Novena to St. Joseph

Deb, over at Ukok's Place, is starting a novena to St. Joseph today. Won't you join us?

DH's income has been dwindling and we need a turnaround immediately in order to retain our home and allow me to continue staying home with our children. We've been praying and praying, and this novena to St. Joseph comes at a crucial moment.

multi-colored crayons

I've seen this idea a million times, but never carried it out until yesterday. All you need are some crayons, an old muffin tin and an oven.


Tear the paper off the crayons. The toughest part was getting the paper off the crayons. It seemed that it was glued on many of the crayons! Break the crayons into 2 or 3 pieces and put the pieces into a muffin tin. I would guess that we broke up 6-8 crayons for each muffin tin.


Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. When the crayons have been sorted, pop the tin into the oven.


Wait 10-20 minutes, until all the crayons are melted. We found that some of the crayons melted much slower than others -- which I'm guessing was because they were different brands. I'm not sure about the different melting temperatures of wax, but it appears there are definite differences!

When the crayons are melted, take the tin out of the oven and let cool on a cooling rack. This took about 2 1/2 hours. You can see the final product here! (ignore the rusty muffin tin, please -- it's an old one that I use for crafts.)


When the crayons were cool, I simply twisted the pan a little bit and they popped right out. The boys had fun coloring with their multi-colored disks when they were finally cool. They also found it very interesting how the different colors melded together in the oven.

clothing storage

During the recent room changes, we got rid of the boys' dressers. DH put shelves into one half of the closet, and I picked up these bins to store the clothes. The top shelf holds sweatshirts and long sleeve shirts. The 3 small bins hold shorts, underpants and socks. The next 2 bins hold character/play shirts and plain/nicer shirts. The bottom 2 bins hold pants and pajamas.

The bins have been working out great! The boys' laundry is done on Tuesdays. I wash and dry the clothes, but they are responsible for putting the clothes away. We always had separate drawers, so it wasn't much of a change except for floor space in their rooms, and they can't leave the drawers hanging open!

I can also easily see how many clothes they have, and if anything is needed. They don't need more clothes than can fit into the bins!

I just read a tip on Parent Hacks this morning about storing sets of color-coordinated clothes in separate bins so that children can choose outfits that always match. My boys are pretty good about matching outfits, but this is a great idea for younger kids, and my storage solution could be easily adapted for that idea.

fruit roll-up giveaway reminder!

If you scroll down a few posts (Wednesday, I think) you'll see that I'm giving away boxes of personalized fruit roll-ups! Please take a moment and enter the contest that ends Monday, the 28th, at midnight.

If you enter, be sure to leave your email address. If you have a blogger account, check to see if your email address is part of the profile -- and if not, please leave your email. If you don't leave an email address, I can't contact you :( If you don't want to leave your email address in the comments, then shoot me an email (link over on the right.)

Thanks, and good luck!

walking

I only walked 4.2 miles last week. I was down with a rotten headache for days, and then I just didn't make the effort. I feel like anything else I write is just an excuse.

I don't HAVE to go to the park to walk -- I can walk 2 times around our neighborhood to get 1.6 miles in. I CAN wait until after 9PM or so when DH is home so I can walk without the boys (i.e. quicker.) If I just call my sister, she WILL come and walk with me after work.

The truth is I didn't make the effort. I'm at a low point right now and struggling. With exercise (obviously), with mothering, with my faith, with just about everything. I need to make some changes, and I need to kick myself in the pants to make them happen.

sometimes a change is needed

There are times when what has worked in the past, no longer works. This had been the case with getting the boys to stay in their beds after bedtime. I'm embarrassed to say how long I kept trying the same thing -- and how long it just didn't work anymore!

I'm happy to say that we've finally turned a corner. Almost a month ago I started a chart for both boys. If they stayed in their bed for 30 days after being tucked in (not counting bathroom needs or illness), they would earn something they coveted. (C chose a book, N chose a safari truck) A little over 2 weeks ago the motions were in place so that they no longer shared a bedroom.

In 3 days, C should receive his book. In a little over a week, N should receive his truck. (N had a bit of a backtrack and we had to start his chart over.) Bedtime is pretty much understood again -- when they are tucked in (after bath, books, drinks, snacks, and prayers) they stay in bed. C falls asleep within minutes, while N tends to stay awake much longer. The difference, however, is that he stays in his bed. When they shared a room, they would talk and play and keep each other awake. They spend plenty of time together during the day, we decided that nighttime togetherness was just too much.

This has made evenings much more pleasant. DH & I are able to watch adult shows without interruption. I am able to relax and get some much needed downtime after a day of caretaking.

Our mornings are much easier now. Schooling is going much better now! Temper tantrums, arguments and fighting have decreased dramatically (among all 3 of us!)

We also decided that N was through with wearing pull-ups at night in the last month. C had been motivated to move into underpants at night, but N just wasn't willing to give up the convenience. With C, we went through a process where he had to have a dry pull-up in the morning for 7 days, then could move into underpants. He was motivated and it happened. With N, we went cold turkey. He did have a few accidents, but he's been dry for a couple weeks now and has no desire to go back to pull-ups. He just needed a little push and I'm glad that DH gave it to him.

There was a part of me that wanted the boys to continue sharing a room. The reality right now is that it was hindering sleep for both of them and causing havoc throughout our day (and night!) DH & I are still trying to plan for a room for L, but are not in a hurry to move her out of our bedroom, so we have time for a plan.

We haven't moved all the toys back in the house. I'm going very slowly . . . and it is helping them keep what they do have neat. The new arrangement is helping N gain a bit of independence (for too long now he has refused to get dressed alone in his room - finally he is willing to do tasks in his room without me or C with him.)

There have been lots of changes in our household in the last month. But, they have made for a much more peaceful household! Letting go can make way for so much more!

Sweet Land

A couple weeks ago, Netflix suggested I might like Sweet Land and so I added it to our queue. I had never heard of the movie, but the description sounded like something I would like.

I am SO glad that I did! L hasn't been nursing as often, but she still likes long nursing sessions. This afternoon, after the boys had lunch and were in their rooms playing, I curled up in bed with L and popped in this movie.

It's a movie about a mail order bride from Germany, arriving in a Minnesota farming community in the early 1920's. The movie is a bit slow, but it was relaxing and delightful. It is a romance, but a gentle romance -- not harsh or pathetic or intense like so many movies portray romance today. The actors did a wonderful job with their characters; and the actors included some of my favorites -- Alan Cumming, Alex Keaton, Ned Beatty.

My DH wouldn't have enjoyed it; it moved much too slow for him and there was a lot of unspoken communication and sparse dialogue. For me, though, it was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon!

Friday's Feast #177

I haven't done a Friday's Feast in a long time!

Appetizer
How many times per day do you usually laugh?

I don't think I could count! My kids are so amusing, my husband is funny, and I laugh easily! I can't imagine it's less than 30 times a day.

Soup
What do your sunglasses look like?

I have a pair of Ray-bans that look like this:

Salad
You win a free trip to anywhere on your continent, but you have to travel by train. Where do you go?

I would go to Quebec. There are SO many places I can imagine visiting, but I've wanted to visit Quebec for about 20 years and haven't had the chance.

Main Course
Name one thing you consider a great quality about living in your town/city.

Day after day after day of SUNSHINE!

Dessert
If the sky could be another color, what color do you think would look best?

I'm pretty partial to blue skies, but I think lavender would be interesting.

Personalized Fruit Rollups! and a Giveaway!

With Valentine's Day approaching, I had the opportunity to design and order a box of personalized fruit roll-ups thanks to the fine folks at Mom Central.

The site is easy to navigate, and it takes no time at all to create a fruit roll-up decorated with images and a message that you choose. C & N were excited about the idea, and quickly chose to decorate our fruit roll-ups with an image of a dragon and a t-rex, as well as the simple message of "Happy Valentine's Day!" The graphics on the site are cute, and appealed to the kids.

There were tons of images to choose from, and if you don't want to scroll through them all, it's possible to filter them down to categories - like hobbies or animals. Depending on the pattern you choose, you can put one or two images on each roll-up. You can even choose different colors for the images.

Then, you add your own message! Once again, there are different colors, and also different fonts to choose from. The font and size of letters you choose will determine how many letters your message can be. The site does a nice job of walking you through the steps required to personalize your treats.

You will receive a box of 30 fruit roll-ups about 3 weeks after placing your order. I think this will make a fun valentine for the boys to give out in their enrichment program, and would also make a fun birthday party favor. With so many different choices for personalization, this would make a fun gift for the kids (or even fun-loving adults) in your life!

The full nutritional information can be found on the website, and I was surprised to see that they are made mainly from pear juice concentrate. My sister is allergic to apples and citrus, so it was nice to see that this is an item that the boys can safely share with her.

The price per box of 30 is $29.99 (plus tax, if applicable, and shipping.) Order at www.myfruitrollups.com before February 2 using the code BEMINE to receive $10 off the regular price -- making it an even better deal!

Even better, win a box for FREE!! I have 3 boxes to give away for your very own personalization fun. Just leave a comment (or drop me an email) telling me about the sweetest Valentine message you ever received. The 3 best entries will each receive one box of personalized fruit roll-ups! To make sure you'll be able to place your order in time for Valentine's Day, the contest will close at midnight on January 28! (Offer valid for U.S. readers only.) Please leave your email address in your comment (if you don't have a blog/profile) so I can contact you.

I'll be sure to post a picture when ours arrive in a few weeks!

Camelot

DH & I had an extremely rare afternoon out yesterday to catch a matinee performance of Camelot, with Lou Diamond Phillips playing King Arthur. (thanks to a generous gift from some friends)

Camelot is one of my favorite musicals. I was lucky enough to see Robert Goulet as King Arthur while in college in the early 90's and I have the dvd and soundtrack from the early 60's when Goulet was Lancelot, Richard Burton was King Arthur and Julie Andrews was Guinevere. My love affair with Camelot probably began in high school when we read The Once and Future King by T.H. White.

Back to yesterday, though! My sister bravely agreed to watch all 3 kids, so we left around noon. We ended up getting to the theater with plenty of time to spare, so we walked around and found ASU's art museum open. We had never been, and it was a delightful way to spend 45 minutes. They had some interesting pieces in their normal collection, as well as a fascinating exhibit of turned wood bowls.

The play was well-done and enjoyable. Phillips did a very nice job of Arthur, and the other actors played their parts as expected. The orchestra did a fine job. None of the voices compare to Burton/Goulet/Andrews, however, but that may just be years of listening that caused that bias.

The play could have been awful, though, and it wouldn't have mattered! I was able to spend a few hours snuggled close to my darling without one fight to referee, or baby to feed, or question to answer. This was our first time without any children since well before L was born, so it was quite the treat!

After the play, we made a quick stop into Ted's (so funny to see a place from my childhood in Buffalo here in Arizona) and then sped home to find the boys playing Wii and my sister holding a sleeping L.

Everyone survived while we were gone. My sister told me that L had a couple crying jags, but also slept while we were gone.

I know this was a rare chance and I thoroughly savored it. While I love being the mom and caretaker of 3 children, I miss spending more time just with DH. This chance to connect and *be* with each other was priceless!