DIY Painted Cars Birthday Candle

This is the first in a series of posts detailing the crafts I did for Logan's While putting together my Pinterest board for Logan's 3rd birthday party, I stumbled upon this. Super cute, right? So, I decided that I would try to make my own painted candle for his Cars themed party. I figured if it didn't work out, I would be out 99 cents and life would go on. In the end, I was pretty pleased with the results, and Logan was happy, too.

To decorate the candle, I filled in the inside portion of the "3" with red acrylic paint. After it dried I painted a lightning bolt with yellow acrylic paint (it's not perfect, but working with curves is tricky, so I cut myself some slack). Once that paint was dry, I outlined it with a black Sharpie marker. Then I used the black Sharpie to draw some rectangular hash marks around the outside (raised) edge of the "3." I filled in the alternate spaces with white acrylic paint. Once it was all dry, I touched up a couple of areas, but didn't worry about making it perfect. The reverse side I left alone since it would be backwards. See, it wasn't too complicated, and it wasn't very time-consuming either. However, if you like the idea, but don't feel up for the craft, check out the Etsy shop that inspired me and order your own custom birthday candle.

So Many Firsts...

I thought last Tuesday was tough. I called it my "Day of Denial" because Logan turned 3 and Mia had her kindergarten open house, neither of which really seems possible. I have to admit that the open house wasn't at all what I expected. I actually had to sit in a seat meant for a 5 year old and fill out paperwork. Or, I should say more paperwork, because I certainly completed plenty of it back in March when we did the kindergarten round-up. I guess this was just the warm-up period, though.

We started in on the big, BIG stuff this week. Mia was so, so, so excited that she actually took two baths on Monday because she wanted to look nice for school. Truth be told, I was excited for her, too, and maybe just a bit anxious. Neither of us were able to get to sleep the night of Labor Day, knowing that she was off to kindergarten the following morning.

Yesterday, Mia had her first day of kindergarten, which was really a one hour "orientation" period during which I was bombarded with all sorts of parent information. She was happy to wear her new clothes (I didn't buy very much, but I felt like she should have a couple of new things), and had a blast. She came home with her traced hand with a heart drawn in the center and told me it was her "kissing hand."

Today was her first FULL day of school. Of course, that means she got to take her lunch box that we had gotten at a garage sale over the summer, and she was really excited about using it. I was worried about dropping her off in the morning, but then I just followed other parents and grandparents into the building (pretty sure this only goes over well the first couple of days, but decided to go with it). I am happy to report that there were no tears. I told her to have an awesome day and that I would see her later. Logan had a brief meltdown because he wanted to play with the toys (another good reason not to take her into the building on a regular basis), but Mrs. Myers quickly diverted it by saying we could go out the door to the playground (turned out that the equipment was wet, so it was easy to convince him to leave, thankfully).

Logan and I had a super busy day of our own including his 3 year well check, which he handled amazingly well (I am sure it helped that he wasn't due for any vaccinations). For anyone who is interested in his stats, he was 28 pounds (10th percentile, which Dr. McEwen was happy about since he jumped up from 3rd percentile at age 2) and 36 3/4 inches tall (25th percentile). He was a great listener and took off his shoes and got on the scale when the nurse asked him to. It was cute to watch him "play a game," which was her way of getting him to do the vision test. It's amazing what kids know, and surprised me when he identified circle, heart, hand, and cup shapes since he is always hit or miss with things like that at home. Must be that he performs well under pressure. Then he giggled his way through the hearing test, and lifted up his shirt and pointed to his chest when she asked where his heart was. The whole time, I was amazed by his patience and ability to follow directions. And here we thought he wasn't ready for preschool. Really, if he were just more consistent with using the potty, he would be there, it seems. How do my kids keep growing so fast? I can't believe he is no longer a baby.

After a trip to Kroger, we ran the groceries home, and then it was nearly time to pick Mia up from school. (I have decided that the term "Stay at Home Mom" is a misnomer because all I did was run from place to place today.) Waiting for Mia was difficult. I was starting to fret a bit because even though I knew that all of the kids had to go as a group to get the bus riders sent off and then come back by the classroom, I was anxious because her class wasn't back yet and other kids were sitting on the floor waiting when the parents were let in the door. Thankfully, another mom I recognized from dance class let me know that the other classes had just gone earlier, and they would be along soon. Mia was tired for obvious reasons, but she went along with Logan's idea of playing on the "purple playground" for a few minutes before going home.

We had a small amount of down time before we had to run again. I turned on an episode of Backyardigans while trying to get dinner pulled together. We had just enough time to shovel in some sloppy joes and green beans before I had to get Logan into his new shin guards (which are surprisingly difficult to find in little people sizes) and head off to his first soccer practice. He amazed me once again with his ability to follow directions and also with his patience for waiting in line. (Yes, he started to lag and lose focus, but they practiced for a full hour, which is really a lot considering it was for 3-4 years olds, and keeping in mind he is just 3, not to mention the fact that the coach's son is also named Logan and she kept putting them right next to each other so he would get confused about which Logan she was talking to.)

The uniform is beyond HUGE on him. We ordered the smallest size: Small. He would really wear something like extra, extra, extra small but I assume that size does not exist. The jersey is like a full-length dress on him and the shorts just fell off of him (This doesn't surprise me at all considering he can still fit into 12 month shorts). Oh, but he is so, so adorable. He really is the cutest soccer player ever, and I am thrilled to call myself a soccer mom.

{I think we all feel this way after our big day of firsts!}

Irony

Once upon a time I graduated high school and considered my career options. I very briefly considered being a nurse or doctor. (I had already given up the idea of being a vet after my dad pointed out that I would have to put animals to sleep). After some thought, these choices were definitely out of the question. I never liked blood or bodily fluids and considering that I would be dealing with sick people all day long and all of the gross stuff that goes along with that... well, obviously it wasn't a good fit.

Fast forward about 9 years when for some reason I decided that I was "qualified" to become a parent. Essentially, I had all the crucial elements in place:  a house, a husband, a job -- as a special education teacher, no less, which was surely good preparation for a kid, right?--, and our "fur baby," a deaf cocker spaniel we called Ruby. In other words, I had pretty much all of the important stuff, so I figured we were as ready as we'd ever be. Plus, we had the books, parenting magazines, hospital classes, family, and the entire Internet at our disposal to answer questions.

However, when Mia was born, I immediately learned the truth: there is absolutely, positively no real preparation for parenthood. It doesn't matter how many books or parenting magazines you read. It doesn't matter whether or not you took any or all of the classes that were offered at the hospital. Motherhood is hard work, full of thankless tasks and episodes of absolute panic.

The most ironic thing about it is that I have to do all of the disgusting things that I never thought I would be able to handle. Today for example, I was working on Icky, Thankless Mom Task # 1,852: removing dog doo from the tread of a tricycle tire (and a little girl's sandal). No sooner than this chore was completed, the same little girl accidentally spilled half of a gigantic bottle of bubble solution on the driveway. I was in no hurry to do anything about that.

Then, a crazy two-year-old, in typical boy fashion, decided to run barefoot (hey, it's summer) and jump into the puddle of bubble solution. I watched in horror as he flew into the air and slammed his head on the driveway with a resounding thud. Amazingly, I was more upset by this than he was. I took him inside and offered an ice pack from the freezer. He took one look inside and said "no," and then he requested chicken nuggets. I decided then that I didn't need to be too worried. If he's more concerned about eating chicken nuggets than he is about his boo-boo, he's probably going to be just fine.

So, I completed Icky, Thankless Mom Task # 1,853: removing wet clothing and mopping up sticky limbs and hair (while trying not to be upset about the large volume of bubble solution in his beautiful hair, which was just washed last night). Then, I called my husband to give him the low-down on Logan's injury, turned on an episode of Mighty Machines, and crossed my fingers that Brett would be home early tonight. I am so very glad that I do not have to do this insanely hard stuff all on my own.

Cause and Effect

I didn't think there were enough kids' quotes from June to warrant a post, so I combined them along with July's memorable ones.

6/2/12
While wearing the adorable Dumbo costume I found at a garage sale, Logan said, "Lookit. Me got BIG ears!"

6/6/12
Mia loves to tell me about what it will be like when she grows up. For example, she plans to keep horses. She told me, "Mom I've got the perfect names for my horses for when I grow up: Chocolate Chip, Vanilla Icing, and Strawberry Pie." She then went on to explain that Vanilla Icing is a spotted horse (I had assumed it would be all white.), Chocolate Chip is a gray horse (I would have guessed it would have brown spots.), and Strawberry Pie is all white.

6/12/12
Mia called out in a sing-song voice, "Fly-y-yyyy, come out. We're gonna kill you." Logan added, "Buzz buzz." Unfortunately, flies don't come when called so I had to stalk it all over the place with the flyswatter before finishing it off.

7/9/12
Logan: "Me want to wave bye-bye to Daddy."
Me: "He's still getting ready. Do you hear the shower?"
Logan: "He's getting all wet. With shower water." 

7/9/12
It makes me wonder if the kids have too much screen time when Mia says something like this: "Mom, can you pause the book? I need to go pee-pee!"

7/10/12
Mia said this while trying to carry a bunch of toys up to her room, "Whew! If only I had four hands like Curious George. Then all this stuff would be easier to carry!"

7/19/12 
Logan is taking pride in his accomplishments. A good one: "Me do it myself. Ta-Da!" (after making his own PB&J sandwich) and a not so good one: "Me go pee-pee. Ta-Da!" (too bad it was on the floor)

7/24/12
Mia: "I'm not good at patience."

7/30/12
Logan slept late, but woke up feeling chipper, which is when we had this cute conversation.
Me: "Hi, Handsome!"

Logan: "Hi!"

Me: "How'd you sleep?"
Logan: "20 minutes."

He's All Boy ... and the Mommyisms Keep Coming

Oh the joys of being the mom of a two-year-old boy! He constantly keeps me on my toes, and makes me say the oddest things that I never dreamed of saying. I laugh at times, but still I overreact more often than I should, making me wonder how in the world God expects me to survive raising a two-year-old boy.

Then, I realized that I have less than one month left of being the mom of a two-year-old boy, and it made me sad. Some day, when he's a "big boy," the crazy things Logan does will actually make me crazy, but for now they crack me up (okay, not always at that moment, but looking back...) I want to always remember these little moments when my baby was still a baby.

Also, you have to laugh along at my attempts to reason with this boy. I honestly used the phrase, "For future reference..." not once, but twice this month. Ha! I'll keep you posted on how well that works...

July 12, 2012
"We don't pour water on our bedroom floor. "We've actually had this conversation before, so obviously it doesn't work to tell him this, but it hasn't stopped me. 

July 17, 2012
"Why'd you put a rock in the toilet?" The funny part isn't really that he put a rock in the toilet, but that I asked WHY he did this. Duh, Mom. If he had given me an explanation it likely would have been along the lines of, "I wanted to see what would happen if I put a rock in the toilet. Guess what? Not much. You asked why and then fished it out."

July 18, 2012

"For future reference, we don't ever, ever lick the peanut butter jar or other food containers."

July 26, 2012

"NO! NO! NO! We don't barrel roll off the sofa!"

July 26, 2012

"Not sure why you have a watering can in here, but we're definitely not going to put blueberries in it."

July 26, 2012

"Don't lick pepper off the table." 

We let the kids pour their own pepper at meals (but not salt) since they tend to use quite a bit. Logan made a pile on the table and then you can guess what he did.

July 30, 2012
"For future reference, please don't wipe your boogers on the wall." (I discovered a section of the wall in the living room where he has apparently been depositing them on a few occasions. When I asked who did it, he was very quick to confess. No guilt, just honesty, which you have to love. Then he offered to help me wash the wall.)

July 31, 2012
The first thing I said to him this morning: "Hi, there. Where's your diaper?"

My Work Here is Done

I noted recently that Mia has been entertaining herself more frequently by coming up with her own craft projects, which is pretty cool considering she is only five. This one in particular impressed me, so I thought that I would share her inspiration. She started with a coffee filter and a pair of safety scissors, and she trimmed it so that I first thought she was making a flower of some sort. I was pleasantly surprised to see the results. Both the originality of her idea and her craftsmanship are top-notch as far as I am concerned.

{When she asked for red, orange, and yellow paint I figured it would be a sun instead of a flower. It turned out to be a cute lion, however.}

{Once the paint was dry, she asked me for a permanent marker to draw this face.}

{Hopefully, I didn't mess up her creativity by asking if she wanted to add a nose and ears to her lion's face. Other than that suggestion -- and pouring the acrylic paints for her -- she did this project completely on her own. That's my girl!}

When DIY May Not be a Good Idea: Homemade Cloud Dough

I am sharing this because I want everyone to know that contrary to what people may believe, I am not some kind of Super Mom. Although I often try to come up with fun things to do with my kids, they don't always go well as I hope. I love homemade craft materials, so today we today we made Cloud Dough. (Mia informed me that they made this at preschool and called it "Moon Sand.") This turned out to be a perfect example of something that should be filed under "What Was I Thinking?!"

To be clear, Mia and Logan had a blast with this stuff, so that wasn't the problem. It is neat to play with since it is soft and flows through your fingers, but it can also be molded. Both kids enjoyed making "sand castles" on the dining room table. It was just insanely messy, and caused me more stress than I would have liked. I don't know if I didn't mix it long enough or if I really just should have let them play with it in a larger container. My kids poured it out of the plastic container I used to mix up the Cloud Dough, and it was everywhere by the time they were done. (The good news is that this kept them entertained for at least half an hour, maybe more like an hour.)

Instead of using 8 cups of flour and 1 cup of baby oil, I used 4 cups of flour and 1/2 cup of baby oil to make our batch of Cloud Dough. (I only had so much baby oil. It was left over from when I used to make my own baby wipes solution. If you are interested in another craft you can make using baby oil, try this wave bottle.) Let's just say that I am glad I halved the recipe, and it was good that I needed to vacuum, anyway. If after reading this, you still want to make your own cloud dough, (I know it's making the rounds on Pinterest, which is where I first heard of it), consider having it be an outside activity, or at the very least, plan on doing some serious vacuuming and/or sweeping afterward.

{Before}

{After}

{You can use cookie cutters, rolling pins, or any other tools you would normally use with play dough.}

{Of course, you can just use your hands, too.}

{See, it can be molded, which is cool, right?}

{The end result, while less than ideal, does show how much fun these two had!}