A Belated Valentine's Craft

{A Flurry of Heart Flakes}

 I needed a quick time filler for Sunday School the other day and I decided to try the "Heart Flakes" that I had seen in Disney's "Family Fun" magazine. I didn't have origami paper, so I tried construction paper, which seemed a bit thick. Next, I tried some old scrapbooking paper that I wanted to get rid of, anyway. This was easier to cut after folding, but I think the patterns distract from the heart shapes that you want to show up in the snowflake design. Anyway, the verdict was that this was too tough for little hands. Mia, age 4, refused to even try, and Ben, a kindergartner, was able to do the folding, but couldn't cut through all the layers of folded paper. I would recommend this craft for late elementary and older. It would be cute to make a bunch to decorate the walls or windows of a classroom or maybe to deliver to a nursing home, so I may tuck it away for future reference. And maybe origami paper is the way to go...

{The solid color seems to look best.}

Milk, Eggs, ... Gorillas?

Brett has a free grocery list making app on his iPod Touch and lately he has been trying to convince me to use it instead of giving him lists on scraps of paper. I am trying to comply with his wish, because really, who wants to complain when someone else is doing the grocery shopping? The only problem is that once you type a word into it, you can't edit or erase it if you've goofed up. And this seems to be exacerbated by the word-prediction function. I don't know which one of us chose this from the word prediction list or even what we were trying to add to the list, but we now have "gorillas" on our permanent shopping list! We also have "French load," which I know is supposed to say "French loaf," and doesn't make me laugh nearly as hard as "gorillas" does every time I see it. So, whenever he leaves for the grocery store I can say, "Honey, don't forget the gorillas!"

Wave Bottle

Here's a really simple craft Logan and I made today while at his play group. He helped by choosing which food coloring and which glitter to use. In less than 5 minutes, you can make your own wave bottle with stuff you probably have at home already. The end result is a bit like a lava lamp, which is sure to entertain kids of all ages.

Materials:

• plastic bottle with lid
• water
• oil (cooking or baby)
• food coloring
• glitter
• hot glue gun (optional)

Directions:

1. Fill bottle 2/3 full with water.
2. Add enough oil to fill the rest of the bottle.
3. Add a few drops of food coloring. (We used 5 drops of blue.)
4. Add some glitter.
5. Screw lid tightly onto bottle.
6. Shake bottle to mix contents and enjoy.
7. If desired, use hot glue on the inside of the cap and then screw lid onto bottle for extra insurance against curious little hands getting it open!

It's Never Too Early...

This morning, Mia decided to write some letters to Santa. I guess it's never to early to start thinking about Christmas. She wrote one for herself, one for Logan, one for me, one for Brett, and she even wrote one for our dog, Ritzy. I noticed that she was writing a few different letters besides the ones in her name, so I starting naming letters to see if she could write them. She got bored with that, though, and wanted to know what I wanted to ask Santa for. I told her "chocolate." When she asked what else I wanted I said "clothes." She asked a third time so I told her "shoes." These were the first things I thought of. Then she informed me that I only get to ask Santa for three things. I hope I chose wisely!

{My letter to Santa is the one on the bottom right.}

Pick Your Battles (Not Your Nose!)

As a parent some things are just not worth fighting. As the saying goes, "Don't sweat the small stuff." All parents will agree that you have to pick your battles wisely. The hard part is deciding which things to give over control of. I'm sure this list will change over time, but here is where I stand on these things currently.

Things I have decided not to fight over:

• Logan eats crayons. (I sometimes think he does it just to get a reaction anyway, and they aren't hurting him as far as I know... plus it makes for interesting diaper changes. You never know what color you will get!)
• Mia hardly ever takes a nap anymore. She knows when she really needs one, so I let her decide.
• Wearing a coat. We tell Mia she can either wear it or carry it. This works great because even if she opts to carry it, she quickly decides that it's too cold and wants to put it on. Or else she's cold. It doesn't affect me, so I don't care. (Of course, Logan doesn't get the option yet.)
• Hand washing. Most of the time I let Mia just use the "magic soap" (hand sanitizer) unless her hands are visibly dirty (or she went #2). I don't know why she hates hand washing so much, but most of the time when she needs to wash with soap and water, she insists that I stay with her to make sure the temperature is just right.

Things I am still choosing to battle:

• Manners. Mia doesn't get anything unless she says "please." Period.
• Baths. Both kids currently hate having their hair washed, so we just aim for twice a week... but it's still a battle!
• Healthy eating. I don't make the kids clean their plates, but I do expect them to eat at least a small bit of some kind of fruit and some kind of vegetable plus the main course at lunch and dinner. Neither one is a very picky eater so this works for now. And Mia will eat just about anything I ask her to if she knows it means the difference between getting dessert and not getting dessert.
• Mia's nose picking. (I know it's not a big deal, but I keep reminding to stop because it's gross and she might be spreading germs. And nobody likes to see her doing it. I've tried telling her that princesses and ballerinas don't pick their noses, but so far that hasn't deterred her.)

Logan's Speech Progress

Logan qualified for Early On services with a speech delay on January 5th when he was 16 months old. He wasn't saying any actual words up until that point. That day, he shocked me by saying "cookie," but he hasn't said it since. Things have gotten better for our communication, though. He has picked some sign language. He has his own versions of "more," "please," and recently I think he is trying to sign "eat." He is also using a few approximations for common words. For example, he says "ba" for ball, "ca" for car (or any vehicle), and "ga" for dog (or any animal). Lately, we think he might even be saying "yeah."

There have been a few other words that I thought he might have been saying like "color," "carrot" (he loves carrots!), "cow," and "cup." I really haven't heard any of those lately, so I am not sure if he was really trying to say them or not. I don't know if I should be worried about the possibility that he is losing speech... He did used to say "mama" and "dada" occasionally, but he stopped that awhile back, and when he said them they were just sounds, not words that he associated with us.

He has continued to point, and shake his head (or really more of his whole body) "yes" and "no" and he will choose between things if you offer him two choices. The cutest thing is that he now folds his hands when we sit down at the table to remind us that it's time to pray. He is super observant and will let us know if something is out of place like if the baby gate isn't up or the DVD player was left on. I know he understands a lot, and I am excited that he became interested in books in the past week or two. This is huge! I am trying not to be frustrated, but I feel like he should be saying a bit more now that he is 17 1/2 months. On the other hand, he has found lots of non-verbal ways to get his needs met, so I guess it's not as important to him as it is to me.

I am really thankful that he is getting help with his speech development! I'm getting lots of support, too, and in ways I didn't even realize I needed. Yesterday, at his weekly playgroup at LESA I learned about what a big deal "W" sitting is and why I need to get him to stop doing this. I knew a small bit about this because the pediatrician had noticed Mia doing it and told me it was bad for her hips, but now I know that it can affect the child's core strength. And more importantly in Logan's case, it can further hinder his speech development. They gave me some exercises to work on with him, but honestly, I haven't done them yet. (I am still doing my own PT exercises twice a day for my bursitis, so that takes up a fair bit of my time.) I am hoping that things will pick up and communication with Logan will be smoother for us. For now, I have decided I need to focus on the progress he has already made!

Valentine Crafts and Other Goodies

 I know this is a bit late, but here is what we tried this year.

"Love Boat" Valentine Holder

This looked super cute when I saw it in the magazine, but it was a bit tricky to make.

(Read: Mia, age 4, could barely help me except for choosing colors and occasionally gluing on small details at the end. Plus, it must have taken a good hour or more to make, and that is keeping in mind that I am a craft "pro." I also thought it was odd that the directions said to cover the OJ container with paper and then cut out the opening for the Valentines. This made me tear some of the paper so it didn't look as "finished" as their picture perfect example. Another complaint I had was that they said to use a glue stick and I found that just didn't seem to work, so we used tape and Elmer's glue.)

{The Maiden Voyage of the S.S. Valentine}

An addition I made to the original project was to use ribbon to trim the smokestacks and around the boat instead of paper as suggested, which I think was cute. I would recommend this craft for upper elementary and older if you want them to be able to do it independently.

Yarn Hearts

{Our Works of Heart}

Another one I saw in the magazine and thought we had to try. Again, it was a bit of a flop for us. The corn starch glue, while quick and easy to make, was a terrible consistency that was a pain to work with. And Mia hated the texture and barely touched it before declaring that she was done. I haven't gotten around to this yet, but I think I will thread some embroidery floss through the top so we can hang this. This craft is great for little hands providing that those hands like to get messy!

"Jesus Loves Me" Door Hanger

{Door Hanger by Mia, Age 4}

I think this one was the biggest success. I used it for our Valentine's party at Sunday School and all of the kids ranging from preschool to fifth grade enjoyed it and were able to easily do this craft. The main prep I did was cutting the ribbon beforehand and some yarn for hanging. We also had some of the cardstock shapes pre-cut for the younger ones.

{Heart Shaped Brownies ~ What's not to love?}

{Happy Valentine's Day to Brett!}

These were a bit more work: molded chocolate hearts, rimmed in red sugar, and filled with fresh berries. Delicious!