A Fairy Fourth Birthday for Munchkin!

Posted on January 21, 2013 by Mae

OK I am behind on my blogging…. Munchkin just celebrated her 4 1/2 birthday so this is OBVIOUSLY late! But it was a blast, so I felt like I should share it with you.

Munchkin went back and forth about what she wanted to do for her Birthday party. She wanted a pool party, or a Build-a Bear party, or a gymnastics party…. the list went ON! We finally settled on a small party at our house. The theme… FAIRIES!

I instantly popped over to Pinterest the land of everything! There are a MILLION ideas there (even a few of my own!). I also checked out Disney Fairies and there were LOTS of cute ideas on their too!

Here are is what we ended up with for Munchin’s special day!

Decorations:

Even though Munchkin is a little girl she invited several boys. We picked two colors to focus, blue as an addition to the main color, her FAVORITE, purple.

I always try and buy the bulk of the decor in colors instead of the ‘theme’. This saves a TON of money. I usually pick up the small cake plates and one pack of napkins

The adorable Paper Poms came from Paper White Designs. The beautiful paper straws are also from Paper White Designs all the kids LOVED them. I found some silver frames at the Dollar Store and printed a couple of silhouettes of Tinker Bell on color coordinating card stock. Tip: Pick easy to cut images. I was SOOO glad I stuck with easy ones.

The Feast

Make your Own Fairy Houses:

I found this cute idea in a Family Fun magazine. I couldn’t find the correct size cups in paper so I ended up with foam instead. We decided on these colors because they were ‘Fairy-like’ and gender neutral. I found a multipack of Fairies and they fit into the houses. I cut the door from the cup. I spray painted both parts and then glued them!

Little bowls of things to decorate their houses

A dino cave from one of the boys!

Fairy Dust:

I found these little bottles and corks at Hobby Lobby. I bought a bottle of sand (Hobby Lobby) and some packets of glitter to add to it from the Dollar Store! Each kiddo picked their packet of glitter and their sand color. They helped me dump the sand and glitter into the bottle with the help of a funnel. We glued the cork with a bit of hot glue and glued the tags around the top. I made the tags simple but they looked great! I would suggest gluing the corks because I think they would be very tempted to sprinkle fairy dust otherwise!

Munchkin’s Dust

Lunch for Fairies:

Munchkin wanted Hotdogs as her main food item. Another very important part for her is ALWAYS fruit, so we made Fruit Wands. I took kebob skewers and cut the fruit to fit. We used a star cookie cutter to make the tops. Fairy wing toast was a bit hit too! I just toasted the bread, spread jelly and cut up some fruit!

Fairy Wing Toast- Found on Disney.com

Pixie Dust ‘Mallows

Marshmallows dunked in white chocolate and purple sugar!

The Caterpillars in Cocoons were hot dogs in crescent rolls.

For her Birthday cake her fabulous Aunt J made a cool Tink topper out of paper that we stuck into the cake. Munchkin is known for asking for tricky cake flavors. This year… WATERMELON. I found this recipe on Pinterest and it is AWESOME! It tasted amazing too! I covered it in purple marshmallow fondant. We found some sugar butterflies (by: Wilton) and added those for an even more Fairy-Feel.

Sooo moist!

I made a simple punch with pink lemonade and some berries. It went over very well with ALL the kiddos!

Fairy Punch!

Goodie Bags:

I try to avoid the traditional bag when possible. This was fun and I think the girls loved it! For our two boys we bought trains.

Games:

Found this wall cling at the Dollar Tree. We cut our purple fairy wings and played “Pin the Wings on the Fairy”.

Pin the Wings on the Fairy

As I mentioned before we always as that friends who come to our parties bring gifts for a place we as a family have chosen to donate to in honor of our kiddos’s birthday. Munchkin wanted to help a dear friend who has a daughter battling cancer. After several calls we decided to put out the word that we were collecting gift cards to be used at the cancer center where she was being treated. The gift cards are given to the kids throughout their treatment for birthdays, families in need and special days.

Munchkin collected nearly $800 in cards from our family and friends! She LOVED this and to this day talks about how much we helped Maya and the other children at the center.

You can follow Maya’s Journey here Healing Maya or here HealingMaya.org

We had an awesome day celebrating our sweet little 4 year old! Happy 4th Birthday Munchkin!!!

Crazy Friday

Posted on November 26, 2012 by Mae

Ahh it is finally the Christmas season! Part of me feels like this isn’t new… Target took down Halloween and put up trees! Both girls are super excited and there really isn’t anything better then Christmas with children.

If you don’t live in a cave some where you are WELL aware that Friday was ‘Black Friday” and today is ‘Cyber Monday’. I used really love Black Friday. There actually a rush that you get standing in line waiting to get into a store. Something inside me has changed.

In the past year I have been doing my best to downsize, simplify, and enjoy life for moments we have. This year we skipped the rush (which started on THANKSGIVING!!!) and did just that… enjoyed our family time!

On Friday, I ran out at 7am and grabbed two things… new Thermal Curtains (which we needed for a while!) and Brave for the girls. We decided to venture out and grab a handful of things if they were left. Rand mostly just ran into ‘office stores’ and within seconds walked out with exactly what he needed (a new keyboard/home phones). I did spend a couple minutes in line at Old Navy. I left saving almost 50% and had 3 outfits for our Angel Tree children and a pair of Christmas PJs for each girl! After that we ran to Five Below and I grabbed a couple educational games/puzzles for the Christmas tree kids and well that was it!

Since we decided to do The 4 Gift Rule Christmas seems easier. I found myself walking around on Black Friday but I didn’t buy just to buy… because it was a good deal. We didn’t get a new computer, blu-ray player, gaming system or TV. Why? We simply don’t need them!

Here are the girls final Christmas Lists:

Peanut

Want- I found a used ‘laptop’ which she will LOVE
Need- I made her a flannel board.. I will post some instructions soon!
Wear- Still up for debate… might be something like new socks or hair bows or a pair of sparklyToms
Read- Tag Junior (which we are including many books that were Munchkins!)
Santa-Crying Baby

Munchkin

Want: Magformers
Need: A Purple Jewelery Box
Wear: A dress she can wear and one that matches her American Girl Doll- Probably from Kohls
Read: A Lion King Book- found 2 for $3 at yardsales
Santa- A Pink Star Turtle

I have been doing really well with creating and making a LOT of Christmas gifts! So be prepared family and friends..

Say what… Your 18 Month Old Potty Trained HERSELF?

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Mae

Yes, you correctly read the title to this blog post. Peanut potty trained herself. Now, I had heard of this ‘mystery child’ before. In fact, there was one little girl in Munchkin’s gymnastics class that did the same crazy thing at about 15 months! I was completely baffled!

I guess I now have the same (OK not 15 months but 18 is pretty cool too!) crazy child!

So before you go all, “She forced her baby to wear undies and beat her into peeing on the potty” please note she made this choice. I honestly would have been quite content about NOT starting this process until around 2, like we did with Munchkin.

Except this happened, the week before she was 18 months old:

Me: Peanut, come here hun I need to change your diaper.

P: NO.

Me: Come on sweetie, come here.

P: No, I NO diaper.

Me: Well then you have to pee-pee on the potty.

And then she did…. and so the potty training began!

We didn’t really use any ‘method’. We rewarded every attempt and asked her to go whenever we remembered. Sometimes she earns a gummy.. other times she continues on with out asking even after a success.

Potty training the second child is both easier and more difficult than the first. There are more things going on with two kids but having an older sibling makes it easier because they have someone to ‘watch’.

Potty training doesn’t happen over night, at least not when they train young. They have to learn by mistakes. We have a very nice rug shampooer and make good use of it!

Peanut did really well… mostly just ‘dribbles’ before she would run. The first month she would ONLY use a big toilet without a potty seat. Which meant a parent had to be there to help EVERY time! She is about the size of a 12 month old and getting on even with a stool is impossible! After about a month the dribbles were less and less.

Finally, I convinced her the little potty was OK and she uses that with no help. We were only really having accidents in the car. We did our best to avoid these by having her go before and after any car trips! We also invested in a Summer Piddle Pad. Without going into details this works very well and washes well too!

Summer Piddle Pad

One of the things about my ‘method’ of potty training we say goodbye to diapers during ALL awake hours. We did the same thing when we PTed Munchkin. Only that time we packed the cloth diapers up and said bye bye. This time I sold those suckers!!! No more bitty babies for us meant I could sell them to buy some cloth pull-ups.

I have several pairs of the Gerber cloth trainer undies and plastic pants. These are mostly what she wears on a daily basis. I have the 2t size because that is what Munchkin wore in her training days. They are HUGE on Peanut but you can’t find 18 month size in the stores around here. Since she is finally wearing 18 month clothing they are getting a bit better.

Some of her ‘thicker’ more absorbent undies are Super Undies!

They are really awesome we have a blue pair and a pink/purple pair! I can’t explain how great these are at catching full on accidents. Most cloth trainers will help but there is usually still a mess. These rock my socks! I will probably invest in a couple more. I am thinking about buying a couple of there over night ones too! If I do, I will be SURE to review them! They are by far my favorite cloth pull-ups.

This process has been going on for about 2 months. She is about 95% day trained. She has the occasional accident (usually when she is tired or just plain stubborn!). Most of those accidents are in the car, but she is getting MUCH better!!! She is about 50% dry or naps and still wears either a pull up or diaper. We won’t even attempt over nights for a WHILE!

Just so you know, I am 100% aware of how untypical potty training is at this age. However, expose your little ones to the the potty early. Watch for their cues. If you know the grunt, hiding spot, ect. then grab them and stick them on the potty! Reward successes and as HARD as it is… don’t get frustrated when your cute kid pees ALL over your freshly cleaned (because you just shampooed after the last accident) carpet.

If you see signs of potty readiness then try. If it is obvious that your child isn’t ready just try again in a few weeks. However, once you have a couple days of good solid effort (a bunch of successes) put the diapers away! Switching back and forth really confuses kids.

Potty training is quite possibly one of the HARDEST things I have done as a parent. I will be SO thankful when I can say Peanut is 100% done!

Surviving Christmas: The 4 Gift Rule

Posted on October 1, 2012 by Mae

Yes, this is a post about Christmas in September. No I am not completely off my rocker. I am a planner I do my best to get the majority of things done early so I can enjoy the real reason for the season.

I have been trying to get ideas from the girls so I can start stashing things I find on sale! We have a new plan this year…. we are scaling back gifts.

Last year I really thought I did well I think each kid had maybe 10 gifts from Mom and Dad, 1 from their sister, and then their ‘Santa’ gift. It still felt like too much.

This year I am making it MUCH easier. We are sticking to the 4 Gift Rule!

Something you:

Want
Need
Wear
Read

We are going to stick to this rule for adults too! I am really excited about this. I don’t have to fret about what I am going to buy. I have already some ideas going for the kiddos.

Munchkin (Age 4):

W: Magformers- These awesome squares/triangles ect. that you can build 3D shapes with!

N: A star ‘turtle’ in pink

W: A dress for her and her American Girl Doll (Purple and sparkly of course!)

R: This is up for debate… she is reading so maybe some ‘easy readers’

Peanut (Almost 2):

W: Her own ‘laptop’. She would LOVE something to ‘type’ on!

N: Still thinking!

W: Not sure!

R: Tag Jr. Reader and Books (we actually have these from Munchkin but she will LOVE them!)

So what is on your Christmas Lists?

Can I Eat a Successful Meal at a Restaurant with a Toddler?

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Mae

Here is the answer you wanted… YES! A local store asked this question and I was quick to respond with an answer. I decided to elaborate with a full post on the topic!

The key to a perfectly lovely meal in public with your toddler is to set your child up for success in a restaurant environment.

Munchkin is 3 1/2 (how did this happen!) and she has only been removed (by us) from a restaurant one time (we found out the next day she was SUPER sick- double ear infections/bronchitis ugh!). I think it is VERY important to set your child up for success out in public. Set the boundaries early and you won’t have to do much to have a well behaved child in public. I have taken the girls a bunch by myself and they both behave well (most of the time!).

Here are my tips that have worked over the last almost 4 years!

Do Not Attempt a Meal when your Child is Tired

I don’t care how hungry everyone is… this is why some one invented the drive thru. No kiddo is going to happily sit through a meal if they are overtired. I would also NEVER attempt a full shopping trip at the grocery store when they are that tired either. This can happen at nap time or bedtime.

Do your best to get to the restaurant before you child believes he/she is starving!

Is your child actually starving.. no! But haven’t we all been there… believing there was no way the waitress was going to make it to our table before we ate our arms off! Now explain to a toddler who has limited verbal skills that the sweet guy or gal is doing their best to get the food out. We try and get to a restaurant around 11/11:30 or right around 5pm to avoid the busy times too.

Bring snacks!

See above… It is quite possible you have a starving child on your hands. Having your own provisions to avoid this is key. Cherrios, squeeze apple sauce, anything will do. This should give the waitress/waiter time to find some bread to entertain your kiddo for a minute or two!

We LOVE these in our house! Both girls can eat one in about 2 minutes

Order your Kids Meals ASAP

We always order the girls’ meals with our drink order. This gives them a start on it in the kitchen. Also, tell the wait staff to please bring out their meals first!

This Menu is from LoneStar Steakhouse ... looks yummy!

Entertainment is Crucial to Success

You can’t expect idle chatter to entertain your toddler. Nor can you expect 3 crayons and paper menu to be the golden ticket. We had a bag of quiet toys that could be easily wiped clean ready to go in the car at all times. Some favorite toys are- puzzles, links with toys attached, color wonder markers, little plastic figurines (any character your kid likes), some little matchbox cars, extra crayons and paper , stickers, mini Slinkies, and some books. These toys may seem run of the mill but… they are special because they are only in the bag! A dollar store/bin is a great place to find most of these items. Let’s face it they will be near food and it is highly likely they will end up in ketchup. Plus, if you forget one at a restaurant it isn’t a huge deal.

These markers are great because they can't stain fabrics or wood!

Smart Phones, Tablets, and iPads OH MY!

I am going to start this by saying I have a smart phone and a tablet, Munchkin has an Innotab kid’s tablet. So I am in NO way against kids using technology! But there is a time and place for everything! I have had the occasional meal where things moved slower than molasses. However, a typical meal is on the table within 15-20 Minutes. So if you pack a bag of toys there should be plenty for your kiddo to stay occupied during the wait time. Munchkin rarely gets to use my phone. However, she enjoys a puzzle app and some matching games from time to time. This usually happens when I am finishing up a conversation or my meal. She doesn’t watch movies on it because I want her to be part of the family… kids should be able to talk and communicate during the meals too!

The iPhone

What do I do if all of the above fails…

Nothing is fool proof… there I said it! Now before you start mumbling “I thought she said we could have a successful meal out with our toddler”… give me a second to explain. There will be a time or two your child will test you… even if you have set him/her up for success. This is when you provide the Exit Strategy. Yup I said it… EXIT! There is no point tainting someone else’s dining experience. Let’s be honest you aren’t enjoying your food either if your kiddo is acting this way.

The way I see it… You have two options:

1. Get everyone’s food to go. If you are with your spouse/or a friend remove the child, while boxes are packaged and the bill is paid. You will feel much less stressed eating your burger reheated at home instead of fighting off glares from the booth next to you.

2. This works great if you have multiple children… Have one parent take the offending child to the car. They can eat there. While the other parent is in the restaurant with the other children. Now my parents did this with us when we were little (I ate in the car at Friendly’s and my sister had to at the Coach Diner- Left a LASTING impression on me over 20 years later I can vividly remember it!). My parents then rewarded the behaving child with a dessert! They didn’t say you earned this… but guess what?!? When we got into the car we were soo excited to share. Made the other sibling think twice about misbehaving in the restaurant. Never know what you are going to miss out on… when you are eating in the car!

What are some of your tips or tricks for eating out at a restaurant with kids?