Cheap Fun for Toddlers and Preschoolers

My husband sometimes accuses me of being a cheapskate. (Every marriage needs one, no?) Lately I've been excited about thrifty homemade fun. Here are some activities we've been enjoying:

Board
I have no idea where this crooked plank even came from, but it's been a major playtime hit. Gray has used it as a bridge (Culligan salt bags make great bridge pillars, in case you're wondering), balance beam, stuffed animal picnic bench, train track, and ramp. 

Corn pool
This brilliant idea came from my sister. $8 gets you a 50-pound bag of corn and countless hours of fun. We poured the kernels into the kids' wading pool and added scoops, dump trucks, and diggers. A tarp underneath helped keep the mess in check.

Water play 
What is it about kids and water? They can't ever resist its draw. I grabbed this big bucket and some funnels on a whim, and now we use it on days that are too chilly for the wading pool.

Nature Collection
Gray collected these treasures during a family hike, and we arranged them on a tray after returning home. I smile every time I see the display; not only are God's creations stunningly beautiful, but the collection reminds me of our slow-paced Sunday evening togetherness. I also love that Gray regularly visits the tray to smell the pinecones, and their kitchen table placement has prompted several mealtime discussions about our adventure. I think collections will become a regular part of our hiking routine!

How about you? What kind of thrifty fun have your kids been enjoying lately? 

Inseparable

My hands-down favorite part of parenting has been watching how much fun our kids have together. They are only fifteen months apart, and that gap seems smaller and smaller the older they get. 

Yesterday Gray was tackling Rain, and I reminded him, "Be careful!" He replied, "It's okay, Mommy, she has a ton of giggles in her mouth." I have been trying really hard to teach him to listen to what she is "telling" him during their roughhousing and apparently the lesson is starting to sink in. :-)

Here are some things they've been up to lately (the greater the "mischief factor" the greater the giggling!):

 Digging around for a snack

 Pushing a "ferry boat"

 Wearing coordinating Mickey/Minnie pjs. (Cue major sadness when they're in the wash!)

 Pulling their pull toys from Auntie Kayla

 Going on wild fire truck rides

 Making major messes

 Pulling Sister to the park (all his idea!)

 Motoring around the backyard

 Lounging around reading Berenstain Bear books 

(the current fave!)

 Zooming around the house at breakneck speeds 

(Notice how there's usually a vehicle involved with these two?)

 Celebrating balmy temps with a backyard picnic

Helping Mommy with laundry

Sharing an umbrella

Gray and Rain definitely have their share of squabbles, but for the most part they operate as a unit. I know they will eventually go through stages of greater conflict, so I am enjoying the current harmony while it lasts!

I would love to hear your thoughts on sibling relationships. Are you close to your brothers and sisters? Do you wish you felt closer? What did your parents do that helped or hindered your sibling relationships? What are you doing differently with your own kids?

I've heard amazing things about the book Siblings Without Rivalry by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish (the same authors who wrote How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk), but I have yet to read it. Anyone a fan? 

Off to see what the latest giggle and crash is all about! 

Winter Sanity Savers for Moms

As one of my friends recently stated, "I think our household has upgraded from 'cabin fever' to 'winter psychosis.'

Personally, I was feeling fine until last week's string of events: an insomniac teething baby, multiple subzero days, a resident mouse who resisted all catching attempts, and a husband gone to Japan for the entire week.

Here are a few of my tried-and-true suggestions for staying sane when the walls are closing in. (I revisited several of these last week, and they carried me through until Mike's return!)

• Visit the Caribou drive-through (or whatever overpriced-but-delicious coffee shop is near you). My darling husband gave me a Caribou gift card for Valentine's Day, so now I have no guilt about spending $4 on a mocha. :-)  If I'm not up for tackling naptime at home, I've been known to bundle up the kids, grab a coffee on my way out of town, and explore the scenic country roads surrounding Red Wing. Once the kids are asleep, I park next to the river (insert van by the river joke here) to read or work on paperwork while the kids nap. They rarely nap at the same time at home, so this is a huge treat! I'm tempted to use this trick more often, but I try to limit myself to once every few weeks. 
• Cue Pandora and throw a dance party in the kitchen. (This often solves that 5:00 "Mommy's ignoring us and making dinner" crankiness that every kid seems predisposed to!) My kids love the Raffi station. (Okay, confession: I love Raffi too.)
• Blend up a tropical smoothie.  

• Diffuse something happy. I blended Wild Orange and Lime a few days ago and felt a sudden surge of energy.
• Treat yourself to some flowers. Trader Joe's has the best bouquets, and for a decent price, too. (Don't forget to pick up a carton of dark chocolate peanut butter cups while you're there!)

• Work on something you love. Editing pictures is one of my favorite quick pick-me-ups.
• Call your mom. Or sister. Or best girlfriend. Sometimes just hearing a loved one's voice turns our day around. 
• Rearrange a room. Throw a bunch of stuff in a bag for Goodwill--you will feel so much lighter! 
• Just. Get. Outside. Even if it's only for ten minutes. You won't regret it.

• Check out your local gym. We purchased a family YMCA membership this winter, and it was a lot more affordable than we expected. Some days it's hard to get there (kids + winter = GEAR!), but I never regret putting forth the effort. Gray and Rain love playing in the Y childcare, and I have been hitting the track while listening to a book on my iPod. So revitalizing! 
• Pull out a new toy. (Think outside the box!) I retrieved our wading pool and plastic balls from a garage corner, and voila, indoor ball pit! It's currently hogging most of our living room, but I don't really mind since it's provided hours of entertainment.

• Host a playdate. My friend recently invited us to an indoor picnic in her living room. The kids were too distracted by the surrounding toys to eat much, but that just meant more meat and cheese for the mamas. :-) 
• Talk your husband into watching the kids for an hour some evening. Fill the tub with steamy water, add a couple drops of lavender, and grab a book you don't mind getting a little water-rippled. So relaxing. Warning: it takes huge amounts of motivation to make yourself get out of the tub!
• Hit up the local library for a stack of new books.

There you have it--a few ideas for saving your sanity this winter. You can thank me with chocolate. :-) And let me know in the comments what's been getting you by until Spring.

P.S. I just checked the extended forecast, and there are several days in the 50s in the foreseeable future! So this post might be rather useless soon. In that case, replace subzero temps with rain, mud, or a sweltering heat index!

Easy DIY All-Purpose Cleaner with Essential Oils

One of the most frequent ways I use essential oils in my household is in this spray. With two little kids underfoot, I am always wiping up some sort of mess! The recipe is so simple I almost feel silly writing it down. But since a few of you have asked for it, here you go:

Find an old spray bottle. (I use a laundry stain remover bottle with a big nozzle.) Walmart has large empty bottles for $0.99 if you don't have any spare ones lying around.

Fill your bottle with

• 1/3 white vinegar
• 1/3 vodka (a great sterilizer and disinfectant) 
• 1/3 distilled water
• Top off with 10-12 drops of whatever essential oil you're in the mood for. I like to clean with citrus oils like Lemon, Wild Orange, or Citrus Bliss. (Citrus oils tend to be good degreasers.) Sometimes I use OnGuard for extra germ-fighting power.

Give a little shake, and ka-bam, you're done! This spray works great for floors, showers, toilets, counters...pretty much anything. DoTerra's citrus blends smell so amazing; don't be surprised if you're suddenly in the mood to scrub down your entire house!

Happy 2015!

Happy New Year to you and yours! We celebrated the first day of 2015 by cleaning the house from top to bottom (nothing like a fresh start!) and then rewarded ourselves by sledding at a nearby hill. I think Mike and I enjoyed it more than the kids did (sledding still makes them a little nervous), but I'm sure it won't be too many years before their jumps and crazy stunts will make me wince and close my eyes!

Here's hoping the new year brings you peace, prosperity, and an ever-growing circle of friends and family to share in it all.

A Tale of Two Sheepies

Gray's favorite stuffed animal is, hands down, his Sheepie. Problematically, Rain recently decided Sheepie is her favorite too. Since learning to walk, Sheepie has been her constant companion. She toddles through the house, Sheepie's body tucked into the crook of her elbow and his soft ear against her cheek. 

"Do you want Piggie?" I asked, handing her the adorable corduroy pig some friends of ours gave her for a baby gift. "How about this nice soft doll?' But no, if it wasn't Sheepie, she flung it to the floor in a demonstration of absolute rejection.

Evenings posed the biggest challenge. Despite sharing his beloved lamb with his sister during the day, Gray was by no means going to accept his bedtime fate without his fleecy companion tucked in beside him. After surrendering Sheepie to the rightful owner, Rain would collapse to the floor in a fit of tears.

One evening I sat down to eBay, and on the eighth-or-so page of "stuffed sheep" results, I found him. An exact twin. $10. Free shipping. I've never hit "submit order" with so much certainty. 

Sheepie #2 arrived one Tuesday afternoon while Gray was running errands with Daddy. Rain smiled when I pulled him out of the package. "Beepie!" When Gray returned home and saw two sheep on the living room floor, he laughed and laughed. 

Since then, there has been a fair amount of peace. Sometimes the kids want two Sheepies at once, one in each arm, but for the most part they are content to each own one. The funniest part: they know whose is whose. New Sheepie is so white and fluffy compared to his older counterpart. I'm curious to see how long it takes before his fleece is dingy and matted like Veteran Sheepie's. (Why, oh why, did my kids both choose a pure white stuffed animal as their favorite lovey?)

"Maybe the mailman will bring us another Sheepie!" Gray predicted as he saw the postal truck making its rounds the next day. 

"Hmmm...probably not," I replied. "Two sheep makes a perfect flock!" (Yes, you can read into that however much you'd like. :-) )

Thankful

When I looked out the window and saw this idyllic little scene, I made a mad dash for the camera. My heart is full!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!