Snacking Well

I don't know about you, but one of my pet peeves (and one of my mother's when we were growing up), is when a child has to stand in front of the refrigerator with the door open to "see" what we have.  Because, you know, it changes sooooo often!  Something may have materialized since the last time they checked.  That and the constant, "I don't want that", when I list off fruits and veggies had me going a little bonky. 

Thankfully, I was actually reading the blogs I follow the other day because Sofia at Sofia's Ideas posted a great one.  It was not her original idea but she gets credit since I read it on her blog.  Put snacks in ice cube trays.  Well, that makes sense for little l, she only has a little stomach, but I wanted L and I to get our five a day of veggies and four of fruit, so we used muffin tins.  We are going to try to do this all summer. 

I think it looks yummy, and I don't have to dirty as many dishes, want a snack?  Get your muffin tray out of the fridge!  This should cut down on the standing there with the door open!

This is mine.  A few veggies short, but I have been eating large salads for dinner. 

little l's.  Imagine the frozen fruit she will eat in those empty spots.  Hopefully giving her a tray with carrots will keep her from eating the bunny's.   

Big L's tray.  Yes hers includes some rice cheese a tortilla and turkey.  Plus a load of shredded lettuce (the only kind she will eat), some spinach, celery, carrots, grapes, cucumbers, raspberries, etc. 

Hopefully, this will help us all and make summer snacking more fun and easy!  As for that husband of mine.  He is not really left out.  He is a vegetable juicer, and if he would blend, and his juicer was not stained with so much juicing time I would join him.  Until then, he gets more veggies in his diets than all of us!

My 2 Year Quilt

There is no reason really this quilt should have taken two years.  It was different from what I have done before and I will never make a quilt like this again, but I really have no excuses for it taking so long.  I started out with lots of big L's baby/toddler clothes, cut up my favorites and started piecing them together in the hopes they would make a rectangle.  HAH!  I am not that good or patient, so it is not quite square.  Note to self, even if pieces could be smaller make them a uniform size.  Note taken. 

Also, I used binding on the edges, which I realize is how you are supposed to make a quilt, but I HATE binding, it just never works right for me.  Or maybe I was just impatient to finish this monstrosity and be done. 

Anywho, here it is, after two years, big L's quilt. 

The top looks a little wonky.  That is my inability to make a rectangle out of the mess I cut. 

This would be the first sweater she ever buttoned by herself, hence the importance of keeping the buttons. 

The back.  It actually looks mostly normal, just one area of bunching.  

I am not overly proud of my quilt, but after pointing out all of the areas I could rip out and do again L said, "NO!  It is comfy the way it is!"  What can a mother say to that? 

Diapers and Potty Training (Gross Alert)

Little l is coming up to 15 months old in a couple weeks.  Lately she has taken to removing her diaper.  Until yesterday this was no big deal, we would see, replace and no accident would occur.  Yesterday was a very long day for me, and my grossness max was reached. 

I laid her down for her morning nap.  30 minutes later she was still quietly talking to herself so I went in to check on her.  She looked up at me, pointed at the big wet spot on her bed and "told" me what happened.  I cleaned her up, changed the bed, fed her a bit of lunch and put her back to bed.  We were reaching the critical time of day where if she did not nap she would be losing nap time because we had to drive her sister around after school. 

She was quiet for a minute or two, then she was noisy.  I was on the phone, and thought, oh I will give her ten minutes then go check on her.  This was a BAD choice. 

I went in and immediately stopped.  I had no idea what to do first.  There was poop on the floor, the crib, her sheets, her snuggly, and all over her, as she had obviously decided to see what it felt like.  I quickly cleared the sink of all dishes, warmed up the water, carried her at arm distance and proceeded to scrub that child like she has never been scrubbed before.  Once the baby was clean I started in on the room, crib and then went back and cleaned all of my sinks.  I was wiped out, little l was crying because she was tired, so I laid her down for the third time for a nap, and she went right to sleep. 

I realize she is not at the age that you normally start potty training, but her diaper is obviously beginning to bother her, and I think that she understands, even if she can't stop herself, when she has to go.  I don't know.  I would take any advice I can get at this point.

I am not even sure how she gets her diapers off.  The velcro has to be grabbed from behind her and pulled forward (g diapers), and the ones I made have snaps, except for one which has velcro, and I am not fond of it so avoid using it unless I have no other option.  Although, she is my little Houdini and can get out of all straps except for her car seat, and I wouldn't put it past her to have that mastered by the time she is two.  I have already caught her trying to climb out of the crib (thankfully she is not there yet).  So I guess a diaper removal really should not surprise me. 

We bought a princess potty this weekend, but she keeps trying to put her feet in the hole instead of sitting over it.  I don't know.  Maybe I should just duct tape her diapers on (joking). 

I am sure eventually she will get it.  She will either potty train early or realize that it is gross to take off your diaper by yourself.  I know she was upset yesterday because she is a thumb sucker and could not soothe herself until after her scrubbing!  The joys of motherhood. 

Crazy Mother-in-Laws: I am coming out!

Okay, I know everyone has a crazy mother-in-law story.  It is just a part of life.  We all grow up used to our own family's eccentricities (craziness) and learning to deal with other familial traditions (craziness) can be challenging. 

My mother-in-law is no exception.  The problem being that she has been picking at me for how I do things, do/don't treat her for months now.  No matter what I do or how far I bend over backwards to make her happy she is just not happy in my home.  No problem, she doesn't live with me, so she can just stay away.  But she can't.  Up until two weeks ago she would watch little l when I was at big L's school volunteering.  It was two hours during little l's nap time.  Easy peasy.  She would also watch her on Friday when I had girl scouts.  She would usually get to play with little l, as this has become a non-nap time period of the day (though it was for most of the year nap time).

The last time she took care of my little one she put her in the crib after changing her so she could deal with the diaper.  Totally unnecessary, but it was done.  Somehow she twisted her back, so my little one spent the next hour crying in her crib to get out (this is how I picture it in my mind).  Mind you she did not call to tell us that she was hurt or needed assistance of any kind.

All of this after she has stormed out on me a few times, and all in all tested my patience (as I am sure I test hers).  The real kicker though came last week when she told us she needed to unyoke herself from us.  It is basically my fault that she is making bad or ill-informed monetary/life choices lately, and this is all based on my religious beliefs.  If only I were a true believer her life would be going better right now.  I kid you not.

So here it is I am coming out.  I AM AN ATHEIST.  I have been for many a year now.  I am still an extremely moral and upstanding citizen, I simply choose not to have any form of god or religion in my life.  It is not like I came to this decision over night.  I was raised Methodist, my family is still religious, but I and my husband and daughters are not.  I have a religious studies degree.  I have tried on a lot of different religions and in the end none of them felt right or worked for me.  This is not to say that my children will not be exposed to religion, nor will I be angry if they decide that religion is something they need to make it through life.

I personally do much better without it, and truly have no need to pretend there is a higher power looking over me.  I am responsible for my life.  I make choices.  I live with consequences.  No amount of praying has every changed that. 

This is not to say that meditation does not help you focus your mind and achieve clarity in decision making.  Meditation is not religion.

As some other atheists have said (i badly paraphrase here), isn't it okay to to be a good person because you know it is right.  Because you feel that morally this is what you should or should not be doing, and not because some guy in the sky told you?

If you are religious I have no beef with you.  I only ask that you not push it on me or my children.  I ask that you respect my right to not believe as much as I respect your right to believe.  Perhaps someday instead of griping over whose religion is correct we can simply agree that there is one way we choose as a species to live because it is respectful and caring of one another.  Or maybe I am just dreaming.....

Girl Scouts

The past few days of my life have been very scout filled.  My girls are bridging from Daisies to Brownies, and as long as I don't cry their ceremony is working out to be pretty awesome.  If I do say so myself!  The girls seem to be pretty happy and excited as well.  They all wrote and will perform their own skits on taking care of animals.  They will sing their favorite songs.  All in all, it will be good family fun. 

I have had to stretch my creative abilities however.  I don't really like the official bridging certificates, and it is hard to find something just right.  Clip-art abounds though, so I have pasted and moved, and done what I can.  I am still not completely happy with this, and it will be printed on off white paper, but this is what I have designed so far to celebrate their bridging. 

My dad is building a bridge, and now I just need to find a mirror to double as a pond.  Not to bad for being a week away!!!!  I have been such a procrastinator of late, that this is actually feeling good.  Though I do wish I had squeezed in a nap today!

teaching kids about money

while walking through target the other day L she got mad because I wouldn't buy her something silly. she muttered that I never spend any money on her and that only grandma (my former mother in law) spends money on her.

I felt unappreciated. then I felt just plain angry. I turned to her and calmly explained that was not true.

to her mind though I don't think I got through to her. I later informed her about how I save money and buy her quality things instead of the junk she never plays with. still not much of a dent in her beliefs.

later that evening I told her I would track all of the money I spend on her for one month and then we would discuss it.

how do you deal with this?

joy of children

l have been fairly absorbed with children of late. Friday was L's slumber party, followed by morning party with more friends. Sunday was her dance recital. then we decided to go for the first swim of the season. That doesn't even include little l who has started walking!