just play with the color and didn't have to worry about what was right versus wrong. I would caution that too much paint leads to a big brown mess, but we avoided that. It's a fantastic project. The paint used was all water based and kids were given garbage bags to wear over clothing, so no harm done. I think this would make a wonderful play date or birthday party activity, outside. I am not brave enough to have this inside.

Lily loved the water gun painting station, so we may set something like that up here at home. Jackson Pollock is a favorite artist of mine, so I may plan on joining her...

If you try this with your kids, I would love to see the results! Have some messy, colorful fun!

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"Mom, that's gross!" And other things I hear at meal times...

My picky eater Lily has struck again. A half hour long fight led to her eating corn dogs and jello for dinner AGAIN.

I worry about this eating problem of hers like a dog gnawing on a bone. Her doctor says that she's fine as long as she is on a vitamin supplement. She's not underweight, or undernourished, but man I would love for her to eat a fresh damn orange or a salad.Attempts to coax her to try new things end up in fights, tears, and her just not eating. That whole "this is dinner and if you don't eat you go hungry" idea doesn't work in my house because she literally will go hungry. It's been suggested that if we are that concerned about her, we should start thinking about an occupational therapist for food, which I didn't even know was an option. Who knew?

 I keep telling myself that age old parental advice: "She'll grow out of it." Some days I think that is true and she surprises me by eating something. The other day I went to Jamba Juice and she loved the smell of the place. I got a smoothie and she ended up sharing it with me. I am now buying stock in that company. She wouldn't drink smoothies last time we tried them. Another new development is that she'll eat cheese pizza now. Before it was just breadsticks - as long as there was no seasoning on them.

Other days, I feel like she's getting worse. And let me tell you, it is exhausting trying to figure out Lily dinner and make a meal for Nic and me. She won't eat any vegetables. None. I can try and hide them, call them something different, give her ultimatums, still nothing.

Her list of acceptable food items goes something like this:
chicken nuggets or cooked chicken breasts as long as there is nothing but salt seasoning them.
Steak, but only if it's Grandma's.
French fries.
Hot dogs or corn dogs
Applesauce, pears, sometimes mandarin oranges.
Apples (with peanut butter), bananas, maybe a few grapes, but no other fresh fruit.
Cereal, but only if it's Lucky Charms.
Peanut butter: this she eats by the spoonfuls. PB sandwiches with no jam, honey, or anything else. If peanut butter ever becomes illegal, my daughter is going to starve.
Cheese, but only string cheese. No grilled cheese sandwiches for my girl.
Bacon. Scramble eggs. Pancakes.

I may be forgetting one or two things, but that's about it. I offer and offer and offer new choices, but most of the time all I get is, "EW! That's disGUSTing!"

She'll grow out of it...


Do you have a picky eater? Any advice?

ZzZzzzzz....

So. freaking. tired.

Yard sales are absolutely more fun when you're the buyer rather than the seller. Or maybe that's just my grumpy mama bear self talking because I'm running on two and a half hours of sleep and no naps. It was pretty fun haggling and watching my bag fill up with money, but the sheer amount of work is exhausting.

Oh well, it's over and done and we made a couple hundred, which was our goal. Yay for met goals.

Every time I look up, I have to grin. Lily had her first art class last Wednesday. Hanging slightly askew on the wall (because she had to tape it up herself), is her masterpiece.

Her first class was a Mixed Media self portrait. They had several different stations that the kids got to play in. I think my favorite was the scratch art. The kids crayoned a block of the poster and colored over it with black paint and then scratched it off after drying. (The black circles in Lily's picture.) They played with sand, glue, foils, fabrics, paints, and all sorts of fun things. I thought it was a great idea that the art teacher actually took a picture of the kids for their posters. 

It's funny how different Lily and I are about our art. I LOVE LOVE LOVE mixed media, but I still have to have a plan or at least a general outline. Lily just goes to town. It's wild and colorful and unique, just like her. Next class is the Jackson Pollock class I am so jealous about. I'm hoping they need mother helpers again so I can stay and play in the paint spatter. 

Well, my brain, body, and eyes are shutting down. I'm off to have some well deserved catatonia. I feel so bad for poor Husbandy Face. He had to head into work at 1pm and won't be home until after midnight and he got just as little sleep as I did. That man is a trooper. 

Nighty night night!

Cornstarch Paint and a surprise...

 I saw this on pinterest as soon as warm weather hit and have been wanting to try it out. Lily is a painter. When she grows up, she wants to be an artist. The hard part of getting this marked off my to-do list though, has been remembering cornstarch at the grocery store. I finally got it though, yay me!

You can find a million recipes for this, but my favorite was the one at Pink and Green Mama because it was pretty simple. Cornstarch, food dye, water. Go. Ha! I'd add a little cornstarch here, water there, and had way too much fun playing.

The darker colors were much more vibrant. They had quite a bit of food dye, at least 15 drops or so. I had a mini muffin tin, which was the perfect size for quite a bit of paint in more colors than a regular pan. Lily is all about the color selection. I did get asked why there was no yellow, brown, or black. How was she supposed to draw trees or the sun? *smirk*

Nic was setting up the pool in the backyard. This has been an epic battle that the pool is currently winning. Pool: 2. Humans: 0. Tomorrow we have to drain it and fill it for a third time. Our back yard is slowly forming into a mountain or something, because that pool leans like crazy when we fill it up no matter where we put it. Anyway, Lily decided that painting the table we have in the yard was better than the sidewalks out front. I thought it was fun and it washed off fine, so I gave the green light. I don't know what part she liked better, painting or playing with the hose under the guise of washing off her "canvas" so she could start over again. She painted for two hours.

Two warnings:

1) Wear clothes that can be stained. Lily has an eclectic mix of play clothes. She's very much a girly girl and has to wear sparkles and skirts even when painting her masterpieces. Fancy Nancy has nothing on my girl. She was devastated for about five minutes when she realized she had blue on her cupcake shirt. When I reminded her it was too small to wear to school anymore and it was play clothes, she then asked if she could paint the shirt. Haha.

2) It might not be the smartest idea to paint on glass with this stuff. We had the weirdest thing happen today and the the only thing we can think of as a cause is something to do with the cornstarch paint. We went outside to find our table like this:

The glass completely shattered. We could hear the glass crackling and breaking as we stood over it in disbelief and confusion. It was the strangest thing. I washed off most of the paint yesterday, but there was still some on there. The table had sat overnight completely fine, and then half way through the morning, boom. Nothing heavy enough around it that could have hit the glass to shatter it. No pre-existing cracks. Just millions of pieces. There could be other reasons, but where kids are the ones painting, I wouldn't want someone to get hurt. I can't wait to make this again for Lily to play with, but I'll stick with sidewalks from now on to be safe.

I'm bummed about the table. We just got it last summer. I only ate dinner on it one time this summer. Boo. Nic cheered me up by suggesting several different options of fixing it. His favorite is to turn it into a wood top and letting me paint a mural and sealing it. My husband has a secret crafty side.

 Anyone have any good ideas? It's a metal frame.

Moral of the story: sidewalks, people.

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