Diaper Cakes

Anyone that knows me, knows that I am always trying to come up with the most unique gifts. I love doing gift baskets too! Well in my latest search for a unique gift for a baby shower, I discovered the world of Diaper Cakes. Evidently they have been in existence for a while, but this is the first time I have ever seen them. I checked out all kinds on the internet and decided "I can do that". So I did! It was actually very easy and only took an hour to make (that is, once I finally decided how I wanted to do it) It cost me a little over $20 (that's gift wrap and all) . I used the Wal-Mart Parent's Choice diapers. If anyone is interested in making one, just let me know and I will post step-by-step instructions on how I did it! I also saw diapers wreaths online, but I wasn't quite as impressed with those.

Shannon, over at Rocks In My Dryer has started a new weekly feature called "Works-For-Me Wednesday. She has invited others to play along, so that's what I'm doing. You really need to take a look at her post so that you can check out all of the other participant's ideas. There are some really good ideas. Here is my contribution for this week:

I used to save magazines because there were one or 2 recipes or craft ideas in it that I wanted to keep. After a few years of that, my magazine collection was out of control. So I sat down with all of them one night and went to town with the scissors. I cut out all of the pages that had recipes, tips and craft ideas that I wanted to keep around. (works better to keep whole page rather than just cutting out the recipe itself) I bought a binder and package of those clear sheet protectors. I made 3 sections in my binder (recipes, crafts, and tips) and used tabbed dividers to seperate them. I put a piece of notebook paper in the front of each section and as I add something to the recipe or crafts section I write it down and use it as an index of sort. I don't have the pages numbered or anything, but when I refer to the book for something it at leasts gives me an idea as to where it is in the section (front, middle, back). I refer to it at least once a week and keep it on top of the fridge so that it is always handy. I also use it to keep small recipe cards that I pick up and the recipe cards that come with my pampered chef stuff. It's also great for storing all of the recipes that I find online. I no longer have a magazine collection, but I'm still a magazine fanatic! Now, I just keep the stuff I like and toss the rest.

Here is my binder:


While we are on the subject of great tips and ideas, I would also recommended checking out Parents Hacks. It is full of great ideas!!

Cleaning up our act

I can still remember the battle my mom used to have with me over keeping my room clean. I remember being told to go to my room and not to come out until it was clean. So, I would go to my room and start cleaning. That would last all of 5 minutes. I was easily distracted and soon I would be playing instead. Mom would come in and it would still be a mess. I eventually figured out that if I left it a mess long enough, she would either do it for me or she would at least help. By the time I was a teenager I think she had given up all hope. I can remember her crying over our rooms being a mess. At the time I thought she was crazy...but now, with one of my own....I completely get it. It makes me feel unappreciated after I spend an hour or more cleaning his room and then see it trashed within the next 24 hours. My mom of course thinks this is hilarious. She is finallly getting the payback that she so very deserves.

Well I am on a mission to break the cycle. I realize that I've already began to teach Brayden that if he waits long enough, I'll come in and clean it for him. Banishing him to his room until it's clean doesn't even faze him. Why should it? I'm requiring him to stay in a room filled with toys and a TV! He'll hang out in there and play until I make him come out to eat or take a bath. So yesterday, I asked him to please go clean his room and his response was "But I don't know how". I began to think about that and realized that he had a point. I've never "taught" him how to clean it. Basically I've just been telling him to go in there and figure it out. I'm sure it's overwhelming for him to see all that clutter and not know where to start. He doesn't understand how to take this huge task and break it down into a bunch of little tasks. So I came up with this....
It gives him several little tasks, instead of one big general "Clean your room". For the pictures, I actually used images of his fave movies, his toy bins and I even found a picture online of his bedspread. I printed a bunch of these sheets out and got him his own little clipboard. The first rule of cleaning (even for myself) is to turn the TV off. It is way too easy to get distracted. The second part is optional, but it always help me to have some music blaring. He can choose to do the smaller tasks in whatever order makes sense to him. As he gets through with each task, he can check it off. When he's done and has brought me the completed form and his room has passed "mommy inspection", he will be rewarded. He will earn $2 for his piggy bank. Once he begins, he will be given 2 hours (way more than enough time) to clean it from start to finish. If he doesn't clean it in the time allowed or if he moans and whines about it the whole time he will not be allowed to watch TV or play outside for the rest of that day. And then we will begin again the next day and the next until he figures out that it's easier just to clean it the first time. I don't expect perfection. I realize that making the bed is going to be tough for him, but as long as he tries, I'll be happy. Maybe by the time he turns the ripe old age of 5, he will be cleaning his room like a pro.

We haven't introduced this to him yet, but he can either do it this way....or he can pack all of his toys up into trash bags and let me take them down to goodwill. I refuse to fight this battle for the next 16 years like my mom did. By the way....Sorry Mom!!

Reminiscing

Mom gave me an old digital camera card to use this weekend and when I popped it in, I saw pictures from Brayden's 1st B-day...

Cracking up!!

Let me begin by saying, thank goodness the goverment hasn't decided to wire our homes in order to monitor our interaction with our children.

Brayden was helping me make a veggie casserole this weekend. I threw in some finely chopped onion and begin to stir, Brayden looked in the bowl and exclaimed "Mom, there's a piece of crack in it!" I instantly knew what he meant, but it was hilarious! He thought the onion was a piece of eggshell (we weren't even using eggs), and since an egg "cracks" when you open it, I guess he thought the pieces of shell must be called cracks. Glad we cleared that up while we were in the privacy of our own home, can you imagine him saying something at school about our dinner having crack in it??

Recently while driving by a cemetary...

Brayden : *gasp* "Mom, all those flowers turned to stone!"

Recent Conversations

B: I know how people grow up mom.
M: How?
B: Well first they are with Jesus, and then they go into mommy tummies and when the come out they are babies and then they stay babies for a little while and then they grow up!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
B: I didn’t tell you about my bad dream.
M: What was it about?
B: I can’t tell you?
M: Yes you can, it’s ok.
B: No, I can’t tell you.
M: Why not?
B: Someone dies (dies is drug out in a very breathy quiet voice)
M: Who dies? (I’m thinking, poor thing, he dreamed about one of us dying)
B: Power Rangers…again. They died, but I saved them.

By the way, Brayden informed me yesterday that he likes kisses now and he doesn’t wipe them off anymore.

Tender Loving Care

Last night Brayden was back in our room watching the television version of Big Daddy. He came into the living room and I could tell that he had been crying. His eyelashes were wet and his eyes were red. I asked him what he was crying about and at first he said nothing. I explained how I could tell that he had bee crying and asked again. He got up on the couch and laid down next to me and said in his saddest sounding voice “that big man came and took that little boy from his daddy and he was crying, they were holding hands and then they had to let go and the boy had to go, it was sad”. I got teary just listening to it. I told him to go back in there because I think they may get to be together again. He was happy when it was over, that it had all worked out. This was the first time I have seen that type of emotion from him when watching a movie. I mean I’ve seen scared, and happy, but never compassion, not from a movie anyway. I have of course seen compassion from him in other instances though, like the way he will ask playmates if they are ok and then helps them after they have fallen; and the way he helps the smaller kids when we go to play places (McD’s etc), he will make it his mission to be the one to help them if they get stuck or need a helping hand or encouraging word. It’s so sweet to see him take a little hand and say “come on, I’ll help you”. Just yesterday a friend of mine was over with her almost 2 yr old. We got on the trampoline and he kept putting his hands out, surrounding her and telling her to be careful. It was so sweet. It makes me very proud to see that he has such a tender heart.
I must be honest though and say that he definetly has his not-so-compassionate moments also, for instance when him and his daddy gang up on me and tickle me until I’m in tears – and then he stands there laughing at me hysterically – no compassion there!

Strike a pose

Sunday while we were out at nana’s & papa’s, Brayden climbed up in the tree. I told him to stay put while I went to get the camera. When I came back he was “posing” in the tree. Once we were done there, he wanted to take some more, so he ran all around the yard striking a new pose each time. Each time leaning on something or holding on to something. He’s never been one to really pose for the camera, but he was hammin’ it up that day!

Breakfast at Brayden's

Saturday morning, Brayden comes into our room and proclaims that he is thirsty. I looked at Bobby with that "it's your turn look" and I given the same look in return. So my lazy self told Brayden that he was almost 5 and that I thought today would be a great day to learn to fix his own drink. At first he explained that he couldn't reach the glasses, so I told him to grab his bathroom stool. So he was off and on a mission. We laid there and listened to him. We could hear him dragging the stool and slamming the cabinet door after getting his Scooby Doo mug. We heard the fridge open and he yells "can I have Kool-Aid"? My first thought was "red kool-aid is not going to be fun to clean up", but I said yes anyway, because the other option was milk and the thought of him handling a full gallon of milk was worse than the Kool-aid. We heard him pour it and put it back in the fridge. Mission accomplished...or was it? He then told us that he was now going to fix his own breakfast. I decided to lay back and see what he came up with. So after about 10 minutes he said that he was done and he wanted us to come see. So we drug ourselves out of bed and headed to the kitchen. The plate you see below is what we were presented with.

Trix Yogurt , Raisins, Cheetos, Graham Cracker Bones and a pastry twist on a zoopals plate...oh and we can't forget the Scooby Doo mug with red kool-aid!

By the way, he will be preparing dinner tomorrow night and you're all invited.

Lions and Tigers and Bears... oh my!

It's been a while since just the 3 of us have done something together, so we made last Saturday family day and took off to the Tulsa zoo...

Hi God, it's me - Brayden

With the threat of severe storms swarming around us on the drive home last night, a weather bulletin interrupted our music to "bring us an important bulletin from the national weather service". The announcer had a deep voice. He spoke slowly, yet with an urgency his voice. When he was done, Brayden said "Mommy, was that God?" I said no, it was the weather man. He said "Well it sounded like God".

He's talks about God/Jesus quite often. I swear he has convinced me that babies live in heaven and then sent to earth. He talks about God as if he knows him, as if he remembers him. We go to church and he hears about God and we do talk about God at home (even though I will shamefully admit, we don't talk about him enough), but I mean it's like he gets it already. He understands who God is. He doesn't question the fact that we can't see him. He believes in Him with absolutly no doubt. Now, I totally understand what "Child-like faith" means.

As we were pulling out of his daycare yesterday after I picked him up, a song was on that mentioned Jesus. He sighed really big and said

B - Great, a Jesus song. (not great good, but great as in "oh great, this again?)
M - Uh, why did you say that?
B - I don't want to listen to a song about Jesus"
M - You will make Jesus sad by saying that . If we want to go to heaven, we have to love and respect God and we should be happy to sing about him.
B - Does everyone go to heaven?
M - Everyone that believes in God, asks him to live in their heart and mind, and lives a God-like life will go to heaven
B *looking very matter-of-factly* - I do believe in Jesus mom, I really do. I think Chloe does too. (his future "honey")

And finally last night when we were talking about the storm we had earlier that day, he said "Jesus pertected my school today during the storm, so that the thunder and lighting wouldn't hurt it".

Oh yeah, I forgot about one more conversation we had. Me and Bobby and Brayden were all sitting on the couch last night talking about Brayden's day and he mentioned the "Jesus protectiong his school" thing again, so I mentioned what he had said about the weather guy sounding like God. The weather happen to be on at the time and Brayden pointed to the weather man and inquired...

B - Well, then is he God?
M - No, you can't see or hear God on the TV.
B - But I CAN hear him.
M - But not on the TV.
B - I know that mom, I can hear him in my head!
M - What does God say to you?
B - He tells me to make good choices at school and go to circle time!

And all this time, I've been patting myself on the back because he behaves so well!!