Around the Holidays I bought a "Make Your Own Little Golden Book" my thought was that it had a story inside and you just color it in or write the text since I couldn't tell by the way it was packaged. It ended up being a completely blank book with nothing in it but the gold binding that came with Thomas stickers, 4 crayons, 4 markers and a set of train stencils.
We took a "mini" vacation last weekend at Coco Key indoor water resort in Boston, MA. We went in the pool, played wac-a-hippo at the arcade and spent lots of time in the car. When we got home Bear sat on the floor and stuck all the stickers on the cover of the Golden Book and I had an idea!
I let Bear decorate the cover and draw scribbles on the inside and I am going to paste pictures, paper bracelets and rickets from our trip inside. The books are short enough to make into a little "vacation memoir" without being overwhelmingly large/long!
I am going to go back to the Christmas Tree Shop to buy more (i think it was 1.99 each) and bring one on each little vacation so we have a set of family little golden books :)
Enjoy!
PlusPeace
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Monday, January 9, 2012
Portland, Maine - Anyone?
For any families in or around the Portland, Maine area:
I read this article and didn't even know half these places existed. I am so glad I saw this because I am adding this to me New Years Resolution list - accomplishing at least 3 of the things on this list!!
Enjoy,
PlusPeace
I read this article and didn't even know half these places existed. I am so glad I saw this because I am adding this to me New Years Resolution list - accomplishing at least 3 of the things on this list!!
Enjoy,
PlusPeace
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Yikes! Too Long!
I haven't had internet for a bit and was recently in a fender bender and trying to deal with that BUT I am back for business! Yay!
Now that the Holidays are gone I am looking forward to things settling back to normalcy and re-training Bear with some new routines. We have all had ZERO sleep since Christmas and it's horrible. The little dude refuses to sleep before 9PM and insists on waking up at least 4 times.
I am trying to get us into an earlier routine (eating at six instead of 7:30 and bath by 6:45 and bed/ story time by 7:15) but the first night didn't go well. We were on schedule until bedtime he laid there for 10 mins then came downstairs then went back up at 8 and came back down at 830 then back up at 845 and finally asleep after that!
Maybe some persistence on my part will help? Anyone else having sleep issues again??
Love,
PlusPeace
Now that the Holidays are gone I am looking forward to things settling back to normalcy and re-training Bear with some new routines. We have all had ZERO sleep since Christmas and it's horrible. The little dude refuses to sleep before 9PM and insists on waking up at least 4 times.
I am trying to get us into an earlier routine (eating at six instead of 7:30 and bath by 6:45 and bed/ story time by 7:15) but the first night didn't go well. We were on schedule until bedtime he laid there for 10 mins then came downstairs then went back up at 8 and came back down at 830 then back up at 845 and finally asleep after that!
Maybe some persistence on my part will help? Anyone else having sleep issues again??
Love,
PlusPeace
Monday, January 2, 2012
New Years Resolutions: Mama Style
I don't normally do New Years Resolutions. Mostly because I feel like a jerk for not accomplishing them so this year I've decided to make a list of New Years Goals for my family and I.
1) Get my butt off the couch and play with Bear > even on days when I am so exhausted I can barely move.
2) Introduce 3 new and healthy foods to Bear
3) Take a week long vacation > even if it's just going up North for a week in the summer.
4) At least LOOK into buying a house, or rent something larger.
5) Stay on routine for bedtime and wake up time > no skipping baths or eating in the car.
6) Get outside every chance we have in the warm weather.
7) Actually celebrate my birthday and don't just pass it off as another day.
8) Get Bear potty trained before 2013
9) Take a weekend family camping trip
10) Continue to love my family and my life every day of the year.
Simple yet, satisfying.
Love,
PlusPeace
1) Get my butt off the couch and play with Bear > even on days when I am so exhausted I can barely move.
2) Introduce 3 new and healthy foods to Bear
3) Take a week long vacation > even if it's just going up North for a week in the summer.
4) At least LOOK into buying a house, or rent something larger.
5) Stay on routine for bedtime and wake up time > no skipping baths or eating in the car.
6) Get outside every chance we have in the warm weather.
7) Actually celebrate my birthday and don't just pass it off as another day.
8) Get Bear potty trained before 2013
9) Take a weekend family camping trip
10) Continue to love my family and my life every day of the year.
Simple yet, satisfying.
Love,
PlusPeace
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
New Toys 101: Organizing
We live in a one bedroom with limited space so when I saw everything we got for Bear in addition to everything grandparents, aunts and uncles got Bear I just about started crying. I sat down, planned the space and came up with a few ideas on saving space…
Out with the old – first of all I need to get rid of everything Bear no longer plays with or the things we can part with. Stacking donuts are fun, but now we play with stacking blocks. Same with stuffed animals, we can donate the Lamaze octopus to make room for the new teddy bears. Please don’t donate dirty, ripped or broken toys – these are better off recycled or tossed. Anything in good condition should be moved to a new home
Bins, Buckets & Labels – At the dollar store you can find either really big Tupperware or large plastic baskets that fit on a shelf you might already have. You can also spend a few extra bucks and get them from Target or Wal-Mart.
Consider what types or categories of toys you have. For example we have a wooden train set (bin 1), a ton of mega blocks (bin 2), stuffed things (bin 3), trucks (bin 4) and miscellaneous toys (bin 5).
I find that Bear gets really overwhelmed and over-stimulated when he wants to play with mega blocks and all the train parts fall out too. He’s not sure what goes with what or which to play with first. This also makes for a bigger mess in the living room. I have made up and will share when I have them ready some cute labels with pictures of what is inside each box that I am going to cut out and tape on the outside of each bin.
Cleanup Skills – I also figured this will make great cleanup skills. Bear is good about picking up his toys with me when it’s time for bed but this will make it 100x easier than cramming as much as we can on a shelf only to have stuff fall off.
What are you doing to make good cleanup habits and organization?
Love,
PlusPeace
Out with the old – first of all I need to get rid of everything Bear no longer plays with or the things we can part with. Stacking donuts are fun, but now we play with stacking blocks. Same with stuffed animals, we can donate the Lamaze octopus to make room for the new teddy bears. Please don’t donate dirty, ripped or broken toys – these are better off recycled or tossed. Anything in good condition should be moved to a new home
Bins, Buckets & Labels – At the dollar store you can find either really big Tupperware or large plastic baskets that fit on a shelf you might already have. You can also spend a few extra bucks and get them from Target or Wal-Mart.
Consider what types or categories of toys you have. For example we have a wooden train set (bin 1), a ton of mega blocks (bin 2), stuffed things (bin 3), trucks (bin 4) and miscellaneous toys (bin 5).
I find that Bear gets really overwhelmed and over-stimulated when he wants to play with mega blocks and all the train parts fall out too. He’s not sure what goes with what or which to play with first. This also makes for a bigger mess in the living room. I have made up and will share when I have them ready some cute labels with pictures of what is inside each box that I am going to cut out and tape on the outside of each bin.
Cleanup Skills – I also figured this will make great cleanup skills. Bear is good about picking up his toys with me when it’s time for bed but this will make it 100x easier than cramming as much as we can on a shelf only to have stuff fall off.
What are you doing to make good cleanup habits and organization?
Love,
PlusPeace
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
A Spoonful of Sugar
I saw these on a blog I frequest (http://www.swiss-miss.com/2011/12/medicine-ice-lollipop.html) and had to share!
I am SURE no kid loves taking tylenol, or any other icky sticky medicine, not to mention it's almost impossible to get the entire dose out of the little cup.
Pour the dose of medicine and 1 drop food coloring into a small cup (the plastic dosage cup would work great but there are also lolipop molds on amazon) put a stick in the center (the dull end of a skewer or a lolipop stick) and anchor it down with tape. Then freeze until frozen and offer up the lolipop when a dose is needed!
Enjoy,
PlusPeace
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
The Cutest Gift Ever
Dear Nana discovered these gems yesterday so we decided to give it a whirl. We didn't expect them to turn out this cute. We sat around the table for about 45 minutes deciding who we should give them to! So here is a breakdown of the how-to as well as some tips on doing them with a toddler.
You will need:
Ornaments - the non-breaking ones are best. We found that the glitter and matte ones turned out the best.
Thick White Non-Toxic Paint (white, black & orange)
A thick paintbrush, and a thin paintbrush
A sharpie
A toddler
Directions:
It is helpful to have a helper (as in two adults) for this project. Sit the kiddo on one persons lap and cover only one hand in white paint. Get a nice handprint with the palm at the bottom of the bulb and fingers pointing up. About a medium thickness of paint works best and an apron is recommended. After all the ornaments have one handprint wash your toddlers hand and paint the other with white paint and do the same to all and give a final wash to the hands.
Next step is for you to do or an older kid in the family. With the fine brush, use the black to paint hats & coal eyes and mouth on each of the fingertips to look like snowmen. Then use the same brush for the carrot noses.
When completely dry, use the sharpie to write your kids name and the year. You can make these every year as keepsakes!! SO CUTE!!!
The trick for these is do them fast, use two adults and thick paint.
Love,
PlusPeace
These are ours:
(http://fullofgreatideas.blogspot.com/2010/11/five-fingers-snowman-ornament.html)
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