How to Make a Lily... with your Hand

Some tissue flowers require A LOT of tissue and time. This one, is quick and adds the element of sentimental value, with very little tissue needed. Or you can use paper.

The petals are simply tissue cut-outs of your handprint. Or, the handprint of those you love.

The stem is simply a wooden BBQ skewer.

They make a great bouquet... OR a great magic wand!

How to Make Banana Soup

Some fresh bananas with local honey... squooshed and smeared to gooey delight, then add:

pure peanut butter with crumbled up lightly salted Quaker rice cakes, and: Presto!

Fresh Banana Soup.

Invented at lunch by Callie consuming Norah's baby food (mashed bananas) instead of feeding her. Lesson learned. ;)
Callie proclaimed: "This is the best stuff on earth!"

So, I brought in the hearty additives that baby can't have.

How to Stop the Fighting...

I recently spoke with a friend of mine who has four kids. She was run down weary from the fighting that has gone on in her house for a prolonged period of time. I felt sorry for her, went home to my kids and realized that I WAS TOO!! It's just been going on for so long that I hadn't realized it.... narrowed it down or whatever!! So, I did what I always should do... and called Emily. What do I do?

Here is her advice:

1. Have a rule... if you fight over it... the toy gets taken away. Period. (and be consistent or it won't work)

*Okay... this has changed my life!!! Not only do they TRY to cooperate... but one or the other is constantly seeking to sacrifice for the greater good. Not to mention the phrase I add, "If things become more important than each other... we don't need it." This helps me and them to realize that if something is making us fight... it's not worth having. SIDENOTE: I used to do this but decided against it because it's usually one person STARTING the fight and the other ends up losing out privileges... BUT THINGS are not that important. People are. And, unless it's blatantly one-sided (and it sometimes is) this trick works great.

2. Create diversions. For small children especially, diversions are a great thing. I have been trying it. My friend Emily's mother had her children wash windows, one on each side... a fun game to get out frustration or just have fun. I tried this to clean up the window markers. It worked great!!! A diversion works like this (screaming... fighting... yelling... crying, mom comes it, "hey girls wanna play a game!" and then leads them to the windows with washclothes. That's it!

Thanks Emily!!!

How to Tell the Time

Now to any adult this seems rediculous. Why would I make a paper clock when their is one already on the wall.... that actually works! Well, Callie made this one... and wrote in the numbers herself for whatever reason... and then taped it to the wall by her room. She updates it whenever she thinks to look at a clock... calls it her clock and enjoys making it "on time". So, MOST of the time, the clock is wrong... but she has a constant hobby of updating it... thus she is always thinking about how it works and how to make it work for her. This would not otherwise happen. She is teaching herself how to tell time... and I am LETTING her. That's pretty easy. All I have to do is let her tape something to the wall.

How to Make a Pretzel

You can follow a recipe... I used the one in the Better Homes and Gardens plaid cookbook. But, I will be honest... I will not be making these again! Not, worth the effort. Way too many steps and dishes dirtied. But, I am glad we did this. It was an awesome lesson on prayer. Did you know that the old saying "tying the knot" to refer to marriage referred to the pretzel knot? It was an old Catholic tradition, typically before easter. Each hole symbolizing the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. The knot symbolizes joining and becoming one in marriage. Fun! It also can be used to talk about prayer in that you 1) fold your arms, 2) bow your head... thus forming the pretzel. Wiki says that they may have been given to children for memorizing their prayers back in 610 A.D. There you go!

How to Make a Map

There is a fun, and simplistic game to play with maps that teaches... well, lots of things really. I don't think its intended to get kids started on ratios or anything... but its great for teaching numbers and letters. Parent says: B1, kids says "LAKE!" Or kid says: "Mom go to the forest... and gives the steps. First, B4, then, B3. It's super fun. It led Callie to create her own chart of our house. All of the row A is the upstairs and D is ofcourse downstairs! :) Cute. Its a fun little game. It can be used all day. "Mom, can I go to D4 (outside)" Try it! It's great fun!

How to Color Glass

Crayola makes some awesome window markers... fun anyway. But, beware... they are a beast to clean up. Use a wet rag with soap... dry and THEN windex. If you just use windex it will take forever... and look BAD. Kids love it!