Category: being a stay-at-home mom

The Last Few

So over these last few days I’ve found projects to keep me busy and distracted.

After being given the first letters of Rachael and Abi’s names a good while back that I hung above their beds on the wall, I decided it would be cool to have one for Hannah as well. Before we got a second glimpse at Hannah’s gender (when we found out that she was breached) I was debating leaving the letter off the wall until we were certain of gender come delivery day. Even though they get a good look at her gender at 21 weeks, you never know. After we discovered she was breached we were certain of her femininity with a clear, unmoving picture. At 37 weeks she would have had VERY obvious boy parts should she have been an Elijah Joel. 😉

So the letter on the wall was now an option.

I started off to the craft store with the girls to buy an H in the same letter series that the girls’ letters came from. Unfortunately in the past two years the craft store had stopped selling that line of letters. So I became more creative. Still wanting things to be reasonably priced, I opted for the simpler letters for $1.50 a piece instead of the $3 ones since I’d now be purchasing three letters, one for each of the girls, so they matched. With the $1.50 letters I was also able to give Rachael and Abi a choice from a few decals to put on their letters. Hannah got the default one after Rachael and Abi picked.

When we got home and the girls were down comfortably for their nap, I used some nearby paint left over from painting the nursery “back in the day”. I painted all three letters the same so they’d match and then attached their decals to the letters with sticky tac so they could exchange decals later if they wanted or the decals could be used to decorate other things in the future.

Thus I give you their letters: It was a few hour project due to allowing paint to dry.

I also decided to label the girls’ drawers and put up words/pictures to help them in putting away the laundry. Rachael has her drawers memorized as to what should go where, but Abi often will forget between the couch and her squealing run down the hallway just what drawer you asked her to put her clothing into. So in an effort to reinforce literacy for Rachael and encourage Abi’s independence, I found these labels online. I printed them off and slapped their beautiful black/white selves on the drawers.

And that happy little project also extended to the closet where the organization is a happy perk in easy communication of hang-up items.

Then I saw a pinterest post of a do-it-yourself butterfly mobile and thought instantly “I’d like to do that….. some day” well some day came over the last few days. While I chose not to use the above tutorial, I did print off a basic outline of a butterfly from searching “clipart butterfly” on google images. Then I printed off 10 pages of black/white butterflies. Since I wasn’t worried about rushing the project, but instead about filling time with a fun craft, I wasn’t concerned that I planned to color each of the 60 butterflies’ front and back (120 total) and then cut each one out. I used a cross-stitching wooden ring as my circular base. I then painted it white as a primer and a light pink (mixed from the old nursery colors). I used some clear fishing line found in the bracelet section of the craft store ($2). Thanks to borrowing a friend’s glue gun (I don’t have one), I tied and glued the fishing line to four spots on the top of the circle, attaching a small washer to the top as a “hanging hook.” I then glued nine butterflies around the upper circle. Then I attached the various lengths of fishing line hanging down from the circle. After each butterfly was colored and cut out, I hot glued each at various places to each of the eight hanging strings. I did some basic math to use the remaining butterflies to attach at least six butterflies per string.

Now I did have some battle scars from gluing the butterflies on: burnt fingers, two thumbs, a spot on my wrist, and, sadly, the pad of my  right foot from dripping glue. But honestly I really enjoyed the project without the time commitment feeling too laborious. And thus the product that hangs above the changing table in the nursery:

Fun projects. More simple home improvement. And time well spent. =D

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Rachael’s Tea Party

Don’t let the silence on the blog two weeks ago fool you. It’s not silent over here. 😉

While Daddy was gone on the youth mission trip two weeks ago, Rachael hosted her first Tea Party. =)

She started out writing the invitations (obviously with some help):


Then came the welcome sign for the door:

Then she made the place cards:

With the help of Aunt Jes, we made the Tea Party treats and some teacup decorations. The menu was lemonade poured from the teapot, heart-shaped PBJ or Peanut Butter and Honey sandwiches, applesauce, trail mix (PB/chocolate chips, pretzels, animal crackers, and raisins), and of course cookies (meringues, homemade chocolate chip, and sugar cookies with the puffed frosting from the store – mmmmmm, yes). 

Aunt Jes also helped in setting the table, even loaning us some of her extra teacups and her tea set.

Here’s Rachael’s tea party:

Each place setting had a piece of jewelry that all the guests could wear and a special cup:

 Yes, that’s a plastic ring for my two year old. 😉

 I didn’t have a tea cup at first. 

 Rachael’s Sunday School teacher who was unable to make it (hence Mommy stole her cup. hehe). 
[Actually this cup was given to my by my great grandmother.]

 Danielle’s Mom (to Rachael) and a dear friend (to me).
[She likes coffee.]
 Rachael’s Sunday School playmate and, for the longest, the only child in her age bracket/nursery at the church. 

 Aunt Jes brought a special teapot/spoon necklace for our little hostess.

 A new friend in Rachael’s Sunday School class whom we have welcomed with open arms. 

 Ava’s Mom, who’s in my Sunday School class and a new wonderful friend. 
 Here Vicki pours the lemonade form the teapot as Danielle (top), Rachael (middle) and Ava (bottom) enjoy their tea party treats. All the girls wore frilly, beautiful dresses to the party (most raided from their drees-up bins at home). 

Little Abi sports the “cover all” bib since her gorgeous frilly dress was a light/stainable pink.

The little girls had a blast and so did the Moms. And each party guest got to bring home a teacup picture to color and remind them of the fun at Rachael’s Tea Party. 

Rachael was quite the little hostess, tending to her guests and explaining where everyone would sit. Hehe. And Abi was thrilled to run after Rachael, Danielle, and Ava, as they squealed and played before/after our tea. It was a wonderful, frilly, girlie time indeed that ended with two little girls knocked out cold for an extended nap. 

– Successful indeed. 😉
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VBS Lives On

I saw these two posts and decided to tackle Matt and my old stack of t-shirts, most old Vacation Bible t-shirts that have seen their heyday as exercise shirts, undershirts, and “around the house” shirts.

So I made this:

For over here:

1. It’s proof that I’ve been forcing myself to sit down and put my feet up more here at the end of Hannah’s pregnancy.

2. It defines a play space and adds color to that part of the large room.

3. I like it. =)

Win, win, win! 

Oh, and they approve (and rearrange it) too. =)

Cost: $0, 8 or 9 (I lost track) evenings of time while watching the Olympics and “a little here and a little there” time while watching movies with my kids.

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Moving Mountains

Saw this over here and decided I liked the quote enough I made my own.

I used some scraps from my collection of gift bags, scrapbook papers, construction paper leftovers from other projects, etc, and glued them onto the lid of a shoebox to give it a canvas-like feel.

 [ “Let her sleep for when she wakes she will move mountains.”]

So now it hangs on the nursery door to the girls’ room as a “quiet zone” reminder when we have the youth over and also a precious little reminder of their beautiful potential to “move mountains.” I really love it. Makes me smile. And reminds me of how quickly the time goes – how little time we have to serve and love our children into adults. But it also speaks volumes of their ability to “move mountains” each day, not just in the future.

And I’m very happy with how it turned out. 

And of course I couldn’t have done it without my eager helper. 😉

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Paint the Window

When you have a 2 year old and a 3 year old you can never get enough paint. There’s the squishing and the experiencing to the full that is a mandatory part in all toddler and preschoolers’ play. But if you’re like me, sometimes you just don’t want to do the whole mess of paint thing.

So we did this:

Used: Ziplock/Hefty Storage bag, 1+ colors of paint squirted in, tape it to the window or play at the table.

 Rachael wrote letters in it. 
It lasts about 3 days on the window before looking “less fresh”. 😉
 We even used our feet!
(Love their creativity)

And we adored every second of it.

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To Do and Done

So in efforts to communicate trust, encourage autonomy AND teach isolation of tasks as well as responsibility to clean up after the isolate tasks, I stumbled across this idea and of course modified it to fit our needs.

With a three year old and a two year old (plus the reality of one on the way soon), I was trying to find a way to offer them choices (within my ability and personal reigns) of activities throughout the day.

So I came up with this idea spurred off of the other ideas I saw on pinterest that were modified chore chart ideas.

I got three small metal pizza-baking sheets from Walmart for $0.92 a piece. I made sure that a magnet would stick to these trays before purchasing them. 😉

Then I bought a roll of magnetic stick-on tape for $2.99 from Joann Fabrics.

Then I got a roll of painters tape because we didn’t have any for $2.00.

After finding colorful clipart pictures of all the 31 activities I can currently offer our children to do in our household or in our yard, I pasted those activities into a word document. Since we have non-readers, I used bright, colorful pictures and put the words underneath the image to describe the tasks. I decided to print off two copies of the four pages of pictures (one for each child) since some activities I wanted to offer both the girls to do at once. I also added in age-appropriate helper tasks into the mix as well (ex. washing the table, helping with laundry, making their bed – I don’t mind what it looks like-, helping with dishes, setting the table, etc.).

After printing those off onto a cardstock heavy paper, I cut them out in small squares. Then I laminated them (I used clear packing tape because I had it around the house and didn’t have any laminating sheets. This required a significant amount of more work, by the way. But I didn’t mind since I was in no rush to get the project finished). After laminating them, I put a small piece of magnet on the back of each task.

The play activities available.
The chore/helper activities available.
We store all these pieces in a hefty bag. 
I put the chores in a separate bag in the hefty bag so I can easily find them.

I wrote  “To Do” on one side of two of the trays and “Done” on the other side of the same two trays, dividing the areas with a line of tape. Then the third tray poses as an options list for the girls to pick from.

With a little bit of sticky tack, all three trays were easily mounted to the wall at “kid height.”

Each morning I pick out the tasks that I am offering the children to do for that day, allowing me to rotate through some of the tasks they forget about because they are not actively in front of them. I also put up on their “to do” lists two responsibilities per day. The girls then get to pick from the 6 or so items on the options list and move them onto their “to do” part of their lists.

 Rachael’s list (arranged by Rachael)

Abi’s list (arranged by Abi)
The “choices” tray that the girls pick from.
We store the choices in a hefty bag with a magnet 
attached to the back so it hangs onto the microwave. 😉

We keep the lists by the kitchen table. 

When the girls finish one task, they get to decide what they want to do next. After one task is completed and cleaned up completely, they get to move the magnetic picture to the “done” side of the list.

The results of this project?

  • The girls are THRILLED to pick from the tasks and have control in the planning of their day.
  • Things get cleaned up right then and there, not accumulating for a long and exhausting clean-up time at the end of play. 
  • The girls are THRILLED to help out around the house and often pick to do those tasks first. 
  • Creativity and Imagination is fueled by playing with isolated groups of toys (ex. the toolbox saw was used to give “haircuts”) that the girls would have otherwise walked by on the way to their “normal few” toys. 
  • There is more cooperative play due to the variety and newness of toys/activities. 
Completing the Helper Chores on the List: 
 Rachael making her bed
 Abi living up making her bed. hehe, look at her smile.

 Not too bad finished product. 
(I seriously couldn’t care less what it looks like).
Washing the table – oh what fun!
And the chairs too?! Yes please!!!

I have chosen not to limit the play to the “to do list” activities alone (sometimes dolls just have to be a part of the lego play because I have two little “Mommies”), but I have found that the things I thought the girls “needed to play with” each day has grown in variety and their creativity is really blossoming.

I also enjoy about this new way of doing things that I can always adapt the “to do list” options as they grow older. It’s simple to print off a few new choices, laminate them, put a magnetic strip on the back of them and add them to our rotation of activities offered. I like the flexibility, as well, of offering tasks based on the day’s weather, my level of pregnancy restrictions, and the level of mess involved. For example, I coupled painting with washing the table one day. It was nice to have helpers cleaning up in more ways than one. =)

Hopefully this idea is helpful to you too. It has added much joy in accomplishment and independence to our household while allowing Mommy some free time (which will soon all belong to Hannah. hehe) to get some “Mommy only” housecleaning done. 

Total Cost:

$7.75 (excluding cost in ink/paper to print colored pages – since I already had this- and excluding laminating costs – since I just used the tape we had) and about 5 hours from researching the clipart pictures, printing them off, cutting and applying lamination (my method would take longer than laminating them through a machine), putting the tape on the trays and then mounting them to the wall.

Total Items Needed:

  1. 3 flat pizza or cookie trays
  2. Painting tape 
  3. 4-8 cardstock pages for clipart signs
  4. Colored Ink/Printer
  5. Lamination (packing tape or actual laminating sheets)
  6. Roll of tape-backed magnets
  7. Scissors 
  8. Sticky Tack
  9. Ziplock/Hefty or sandwich bag
  10. Time and patience. 😉

I also used the lamination time to pray for my little girls and ask God for help in encouraging their individual likes/dislikes and blooming character more in our daily lives.  This provided a nice opportunity to thank God for the blessing of serving my little girls as well. =)

– Enjoy!

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