From the Mouths of Babes (Toddler Translation Tuesday)

Lately my toddler has started using new phrases and terms. This happens frequently, and it's always funny to figure out what he really means, since many times, he doesn't use them exactly right.

Here are the most recent ones...

"Yesterday"-any time in the past. Could be from his very first memory or 5 seconds ago.

"Tonight"-much like "yesterday," but for future tense. We could be talking about when he is old and gray or the next thing we are about to do, no matter what time of day.

"Three times"-For some strange reason, everything he has ever done has apparently been done "three times" lately. "You remember, mom? You remember when I saw that dog? Three times?!"

"You're makin' me nervous!"-I have no clue where he gets this. My best guess is that I said it to him when he was doing something on the dangerous side, like climbing on the back of the couch. He uses this phrase when I ask him a question he doesn't want to answer or interrupt him doing something he's not supposed to be doing. Not exactly the correct usage, but probably somewhat accurate when I interrupt him doing something that will get him in trouble, I suppose.

The vocabulary genius himself!

What funny phrases/terms have your toddlers used in less than accurate ways? Please share in the comments below!

Freebies Friday 10/19/12

Who doesn't love freebies?!

I love entering giveaways for great products! Freebies are even better!
Here are some great ones I've come across this week...

Giveaways

Thirsties Thursday #70 

Enter to win 2 Fab Fitted Diapers and 1 Duo Wrap!
Simply enter via the Rafflecopter form in the blog post.

Rhea Lana's RePin to Win 

Enter to win a Kit Kittredge American Girl doll!
Learn more about RL in my blog post here.
To enter:1. Go to http://Pinterest.com/RheaLanas
2. Follow Rhea Lana’s on Pinterest (Select the “follow all” option on the Rhea Lana’s page)

3. Click on the “Contests” board, and select the image and Repin it.

The contest ends and the winner will be announced Monday, November 5th so hurry before it’s too late!

See http://www.rhealananetwork.com/blog/ for all contest rules. 

"Choose Your Charity" Cloth Diaper Charity Event 

Enter to win $300 towards the charity you choose (link to list of charities in the post) as well as $200 worth of cloth diapers and accessories for you! If you don't use cloth diapers, you could give the prize to someone who does!
Simply enter via the Rafflecopter form in the blog post.

Freebies

For my teacher/homeschooler pals, here are some great freebies I've come across this week:

The Moffatt Girls Fall Math Pack 

This Fall Math Pack FREEBIE meets many common core standards while making math FUN!  This pack includes:
-Domino Addition Sheet

-Blank Domino Addition Sheet

-Large Domino Die to Cut and Roll

-Roll a Pumpkin

-Roll, Add and Color Fall Leaf Page

-What Comes Next Pumpkin Numbers

-1-20 Cut, Paste and Trace

-10-100 Cut Paste and Trace (count by 10's)

I love The Moffatt Girls! You can follow the blog here, and see all her products here, on Teacher's Notebook. She frequently offers freebies through the blog and has a Facebook page as well!

"Magic Tree House" Fact Tracker Activity Booklet

Click image to open PDF file.

This 27 page freebie from Barnes & Noble has some great MTH-themed printables, including mazes, word searches, crosswords, and code breaking riddles. Perfect for centers, fast-finishers, or anyone who enjoys the MTH books!

I hope you find something you can use! Let me know if you win something OR how you use the freebies! :)

~Deidre

Think About It Thursday: The Beauty In The 'Ugly' Truth

Ever feel like there is no way you can live up to Pinterest homes, fantastically behaved, brilliant children who beg to do extra schoolwork and chores, etc.? These posts are for you!

From a friend and amazing blogger (after you read this post, you must find the one on dance jogging--you'll thank me), Heather at Cake & Green Beans...

"Real Life"

This post has been making the rounds, I believe, via Beth Berry at Revolution from Home...

"Let's All Compare Our Perfect Lives, Then Try to Enjoy Our Day"

Can I just say, I nearly cried when I read Heather's post? From empathy. From relief. From satisfaction that I'm doing ok, despite what Pinterest/Better Homes & Gardens/various crafting and birthday party throwing sites say!

Unite mothers! We don't have to be perfect. We just need to BE!

BE there for our husbands.

BE there for our kids.

BE open to what God is guiding you to do in your everyday, non-perfect, realistic, amazingly chaotic but still amazingly wonderful lives!

I'm praying this helps someone stop feeling overworked and overwhelmed and helps them feel contented and fulfilled.

Remember, you are not defined by your lack of Pinterest projects completed or the way your house looks on a regular basis. Do you really think the owners of those amazing houses you see online said, "Oh, come by anytime. It doesn't matter. It's not like anything ever moves out of place around here. It's always perfect." 

And if they did, they have pretty boring lives anyway. Don't you think?!

Note the clothes draped over the bed instead of put into a perfectly organized closet with handmade dividers.

A child's smile is worth much more than a "Pin-worthy" picture of your living room, just sayin'. :)

I'd rather have toys on the floor, chocolate on my toddler's face, and smiles on my children and husband's faces than a perfect house where no one is allowed to make a mess, wouldn't you?

Wordless Wednesday: Sleeping Through The Night...Or Not!

From one of my favorite bloggers, Dirty Diaper Laundry. SO TRUE!!

Click picture for the funny post from DDL

This has definitely happened to me. How about you?
Share your experiences in the comments!

Happy Wednesday!

Toddler Translation Tuesday: Cereal

I'm revamping my blog to include daily features. They may not all happen at once, but here's what Tuesday will hold: Toddler Translations--I hope you enjoy!

What you say: “Do you want any cereal?”

What your toddler says: “No.”

What your toddler actually means:
“Not until you sit down with your cereal and start to eat it... Then I’ll want some. NO, not after you’ve finished eating that bite—IMMEDIATELY! You know what? Just make it easier on yourself and give me your bowl.”

Gotta love 'em. :)

Does your toddler instantly change their mind about food once you get some?

Dear Eliana (3 months old edition)

Dear Eliana,

How can you possibly be 3 months old?! It seems like you just joined our family a few weeks ago! I know this can't be right, though, since you are going through diaper sizes (or 'settings' on your cloth diapers) and clothes like crazy!

I can't believe you are already 3 months old!

How can I have possibly not written a heartfelt blog post or journal entry about your wonderful-ness yet? Well, that has a lot to do with a certain extremely active older brother and Mommy starting a new small business venture (educating people about and selling cloth diapers and other natural products and baby gear). I did manage to get a blog post about your birth written, but I haven't had much time for anything else while adjusting to life as a mother of two and learning about my business details so I can do a good job helping other mamas. :)

Annnnnnd here comes your brother to interrupt me...
Fast forward to the next day. You are sleeping and big brother is watching Shrek the Third for the zillionth time (he likes that Captain Hook is in it). :)
Back to you...

You are SO amazingly beautiful!!
Oh man. Your gorgeous eyes, your adorable little nose (seriously, this is possibly the world's cutest nose we're talking about here), your fantastic smile...This is not just Mommy talking here. You are genuinely beyond beautiful! I am praying that I can help you learn to love the Lord and become just as beautiful on the inside!!

I could write a whole blog entry on just your eyes--the way they light up, how bright they are, the preciousness of the way your eyelids curve just so, the luscious length of your lashes...absolute gorgeous-ness.

Libby Davis Photography

You have the best personality!
You wake up happy. Happy. Not screaming and crying like another kid I love and adore... ;)
You beam that big smile at me and I don't care how early we are up, how little sleep I got the night before, or how much I need to get done that morning.

Libby Davis Photography

Speaking of sleep...
You sleep!

Wait, I'm not sure you understand.

You SLEEP!

Showcasing your snoozin' skills on vacation...

*Note: Eliana only sleeps in 2 hour stretches, with occasional 3-5 hour stretches, but her brother never slept more than 30 minutes at a time as an infant and nursed every hour or so, so to me this feels like a vacation!

As a mommy, I am SO thankful to have a child that sleeps. It's new to me and I like it! It's such a blessing that you are as content as you are when I'm needing to chase your brother constantly to keep him from killing himself/completely wrecking the house!

The face of mischief (with his two frequent co-conspirators)
Libby Davis Photography

You make my day--every day!
Sure the dishes are up to the ceiling, along with the laundry, and your brother just destroyed the once-clean living room, and you just unloaded in your diaper and spit up on me to boot...but then you smile and coo at me or make a funny face, and it's all worth it! I love being able to see you discover new things. I think you are going to be a talker like your big brother and I couldn't be happier about that. :)

Just yesterday you found your feet. You've been eyeballing them for quite some time now, and were pretty impressed to figure out you could make your legs go up and down, but yesterday you got a hold of those things! You were beside yourself with joy (and so was I).

Don't you just love that extremely fashionable mix of patterns between your dress and your diaper? LOL

Mommy loves you so very much, princess! I pray that I can continue to stay home and raise you wholeheartedly for the Lord, along with your big brother. Your name means "God has answered," and He has. He certainly has.

Things I would have missed...

This year marks the only 'first day of school' I have missed since I went to Kindergarten (save the year when I was 7 months pregnant with Ezra--not very 'hire-able,' ha).
And I couldn't be happier. Or feel more blessed!

Here are a few things I would have missed, had I been at work today...


*Ezra waking me up by singing, "You're my best friend. You're my best friend!"

*Eliana waking up with a HUGE smile on her face, giggling away!

*A mini dance party with Ezra during the end credits of The Lorax (dancing during credits is a little tradition I started with him) :)

*Taking Ezra to the post office for the first time. He helped me by carrying one of the packages, and got plenty of attention from the postal workers as he stomped around his rain boots, which he insisted he wear.

*Ezra flirting with the Senior citizens at Walmart ;) {Another perk of being home is that I can go to the store during the day when it's less crowded, unless it's full of Senior citizens, and they are so sweet!}

*Eliana learning to splash in the tub--she loves it!!

*Teaching Ezra to sort his sorting kangaroos by color onto different pieces of construction paper (yay, homeschooling!)

*Having time to find preschool activities to do with Ezra (and actually having time to do them)

*Looking up plenty of ideas for Ezra's 3rd birthday party (Yes, it's early, but at least there's a possibility I'll get it all done this year!)

*About a million other sweet little moments that I couldn't possibly have time to list here...

P.S. My husband is ever-more my hero for allowing God to guide us into this decision of me staying home and for working so hard every day so that we can get by. I feel my love for him deepening daily! Every little sweet moment (and even the not so nice ones, like toddler tantrums and potty accidents) reminds me of what a great sacrifice he has made for us. Love you, honey!!

More posts on our preschool activities to follow...stay tuned! ;)