Grocer Guy (or Gal)

Did you make a resolution goal to eat healthier this year?  Many people did, but what happens if you have little ones that are picky eaters?  Here is something that has worked at our house when my son hits a picky stage.

I give my son some money.  Actually hand them the money, it is a big part in getting the kids interested.  He gets to pick out any fruit or vegetable he wants at the grocery store.  When it is time to check out, he gets to pay for it all by himself.  He usually can’t wait to try it when we get home. 

Sometimes it is new things like star fruit or brussel sprouts.  Other times it is things he has had before, but look completely different than they do when they are served (like kiwi fruit).  We do have our favorites, as well.  Sometimes he needs a little suggestion to look at something, stead of going to the same things.  The last trip was red and green bell peppers.  He has had them before, but he says they are Christmas colors and he misses Christmas.  Aww! 

It really is neat to watch your kids choose a fruit or vegetable and get excited about trying it!  Try it. 

Say WHAT?

There are times I find the weirdest things coming out of my mouth.  Phrases I thought I would never say.  Not the ones that I swore I wouldn’t say.  You know, like “Because I am the mom, that’s why.”  I am talking about sentences that no one can even make up.  These are always directed at my two children.

This week my Say WHAT? phrase was “Please don’t drink your meat.”

Oh, yeah.  You read that correctly.  See, you can’t make that stuff up. 

My son had taken squares of his bologna and put them in his glass one by one.  He then drank the liquid with meat piled up at the bottom of the glass.  We were eating lunch and was encouraging my 16 month old for some excellent spoon feeding all by herself.  I looked over at my son to see this.  And that is when it happened.  I uttered the words, “Please don’t drink your meat.”

How about you?  What crazy things came out of your mouth this week?  PG please, this is a family friendly site. :-)                                            Please share it with us.

Happy New Year

Last year brought so many new and wonderful things into my life.  I started this blog and got a much needed outlet for myself.  I have started some great friendships with some really cool moms that blog (Cop Mama, Shelley, Allie, and Lindsay just to name a few).  I got some serious help from established bloggers, Heather and Angie to get me going. 

Most of all, I started sharing my day with wonderful women like you.  You ladies invite me into your homes every time you read this blog.  I thank you!  I look forward to learning more, experimenting, and sharing with you in this next year.  Thank you so much for supporting me and this site!  I pray many blessings over all of you.  Happy New Year!

Organizing Cold Weather Gear

This tip has come in from 4 readers.  So thank you to Valerie, Staci, Heather, and Jenni.  I have seen this a ton of places since the tips came in.  I just had to try it and I love it.  Now I am sharing with you, just in case you don’t already do it.

            

I bought an inexpensive over-the-door shoe organizer (about $7 at Walmart).  Instead of putting shoes in it, we put our winter hats, gloves, and mittens.  Now instead of going through a pile of stuff and having clutter around, we have it all nice and neat.  You can see my front door, our coats hanging on hooks, and the shoe organizer with all of our junk in it.  We are just a family of four, but I do have extras because I know we will lose something and all the stores will have in stock will be swimsuits.

When we get ready to leave, I tell the kids to grab their hats and gloves.  Works great for my son.  My daughter thinks she is just another version of my son, so she grabs his things.  Well at least all of the items are off of my floor and organized.  Try it.

 

This post was linked with others on Worked for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family.

Cranky Cat Studios

Do you remember the Cranky Cat Studios giveaway that I hosted earlier this month?  Debbie has some really cool un-baby bibs, burp cloths, diaper bags, etc.  Debbie emailed me with a great offer for an After-Christmas Sale at her online boutique.  Here is what she shared:

20% off all in stock Flexi-Feet squeaky shoes (with always free shipping) I have the last of these styles listed, and when they are gone that is it. All sizes in all styles that I have are listed. The new styles will be out after the 1st of the year.  Buyers should click the contact seller button and tell me they are a Mom Tried It reader to get their 20% off.

Buy 2 get 1 Free Bibs/burps & Receiving Blankets (with always free shipping): Buy 2 items and get a 3rd item of equal or lesser value free.  Buyers should purchase the 2 bibs they want through my eBay store, then click the contact seller button to request their free bib and let me know they are a Mom Tried It reader.

Buy 1 get 1 Free Holiday Earrings (with priority shipping of $4.80): Buy one pair of holiday earrings through my eBay store and click the contact seller button to tell me which earring they want free. They should have a 2nd choice ready just in case, as some of the styles are limited in number. And let me know they are a Mom Tried It Reader.

The deal will be available from midnight Dec 25th until 11:59 Dec 26th Central Time. (24 hrs)

WOW!  This is a great offer.  If you have any pregnant friends or family, this is a great time to get an awesome deal for gifts.  The earring deal is great, too.  This is the perfect time to start stockpiling for next year (yes, I am serious). 

Just to reiterate the steps to take to redeem these great deals.                The steps are:
1. Go to Cranky Cat Studios’ eBay store and buy required item.
2. Click contact seller and tell Debbie what item you want free and that you are a Mom Tried It reader.
3. Wait for the invoice to pay.

Happy shopping!

Merry Christmas

I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!  You all have been so wonderful and I just want to thank you.  You have a huge blessing in my life.  I hope you all have a fantastic day today.  I love celebrating with my family the day that God gave us His only Son and brought him into this world. 

New Life to Old Jeans

Here is another repost of one of my favorites.  These are my son’s favorite jeans (they are his only ones with trucks on them).  These patches made them last a long time.  We finally retired them this past weekend after being outgrown.

My son wears out the knees on his jeans (mostly from playing trucks on his knees).  We have been getting holes on the knees, but the rest of the jeans are fine.  While I know that holes in jeans are fashionable, on my son I think they just look like he has worn out his clothes and I just don’t care.  Yes, that is my obsessive side rearing its ugly head.  No, I don’t have a problem with other people’s kids having holes in their pants, just mine. 

Before the jeans had holes on the knees.  Here are the jeans after I found cute construction truck iron-on patches!  I did put a regular patch on the other side of the truck patch (inside the jeans), because the cute truck patches didn’t seem as sturdy as regular patches.

 

This is a great way to fix a hole or prevent one.  There are a ton of iron-ons out there, including licensed characters (Disney, and Nickelodeon).  What a great way to spruce up hand-me-downs or a thrift store find.  This works perfect for a boy or a girl.  Try it.

What is the one thing you absolutely obsess about over your kids clothes?

Coloring Caddy

Here is one of my favorites that we use all of the time.  I wanted to repost this and share it again with you all.

Coloring time always brought a little more drama than it should have at our house.  The crayons would roll off the table and dogs would grab them.  Or they would roll off and get stepped on.  One day while my son was coloring and I was picking up blocks, I realized a great way to keep the crayons from rolling off the table.  I took one of the giant plastic building blocks and turned it over and used it as a stand to hold the crayons.  The block displays the crayons in a different way and kind of showcases them.  I noticed my son used more of a variety of colors than he did before.  I honestly think it was because he saw the colors better this way, but that just might be crazy mommy thoughts.  You never know.  ;-)  Try it.

The Real Life Me

A couple of months ago, one of my local news station reporters heard about Mom Tried It through a Facebook suggestion.  She came here and discovered I was right in her backyard.  That station does a segment called The Click Report.  This segment highlights different websites that they find helpful or useful and they wanted to feature Mom Tried It.  They also wanted to do a quick interview, which would be the first for them, since this was the first website featured that had local connections.  I had put this on the website after it aired, but I thought I would repost (as that is what I am doing this week) so some of you ladies that are new here can see me and my family in action.  I mean action.  They did some serious editing!  I told the reporter that I could tell from our phone conversation that she didn’t have children.  When she asked why, I told her that it was obvious when she suggested we do the interview at my house with the kids.  Her exact words were “It will be really neat.”  Oh, it was interesting, I am not sure about neat.  :-)

Boo-Boo Fixers

This season is getting crazy!  I have some commitments through a toy drive program at my church and a baby that just got sick, so I think I am going to use the next week to re-post my favorite tips, crafts, and fun learning ideas.  Since some of these are going to be from the very beginning, unless you are one of the 15 people that read it then, these posts will be new to you.  Enjoy.  This is my very first tip posted on Mom Tried It.

'Tis the season for playing outside.  That means a ton of scrapes and bruises.  I have a toddler and a preschooler.  We are always falling and getting boo boos.  I have used the "boo boo fixer" since my son was a baby.  It is a ketchup packet that I keep in the freezer.  I keep about 5 in there. They don't freeze completely, so you can bend them to fit the spot (like around a finger or the curve of a forehead).  They are cold, but not too cold.  They work great and they are FREE!  Just grab some extra at the drive thru next time.  Try it.

Homemade Floam

First thing, if you have children that put things in their mouths, DO NOT DO THIS WITH THEM.  This is a “when Sissy is taking a nap” play-thing at my house.

         

We made this and it was fun to make and even more fun to play with.  Have you ever bought a container of extremely overpriced Floam?  This is for you.  Here is the what you will need: 2 tsp of Borax, 1 1/3 cup of styrofoam micro beads, 1/4 cup of white glue, water, and food coloring.

        

First dissolve 2 tsp of Borax completely into 1/2 cup of water.  Once it is dissolved you can just put this to the side for now.  Take 1 1/3 cups of micro beads (made by Poly-fil) and put in a quart or gallon size zipper bag.  In a measuring cup, mix 1/4 cup of glue and 1/4 cup of water together.  Pour this mixture into the zipper bag. 

             

Now you can add a several drops of food coloring or use icing coloring paste.  If you use the paste, just dip a toothpick in and then smear it on the glue mixture in the bag.  Close the bag and squeeze and mush until everything is evenly distributed.  Add ONE TBSP of the water with Borax dissolved in it (you will have a lot left over).  Close the bag again and kneed for 10 minutes.  Let the Floam sit for about 10 minutes.  Then you can kneed again for a couple of minutes and open it and play!

      

Here is my pig.  Here is Cole’s fish.  I think it just happened to look like it when he was playing and stopped and named it fish.  He also made a swimming pool for the fish. 

         

We had a lot of fun, but I used the icing coloring paste and it left tell tale signs on our hands.  It did wash off easily and came off completely.  Our hands got tinted for the first 3-4 times, but started to stop after that.  I might have just used too much paste, but be warned…it can happen, but it wasn’t a big deal at all.

I don’t have many craft supply options where I live, so I do want to let you know that the only place I could find the styrofoam microbeads was at JoAnn Fabrics.  Walmart and Hobby Lobby did not carry it.  No hidden agenda here, just trying to save you guys from bopping all over town to find these.  You can always just swipe some from and old bean bag chair or stuffed animal, too.  If you do buy it from JoAnn, the regular price is pretty high so be sure to go to their site and print a 40% of regular priced item coupon or grab one as you enter the store (brings a big bag down to about $10).  They usually have their flyers at the front and almost always, they have a 40% off coupon on the very back.  You get a pretty good size bag so you can make a lot of Floam (great party favor idea or frugal gift) or use the remaining for other crafts.

Smoothie Snowman

Okay, we are sitting there and my son is eating his peanut butter sandwich and drinking a yogurt smoothie (he has already devoured his carrots), when the sweet 3 year old leaves and gets replaced by the destructive 3 year old.  He starts ripping off the label of the smoothie container and banging it around on the table shouting, “Boom, Boom, Boom.  Mr. Brown makes thunder.”  You get extra credit for knowing where that came from.  :-)  When he suddenly yells, “Hey Mommy, look!  It looks like a snowman!”  I turn to look and sure enough, the yogurt smoothie bottle looks like a snowman when you take off the label.  So you know what I just HAD to do…

I got out some craft foam, figuring it would work better than construction paper.  I cut a black circle and cut a hole in the middle just a tiny bit smaller than the top of the container.  The craft foam will stretch.  I put it on the container to look like the brim of a hat.  I used a black permanent marker to color the top of the container to finish the hat look.  I drew some eyes and a mouth.  I used a red permanent marker to draw some buttons.  For the record, regular markers do not work (found it out the hard way).  I did use a scrap of orange construction paper for the carrot nose (we have no orange craft foam).  I took another piece of craft foam and made a scarf.  I used double sided tape to make the scarf stick, but if you make it long enough, you can just wrap it around the neck like a regular scarf.

The kids played with their impromptu crafts while I cleaned up the lunch mess.  You know we had to make one for each and since they were both drinking one, it worked out great.  Then destruction 3 year old came back, and flattened his snowman by stomping on him after kicking him around the room a few times.  Charley left her snowman on the ground and one of the dogs snagged it and chewed it up.  So just as fast as they were created, they were destroyed.  But we did a fun craft and my son thought of it!  I am so proud!!

Construction Site/Dollhouse

How can a construction site also be a dollhouse?  Depends on the child looking at it.  This is my son’s Christmas present this year.  It is a construction site made of an inexpensive plastic shelf, foamboard, and velcro. 

      

I cut pieces of foamboard to match the sides of the shelf.  I then put the velcro on the shelf and removed the adhesive strips from the other side (while the velcro was still attached to each other).  With a sticky side open, I lined up the foamboard and firmly pressed it on the shelf against the velcro.  Now the wall and velcro pieces lined up perfectly.  I did this around 3 sides, but you could do it around all 4. 

         

I cut the wall pieces in half, so my son could carry the pieces around in his construction trucks.  If you are making a dollhouse out of this, you would not want the walls cut in half.  But this variation allows my son to construct his own building using his trucks.  The best part about using the velcro is that he can demo it as well, and then rebuild again and again.  No need for taping or anything.  Mommy is taking a styrofoam ball and painting it black to make a wrecking ball for his crane truck.  :-)

If you choose to make a dollhouse with this, you would not have to use the velcro, you could just tape the foamboard (or even posterboard) on the shelf.  I used a skinnier shelf unit.  The dollhouse version might look better with the longer unit.  I think those come as 4 shelves, but you could just not put on the legs and 4th shelf.  It is that easy.  The dollhouse variation will allow your daughter to decorate the walls herself.  She could draw, paint, or wallpaper it with cutie scrapbooking paper.  You could use a TON of scrapbooking accessories to make this shelf a home! 

Not only is this an extremely creative toy option for your child, it is CHEAP!  I made mine for about $15.  Yep, $15.  The shelf was $9.97 at Walmart.  THe foamboard was $1 each piece (3 pieces) at the Dollar Tree.  The velcro was $1.50 at JoAnn Fabrics.  The larger shelf version is only $14.97 at my Walmart.  So this is a VERY frugal gift for your kid.  Your child will have hours and hours of enjoyment playing and being creative.  You can buy a dollhouse for $80, if you want.  You just plain out can’t buy a building for your kids to construct.  You can do blocks, erector sets, and logs, but no building.  This is a neat twist on building (construction site or dollhouse) and teaches and promotes some serious creativity.  I am SUPER excited to see my guys face when he sees this.  I will have to update you all on the response.

This post was linked with other on Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family.

Giving Before You Get

My son’s birthday is in the summer.  Of course, Christmas is in the winter.  We started a tradition that a couple of weeks before his birthday and before Christmas we would go through his toys.  By “we” I mean me and my son (and Daddy’s input, too).  I explain to him that there are boys and girls that are not as blessed as he is.  He completely understands that he will be giving his toys to another child.  He knows that it is not loaning out his toys.  He knows that he will not get them back.  He also knows that it will mean so much to a child to get some of the cool toys he has been blessed with.  This summer he completely surprised me with some of the toys he wanted to give away.  When I asked him if he didn’t want to play with those toys anymore, he told me that he did and he really liked them, but he knew that another boy would really like them, too.  Then he would tell me, especially since the boy doesn’t have any toys, he needs these.  Then he will tell me how nice the toy is and how well he took care of it (so the boy will have a “good toy, not junk”).

We do this a couple of weeks before gift time so my son gets that he is blessed and we should pass on the blessings.  Not just that he has a ton of stuff and we need to make room for all of the presents the grandparents are going to lavish him with.  He loves to help load the toys in the van and unload them at the church, too.  He will ask if he can give the toys to the little boys and girls himself.  Awww!  It is so sweet!

I do get blown away by his generosity.  It is amazing that something we do to try to teach him how to give and how to love, turns around and teaches us.  God has a great way of surprising me, humbling me, and revealing His plan for me. 

This is where I recommend to you that you go through your child’s toys with them and ask them which ones they would like to give to other boys and girls.  They might surprise you with their generosity as well.  Try it.

What is the most “extreme” present your children have ever received? (Probably from a grandparent, lol)

Softlips Review/Giveaway

I know you guys have heard of Softlips^®.  If for some strange reason you haven’t, it is just the best thing ever to put on your lips (other than sweet baby skin).  Softlips^® doesn’t put waxy gunk on your lips.  Softlips^® doesn’t taste like petroleum jelly.  Softlips^® absorbs into your lips and makes them feel silky smooth and well…soft.  The flavors are great, too. 

Speaking of flavors.  They have some new holiday flavors, but just for a limited time through the holidays.  They have Sugar & Spice, Sugar Plum Berry, Winter Mint, and Sugar Cookie.  Yummy!  I have a story for you on how yummy they are.  My daughter had gotten my purse off of the table and started going through it.  She got my Softlips^® out, along with everything else, and put some on (my kids LOVE it when I put it on their lips).  After she lost interest in pulling out every single wipe from my travel wipe container (2 minutes later) she walked off.  I was folding laundry while she was doing this and when I left the room to put away some clothes, one of my dogs caught a sniff of my extremely delicious Sugar Plum Berry and snagged it.  My dog ate it!  Not just chewed on it a little.  She ate it.  She chewed off the end and licked as much out as she could, then ate the empty tube.  How’s that for a taste test?

But my dog story aside, I really do love Softlips^®.  The temperature has dropped and my lips are needing some extra care.  As I type this, both of my kids have stuffed up noses.  That means all day and all night of breathing through their mouths.  I have been putting Softlips^® on them throughout the day to try to prevent chapping and cracking.  It is working so far.  With the great flavors, it doesn’t take any convincing them to let me put it on, either.

Softlips^® makes a great stocking stuffer.  I have actually bought some the past few Christmases and attached them to the ribbon on my nieces presents.  They are 10, 15, and 18 (I am not counting my sweet little 2 year old niece).  Softlips^® is perfect for all ages.  My mother-in-law gets one, too.  At $2.99-3.99 for a 2-pack, you really can’t go wrong!  Softlips^® has a 20 SPF so you can protect your lips as well as moisturize them. 

Now for the giveaway.  One of you will win all four of the new holiday flavors. That’s right, you will get Sugar & Spice, Sugar Plum Berry, Winter Mint, and Sugar Cookie.  Your lips will love you! Enter the form below for entry.  To double your chances, become a Facebook Fan of Softlips^®. 

This giveaway will close on Thursday, December 17th at noon CST.  The winner will be notified by email and have 3 days to claim their prize or a new winner will be selected. 

In the meantime, go to Target or Walgreens to get Softlips^® for stocking stuffers, present attachments, or just for yourself.

Disclosure: I did receive each of the new holiday flavors of Softlips to try out to write an honest review.  Receiving these for free in no way effected my opinion of the product.  I have actually used Softlips on and off since I was in high school, so nah-nah FTC.

Winter Windows

You have the interior of your house all decked out with the tree and stockings.  Your house and yard are covered in lights.  Do you still have that feeling that something is missing?  How about your windows?  This is a great project for the artistic and the not-so-much.  All you need is some craft paint and a brush.

I just painted some Holly berries and leaves in the top corners of my window.  My son then wanted me to paint a big bow, so I thought…sure!  It is just craft paint and easily comes off when saturated by spraying with glass cleaner or a vinegar and water solution (after the paint dries).

               

All of the painting is done from the comfort of the warm indoors.  If you are not artistic, all you have to do is tape a page from a coloring book on the outside of the window.  Doing this will also help older kids contribute to the decorating.  To help them even more, you can just create a black outline like a coloring book image on the window and let them fill it in.  If you have littler ones that want to help decorate, I suggest using the greatest product Crayola has ever made.  If you haven’t heard of Crayola Window Markers, here is your introduction.  I LOVE these!  Both of my kids use these to draw on our windows and sliding glass door.  You can also draw on mirrors with them.  While I painted the upper part of the windows, my kiddos decorated the lower part.  We all had a lot of fun.

Just a little reminder, if you want a black outline of the items, you will need to paint that first.  Also, it looks a lot streakier from the inside than it does on the outside.  Try it.

What is the craziest thing you ever painted (or shoe polished) on a car?     G-Rated please, I rarely have adult conversations, so please keep it on the level I am used to.  Lol.

This post was linked with others on Friday Favorites at Daily Dwelling.

Extra: In case you are wondering where in the world you can find Crayola Window Crayons, I bought mine at Walmart for less than $4.  They are with the other Crayola products by the greeting cards.  My local Kroger also had them in the school supplies section with the crayons and markers.