Charts

Ever since Allison turned two, we have been using sticker charts to help encourage positive behavior. She has had countless manners charts, a few sleep charts, and we're working on a chores chart. She loves her charts, and we have really noticed a big difference in the behavior while using the charts. For example, she has slept great the last 3 nights in a row, after 2 months of sleeping like a newborn! Tomorrow, she will get her 12th sticker, (if all goes well tonight!), and we will be heading to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch!

All that to say, she has a good grasp of why we do the charts and they have been effective for her... So, tonight at dinner, Natalie was talking quite a bit. Out of the blue, Allison says, "Maybe you should make a talking chart for Natalie and tell her she can get stickers if she would stop talking." Too funny!

A touch of organization

By now, this picture probably looks quite familiar... Allison siting at our kitchen table painting! This morning she found this wooden ladybug in one of our craft bins, and asked to paint it right away. Well, since most of our mornings start out with a similar pattern, I feel like I am always cleaning craft supplies of some sort. Therefore, our laundry room sink, (or our "craft sink"), looks like this:

Or, at least it used to. So, yesterday we had decided to go to Ikea to look at a few various things, (and to let the girls play since they think it is a playground for them), and I discovered these. The most exciting part? They were only $1.99 each... we left Ikea for under $10. That has to be a record! Here is the "after" shot:

Unfortunately, our sweet Triscuit pup decided to eat one of the twist ties that came with it. He spent the whole morning throwing-up, and $340 later the wire was discovered floating down his intestine. Our "free" dog has cost us quite a bit! So much for spending under $10 at Ikea! Anyway, have I ever given you a tour of our laundry room? It is my favorite room because 1) it is orange, and 2) it is dog-themed! Here is a quick tour:

Mother's Day

What a sweet, beautiful day! The girls had a good night's sleep... my husband came home, and we spent the day as a family! This morning I asked the girls to pose for a picture for me for Mother's Day. I thought it turned out pretty sweet! After church and a wonderful nap, we met up with Daniel's family and walked over to Gyu Kaku for dinner. It's a Japanese restaraunt, where you are served all raw food and you grill it yourself. The girls were both clingy and crabby until they "discovered" each other. Then they happily entertained each other, and we happily ate!





Dessert consisted of s'mores... how awesome is that? At least, the girls thought so! Daniel's cousin's also enjoyed their first ever s'mores, which was fun to watch!

The Family Shot
Honestly, it was a very special day. Not neccessarily because of all the special touches... I just couldn't stop thanking God for blessing me! Truly, motherhood is so special. My heart is overflowing as I ponder all that God has done for us! And, I feel a special attachment to my little Yehbie growing inside me. I keep thinking of the moms who have lost babies, or who could not have babies, or the kids who don't have moms. Allison and I said some special prayers for them tonight, and I am just so proud that she seemed to understand, and prayed for God to touch them... that was the best gift of all!

Cars Birthday Party

My friend Kelly throws THE most AMAZING birthday parties! This is the 4th one we've been to, and each time I am blown away. She needs to be a party planner. Seriously. So, do you want to see what I mean? Check out her son's 5th Cars birthday party:

Upon arrival, there are Cars and tracks everywhere to keep the kids busy. There is a Cars Motel (tent) and tables with Cars stickers and puzzles. Once all the kids arrive, the real creativity begins. Each kid was able to pick out a car to drive! (I just loved little Mator!)


Before the kids could drive their cars, however, they had to give them a tune-up, fill the tires with air, fill the car with gas, and give it a car wash.... how fun is that!?!?!? (Don't mind Natalie's face.... she was caught off-guard by the camera!)

Next, it was off to the front yard for some car racing and red light, green light!

(My poor girls always came in last.... they didn't seem to mind, though!)
Next, the kids got stickers to decorate their own race cars, and then we raced their balloon cars. This was the only idea mommy was not so fond of, because she almost passed out blowing 2 balloons over and over! :)

And, after the pizza came the cake. Just look at Lightning McQueen! Great, awesome, super duper job, Kelly!


Natalie agrees!

Mom's Day Preview

Look what I came home to after MOPS today! My sweet husband will be home for Mother's Day, but I guess this was just a little preview since I'm "single mommy" for the 3 days before. In addition to the beautiful flowers, there was a box of chocolates! I guess I'm just a girly girl, because it melted my heart! As if it's not a blessing enough to have two sweet girls, I have an incredible husband who honored me... I am blessed!

On another note, we had a super fun time at the swim party with the MOPS ladies this evening. What a great way to end a hot day! My girls swam for almost 2 hours, and are now in bed.... I think they're going to sleep well! (As am I! Good night!)

Sweet

Sweet girl...
Sweet pose...
Sweet little smile...
Sweet piggy tails...
Sweet tooth...
TOO sweet!
I don't know if you can tell by the picture, but Natalie's snack of frosted mini-wheats were de-frosted. When served chocolate chip granola bars, all the chocolate chips are picked out... Lucky Charms, all the marshmallows picked out... you get the picture! Of course, she has no problem telling me to take "whole bites, Mama!" when I eat a granola bar or Lucky Charms!
Sweet face....
What am I going to do with you?

Free, Free, Free!

Ok, so this post is for my local friends. (Thanks to Mylene for all your frugal tips!)

1. Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf is offering a free 12 oz. iced coffee from 4 - 8pm on Thursday, May 7. (That's tomorrow!)
2. Chick-Fil-A is offering a free breakfast for the entire month of May! (How do they do that?)
3. KFC has a coupon for a free meal... this may be for all the country... Check out
   http://www.unthinkfc.com/

Hope these are helpful... and tasty!

Mystery Plant

Several weeks back, I was doing some weeding and noticed a curious little plant in our front yard.  It was tiny, really, and I assumed it was a weed and started to pull it.  For some reason, I stopped... I was curious to see exactly what it was, as I didn't recognize this "weed!"  Apparently, the same thing happened with Daniel.  

As of yesterday, we have a bunch of blossoms and I have a suspicion I know what it might be.  We're both guessing that some Halloween pumpkin seeds somehow planted themselves there, because this looks a lot like a pumpkin plant.  At least, a squash of some sort...

What do you think?

Joyful, Joyful!

Almost every night after dinner, we go outside to throw Triscuit the ball and get our last little bit of energy out. Allison often invites me to sit on the porch and "watch the sun rearranging its glow." (It's from a book :)) Tonight I had the girls give their rendition of what they call the "Beethoven song." (Joyful, Joyful we Adore Thee) Normally, Natalie sings as well, but tonight she was being a little silly... I think it adds character! Of course, I am very biased, but I think it's pretty adorable!

Build-A-Bear Birthday

Today our sweet neighbors had their 3rd and 5th birthday parties. It was Allison and Natalie's first time to Build-A-Bear, so they were pretty excited! Ironically, I don't think any of the kids actually chose bears! Allison, of course, chose Hello Kitty, and Natalie a kitty as well. Afterward, we headed to Chick-Fil-A, which was again a huge hit with my girls! They ate and ate and played and played. These are actually the first friends that the girls have really bonded with, and can play with without mommy around.... aaaahhhh.... Thank you, sweet friends, for a WONDERFUL day!

Jump, Jump, Jump!

Today our MOPS group was blessed to have Jana Alayra give her testimony and a brief concert for the kids. It was so powerful! Our table leader brought us each a pack of tissue... and we used it! It was also fun to watch all the kids get so excited and dance along with her. I am now a huge fan. Here is a very brief video of what she's like. If you ever get a chance to hear her testimony, don't miss it!

Lesson Learned

So, can you guess where this picture was taken? Yup... the new Toy Story ride at Disneyland. (Daniel and my favorite!)

The day started out...
Rough! We had just pulled into the parking lot, when Allison kept saying her seat was uncomfortable and she wanted out of the car. We should have known.... the next thing we knew, she threw-up all over! Poor girl. And, bad mommy; I didn't bring any extra clothes! Luckily, she felt 100% better after that, and I had an extra shirt wandering in the back of the car. (I won't tell you how much it cost us to get her princess underwear and a new princess skirt, but let me just say I learned my lesson!)
The rest of our time at Disney turned out...
Awesome! It was the least crowded we'd ever seen it! That meant we were able to go on several rides, and even tried out some new ones! And, the weather was a perfect 70.
The end of our day was...
A bit disappointing. We returned to our car where we had placed all of our thrown-up clothes and objects in a bag on top of the car so that our car wouldn't smell as bad when returning... and, the bag was gone! Who would take such a thing? Again, lesson learned!

Glow Golf

For "preschool" today, we did our first ever mini-golf. Ontario mills has a really fun place called "glow golf," which was good for this cold morning! It was also nice because we had the entire place to ourselves! Allison picked up on the concept pretty well, and actually played... for the most part! Natalie, on the other hand, is still a little young! She had fun, though I think I will wait another 6 - 8 months before taking her, again.

Homemade Bathtub Paints

Oh, so much fun. This is a recipe I have wanted to do for a long time! So simple... and, yet I kept forgetting to buy clear liquid dish soap from the grocery store or Target. Well, I finally remembered and the girls were nice and filthy and ready for a long bath! So, this is what I found:

Pro's:

• easy to make
• worked very well
• the girls had a blast!
• clean-up caused there to be a ton of bubbles...(What kid doesn't like bubbles?)
  

Con's:

• clean-up caused there to be a ton of bubbles...(What mom wants to cleanup all those bubbles?)
• I'm not sure this is one I want to do all that often, just because I wonder how "healthy" for their skin it is to sit in all that dish soap... not sure?

Conclusion: Pro's outweigh the cons, and we will definitely do this again... someday!

Here's the recipe for you to try:

1/3 cup clear liquid dish soap
1 Tbsp. corn starch
food coloring.

Whole Wheat Pizza

My friend, Melissa, blogged a while back about how she lost 10 lbs. eating pizza... Ok, so that's not exactly how it went! But, she did inspire me to try a whole wheat pizza crust rather than my normal white flour recipe. Not only was it fun to branch out, but I thought it was delicious! And, what makes your house smell better? (Perhaps brownies for dessert, but let's not go there!)

I always love pizza because I know it's a meal my girls will eat without a fuss. Unfortunately, Natalie did notice the difference and only ate half a piece, but Allison loved it and gobbled it down! Natalie has just been super picky the last few months, anyway.

So, you're wondering how to make it yourself? Or, how to lose those 10 lbs? Check it out here. Thanks for the inspiration, Melissa!