Saturday, November 17, 2012

Sing, Sing a Song Saturday

I started doing what I call Sing, Sing a Song Saturday.  I'm going to post one song on Saturdays that the boys or I like. 

The song may be part of a movie, a kid's video or just a song we like. It may or may not include words. I'll try and include why we like it and/or the history of the song/singer.

The group I'm featuring this week is called Soap&Skin. They are a Austria band. The lead singer, Anja Franziska Plaschg grew up in a small village called Poppendorf (near Gnas) in south east Styria. There they have a farm. She went to school for graphic design and dropped out at 16. She has played piano since she was six. At the age of 14 she began violin studies and developed an interest in electronic music. She started performing on a small scale, which later got bigger.

Her first album also achieved chart positions in Germany, Belgium and France. Music journalists have already claimed to see in her a new star of Austrian pop.

 Thanatos


Janitor of Lunacy

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Thanksgiving is Better Than Snacktime

Mica grounded himself from having snacks for a few days. We asked him if he wanted to be grounded from snacks or movies? He picked snacks. He was a punk in the grocery store.

He said last night before bed, "Mom I can't wait until tomorrow! I can eat snacks again!" 

This morning he said, "I can't WAIT for Thanksgiving! It's better than snack time!"

Last week Mica wanted a plate. He set out to make a scarecrow in his room. This is what he ended up with:

He didn't ask for any help. I think the only problems were that he couldn't write his letters over the scotch tape and that the glue would stick to the paper plate. 

Otherwise it's cute! I love that he set off to make something and did it.

It's says, "Hello! My name is Ralph. I have a hat and overalls."

Friends: An Awesome Limited Edition Prize Pack Consisting of Two Oversized Mugs and a Picture Frame Giveaway



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Have fun by playing 30 Days of Friends Trivia Challenge above. Come back every day to earn a new friend badge, unlock hidden badges and earn friends along the way.

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Disclaimer: The opinions on the post are my personal take on the product. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. I am not compensated to provide my opinion except for receiving the products themselves to test out. I did not receve a free product to help with this giveaway.
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Arrowheads

My husband used to collect arrowheads when he was a kid. I found a Native American Knife. When we moved to our house, we decided to make shadow boxes for them and label them the best that we could.

My husband cut the wood, he glued them together, I sanded, stained and varnished them, I cut all the mats and he labeled them and hung them all. Then I thought furniture tacks would look great in the frames.

I think there is 9 of them. I hope someday we find more.



Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Rocks Paper Scissors.

A few days ago I post about how Isaak ransacked his room. That night after posting that he wrote on his floor his name in crayon. Luckily wiped clean. At this point in time I'm really glad we have wood floors.

We didn't take away his toys. Instead we took away what we hated taking away, but knew he'd actually hate to. His paper, scissors, crayons, markers and marbles got put in a box and taken away. Those are the things he plays with the most. They are also the things he is getting in trouble with. We believe that the punishment if possible should match the crime.

Source
He was put to bed at 7 that night.

The next day Daddy was doing homework with Mica. I was already at work. Daddy heard the water running. He said, "Isaak why is the water running?" Silence. Daddy said again louder, "Isaak why is the water running?" He said, "I'm washing my rocks."

There wasn't that big of a mess in the bathroom sink that I had just cleaned. Daddy took away Isaak's rock collection to.

It's funny that taking away his toys just wouldn't work as a punishment for him. Every kid is different.

For the record, I don't think Isaak's trying to be bad. I really think he's in an experimental phase. One of my co-workers actually brought that to my attention today. One good thing is that he seems to be moving out of the separation anxiety phase. He doesn't like to be left upstairs when I go downstairs to do laundry (without telling him). He does however feel much more comfortable about going to his newish preschool.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

WW: Toothless {Linky}

Mica has lost three teeth in the last few weeks. His teacher called him, "Toothless". He liked that nickname.



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If you have the time enter my low entry NuNaturals Flavored Stevia Liquids giveaway and my Scratch Art Portable Box from Melissa and Doug giveaway.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Not All is Grumps and Distruction

Even though Isaak ransacked his room this weekend; Isaak did have his positive notes as well. He did help in the kitchen and played well outside when Daddy mowed.


Check out his funny joke. Just in case you can't understand him through the jumping and high pitched voice it goes like this: "Why was 6 afraid of 7?" Answer: "Because 7 ate 9."


How a Good Day Can Turn Cold Day

Saturday was in the 70's and Sunday was in the 30's temperature wise. I'm not looking forward to winter. There's part of a reason why I went to grad school in the south.

The boys were great Saturday morning. We ran an errand. They were good there. They came back home and helped me bake and clean. They were wonderful little souls.

So wonderful that I let them watch a movie. Their choice was Home Alone. I didn't think at all about Isaak's separation anxiety. Yep that was a Mommy fail! They still liked the movie.

Mica got to call a friend to come over to play. There's a little story to this. The boy that plays with Mica all the time isn't as accepting as Mica is. Another little boy was trying to play with them and Mica said, "Sure you can play with us." The other boy said, "No you can't play with us." Then Mica grilled the unaccepting boy a little about how other kids can play with them. I'm proud of Mica for that. I told him that if his friend was like that again how he should just play with the kid that wants to join in and his friend can choose to be accepting or not. The kid Mica wanted to come over was the one that was left out. I just want to hug kids that are left out. It's such a tough world we live in today. My nephew that is 4 said, Why are those guys bullies." What was he talking about? Politician's on TV. That's what our kids see. That's what we're supposed to have them look up to. Mica called the kid and just got an answering machine, which lead to heartbreak. I left a message. Mica kept saying, "When is he going to call back?" and "Why won't he call me?" I kept saying, "I don't know honey."

Later on we found out that our land line phone was in use for 3 hours. It was off the hook and I couldn't find the phone. Mica was carrying it around while I was vacuuming, so he wouldn't miss a call back from his friend. The FIND button on the phone wouldn't work because it was in use. Mica searched high and low for the missing in use phone. He wanted my help. I was making dinner by that time. When he searches for things, he pretty much walks in circles expecting the missing object to hit him in the face. When Daddy got home he found the phone right away. Mica tried calling his buddy one more time and got another answering machine.

Isaak was laid down at 2:30. I know the boy is weaning from naps. He was a grouch. When he's a grouch he is a pain to Mica. He was just throwing things, trying to shoot Mica's stuff with Mica's Nerf Gun. He went from a good helper and sweet kid to a punk and a 1/2. Down he went. Things were quiet. I thought he fell asleep. :)

Then I heard noise.

Here's what Isaak's room used to look like:


 Close ups of my paper birds and paper puppy I made:



Cute right? Well it doesn't look like this anymore! :(  Isaak's long since peeled the middle part of the tree up. Yesterday he tore the owl off his wall and I found it on the ground. The nest was about to get tore up and I caught him red handed. I yelled loudly, held his face in my hands and said sternly, "You don't do that!" and off to timeout he went. He doesn't get the owl or the tree back. If he doesn't want a cute room that's his problem.


Later on I found by the puppy on the wall "Isaak" with all the letters backwards in pencil. He knows how to write his name the correct way. He was just experimenting. Then he colored in the open part  puppies tail on the wall; again with pencil. 

Do you or have you ever gotten so annoyed with your kids that you don't know what to do? He didn't want to nap, so he ransacked his room instead. I was so mad! I wish this was a scenario like when Mica slammed his door; where I could remove the door for awhile. Not so easy. His decor is about to fully come down though. I'm sick of him peeling at his tree and destroying his cute room. Part of me wishes I would have painted a mural on his wall. Then he would have peeled the paint more than likely. I don't know if I wish for him to have anything, "cute" in his room when he destroyed all that I put into it. Maybe it was more for me than him. I'm about to rip it all down and he gets just bare walls. I don't think that would punish him enough. He'd probably like having nothing on his walls. Maybe I'll take 1/2 his toys away. I need ideas here. A punishment that would make him wish he didn't do that.

One of my friends on FB just posted that her son's been peeling paint off their wall. I remember babysitting a kid that ransacked her whole house in the middle of the night. I suppose I should be thankful it wasn't that bad. It is the first time anyone has colored on our walls. It was in pencil. I won the tree, so I didn't pay for it. I'm trying to look at all the positives that are in the situation. I'm still ticked off.

$100 Tea Giveaway

I just love the Tea Collection!  Mom Spotted is giving away a $100 GC to Tea!

Check out Mica sporting his Tea shirt we got last year:


He's still wearing it. There's a hood behind his shirt that comes if he wants it off.

Here's Jennifer's son sporting his Tea shirt:


If I won I'd have a hard time deciding on what to get. I just love all their clothes. I do know that this Viking Tee would be one of my top picks.


What We Did on Saturday

On Saturday it was in the upper 70s and on Sunday in the low 40s. The cold front has hit Nebraska for sure.

On Saturday I took all our beds apart and washed everything. It took pretty much all day, with the errands we ran. I know it's time to do that when Isaak has kicked his covers all over the place. He's a wild sleeper. Maybe it has more to do with him wanting to hide in his covers.

Isaak loves to hide from us. He's a typical little boy. He hides in the same spots: Behind his bedroom door, in his covers, or behind the calk board. He gets really mad when Mica points out where he is. When I find him he says, "How did you know I was hiding here?" I sort of shrug my shoulders and say, "It was pretty hard to find you."

Off went their bedding to be washed. Under the covers, on the ground the boys hid.

I made a big breakfast on Saturday. French toast, almonds, fresh pomegranate and apple juice, and coffee for the adults. Pomegranates are fairly new to us. I've bought premade pomegranate juice, but only a handful of times have I actually juiced them. If you've never had them, don't eat the white stuff! I made that mistake the first time. YUCK! It won't kill you, but it isn't good - very bitter. You eat the red seeds. It's pretty fast to cut them in 1/2 and de-seed them in a bowl of water. They are good! Isaak begs for some of the seeds to eat on their own. The boys are pretty much pigs for breakfast on the weekends. Maybe it's because we eat later then the weekdays. Mica wanted 3 pieces of French toast. I had to stop him at 2 and give him another protein to eat.

Source
Daddy mowed for the last time, which took awhile. We haven't bagged any of our leaves. Our backyard is big for a city yard. I processed leaves by putting them them in buckets of water and layed them down under a baby Dwarf Magnolia Tree. The other crunched up leaves went into a compost pile, which will be where our potatoes will be planted next year. Our compost pile is always on the move.


After the many dishes and mowing the leaves up, we went to pick out a new screen/glass door. Ours is all out of shape. We liked things about one door, but not something else. They didn't have what we wanted in stock. It was a pain trying to find what we wanted. In the end we got one from Home Depot. The best brand was an Anderson door (Daddy researched). We'll have to wait 7 to 10 days to get it, but that's better than the 5 week wait at the other place. To pay someone to put one on was much more expensive and the door they wanted to put in wasn't the best quality. We have the worst luck with people not shutting our door and the wind taking it. Cross your fingers that this one works out. Otherwises I think we should build walls around the doors.

Disclaimer

The opinions on this blog are my personal take on products and topics relating to motherhood. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me.

I am not compensated to provide opinions on a variety of topics. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are my own. If I claim to show knowledge of certain topic or product I will only endorse products or services that I feel, based on my expertise, are worthy of such endorsement.

If you have any questions about this blog, or want to get in contact with me please email me at: anapeladay@gmail.com