15 Reindeer Crafts for Kids

     Reindeer are my favorite part of secular Christmas. When I was little, I loved leaving carrots for the reindeer more than leaving cookies and milk for Santa. Every year, my kids and I make a reindeer craft or two. So, I decided to put together a list of 15 reindeer crafts for kids. Some of them are going to require help from Mom or Dad, but that makes it more fun. A special thanks to Mommy of 4 Peas in a Pod for suggesting a few cute ones that I might have otherwise missed. Enjoy!

1. Candycane Reindeer

2. Christmas Critters

3. Clothespin Reindeer

4. Craftstick Reindeer

5. Paper Bag Reindeer

6.  Pine Cone Reindeer

7. Reindeer Bell Ornament

8. Rudolph Lollipops

9. Reindeer T-Shirt

10. Wooden Spoon Rudolph

11. Reindeer Finger Puppet

12. Reindeer Gift Bag

13. Paper Reindeer Ornament

14. Posable Reindeer

15. Reindeer Puzzle Piece Pin (not pictured)

C is for Children

     As most of you know, I have 2 daughters. They are very important to me, and I couldn't imagine life without them.

     So, since the letter of the day is C, I decided that I am going to share a few pictures of my children with you.

This is one of my favorite pictures of the day Thing 1  was born. It's my mom, holding her for the first time.

This is Thing 1 in her coming home outfit. She surprised us all by being born with a head full of dark hair.

Thing 1 holding Thing 2's hand while visiting us at the hospital.

Our first family picture.

    

Our most recent family picture at the 

Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

     There are about a million other pictures that I could include in this post (birthdays, holidays, etc). But for now, I'll leave you with these few.  

     "A happy family is but an earlier heaven." 

- George Bernard Shaw

Display Children's Artwork

     My kids love to draw and paint. But, my fridge is only so big. Also, my kitchen is "my place" so guests don't often go in there to admire the artwork hanging on my fridge. The last reason I wanted something different is my kids always want to hang their schoolwork in our school area. Unfortunately, there is no place in that area to hang extra papers.

     I first came across the following idea on CafeMom. The mom that posted it did not link back to the original, so I have no idea where the idea originated. After searching the internet, I have found several people that posted this idea as an original thought. Two of them are Home Furniture Catalogs and Clean & Scentsible.

     I ordered the clipboards from K-Mart for $1.16 each. Then, I had Scout nail them to the wall in the school area. Instead of nailing the entire clipboard to the wall (as others have done), we just put one nail  for each clipboard and hooked the clipboards on them. I also covered some wooden letters with school-themed scrapbook paper and hung them above the clipboards using double sided tape. 

     It was a huge hit with my kids. I take down the clipboard and they can put their art on it before I hang it back on the wall. In the future, I may have to add more clipboards, but for now, nine is the perfect number.

Too Much Excitement

     Yesterday was way too much excitement for me.

     The day started at 5:30 am (should have been 5, but I reset the alarm clock for 5:30). Thing 2 had to have an EEG and an EKG and they wanted her sleep deprived so that she would sleep through the tests. If kids that age aren't sleep deprived, then they usually have to sedate them to get them to cooperate. They like to avoid sedation if at all possible.

     At 7:30, we woke up Thing 1 and they took a bath. We got dressed and had breakfast. Then it was time to leave. We took Thing 1 to a friends house. Thing 2, being grumpy and sleep deprived, started crying when she realized that she wasn't getting to stay. Then came the one hour car ride. Have you ever tried to keep a sleep baby awake in the car? Every 5 minutes, I was reaching back there and tapping on her leg while saying "Wake up, Baby. You can sleep when we get there."

     We finally get to the hospital (without her actually falling asleep). We were 30 minutes early, but we had to register. They were shocked that we were early to register. Apparently, most people think that an 11am appointment means that you get to the hospital exactly at 11. They were pleased that I was early, but surprised. When we got into the EEG room (just a few minutes after 11), they had Disney Junior on the TV. They had me sit in a chair with Thing 2 in my lap. She stared at the TV the entire time they were taping sensors to her. When they needed her to move, I moved her and she never took her eyes off of the TV. It was a long test. We watched an entire episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and a good portion of Pocahontas before we were finally finished. She never fell asleep.

     As soon as the EEG was finished, we headed straight to the EKG room. Thing 2 was a little hesitant about this one because she had to sit on the bed by herself. I could sit next to her, but I couldn't hold her (not enough room). The nurse was very good about getting her calmed down. She explained to Thing 2 what she was going to do. Then, she reexplained as she did it. Thing 2 was watching intently and calmed down. The nurse ran one practice test to make sure that everything was working good. When that one came out, she handed it to Thing 2 and asked her to read it to her. Thing 2 said "Up, down, up, down, up, down.", as she moved her finger along on of the lines. She "read" us the results for the next 5 minutes while the nurse ran the test 2 more times and the results printed.

Thing 2 reading the results

     
     After we were finished, we hit a drive through for lunch (it was 1pm!) and headed home. As soon as we got back to town, we went to get Thing 1. When we got there, Thing 2 wanted to play, so we stayed for a bit. At about 3:15, I loaded the kids in the car and headed home. It's important to note that these particular friends live on a tiny (barely 2 lane) road with 5' deep ditches on each side. They recently put gravel on each side of the road in an attempt to "widen the road". I stopped at the end of their driveway, then accelerated as I turned. The tires on the passenger side hit the gravel on the right side of the road. They then (in an attempts to make all the times move together), started spinning faster. This shot the van towards the wrong side of the road. I hit the breaks, but the front tires were already on the gravel on the other side of the road. So, the tires stopped spinning, but we started to slide. And we slid right into that 5' deep ditch. I managed to not hit the other side of the ditch and to not flip the van over (the cop said I deserve a medal because he doesn't know how I did it). I immediately called my Dad, who left work and came right over. Before he got there, my friend called. And I said (all nonchalantly), "I drove my van into the ditch in front of your house." They don't technically live in town so it's a bit of a distance from their house to the gate. She was shocked, but immediately sent her husband (my cousin) out to help. As he stopped, so did a local doctor. The girls and I were still in the van because I was afraid that if we tried to get out, I would tip it over. My cousin and the doctor propped the van so that we could safely get out. After we were out and they knew that everyone was ok, the doctor went on his way and my cousin called the sheriff's office. They deputy (that I know) showed up and called a wrecker (I know the owner) to come get me out. The rest of a long story short, about an hour after I drove it into the ditch, it was out. The wrecker service was able to get it out without tipping it over. The girls and I were fine because we were all properly restrained. The van is fine. Not a scratch or dent. Nothings broken and it's driving just like normal. The only thing that was a problem was there was some grass and dirt embedded in my tire. I took it to the tire center and they fixed it right away (the owner goes to my church).  Thank God for small towns and for looking out for me yesterday.

That's my van in the ditch.
The tow truck had just gotten there and they were discussing the best way to get it out.

Potty training! And the Pull-Ups Potty Timer

     Potty training Thing 2 has been a huge struggle! Thing 1 was so easy, she showed signs that she was ready and she was potty trained 3 days later. Well, things have been 1000 times more difficult with Thing 2. She's been showing all the signs of being ready for a long time.
   
     Since then, I've tried every single potty training technique I know. We put the toddler potty chair in the living room, we offered stickers as a reward, when that didn't work, we offered candy. When candy didn't work, we offered pennies for her piggy bank (she's obsessed with change). I would set her on the potty every thirty minutes. I let her run around naked. I let her pick out her own panties and then let her wear them, being sure to say with each clean pair "Now, you don't want to get your pretty panties dirty. So, where do you go if you have to pee?" Each time, she would respond, "In the potty!"
   
     After weeks of cleaning up messes and having to wash a load of undies each night, I accepted the fact that she just wasn't going to go in the toilet. She was ready, I had no doubt. If she wasn't busy, then she would run to the bathroom and go potty. But, if she was playing, forget it. She's rather pee in a diaper than set her toy down and go potty.

     I did decide that I was done with diapers. Babies wear diapers. I was tired of my 2 year old, walking around in diapers. So, we switched to Pull-Ups. Now, those of you with children know that if you use as many Pull-Ups as you do diapers, it can get very expensive, very fast. My hope was that I could convince her that Pull-Ups were like Big Girl panties. So that she would feel that freedom, but it would make clean up a LOT easier.

     We went through our first pack of 26 Pull-Ups relatively quickly. Still, I was determined that Pull-Ups were going to work! I stopped at Wal-Mart to get another pack of Pull-Ups (they sell big boxes and my grocery store does not). While I was there, I noticed the Pull-Ups Potty Time Combination Pack. The combo pack includes the Potty Dance DVD (which I already have 6, I did a HouseParty.com Pull-Up party) and a Potty Timer.

     For those of you that haven't seen it (we got the Princess one):

     This is Pull-Ups product description of the Potty Timer:

Pull-Ups* Potty Timer lets kids know when it's time to go!

The NEW Pull-Ups* Potty Timer provides fun, customizable reminder to keep your Potty Training Team working together toward Big Kid* success.

     Now, I was skeptical that it would work, but I got it anyway. Thing 2 asked about the pictures on the box while we were still in the store so I explained that there was a special watch in the box that would help her remember when it was time to go potty.

     As soon as we got home, she wanted to put the watch on. Good sign, right? One problem, Mommy has to set it all up. No big deal, the instructions seem pretty simple. "Press and hold both buttons until you hear the beep". Great. So, I press and hold both buttons. And I wait, and wait...no beep. I turn the watch so that I can see the face a little better to see if anything is happening. I press the buttons and hold the buttons again. This time, I can see that 2 of the 4 light kind of flicker after I've help the buttons for a few seconds.

     I wasn't happy. Now, I have to go tell my very excited 2 year old that they Potty Timer isn't working. Kimberly Clark has a lovely 1-800 number listed on their website, but because of my luck, they're already closed. So, I put the watch away for the night and vow to call them first thing in the morning.

     When I called them, I was impressed with the kindness and helpfulness of the employee. She seemed shocked that it wasn't working. She took my address and said that they would send me a new Potty Timer right away. They also sent a pre-paid envelope that I returned the broken watch in. The new watch arrived in days (way quicker than they told me it would) and worked great.

     Setting the watch: you have several different options. There are 3 different types of reminders, lights and sound, vibration or a customizable message. Your frequency options are 15, 30, 45, 60, 75 and 120 minutes.

     Day 1 of the Potty Timer: I selected the customizable reminder which now says "Button, it's time to go potty!" The first time it went off, she came running to me and said "Mama! My tick tock (thank you Mickey Mouse) says that it's time to go potty!" She then ran into the bathroom and went potty! I was so happy because she was in the middle of a tea party when the watch went off...and she still got up! That day we had....NO accidents. It was great.

     It's now been a week since we started using the Potty Timer. We used it for 6 days. Today, Thing 2 has been going potty whenever she needs to. Still, no accidents. We even went outside for over an hour and she didn't have an accident! I am so happy. Relieved even. I know that I'll still put a Pull-Up on her when we go somewhere for a while, just in case. But this is a major step forward!

If you want to order a Potty Timer without purchasing the Pull-Ups Potty Time Combination Pack, click here to visit the Pull-Ups Store online.

Thing 1 - Halloween

     Today, Thing 1 and I decided to have a spur-of-the-moment photo shoot while Thing 2 was napping. Thing 1 has been begging to try on her Halloween costume (again), so I thought that her costume would be perfect for the pictures. She's going to be Belle (from Beauty and the Beast).

Here are a few of the favorites. I hope that you enjoy!

This is just completely her personality.
She's my little Diva.

She kept making silly faces and this is the
smile that I got when I threatened to
send the silly pictures to Allo (my sister).

Thing 1's favorite.
She insist that I add it to the post.

Tuesday Testament: Patience

Patience

     When you ask God for patience, do you know how he gives you patience? He tests it. There are a thousand ways that God tests my patience. Kids, slow drivers, waiting forever in the grocery store, having to explain my point several times to a person.

     Sometimes, I think that I'm crazy for asking for patience. Usually, I think that in the must of an incredibly trying time.

     What I should do is remember Hebrews 10:36. Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God's will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.

     We also have to remember that raising our children in a calm, loving, Christian environment is God's will. There are trying times when it would be easiest to just tell them to sit down and shut up. But because these lovely children are gifts from God, we don't. We need to show them the love of Christ through the way we handle them even when they are being trying on purpose. When we lose patience with or children (who hasn't been there?), we can turn to Psalm 127:3. Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.


     My biggest test is probably my children. 99% of the time, they are angels. They do what their told, they use their manners and most importantly, they don't pick on each other. But that one percent. Wow. I never knew that 1% could seem to take sooooooo long. Did you know that 1% of a week isn't even 2 hours? It's about 101 minutes. That means that, on average, my kids try my patience for less than 15 minutes a day. Doesn't seem like much when you put it that way. Maybe putting out problems in perspective is a great way to handle them.

     Lastly, (and this verse is great for so many different instances) I'd like to leave you with Jeremiah 29:11. "I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not disaster, to give you a future and a hope."