2006 September « Three Little Jewells

Archive for the month “September, 2006”

30 Sep 2006

Gifts for Kids

I’ve been told numerous times that I have a talent for buying gifts for kids. Since Christmas is coming, I thought I’d compile a list of good kid gifts. I may add to it as I find more things…
If you’ve got any other ideas of things your kids have loved, leave a comment- I’d love to hear about it.

The links are on the right-hand sidebar!

“Little” Gifts (Under $20)
Viewmaster Super Sounds ($10)- both of my kids love the viewmaster. It’s a great car toy!
Note: Viewmaster reels come in sets of three for $4-$6 and would make great stocking stuffers.

Aquadoodle Flip n’ Doodle ($10) (Actually, any of the aquadoodle mats are neat)

Travel Magna Doodle ($10)

Leap Frog Bingo Game ($15) Three different bingo games teaching colors, shapes and animals. Mary is getting this for Christmas. They’ve come out with several new Leap Frog games- they are in the game section of TRU.

“Middle” Gifts ($20-$100)
Play-Doh Creativity Center ($30)- this is super cool- this is one of Nathan’s Christmas presents this year.

Leap Frog Letter Factory Board Game ($28)- If you loved the Letter Factory DVD- this is a great game to go along with it. Mary is just a tad young for it but I expect that she will be able to play it this winter.

Magazine Subscription to Your Big Back Yard ($24) or Wild Animal Baby ($20)
My kids *loved* Wild Animal Baby magazine- this year they are older so we are moving up to Your Big Back Yard.

Melissa and Doug Deluxe Standing Easel ($38)
I love this easel because 1. two kids can use it at the same time 2. each side is individually adjustable so you can move one side to a higher position for an older kid and one side lower for a younger kid.
Idea: We asked my Mom to do one big gift that’s for both kids to cut down on the amount of toys. She’s going to get them this, a roll of easel paper, art smocks, paint, brushes, chalk, markers, etc.

Little People Sweet Sounds Doll House ($30)
Oh, I can’t tell you how much our Mary has loved and played with this dollhouse.

Little People Farm ($30) One of our family favorites, along with the garage below.
Note: There are lots of extra animal sets for $10 that you can add to the farm. Great for stocking stuffers!

Little People Garage ($30) Both kids love playing with this!

Story Reader ($20)
We originally had one of the My First Leap Pads- it was sooo difficult for the kids to use that all they did was get frustrated. Then a friend (thanks, Kath!) suggested Story Reader. Both kids have really enjoyed it. You can purchase an additional set that comes with an adapter (so you can plug it in to an outlet and not waste batteries) and headphones. Three packs of books run around $20. This would be another good grandparent gift. For about $100 you could purchase the story reader, accessory pack, several additional book packs and the backpack that stores everything.

“Big” Gifts
Little Tikes Inside and Outside Cookin’ Grill Kitchen
My kids have loved this from day one. They play with it every single day, together, with almost no fighting! This is the best kitchen set out there (IMO). One of the other nice things about it, besides being two-sided, is that it is a taller kitchen set. Some of the smaller one, the kids have outgrown by three or four. This set will last a lot longer because it is taller- a five or six year old could play with this easily.

Thomas the Train Under-the-Bed Trundle Train Table
Love this- and doesn’t take up the room that the big train table does.

Bitty Baby ($99 for the starter set)
If you have a little girl who loves baby dolls- this one is wonderful. The starter set includes the doll as well as a trunk with several outfits, blanket, doll’s teddy bear, bib, bottles of juice and milk, bonnet, etc.

Posted in Christmas, Interesting Stuff, Links | Leave a Comment

29 Sep 2006

Shoes…

Can I just say… Mary needed new dress shoes and sneakers and the Great Wild Wildebeest needed new sneakers as well. My friends, I dropped $140 at Stride Rite today. That is a crazy amount of money on three tiny pairs of shoes. Can they not make decent shoes for less than that? Apparently not.

Posted in Daily Life, Miscellaneous | Leave a Comment

29 Sep 2006

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A Little More on Submission….

A little more on submission…
While we’re talking on submission, especially as it relates to Mr. Steadies, I’ll share something I need to work on.

As a “steady” type, dh would be absolutely mortified to be seen as a tyrant. And I have to admit, I’m ashamed, but I sometimes take advantage of his good nature and his desire to be nice, go with the flow, etc. There’s lots of times that I know he wouldn’t want to do something but if I ask him, he’ll do it anyway, go along with it, etc. How horrid is that? A part of submission, for me, is choosing not to ask for something that I know is not what he really wants but he’ll go along with it if I ask. (that was an awkward way to word it, sorry, it’s late)
I can’t think of any really good examples to illustrate this point. Like, if I wanted to go out to dinner but I knew he didn’t feel like it and was really tired from a long day at work. If I tell him I’d like to go out for dinner, he’ll say okay, but I know it’s not what he really wants to do.
This is an area I really need to improve in- I should not be taking advantage of his good nature.

I think I’ve been doing really well on being thankfull for all that he has provided for us, something that is also important to “steadies”. Also, earlier this summer, I participated in a “marriage challange” over at the Raising Godly Tomatoes message board that did wonderful things for us. Every day, for 30 days, you do three things:
1. pray for your dh
2. initiate hf
3. share something good about dh with someone else or keep a list of good things about dh, adding something new every day. (Helps with learning to be thankful for your dh).

Posted in Marriage/Submission

27 Sep 2006

Submission

Wow! Now that’s an unpopular word among women nowadays! I had a conversation with a friend about submission (that’d be you, Kath, if you’re reading this) and it got me thinking some more about how submission is so misunderstood among women today. I think the common picture of a submissive wife is one of the woman as a doormat. I should say that first, submission is different in every marriage.
For me, a key to understanding submission was first figuring out what kind of husband I had and what submission looks like to him. I read Debi Pearl’s Created to be his HelpMeet and was blown away by her discription of the three types of men- Kip is so clearly a Mr. Steady. Read here for her discription of the three different types of men. (disclaimer: I am not one of those who think this book is the be-all-end-all of marriage books. I thought her discriptions of types of men were good ones but by no means are they the only good descriptions- I’m sure there are others out there)

One of the most valuable things I learned from this was that my dh takes great pride in the successes of his wife. In fact, the more “successfull” I am, the better he feels about himself. For me, as a stay-at-home-mom/housewife the way that I am successful is to keep a clean, well-organized household, good meals on the table, children that are well-trained (working on that one), etc. To put it bluntly, dh feels sucessful and competent when the house is clean, the meals are delicious and the kids are well-behaved and neat. That was *so* convicting to me- that how I do *my* job effects dh’s feelings of self-worth. Now, this is certainly not true for every man- there are plenty of men who don’t really care about that stuff but it is an essential ingredient for happiness in our marriage. Kath said to me: “How is that submission? That’s just being a good wife!” It’s submission because truth be told, I often don’t feel like doing housework or baking cookies. I’d rather take a nap or read a book. It’s submission when I get up and clean the kitchen and bake some cookies even when I don’t feel like it. It’s submission when I take several hours to plan our menu when I would rather putz around online. It’s submission when I haul the babies upstairs to change them, wash their faces and comb their hair and to fix myself up before Kip gets home even though I don’t feel like carrying 55 lbs. of children up a flight of stairs.

I’ll be the first to say, I really struggle with this submission thing. I’ve got lots of opinions and I’m the excitable type. My children aren’t perfectly behaved all the time and sometimes the house is a wreck. But I’m really working on it.

Posted in Marriage/Submission | Leave a Comment

26 Sep 2006

Keeping the Sabbath and Mary’s New Haircut

Keeping the Sabbath

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about keeping the Sabbath as a day of rest. This sounds horrible to say, but Sundays are a lot of work! By the time I get everyone fed, babies bathed, changed and dressed, I’m almost to worn out to get myself ready for church. By the time we get home, the babies are hungry, tired and irritable, my feet hurt from my dress shoes, etc. It just doesn’t feel like a *Sabbath* day to me.

I’d really like to work towards Sunday being a day of rest and worship for our family.
I’ve got a few ideas to make things run smoother-
1. Make something for Sunday breakfast the night before- coffee cake, mix up the pancake batter, etc.
2. Set out all clothes for the day
3. On Saturday, run and empty the dishwasher and do any necessary laundry

I’d love to be able to enjoy attending church (when we find one) instead of rushing around and feeling frayed. I’d like for us to spend the day resting and relaxing as a family and just enjoying each other’s company.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this or any suggestions on how to make the day smoother for us?

Now, for the good stuff…

My friend April, who is a hairdresser at a very expensive, fancy-schmancy hair salon, was over for a playdate on Monday with her little boy. I’ve just been at a loss as to what to do with Mary’s hair. So many pieces of hair have broken off that when I put it up in piggytails there is a bunch hannging down in the back. But if I don’t put it up, it’s in her face and just straggly. I asked April, in her expert opinion, what should I do with Mary’s hair. She suggested that I cut it in order to allow the broken pieces of hair to grown back. Good friend that she is, April offered to cut it then and there for me. Here’s the results below. We think Mary looks so cute now and so much bigger!

If you get a chance…
could you send up a prayer on my behalf? After six weeks, I still have this horrible cough. I cannot stop coughing- I am so exhausted. I can’t sleep at night from the coughing. My chest, neck and shoulders hurt from the constant coughing. It’s not just a regular cough, it’s a hard, wracking, wrenching cough and it hurts.

Posted in Christianity, Daily Life, Pictures | Leave a Comment

23 Sep 2006

I Took Peanut To The Doctor…

Poor Peanut…
I got up early this morning and took Peanut to the doctor. She has a double ear infection as well as a red, raw, sore thoat! Poor Baby! In spite of that, we had a fun morning. Mary and I went to Brueggar’s Bagels for breakfast and split a cinnamon and sugar bagel. Then, after the doctor’s visit, we went shoe shopping for Mary. She needs a pair of dressy winter shoes- I wanted a pair of pink Mary Janes for her. We went to four different stores to no avail. Who would think a pair of pink Mary Jane’s would be so hard to find? grrrr.
We had a wedding to go to this afternoon at Dennis Vineyards in Albemarle. My cousin Kristen was getting married and she looked *gorgeous* in her wedding gown. It was one of the most beautiful wedding gowns I’ve ever seen. Her new husband is so nice as well- we are really happy for them. At any rate, poor Mary was beat by the end of the day. I kept the medicane in her throughout the day but it was a long, hot day and she was ready for bed when we got home. Nathan… let’s just say he has some Fairchild/Caster traits. He was all over the place at the wedding reception. I think he’s going to be the life-of-the-party, sociable, charming type of fellow. I can’t imagine where he gets this from???

Posted in Daily Life | Leave a Comment

22 Sep 2006

A Whole Bunch of Pictures

Yesterday we picked up my nephew, Alec, from school as my sister was out of town for an overnight conference in Charlotte. We visited his school book fair and bought three books, played on the playground and then had pizza for the school’s Dominoe’s pizza fundraiser. Here are some pictures:

I love this picture of Nathan- he is such a cheeseball!

For those of you who don’t allready know, Mary Madison worships Alec! That’s okay though, because the feeling is mutual. Alec is soo good with her (and Nathan)- whatever Alec does, Mary follows. So here she is trying to follow him up onto the playground set. Then Nathan joins in the fun- but being a little shorter than Mary he gets stuck! Poor guy!

Should we try it???

Pure Glee….

Monkey see, Monkey do:

Today:
I was cleaning out my closet and the kids were playing in the nursery/playroom next to my bedroom. I poked my head around the corner to check on them, and this is what I saw:

Now how pitiful is that?

That’s all I’ve got time for tonight- I’ll blog more tomorrow or Sunday- we’ve got a family wedding in Charlotte tomorrow so I’m not sure how much time I’ll have.

Posted in Daily Life, Pictures | Leave a Comment

22 Sep 2006

More on being your child’s friend…

I’ve been really struggling lately with one of my children. I came across these quotes today from Michael Pearl and it was just the reminder I needed.

“Be a friend. Do with them the things that they enjoy doing. Be caring. Be more ready with your ear than you are with your mouth. Be very sensitive to their concerns….”

“Parent, above all, you must cultivate that kind of a relationship with your child. It is painful to sin against your best buddy. If you can maintain this bond with your child you will never have a problem child.”

“A spanking is made effective not by it’s severity, but by it’s certainty.” (There’s that consistency thing again.)

“I rule benevolently. Love and respect are my primary tools of persuasion. I lead, not command from a distant bunker.”

“A child can’t rebel against his best buddy….If you will praise and reward the desired behavior, there will be very little undesirable behavior. You will be speaking ten times the encouraging word for every rebuke……If your child is not doing anything praiseworthy then take his hand to walk beside you until he does do something worthy.”

And finally Pearl says:

“Check yourself for balance by asking the question, ‘Do my children view me as a stern and severe disciplinarian or as a cheerful and wonderful companion and guide?’ Your judgments and punishments should be lost in the many hours of happy communion.”

To read more of what he has to say about parenting, check out their website: No Greater Joy

Also- this article I posted earlier relates to the above topic and is a good one: Have your cake and Eat it too…

The thing that I think most people miss is that it’s possible to be both your child’s friend and their parent. It’s not an either/or choice. I parent- I discipline and train my children accordingly. But I think it’s equally important for them to see that I enjoy them- that I like being with them and doing things with them, that I’m interested in the things they are doing. What Pearl says here “It is painful to sin against your best buddy. If you can maintain this bond with your child you will never have a problem child.” is true. I think it’s one of the big reasons I never got to wild as a teenager- I would not have wanted to disappoint my mother. And you know what??? This is a big part of the problem that I am dealing with in reference to my difficulties with one child. I’m wondering if a little more time spent “tying heartstrings” would help on the discipline front.

Here’s what Pearl recommends and what I *clearly* need to work on with this particular child:

“If you sense that the strings of fellowship have been cut, you will want to tie new ones. Here are just a few suggestions on tying strings:
*First and foremost, look at your children and smile.
*Enjoy their company and demonstrate it by inviting them to go with you when the only reason is a desire to have them with you. For the young, look at pictures or read a book together.
*Sit on the floor and play. Tumble and roll, laugh, and tickle.
*Take them on outings of adventure, excitement and “danger”.
*Take a ten-minute trip to the treehouse to see their creations.
*Let them lead you out to the swing and show you their latest stunt.
*Make a kite or build a birdhouse together.
*Mother, teach your children to do everything that must be done in the house. Make it a fun experience. Don’t use the very young as slave labor, or they will experience burnout. Let them bake cookies at three years of age. When you are sewing, let the young ones sit on the floor and cut out doll clothes. When you are painting, let them take a few swipes.

The idea is for them to feel that they are very special to you, and ofr them to know that you find great satisfaction and delight in sharing with them. If you order your life so your children feel needed, they will desire to walk in harmony with you.”

Here’s another good article…
12 Parenting Essentials

Posted in Daily Life, Staying At Home | Leave a Comment

21 Sep 2006

Remember the Chair Incidence?

Any of you guys remember this?

Notice the fine detailing around the nail heads…

The ottoman:

I am excited to report that I finally found some fabric to have it recovered and the man picked it up today to recover it. For $205 he’s going to recover the chair and ottoman and that includes pick up and delivery. Every place else I called wanted at least twice that. This guy is someone I found through a friend of a friend- a little old man who does it out of his house and has been doing it for 40 years. He’s bringing it back in three weeks- I can’t wait to see it!

In other news…
Mary and Nathan continue to be sick- Mary is still coughing, both have “nosey problems” (that’s what they call a runny nose- they come to me and say “Mommy, help- nosey problem”) and are generally cranky and unhappy. Crying at the drop of a hat and so forth. Mary tells me “I hurt”- which I take to mean she’s achy??? I’m not sure but that’s my best guess. That’s one of the really hard things about young children- not knowing *exactly* what hurts or what is wrong. You’re just kind of guessing and hoping that you figure it out.
The medicane the doctor gave me for my cough is some kind of crazy super drug- It makes me dizzy, nauseated and extremely sleepy. It totally knocks me out. That should be a sign of how bad the coughing is, if I’m willing to take this stuff. Hopefully the zithromax will clear up the infection soon and we’ll be back to normal.

Mary’s preschool books have all been delivered, which was so exciting. I’m just waiting on the manual. I guess it’s a good thing it hasn’t come yet because we are just to sick to do anything at all. This morning we did play with pegboards a bit, did a puzzle, played with Mr. Potato Head and the viewmaster. I had a friend show up unexpectedly this afternoon (so, of course, my house was a wreck which was so embaressing) and stayed for a while until naptime. When they get up, we’ll pick up Alec at school and play on the playground for a while, visit his school book fair and hang out until 6:00 for pizza night. Daddy is meeting us at the school for pizza and then taking Alec to boyscouts, while I take the babies home for a bath and bedtime. It will be a busy afternoon but hopefully it will get their minds off of feeling so cranky and irritable.

Posted in Daily Life, Messes, Staying At Home | Leave a Comment

21 Sep 2006

Further Explanation of Before Five in a Row

Further Explanation of Before Five in a Row
An aquaintance of mine posted this explanation of Five in a Row on a parenting board that we are both on. We are doing the Before Five in a Row preschool curriculum but her explanation of how FIAR works is a good one.

Here you go, from Beth:

For Kindergarten we used FIVE IN A ROW. It’s an inexpensive yet effective and fun way to teach K and even preschool… my then 3yo was able to join in the fun and learn too without getting in the way or being a distraction. [Smile]

All you need is the manual (around $25 but I’ve seen it for less used), a library card, a few basic craft and school supplies, a world map or globe, and comfy place to cuddle up and let the learning begin. To this day I’m amazed at what they learned… they STILL talk about some of the books we rowed and various lessons. [Smile]

The way FIAR works is you read the book, which is great children’s literature not fluff and stuff, each day for a week… hence the name. [Wink] On Monday you would read the book and have a geography/social study lesson… find on the map where the story took place, maybe look it up in the encyclopedia about the place and their culture or have some books about the place to read, maybe make or color that country’s flag. For lunch we would try to have the food that is popular in that country, egg rolls for China as an example. In the manual there will be lots of ideas and lessons you choose for that day. Then Tuesday you review yesterday and read the book again. The the lesson is language arts… you may talk about illiteration or personafication or rhymes or any number of things dealing with writing and language arts. Again lots of ideas to chose from in the manual. On Wednesday is art. You review the first two days, read the story, and then have an art lesson about the way the story was illustrated, maybe about the color scheme, the style, etc. There is always several ideas to choose to teach in the manual. Thursady is math day (you can do each subject on what days work best for you, this was just how we did it), review and discuss the previous days and read the story. There are plenty of ideas for each story to teach a math lesson from simple counting, addition and subtraction, and even some very simple multiplication depending on what you chose to teach. Friday was our science day. We would review the week and then read the story. Depending on what our story was about we would read a few library books or the encyclopedia. If our story had ducks in it we would discuss the nesting habits, their feathers and their purpose and then off for the afternoon for a field trip to feed the ducks. Or if our story was about pizza or a cake we would bake and discuss leavening properties and make a pizza or a cake. There are always lots of ideas for each subject day.

Posted in School/Preschool | Leave a Comment

Three Little Jewells

Archive for the month “September, 2006”

Gifts for Kids

Shoes…

A Little More on Submission….

Submission

Keeping the Sabbath and Mary’s New Haircut

I Took Peanut To The Doctor…

A Whole Bunch of Pictures

More on being your child’s friend…

Remember the Chair Incidence?

Further Explanation of Before Five in a Row

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