I don’t wear makeup often, so what I have is precious to me. Unfortunately, little hands like getting into my makeup and I have to resort to locking it up. Here are my top reasons for putting the makeup case under lock and key.

My Top Five Reasons for Locking up My Makeup 

1. Makeup is not an art supply. While I appreciate that my daughter likes to try new art mediums, my carpet and cabinets are not so appreciative.
   
2. A little goes a long way. My daughter does not know the meaning of that phrase and tends to apply gobs of it at a time. Usually to my face.
3. I am not a clown. After a makeup session with my daughter usually winds up with me looking like this:
4. Missing makeup. I have discovered the majority of my makeup under beds and in closets.
5. I’m worried about the cats. When one of the cats turned up with a pink neck, I knew I had to take action.

Of course, telling a certain little girl she can’t play beauty parlor anymore isn’t something I look forward to. Luckily, I don’t have to; she now has makeup of her own to play with.

Little Cosmetics sells pretend makeup that both looks and feels real. W received a drawstring bag filled with:

• Eyeshadow
• Glitter Shadow
• Pressed Powder
• Blush
• Lip Gloss
• Five Makeup Brushes
• Heart Mirror

Let me just say that W loved her new makeup. It definitely looks real! I wouldn’t know the difference if it was placed with my makeup. This compact feels just like powder: 

 My favorite piece is the lip gloss, which has a working roller. You feel like you are actually putting on real lip gloss, but with no mess! W put all of the makeup on me and I did not resemble a clown in any form. And now I don’t have to worry about my carpets and cabinets being painted. I just hope they come up with a nail polish; there was an “incident” that made our bathroom look like a crime scene. Maybe then, I’ll be able to liberate my makeup.

What do you have to hide from your children?

Disclosure: I received complimentary products in order to facilitate this review.

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Being Able to Let Go

A New Start

 I remember dishwasher shopping with my parents year again. The salesmen said that many of the dishwashers would clean without rinsing. When we get bought the new dishwasher, I thought of how easy it would be. But somehow, I was stuck in the same old routine of rinsing and scrubbing. It didn’t help that the detergents I was buying weren’t doing the job. Either they wouldn’t completely clean my dishes or they wouldn’t even dissolve. My dishes started looking dingy. I decided to give one last detergent a try and started using Cascade© Platinum Pacs.

After trying so many types of dishwasher detergents, I was a bit skeptical about using the Cascade© Platinum Pacs. I had also been soaking my pots and pans prior to rinsing them for the dishwasher; I was a little scared to put them directly in. But as you can see, Cascade© Platinum Pacs have triple the fighting power. Their super powers include:

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As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not much of a green thumb. My mother is actually better at growing gardens than I am. When it came time to celebrate Mother’s Day a few weeks ago, I decided to take her some place where we could visit beautiful gardens, without any of the work. We decided to beat the crowds and go early to the Dallas Arboretum.

Beautiful Gardens at the Dallas Arboretum

It was a perfect morning to take a walk in the Dallas Arboretum. There were flowers everywhere we turned. The path was lined with colorful arrangements such as the one below.  I like how flowers give an ombre effect.

A beautiful effect is also achieved with a more monochromatic display. I loved all of these red flowers!

 However, I think my absolute favorite was the herb garden. There were a number of plants covering the ground, such as this lemon balm. They also had more unusual herbs such as wormwood.

 I also never thought to see vegetables planted in the middle of a botanical garden, but there they were! Look at those itty bitty peppers. I hope I can grow some this year.

Since the children were with us, we spent a lot of time in Texas Town. There were a number of historically accurate buildings they could explore, like this teepee. There were actually furs hanging down inside! The kids really liked visiting each one, especially one on stilts

Some of my favorite things to look for in a garden are roses. This was the beginning of a path through the rose garden. W shares my love of roses.

I felt like I was in a beautiful English garden. Just look at those roses surrounding the arch. Simply beautiful!

Visiting the Dallas Arboretum gave me such inspiration. Between it and my mom’s garden, I’ll have plenty of ideas for planting this summer, even on my little balcony.

Disclosure: I received complimentary tickets to the Dallas Arboretum in exchange for my honest review.

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How to Tell if Your Child is Overstimulated

Early Signs

These are things that you may notice that will alert you that a child is beginning to get tired.

• Thumb sucking This is actually a good thing. This is actually can be a sign that your child may be trying to self soothe.
• Chewing Both my children have been known to chew on things when they’ve had too much.  The usual victims are shirts and blankets, but some skirts have fallen prey as well.
• Silence A quiet child may be welcome; but this often can be a sign that your child has had too much stimuli.

Danger Signs

If you notice these behaviors in your child, you will want to take immediate action to build a meltdown, if possible.

• Playing alone If you are in a group situation and your child is suddenly off in a corner by himself, take that as a sign that you need to go home. 
• Stimming Your child may run around the room or flap his hands when overstimulated. I find that it’s really hard to reverse things at this point.
• Loud talking I find that the tireder C is, the louder his commentary for play seems to be. 

Meltdown

Most signs of a meltdown are obvious; but some things may seem like common misbehavior.

• Screaming Your child may seem like he is just mad because you won’t buy him a new toy, but try to notice if there is a pattern. If every little thing sets him off, he may be overstimulated.
  
• Lashing out C has a certain time of day when he doesn’t want anyone near him. If someone looks at him funny during that time, he has been known to hit, bite, or throw things.
• No appetite An overstimulated child may not eat anything, even though he is hungry. 

Solutions

• Aromatherapy Essential oils such as lavender may help to calm a child, especially when combined with massage.
• Special movie or music When my son gets worked up, the first thing I do is put on The Hobbit. It holds his attention pretty well, so he tends to calm down.
• Redirection You can give your child a quiet activity to do. They can also use a fidget or “chewie” to focus on. We recently tried a Chewelry fidget from KidCompanions. It is a circle piece made from thermo-plastic elastomers and is free of BPA, phthalates, lead and latex.

The Chewelry also comes in a heart shape. It is made so that the child can either hold it in her hand as a fidget or wear it on a lanyard (18″,20″,24″) around their neck. C has his on a 20″ lanyard; but I think I might get a 24″ undyed one because he tends to chew on it. Right now he’s enjoying the Chewelry so much that he starts chewing on it well before the danger stage for him. I just wish it was a tad bit bigger because he tends to shove the whole thing in his mouth at once. W has even asked for her own Chewelry; hopefully that will encourage her not to chew on her blanket!

KidCompanions has been kind enough to offer one of my readers a Chewelry piece. Please enter by using the Rafflecopter form below.

This giveaway ends at 11:59 PM on June 27. It is open to residents of both the US and Canada who are 18 and older. Some restrictions may apply, based on location. Once the giveaway has ended, the winner will be picked using Rafflecopter. Winners are chosen at random. The winner will be emailed and will have 48 hours to respond. If no response is received in that time period, a new winner will be drawn. In order to be eligible to win, the winner’s entries will be verified. False or incomplete entries will negate eligibility. Let’s Go on a Picnic! reserves the right to refuse any entry based on false information or instructions not followed. Let’s Go on a Picnic! is not responsible for prize shipment. The sponsor will be responsible for shipping all prizes which can take up to 6 weeks.

Disclosure: I was provided with a Chewelry piece in exchange for my honest review.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Berry Parfait Freezer Pops

I decided to go with berries for this recipe after making a batch with strawberries from the Dallas Farmer’s Market. I wanted this recipe to have a variety of textures and flavors, so I took some inspiration from past recipes and added yogurt, as well as blueberries. I layered them together to make colorful stripes.

I had thought about letting the layers freeze before adding the next; but I found the yogurt and purees all thick enough to hold the layer on top without mixing. The only snag to this recipe was the freezing time. Kids are never patient. They both woke up to freezer pops this morning though! And asked for seconds. 

Berry Parfait Freezer Pops

2013-06-10 10:55:33

Red, white and blue freezer pops!

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Ingredients

Six strawberries, hulled

2 handfuls blueberries

3/4 cup vanilla vogurt

4 tablespoons water

6 freezer pop molds

Instructions

Put a tablespoon of yogurt in each mold.

Puree strawberries with one tablespoon water.

Put strawberry puree over yogurt.

Put another tablespoon of yogurt over strawberries.

Puree blueberries with 3 tablespoons water.

Put blueberry puree over yogurt.

Put in freezer for about three hours.

By Laurel

Let's Go on a Picnic! http://www.headant.com/

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Since he was about two, C has had two great loves: letters and numbers. It was only natural that he moved easily into math. In fact, both children are good at math. Well, until now. It seems neither one of them likes standard formated (1+2=3) math problems. Both of them require a little more creativity when solving problems. A worksheet that should take just a few minutes can now take up to two hours. And that’s a bit of a problem. Luckily, I found some solutions.

The Problems with Math Problems

Change Worksheets

I think one of the issues that the kids have with their worksheets is that they are a bit uninteresting to them. Most of the worksheet is covered with straight math problems, with only a couple of word problems at the end. There is nothing tangible for them to solve the problems with. I started giving them additional worksheets from the Math Mammoth Blue Series. The books that I used were:

• Addition 1 $3.75 Kindergarten-1st grade
• Add and Subtract 2-A $4.50 1st-2nd grade
• Clock $4.00 1st-3rd grade

Each book has some type of visual or creative component for the math problems. For example, an addition problem may use pictures of objects to add or highlight one of the addends. Each section also includes word problems, even the clock workbook. There are several ways you can use the workbooks. You can print out the pages as needed, use them in Adobe Reader, or buy a printed copy (about $6.40-6.45 more).

I chose to print out several pages to supplement our current curriculum. The kids would use them after their regular pages. They seemed to be more interested in solving these problems because they could see the pictures. In fact, W was so excited every time I got out a worksheet. I even brought some worksheets for her when we went out to dinner. C was a bit jealous and demanded his own set of worksheets! I’m glad that he likes them because he’s starting to get anxious about some of the harder math problems. I think Math Mammoth’s methods will help him get out of his math rut. Right now, he’s learning to subtract 8 from numbers. Math Mammoth uses hints in teaching these facts. I’ve actually been trying to do something similar and am tickled that we’re thinking alike!

Create Word Problems

Earlier this week, the only way we were able to get through our regular worksheets was if I made up word problems. C’s problems involved all types of LEGO scenarios and W’s might have been about cookies and flowers. This tends to take a bit of time, but it’s much more enjoyable than begging.

Make Manipulatives

I’ve written about using LEGOs as manipulatives; but you can use anything to count, add, and subtract. Pennies are an easy tool to use, as are paper clips, or grains of rice. Anything small can be use to make math lesson more tangible and hands on.

I’m hoping that my children’s fear of math is finally easing up. I know that math problems can be daunting, but there is no reason for them to always be hard. You just have to find the right methods to work through them with your children.

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As I’ve mentioned before, the children have been working on a story about a girl named Kadda. Every time I turn around, they are embellishing her saga. They’ve even started a book; I write the words and they draw the pictures. I loved to do the same thing as a child. I want to teach them how to illustrate a story in different ways.

How to Illustrate a Story

Comic Strip

A comic book is a fun way for kids to add pictures to a storyline. We recently started Cartooning lessons from See the Light which taught the children how to exaggerate characters and use a storyboard format. The DVD program is hosted by Master Artist Pat Knepley and includes the following key ideas:

• Art History
• Art Elements
• Art Concepts

The video takes kids through drawing characters from basic shape, adding feature such as eyes, and putting together pictures and text in a comic strip.

As our resident artist, W parked herself in front of the tv and followed Pat’s instructions to the letter (well, maybe not the erasing part). She filled several pieces of paper with sketches of vegetables, people, and animals. I knew that she had some art talent before starting the course; but See the Light

really helped in teaching her to add more detail and character to her drawings. I love this man that she drew:

I think the only thing she needs to work on now is her comic strip style. She tries to cram everything into one sheet of paper. Plus, her pictures need some 

finishing touches such as markers. Don’t you love the facial expressions in the last frame?

Stick Figures

This is what I like to call the CGI effect. It’s a simple way to cover a lot of space in an illustration. Nothing like a crowd of stick figures! The main character in the Kadda story had 19 brothers; they were all drawn as stick figures. And they all had names. Like Hamburger. 

Collage

Kids can cut out pictures from magazines or catalogs and glue them in their storybooks as illustrations. If they are ambitious, they can use random colored pieces of paper to make up a single picture. When I was a child, I illustrated stories with pictures cut out of my yearbook. That didn’t go over so well.

Encouraging creativity in our children is such an easy thing to do. I love giving my children options and letting them grow artistically. Soon, I think they’ll be teaching me how to illustrate a story!

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When I was a little girl, my mother had a shirt box on the shelf in her closet. Inside, she had a treasure of childhood memories: going home outfits, kindergarten diplomas, and birthday candles. Another box, a much larger one, held her wedding dress and veil. I remember trying on her dress at least once a year and reading through a book of memories about her pregnancy with me. I’ve been trying to think of ideas to make memories with my own children.

 Memory Jar

Several weeks ago, both children started memory jars. All of the items so far are things from nature: pinecones, leaves, and some shells from the Nature Exchange. When we start our nature walks for our plant unit study, we’ll add more to the jars.

I got the idea for memory jars from the book, The Memory Jar, by Tricia Goyer. Sarah, the protagonist of the novel, has created several jars to remember events in her life. One jar in particular is dedicated to her best friend who died a few years earlier. Like the items in the jar, she keeps her emotions and dreams bottled up. It is only when she meets bachelor Jathan that she learns how to let go. It’s a beautiful story of how our hearts deal with tragedy.

I love nothing more than returning to a book series. Tricia returns to West Kootenai, Montana, the setting of her Big Sky series. Hint, you’ll see some familiar faces. You’ll get a more in depth look in the West Kootenai Kraft and Bakery, as Sarah bakes all kind of goodies there. I’m partial to her cupcakes myself; they all sound so yummy! Jathan is such a good match for her. He loves to bake himself and loves the Lord even more. I love that they can work side by side and still remain true to their Amish faith. And there is a part at the end that is so touching!

Promise Box

When reading my mother’s pregnancy journal, I felt like I was taking a glimpse into her hopes and dreams for a new baby. The same holds true with my baby book. You sense the joy in her writing. I would love to read a written legacy for my children to inspire them one day.

In The Promise Box, Tricia Goyer writes about one mother who left such a legacy. When her mother passes away, Lydia’s father gives her a box of Scripture verses and letters that her mother had written. Lydia uses these to reconcile with the truth of her birth and to help her friend Gideon face his past, as well. 

I especially enjoyed this book because adoption is very close to my heart. I have family members that are adopted and they mean the world to me, just like Lydia did to her mem. Knowing part of the story behind her birth made her search for her birth mother even more meaningful. I couldn’t even imagine what they were both feeling. Most importantly, I was happy to see that Lydia and Gideon healed one another. I really liked his character and hope to see more of him as the series progresses.  This book made me realize the tricks that guilt plays on a wounded heart. This book is for anyone who is hurting.

Cedar Chest

Not too many people seem to have hope chest anymore; cedar chests are still a wonderful way to hold childhood memories. They can contain baby clothes, drawings and stories, old toys, and more. My aunt had a chest at the foot of her bed that held her wedding suit and other items.

There are so many wonderful ways to preserve memories for your children, especially in this digital age. But perhaps the best memories are ones that they can touch and feel. 

How do you help your children make memories?

Disclosure: I received both books in exchange for my honest review.

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When I packed the children’s snacks for our trip to Texas, I wanted to make sure we stayed away from the junk. They love fruit and nuts, so I decided to make some trail mix with some Peeled Snacks and Yumnuts cashews we had received from Vitacost.

Homemade Trail Mix

 I had never made homemade granola before, so I decided to keep it simple by combining honey and oatmeal. I mixed this with the fruit mix and nuts, along with some dried cranberries. Easy peasy! I put it in a resealable bag for easy access during our trip.

I might have confiscated the bag from the kids. I was a little addicted to the cashews. They had great flavor without being too sweet. I also picked out all the pineapples from the fruit mix and left the banana and mango for the children. This kept me energized for most of our trip. Towards the end, I turned to a Brain Toniq, a non-caffeinated drink designed to help you focus. It had a refreshing citrus flavor only sweetened with agave. I felt like I could concentrate after drinking it and returned the trail mix to the kids.

Disclosure: I was provided with products for this review.

Homemade Trail Mix

2013-06-02 07:19:23

A trail mix for the road chock full of fruit, nuts, and oatmeal granola.

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Granola

1 cup old fashioned oatmeal

2 tablespoons honey

butter

Trail Mix

5 oz Yumnuts Naturals Cashews Toasted Coconut

3.5 oz Peeled Snacks Organic Paradise Found Banana Mango and Pineapple

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1 batch oatmeal granola from above.

Granola

Preheat oven to 350º.

Butter a cookie sheet.

Mix together honey and oatmeal.

Spread on prepared cookie sheet.

Bake about 15 minutes until golden.

Let cool.

Break into pieces.

Trail Mix

Mix granola and other ingredients in a resealable container.

By Laurel

Let's Go on a Picnic! http://www.headant.com/

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Teaching Our Daughters About Courtship and Marriage

Dating

I’m sure that I won’t have to think about W dating for about, say, twenty years; but I want to make sure she is prepared. There is a common misperception that you have to date a bunch of people before you find “the one.” In fact, so-called reality shows take it up a notch and have men and women date multiple partners at the same time. I know from experience that traditional dating doesn’t always work. I tend to put my heart into any dating situation; it’s difficult to remain objective when it doesn’t work out. I would love for W to experience courtship rather than dating. She should get to know someone well before dating him. It’s important that he is accepted by our family, as well.

Engagement

When it comes time for W to get engaged, I hope that her prospective groom does something special for her without going over the top. I’ve also seen reality shows that feature outrageous proposals. Themed proposals aren’t necessary when he can propose on a walk or at a family dinner. There’s also nothing wrong skipping a formal proposal all together. That’s what my husband and I did. We just decided that we would get married and went out to pick out our rings together. And that brings up another point; ring does not have to equal bling. As you can see in the photo above, my rings were modest. My sister used my grandfather’s ring as her wedding band; there is nothing more special than using a beloved piece of family jewelry for a wedding band or engagement ring.

Wedding

I often think of how these elaborate weddings everyone seems to throw aren’t just a recipe for disaster. Think about all the different things that factor into wedding planning: dress, flowers, pictures, hall, cake, caterer, etc. Trying to cover all those things financially puts stress on any relationship, especially with today’s “bigger is better” mentality. I’ve heard of weddings receptions that had potluck dinners and photos taken by the guests. Flowers can come from your own garden and be placed in a tussy mussy. Dresses can be handmade; both my mother’s and my wedding dresses were made by family. Weddings symbolize the joining of two families–shouldn’t the celebration bring families closer instead of drawing them apart? I think it’s a wonderful time to appreciate the people in your life.

I hope that by the time W decides to date and get married, she will understand the value of simplicity. Love doesn’t come in a stretch limousine with a three carat diamond. It is found when you spend time together, getting to know one another. It tiptoes out during family gatherings or sitting on the side of a hill listening to music.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 1 Corinthians 13:4-5

 

What are you teaching your children about courtship and marriage?

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