One Dog and a Slipper

"Jesse James Jackson! Where is my slipper!"

"You wouldn't happened to know who took my slipper do you? Jesse?"

My 73 Pound Alarm Clock

It was Saturday, the one day I assumed I could sleep in, or so I thought. Ha! Suddenly a 73 pound hairy weight crept over my upper body, every so slowly. Inch by inch, making her way over me, squishing me as she moved. Very gently she laid her stretched neck over my neck and waited for one second. First, she snorted air in my face a few times, followed by thump, thump, thump, thump. The bed shook. No bark, no licks, just snort, thump, snort, thump, snort, thump.

I slowly opened one eye to see what was waking me up so early. I was staring directly into two big, and very close, brown eyes. She saw me. Thumpity, thumpity, thumpity, snort, snort, snort. I was awake. How could I not get up and let her out when she was so quiet and sneeky.

Fun Winter Crafts for Kids - Sugar Cube Castles

Here are photos of the Sugar Cube Castles the kids made. They make these every year. Some of the photos are not great, however the kids are getting better at picture taking. Here is the link to this fun winter craft for kids:

Surviving a School Snow Day

The kids got out the old family videos the other day, and have been watching them every night since. I have a difficult time watching them because I love babies. When I see the kids on the movies, when they were babies, I just want to pick one up and kiss it all over.

Last night, my 7 year old daughter brought her baby dolls to my room. She not only has twins, but a third doll. This third doll is so loved that she has scotch taped the leg. I was busily crocheting a blanket I started back in November, when I looked up to hear her talking to herself.

"It takes all the depression away, you just look at 'em and it makes you smile....mmmmm(kissing over and over)".

There she was smothering her doll baby's cheeks with kisses and squeezing it with hugs. And that's not all. She pulls out her changing pad, one that I used to use with her as a baby, and asks me for complete instructions on which way to lay the baby, which way to take off her clothes, diaper her, and redress her.

Now I not only babysit "Rose" the frog and her Webkins, but now Rosie and her twins. Looking at her is like looking at myself.

The Joy of Children

Am I the only Mom babysitting a stuffed pink frog with orange Velcro feet? My 7 year old daughter has strapped Rose (her frog) around my neck and asked me to take care of her today.

"Can I sit it by my computer today?" I asked.

"Only if I don't find her like I found her yesterday."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"She was sitting on the counter all bundled up!"

Post-it Packin' Mama - How to get your kids to pick up after themselves

I became the Post-it Packin' Mama, with the Take-it and Trash It scheme. The kids were complaining that I was complaining each time they left something out, or where it didn't belong. So.....I stopped complaining, and toted a pack of post-its and a pen. I walked around the house and slapped one on everything that needed to go back to it's home or needed cleaned up. I even went as far as to put one on the unattended dog that read, "Love Me". Hubby didn't get left out either. One was slapped on his drill he left out that read, "put me away".

My scheme worked when they started laughing at me and wondering what I was up to. I explained that if they take the post-it, they must trash it and then take care of the item it was on. So far so good. Bwahahaha! Kids should never underestimate their parents, especially their mother.

The Best $2.99 I Spent This Month

It was an ordinary day at the grocery store buying a few meager items. I knew the risks and what to expect by taking a 7 year old child with me. As a mother with many tricks up her sleeve I was prepared to say "no" to everything she asked for. Except this particular trip. I said yes and it was the best $2.99 I spent.

My 7 year old daughter will not eat any type of sandwich with lunch meat or any kind of meat. We went through bartering every night to figure out what she would eat in her packed school lunch. She refused to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches also. It came down to packing Hummus that I made with natural ingredients, and some blue organic chips. However, with Tahini sold at $8.99 a jar at the only location I could find it at, got pretty expensive.

As we coasted down the aisles of the grocery store that day, she spotted it. "Can I have this?" she asked. Immediately I wanted to say no, however it was a ticket to a happier mom and child. It was a sandwich cutter that cut two dinosaurs from a sandwich. Knowing that she is crazy about dinosaurs and unusually eager to learn about them, I said "yes".

That night she not only packed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but she asked if she could make one for a snack that night too. It's been several weeks and she has not gone one day without packing a dinosaur sandwich in her school lunch. It wasn't that she didn't like peanut butter and jelly, it was because it was boring.