Stepping Out For Fro Yo

I remember my parents taking myself and my siblings to a frozen yogurt place called Yozen Frogurt.  I thought the name was terribly clever at the time.  Frozen yogurt seemed like a really special treat.  My favorite flavor then and now? Chocolate with gummy bears.

Am I crazy or is frozen yogurt majorly back in? I've seen frozen yogurt places popping up everywhere.  Because I love, love it, I made it a habit to treat my kids every once in a while.  When I discovered Red Mango, I started treating myself and my kids a little more often.  It's all natural, so I can justify eating it for lunch. It's delicious. I think I've become an addict.

I don't get chocolate with gummy bears, but I do get the mixed berry parfait.  My little ones like the original flavor with berries and mochi.  We have a good time of it as you can see.

I suggest stepping out and treating yourself (and your little ones) to your favorite fro yo.

Have A Happy Day!

~MJ


 *This is NOT a paid advertisement.

Western Redbud Beauty

Happy WW! 

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Quiet Activity Idea: Felt Alphabet

We generally struggle to find activities that will occupy the kids during church services on Sunday.  I lug a large tote bag filled with different items each week and pray that we can keep them entertained enough for me to actually listen during the meeting.

A little activity I put together has stood the test of time for keeping Buddy occupied. I cut out some felt letters using a few different colors of felt.  He becomes totally engrossed in laying out the letters (which stick great to the cushioned seats in our chapel).

We also take turns spelling words for each other and impressing our fellow church goers with Buddy's amazing reading skills. The family that sat behind us this last Sunday told me that they were thoroughly entertained.

When play is over, I just crush all the letters up into a ball, place them in a baggy and toss them into my tote bag.  Just a little tip for some quiet play.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

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Going On A Nature Walk

Step 1: Collection

On Friday, I handed two cellophane bags to my kids and we took a walk.  They each began collecting small items from nature.  Jellybean was way less selective than Buddy. She also listened better to the instruction: "Don't dump your bag until I get a picture!"

 Look at all the different colors and textures!

Step 2: Observation (i.e. destroy)

Dump out the bag.

Wait patiently while Mom displays some of the different items for a picture.

Now really start to experience the different colors and textures by crushing, pulling it apart, throwing it up in the air, pretending that you have really big lips, etc. Whatever floats your boat.

 Step 3: Storage

If you have a hat, that is where the remains of your nature collection should go.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ


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Chalk Numbers

We love getting out the sidewalk chalk when the weather begins warming up.  Usually you will find Buddy working on his ABCs. Here he's decided to switch it up and work on his numbers.

You have to love the beanie with a propeller.

There is something about having a large canvas that makes this activity so much more fun than writing on a piece of paper inside.  I love seeing Buddy's imagination and art skills blooming. Now he is drawing pictures for himself.  Though, I miss his requests to draw clocks on the driveway. Good thing Jellybean is starting to make requests. Today I drew an entire family of bunnies for her. 

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ


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Almost Wordless Wednesday: Great Inventions

The car cart:

making shopping with these two toddlers bearable.

Happy WW! Have a Good One!

~MJ

Great Toddler Gift Combo

Looking for a great toddler gift idea? 

Kid O Cutting Fruit

Orange Pear Apple Bear by Emily Gravett

Either the toy or the book on its own is a good gift, but together they would be awesome.  This dynamic duo is capable of teaching color recognition, grammar, fractions and how to hold a knife (an essential skill for ages 1-4. heh.). My little ones have enjoyed both.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Weekend Photos

Just a few phone photos from yesterday.

Last Sunday (Easter), my new nephew was born.  Jellybean is in love with him.  We got to see the little guy today at my parents' house.  Here's Jellybean checking him out. He's being held by his beautiful aunt (my sister-in-law).  D asked me if the new baby made me want to have one.  I said no.  Though, there is something particularly sweet about holding a newborn baby that you don't have to take home with you.

I have to make a note about Jellybean's cute outfit.  I scored this adorable Lauren Ashley dress and those sweet turquoise sandals at my favorite bi-annual consignment sale last week.  $6.00, not bad.

We spend a lot of time swinging on Grandma and Grandpa B's porch swing. Buddy, Jellybean and some of their wonderful cousins got to hang-out Sunday evening. They have so much fun together.

What a great start to the week!

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Can you tell the good plants from the weeds?

We have been blessed with some beautiful weather here and there is so much green coming up in the garden. I've been out with the kids for a little while each day weeding our flower beds.  Mostly, the kids will play while I weed, but occasionally, they come over and want to help.  This has brought up some interesting discussions on which plants are good plants and which plants are weeds.

Buddy thinks the concept of good plants and weeds is funny and makes a game out of it.  "Mama, you're a weed, I'm going to pull you out because I'm a good plant."

Jellybean, wants to help, but doesn't yet have enough understanding to do so.  Today, in her efforts to "weed," she plucked every bud off of a little plant that was just about to bloom.  After that, I kept a better eye on her and handed her the weeds I had pulled to place in my trash bucket.   

My gardening buddy.

While I've been weeding, I've been thinking a lot about how I'm trying to teach my children about the good plants and the weeds that they'll encounter in life. Each day, I am teaching them what is important and what isn't; What is good and what is bad.  It is sometimes hard to distinguish between the the good plants (things that will bring joy into our lives) and the weeds (things that will diminish our joy and drag us down). Sometimes, the weed is readily identified, has shallow roots and can easily be plucked out. Sometimes it is difficult to identify the weed before it has sent runners out and has taken over half of the garden.

This plant no longer has buds. :(

As a parent, I want my children to be able to see the difference between what will be valuable in their lives and what won't be.  I want them to have joy in their lives and not be hindered by the weeds that will inevitably pop up.  I guess the teaching starts with my example.  I imagine that a little weeding in my own life would be beneficial.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Swinging With Papa

Easter Sunday, swinging on the front porch with Papa.

 and a video, too!

Swinging with Papa from A Happy Song on Vimeo.

Joining in on Wordless Wednesday!

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Don't You Dare Put a Goldfish in a Goldfish Bowl!

I'll start with the conclusion to a very long story.  After an ordeal (story below), we are now the owners of a red, veil tailed Betta named Cole.  Buddy insisted on that name. I wanted to name him Bernie. He's a frisky little fellow and regularly engages in raucous games of "attack the reflection."  The kids are in love. I just hope we can keep him alive for a little while. I hadn't planned on getting a Betta, but that's what we ended up with.

I woke up one morning and decided that I wanted to buy the kids a goldfish.  You know, get them their first pet.  I have fond memories of a fish tank that I had as a child.  I also enjoyed caring for a couple of Zebra Danios (Charlie and Vinny) that I kept in a small glass bowl. The pair lived happily for three years. I didn't think it would be too big of a deal.  Buy a small goldfish, put it in a goldfish bowl and let the kids feed it fish flakes. Easy, right?

We arrived at the store all starry eyed and full of hope and happiness.  We looked at the small rodents, enjoyed the ferret, perused the reptiles and birds and then wandered over to the fish center.  I found a small goldfish bowl and a few other essentials and then we went over to get a fish.  I was met by a tall, doughy faced woman. I explained to her that I wanted to purchase a goldfish, indicating one of the hundreds of goldfish in the feeder fish tank.  She asked how big my tank was.  I held up the goldfish bowl. "Oh," she said, "you can't put a goldfish in that bowl."  "Are you sure?" I asked, "Then why is it called a goldfish bowl and why does it have a picture of this happy goldfish swimming in it on the label?" "That's just the 'style' of bowl." she replied. "You have to buy a tank with a filter."  "Then what is this bowl good for?" I asked.  "A Betta." she said.

What are you looking at?

I found myself irritated by this, mostly because of her tone and because, frankly, I didn't believe her, but I went back to the fish tanks to look for another tank anyway. We found a small filtered tank for $7 more on sale. I took it back to the woman.  "I want to get a goldfish now." I said.  "Oh, those are feeder fish, you can't buy those." she relied. "We have some fancy goldfish over here.  Oh, but they can't be in that small of a tank."  "What?!" I exclaimed, "This tank is filtered and depicts another happy goldfish swimming in it."  "Goldfish can't live in that. You can't buy one of these." she stated.  "Seriously? You won't even let me buy a fifteen cent feeder fish?" I asked. "Nope." she replied. "Why is that?" I asked.  "Because it will be suffering!" She stated this with as much self righteousness as she could muster, "And at this pet store, we put the animals first!"  (now, I'll clarify,  I don't want a fish to suffer, if a goldfish really won't be happy in the goldfish bowl, then fine. But the dour expression on her face and the tone in her voice suggested that I regularly participate in animal cruelty.)  "Okay, assuming that is true, what kind of fish can I put in this filtered tank?" I asked. "A Betta." She replied.

Can I read you a story, Cole?

At that point, I turned to the kids, "Well, I don't think we can buy a fish today."  I wasn't a real fan of Bettas.   There's something about their loner and aggressive nature that has not endeared them to me...that and the fact that they prefer gross, live food like worms and brine shrimp.  In addition to that, I wasn't sure I wanted to spend my money in that store. Tears and whining from the kids, I had, after all, promised them a goldfish.
"Okay, fine." My palm smacked my forehead and I sighed deeply,  "We'll buy the darn Betta." We selected the cheapest Betta we could find.  Then I discovered a second aisle of fish bowls.  All were Betta bowls and all were cheaper than what I had been looking at before.  I'm still trying to figure out why they even bother stocking the goldfish style bowls, or why they don't just put them on the aisle with all of the Betta bowls.

Are you going to listen or what?

I'm still a little hot under the collar about the whole experience. First of all, I felt like I was being chastised by this woman. A customer should never feel chastised! Second, it should have been obvious, from my first interaction with the salesperson, what type of pet experience I was going for.  One look at a frazzled mother, with two toddlers, holding up a goldfish bowl and asking to buy a common goldfish should have indicated that I did not want to spend much on a large, filtered, heated tank and that I wanted something, you know, cheap and easy to deal with. If she had handled it in a more gracious manner (i.e. not implying that I was out to make a fish suffer and that her job was to protect the animals from the customers) then I wouldn't be as irritated. If, after the first interaction, she had talked about all the great things about Bettas in comparison to goldfish, I wouldn't have been as irritated. Plus, I'm still not sure I totally understand how she determines goldfish suffering.  How is it less cruel to buy them and feed them to your other fish?  Also, why could I have walked in and purchased one of their mice to feed to a pet snake, but they would not allow me to purchase a common goldfish and keep it in a well maintained goldfish bowl? I'll also note that the pet store may have gotten my $20, but I'll never shop there again after this experience.

Alright, where was I?

So, now we have Cole, The Betta. I'm discovering that he is a rather interesting fish. He appears curious about the environment outside his bowl, he's not terribly skittish and he almost always comes right up to look at you when you are anywhere near the bowl. It's possible that he's plotting a way to get out of the bowl and eat me, but I prefer to think of it as curiosity. I find myself obsessing over his health.  Did he eat too much? Is he looking bloated? Are his scales looking healthy? What kind of food is best?  I've been researching a lot for this little guy. I hope he appreciates it. I'll have to do a break down of my research in a later post. The kids enjoy feeding him in the morning and spend a lot of time asking him questions about his day.  My favorite from Buddy, "are you still alive today, Cole?" When this fish dies, it won't be due to lack of love.

After that mega post, I hope you have a Happy Day!

~MJ