Throwback Thursday to "Throw it back on our shoulders"

There is so much pressure to be in so many sports, activities, organizations that it is overwhelming. It is overwhelming to think about even when my oldest is not yet in kindergarten. I see so many families focusing on how many events they can do and how these kids need to excel in one or more sports and how they need to excel in school.  I am so glad these kids are trying their best and challenging themselves, but I want to try something. I want my kids to understand they are part of something much bigger than themselves. I want them to start, even before kindergarten, to comprehend the very small part they play today and how much they can affect the world in a positive way with other activities.

I want to start spending one day to think about something much bigger than ourselves. Our kids are very blessed with the opportuntites they have. But I dont want them to think they they get somewhere because "they deserve it". I want them to earn it. And I want them to appreciate the foundation they have been provided to get them where they want to be. And I dont want them to comprise how they treat people to get there.

Starting this week, I will start "Throwback Thursday" in a new way. This week we will recognize how others may say "it is not my problem", but we will say "throw it on our shoulders. We will help."

This means we will talk about one of the problems in the world (either in our city, in our country or in our world) and find out how we can help. Sometimes it may be very very small or sometimes it may be big, but hopefully, as they grow-up, they will continue this effort so that they can learn how to identify a positive role they can play in any event. I hope my children will realize that the smallest thing they can do is positively impact one person's day but understand that it is an opportunity to positively impact that person's life for their lifetime.  How do you work with your children to help positively impact someone else's life?

We're going on a picnic

There are so many opportunities to let children be themselves and share their own ideas and creativity. One day older brother wanted to go on a picnic, so I just let him prepare. We have gone on picnics before at the park, but this time, I just let him decide what he wanted to bring and how. I was expecting for us just to go on a quick trip and bring a few snacks, but it ended up being a fully prepared picnic.   He thought of his younger brother and brought 2 of everything (as we always do) and some times 3 as he thought of me.

He brought fruit snacks, apples and asked for me to slice them, juice boxes, water bottles, and various other items. He wanted hotdogs, so I cooked up some hotdogs and he wanted them in a bun so I let him put them in a bun and figure out how to put them in a container.

Both boys picked out the small cooler and filled it up carefully and stuck it in the stroller so that we can walk together to the picnic spot. It was really nice to just take a break and see how they view a healthy lunch and how they think of each other when preparing their lunch.

It was also a nice way to make a simple task new a different.

3 steps to the Perfect Mothers Day

Mother's Day is coming up and I am very excited....as I always am. I have in my head the perfect day.  And as I can expect, it will be slightly different from what I envision.  However, there are a few things that I have learned when it comes to these special occasions - prepare, guide, and appreciate.

• Prepare (or hint to the preparer) of things you would like. 
• Guide your little ones with how to show appreciation. 
• Appreciate by showing my thankfulness both in receipt of what I was provided and with the demonstration of appreciation of the mothers and grandmothers in my life.

Step 1. Prepare
For my husband, I remind him that my comments of not needing flowers when I was first dating has long since gone. And now I that we have been married for over 10 years, I appreciate any and all flowers...preferably those that are NOT from the sidewalk.  (The sidewalk flowers are only appreciated when from the kids.)

For the kids, I offer them a few options. This year, I am thinking of considering the following options:

Coloring pages from Activity Village are an excellent way for younger children to
see first hand the nice things they can do to show appreciation when they
are older and given more responsibility. My favorite is this breakfast in bed picture.

This beautiful circular painted flower card from Enchanted Learning
is a great way to upcycle some scrap paper but also allow the kids
to show their painting, cutting and connecting skills
for their Grandma and Grammie.

My favorite thing as a kid was making coupon books for my family.
We always made these from scratch, but  All kids Network has
a really nice option where the kids can print them and
 just hand them out as they see fit for their gift.

Step 2. Guide

 I usually have a terrific husband that has them make me a card while they let me sleep in...which is the best gift I could ever ask for. For the kids, I usually guide them through making cards for their grandmothers. I guide them to make a card with all the components that I would like to see. A pretty picture, a simple message and signed Love, and their name.   Sometimes, we go to the store to buy them flowers, but maybe this year we will try something new:

Jo-Ann is offering to help kids make Mother's Day gifts for their mothers
by hosting a free Make It-Take It event in every store across the country
on Saturday, May 8 from 1 to 3 p.m. 

Step 3. Appreciate

No matter what they give me, I am happy they remember. And I am happy and feel blessed to have kids that show love and appreciation. 

6 Steps to Growing Things with Kids

Spring is here!  Although we try to grow plants at various times of the year, we do not miss spring time as another opportunity to be mini gardeners.

We talk about how important it is to take care of our Earth and our food supply. We talk about how long it takes to grow food and why we should not be wasteful.  We do not always have a lot of luck with continuing to grow things to bear fruit or vegetables for us to eat. (We live in AZ where it gets a lot hotter than I am used to and we just tend to forget to water them.) But we continue to improve on our growing skills and patience.

Here are the basic steps to growing things with kids:

Step 1. Go to the store and let them pick a few different seed packets - vegetables or flowers. They pick the ones that they love to eat or the ones that look the biggest. We talk about where they grow best and how long it will take them to grow.  We look at all the different options and each take turns picking our selection. Each child was able to pick 3 packets, which we will use throughout the year.

A few of the options we selected for this year.

Step 2. Obtain a few containers. Pots, buckets, or mini plastic green houses. We have found that the plastic mini green houses seem to work best for those that may forget to water their seeds everyday or have a hard time not touching them once they are planted, but it requires transferring them a little sooner as well.  We also find that basically any containers can be used. My favorite choices are ecofriendly solutions that we will try next time:

Newspaper pots from Cottage Hill

Toilet paper Rolls from Domestica

Step 3. Clean a place for them to prepare the dirt and let them do all the work.

Step 4.  Either fill the container with enough water to loosen up all the dirt or do this in a separate container and transfer the dirt to the pot later. We found transferring the dirt later was much more fun...but always a little messier.

Step 5. Label the containers with the seeds that you have planted. In our case, the packets of 5 different containers were moved before I had a chance to write on them, so we will try to figure it out as they grow.  Either do this before you start the process with filling with dirt or well after you know what you planted. Another option is to create seed matching cards to determine what the seeds are. An incredibly creative mom and former teacher from The Golden Gleam has a great idea we will try another day.

Seed Matching Card Activity by The Golden Gleam

Step 6. Water and wait. With a lot of sunlight and a whole lot of patience, we have some little sprouts of tomatoes to show.