Spend, Save, Give

Buddy came home from school one day very excited about doing extra summer chores to earn money. Jellybean thought that was a great idea as well. You know something? I concurred.

I picked up two tin, three-slot boxes. Then we covered them because I disliked the graphics. (These are the boxes I found)
I have never seen two children more excited to work. So far they have cleaned out the van and helped vacuum it, washed the fronts of the kitchen cupboards and wiped down the floor, and they have also helped with a huge amount of shredding that I needed done. I've given a dollar per child for each chore. They split the money up between the slots as they see fit.
A couple of days ago, I let them open their boxes and count out a dollar to go spend on a book at Deseret Industries. They were so proud handing their money over at the register. I'm hoping that they will save enough in their "spend" slot to buy a more expensive toy or book by the end of the summer.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Happiness Is...

April 14, 2014

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Easter 2014

Two weeks ago we celebrated Easter. We like to do an egg hunt for the kids in the backyard. It involves an elaborate ruse to distract the children so that the "Easter Bunny" can hide the eggs. Our eggs contain candy, loose change and this year the "Easter Bunny" was very clever and hid a jig saw puzzle with some of the eggs.

The "Easter Bunny" was very nice and hid some special yellow eggs just for Teddy Bear. Buddy and Jellybean had a lot of fun helping him find his eggs.

It was fantastic egg hunting weather. Plenty of eggs to be had and all told, they got more candy than they got last Halloween. Two weeks later, they are still eating it. I'm sure their dentist will be pleased.

After the hunt, Buddy and Jellybean put together the puzzle and discovered a super secret message from "T.E.B." Whoever that is...

Because all of the candy, money and toys in their easter baskets weren't enough. Geez "Easter Bunny" way to take it to the next level.

To see a few more of the photos, go to the link here: Easter 2014

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

and just like that he turned 1.

I have been having a hard time writing this post. Partly because I'm in denial and partly because I took so many photos that I've had a hard time going through them and editing them. This is somewhat due to Teddy Bear's birthday falling right during our Easter celebration. (easter photos are up next) I guess there's no putting it off anymore.

Well, we have officially survived Teddy Bear's first year of life. Maybe, with two older siblings and a highly distractible mother, I should say that he survived.
In the days leading up to his birthday, Teddy Bear started walking. Thank goodness for that. D and I didn't know how much longer we could keep lugging this guy around. Luckily, our arms haven't fallen off yet. I discovered in my karate class that my left arm has become freakishly strong as compared to my right...I guess carrying around 23lbs *all of the time* can leave its mark.

A few days after his birthday, Teddy Bear said his first word (beyond Mama, Dada and "wazz at"). He received a stuffed panda for Easter and he now says, "panda." Which really sounds more like "Danda." Which could easily be mistaken for "Dada" except that his emphasis is completely different. I'm his mom, I know these things.

Some more about Teddy Bear: He still hates having his diaper changed, officially sleeps through the night (I was way too enabling on this count), loves to dive down slides head first, lost one of his only bottom teeth in a freak colander accident (colander has been banished) Enjoys carrying Jellybean's dolls around and Buddy's underwear (hmm...), likes to make a "vroom, vroom" sound when pushing cars around and a pig snorting sound when looking at pictures of farm animals. Increasingly loves books and has decided that he likes cuddling his panda and his raccoon lovey. This kid also loves to dance.

Buddy and Jellybean love to include him in their games. I'm only slightly concerned that he is often cast as the villain. His siblings really do enjoy having him around and interacting with him.

He is just the sweetest kid there is. We love him to pieces.

Click on the picture below for a link to a gallery with more of his birthday pictures.

Teddy Bear 1 Year Old April 19, 2014

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Quick Picture: Fairy Garden

Jellybean saw a fairy garden at a local nursery last week and fell in love. So, here is the result of today's endeavor. A little fairy house is next on our project list.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

She is Four.

Jellybean just passed her fourth birthday. She basically had an entire four days of celebrating, which was a bit difficult for Buddy. (It is so hard to see someone else getting all of the attention and presents...) Jellybean had a blast and then fell to strep throat the very next day. At least she wasn't sick on her b-day.

She started her weekend of fun off at the Natural History Museum with some of her cousins. The next day, she got to eat her birthday cake at her grandma and grandpa B's house. She had specially requested an Ariel cake with a castle. She helped me put the fish on. She loved the end result and if it doesn't end up on Cake Wrecks, I'll be happy.

Monday, she received a special visit from her other set of grandparents. Then, on her actual birthday, she woke up to some presents. Later that day, we took a family trip out to buy books at DI and then to get cupcakes. Living the high life.

Jellybean is fun, loving, sweet and creative. She is always up for a craft or art project. She loves, kittens, puppies, princesses, dress-ups, ponies, barbies, baby dolls and "mommy time." She enjoys being read to and has learned all of her capital letters. She is also well on her way to learning all of the lowercase letters and sounds. She will be starting preschool this fall and is very excited about it.

This girl loves to play with both of her brothers. Teddy Bear loves her especially. She can always get him excited and laughing. It is so cute watching her play with him. Jellybean is my helper. She sometimes likes to play "helper bot" and is always up for helping me cook or get the table ready for dinner. She loves to listen to music and sing. She can often be heard belting out a number or two in her room. Right now, she loves to sing "Let it go," but can also be heard signing songs that she has just made up.

Jellybean enjoys riding her bike and will likely be ready to take off her training wheels this summer. She always wants to play and really likes role play games. She is always happy to assign people roles, not so happy if they deviate from their assignments. If you ask her where she'd like to eat out, she'll most likely say Wendy's. If you ask her what color her hair is, she'll say orange. Which is still her favorite color as well. She always has a secret for you and will not let you leave without a hug.

Jellybean started ballet this year and D and I are so impressed by her focus in class. It is clear that she loves to dance. Jellybean loves to spend time outside, even just exploring the backyard. She also is a great helper in the garden, an excellent rescuer of worms and she can't wait to help me with a vegetable patch this summer.

We could not be prouder of her. She is such a bright, sunny girl. I am so glad that she's mine. Here's to another year of awesome.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Teddy Bear is 11 months old!

One more month and this big guy will be an entire year old. D and I were just saying the other day how funny it is that we thought lugging his weight around was a big deal a few months ago. Yeah, it was nothing. It's weird though, now that he is going to be a year old, he just doesn't look that big anymore. A different perspective can really change things.

What Teddy Bear has been up to: He is into any cupboard that he can get into. He loves to be read to. He tries to climb anything he can. He can stand on his own.

He says, "Wassat." I have witnessed him flirting with cute girls at church. He is my most cuddly child, though it is very hard for him to stay still. Still a Mama's boy. Hates having his diaper changed. Hates having his nose wiped.

His top two teeth will be coming in any day now. Will only eat bananas and graham crackers consistently. Other than that, he will try anything once and then he's basically done with it. This makes feeding him solids somewhat tricky. Though texture doesn't tend to bother him as much as it bothered Buddy and Jellybean.
Here's the progress from bringing him home until now. I can't believe how much he has grown.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Fairy Dust Take a Break Jar

We don't have to do too many time-outs around here, but sometimes the kids are really getting on each others nerves and need to take a break. I decided to make a relaxation jar to help the kids to shift their focus and help them calm down when they are too worked up. I'd seen the glitter jars around and liked that idea, but I thought I'd add a little to it.
For my jar, I decided to use some shrinky dink plastic and make a little fairy to put in the jar.

I filled a small-ish jar with warm water (almost to the very top) and then used two tubes of glitter glue (from the dollar store) to create the fairy dust. Then, after I shrunk my fairy, I put her in the jar too.

I shook everything up, sealed it and told the kids that I had caught a fairy. They have a fun time shaking the jar up and looking for her to fly by.

Such a simple thing. They both love the idea of a captured fairy. Poor fairy. She won't be getting out of there any time soon.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Quick Pic

The force is strong with this one...

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Pizza Experiment

Occasionally, I try to get a bit more creative at dinner time. Last week, I thought it might be fun for the kids to do their own mini pizzas.

Mmmm, broccoli... Jellybean loves her veggies.

The verdict: The idea was fun....The kids really got into putting their own toppings on. Unfortunately, Pillsbury pizza dough is terrible and Boboli pizza sauce is also terrible. Next time, I'm going to find a pizza crust recipe that actually tastes good and make my own sauce. Who would have thought that cutting corners would be such a bad idea?

Sometimes it is just nice to try something new, even if it ends up tasting pretty disgusting.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

10 Month Teddy Bear

In only two months, this little guy will be an entire year old. I can see him looking more and more like a toddler and he shows more and more of his sweet personality every day.

Last month, he was trying to crawl toward me. This month he was trying to crawl away from me. He is trying very hard to walk. He loves using his walking toy and one of Jellybean's baby strollers to walk around. More than anything he wants to climb those stairs.

How unlucky for him that we've taken measures to keep him from doing just that.

At 10 months, Teddy Bear is such a smart little guy. He seems pretty focused and I can see his little mind working and figuring things out. One day I was tossing an egg shaker up in the air. When I handed it to him, he tried to copy what I'd been doing. He is also starting to recognize toys that are alike or that are part of a set. Teddy Bear loves music and especially loves when I turn on the music on my phone and let him hold it. I love, love reading to him. It is so fun when he finds a picture amusing in one of his books. There is a particular picture that shows three animals, all holding teacups on their heads. That always seems to elicit a chuckle from him. He is such a sweetheart.

His sister just couldn't stand to see me with the camera out and not get a couple of shots in as well. She can be a real ham.

Holding her owls and a very loved stuffed dog that I had when I was a child.

Showing off her Speedy Gonzales.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Happy Heart Day!

This year, for Valentine's, Buddy wanted to make something special for his classmates at school.  So, we pulled out the perler beads and got to work. We've been playing with the larger beads. I think they are way easier for small fingers to work with.

He designed the hearts himself and I ironed them and hot glued a pin to the back.

We mounted most of the pins inside some ready made cards that Buddy received in his Karate class. I'm torn about advertising with a valentine, but he really likes them and it was less work for me.  He's really excited to give his friends something that he designed. He even has one special heart for his favorite friend in class. What do you think? Better than candy?

Have a Happy Day and a Great Heart Day.

~MJ

Teddy Bear Hits 9 Months!

This kid just gets more and more fun. At nine months, he is crawling everywhere, discovering everything and basically trying to get or get into anything he sees. He is especially attracted to items made out of paper. This is a problem seeing as Buddy is obsessed with printing lately and there is an abundance of printing paper lying around at all times (despite my efforts to keep it contained).
Teddy Bear loves making new sounds and faces. I caught him making fishy faces the other day, he also likes to copy kissing sounds with his lips. We are starting to hear his adorable little voice. He regularly says, "Mama" and I think he even knows what it means. He loves to crawl and explore of course, but he especially loves having D or myself help him walk. He enjoys trying to cruise and really likes standing at his music table. His cute sense of humor is also coming out more and more. He's kind of a goof ball.
His very favorite thing of all is me. That made this last photo session kind of difficult. He kept trying to crawl to me and I kept shoving him back on the couch. First there was this:

Then after enough times, he started looking kind of defeated:

Buddy was there to tickle him, so I'd have at least a couple of happy shots.

My other goofy kids wanted to be in the photos, too.

Jellybean and Buddy are always there to make us laugh.

Such silliness going on around here.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ