What’s on my door?

I really like the idea of decorating my front door with a pretty wreath. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy coming home. Almost like having someone with a smile greet me at my door. However, this is what I’ve been coming home to:

“rustic” 🙂

Not great. Actually, it is almost depressing! I made that little wreath a year ago and it has slowly been falling apart. The pine cones came from our yard, but as you can see, only a few have survived and others are ready to jump ship!
I finally got around to taking it down and putting up another one. I love the look of pretty felt flowers and looked up some inspiration on pinterest. Now that spring has sprung, I decided a yarn covered wreath and a few flowers would brighten up the door. I had an old styrofoam wreath, covered it in some beige yarn (only because that’s what I had on hand) and looked up how to make some felt flowers. I always have a few felt pieces laying around and went with blue, yellow and grey flowers. I used this tutorial for the blue one a this one for the other two.

Now all I had to do was put it together. I was going to hot glue the flowers on, but then I thought I could just change out the flowers to give the door a new look. So I took some thread and I sewed them on. Let me tell you, sewing onto yarn is not an easy thing. It was cumbersome and if you look closely you can see where I looped the thread around, because it kept breaking through the yarn.

anything that involves breaking out a needle and thread makes me cringe a little, so kudos to you!

I finally got it put together, found some ribbon and put it on the door! Kinda cute, no? I’m not liking the green command hook though. How do you hang up your wreaths?

simple and sweet-love it!

It’s a little simple, but I love it anyways, and will have a little smile on my face every time I come home.

I’ve been thinking of painting our front door a fun color too.  Any suggestions? What’s on your door?

Laundry – deriving( housework )

We’re going to start a new series here at Deriving(mommyhood) on how we manage to keep our house from being a complete disaster, despite having small children, animals, hobbies, and lives to attend to.  Personally, I need to have a semi-clean house in order to sleep well at night, but I’m a little crazy if you haven’t figured that out already.  In general I like to tackle at least one space a day, but things like laundry and floors have to happen more often.

I know laundry is a much hated task amongst the average person, but it’s actually one of my least-loathed.  Bathrooms and mopping?  I can definitely turn over to someone else, any day.  Here’s how I survive laundry, hopefully it makes you hate it a little less, too.

First, I do a load of laundry nearly everyday.  Why?  Because 8 loads of laundry on one day is horrible to even think about.  I generally decide in the evening what should be washed and go ahead and start it before bed.  I keep all of our laundry separated, there’s a basket for colors, one for towels/rags, a basket for whites, another for delicates, a diaper pail for our cloth diapers (ah, potty training….that’s a whole other post) and a basket in each of the kid’s rooms.  Whichever is full is up next.

Best case scenario I’ll wake up to a load of wet laundry in my machine.  Sometimes I’ll run the machine in the morning instead, but if it’s all washed when I wake up, I can get a head start hanging it out on the clothesline before the kids wake up, or while they are eating breakfast (normally a pretty calm part of the day for us).  If that doesn’t happen, I just take everyone outside mid morning when the machine stops for some playground time.  I have the kids help load and unload the washing machine–they love that part.

“Like this mommy?”

I figure you might as well get them in the habit when they’re happy and willing to help!

I use a clothesline for everything.  It’s out by the playground, so the kids are occupied while I hang up the clothes (when they were pre-walking, I would wear them in a baby carrier for this part).  I turn everything right side out and match socks as I go.  We generally have enough sunny days in the week to never run the dryer.  It might seem like more work, but I’m going to have to take the kids outside to play whether I use a clothesline or not, and I think it saves time when it comes to sorting and folding (which I think is probably what makes laundry so detestable).

We’re trying to lower our electricity bill and after doing some research realized the dryer is an energy eating machine! You could cut your bill in half if you just use some good old sun outside.

You know Arsenic Hour, that time before dinner when everyone is a little tired, a little hungry, and a lot cranky?  This is when we go outside and get the clothes off the line (here in Florida, they are dry in probably 2 hours, but I leave the laundry out all day anyway).  A little fresh air during the late afternoon makes everyone feel a lot better (including Emmit, the dog).

I miss those afternoon Florida storms.

As I take things down, they get folded.  Sometimes I even take things down in order and sort as I go so that putting it away is super quick.  Everything is super crisp and fresh smelling from time in the sun (bonus, most stains are removed just by some sunshine).  Even if I don’t get everything put away immediately, I have a basket of folded clothes, not a big clump from the dryer.  Much better to sit around–not getting wrinkly!

I also only have one laundry basket for clean laundry.  This keeps things from piling up since I have to put away what’s in it before I can do another load of laundry.  For the kid’s clothes, I put them in piles and have them help me put them away where they go.

And that’s it!  Anyone else use a clothesline?  What strategies do you use to keep laundry from taking over your life?

The Color Kittens – a weeklong preschool unit study

Inspired by Five in a Row, I decided to create my own ‘mini unit study’ based on a book we own, The Color Kittens by Margaret Wise Brown (she’s also written Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny, which are found in Before Five in a Row).  The first most obvious theme in the book is colors–the kittens have primary colored paint and they are trying to mix it to find other colors they love and see around them.  The secondary theme is imagination.  The kittens dream about a different world where all the colors are mixed up.

To do this unit study, I suggest starting every day of the week by reading the book, then selecting some of the activities below to do afterwards.  If you’d like to include a Bible lesson, you can also include a memory verse for the week that talks about color (or maybe read about Joseph and the Coat of Many Colors and have them draw what they think it might look like).  Our verse this week is “Quench not the Spirit, 1 Thessalonians 5:19″…it was a main verse in our Pastor’s sermon this week and I thought it tied in well enough.

Here are some suggested activities:

Art:  Give your child the colors the kittens had in the book (red, yellow, blue, white and black) and have them mix to create the new colors the kittens discover.  Allow them the freedom to create a painting of their choice with the new colors.

(Dexter only paints spiders right now…)

Imagination:  Talk about the dream that the kittens experience.  Have your child close their eyes and tell you about what they see.  Tell them to draw a picture of everything they imagined.  Explain that we can use our imagination to come up with just about anything.

Absorption Color Wheel:  Details for this can be found at Chasing Cheerios.  As an extension, maybe try creating different color carnations through absorption and talking about how flowers ‘drink’ water to grow.

(orange and purple didn’t turn out as well as green….maybe I needed more red coloring?)

Science:  Talk about how as the Earth rotates, the sun appears to move across the sky.  In the afternoon, the sun is lower in the sky and we see long shadows.  Maybe explain this using a flashlight inside first, when the light is directly above there is almost no shadow at all, but towards the side creates a longer shadow.  Extend to a little history and make a sundial if you’d like, too.  Go outside different times of day and talk about the shadows you create.

Scavenger Hunt:  This can be done indoors or out, but probably more fun and more science extensions if you go outside.  I Am Momma did a good version here, maybe use an egg carton that you color in advance instead to make collecting a little easier for your little one.  I suggest scouting out where you are going to walk first to make sure your child will be able to find the colors you are having them find.  This would be a great activity to do at a local park!

(He LOVED this.  Little sister had the other part of the egg carton, colored in the spots herself, and joined us…but lost her items every time she started moving.  I suggest not cutting the lid of the carton so that you can close while you hunt for the next item)

Food:  Create a muffin tin color meal.  Here’s some inspiration over at Muffin Tin Mom.

(mmmm…..the kiwis and bananas got left behind since they are still quite suspicious of kiwi, and bananas are either eaten in bulk or untouched)

Math:  Talk about the number 2.  (Side note:  Drea and I were in a master’s level math class together in college where the professor spent the entire first lecture talking all about the number 3.  Is this 3?  Or is this 3?  It was crazy abstract…)  Show your child different representations of the number 2 (use like objects to start, like 2 counting bears, or 2 cups).  Show them other numbers with the objects (1-3) and have them tell you whether it is 2 or not.  Take two trays and put 2 items on one and 3 items on another and ask if they both have 2.  Have them find 2 of their favorite toys.

Art:  Have your child color in a color wheel.  Talk about how when we mix colors it creates new colors.  Here’s a good printable.

Supporting Book Suggestions: 

Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See by Eric Carle

Freight Train by Donald Crews <—by the way, favorite book of both my children…I read it like 5 times a day, minimum.

Oh the Thinks You Can Think by Dr. Seuss

A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni

Little Blue and Little Yellow by Leo Lionni  <—found this at the library.  REALLY great tie in!!

I’d love to see your version if you decide to follow the unit study!

It was long overdue

It has been so long since I have been able to sit at my machine and get some sewing done. A friend of mine had twins a few months back (in November!) and I promised her I’d make her a mei tai baby carrier. We even picked out new fabric and some fun Star Wars print so her hubby could enjoy it too. In the meantime, I let her borrow mine since I didn’t need it yet. Well, here we are, 6 months later and I still hadn’t made it! This last weekend I finally carved out some extra time and I was amazed at how quickly it came together.

great job, mama!

Not only is it adorable, but I was also reminded how much I love sewing! When I was little my mom would make us some Halloween costumes and she used to make my little brother the cutest overalls. I remember mom taking my measurements and standing impossibly still while I tried on dresses with pins all in them. I used to watch her sew and we even made my dolls pillows and blankets, but that was it! The next time I touched a sewing machine was when I was preggers with Starr Lily. I bought an apron pattern and a sewing machine on impulse and just started sewing.

Since then I have been inspired to sew for my little girl. There are so many adorable patterns and tutorials available online too! My machine isn’t fancy, just a singer that makes an occasional clunking sound, but after a little sweet talking and a break, she keeps plowing along for me. After a year, I found a serger on Craigslist (cause all the cool kids bloggers were talking about them) and that’s it! I’m a sewing novice at best, but I love the calm and focus it brings to the fun-filled day with kiddos. I’ve had some big sewing fails but I almost always learn something from it – even if it was to put down my project and go to sleep after a late night of sewing.

I tried to find a picture of a pair of tiny pants that I made a while back that ended up having a tail looking thing on the butt, but alas, the picture is gone. It’s probably for the best though, ha! I can just pretend it never happened.

So anyhow, back to this cute carrier! I made a similar mei tai for myself when Starr Lily was about 9 months following the scandi mei tai tutorial.

Since then I have made a couple more and love how easy her tutorial is to follow. Now that I have the pattern pieces cut, it only takes me a few hours to put one together. I hope my momma friend likes it and enjoys lots of cuddles while wearing her babes. Baby Stone tried it out and gave it his approval!

Stone is so big!!!

What inspires you to sew? How do you know when to walk away from your machine?

Rowing Storm in the Night

Dexter and I are having so much fun trying out RightStart Math (our math curriculum for next year) ‘early’, that I decided to go ahead and take on Five in a Row this week, too. Who says schooling can’t be year round? Plus, I like the idea of trying everything out now to see if it works for us anyway.

Five in a Row basically has you do unit studies covering all subjects based on a single book for a week (five days in a row). People on the interwebs call these studies ‘rowing’ a book…so I’ll say it too to sound cool. The first book I decided to row is called Storm in the Night by Mary Stolz, selected for a few reasons. A) The library by my house had it. B) Dexter really likes weather and talking about clouds right now. I printed a planner sheet from Homegrown Learners to figure out what we would do.

I’d love a digital copy of this Amanda 😉

First, I went to the library to get the book, as well as some other books to accompany it.

I read through the FIAR suggested activities to get some ideas, and then searched some blogs to see what others have tried. I picked Philippians 4:13 for our memory verse since one of the big themes in the book is overcoming fears.

Monday: We read the book together. It’s just barely within Dexter’s limit for book length….two more pages and we might not have made it (though he can sit through a good solid hour of story time with the right books). He didn’t give me much feedback afterwards except to talk about his cat that he had wasn’t scared of storms (we don’t have a cat, so I’ll assume he was talking about the one in the book).

After reading the story, we talked about who he hears stories from and who he tells stories to. Then, we read about how clouds form from one of the supporting books we checked out. I paraphrased since the book was far beyond his reading level. When we filled in our calendar we talked about how today it is cloudy out and it might rain later.

Last, he did a cut and paste activity for hot and cold. Doesn’t tie in directly, but it’s to talk about weather in general and he loves cut and paste, so it was like a fun reward at the end. (we already did math and handwriting before we started with our book)

Nice pasting Dex!

I love how focused they get!

For story time later in the day we read about Noah’s Ark and sang Ark-y Ark-y.

Tuesday: We took the day off from school completely to go to a local bike trail 🙂 Dexter just learned to ride his bike (without training wheels!) so this was his first time on the trail! I think he biked like 5 miles. Crazy.

Such a proud, big boy!

Wednesday: We read the book together again (this time Charlotte joined us….well for about half). We talked about what the Grandfather did when he was scared, and found the page of him hiding under the quilt. Dexter talked about the shapes on the quilt and made his own version with pattern blocks.

Those blocks are great for pattern recognition!

Next, we went into a dark room so we could listen and smell, like the boy describes in the book.

Finally, we talked about what a profile was, like on the cover of the story. I took pictures of Dexter and Charlotte’s profile to show him what it looked like. Then I gave him a magazine to cut out profiles he saw for a collage. We did the cutting outside since I had laundry to put out, plus it was a beautiful day.

Need to start saving some magazines.

Later on in the day we read some more supporting books for read aloud time.

Thursday: we read one of our supporting books about where thunder and lightning come from. I paraphrased and skipped around quite a bit since the book was a little too advanced for a four year old. I set him to work making a cloud collage out of cotton balls and glue (he used purple paper since he couldn’t find blue….he said purple was pretty close). We talked about the different types of clouds and what they look like.

I had him draw what his favorite weather looks like…

“smile next to your picture, Dex!” and this is what I get….the picture is of a sun, by the way.  He made a windmill, too.

Pin wheels are great for wind demonstrations too!

We read Little Cloud by Eric Carle for story time, and The Rains are Coming by Sanna Stanley. Then, we baked meringues (‘cloud cookies’). He liked testing to see if there were stiff peaks yet, and determining if it was shiny or not. I had him add the sugar, too.

Dexter ate one, Charlotte hated them….oh well. Apparently super sweet isn’t their favorite.

Mmm, yum.

On Friday we went to a water park for the day, so no school again. I still had a few activities left to do, but I’ll save those for another time.  After rowing books, you find that every book you read you are thinking about extension activities to do!

Anyone else familiar with Five in a Row?  What activities do you do with books you read with the kiddos?

still loving our moms

So Mother’s Day snuck up me this year! I hope the moms in my life still know I have nothing but love for them, even if their gifts are a little late, hehe. I didn’t know what to give my mom or mother-in-law this year and my sister came up with a great idea. She pinned this apron from Simply Kierste and wanted to get all the grand-kids to stamp their hand prints on it. Since I live the furthest away it only made sense that I buy the apron and then ship it to my sis, who in turn can give it to mom. And I can mail my mil’s too. So I looked around at some aprons, but nothing struck my fancy and I decided to just sew one. I searched online until I found the perfect one: the purl bee’s unisex apron. It has simple lines and no extra frills. I just skipped the pocket in the front and left space for the kids’ names and hand prints.

The tricky part was finding fabric paint and deciding how to write out everyone’s name. Kierste uses a Silhouette, but I’m not that cool. After a quick trip to Joann’s, I had some Martha Stewart craft paint and some pretty awesome stencils ready to go! Did you know that they also sell tons of adorable trim?! Yep, I scooped up some flower trim to give the apron a more feminine flair too.

During one of Stone’s naps, Starr Lil’s and I started crafting. First, we tried the paint and the stencil on some scrap fabric. And good thing we had some construction paper underneath, cause paint goes right through fabric.

Love her outfit. Charlotte and Starr Lily share the same taste in clothes (everything goes with tutus and jackets, that is)

Then I wrote out everyone’s names while Starr Lily painted and danced and jumped.

The hand stamping was the most exciting part. I asked her where she wanted her hand print and after finding just the right spot I brushed some paint on her hand and on it went. Then she stamped all over the construction paper!

what a great idea!

She loved seeing how moving her fingers around made different shapes on the paper too. I didn’t want to put paint on Stone’s hand since it goes right to his mouth these days, so I painted his foot while he was sleeping. It looks more like a smudge, but it’s the thought that counts, right? My mom’s still needs a few more hand prints from the other grand kids, which my sis will put together, but for now they’re ready for the mail!

So here they are Mija and Nana Starr! Feliz dia de las madres, even if it’s a little late. We love you and miss you a whole lot!

Great job, Mama!

Did you get your moms gifts on time this year? Does grandma have a special nickname in your house?

Meal Plan 5/20

Anyone cook along with me last week? Those fajitas were super yummy….but side note, I knew poblanos aren’t considered one of the spicier peppers so I didn’t take precautions when dealing with them (like I would for something like a jalapeno). Anyway, after I roasted the peppers I was reading my book and absentmindedly scratched my eye….oh the searing pain. I was pretty sure I was going to have to go to the ER. I googled how to relieve the pain (with my good eye open) in the hopes that I could save my eye and decided to try using milk. It was my first instinct anyway since that solves the problem for ingesting hot peppers. I took a kid glass, held it to my eye, and washed it out with milk. Five times. After about an hour of tears, I could see again….I’ve learned my lesson. Maybe I should stick to bell peppers

This past Saturday I offered to hubby that we could just pick up a pizza after church for something quick and easy. He usually jumps at the chance to eat out, especially something not particularly healthy. He passed!! Haha…I offered to make some pesto with chicken, salad, garlic bread…he said that sounded delicious. So I whipped up a quick pesto (using toasted walnuts, spinach, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, and parmesan), threw it together with some rotini and roasted chicken breast, quick Caesar salad and some garlic bread….super yummy! I will have to post the pesto recipe in the near future.

Here is what we are eating this week!

Monday: Steak Sandwiches with Balsamic Vegetables, thanks to some leftover steak from Thursday and really yummy plum tomatoes in my produce box. We’ll have a salad to go along with.

Tuesday: Pork Chops with Onion Gravy over Egg Noodles, roasted green beans on the side (Hubby request. I ask him every week what we should eat, this is the first time he answered. Maybe I’ll post the recipe one day, it’s probably his favorite meal)

Wednesday: Spinach and Cheese Calzones (Recipe from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day), salad <—meatless!

Thursday: Honey Lime Tilapia with quinoa and broccoli <—cooks so quickly, so good for when we are tired after soccer practice

Friday: Lamb Meatballs with Toasted Orzo, subbing swiss chard we got in our produce box for the spinach

I’m going to leave the weekend open for now since I think there will be some gatherings to attend. I’m hoping to make a cheesecake for one since I’ve been craving it like mad…

What are you eating this week? Does anyone have a family member that would prefer McD’s to anything homemade?

 

Meal Plan 5/13

Happy (belated) Mother’s Day! I spent a lovely morning in bed, while hubby made pancakes and coffee for me (and fed the kids). Not lavish, but relaxing enough for me!

Here is what we are eating this week!

Monday: Spaghetti with Broccoli Cream Pesto, adding in some roasted garlic and tomatoes, plus homemade French bread<—meatless!
Tuesday: Chicken, Artichoke, and Mushroom Lasagna, hopefully with leftover bread
Wednesday: Skillet Chicken Fajitas that I just saw on America’s Test Kitchen the other day….plus homemade tortillas. (Here’s the recipe for the fajitas if you don’t have Cook’s Illustrated: fajitas)
Thursday: Steak with Bourbon Caramelized Onions, baked potato, spinach (we will leave off the blue cheese butter since Doug thought it was a little too much for him)

….and that’s all I have for the week. Friday we are going to Disney, Sunday we have a family cookout, and Saturday will just be a surprise for now. I’m thinking fish of some sort.

What are you having this week? Anyone else DVR America’s Test Kitchen or am I just a total nerd?

Curriculum notes

Maybe one day I’ll write about all the reasons we are homeschooling (if only to help convince the hubby…) but in the meantime, lets talk curriculum. Warning, there’s lots of words here…

First, yes, my son is only four. There is definitely a great argument to just let him play all day and imagine, create…not make him ‘do formal school’….but my kids like school time. When left to their own devices, they sometimes get into a little trouble (“let’s jump from the top of the closet, charwot!”) or they beg to watch cartoons. Or just eat all day. When we add a little structure in through school time, they get awesome mommy attention, learn something new, are entertained, not bored, and make good use of play time still. We play outside everyday whether on the playground, riding bikes, walking the dog, or all of the above…and we play dress up everyday too. Sometimes we are pirate ballerinas, sometimes a fireman who cooks…and usually there is some sort of game created by the two kiddos like a birthday party where everyone potties before they can have cake or some sort of race involving bells and carts….who knows. I love having kids so close in age to each other (18.5 months, by the way) that really love playing with each other.

In recent weeks, now that we have firmed up our decision to ‘continue’ homeschooling (as opposed to enrolling Dex in VPK), I have been deciding which curriculum we will use. The amount of choices out there are overwhelming to say the least. I’m lucky to have friends to quiz and just a love for curriculum in general from my former life in the school system.

First, I decided what my goals would be and how I wanted our week to look. Our experience this past year provided a glimpse. The curriculum we used had a lot of pieces and a lot of repetition. That ended up being a bad thing for us, since Dex got bored. There wasn’t any sort of arc to follow….just here this is, try it. Some things he got right away (puzzles, sorting sizes, memorizing his verse) and some things he didn’t (cutting, pattern recognition, counting) but now at the end of the year, he doesn’t struggle with anything from the activities presented. Could just be a years growth, but practice certainly helped. The problem was, the activities that he was really great at were too boring and got skipped. The ones that presented a challenge were too hard and got skipped….he didn’t want to stick with it and would take long breaks. I feel it was because he knew his strengths and weaknesses already, and being shown the same thing turned him off. Having learned that, I knew I wanted a curriculum that was more conventional and followed some sort of scope, not the same thing every week. I think the one we tried probably works best as enriching work for a younger sibling while older children are working.

I first decided what subjects we would cover. Phonics/reading of course, since he is now at the stage where he recognizes all his letters and their sounds, I think we are ready to blend them together. And math for sure. I picked programs for those first. For phonics, we are planning to do All About Reading. As far as which level, I’m still up in the air. I think for now we will start with pre-reading and see how he does. If he is bored, we will move up to level 1, but as long as he enjoys it, we’ll stick with it. I don’t want to start him out on level 1 since it seems a lot of people use it for 6-8 year olds…and I don’t want to push him too hard. Our goal is to have fun and cultivate a love of learning, not have a super advanced kid. For math, I have chosen RightStart Math level 1. I like the heavy use of manipulatives and the particular approach it takes. We have already started working on it and Dexter absolutely loves it and begs to do ‘more games in the big book.’ I also have Miquon (orange) and Math U See Primer to mix in if we choose, but mostly to keep things flexible. So far, I’m not a Math U See fan.

I’m hoping we will cover math and phonics 3 days a week. Each subject will maybe take 20-40 minutes, so plenty of time for other things, too.

I also chose to get Exploring Science from Elemental Science. I was originally considering just making up my own unit studies for science, doing some Pinterest style activities and reading library books about a subject….but really, that might end up being a bit overwhelming and leaving me feeling underprepared. There is a two day a week option with the program, and that’s what we will try to do. Dexter loves science and learning how things work, just like every 4 year old I imagine, so I want to help his inquisitive mind think scientifically.

I decided to go with Handwriting Without Tears (kindergarten edition, though I have pre k in case he wants to take a step back) to keep up our handwriting practice. We will just fit this in wherever it makes the most sense.

We have Five in a Row Volumes 1 and 2 as well, in case we want to fit that in. Or need inspiration for books to choose. I don’t think I’m ambitious enough to take on making lap books or anything for it, but I like that we would learn about some geography, history, and world cultures.

I will continue having him try sports out at the Y and sing, dance, and play music with me at home (once upon a time I was a musician after all) and we will also keep up with our calendar and memory verse. There will be plenty of time to draw, color and paint. We will make trips to the library to check out non fiction books about other cultures and places. I will also make sure he gets to visit with his friends often, too. My goal for myself is to cut back on unnecessary time away from home, running errands or just being gone for no good reason. Or taking on too much at home that diverts my attention away from Dex and Char.

Ah, yes….there is little sister of course, too. She will participate in school time as well, mostly using the letter of the week activities that little man used this past year. She will read with us, too, of course, and I have plenty of other activities to keep her occupied when D might need more of my attention. Usually she just wants to do everything big brother is doing.

So that’s the plan. Seems like a lot, I know…..but my plan as of now is to do school from around August through October, take a break through most of November and December, then pick back up in January through April. Wherever he ends up is fine, we just pick back up and reassess for the next year.

Anyone else choosing materials? Now is the time since many families are finished for the year and selling what they used. Curriculum swaps abound!

Mother’s Day Ideas

What do you want for Mother’s Day? Amanda and I were chatting today and reminiscing on all the things we were able to do before little people joined our lives. Here is a short list of things we (or any momma of toddlers or babies) would love for Mother’s Day:

1. A solo morning. Waking up on your own (perhaps in this delicious looking bed) without anyone poking at you and enjoying a nice, hot, long shower.

I imagine there is also a sea breeze that wafts gently through the windows…

2. A cup of coffee out without having to share with anyone. Throw in a scone and a book and I’m all set! (Click on the coffee for a recipe to a yummy coffee, orange body scrub.)

mmmm…..coffee without a 2-year-old jumping on my lap….delicious

3. Girls night out. Remember going out and getting all dolled up? Yeah, that was fun. Add some adult conversation with your friends and a glass of wine to really live it up!

I’m sure this women’s small children are just cropped out of the shot

4. Shoes. Pretty shoes! Maybe just a trip to the mall to window-shop shoes. Who am I kidding, a solo trip to the mall would be great! I wouldn’t even need to buy anything!

I’m also content with just trying one pair of shoes without having to stop and provide a snack

5. Have someone else be in charge of schedules, snacks, food, meal time, boo boo’s, and an occasional “Hi love, you’re doing a great job!” would be amazing.

I’m sure this is exactly what it looks like when Doug is watching the kids without me around

Best part, they are all FREE! (wink wink, dads)

Want to take a claim on these freebies mamas? Here is a little coupon book Starr Lily and I came up with. It’s cute and slightly cheesy, but she loved doing it with me!

First I took a sheet of construction paper and folded it into 6 equal pieces: one title page and 5 coupons.

Then I wrote the coupons and gave them to Starr Lily with some crayons. She drew some circles and asked for help drawing triangles, rhombuses (rhombi?), and hearts. It must be all that math love she inherited!

Add a bow and done!

Yup. Drea just made her own Mother’s Day Present and pretended that Starr Lily did it 🙂

Dads, get ready to have these cashed in, duh duh duh…

Happy Mother’s Day!