Good Night Sweet Butterflies

I LOVE this book for toddlers. Good Night, Sweet Butterflies is beautifully illustrated with bright colors. It is a great book to teach children colors and counting. It lasted through Kaylee and Aaron's toddler-hood and then got lost and forgotten in Kaylee's room. I found it the other day and I hope that it will survive Nathan so that I have the chance to read it to Travis!

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

This was my favorite meal growing up...thanks Mom, its delicious! A combination of chicken, cheese, broccoli, and potatoes. Can't get much better than that!

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

• 1 lb broccoli florets, cooked
• 2 cups shredded chicken
• 6 or 7 medium potatoes, cooked, pealed, and diced
• 2 cans cream of chicken soup
• 1 soup can of milk
• grated cheese 

Place broccoli on the bottom of a 9x13 pan, next layer potatoes, then chicken, and pour soup diluted with milk over all and top with cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Puzzle Palooza

Here is a great boredom blaster. I got out all of our puzzles and gave each child an area on the floor to work on one puzzle at a time. For hours the kids put together their puzzles until most of our floor was covered in colorful puzzles. It transformed our floor into a patchwork of pictures. The kids loved it and kept the puzzles out until Eric could get home to see them. It made walking around a little difficult for the rest of the day...but hey, we kicked boredom's butt that day!

Don't Wish Away the Days

As I sit here, wishing away the potty training days ahead of me, I came across the perfect quote:

"These are years when you probably do the most important work of your lives. Don't wish away your years of caring for small children."

-Marjorie Hinckley

We have had several catastrophes related to potty training...I will spare you the details...so I thought that this poem is fitting:

Toddlers are a challenge, true,

But patience is the key.

They smile and scream and holler,

Just as cute as they can be.

Sometimes I really wonder

If I'll make it through the day.

Catastrophes already--ten!

And one more on the way.

Is this my sacred heritage?

Teething, toys--oh why?

I hear a noise upstairs and then

Three children start to cry.

Catastrophe eleven comes,

Then goes. I give a smile.

But number twelve? "Dear Lord, please no.

Just wait a little while."

The twelfth one waits till bedtime,

So the miracle is done!

The day is almost over now--

The end of all my fun.

The house is finally quiet,

And I hear the Spirit say,

"Just thank the Lord you made it

Through another toddler day!"

-Tamara Fackrell

A Sister for a Minute

When I was pregnant with Travis and we had our ultrasound showing us that we were expecting a boy, Kaylee was devastated. She wanted a sister so badly. She loves Travis and wouldn't trade him...well maybe she would for a minute. Which she did. Kaylee took matters into her own hands (with Aaron as her accomplice) and for a triumphant 15 minutes Kaylee had her "sister". She did Travis' hair and dressed him in one of her old baby dresses and here is the result:

Travis: "Please, I beg of you, never do this to me again!"

Travis, I must say that pink is not your color!

Dreaded Days of Potty Training

These are two of my least favorite things. I despise them, but they are necessary evils:

I can't wait for the day that I can throw these putrid plastic pails away!

Nathan has been showing some interest in going potty (probably from the jar of Starbursts on our bathroom shelf that we use for bribery) and I am sick of changing his diapers so I think that the dreaded days of potty training are upon me. I have already gone through this with 2 other kids...and no, it does not get any easier...I only know what I am in for - cleaning up pee and poop off the carpet, becoming a hermit for about a week, and spending countless minutes singing songs and saying rediculous things like "keep pushing, it will make your potty SO happy to have some poo-poo in it" while I sit and wait for Nathan to do his thing.

Wish me luck! Potty training will officially commence this week...sigh, deep breath...  I am going to try this method that I found over at 71 Toes:

1) buy the most appealing panties/underwear at the store for the particular child you are potty training. (Elmo, Spiderman, Dora, etc.)

2) ooooo and ahhhhh over how amazing they are (yes, the underwear)

3) put them in a special place until the designated "potty day" (show the child the upcoming date on the calendar, count down the days, talk about how excited you are, etc....and don't schedule ANYTHING else for that day or the few days after...that's of course where it gets tricky...but I try my best)

4) on the designated day, say goodbye to diapers and get ready for lots of accidents

5) have said potty-trainee sit on toilet for endless hours and drink gallons of liquids

6) give stickers on a sticker chart AND a skittle or m&m every time there is a success

7) talk excitedly about the reward (decided together beforehand) that comes after the sticker chart is filled

8) try not to freak out more than completely necessary at the messes involved

9) enjoy your newly potty-trained child

One extra note: once potty training starts there's NO GOING BACK. Diapers are gone (except at night and for naps). No matter how hard and frustrating it gets, I've found the longest it really takes if you're serious is three days, and to me it's worth it to have a few agonizing days to get results.


If you have any other great potty training ideas, please share. I need all the help (and ice cream) I can get :)

Get Understanding

Yesterday I posted about the benefits that our children gain from reading 20 minutes a day with them. Today I was reading Standing for Something by Gordon B. Hinckley and found a quote and scripture that affirms how important it is to read with our kids:

Proverbs 4:7 - "With all thy getting get understanding"...

my I add "With all thy giving give understanding"

"Children who are exposed to books at early ages have scholastic advantages throughout their lives. Parents who fail to read to their small children do a disservice to them as well as to themselves. It takes time, yes, much of it. It takes self-discipline and planning. It takes organizing and budgeting the minutes and hours of the day. But it is never boring to watch young minds come to know characters, expressions, and ideas. Good reading can become a love affair, far more fruitful in long-term effects than many other activities to which children give their time. It has been estimated that the average child in the United States watches something approaching 8,000 hours of television before he or she even begins school. What a difference might it make, what an influence could it have in the homes of this country if parents were to work at creating an atmosphere of learning and education at home, so that children were exposed at an early age to thoughts and concepts and attitudes that would build and motivate them for good throughout their lives."