Diapers

First of all, it just makes me sick that I'm still buying diapers for my youngest boy child who is all of 2 years and 8 1/2 months old!! ahhh! But the only way that we have had success with potty training is if he goes around the house with just a shirt on...no diaper, no underwear, no pull-up, no pants. Then, and only then does he stop himself from "going" and then proceeds to yell, "Mommy the pee-pee is coming". Then we rush to the bathroom and he goes immediately. No accidents. But it's the middle of winter, and even though we are in the South, it's been in the teens over night and only up to maybe 40 degrees in the day. Just a bit cold to be running around with just a shirt on. So until it gets warmer or we have a break thru in another potty training "technique" (and believe me, I've tried it all), he will be wearing diapers for awhile longer. Sigh. Sadness. Frustration.
But if we have to spend money on diapers, I'm at least going to get the best price around (or try too!!!)
We LOVE Luvs around our house!! It's the cheapest brand-name diaper and always has a coupon or promo code going on!! I've tried all the store brands, but both my boys leaked thru them all. When we just had one baby in diapers, we loved Pampers Swaddlers and Cruisers, but the budget didn't allow for that "luxury" once we had 2 kids in diapers both under the age of 14 months old! Thus, came our LOVE for Luvs!
I just bought 120, size 6 (yes, my kids both maxxed out at the largest size before they were 2 years old)...so 120 diapers for just $17.99 shipped TO MY DOOR. TOTAL!! Including tax and S & H...$17.99!!! (but really there was no shipping charges in this case!)
How???
My FAVORITE...Amazon.com + a coupon!!
They have their 120 count, size 6 diapers on sale for $35.99. Use the Subscribe and Save option to save an additional 30%. If you have an additional 20% coupon located in Parents magazine (I'll post next about how you can get a 3 yrs subscription to this magazine for just $5.99), this will bring your total to $17.99 with free two day shipping. You can't beat that for diapers delivered to your door for under $20! Don't forget if you use the Subscribe and Save option, to cancel the membership once your item has been shipped or you will continue to receive these diapers each month. Membership is free and you can cancel at anytime.
All the other sizes of Luvs are on sale too. I have done this "Subscribe and Save" option before and as soon as they were delivered, I went into my Amazon account and canceled the membership.
So while my son who talks like a 4 year old is still wearing diapers, I'll be trying to get the best deal until this expenditure goes away!!

More Christmas Fun

The boys and I made a trip to Moore, SC (right near Greenville) to see my sister and her family. The boys exchanged presents with their cousin Ethan. Levi and Ethan are just 5 months apart. The kids had a blast playing together. Wyatt and Ethan got along really well....Wyatt loves to tell people what to do and Ethan loves to imitate and follow Wyatt.

I attempted making a gingerbread house with Wyatt and Levi and it was a hit! We did have to talk to Papa and Grandma on Skype to make the "wait" time go by faster. (had to let the icing dry for 15 min. after I first put the house together b4 decorating)

Levi really got into it and was very calm and concentrated (this is a big accomplishment for him)


The finished product!! They only ate 3 pieces of candy each, and I promised they could eat some the next day! I even let them put the candy where ever they wanted and let it be "their" project and not "mine". (which is a big accomplishment for me!).

We let the boys open a present today, and will let them open another one on Christmas Eve as well. Today, Wyatt got this Magna Doodle, and I was totally surprised when he wrote his name. We have been working on writing his name, but the only letters that he had really mastered were W and T. I wasn't worried b/c he still has 2 years b4 kindergarten, but he's really interested on his own and gets very frustrated when he can't write the Y and the A. Sure enough, the first thing he wants to write on his Magna Doodle is his name, and he practiced all day long! Tonight when I came out to the living room after putting Levi to bed, he had made this "masterpiece" and was so excited to show me. I couldn't believe it!! He also added the circle stamps around for the border! Made me so proud and happy!

Christmas Preparations

I've heard/read alot of neat ideas for the days leading up to Christmas. Most of them I'm going to keep "on file" to use when our kids are a bit older and understand the passing of time and days better. The "are we there yet?" phrase comes into my mind when I think of trying to explain that Christmas is 24 days away to a 3 1/2 y.o. and a 2 1/2 y.o. (most of the ideas I've heard about involve doing something every day starting on Dec 1st)

So, today is 7 days before Christmas, and we made a Christmas chain. Of course I forgot to take a picture of it...it's just a typical paper chain made out of alternating red and green strips of paper that I stapled together in a loop and then interchanged and interlocked. I put a yellow star at the top which represents Christmas Day. We will take one link off every day. As the chain gets shorter and closer to the star, we are getting closer to Christmas Day! I wrote a special activity on the back of each individual chain. Things like making Christmas cut-out cookies, building a gingerbread house, driving to see a neighborhood full of Christmas lights, watching a Christmas movie, etc, etc.
Today we made some more Christmas cut-out cookies. It went soooo smoothly too! I think I have found the "special ingredient" to having fun making cookies w/ toddlers...MAKE THE DOUGH AHEAD OF TIME!!!! I made the full recipe 1 or 2 days ago. I split the dough in half and wrapped each big dough ball in plastic wrap followed by aluminum foil. I put one dough ball in the fridge and one in the freezer. The cookies we made tonight were from the refrigerated dough. I pulled it out an hour before we were going to make cookies and it was soft and easy to work with by then.

By making the dough a day or so beforehand, my state of mind is much calmer when I begin the task of making and decorating cookies with preschool age children. I am able to have more fun since I haven't already been in the kitchen making the dough (and I don't have a sink full of dishes from making the dough either...provided I've done the dishes from the day or 2 before when I did make the dough! ha!)
And by only using half of the dough, we don't have too overwhelming a task in front of us of never-ending rolling and cookie cutting. It was "just right". We actually fit all the cookies onto 2 cookie sheets, so I didn't even have to deal w/ shuffling the cookies to the cooling rack only to roll and cut more cookies for the next pan, etc, etc.
Here's a picture of our completed product! My slightly-OCD-just-like-I-am 3 1/2 y.o. was my helper tonight (as Daddy took the 2 1/2 y.o. out to Target) as evidenced by the nice, neat sprinkles!



Testing out the Christmas Hats! (with the Fall Leaf project still up on the window)

Trying to get them to pose under the Christmas Tree

Good thing I didn't spend the time to coordinate their outfits b/c they were in quite the silly mood and Levi would not give up his blankie.

An Addendum and Some Pictures

I wanted to add to my post about the easy cookies...
Last week when I made them and was going on and on about them, I had cut the recipe in half. It made about 35 sandwhich cookies. My husband was home playing w/ the kids.
Tonight I made the full recipe, my husband was not home. It took alot longer. The dough was alot more stiff and hard to mix. I still haven't finished putting the icing in the middle and rolling them in sprinkles. But I did have to stop at different times in the cookie making process to either: a) help someone w/ the bathroom or change a diaper. b) get them snacks and drinks c) give them haircuts d)clean up the hair cut e) bathe them f) put them to bed.
Thank the Lord for Redbox $1 DVD rentals and Toy Story 3 (or the "new" Buzz and Woody as they called it)
so, just wanted to say that if you make the full recipe, it's alot more work, but still much easier b/c it's semi-homemade w/ using the cake mix as the base! So unless you are going to a cookie exchange where you need to bring 5 dozen cookies, just cut the recipe in half and you will be fine! And if you have a kid(s) under the age of 4, it will go much smoother if your husband is home...well, I guess that really goes for any task you try to get done when you have a kid(s) under the age of 4! ha! :-)
Here are some pictures from the past few days!
Wyatt was pretty excited about making the Christmas cookies. Notice Levi's sleeves w/ flour all over them!

Levi is really serious about sprinkles

Enjoying their cookies and not wanting to stop for a picture (Dixie is hoping somethign falls to the floor)


This was the first time we used their chalkboard/marker board easel for painting. They LOVED it!

Levi was surprising calm and very delibrate with his painting. I must admit I was a bit nervous about him and paint, but he did so well!

Wyatt loves to get his Home Depot apron dirty (and if it doesn't get dirty by accident, he'll put the paint brush directly on it!)

The finished artwork! And they wanted to keep doing more!

The Easiest Fancy Looking Cookie

I just tried this recipe out and cannot stop eating these cookies! But I have to stop b/c I have 2 cookies exchanges to bring these cookies to!
I had to share the recipe b/c it was probably the easiest "fancy" cookie I have ever made!

Homemade Peppermint Oreos
2 boxes Devil's food cake mix
4 eggs
2/3 cup vegetable oil
Frosting:
1 (8ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
sprinkles or crushed candy cane for decorating
green or red food coloring

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl combine the cake mix, eggs, and oil with a mixer. The batter will be very stiff. Pinch of pieces of batter and roll into 1 inch balls. Place 1 inch apart on prepared cookie sheets and flatten slightly with fingertips. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove immediately from the cookie sheets with a spatula and cool on a wire rack.

In a small glass bowl, combine the cream cheese and butter until completely blended. Gradually add in the powdered sugar and peppermint extract and mix until the icing is smooth. Color frosting green or red if desired. Spread half of the cookies with icing and top with remaining cookies.

Roll in sprinkles, crushed candy canes, or just leave them plain.

Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container or resealable plastic bags.

Structure and Nourishment

The other day I had one of those "light bulb moments". This does not mean that I have by any means I have mastered this crazy, challenging thing called motherhood, but it was encouraging to have this insight "click" in my head!
When both of my boys have structure and nourishment they are so much more inclined to obey, be kind, and NOT do all those things that make you sigh and cringe and wonder if you are even making an impact in their life training. Let me explain...
Both of them, but Wyatt especially do not do well when I am occupied w/ my own work (whether that be Mommy work or Job work), and they have "free reign" of the house. Does any one else's kids act like they are bored after more than 20 min of free play? My kids do. I find myself wanting to say, "Play with TOYS, you are children, that's what children do!" Some of my opinion comes from things I have read in Babywise, Toddlerwise, and Preschoolwise books. It's like the child is overwhelmed w/ all of his choices (toys activities) and just gets bored OR into trouble! I have found that if I set a timer and say, "Mommy is going to do some work for 20 min, Wyatt needs to play his room, and Levi needs to play in the playroom", that helps at least the arguing and fighting issue. Then after 20 min, we'll do something all together like read a book, or color, or watch a 30 min show on PBS. Then the next time I need to get something done, I'll have them each go to the opposite room they were in the last time. Ahh, "new" toys, new environment, "confinement"--having free reign to run like indians thru the house just dosen't work for my kids! Then maybe another chunk of time later in the day or the next day, I'll bring out some toys that I had put away in my closet a few weeks ago..."new" toys again! Win! or we'll have a designated coloring time, or a time for "school", or a time for "outside". But giving a 3 yr old and 2 yr old the choice of what do to, or just "go play" usually ends up frustrating me and no fun for them. But when they know what "time" it is and what is allowed and expected, they do sooo well!!

Nourishment...this one mainly pertains to Levi, but I see effect in Wyatt as well. How many of us get edgy or grumpy, or even get a headache when we havne't eaten in awhile? And we are old enough to recognize those feelings and either do something about it, or try to keep our actions in check w/ some self control until we can get some food! It's amazing the difference in Levi when I give him just half a banana or some crackers and juice. When they are babies, they cry when they are hungry. Now I've noticed that instead of asking for some food (b/c I guess he's not old enough yet to recognize the feeling or need), he ends up succombing much more easily to all things "wrong". Sure he's 2, so he's apt to tempers, disobeying, being mean etc. But when he's hungry, it's 10xs as worse than his normal sin nature playing out. This isn't just for Levi, but he seems more prone to it...not sure if it's b/c of his personality or his younger age. So my new resolution is to give them both some healthy, not too big snack like fruit between nap wake-up and supper. Hopefully this will make for a more bearable dinner prep time for me, and a not-so choatic arrival home from work for Adam.
I know the troubles and trials are only going to get worse as they get older and I am thankful that right now I can solve things (or at least make them better) w/ some structure and some nourishment!
Here's a picture from Thanksgiving. Wyatt 3.75 yrs, Levi 2.5 yrs, Cousin Ethan (2 yrs)

Tot School

~Wyatt is 3.75 years old. Levi is 2.5 years old~

It's been awhile since I had a post about the fun things we are doing in preschool. Ideally, I try to do "a letter per week", but that's the wonderfulness about homeschooling, we can just adjust according to our needs! We had alot of fun w/ the letter E before we made our trip to FL, but I did not blog about it. I had gotten some elephant puppets from the Resource Center, and they were a huge hit! Levi likes to put the puppet on his hand and talk in a funny voice and pretend to the the type of puppet he's holding.

The vocab word for that week was "trunk". We had a lot of fun going around the house pretending to be elephants w/ our long trunks. Our Bible story that week was also about Noah's Ark, and they each took turns making the elephants walk up the ramp into our Little People Noah's Ark set. I LOVE Little People sets and we've had this one since Wyatt's 1st birthday...thanks Aunt Laura and Uncle Chris! Wyatt also did an activity w/ sorting Uppercase and Lowercase letter E's from Confessions of a Homeschooler

Then after we got back from FL, we spent a few days on all things Letter F....Fish and Frogs!! The boys loved these days especially. Another great find at the Resource Center--sorting fish! Wyatt has done this type of activity before with another object (turtles I think), so he exemplified some first-born child traits in instructing Levi how it was to be done. I think Levi had been mixing the colors prior to this "lesson" from Wyatt. Disorder seems to bother Wyatt just as much as it does me! Although, for school-type activities, I am trying to let things like that "go" so Levi can learn thru playing...I mean that is one of my goals w/ homeschooling. Wyatt's desire for order is very helpful when it comes to clean up time though! :-)

Wyatt has really started being interested in simple puzzles, so I tried another idea from Confessions of a Homeschooler. Wyatt had to put the fish picture back together.

In this next picture, Levi is making his fish puppet (another Resource Center find) swim on the window sill, and Wyatt is posing next to his "shape game". I forgot what these manipulatives are called specifically, but they are great to get their little fingers working! I had to help alot with this one, but it was great to talk about the different shapes and colors. We will try this one again when they are a little older.

One more fun fish activity was Fish Measuring, again from Confessions of a Homeschooler. Wyatt lined up the edible whales (the Walmart brand of Goldfish), to see which fish on the paper was longer. And we used words like small, medium, and large. This was a great activity to learn spacial words. Levi wasn't interested, so he played w/ some foam triangles (Dollar Bin at Target) and an egg carton.

One day they were just having some "together play" (no structured learning play intentionally being taught, and not playing in separate rooms--which we have a time for that intentionally every day), and I was doing some other household chores. They came to me w/ their backpacks on (a GREAT yard sale deal where I scored matching GAP backpacks for $1), and asked me to take their picture b/c they were going to go to kindergarten. I think we had watched a show where the character had gone to school, and that put the idea in their heads! They looked all grown up! I of course complied w/ the request for a picture! I love these kids :-)

I'll swap you!

As my husband was leaving for work today, I said I would love to trade places w/ him for the next 12 hours! From now until 7:30pm, he will be doing all things teenagers...teaching, grading papers, controlling a classroom, and coaching at basketball practice. I'm sure I probably couldn't handle what he does. Seriously. But just the thought of doing something other than ____, ____, and ____ for the next 12 hours sounds good right now. All you mothers fill in those blanks! :-)
Sure it gets tiring, and I get selfish, but I CAN handle being the cook, maid, and nanny. But today I CANNOT handle being the referee and sole disciplinarian.
Lord, give me wisdom. (James 1:5)
Lord, give me strength. (Galatians 6:9)
Lord, help me to be consistent. (Proverbs 13:24)
Lord, give me endurance (Hebrews 10:36)

The boys are constantly fighting and arguing. It grates on my nerves. It makes me feel like I don't know what to do to make them stop. Lord, I need you.

These pictures are from 2 summers ago. They were just getting started at what they have perfected now...being mean, pushing each others buttons, hitting, and the resulting screaming or crying.

Fall, Football, and Fires

I looked out the kitchen window while I was making supper tonight, and saw my boys throwing a football with Adam with lots of colorful (albeit muted colors from that in PA) fall leaves under their feet. They were just a few feet away from the freshly-built fire pit that was giving off a great wood-burning smell! In the reflection of the window I was looking out of, I saw a college football game on our tv in the living room....it's FALL!!
North Carolina is a good "medium"--we have somewhat colorful leaves, and cool mornings, but it still gets up to the mid to upper 70s, and the sun is gloriously strong and warm. I could do w/o the cool mornings...I'm talking 30s and some days cooler than PA to start off. And these 30+ degree swings in temps from AM to PM is hard to dress the kids appropriately w/o add'l clothing changes. But at least we have a "fall" season. After 8 years in FL, I forgot how nice it is to see the leaves change colors or at least fall off the trees! Alot of times, they just fall off here in NC and don't change colors as drastically and beautifully as in PA, but it's something which I know my FL friends would love to see!
Today we also went to a local farm for a hayride, nature trail, country store, tree house, animals, etc. They boys had a blast! They weren't as cooperative w/ my picture taking as they were last year, but we got a few good ones! But I'm pretty sure their favorite part of the day was building the fire w/ Daddy, and throwing the football. Adam has taught them both how to catch the football very well. They both have been throwing it quite well for awhile now, but catching had been harder.
Enjoy the pictures! We miss you all!


Sliding on a Burlap Sack into the Hay

The Turkey getting nervous b/c Thanksgiving is almost here! ha!

Levi checking out what's going on while Wyatt was "milking the cow"




Using their dumptrucks to "help" w/ the leaves

Florida and Fleas

The topics in this post are TOTALLY unrelated, but that is what I have been up to since my last post...
We'll start w/ the bad topic and end off w/ the good! Like my husband tells our children, eat what you don't like first and very quickly get it over with!
Fleas...we have been battling fleas on Dixie for the past 2 weeks. UGH!! As if I had all this extra time just waiting to be used on washing add'l loads and loads of laundry, vacuuming couch cushions and every inch of carpet, and giving the dog a bath day after day. While I was using my "spare" time to do all those tasks my boys were enjoying alot of unsupervised time which of course led to more work for me to clean up what they got into (involving things like Vicks Vapor Rub and q-tips...you get the idea). NOT FUN. VERY FRUSTRATING and EXHAUSTING. And all along I had the one little tube of medicine that could have prevent this flea outbreak from the beginning. But b/c of my "time" issue, I kept putting off bathing and grooming the dog and putting on her flea prevention medicine. Boils down to this...I do not have time for the responsibilities that having an indoor dog require coupled w/ 2 preschool age children, household duties, and a PT job. So, we are looking for a dog-loving home for Dixie. We will be sad to see her go, but my pyschological state will be changed for the better and my children and husband will be very grateful!
FLORIDA...
Awhile back my good friend Laura and I decided to go to FL together w/ our kiddos and w/o our hubbies since they couldn't get off from work. It was going to be 2 adults, and 3 kids ages 3 and under in one car for a 9 1/2 hr drive down to FL. We knew it would be LONG, and prob. turn into a 12 hr trip b/c of stopping and the kids, but we were excited! Laura's baby girl (7 months old) got a horrible cold and ear infection and it was just not in her best interest to make that long trip in her condition. It really would have been "no fun" for her or her Mommy. It's no fun when babies are sick!
I was really disappointed b/c I had been looking forward to the trip and had our bags all packed. I didn't think it would be an option for me to drive by myself w/ our kids. But we talked about all kinds of scenarios and Adam felt like I could make the trip by myself. (if we didn't have AAA he wouldn't have even considered it)
With lots of prayers, new toys, and special snacks, I was off at 6:30am. Over halfway there, I got a flat tire somewhere in GA on 95. PRAISE THE LORD that my spare tire was full sized and in good condition, and of course, PTL for AAA. From the time I called them to the time I pulled back on the road, it was just 1 hour. The boys enjoyed the time out of their car seats jumping around in the 3rd row of the van. And I pulled into my friend's driveway at 6:30pm!! We did it!
We had a blast down in Clearwater, FL. This was by far the best trip we've had since we moved from there 3 years ago. The "older" age of the boys was really the difference...so much more fun w/ only 1 child in diapers!
The trip back to NC was uneventful, thankfully. The boys were good travellers for the most part and even took naps (albeit, much shorter than their usual) in the car. Oh, and the potty chair that I brought in the van was very helpful...that is another story about how I dealt w/ all of that! ha!
Here are some pictures: