Friday Finds: Polka Dots & Toy Storage

Water coloring over white crayon. This would be so fun to do with kids! Can't wait to try it with Little Miss! 

 

via alisaburke.blogspot.com

This just screams summer to me! Looks so fun and healthy! This would be a great activity to do with kids - let them decorate it with whatever fruit pattern they want.

 

via fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net 

I need this saying up on my bathroom mirror so I can read it every morning and remember the battle I'm fighting - not the battle of cleaning my house, or juggling my time...but the battle of raising my children to be good and righteous in the face of so much evil. Bring it on satan!

via imgfave.com/view/1462365

One pattern all the princess dresses - Little Miss would die of happiness!! 

 

via mykidsdrawers.etsy.com

I love this idea for a chore chart. Gives the kids responsibility, but a feeling of independence while picking chores that you're okay with. Totally making one!

 

via thebaezablog.blogspot.com

Coconut Curry Chickpea Quinoa Pineapple Burgers...drool...These are already on my menu to try next week. Oh they look so good and healthy! Totally doing the sweet potato fries too - I love sweet potatoes!

 

via cheekykitchen.com 

 This color wheel is a great idea for so many reasons - promotes matching, fine motor skill development...just awesome! So easy to make too! 

via therigneys.wordpress.com

Pretty much the cutest Halloween costume I've ever seen...wish I'd thought to do it last year with Mr Man! 

via countrynightsparkle.tumblr.com

Love this look! I just need the polka-dot blouse...I have a thing for polka-dots.

 

via outfitposts.blogspot.com

These are great diy kids benches/toy storage...love! Husband and I already decided we need this for our toyroom. Although my bins will have pictures of things on the outside to promote organization...cars, dolls, blocks, etc. This way friends that come over will know where things go & Little Miss won't have any excuses.

 

via iheartorganizing.blogspot.com

Love this saying.

via spirituallythinking.blogspot.com

Great colors and more ways to organize toys! The ABC print in the back is adorable!!

 

via projectnursery.com

Tucking this one away for when Little Miss is a little bit bigger...such great ideas! I should probably review some of them myself...

via homegrownmom.com

Hope everyone has a great weekend!! We're headed off camping with the munchkins. Praying Mr Man sleeps in the tent, instead of crying last time...well, at least the crying would keep the bears away! =)

Wordless Wednesday

Caught Mr Man's violent rage while taking Father's Day photos before church...as if that spontaneous act wasn't hilarious enough, then I saw my husband's face. Pretty much my favorite picture ever!

The Paper Bag Princess Birthday Party

I usually foster independence in decision making for Little Miss - hence the Carrot Party last year and all of her crazy clothing choices. But when she told me she wanted a princess party for her fourth birthday I started making suggestions. I just didn't want to do a princess party  - all the pink, and the dress-ups...it just seemed so typical. But it's what she wanted. So here is my twist on a princess party...

Of course we had to have a castle sign with mote and alligator...The river is blue poster board I cut to look wavey like a river. And the alligator head is actually a dinosaur foam hat I got at the dollar store and spray painted green. 

Some princess stickers I found at the dollar store - this was Little Miss's special project to help decorate.

One of the signs Little Miss and I made together - it points to the bathroom...which I thought was hilarious, and Little Miss didn't. To help her get involved I would do the block letters and she did all the coloring...

The Happy Birthday sign I surprised her with in the morning.

The book we read a little later - super cute book. I'll get to that later. Note the poison apple decoration...

More decor. A magic mirror on the wall next to the princess dress-up station...

Mirror, mirror...ignore my ugly masking tape. I couldn't find my clear double sided stuff that morning...good thing four year olds don't care!

The sign next to all the princess dress-ups...when Little Miss and her friends dress-up every few minutes they are changing their clothes and who they are - so this sign was mostly to entertain the moms...

The cake - totally worth staying up late to make! For the towers I frosted rice krispy treats for the bottom that I molded with my hands. And the pointy tops are sugar cones dipped in melted white chocolate and rolled in sprinkles. She loved it!

Each party-goer got their picture taken at the door with the princesses, paparazzi staging of sorts. Totally fun.

Playing "Poison Apple" - which is just hot potato with an apple. The boys wore prince capes that I made out of dollar store men's shirts. I just cut off the arms and fronts so the neckline was still intact to keep the cape in place.

Playing "Magic Carpet Ride", which was actually just musical chairs with magic carpet squares instead.

Reading The Paper Bag Princess - super cute book! It's about a princess who doesn't wait to be rescued and takes matters into her own hands. She works hard to rescue her prince from the dragon. Her prince in turn tells her to come back when she looks like a real princess (she's a mess from all the rescueng), and she in turn calls him a bum and rides off into the sunset by herself. Girl power! A great moral, not to mention entertaining. So we gave Little Miss a copy for her birthday, family tradition to give the kids a book on their birthday.

Slaying the dragon after reading the book. I bought a blue and pink unicorn pinata - it's all I could find. Nothing a little spray paint and poster board couldn't fix. I added the spikes and wings, dehorned it, and I seriously love spray paint.

The kids collected their candy in paper bags, to go along with the book.

Candle time...

And it wasn't a royal ball without a dance party at the end...so I cranked the disney music from pandora and the girls (and boys) went wild...

After her friends left and Mr Man went down for a nap we did a quiet time activity together. I took a plain white men's shirt I found at the dollar store - sewed it down to size. Let her choose how to decorate it (flowers and the saying "I'm 4 and I like it!"), helped her block it out and she colored it with some fabric crayons.

She loved this! Oh, and she chose some ribbon to go around the bottom. She wore it the rest of the day - and many days since.

 I got the shirt idea from a tradition my sisters and I used to have. We had these pink pants with pom-poms on them that we called our birthday pants. Whoever's birthday it was wore the pants and the other two sisters decorated a shirt for her...usually horribly embarrassing. And we had to wear it all day.

I wish I had a picture to post - I loved that tradition. I wonder who ended up with the pants...

On a side note...How is Little Miss 4 already!? It's freaking me out!!

Giveaway: The Party Works

The Party Works is giving away a party pack for 8 to one of you lucky readers!! They have over 250 themes to choose from - everything from disney to NFL teams. Here are some of my favorites...

This would be great timing for a 4th of July barbecue!!

I love the vintage stroller on these plates - extra tall legs. So cute! And I am just a sucker for polka-dots. Little Miss's first birthday was polka-dot themed.

I love the colors and flowers on this pack! So perfect for a summer party.

My husband would LOVE it if I through him a space mission party...so would my son... =)

I love this little Sweet Pea set! Gender neutral and super cute graphics.

Beautiful.

Owls are totally in right now - they are everywhere! So if you're into owls, here ya go!

All you have to do to enter to win is leave a comment telling me about your favorite birthday party theme ever and what made it so special.

To get an extra entry in the giveaway "like" The Mom Blog on facebook. And if you're really ambitious and want three entries - you can share this giveaway on facebook or blog about it (make sure to comment and tell me what you've done).

Giveaway will close on June 25th at midnight. A winner will be announced on June 26th.

Stay-tuned for a detailed post about Little Miss's 4th birthday party...

*This giveaway is for residents of the Continental United States only...our next giveaway will be open to everyone so check back often!

Friday Finds for Father's Day

So many cute ideas and it's not too late to get started on any of them!!

 

Naptime is Sacred!

Seriously. Naptime is the best thing ever. Little Miss stopped napping the day we brought Mr Man home from the hospital. It was a very sad day for this mommy. Our current naptime routine consists of the following...

Mr Man sleeps from 1pm-4pm (sometimes a little less) and in those three hours I cram as much in as possible. Laundry, weeding, cleaning, reading, writing in my journal, prepping for dinner, spending time with Little Miss and reading to her...the time flies. But it is special. And without it I would be one frazzled mommy with a messy(er) house.

Naptime is a time to play catch up for me. Naptime is a time to give Little Miss some much needed one-on-one, my full undivided attention, an opportunity to make her feel extra special. Naptime is also extremely necessary and good for Mr Man...

Proper amounts of *restful* sleep are vital for brain development in children. Vital! And vital for mommy's sanity. So around our house we stop everything to make sure naptime is a consistent enjoyable experience for all. I schedule my day around it. My errands are done in the morning and I leave things that can be done during naptime, until naptime. So loud things - like vacuuming are done early in the day.

Consistency is the key. Same time everyday. Dark window treatments to block out the light and the same white noise Mr Man gets at night.

Because, naptime is sacred...

What are your naptime tricks and tips?