Great birthday planning resource

My youngest is celebrating his first birthday this weekend and my oldest is turning 4 in a few weeks.  I found this great site full of resources, party games, theme ideas, links to party supplies and so on that I wanted to pass along, Amazing Moms – Birthday Ideas.  Be sure to check it out for your next party!

Tuesday’s Challenge – Make up a rainy day box

Having a rainy day box of fun stuff is something I always say I’m going to do, but never take the time to actually make one up.  So, today I’m going to get it done.  I challenge you to make one as well for that next rainy day or day that mommy has tons to do and need some special activities to keep the kiddos busy.  You can do this by spending no money or go out and buy a few things.  I have an empty plastic container in the garage so I’ll be using that.  I’m going to put in some toys that I know won’t be missed on a daily basis, but that the boys will love when they see them.  I’m adding in finger paints and some special coloring books.  I had also picked up some little craft project kits on clearance at Walmart the other day.  I think I’ll stick those in as well.  Here’s a list of some fun items for your Rainy Day Box and you can have fun letting your kids decorate up the box for you,

• board games
• puzzles
• a favorite video
• a few books
• some special craft items just for this box
• a tent or some extra blankets laying around to make one
• flashlights
• fun toys that won’t be missed on a daily basis
• those kids meal toys we all have too many of laying around
• dress up clothes

The key is to find things that will be special for those days and will excite your children.  You can even hide your box in a special place and the first game of the day will be for them to find it.  Have fun!

One tired mommy

I’ve had three children, so that means 3 newborn babies home from the hospital not sleeping well at night, BUT I don’t ever remember being as tired as I am after this past week.  I helped with Vacation Bible School at our church each day, had committments most evenings, and then we had an incredibly busy weekend, and I am completely wiped out.  

I just got up and am getting ready to get in the shower and my oldest says what are we doing today and I said “Absolutely nothing!”  This is music to my ears but of course not the answer he wanted.  I think today will be a lazy day.  Maybe we’ll watch a movie, read some books, do some coloring, and who knows what else.  Basically, I’m up for anything that requires no physical energy.

Do you ever days like this?  What do you do on those tired days, especially when you have small children who want you to be The Entertainer of the Year?

Tuesday’s Activity Challenge – Water fun

Now that it’s getting hot around here, my boys are playing in the water almost everyday.  They love to play in the sprinkler or get their pool out.  So, my challenge for you today is get out there with them.  It seems that us moms often stand back and watch, not wanting to get wet, but your kids will have a blast seeing mom getting soaked too.  You can do water guns, sprinklers, pool fun, play each other with the hose or whatever you’ve got at your house!  At our house, daddy is usually is the one getting wet with them and love it, but they get really excited when I’m at there squirting them too.  I guess because I don’t do it often!  Have fun playing!

I’m sorry I’ve been so quiet.  We’re helping with VBS this week and this past weekend and this week is a little crazy around here!

Encouragement for Today

Well, I don’t know about your day, but this morning was one of those where everything seemed to be going the opposite way of where I was headed.  You know what I mean?  I woke up this morning in great mood, determined to have a good day with the kids, finish cleaning the house for company tonight, and stay focused.  Well, I got up at a little before 7:00 and by 8:30 chaos had won out and I found myself yelling at one of my children.  Normally, I would give in right there and say, “That it’s! I guess it’s just going to be one of those days.”  BUT today I didn’t.  Instead, I put a movie on the for the kids and gave them a snack and then took some quiet time for myself.  I read some of the devotional book I’m reading, prayed, and decided it was still going to be a good day.  It’s all about my attitude, not my circumstances.

As I re-entered the living room, where my children has managed to get popcorn from one end of the room to another, my almost 4 year old son (the one I’d screamed at earlier) said “Mommy, I love you and I want you to be my mommy forever and forever.” (He, then, went into how he would be a mommy one day which drives my hubby batty, but that’s beside the point )   

I share this story, this excerpt from my day to say 3 things to you.

1. You are an awesome mom as long as you are trying
2. Our kids love us despite all the mistakes we make.  There are no perfect moms.
3. Our attitude about our day and our circumstances is everything.  Crazy, chaotic days can still be good ones!

I hope your day is awesome and I pray someone tells you what a incredible mom or aunt or grandmother you are!

Have you seen this site? Awesome!!!!

Have you heard of Storynory?  This site has free audio stories for kids.  I told my kids we would make some crowns today and read some stories about kings and queens.  Then, after searching our enormous selection of books realized we only own one book that fits this category.  So, I googled “stories of kings for kids” and found this site.  It looks so fun! I’m downloading a couple of stories right now.  I thought we’d listen to one while we make our construction paper crowns.  These would be great for a car trip as well.

Tuesday’s Activity Challenge – Bake with your kids

I’m sorry for being quiet for a few days.  I’ve got a sick 2 year old and didn’t get online yesterday.

Today’s challenge is fun, easy, but messy.  Make some cookies with your kids today.  We limit sweets in our house and rarely offer dessert, but I like to keep things on hand in the kitchen for cookies as a special treat both in making them and eating them. Plus, when we’re done making them, I usually take half of them to a neighbor or send them to work with my hubby or let my kids pick someone to take them to.  It’s great way to brighten another one’s day as well as teaching your kids about giving.

So, get in the kitchen and cook with them.  Let them help or do it as much as possible, depending on their age.  Some of you are thinking, “I cook with my kids all the time.”  That’s awesome! Others (like myself often) need to the occasional reminder to do these simple things. 

Here are 3 awesome cookie recipes for you.  Maybe you have all the stuff on hand for one of these so you can avoid a trip to the store.  I avoid the store at all costs because everytime I go I spend money ; ), lol!

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

Soft Oatmeal Cookies

Joey’s Peanut Butter Cookies

You will notice all these links take you allrecipes.com.  This is my favorite cooking site.  If you are not familiar with it, check it out.  I love the ratings by each recipe.  I always stick to 4 star or higher recipes and have never been disappointed.  Also, there is an ingredient search option, which is great.  You can type in the cut of meat you have or a couple of things in your pantry and it will come up with some recipes for you.

I hope you gave a great day and if you have any fabulous cookie recipes, be sure to share!

We have winners – WOOHOO!

This has been so fun reading through all your comments and I drew a winner for each prize and they are,

Giveaway #1 – Christine Castillo

Giveaway #2 – Trace Gewosky

Giveaway #3 – Shanna

I will be e-mailing each of the winners shortly to get your address so I can get this stuff to you.  I hope you enjoy!

I just again want to thank everyone who participated this week.  There were tons of hit on this blog.  I hope you all continue to enjoy and always let me know how I can make it better.  I love giving stuff away so I’m sure there will be other giveaways before too long.

Weekend Fun

For us, the weekends are all about family fun. We try to do something we may not normally do during the week. Sometimes, it something small like letting the boys pick a fun place to eat out or maybe take a picnic to the park. This weekend, we promised them a trip to the pool. In most areas, local pools open up after Memorial Day. Our town doesn’t have one, but there is a great one in the town of Stinnett about 15 minutes away. It has a toddler play area, slides, etc. Then, there is an incredible city pool in Sunray about 45 minutes away. It has a pirate ship and slides and so on. Here are pictures of it.

It’s hard to believe this is a city pool and it’s very affordable to swim there. I wouldn’t have ever known about it without someone telling me or doing a search of local towns in our area. So, I encourage you to check and see what local pools are in your area. You might be surprised there are some terrific ones within a short drive.

I also want to thank everyone who’s been participating in the giveaway posts this week.  It’s been fun to see where everyone is coming from and checking out your own blogs (which I’m still doing).  You can still enter any of the 3 giveaways and I will draw winners tonight around 8pm CST. 

Giveaway #3 – Favorite Family Activity

I’m sorry for the delay in getting this giveaway posted. We has an impromptu trip to Amarillo this morning since dh had to run errands. We took the kids to the Amarillo Zoo and ran the errands. It was a good time. I will be posting pics shortly on my personal blog, 4 Boys and A Girl, is anyone is interested.

So, here is the giveaway #4, a gift basket for you, mom,

A great basket for an evening when you can put the kids to bed early and take a nice, relaxing, long bath or shower. Well, at least I hope it will be relaxing and long. At my house, inevitably some little person would get out of bed needing a drink of water or to annouce he needs to go potty (which he can do all by himself, but needs everyone in the house to know it ).

Anyway, just leave me a comment telling me your favorite thing to do with your kids or maybe your favorite outing. I love to see what other families are doing!