Monday, September 19, 2011

Having A Wiggly Toddler Boy

So, lately I have been a little bit of a bad mommy because of school and work and not being able to spend that "quality" time with my little man. Even on weekends I find myself with my nose glued to the computer screen working on assignments and work or I'm up at school in the studio working on throwing pottery for another class. Either way, I haven't spent as much time with Stratton as I would really like to/need to. I've been looking online for some "motivational" things to do with Stratton that won't just wear him out but he will actually enjoy (and no, none of them include watching a movie or sitting in front of the computer or playing a video game)

This is a list that I found that was entitled:

25 Things to do with a Wiggly Toddler Boy (other than get frustrated)

With a title like that how can you go wrong?

1. Put him in an empty bath tub, give him water colors and let him go.
2. Put rice in a cake pan and let him pour from cup to cup.
3. Put him outside everyday regardless of weather.
4. Give him a small spray bottle of water and a rag. Set him loose on the fridge front, bathroom tile, linoleum, etc.
5. Make homemade play dough; give him a rolling pin.
6. When reading aloud, ask him many questions. Get him pointing, naming, giggling over each picture.
7. Have him run and tag the front door, run back and give you a high five, and repeat. And repeat. And repeat.
8. Find an empty box we can fit in; stay in the room with him to ensure safety- but get that book you’ve wanted to read for a while, because he’ll be busy for a while.
9. Teach him how to build a fort with the cushions.
10. Let him spread the PB and J.
11. Play with him for at least 10 minutes at a game he loves. This will satisfy much of the need for attention that leads to naughtiness.
12. Bubbles!
13. Boys tend to be tactile learners; stacking cups and plastic containers in an accessible cabinet can be fun.
14. Fill the kitchen sink with soapy foam; get out a big ladle and some cups and let him go at it. Let him “do dishes.”
15. If you have a play house, let him throw a safe ball out of it.
16. Find an old spoon and let him dig in dirt.
17. Music facilitates learning like no other activity. Make up silly songs to everything- be silly and tease your children with music.
18. When he is feeling mean and you are feeling mean, tickle him.
19. Don’t be afraid to repeat activities often; if he is getting restless, immediately choose a “go-to.”
20. Let the little guy “help” you in all of your tasks until he discovers his blocks or trains again. You’ll be teaching him valuable skills. This one can be hard because we want to get things done, but the boy will be grown soon and might now want to help anymore. This may be one of the most special times of your lives.
21. Play a favorite dance song of yours; let loose and dance around. Your boy will either laugh or join in; both are fun.
22. Use your pull up bar low on the door frame- and let him swing.
23. Find markers and a notebook; let him go to.
24. Assess his needs- is he hungry, tired, wet, overstimulated, bored, or lonely? Help him fulfill that need.
25. Replace every negative thought immediately with a positive one. Instead of, “My kids drive me crazy” think on purpose “This is a phase; Jonny really is a good kid” or “My kids must be bored. What can I do to help them?” See an article on this here.
http://powerofmoms.com/2009/04/thought-replacement-therapy/

Hope these are useful for all those mommies out there with little boys like Stratton. Love him to pieces but sometimes you just have to get some of that energy out of their system.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

SEMO Fair and Fair Parade

I LOVE the SEMO District Fair! There I said it. I love everything about it.
The people watching. The carnies. The artery clogging goodness they call food. The cheaply-put-together-could-kill-you-at-any-second rides. The over priced games that aren't work the prize you win. The smell of body and cigarette smoke. The ungodly amount of unsupervised children. EVERYTHING!

I go every year and I love taking Stratton and dragging Derek behind me. We always wind up spending more money than what we would like but we always have so much fun while we're there.

It's kind of funny, in the picture above you see two sheep. Notice the one on the left? He has his tongue sticking out! Haha.

Stratton kept calling this little sheep "little guy." It was so cute. He is such a funny kid.

He didn't like the four horned sheep. She scared him. He stuck with the woolly smaller sheep.

He of course had to ride the pony, which was adorable. Stratton talked to the horse and the guy running the pony ride the entire time.

He was all smiles the whole ride.

Stratton really doesn't know a stranger. He will talk to anyone.

Stratton and is hock on candy. Haha. He can't say cotton.

He LOVES his cotton candy.

Welcome to Southeast Missouri

Monday we went to the parade with my mom and my sister. Stratton rode with them so I met up with them later on. He loved the bands and the motorcycles. Every time a band would get ready to come by he would yell "Mom! A band!" I wish I could get that excited about something.

He loved it and had such a good time. He was ALL smiles. Not to mention he got an entire ziploc bag full of candy.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Plans for My House

So, I've been addicted to Pinterest for a while now. I love all the cute little ideas that people post! It's such a great tool for people that are...lacking in the financial stability field. (broke)

Thus far I have 5 rooms I would like to potentially change / finish.

Room 1: Mine and Derek's bedroom
Right now it's painted blue with a queen sized bed, two night stands, 2 dressers, 1 closet, 1 tv having on the wall.

Here are a few ideas I have for our bedroom:

Window Treatments: I would love to have new window treatments. Something that looks better than the Wal-Mart curtains we have had hanging in there since we lived in the apartment. They're horrible looking to say the least. They always get stepped on because they're too long and I always wind up tying them back because they block the heating/cooling vent. SO!

I found this awesome tutorial on Pintest.
Check out these awesome blinds!

This lady literally took a regular slat blind and cut it apart to make this cute little window treatment! This will be one of my next projects in the near future.

Queen Size Headboard: Derek and I have the worst luck when it comes to trying to find something for our bed that we both like. We will finally find something that we like but it's either a) too expensive b) out of stock or c) on a random website that we can afford but the shipping is twice as much as the product.

So, I'm an art major. I should be able to make this and make it look goood! Not to mention Derek used to work as a cabinet maker! The kid is good with wood ( or at least he should be ). Here is what I would like to do as a headboard. via

I would like for it to be white thought and a little distressed so it doesn't look like a pallet hanging from our wall.

Stratton's Play Room: I seriously HATE this room because it looks like Toys R Us threw up in my kids play room. I have yet to go through all his toys and get rid of all the stuff he doesn't play with anymore. Yes, I understand it's probably my fault that it always looks like a hurricane disaster zone but, I hate cleaning it up every 2 days. I just gave up. SO, these are a few of the ideas that I have for Stratton's play room. I'm hoping maybe I could get a little room in there for some of my stuff (like an arts and crafts table).

For his closet in there I would love to do this. via

With all his books I would love to do this via

I think 64% of the problem I have with Stratton's play room is that I can't organize it worth anything. I think cleaning out the closet in there, organizing his toys, throwing away some of his toys, and actually decorating the room would make it 10 times better.

Bathroom: our bathroom is in dire need of some TLC. We have two different light fixtures, stained-bleached-ugly brown rugs, a bent cream colored shower rod, clear shower curtain rings, ugly stained plastic shower, and overall just an UGLY bathroom. Here is what I would like to do with our bathroom.

First off would be the mismatched light fixtures. I love these!

The would love big thick shag rugs in my bathroom like this one. via

I would also like to paint the bathroom this lovely color.

And put some nice white or cream tile in the shower to replace the plastic lining that it now has is in.

Our hallway closet outside of the bathroom could use some help also. I would love it it looked like this. via

Basement/Man Cave: As some of you might know, our basement flooded the last time we got a whole lot of rain and it tends to leak every time we get a big rain. The last two times it hasn't been a whole whole lot just enough to ruin the carpet and make us have to take everything out of the basement that was even remotely important. It also caused the baseboards to mold. As of right now we are going to be having someone over very soon to fix all of it. This includes: fixing the moldy walls, putting new molding around the base of the walls, putting tile down and painting the walls again. Derek would also like to redo the ceiling but I think it looks fine. I hope we get it fixed because right now it's POURING down rain outside and all I can think about is that my desk drawers are next to the wall where it usually leaks.

Anywany,

I would love to have a nice area for Derek to watch his sports games and have all his "manly" items.I don't want the typical bar in the basement either. I would love if half of this room could turn into Stratton's play area so he can be down with Derek while he plays and Derek watches TV.

Last but not least.

My Office/Study: The room that is supposed to be my office/study is currently filled with...wait for it...CRAP! Everything from stuff we need to get rid of to stuff that we can't find a good safe place for because of the water. I would love to repaint the walls in there and get a little office that looks like this.

via

I want my own space where I can do my homework as well as have a space for my computer and printer and sewing machine. I need a space for my stuff. Especially if I would like to per sue having a business from home as a graphic artist (this would be in the future hopefully but I'm not holding my breath).

This office would be perfect for the room I have. It could to do this room identically and it would fit perfect. If only I had some extra money just laying around and nothing to do with it.

So there you have it. This is what I would like done with my house right now. If anyone has any pointers for me please let me know. I'm always open for ideas. Happy Hump Day! The week is half way over!

Monday, September 12, 2011

Birthdays!

Just a word of warning: This is a very long post with LOTS of pictures.

Enjoy.

A few weekends ago we celebrated not only my dad's birthday but also my Nice Cobie's birthday.

On the drive over to Cobie's birthday party Stratton was all smiles.

The birthday girl took a nap before everyone got there. I caught her right as she woke up

Her Aunt Cara made her cake and her cup cakes for the party.

She has the cutest cousins. This is Kelsey.

The birthday girl again trying to wake up.

Cobie with Grandma Lisa

I love babies!

Stratton was playing so hard that day. He was having so much fun on the playground equipment with Papa Dale.

She made the most pathetic little face when we put her princess hat on her.

Stratton looked like such a big boy!

I love her face in this picture. She's like "Seriously mom and dad, get off my cake."

This was the card that Stratton picked out for Cobie. He even asked Grandma Lisa for a dollar to put it in the card for her. He is the sweetest thing ever.

She loved her baby dolls.

Stratton had a really good time if you can't tell. That's sweat, not water.

Later on that night we met up with my mother in law and father in law (Jim and Brenda) and we ate at stooges. Stratton of course had to get snow cones when we were done eating.