Ask A Toddler - How to Throw a Tantrum

This little toddler shares with viewers how she likes to throw tantrums. She has nothing on my three year old. LOL

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Easy Scarecrow Halloween Costume

Making a scarecrow costume for Halloween is not only fun, but you can allow the creative juices to flow endlessly. This is one easy homemade costume to make.

You’ll need blue jeans, preferably faded; a flannel shirt - size large; a straw hat; some fabric to make patches; rope; straw and make-up.

Now that you have the necessary items, you can begin.

Match some patches using fabric, and sew them onto the jeans in no particular pattern. Dress the intended scarecrow with the flannel shirt and jeans. Use the rope as a belt. Ensure the jeans are long enough so you can cuff them.

Now comes the fun part. Take the straw and place it in the sleeves of the shirt so they stick out; stuff them into the shirt as well ensuring the straw sticks out as well. You may want your child to wear a body suit so the straw won’t become too itchy. You can stuff the jeans with straw too.

Using eyeliner, you can draw stitches around the mouth, and use some red paint to make a triangular shaped nose.

The straw hat should look worn. So scrunch it up a bit before you place it on the scarecrow’s head. Put some straw in your child’s hair, and have some sticking out of the hat as well. You may even wish to make a pointed hat using cardboard and black felt. Then you can decorate the hat however you wish.

Another idea would be to purchase a fake black bird, which resembles a crow, and attach it to your child’s shoulder using wire. Poke the wire through the flannel shirt and twist it so it remains secure.

Scarecrow costumes are so much fun to make and utilizing all of the accessories mentioned herein, your child is sure to be a hit on Halloween.

Don’t have time to make one and you would rather purchase it? Check out this Scarecrow costume!

Scarecrow ChildIncludes a jumpsuit with attached hood and hat. Available in Child sizes: Up to 4T and 4-6. Socks and makeup not included.

Mean Moms and Grandmothers

Someday when my children are old enough to understand the logic that motivates a parent, I will tell them, as my Mean ole Mom told me:

I loved you enough to ask where you were going, with whom, and what time you would be home.

I loved you enough to be silent and let you discover that your new best friend was a creep. Read more

Bebe Belay - All In One Holder

I recently had the opportunity to try out a really neat product from stay at home mom, April Klein.

Ms. Klein, owner and creator of Bebe Belay spent many long hours fine tuning her multifunctional baby accessory. Not only does Bebe Belay make lives easier for parents, it’s also an ingenious product. Read more

Proud of My Twin Skin

I was on an online forum recently in which a mom of 10-month-old twins was questioning whether she would ever shed her “twin skin.” For those of you who aren’t familiar with the term, it’s the saggy skin left on a woman’s belly after she’s been pregnant with twins. Unfortunately, most of the respondents had bad news for this mom. Once the skin has been stretched to such extremes, it’s not going to totally reverse itself without plastic surgery!

BT (Before Twins), I always prided myself on my flat stomach, even after two singleton pregnancies. And then I got pregnant with twins. I was stunned at the ability of the human body to accommodate such a huge “intrusion”! I started my pregnancy at 120 pounds and ballooned to 190 at its peak. The doctor quit measuring my midsection because he ran out of tape! (That had never happened to him before.) My legs swelled to the size of redwood trees. Miraculously, I was still up and waddling around when my twins were born at 39 weeks weighing 7 pounds, 13 ounces and 6 pounds, 9 ounces—hefty weights for the average twins. Needless to say, my tummy (and my thighs) will never be the same! My bikini days are officially over.

Of course, this bothers me when I look in the mirror. I’ve gone back to my pre-pregnancy weight and look fine when I’m fully clothed, but I indulge in a little pity party when I see that extra skin under my clothes. Nevertheless, I was sickened when I saw entertainment host Dayna Devon undergo plastic surgery to eliminate a minuscule bit of skin she had around her middle after two singleton pregnancies. She had no idea how lucky she was to have such minimal evidence of her pregnancies (and to be married to a plastic surgeon). I wanted to tell her to get a grip on reality! Most women would give anything for that tiny bit of belly fat she had.

So, I’ve decided not to go down that route. I wear my “twin skin” like a badge of honor! I’m proud to be the mother of twins, to have nurtured them in my body and carried them until they were ready to make their way into the world. Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m going to flaunt my twin skin at the beach, but it does mean that I can accept myself just as I am, flabby belly and all. I’m perfect in the eyes of my twins, and that’s all that matters to me.

Safety Tips During Trick or Treating

Halloween is a fun day for kids, but caution and safety should be considered. Below are a few tips, some of which have been recommended by the National Safety Council.

* Ensure a parent or guardian accompanies the kids when they go out trick-or-treating.

* If you have older kids who are going out with friends, instruct them to stay within the neighborhood, and to walk along a well lit route. Read more

The History of Halloween

What we now know as Halloween has a long and complicated history. It doesn’t come from just one source. It’s a blending of religious rites, superstitions, customs and traditions and has become what we know today as a night of costumes, parties, candy and spooky stories.  By combining elements from the Celtic druids from 2000 years ago and the Roman Catholic Church, we have what it is recognized as Halloween.  Read more

Step-Christmas

Christmas has always been my favorite holiday. It’s great because it’s celebrating a wonderful occasion and it always brings my family together. It’s such a cold time of year (where I live) but the Christmas season always warms me up.

Little did I know what a step-family might do to this wonderful holiday. It was a beautiful winter and I was still consumed by my 1 month-old baby so I was kind of in my own world. I was busy spending my days cuddling and napping and cheering for Thomas as he started hitting huge milestones! (okay not really milestones but back then the things he was doing seemed amazing). I mean he started to smile sometimes, he even rolled over when he was just one month old, I was having a great time.

That is until it was time to make plans for Christmas Day. All seven of the kids (me included) had two sets of parents and two sets of grandparents that we had to try and divide our time between and try to coordinate with each other at the same time. That meant someone was going to end up feeling bad on Christmas. There was no way we could all coordinate the times when we would eat or open presents or whatever else we were going to do. It was impossible. And believe me, we tried but realized the effort was getting us nowhere.

It was hard too because my mom and my step-dad wanted us to celebrate as a family but it wasn’t really working out that way. I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that the kids were so old when our parents got married. It’s not like we grew up together and had time to bond. It was more like we were just stuffed into a house and expected to become family. Not just by our parents but by our own expectations as well. But it didn’t work out that way. When we did do things together and try to get to know one another it usually felt awkward.

There were a few times when things felt a little more comfortable but most of the time it felt unnatural. But that’s the thing, we didn’t have just a natural family. And nomatter how nice we are, or how much we care about each other when we’re a step-family there’s just something there that feels a little different.

So Christmas was good, don’t get me wrong. We all celebrated in one way or another and we got to see a lot of family but it didn’t live up to our “one big happy family” expectations.

Regret: The Definitive Thief

“And between the old and new-the “was” and the “not yet” - there exists only one thing: a very frightening journey called faith. It is stripped of the usual comforts. It comes in one color: dark. It offers one amenity: catharsis.”
Margaret Becker in Coming Up For Air

If we’re honest, everyone longs for the bonuses, the benefits, and blessings that positive change can offer. True enough, the future is expansive, ripe with possibility, and can appear quite friendly (on certain days, under specific circumstances). Depending upon one’s perspective, one’s resiliency of spirit, and one’s ability to access and evaluate accurately, tomorrow may be viewed as a gratuitous opportunity. Or not. Read more

Review of BPA Free Sippy Cups

I read a great post today that reviews several BPA free sippy cups that are on the market. As a mom keeping my kids as safe as possible is my number one priority, so I was really impressed by the information Tiffany over at Natural Family Living Blog had to share. I won’t get in the details here about BPA but if you want to know more about it be sure to check out her post here. - Great Stuff!

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