A Valentine

Valentine's Day is an interesting holiday for me. We don't really celebrate it at my house like others do. Hubby and I will exchange cards and some years there will be flowers waiting for me in the kitchen when I get up. But we don't go out (we hate crowds) and we don't buy gifts. I am thrilled and happy with this non-stress holiday! That said, I do have a little love in my heart for the valentines that kids give to each other.

This year, LM made his for his classmates and a few of his adult friends. If you remember, a couple of years ago we made these. 

Here is what we made this year. I am sorry for the crappy photos.  I took them with my iPhone at work.

Here is what you need to make these cute valentines for almost no money!

• regular brown lunch sacks
• clear plastic treat bags ( I had these, but you can use snack bags or anything you have around)
• Tag design and sticker paper- I printed off these tags on sticker paper from LittleSproutCreations.
• Stickers for closing the plastic bags and goodies to put inside.  I used extra heart stickers and M&Ms

1. Fill the clear bags with your choice of goodies.  I used M&Ms because I wanted something that I could pack flat.  I put between 1/8 and 1/4 Cup in. 
2. Use one of the heart stickers to hold over the folded plastic bag.
3. Open up the lunch sack and place the stickers on the bottom and the M&Ms on top of the stickers.
4. Fold the bag over.  I used the foundation of the bottom of the bag for the size to fold.  I wanted to make sure that my end product was somewhat flat so that it would be easy for my toddler to hold and that they were all a unified size.
5. Use the big sticker already cut out, to hold the bag closed.  I used sticker paper, but you could use double sided tape or string.  
6. Bobs your Uncle, you have a cute valentine.

Of course, I had wanted to decorate the crap out of these things, but I realize that my son isn't represented very much if I girl it up. But.... if you had a girl imagine how cute this would be with a strip of lace wrapped around the package and held down with the sticker.  You also don't have to do dinosaurs, but could do any other image and saying that you like.  I went quick and easy with mine so I just downloaded some already made.   I also just wrote in my son's name.


Do you have a cute Valentine's Day idea?

Linking back to:
Between Naps on the Porch: Metamorphisis Monday
Skip to my Lou

Hag- I mean bag follow-up

Hi- this is not an exciting post, but because I promised and that last 10% is hard for me, here is a post with how I store my plastic bags at work.  Feel free to skip this post :)

I tend to reuse a lot of plastic grocery bags.  I have reusable ones but sometimes I don't have them with me or just want the protection of a plastic bag.  I don't like to throw them away so when I use them to carry my lunch to work (I am classy like that) I need to have some place to store them that doesn't take up space.  He is my very, very, very unclassy way of storing them.

They are small and neat and tidy in my desk.  Here is how you fold them- I know you are excited....

Step 1) smooth the bag out flat

Step 2) fold in half and then half again so it looks like this (yeah, I shop at Wally World!)

Step 3) Take one of the bottom corners and fold it so it makes a triangle

Who's old hand is that.... it can't be mine because all of those veins make it look like my Mom's hand

Step 4) Take the far left point of the triangle and fold it over like your are turning a book page.  This makes the triangle thicker with another layer of bag. It will look  like this.

There is my Mom's hand again (crazy)


Step 5) Keep folding until you get to the handles.

 Can you see where I took my wedding ring off up there?  I ate Mexican and my hands swelled from the sodium (I am very sensitive like that)

Step 6) On the side of the triangle closest to the handle you should be able to see where you can pull out the plastic to make a pocket.  Pull this out.

Step 7) Tuck the handles in and work them around so that you have a nice plastic triangle or a slightly puffy one like this one.

This way, I can throw a couple in my desk or throw them in my purse to take home to use for daycare and they don't take up any space!

Was this awesome or what?!!?? To my one follower ( there are two signed up but it really is only one person with a split blog personality) don't you totally want to sit down and immediately do this to all of your plastic bags?

Spilled Milk

So back when LM was a wee one- a left over, half filled bottle spilled in the barely 3 minute ride from daycare to the house.  Spilled. on. the. carpet. of. the. car- milk.all.over!  Apparently the lid was not on correctly.  We all have had these accidents with those bottle caps!

Lesson learned so now ALL leftover food containers travel to and from in a plastic bag.  I know I drive daycare crazy with this quirk but what ever, I am a nice parent besides this (or at least I think I am, they might say something else about me).  So, now I kill two birds with one stone and recycle grocery bags into daycare food bags.  For the longest time I kept them in a mason jar on my counter so I could get one at any time.  This was cute, but didn't hold many bags and although I like it, I have been searching for a new container.

My temporary solution is to use one of the many wipes cases we have around the house.  However, I am not a fan of 1)the look and 2) having things unlabeled

Here is what I did-
I took some black contact paper (only color I had around)

eyeballed it and started cutting and adhering to the wipes case.

This is what I got

I now need to add a cute but yet streamline label and stuff with bags!

I know I could have gone all out and decoupaged it or painted it, but that just seemed like such a big commitment to a temporary solution.  I am the 90% completion queen and wanted to finish this and move on!

I figure that when I find my final solution I can put latex gloves in it that we keep stored in the garage.

What do you keep your plastic bags in- I want something that the LM can't get into and pull them all out!   Next week I will show you how I store my plastic bags at work!

I am linking up to Skip to my Lou again!

Wrapped Candy Treats Part 1 of 2

Hey you people.  I didn't see any comments so perhaps I will tease you with only part 1 of the tutorial.  If you like it please let me know!
 

Supplies

·      Hershey Nuggets (any flavor)

·      Avery Labels 5160

·      Printer

Creating your label

Creating your labels is pretty simple.  The directions for your version of MS Office might be slightly different depending on where the commands are located, but you should be able to figure it out.

1.    In Office, start up a fresh document.

2.    Go to the “Tools” menu

3.    Select “Labels”

·      You should make sure to have 8160 listed as your label, if not, select the “Options” button and search for it. ·      Make sure you have “Full page of the same label” selected under the number of labels. ·      Leave everything else blank and select the “OK” button.

4.    Office will now create a blank template of your labels.  You will notice that there are some gray lines.  These are your guidelines for you labels and you don’t want to mess with them!

Creating the background

In the first box, you are going to draw a box so here we go!

1.    Go to your drawing tool and make a box 1” for height and 2.5 for the width or you can just draw it the size of the box.  Don’t cover the grid lines between the big boxes, these are the empty spaces between your labels.

2.    Double click on the box to format the properties of the box.  You should get a similar window as below.

To make labels like mine: ·      Under colors and lines select the drop down for “Fill Color” ·      Select  “Fill Effects”
·      Under “Fill Effects” select the “Pattern” tab. ·      Pick your pattern and colors- be creative! Click “OK” to exit out of these formatting windows

Draw your circles

Now you are going to draw your circle on top of the rectangle.

1.    Go to your drawing pallet again and this time you are going to draw a circle.

2.    Double click on the circle to get to the formatting window again.  This time you are going to change the fill color to white and change the line size and style to what ever you want.

3.    When you exit out, your circle should be on top of the rectangle you have drawn.  If you don’t see it, then right click on the box to the “Arrange” menu.  Select “send to back”.  Your circle should now be on top.  You might have to goof around with this some to see it correctly.

4.    Make sure your circle is in the center of your rectangle.

5.    The last step here is to select your square and your rectangle at the same time, and then right click to select the “Group” menu.  Select “Group”.  This will hold your rectangle and circle together so they don’t slip and slide!
 And that my friends is the end of Part 1

It is Potty Time!!!

Well, not really but sort of.  LM's daycare has been putting him on the potty (not that he does anything on it) so we thought we might go ahead and get one for home to stay consistent with the program.  Much to our surprise, when we put several on the floor at the big box kids store, he jumped right on like he knew what he was doing- thank god because I no longer squat when I pee.  Apparently the dumb parents didn't give the smart kid enough credit!  Due to a poor selection and my unwillingness to purchase a potty that sings when you pee in it, we ended getting one that was in a box and didn't have a sample out.  Of course when we got home, LM was all about the new potty- pulling it out of the box and climbing up on it.. yes, you heard me- climbing up on it.  This thing must have been 2 1/2 feet off the ground!  All of the other are a scant few inches off... so low to the ground that both Big Daddy and I were afraid to get down that low to demonstrate how to use it for fear we would never get back up.  We now realize that if he can't get up on it, he can't use it (the same reason we hide all of the step stools in the house) so off we go to return it back to the store.

We have no real hurry in getting a potty.  LM is interested insomuch that he  tries to put his head in the back of the toilet every time I use it and he laughs hysterically at me.  Really not a confidence booster for me.  Other then that, he is about 20 months old and likes to hand the TP to me.

My question for my one follower and the 14 visitors I have had in the past 2 months, what is the best kind of potty to get for a boy?  Big Daddy (also code for OCD Daddy) is in the camp that it needs to have a pee pee guard that goes up to the Little Man's chest.  I want to be able to rinse the pee container out so it needs to be separate.

Throw a little love my way and let me know what kind you like... or just ask your friends to visit my blog and let me know what kind they like..... would ya please!!!

GO! GO! GO!

GO! GO! GO!
This is what we have been doing!  The little man and I flew "up North" as they say down here to visit family from both sides.  We had a blast! 

LM did a GREAT job on the plane.  Such a good job that when we landed, people around us commented that they didn't know there was a baby sitting near them!  I was a bit nervous flying by myself with all of junk you need to take for a small child- stroller, car seat, diaper bag, and a 29lb child but we managed to do it.  As I predicted, the most painful part was getting the diaper bag, LM (who refused to walk) and the car seat down that ramp to the actual plane....pure hell.


Our time "up North" was so much fun!  LM got along great with all of his cousins, aunts and uncles and other Grandma.  It was full of meeting new play friends, playing with many LARGE dogs, exploring new play areas, feeling the cold again, and seeing tons of new and exciting things. 

Yesterday was back to the grindstone, but my spirits were lifted when I pulled out of the garage to go to daycare and LM said GO! GO! GO!.....just like when the planes took off and landed.

Shoes, teeth and ears- an update

New shoes again for LM.   Apparently I am a bad Mommy because I tried to shove my kids foot into shoes that are already a size too small.... it seems like we just bought them!

Teeth- well LM has worked sooo hard to get the four teeth that he has in and last night in a single SPLAT, he almost lost 'em.  He face planted on the hardwood floors in the kitchen.  Blood was all over!  By the time we had him cleaned up and had taken assessment of the damage, he had a bloody nose, a split lip, two loose front teeth and a cut in his gum.  He did figure out that ice cream makes EVERYTHING feel better !  He was still feeling the bruises this am from his fall.  But the teeth are still in!  Hopefully he didn't bang them on the playground equipment at daycare today.

Ears- nothing to say except they looked like bunny ears for a few days over Easter and now they are fine.  I am hopeful that we won't have any ear infections for the rest of the spring/summer (knock on wood).

oh and before I forget.... Glee!!!!

Snap Shot Memory

Do you know what a snap shot memory is?  I know you do... it is a piece of time, image, feeling, thought that you take a quick mental picture of a file it in your memory bank for ever.  I am a visual person and have several of these... sitting with my Dad just before he died, my Mom and I planting flower bulbs in the middle of winter so we had hope for the spring, my husband juggling oranges in the grocery store.... any who.... I had another snap shot memory this past Valentine's Day.

My husband and I have never had the chance to spend many Valentine's Days together due to our schedules.  Thus, this day has turned into a non-stress day for us.  We usually do cards for each other and sometimes a treat i.e. flowers, candy or a sweet but we don't stress about it.  This year things were a bit different because of The Boy.  We (TB and I) had to get together a card/treat for his daycare teachers to show how much he loves them and I have to admit that as I was cooking up their treat, I began to get into the spirit of the day!  We made some special candy and these Felt Fortune Cookies from Martha Stewart.

 

TB then had a good time trying to eat the cookies as I extracted them from his tiny little hands and packaged them in Chinese food take-out containers.  We used the sayings from the Conversation Hearts for the fortunes.  TB also gave out several cookies to some of the other special people in his life.... they were totally charmed.

The best part of Valentine's Day was that TH got up early with TB so I could sleep in.  My two men then proceeded to MAKE me a valentine with... get this... fingerpaint!  TH hates messes so this is crazy thoughtful and just about brought me to tears when I saw my first Mommy Valentine and that it was handmade!  I don't think TH knows how much this means to me now and probably for the rest of my life.  It was a snap shot memory to file away.

twenty ten or two thousand and ten?

I just learned this morning in the shower while listening to the radio that the correct way to pronounce this year is not two thousand and ten, but instead is twenty ten.  I know this is not a new topic for those of you who actually pay attention to what is happening outside of their world, but I have been on Christmas Break from work.

Each year for this break, I make a habit of disappearing from the world by becoming blissfully ignorant of what is happening around me.  How do I do this.... easy!  I don't listen to the radio (Christmas Carol station  or ipod only for me), I don't watch any local, national or international news, and I don't read the newspaper.  My husband becomes increasingly frustrated at my inability to communicate with him on these levels during this time. To be honest with you, it kind of feels like a drug to be so stupid/numb in the brain about the world around you.  I find that in many ways I am a nicer person because I am not stressed!

A bonus is that when I do surface, I am totally charmed by news stories that others are tired and bored of when I hear them.... thus my opening line to this entry!

On a side note, I am back to work after a hectic morning of dragging my ass out of bed, packing lunch, packing daycare bags, dropping off to daycare, and making that long ass drive to work without falling asleep in the car.  I almost made it to work on time!