How to Cheer at a Little League Game

Batter swings & misses: "Great swing!"

Batter wood-chops a pitch that flew past his nose: "Way to want it!"

Batter watches, glassy-eyed, as the perfect pitch whizzes by: "Way to watch!"

Ball bounces off outfielder's glove and falls to the ground: "Nice stop!”

Outfielders run around in a confused shuffle: "Good hustle!”

(Because it’s all about having fun and building confidence!)

One, Two, Three, Tinkle! (A Little Potty Training Magic)

Anybody else working on potty training? My littlest is just about done- she has the occasional accident and still wears a pull-up or diaper for naps and bedtime, but she's mostly got it down.

If your toddler is like my toddler, she is go-go-go-go- until she sits on the potty. Then her feet are wiggling, her mouth is singing, her head is bobbing, she's chattering your ears off, but she's not going (if you know what I mean). It can be very frustrating sitting around in a bathroom waiting for your little one to do his or her business when they are so distracted (especially if you're in a gas station bathroom and there is a line of people waiting outside the door). 

Here's a little trick I learned: I tell my little girl that I have magic words that will help her go potty. I say this really quietly, so she has to be quiet and listen. My magic words, which I say very slowly and quietly, are, "One...two...three...tinkle!" I stretch out the words (ooooone, twooooooo, threeeee....) so that while she's quiet and listening to me she can get 'in the zone'. It usually helps her to concentrate on the task at hand and focus on what she's doing. Then I'll hear the sound I've been waiting for and she'll gasp and say excitedly, "I tink-oh!" 

On occasion, it doesn't work the first time. She'll say, "It no work, Mom!" When that happens, I just say, "Oh! It didn't work. That's okay. I think I just need to do it again." Then I just repeat the words, and it almost always works the second time, and if not then she usually just doesn't need to go.

This little trick has probably saved me hours hanging around in bathrooms! 

Do you have any tips or tricks when it comes to potty training? 

DIY Cloud Dough

I know I promised that this blog wouldn't be all crafty (for that, see my other blog, The Beautiful Thrifty Life) but this was so simple and so fun that I knew I had to share it.

This morning I made "cloud dough". All you need is two ingredients: flour and baby oil. I used 4 cups of flour and 1/2 cup baby oil, and when I mixed it together it became the consistency of wet sand, only without the wet, and much softer!

I had seen the recipe for this floating around on Pinterest, so I picked up the baby oil at the Dollar Store this morning and when we came home we gave it a try. It was a rainy day, so it was the perfect indoor activity.

I put it into a cake pan, gave my little girl some cups and things and let her have a blast with it.

2 Warnings, however:

1. It's messy. It's not difficult to clean up, but it is definitely messy.

2. You will want to play with it too. See what I made after my little one went down for a nap?

So grab some flour and some baby oil and mix up your own irresistible fun!

Oooh...someday I would love to get a really big shallow container and do this recipe times 10 and let the kids play with it on the kitchen floor. It would probably keep them busy for hours...

Tip of the Day: Applesauce "Smoothies"

Here's my tip of the day, which I can't take credit for because it was a friend's idea- Serve your kids applesauce in a small cup with a straw and call it an "apple smoothie"! I thought this was a great idea because my kids LOVE applesauce but they can make such a mess out of it- especially the 2-year-old! This keeps it off the table and her clothes and out of her hair, plus the kids think it's way more fun to eat it that way.

Do you have any unique ways of serving food? Leave me a comment- I'd love to hear about it!

Thanksgiving Game

This time of year it's easy to overlook the "thankful" part of Thanksgiving and skip ahead to the turkey and pumpkin pie. If you'd like to remind your kids of the real purpose of Thanksgiving, play this fun game:

Have one person start with the letter 'A' and tell one thing they are thankful for that starts with that letter, for example, 'apples'. The next person will then say, "I am thankful for apples and bananas." (starts with 'b'). The next person will say, "I am thankful for apples, bananas, and cheese!"

Continue through the whole alphabet and see how far you can get! It's a fun challenge to not only think of something that starts with a particular letter, but to also have to remember everyone else's answers!

Last night we played this game and discovered that family members were thankful for goats, elephants, and underwear, among other things. It's a great way to add a little laughter and an attitude of gratitude to your Thanksgiving celebration! :-)

The Family Game

We were having some pretty serious issues with sibling rivalry in our home, and a general lack of love and respect between our kids, so I decided to try something new.

For Family Home Evening one night, I made up a game. I taped together two pieces of card stock paper to make a large rectangle. On the rectangle I drew a game board, much like Candy Land, with a path starting in the upper left corner winding its way down to the lower right. At the upper right corner I drew a picture of our house for the start, then at the lower right-hand corner I drew a picture of our favorite frozen yogurt shop as the finish. I divided the path up with lines, making a series of spaces leading from the start to the finish.

Next, I made a single game piece. It was a small rectangle of card stock with a simple stick figure drawing of our family on it.

I then created cards with things like, "You don't clean your room when Mom asks you to. Move back one space." Or, "You helped your little sister put on her shoes. Move forward one space." I made several of these cards.

So then for Family Home Evening I talked briefly with the kids about why it is important for us to work together as a family so our home can be a happy place. I told them that when any one of us does something that is mean or uncooperative, it hurts our whole family. To demonstrate, I had each family member take a turn choosing a card and moving the game piece. The kids were slightly chagrined to recognize several of their common misbehaviors among the statements on the cards.

After we had been through the stack of cards, I pointed out that when we do more bad than good, we don't get very far and our home is not a very happy place to be. I then told them that we would play the game for real in our house. I posted the game board on the wall, and I put some tape on the back of the game piece.

Now, whenever someone does something positive, they are allowed to move the game piece ahead. When something negative happens, they move it back. I have noticed that even when one child is wronged by another, they will find a way to make amends so that we will not have to move the game piece back. They are also going out of their way to do kind things for one another so that they get to move us ahead. Once our game piece reaches the finish, we will celebrate with a trip to our favorite frozen yogurt shop. :-)

Lost & Found

At our house I get SO tired of constantly having to holler at the kids to come pick up their stuff out of the kitchen/living room/hallway/bathroom, etc. And so I created a Lost & Found box.

Here's how it works:

- I warn the kids that in 5-10 minutes I will be collecting for the Lost & Found box. This gives them an opportunity to grab their stuff and put it away.

- Once time is up, anything that belongs to them that is not where it should be gets tossed in the box. Makes for an easy cleanup!

- Once an item is in the box, Mom or Dad are the only ones who can take it out of the box (or a child with Mom or Dad's permission).

- In order to get something out of the box, the child must do a chore (specified by Mom or Dad) such as sweeping the kitchen, wiping down the bathroom counter, cleaning up a particular space, etc.

- At the end of the week, anything that has not been earned back gets tossed or taken to Goodwill.

So far this has been working marvelously for our family! They are more careful about leaving their things out, and if they do leave something out then I can clean it up by simply tossing it in the box. Then I get lots of help with the chores so they can earn their items back, and we declutter because anything that's not important enough to warrant a chore means it's not important enough to be in our home. :-)