nathan-isms, vol. 8.

Saving some more of N's gems, since it's been a while.

At the dentist's office...
Hygienist: What flavor do you want me to use to clean your teeth?
N: Ninja.

Out of the blue...
N: How will we take over the city and destroy Shredder's ultimate weapon?

Just your normal question of how he came to be...
N: So, I think you and Daddy went on a date and then I was in your tummy for a week, and then I was born.
Me: ....
N: But how did I get in your tummy?
Me: Magic
N: Who did the magic? You or Daddy?
Me: Umm....both
N: But who won?

Because this kid is a genius...
N: Can you bring my guys when you pick me up today? I put them in place where you'll find them.

After reading a Doc McStuffins book before bed...
N: Mom, why are all of Doc's toys broken? I mean, really, what's going on here?!

After dinner one night...
N: Thank you for my dinner!
Chris: Mommy is pretty awesome, right?
N: Yeah, she should be the boss.

The joys of raising a boy...
Me: Do you need to go to the bathroom?
N: No.
Me: Then why is your hand in your pants?
N: Sometimes my privacy just needs to stretch.

snow.

Apparently late February is when we get the bulk of our snow. After a few dustings in December and January, I felt compelled to get a snowsuit and boots for N (last year's were way too small - this kid has grown three inches taller in six months!). And then we waited .... and waited. I was worried we wouldn't get to break any of his new things in and then we finally got two decent snow days within a week!

It's hard enough to get this child to wear clothes on a normal day, much less the layers we needed for playing in the snow. After some coaxing and really selling the waterproof aspect of these clothes, we finally got him dressed. Not too shabby! Everything coordinates, except the gloves.

And once we were outside, there was a barrage of snowball fights (which he liked to throw directly at our bottoms) and general shenanigans.

Oh and sledding, lots of sledding. This was a powdery snow, so not the best for sledding, but the boys made it work.

I think somebody is a big fan of snow days now! 

valentine's.

We've taken a very low key approach to Valentine's Day over the last few days and I have to say that it's been nothing short of refreshing! Am I the only girl in the world who doesn't like flowers? Don't get me wrong, they are beautiful and do make me feel special (and when I've gotten them in the best hubby has done very well), but the pragmatist in me looks at the dollars and cents v. the fact that the flowers will be dead and in the trash soon.

So our V-Day weekend went a little something like this:

Friday afternoon, N's preschool class had their Valentine's Day party. This marks the first year where I didn't buy him a special V-day shirt to wear, but we tried to make do. The back of this shirt says "ladies dig me." There were cookies and cupcakes and vegetables to eat ... which one did my child not touch? :)

Once we got home, I let him open up his Valentine's from his friends. I'm so glad I didn't add sugar to the mix and hope that the other parents appreciated my candy-free Valentine's for the kids.

Saturday started off with a fun little Build & Grow clinic at Lowe's where my boys made another thing for N's ever-growing collection. This week's project was a Valentine's-inspired picture holder.

Then we grabbed some Panera bagels, some coffee at Starbucks, I took a nap, and then went to Target all by myself. If that isn't love, I don't know what is.

This morning we headed to a birthday party where both of my boys got to play :)

Chris spent this afternoon and evening going on an organizing binge to straighten up the garage and all of the miscellaneous things that find their ways into junk bins and drawers. Love it!

dentist.

I need to take a minute to brag on my little guy. Nate had a dentist appointment yesterday and knocked it out of the park. No tears and no anxieties -- just happy and acted like a little ham the entire time. The dentist is not my favorite place to go, so I'm so glad that we found an amazing pediatric dentist practice in our area for N to have the best experience possible.

The dental hygienist that N had was so upbeat and fun. He really liked her, which made the cleaning process absolutely seamless. My favorite Nathan-ism from the visit?

Hygienist: What flavor vitamins do you want me to put on your teeth? 
Nathan: Ninja.

Nate's cleaning went so well that they actually did x-rays! He had never done gotten them done before (because he's been far too wiggly every other time). The amount of praise that he got definitely helped him stay calm and incredibly still. Plus, one of the walls in the x-ray room looks like you're in outer space. I've never seen anyone smile so much for an x-ray!

After we saw the dentist and got the cavity-free seal of approval, N got a balloon, his goodie bag with a toothbrush and toothpaste, and a token to use at one of their machines to get a prize. Such a great visit! If you live in the Northern Virginia area and are looking for a pediatric dentist, I highly recommend this awesome practice!

diy for valentine's day.

I spent the afternoon working on Valentine's Day gifts for my kiddo's classmates and teachers. Amidst the paper, fun edging scissors, and double-sided tape I found myself wondering how I got to this new stage of life. I am not a very crafty person and anything that requires artistic talent is just right beyond my grasp, but the art of mothering has me channeling my inner DIY lately.

I've been on a candy-free kick, mostly because I hate it when my kid gets too loaded up on sugar and I don't want to pass that on to anyone else. My anti-goodie bag approach went over well at N's birthday party, so I'm doing something similar for Valentine's Day -- for the kids, that is. The teachers deserve all the chocolate they can get!

Candy-Free Valentine's Day For Kids: 

I want to give credit where credit is due: I came across this adorable idea for Valentine's 'cards' with crayons instead of candy. Albeit simpler and probably not as cute, I made these for N's class. I might have spent a bit more than I would have on out of the pack Valentine's, but I'm okay with that (I made up for it with the teacher gifts!).

What You'll Need:

• Crayons - the idea that I came across used loose crayons, but I opted for 8-pack boxes with classic colors (approximately $1 a box) 
• Red card stock paper 
• Double sided tape 
• Heart stickers 
• Edging stickers 

What You'll Do: 

• Figure out what message you want on the Valentine's (I went with "Color Your Heart Out!"), type and format so that you can print it out 
• Cut out the "card" for each box of crayons with edging stickers
• Put the card onto the crayon box with the double-sided tape
• Finish by adding in a heart sticker

Voila! So easy!

SUPER Inexpensive Valentine's for Teachers 

Again, giving credit where it's due, I found this adorable idea here. I'm all for a good pun and being thrifty -- and this is both! I was able to make these for about $2.70 per teacher, which is awesome! 

What You'll Need: 

• 1 box of Betty Crocker brownie mix, per teacher (found on sale at Wal-Mart for $1 each) 
• 1 Betty Crocker spatula, per teacher ($1; available at Dollar Tree)
• Valentine gift bags (found these for 2 for $1 at Dollar Tree) 
• 1 package of Valentine's tissue paper ($1 at Dollar Tree) 
• Red card stock
• Plain white printer paper
• Twine
• Regular tape
• Double-sided tape
• Glue gun 
• Scissors
• Edging Scissors 
• Paper guillotine
• Hole punch

What You'll Do: 

• Use a few dots from the glue gun to attach the spatula to the brownie mix -- this gift capitalizes on the red on the product/packaging and the brownie pun, so I wanted to make sure to highlight this

• Type up a quick message to your teacher - I went with "I'm aiming for brownie points!" before jumping into saying Happy V-Day. I also found a cute graphic online to use to tie into the message. Print these out on normal printer paper 
• Use your paper guillotine (or scissors if you can cut a straight line, unlike me) to trim down your messages to a standard size 
• Cut down the red card stock to frame out your message on the white computer paper
• Attach the message on the white computer paper to the red card stock by using double-sided tape
• Punch a hole into the top center of each card 
• Use the twine to tie the card to the gift bag and use regular tape to secure the ends of the twine to the bag 
• Put some decorative tissue paper in to make everything even cuter

Ta-da! You have a really cute teacher gift that won't break the bank!

Happy Valentine's Day!

balancing saturday.

We had a fun, productive, yet laid back Saturday! It's hard to achieve that balance :)

The day started with a mid-morning playdate/free activity where Nate and one his friends (love that he has friends who are also neighbors!) went to Home Depot for one of their kid workshops. If you want to check out some more details about free kid workshops and clinics that are offered by some of the big home improvement retailers, then just take a look!

Today's project was a Valentine's Day inspired little flower box and it is adorable. Would it be awful to ask him if I could have it as a Valentine's Day gift?! It would be too cute in my office. N and his friend had a great time, even though holding N's attention for longer than twenty minutes is like herding cats. It turned out pretty well and I wanted him to show it off. Reverse psychology is a very real and valid thing. Want to see?

Exhibit A: I asked N to smile

Exhibit B: I told N not to smile.one.bit (little booger!)

After coming home and letting N play for a while, Chris took him to a birthday party and I stayed at home working on my Valentine's Day projects (stay tuned for that post!). We also received our Reading Rainbow rewards from Kickstarter today! Because we donated at a certain dollar amount, they sent us a t-shirt for N and one for Chris, a calendar, tote bag, magnet, and book by Lavar Burton. Pretty neat. I promptly popped this picture on Instragram with an absurd amount of hashtags. It's exciting that he can enjoy Reading Rainbow like I did when I was a kid!

Add in some cleaning, some DVR catch up, and delivery for dinner, and we achieved the perfectly balanced Saturday! 

four (and a half).

My little boy is four and a half! I really shouldn't call him a baby anymore, but he will always be my baby! Four and a half means endless energy, rare naps, a budding vocabulary, and a problem solver attitude that is scary sometimes!

At four and a half...

• N's life is consumed by all things ninja turtles!  Toys, shows, movies, creative play, it all comes down to TMNT. He watches the show that is on Nickelodeon, but has also gotten into the cartoon that aired in the 90's (circa my childhood!) which he refers to as the "little" turtles. 
• When it comes to food, Nate is still so picky! He's still drinking his strawberry Pediasure and trying to subsist on a diet that is more representative of a toddler transitioning to "real" food, but we continue to provide options at every meal (which go uneaten). 
• Even though N's room is fun and has every single toy under the sun, he still likes to relocate to play. The bathroom floor, the hallway, anywhere is fair game. You learn to shuffle to avoid the excruciatingly painful experience of accidentally stepping on a figuring or, heaven forbid, a Lego. 

• And speaking of Lego's, if anyone else buys him more I will SCREAM! I love the creative aspect of Lego's and that they promote critical thinking and fine motor skills. However, he's not really there yet. His interest is in having one of us assemble (and endlessly reassemble) while he demolishes whatever set he's playing with. Maybe next year? 
• Nate is a regular when it comes to field trips! His class has taken a few this year (pumpkin patch, grocery store, my old high school to see the band and orchestra, and the Children's Museum). He is most excited about sitting in the bus and tells me that he likes to sit in the back of the bus (naturally). At least he's so cute rocking his preschool t-shirt! 

• When it comes to school work, I can't say that Nate is totally enthralled, but he's trying. That's all I can ask. We're still slowly working on letters, but I was SO proud when he wrote a recognizable "N" amongst his scribbles on my dad's birthday card this year. 
• A new milestone for Nate is that he's mastered the mouse and has gotten really into playing kids games on my laptop! There is a computer for the kiddos to use at preschool and he's gotten into playing strategy and math games, complete with his own special blend of sound effects.

• Nate's most frequent request for bedtime stories are currently either the Five Little Monkeys or Little Critter series, with some Scooby Doo peppered in for a little variety. 
• Dressing up like a "bad guy" is a favorite, in which he wears his winter coat (by the hood, like a cape) and his snow boots. His snow boots were purposefully purchased to be too big (so he can wear them next year), so there's lots of clomping around the house! 
• It's a lifelong lesson, but he's learning the power of patience! Maybe he can teach me next :) 

And to continue on my little tradition of asking questions over time and seeing how the answers change, here's a quick review of N's answers at three and a half and his answers at age four. His most current answers: 

1. What is your favorite color? Blue
2. What is your favorite food? French fries
3. What is your favorite t.v. show? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
4. Who is your best friend? Theo and Morgan and Oliver
5. What is your favorite animal? Turtles
6. What is your favorite song? Taylor Swift's "Shake it Off" or, what he refers to as "The Booty Butt" song -- watch the music video
7. What is your favorite toy? Shredder
8. What is your favorite movie? "You are mistaken - I just like Ninja Turtles right now, not movies"
9. What is your favorite stuffed animal to sleep with at night? My big bear
10. What do you want to be when you grow up? Astronaut

We'll rinse and repeat in six months!

 

playing catch-up.

Where in the world has this month gone?! I honestly can't say what has happened this month, outside the normal work and school for us. Is it sad that I have to go back through my phone to see what the heck we've done lately?

Let's see. Chris got a great new leather recliner right after Christmas. Unfortunately, when I bought the sectional in our family room I purposely got the particular size so that we wouldn't need any other furniture. Once we added in Chris's new chair, our family room became a fire hazard ... so we also got a new couch! It wasn't exactly what I set out to buy, but it fits the room and is very comfortable. Some days I like the color and other days I hate it. Here's sort of what our new set-up looks like, complete with a tiny furniture model.

Once the new couch came, I resolved that there would be no more dogs on the couch. This has been a tough one for dogs who are used to having their way all the time. This huge dog bed from Costco helped to soften the blow a bit.

Nathan had a random bug last week where he puked his guts out like that kid in The Exorcist but had absolutely no other symptoms. We spent our fair share of time on the bathroom floor before bed that night before he launched into a four in the morning vomit sneak attack. Let me just say that groping around in vomit for my glasses is much funnier as a memory than in the actual moment.

Over the weekend, we went to a birthday party at one of our favorite local bounce house places. N tried sparring for the first time and did pretty well, despite the fact that the equipment was bigger than him.

Watching him wait in line was a happy moment. The child is learning patience!

N's Montessori program continues to help him learn new things (and quite frankly, learn how to learn). This week, they are having an international night and also going to the Children's Museum tomorrow! I wish parents could go on these trips! :)

lowe's and home depot kids' activities.

There's just something magical about a freebie. Food tastes better when it's free and activities certain have a little more allure (for parents) when they're free. I've blogged before about free kid activities at hardware chains like in this post; they're fun, they're family oriented, and they're free. 

Once I first found out about the activities we went to each,and.every.one. It got a little exhausting and N was probably a little too young to be attentive and really enjoy them, so we took a break. I found one online last night and N seemed interested, so we registered. 

So before a show you today's project, here's some of the differences between the sessions we've been to - all are free! I wish I had found more information on them before we started attending, so I hope this helps another family! Disclaimer that these are based on my own experiences and the sessions offered in your area may be a bit different: 

Lowe's Build & Grow Clinics

• Sessions fill up FAST! I'm really not joking - in my area, the slots are filled within minutes of registration opening (I guess I'm not the only one with a love for freebies!)
• Sessions are usually once a month or every other month on a Saturday morning - one hour
• A printed registration/waiver is required for your child to participate - I bring ours to the clinic
• On your first visit, be sure to ask for your child's free apron and goggles (they are adorable!)
• Be ready to jump in! We've never been offered help with assembly (I am not handy, at all - these clinics are just as much for me as my kiddo, assembly wise. I bring my husband for the 'heavy lifting') 
• All of the session kits involve stickers and, therefore, no mess! 
• Once you're done with your project, your child will receive a certificate and a patch that should be ironed onto their apron (I've yet to do this .... we have a stack of patches somewhere) 

Home Depot Kids Workshops

• Sessions are open so much longer (thus I was able to register for this latest session the night before!) 
• Sessions are once a month or every other month on a Saturday morning - registration says there is a three hour window, but we always go when it begins 
• No printed registration or waiver necessary! Just tell them your child's name.
• On your first visit, be sure to ask for your child's free apron! (Cute but not as good quality as the aprons at Lowe's)
• The employees who run the session generally offer help and are available to jump in if you can't figure out the instructions. LOVE this! 
• Every session that we've been to involves paint. Be prepared to get a little messy. The paint is my kiddo's favorite part. Just be ready to bring a wet project and messy child in your car. Baby wipes are a lifesaver! 
• Once your done with your project, your child will receive a certificate and a pin for their apron 

Today's project was a little sled. So adorable and N was very excited to make it! 

N still isn't very enthusiastic about the assembly process, though he's gotten much better at looking at the pictures in the instructions and problem solving to determine which pieces go where. I think we spent about thirty minutes on today's project! Surprisingly, putting in the nails isn't a big hit (awful pun) with him. The painting, that's another story! On the way to the workshop he told us over and over how he would paint his sleigh red - and he did a great job! What a little cheeseball :) 

He's been so proud of this little sled, which I think is an awesome outcome for these little sessions. N has played with this sled all afternoon.

Hooray for fun (and free) activities for family time! 

happiness jar.

Spontaneity is not my strong suit. I'm not very apt to try new things, so starting new traditions in my house is a thoughtful endeavor. As we counted down to a near year, I thought over all of the experiences that we've had this year - a mix of blessed, happy, challenging, and thought provoking times.

Our New Year's traditions are pretty bare bones. We watch the performances on t.v. leading up to and after the ball dropping ... and that's about it! With the busyness that surrounds our daily ins and outs, I really believe in being purposefully reflective about our lives. I've done thankfulness challenges in the past like this one (I strongly recommend these exercises if you haven't done them before!), but I wanted to have a culminating activity to really think about and appreciate the entire year. Enter a happiness jar.

I'm not sure how they are generally used, but I plan on our family writing down little things (or big things) throughout the year that make them happy or thankful, put them into the jar, and then open them on New Year's Eve.  There are so many options to make, buy, decorate (or not decorate) your happiness jar. This DIY is right up my alley because the aesthetics are the least important thing -  it's what's on the inside that counts.

Here's what I used to make my jar:

• Jar or container of your choice 
• Paper to write down what makes you happy or thankful
• Scissors and/or a paper cutter 
• Decorations for your container (I used little polka dotted rhinestones with adhesive backs and may make a trip to go get some ribbon) 
• Twine 
• Embellishment to label the jar (because everything in my house gets labelled eventually) 
• Pen 
• Chalk to write my label (this didn't work for me - going to find my silver pen here in a bit)

I spent maybe $10 to make this because I had most of the materials on hand. Love that this has so many optional components - really all you need is a container and paper to write on :)

Here's some of the process. So easy! The only thing that I haven't done is figure out how I want to label the jar - a quotation, a simple label, a picture?

I'm not sure if I date cutting a slot in my mason jar lid. For now, I'll just take out the center and leave it open. But ... dust! Going to save the cover just in case.

And to kick this little tradition off, I put in my own little thing that made me happy today. I'm going to try to date all of these and put the name of who it's from (in case I'm putting in for someone else like my kiddo). I'll gently plead to have everyone roll up their happiness notes so that no one peeks.

And voila! An inexpensive happiness jar in a central place in our home that I hope will make us more thoughtful throughout the year, as well as give us a flood of great memories come next New Year's Eve.

EDIT: I went and got my metallic pen for the label. Even though I was excited that the labels are chalkboard (hello, reusable!), my handwriting with chalk is atrocious. Metallic pen it is!