Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! In this blog carnival created by MckMama everyone has fun telling all the things they DID NOT do (but really did). You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.
Here's what has NOT been going on around here:

I am NOT really wishing for that hour back that we lost during the time change over the weekend!

I DID NOT walk out on my back porch and see our TV remote in the grass! No, things like that DO NOT happen around my house!

My daughter DID NOT lick the pepper shaker at a restaurant Saturday night.

My 1 year-old DID NOT repeatedly drink water from the dog water foundation at the park. I DID NOT watch this going on without trying to stop him!

The same 1 year-old DOES NOT have a new passion for pickles. He DOES NOT call them "gickles" and it is NOT the cutest thing ever to hear him ask for them!

I DID NOT help out with my kindergarten son's field trip to the livestock show and the kindergarten crowd definitely DOES NOT delight in the sight of an animal going poo-poo!

We DID NOT take our kids to beautiful gardens and take 316 pictures on Saturday. After so many pictures there were NOT only 2 with all 3 kids smiling and looking at the camera!

There were fountains and ponds, but I most certainly DID NOT remind my children several times that, "Nobody goes in the water!" to the amusement of the other garden-goers!

In my world the 316:2 ratio of total pictures to good ones of all three kids, is actually pretty good. I'm NOT so thankful for the invention of the digital camera!

Sunday Scripture Sharing - Family Devotional #9

Today's Topic is:

God wants us to grow in Him and He helps people grow.

Introduction
What happens if we plant a seed in the dirt? Does it need anything special to grow? (sun, water, air) Who makes it grow? (answer = God) Can we help God with His work? (Yes, we can plant the seeds, and we can water them!)

Activity
Plant some seeds as a family. If you don't have a garden you can plant grass seeds in a small cup of soil, just poke small holes in the bottom. Place it in a spot that gets some sunshine. Water the seeds when the soil gets dry. Have your kids help you water the seeds and watch for growth. Delight in the excitement as the first signs of life spring up from the dirt.

Scripture

1Cor 3: 6-9, "I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building."

2 Peter 3:18a, "But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

Discussion
Just like we can help God by planting and watering seeds, we can help other people know God and learn more about Him. We can do this by telling them about God and Jesus, inviting them to church, loving them, being their friend, and telling them about the things God has taught us! God will be the one to make them grow in how much they know about Him, but we will be his fellow workers! Isn't that exciting! How can we grow in God? By reading our Bibles, praying, going to church, and doing the things God tells us to do.

Prayer
Dear God, thank you for allowing us to be your fellow workers. Show us the way to plant and water seeds for you and help us to grow closer to you every day! Amen.

Kid Fashion - The Smocked Dress

I think there is not much sweeter in the world than a little girl in a smocked dress! I love them for many reasons, some of which may surprise you! The smocked dress is easily cared for, simply wash on the handwash setting in your washing machine in cold water and hang to dry. The dress dries very quickly and minimal ironing is needed.

In my experience stains come out of these dresses much easier than say a pink cotton t-shirt from BabyGap (sorry Gap, did I bash you last week, too? really there are no hard feelings; I'm just calling it like it is and the stain stick, the Tide with Bleach for colors, even the Oxy has not saved many o' Gap clothing in my home). There is something about the fabric in those smocked dresses that does not hold stains! People have marveled that I let my little girl wear these dresses to preschool where she paints and uses markers, etc. but actually these dresses are easier to get that stuff out of than her other clothes!

The dresses can literally be worn for years! You buy them first at a length that falls to your daughter's ankle and she can wear it until it is knee-length and by then it will be getting a little tight around the neck and alas, you must shed some tears and pack it away, hopefully for baby sister to wear!

The dresses can be worn with tights and sweaters in colder weather.

So, do I pay the $60 boutique prices for these? No way! I usually pay around $24.00 and sometimes even $18.00 or $19.78 on Ebay. Sometimes that is for a new with tags dress and sometimes used in good condition. I really don't care, we wash it after we get it and if the Ebay seller has a good rating I believe their assessment that there are no holes, stains, etc. I have not had problems with quality on these! They actually hold up well over time and are hard to wear out!

Simply search on "smocked dress" and maybe also your child's size. Tons of results will come up but I only look at the ones that are ending in the next 24 hours. The key is not to fall in love with one dress because you may loose several before you win one, but there are always more being listed and a bunch of cute smocked styles to choose from! Just try again a few days later.

Great brand names to look for: Rosalina, Orient Expressed, Amanda Remembered, Anavini, Silly Goose, Smocked Frocks, and there are probably a few other great ones I'm forgetting, so don't consider that list exhaustive.

Oh, and to go under the smocked dress, monogrammed white eyelet bloomers are the best! Find cute, quality ones here. These are a long wearing item, too. My daughter is still wearing some she wore a couple years ago (of course she has shed the diaper since then, so that has allowed for growing room)!

Have fun dressing your little princess, from what I hear you can only get them in the smocked dresses until age 6 or 7, so I'm enjoying this time while I've got it!!!

For more Fashion Friday, head on over to Big Mama. Oh, it makes me smile every time I think of her blog name, especially once you see a picture of her and see that she is really tiny!

What it is Like Being the 3rd Child

Last week's What it is Like Having 3 Kids picture, thankfulness, and 13 things all combined was so much fun I decided to do a sequel!


This picture of my 3rd child peaking out the doggie door says a thousand words about what it is like being the 3rd child. My 13 thoughts about this picture:

1. Yes, you are seeing correctly, his older brother and sister are trying to entice him out the doggie door!
2. The older ones do delight in seeing their little brother do silly things.
3. Only 14 more years before they'll both be off at college and he'll finally get some peace!
   
4. I love that my oldest child is wearing his "I'm the Big Brother" shirt in this picture, because he is the ringleader.
   
5. My daughter can be very sweet and encouraging, no doubt that is why she took on the job of coaxing the baby brother out the doggie door, "Come on, you can do it!"
6. The little one is really just tickled with all the attention from his older sibs!
7. That 3rd child is always up to something crazy, I wonder how much is his idea and how much is the older kids putting him up to it!
8. "He did it all by himself," my older two will insist when I accuse them of putting him up to mischief.
   
9. Like I said last week, I never know what I'm going to find these kids doing, but it is usually picture-worthy!
   
10. At least someone is using the doggie door -- our dog certainly doesn't!
11. It is a blessing to watch them play together!
12. You can call this "play", right?
13. I praise you Lord, for giving them the gift of each other! May they always be the best of friends!

Find more Thankful Thursday at Spiritually Unequal Marriage, Thousand Words Thursday at Cheaper Than Therapy, and Thursday {Thirteen} at Happy to be @ Home.

Works for me Wednesday: A Privilege Chart Updated

Works for Me Wednesday has a theme this week. It is the Greatest Hits/Tips Edition. I have only been participating a couple months now, but I am republishing my Privilege Chart post with a few updates at the bottom. This chart is used every day in our house!

My husband and I have had much trial and error in this parenting journey. Much of what we have tried has not worked, but one thing has worked for well over a year.

Our oldest is very strong-willed. He is constantly challenging us and needing consequences for bad behavior. He responds best to lossing privileges, but having 3 kids I found it hard to keep up with which privileges he had lost. We'd also forget to reinstate privileges. He'd do something bad and I'd go to get that favorite toy to put it in time-out and I'd realize it was already in time-out from 3 days ago when I'd taken it away and forgotten to give it back. Clearly we needed a new system!

In desperation we did a little internet research and found the Dilley Discipline Ladder. If it could work for the Dilley Sextuplets, maybe it could work for us!

We modified the rungs of the ladder for our family and here is what we came up with: I intended to someday make this chart prettier, but alas that hasn't happened. So, it is just a blue piece of construction paper with marker writing that has been slipped into a plastic sheet protector. It is clipped to the side of our fridge and has a clothespin with his name to indicate what level our son is on.

The rungs, or "levels" as we call them are:
10. Special treats, surprises, and extra privileges
9. May play video games
8. May watch TV
7. May have normal bedtime
6. May have special activites (includes playdates, dessert)
5. May play in playroom and backyard
4. May color and do other art
3. May play with toys in your room
2. May read books and do workbooks
1. Chores and thinking time only

So the way it works is that your child falls levels for bad behavior and rises for good behavior. The number of levels lost or gained is up to the parent. Most infrations around our house cause a loss of 2 levels, pushing a sibling for example, but something worse like really hard pushing with no provacation may cause a loss of 4 levels. Good things, like sharing with a sibling without being told to or helping around the house will move the child up the ladder. The great thing about the clothespin is that you always know what privileges they have! They get the privilege of the level they are on plus all other levels below.

We think it is important for the child to own the process, so we discussed levels and privileges with our son as we created the chart and incorporated some of his ideas. Also, he must move his own clothespin. If he is told to move down 2 and he refuses or argues, it becomes 3, again if he refuses or argues it increases to 4. If the parent has to move the clip, he is moved down to level 1. Another way he monitors the system himself is that he is responsible for knowing what level he is on. If he's caught playing his Leapster when he is not on the video game privilege level, he cannot plead that he didn't know and he will fall further down the ladder for taking a privilege he did not have.

When he wants a certain privilege and he is not on the right level he will come ask me what he can do to move up. He can unload the dishwasher, clean windows, wipe down toliets, and other chores that are not his regular chores.

This chart has really helped us. I love that it is not only about consequensing bad behavior but rewarding good, also! When my daughter turns 4 I plan to add another clothespin with her name on it to the chart. I think at 4 they are ready for this type of system.

After we'd used this system for a year I toured my son's new kindergarten classroom and saw that they have a chart with 3 levels (green, yellow, and red) and clothespin clips with each child's name on it to keep up with classroom behavior. Seeing this validated even more for me that this type of system works and it was great that my son was already used to the idea.

This system has made the hard issue of discipline much easier for us!

Updates:
I said before that this chart was best for ages 4 and up, but we just started using it for our 3 1/2 year old daughter and it is working great! She is mature for her age (I think being a girl and having an older sibling helps). As I expected, she is very different from her older brother and upset when she is on any level lower than 10 and works to move up. Her brother routinely moves all the way to level 1 and mostly hangs out around level 6.

Also, just for further detail. Level 8 is may watch TV. This does not mean as much TV as you want. In our home we limit TV to around 30 minutes per day, except for the once every 2 weeks or so that we have a family movie night or during illness. But, to get even this 30 minutes, the child must be on level 8.

Another important note, we don't believe that one child should rule the family, so if our oldest is on a level lower than 6 (the special activities level) and the whole family is supposed to attend a party or other social event, we will not stay home because that oldest child has made bad choices. We will all go to the event and that child will sit out any fun and games, like jumping things, eating cake, etc.

The Level 6 special activities does not include team sports, like baseball games or practices. We feel this would be letting down the team, so our children attend no matter what level they are on. However, if the team goes out for ice cream or sno cones after the game or the kids want to play on the playground after the game, our child will not be able to participate in those extras if they are not at least on level 6 at home.

Some of you had questions. To answer, yes, the levels roll-over to the next day. So if you go to bed on level 3, guess what? You wake up on level 3! Another was what level to begin on when starting the system. We started them out on level 8 the very first time.

Some of you told me you were going to try this system at home. I would love to hear how it is going. Have you added anything to it?

Find more Works For Me Wednesday Tips at We are THAT Family
privilege chart

The Challenge: Sewing on a Patch

I wouldn't have guessed that sewing was a prerequisite for being a mom, and I got by with only my button sewing-on abilities for a few years, five to be exact. And then it happened.

My boy decided he wanted to play Little League. His t-ball uniform made its way home from a practice in a bag with a jersey, baseball pants, socks, a belt, and a patch. At first I thought it was just a keepsake for the boys, but then I realized after noticing the sticky note indicating the correct shoulder to sew the patch on, that they expected me to SEW the patch on!

Not one to shy away from a challenge, I set about doing it. A couple hours and a couple bleeding fingers later, the patch was attached to the jersey, but Friends, it was not pretty.

I give you exhibit A. in the proof that I am uncrafty!
Now if you look closely you'll notice that I went with a side-to-side type of stitch as if I were doing a hem. Yes, feel free to point and laugh you seamstress-wizards, but I'll have you know the patch did remain attached to the jersey for the duration of the season even with repeated washings!

So, this year, my 2nd year as an official Little League mom. I did not panic when I got the coach-pitch baseball uniform bag; instead I began research. I knew from scouting out the other patches last year that my sewing technique may have been a little off, and I was determined to do better. Invisible Friends, I found this http://www.wikihow.com/Sew-a-Patch-on-a-Uniform.

And then 51 minutes and 3 stuck fingers later I had this year's jersey patch sewn on!


You'll notice from the 2nd, more detailed picture that my technique has matured a little from hemming the patch to the jersey to more correctly (I hope) stitching it over the edges!

Not as pretty from the underside, but for me, The Uncrafty, this is success!

Now if you did not follow the How to Sew on a Patch link and scroll down to the tip section, you are missing a gem. My favorite tip they list is to teach your child to sew on the patch. That will be my tackle next year!!!

So, this Tuesday I am grateful for the internet and the wealth of information you can find on it! I'm grateful that my job as a mom allows me opportunities to learn new things. I'm grateful for the boy who will wear this jersey and the privilege to be his cheerleader (and seamstress)!

I'd love to hear your patch sewing experiences! Am I the only one who didn't know how to do this?

For more Tackle it Tuesday visit 5 Minutes for Mom and for more Gratituesday visit Heavenly Homemakers.

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! In this blog carnival created by MckMama everyone has fun telling all the things they DID NOT do (but really did). You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.
Here's what has NOT been going on in my house:

I DID NOT enter the kitchen after having a serious discussion with my 6 year-old about lying, specifically the difference between joking and lying, to discover my little kids had given the dog 78 dog treats.


I DID NOT turn around from cleaning up (and photographing) the dog treats the dog had not yet scarfed down to find my 1 year-old wildly scooping dog food into the dog water dish. The title of my blog is NOT so true many, many times per day!

I DID NOT at any point in the last 7 days get my 3 year-old and my 1 year-old kids in the shower, squirt a bunch of shaving cream on the shower wall, encourage them to "paint", and then sit down in the bathroom with my computer and blog for 15 minutes! Not Me!

I DID NOT run 3 miles while pushing a jogging stroller only to return and eat chocolate hearts from the remaining Valentine's candy and cheese balls left-over from my son's birthday party. No, that would be crazy! NOT ME!

I DID NOT allow my daughter to add sprinkle toppings to her yogurt one day at lunch.

And to make you in the tundra feel better, we absolutely DID NOT have a few 80 degree days last week. I have NOT been spending my afternoons pushing these two on the swings!


I can't wait to hear what you have NOT been doing!