Woo Hoo - Jason is TWO!

Our little monkey is officially two! We celebrated all day Sunday and had family over last night.  The morning began with a candle in Jason's eggs and toast. 

Then his birthday dinner began with a raging temper tantrum, followed by presents and cake.

Ryan got Jason laughing, as he usually does.  He is the Tantrum Whisperer.

This is a new thing: sticking his tongue out while concentrating.

He also celebrated birthday #2 by going #2 on the potty this weekend THREE times. I'm so sick of cleaning up poo from his underwear...I think we're finally making progress here!

But I digress...happy birthday to my baby boy!

Favorite Things Party

Is everyone familiar with Oprah's "Favorite Things" shows?  Well, let me tell you...an Oprah-obsessed friend of mine decided to do her own spin on the idea and began having an annual Favorite Things Party.  I wasn't able to make it last year, but this year's party convinced me that I will never miss another one!

Oprah's Favorite Things are always a random collection of her, well, favorite things. (imagine that!)  What's fun about the show is that she usually ends up giving several items away to all of the audience members.  I've only ever seen one of the episodes, but it was enough to get the concept.

The hostess sent out an email about a month before the party asking everyone to send in details for their two favorite things.  Last year didn't have a theme, but this year we were supposed to think of our favorite gift ideas. 

She also had us submit a favorite pot-luck recipe and a family Christmas tradition.  She compiled everything into a great handout (including a list of whose favorite thing the item is, where to purchase it, supplies needed and cost) so no one had to take notes or ask a bunch of questions...we just sat back and relaxed!

When we arrived, everyone had a few minutes to get up in front of the group and present their favorite things.  Most of us brought samples of each item and we were asked to bring one $10 item for a giveaway drawing.

The concept is such a great idea that I knew I had to share.  Especially when people started pulling out their favorite things!  Here are a few of the things I just have to pass along:

This meal planning board was absolutely adorable and I can't wait to make it.

Here's a view of both adorable boards: they're 11x7 cork boards covered with scrapbook paper, ribbon, binder clips and pockets to keep your recipes.

This is the back: love those 3M removable mounting strips!!!!

One more close-up look  (sorry about the shadow - my finger was in front of the flash)

These are "jar lid magnets" - have your kids fill a jar lid (this one was Classen pickles) with stickers, glitter, beads, 3D items, anything...then pour Resin (from any craft store) to fill the lid and allow it to dry completely.  Stick a magnet on the back and that's it.  Such a cute kid craft - we're doin' it!

T-shirt bags.  Seriously?  For people who sew, this is too cute!  Cut off the sleeves, sew a ribbon into the bottom hem of the shirt and tie it closed.

One of the hostess's favorite things was a Purple Cow 9" Laminator.  She contacted the company to see if they had any money in their advertising budget to contribute to the Favorite Things party, and they sent her enough laminators for ALL of us to have one!!!  Our hilarious friend, April, played Oprah, pointing to each person and shouting, "And YOU get a laminator...and YOU get a laminator...!!!"  I can now officially understand why the women on that show freak out.  Me and my Type A personality were SO excited to get a laminator.  For FREE!!!  Here's a picture of all of us with our new treasures.

We decided that we're each going to try to contact a company or two next year to see if we can get enough donations for everyone to leave with different goodies.  If 30-40 of us make the attempt, maybe a handful will get a good response...?  Even if they send us coupons (some of the Favorite Things were food) - everyone loves freebies and they'd get tons of loyal customers from the deal!

Other ideas that I loved:
- Homemade hooded towels
- glitter nail polish (this was a part of a "holiday survival kit" that was so cute)
- Little Fing'rs Girlie Nails (Kaylin will get these from Santa this year)
- Paperbackswap.com - apparently you can sign up and get points for sending your used books to others, then "buy" new books with your online credited points.  All it costs is the price of media mail to send your books!
- Portable speaker case for iPod
- Personal Embosser from Williams Sonoma
- Solutions Tree Tea Chapstick from Great Clips (of all places!)
- White Tea Body Lotion (I love this stuff!!!)

And I know I'm going to get this question, so I'll tell you: the favorite things gift ideas I shared were Tastefully Simple (of course!) and framed family pictures.  One that I thought of later were homemade calendars with family pictures.  As you'd imagine, I give a lot of gifts revolving around pictures. 

What are some of your tried-and-true holiday gift giving ideas???

A Lesson on Jealousy

(I just found this un-published post in my drafts from 10/4/11.  Publishing it now to capture the memory of my sweet girl!)

This morning, Ryan woke up to $3 under his pillow from the Tooth Fairy.  He was hoping to get enough to buy himself a hot lunch today at school, so he could tell everyone where he got the money for his meal.  (I'm not sure where this kid gets this constant need for attention...it's a mystery...!)  ;)

Then during breakfast, the doorbell rang.  Ryan got the opportunity to pet sit for a friend's Guinea pig while they were out of town for nine days.  In the thank you note was $27...a payment of $3 per day.  Ryan was suddenly sitting among dollar bills everywhere.

Once he left for school, I noticed that Kaylin was unusually quiet...and had been all morning.  This was our conversation:

Me: "Kaylin, are you doing okay?"
Kaylin: "Yeah." (with an unconvincing tone)
Me: "How are you feeling right now?"
Kaylin: "I don't know..."
Me: "Are you feeling happy?"
Kaylin: "I don't know..."
Me: "Are you feeling sad?"
Kaylin: "I don't know..."
Me: "Are you feeling angry?"
Kaylin: "I don't know..."
Me: "Are you tired?"
Kaylin: "I don't think so..."

(continued eating our breakfast for a bit)

Me: "Kaylin, are you feeling okay? You're acting awfully quiet."
Kaylin: (looking down) "I don't know..."

(...string of silence...then it hit me...)

Me: "Are you feeling jealous that Ryan got so much money this morning?"
Kaylin: (with a guilty look on her face) "Yeah..."
Me: "Do you know what 'jealous' means?"
Kaylin: "No."
Me: "You feel jealous when you wish you had something that someone else has.  Are you feeling jealous that Ryan has all that money?"
Kaylin: (the floodgates opened) "It's just that Ryan already has SO MANY DOLLARS."
Me: "Do you know WHY Ryan has so many dollars?"
Kaylin: "No..."
Me: "Because he's seven.  And you're five.  He's had two whole years, more than you have, to add money to his piggie bank."  (Kaylin smiled)
Kaylin: "So when I'm seven will I have that many dollars?" 
Me: "Probably.  Maybe more!"

And she smiled again, finally content with the situation. 

A School Room is Born!

I have really been struggling with the after-school rush lately.  The kids have trouble focusing on homework at the kitchen table, Jason is rarely captivated by distractions, time is was short due to football practices and games 3 days/week (no more football for him, now that his arm is broken!) - all combined with the already crazy dinner hour.  Every evening is stressful in our home and I'm really just OVER IT. 

While in Kansas City last week, I began getting the itch again to homeschool. The after school issue is one of a dozen reasons homeschooling makes sense at this stage of our lives.  A dear friend gave me a ton of books and resources and so much time alone left me tons of space to think about the logistics.  Nothing's set in stone, but this very well could be the kids' last year in public school for a while. Mike and I are really praying that we'd both have peace about the decision one way or the other.

But I'm not ripping them out of school right now. So we still have an after school problem! In the meantime, I was desperate for a solution to the 3-5pm witching hour.

The answer finally came to me: if/when I homeschool, I'll need a space dedicated to our school day.  So I decided to convert half of my craft room into a school/homework room! I got the bug Friday night to pull everything apart and rearrange, got everything in the room organized on Saturday and the closet finished on Sunday.  When I'm motivated, I'm like a machine!  And Mike was thrilled that I didn't spend a penny on the transformation...I just repurposed a bunch of stuff we had hiding around the house.

Before: from the doorway

After: from the doorway

Before: reverse view

After: reverse view

Before: attempt at a kid's art station

After: new school station
(the desk on the left will hold the hand-me-down computer as soon as we get our new Mac)

Before: scrapbook area
(I haven't scrapbooked in months...my desk had become a dumping ground)

After: scrapbook area
PLUS a new art station and reading corner (they're small, but they're intentional!)

Before: closet

During: empty closet

During: contents of closet on the floor (can you see where I sat in the middle?)

During: 5 minutes later...the contents of the boxes were EVERYWHERE

After: closet

All of the bins are labeled and organized - and not a dime was spent!!!

Jason kept himself busy stacking Dixie cups while Mike helped me rearrange furniture on Friday night

the new "art station"

the new "reading station"
with a book box for each child (under the easel)

Jason's corner
I'll rotate toys up from the playroom to keep him distracted while I help with homework

Mommy's corner/scrapbook station

Now that the clutter is gone, I was so inspired to create that I got caught up on the kids' birthday scrapbooks.  I was 2 years behind on Ryan, 3 years behind on Kaylin and Jason's wasn't even started.  I kind of like that my scrapbook area is now a corner of the room instead of the whole space.  Hopefully, it will keep me accountable to keeping it neat!

#10 - Take a trip back to Kansas City

Wow - what a vacation!  After six days in Kansas City with the sweetest girl in the world, I made some observations.  Some good, some bad...

First of all, I discovered that time alone with my attention-hungry, middle child is an absolute necessity.  This is something that I need to remind myself of often; as in daily.  I truly enjoy her company and her maturity never ceases to amaze me.  She's a 15 year old trapped in a 5 year old's body...without the hormones!

I discovered that there really IS no place like home.  Yes, I just said that!  But seriously, as I was driving from the airport to my aunt's house (...no, not Auntie Em...Aunt Claudia) I got all choked up.  I hadn't been back to Kansas in more than six years and I had no idea how much I'd missed it.  Not to mention that the fall colors were beautiful!!!

I discovered that indulging your child (and yourself) for a few days can take some time to un-do.  Kaylin is no longer used to hearing "no" or sharing attention with her brothers.  And I'm no longer used to cooking, cleaning, or being responsible in any way, shape or form.  Plus, my hands are broken...I can't type as fast as I did last week!  A week away from the computer ruined my typing speed.  Curses!

Lunch at Nordstrom, shopping sprees and mani/pedi anyone?  My aunt treated me like royalty.
I didn't lift a finger all week!

I discovered that, over time even (seemingly) lifelong friendships fade away.  I only had a handful of old friends that I made plans with during my trip.  A few of the meetings felt like high school all over again (in a good way), but one was traced with awkwardness and obvious discomfort.  I drove away realizing that I might never choose to see that person again and was very, very sad...

(Sidenote: how CUTE are these little collage frames?  One of my above friends filled them with seasonal decor because she couldn't find pictures small enough to fit in them.  STEALING this idea!!!)

I discovered that eating desserts and not working out leads to weight gain.  Who knew?  (I'll spare you the picture of the back fat and belly rolls that go along with this discovery.)

I discovered that distance makes the heart grow fonder.  I don't think I've been away from my boys that long in...well, ever!

I discovered that when you leave with more items than you brought, and you get the brilliant idea to buy a duffel bag from Good Will to transport it all home, that you should check to make sure the dumb bag has a zipper BEFORE you pack it up and are running late for the airport!!!

We sent "Flat Ryan" to Kansas to have some adventures with my aunt and cousins, so I got to take pictures to show real Ryan.  This is Flat Ryan rolling in the fall leaves. Real Ryan may never get that experience...!

Kaylin was so good on the plane.  SO. GOOD.  Even the flight attendant asked, "Is she always this well behaved?"  I said, "Yes. This is why she got to come on the trip and I left my wild boys at home." 

Speaking of "wild boys," I returned home to a broken kid.  The stupid curb jumped up and knocked Ryan off his bike.  (*sigh*)

I didn't tell Ryan to pose for this picture, by the way.  Such a goofy kid!

So #10 is finally crossed off my {expired} 101 goals in 1001 days list.  Yay!!!!  I had so much fun that I actually wished we were in a position to move back.  Especially since every single friend made that suggestion and I was feeling all nostalgic. (I drove by two old houses, my elementary school and my high school)  Maybe someday, but once I returned home, I remembered why I love Phoenix, too. (and it's not the 100 degree temperatures that welcomed me at the airport...)