Happy New Year 2015!

Ahhhh January 1st! A fresh new year! This day feels like the first day of school for me - so much potential for so much NEW.

And yes, I am making resolutions. I know, how lame, but again, I love the POTENTIAL of what I can do in the new year. I do try to be realistic though.

So here are mine:

1.) Have better posture. My back will thank me. This Mom Slouch thing is ridiculous.
2.) Make it a priority for our family to eat dinner together. Dinner will now be at 6:30 every night. If my husband can't make it home in time, he can eat when he does, but I am done cooking and eating after the kids go to bed.
3.) Make it a priority for the entire family to eat the SAME FOOD for dinner. Now that the baby is all about solids, now is the time to feed her everything so she doesn't end up in a pasta rut like her older sister. And I am done being a short order cook. Done.
4.) Limit myself to one soda a week.
5.) Limit myself to one fast food trip a month. This excludes Starbucks and my health-i-fied favorite sandwich at Jimmy John's. I'm trying to be realistic. And fair to myself.

I have some goals for what I want to happen with my diet, my workouts, etc. but those are tired goals so I won't bother sharing those here.

I also wanted to put some cleaning- and organization-related goals on the 'ol resolution list too, but I think those need to be more on the To Do list so they get DONE and then I'll see where I'm at with that plan. A lot to conquer there so I'm worried a resolution of this type might set me up for failure!! 

Anything unique on your list? Did you even make a list? Any New Year rituals you do instead?

Listmania: 12 Days of Christmas Books

As our oldest child has reached her second birthday, she is very into her books. Since Christmas 2013 rolled around right after her birthday, I thought it would be a perfect time to start a 12 Days of Christmas Book tradition.

Each year, wrap up 12 holiday-themed books and have your children open one each night leading up to Christmas. This is a fun bedtime activity that incorporates the excitement of unwrapping, with the routine of bedtime. For our first year, I didn't have 12 Christmas books for our collection yet, but since I planned on gifting Bugga some other books for Christmas, I just used those for some of the nights. Each year I plan to add in and rotate more books out, keeping the stories age-appropriate for both kids. Also, 12 books can be an investment (especially in Canada! Whoa!) so don't be afraid to wrap up some library books too!

How did I pick the books below? I thought of some classics that I remember enjoying as a kid. I also looked into Bugga's favorite characters (Duck & Goose, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Llama Llama) to see if the authors wrote a Christmas story, and I was surprised to find that MOST do! Reading about the same characters really helps with holding a toddler's attention.

Some ideas for Christmas Books:

1. Fa La La by Leslie Patricelli 
2. Nativity Touchy-Feely Board Book by Fiona Watt
3. 'Twas the Night Before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore
4. Frosty the Snowman by Diane Muldrow
5. Duck & Goose, It's Time for Christmas by Tad Hills
6. Merry Christmas, Mouse! by Laura Numeroff
7. The Hat by Jan Brett
8. Bear Stays Up For Christmas by Karma Wilson
9. How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
10. Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree by Robert Barry
11. Llama Llama Holiday Drama by Anna Dewdney
12. Clubhouse Christmas by Susan Amerikaner

Family Christmas Traditions

My husband and I have been thinking a lot about what sort of family traditions and lessons we want to pass down to our daughters. We also want to teach our children about religion, but leave room for them to discover it themselves and follow it where they allow it to lead them. Since Bugga is just freshly 2 years old, it's hard to really give her too much information that she can truly comprehend, but she is definitely at the age of understanding some things.

What we want for sure is that our daughters recognize the lessons and morals that can be learned as we expose them to more and more information.

We know that it is very easy for kids to think of Christmas as a "gimme gimme!" sort of holiday, and that makes me cringe. So I proposed that we find away to put the fun into giving (since my 2-year-old can't quite shop on her own yet, let alone create too many homemade gifts that allow her to grasp the concept of giving). I thought she'd enjoy handing out the presents under the tree on Christmas morning, but since she can't read yet, I created these visual labels as a toddler-friendly gift tag. She loved "playing elf" and finding gifts for everyone and passing them out all by herself.

I also found a toddler-friendly board book about the Christmas Nativity story, which she really enjoyed. I plan to add this to our 12 Days of Christmas Books tradition that we also started this year.

What tools are you using to teach your toddler about holidays, religions, or traditions?

Toddler-Friendly Gift Tags

Now that Bugga just turned 2, it was perfect timing to teach her that Christmas is even more about the giving than the receiving. She definitely sees the fun in unwrapping a present and finding a fun surprise inside, but this year we wanted to focus on the GIVING.

I thought it would be great, and very easy, to have Bugga play our Christmas Morning Elf and hand out everyone's presents. However, she obviously can't read yet, so we needed a way to help her identify the presents. 

I created these Toddler-Friendly Gift Tags that are more visual, so that it is easy for a 2-year-old to identify who to deliver the gift too. It worked really well and she clearly enjoyed being a part of the giving.

I wasn't very timely with this post (birthing a Christmas baby and all) so I know this isn't something you are probably thinking about in January. However, if you like this idea, bookmark it for next year!

Here are the examples:

Activity: Coloring Eggs

"Hey Mom, I think this might
actually be fun."

My husband is currently out of the country on business, so I've been busy planning activities and trips around town to keep Bugga and I busy while he's gone. He left early Easter weekend, so we were unable to officially celebrate. Sad face. Perhaps she wasn't old enough for that egg hunt anyway...

However, I still thought we should color some eggs, because I was curious to see what my toddler would think about it all. Well, it was pretty hilarious for starters.

She had a lot of fun piling as many eggs as possible into one bowl at a time, and then only using the next bowl when she ran out of space. And then she'd start again, piling the eggs into the next container, including the ones that were already bathing in a different color. Amazingly, the eggs still came out beautiful (and delicious, as I am in the process of consuming them).


She had a lot of fun with the spoons, but used them more as musical instruments against each other, versus to scoop out any of the eggs. Why would you use a spoon for scooping when you can just reach right in there? And hey look! Your hand is purple! And your legs are multicolored! How cool! Ha.

I think she made an attempt at tasting some of the colored water (apparently the yellow looked tasty?) but didn't do that twice. (Thank you, vinegar taste.)

All in all, this was a ton of fun, and I can't wait to do this each year and see how her creativity evolves.

Want to try it with your toddler? Here are my recommendations:

1. Prepare everything ahead of time before your toddler comes on the scene. I set everything up on the back patio and she watched me from just inside the windows.
2. Oh yeah - you're going to need to do this outside. I supposed you could do it inside, but at this age (~16 months) - don't say I didn't warn you!

   

   My original setup.
   Not recommended! (See #3)

3. Set up the activity with the bowls very close together. Nope, that's not what I did to begin with (see photo). I saw very quickly that once we started with one bowl, Bugga wasn't getting up but instead was just going to stretch as far as she could - which ended up with some cracked eggs and spilled colored water.
4. Use old dishes. This is perfect for the takeout containers that I currently have stashed in a bottom cabinet for Bugga to play with in the kitchen.
5. Don't overwhelm with too many colors. I stuck to 4 basics, and honestly she just took the eggs in and out of each dish, so after awhile, all 4 colors were strikingly similar. Go figure.
6. Premix the colors. I used a tablespoon of vinegar in each dish, along with a LOT of coloring to make the colors sharp. I used the old-school drops as well as some gels, and both worked fine.

   

   "AND I get to use a spoon? YES!"

   
7. Dress your child in clothing you aren't worried about. I stuck Bugga in a dark-colored $10 Carter's outfit, and it didn't stain at all! (Those white dots are painted on so the color didn't adhere whatsoever!)
8. Decide how you feel about spoons. I know this sounds funny. But to me, spoons + toddler = catapult. Bugga was very intrigued that I let her use spoons for this activity, and they really stole the show for awhile there until I pointed other things out. I think if we did this again (at least at this age) I would leave the spoons in the drawer. She has plenty of plastic ones to play with during meals and with her tea set.
   
9. Have fun! AKA, don't expect to have any control over how the eggs get colored, as your toddler is not interested in the LEAST about your creative opinion. Point out the colors, what happens when you mix them, etc. - they won't understand a lot of it, but they will see that it is fun.
10. Don't worry, the rainbow child isn't permanent. We went straight into the bathtub when we were finished, and it probably took two baths until the dye under her fingernails disappeared. But it was worth it!

The finished product! AMAZING!

Project: 2013 Memory Box

I saw a cute and easy idea on Pinterest (of course), so this is my variation of it...

This is a bit of a year-long project, but it is an easy one. Keep a box (or a jar if you go that route) in an easy location, like the kitchen counter, and fill it with fun/happy/touching memories that happen throughout the year. Then, open the box on Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve and relive those great moments with your family.

Memory Box

Supplies Needed:

• cardboard box (I used a recently-emptied Kleenex mini-box - it already has a hole in the top, and reusing is my favorite way to go with trash)
• fun paper
• scotch tape
• hot glue gun
• decorative items (punches, paint pen, etc.) - optional, whatever you have!

Instructions:

1. Wrap the box in the decorative paper like you would a gift box. In my example, I used two different designs (black & white polka dots, and teal & white stripes), and split them over the opening so I did not have to cut too much. Use scotch tape to hold down ends.
2. Since there are now 2 scotch-taped sides, those are the sides I used for the "2013" signs so as to cover up my tape mess. In this example, I used purple cardstock cut to almost cover an entire side, punching out the corners to give it a more tailored look. Then I cut a glittery foam sheet slightly smaller and stuck it straight to the purple paper. I then hot-glued the sign over one scotch-tape side. 
3. Decorate the signs, and boxes, as desired! I might dress mine up some more, but for now, I'm keeping it simple.
4. Add memories throughout the year!
5. On New Year's Eve (or another night at the end of the year), open the box up when your family is together and read each of the memories. This is a great way to remember how the year went, while adding more reasons to celebrate!