A Different Direction

Over the years I have loved this little blog of mine but in recent years this precious and random little space has been ignored and neglected. In reality I’ve missed blogging immensely but have either lacked the time or motivation or some other excuse. But as I pondered making a renewed commitment to share my musings and creations publicly I felt that while this space here is dear to my hear it was time for a fresh start. I know longer feel like the same person nor do I have the same focuses so I decided to create a new blog to reflect the woman and mother I have become….and am still becoming.

You can find me over at MyNaughtyHobbits.Blogspot.com

Celebrating Advent

Now that we are parents I have been very eager to start creating our “traditions”. Michael comes from a traditional family with lots of traditions but I didn’t….unless you count the traditional drunk holiday brawl or the annual someone cries at Thanksgiving because all the passive aggressive snide comments finally breaks them down. I’m certainly not looking to re-create those.

However when it comes to celebrating the Christmas season we’ve found plenty of ways to start injecting our own traditions. Our goal was to keep the holidays Christ-centered, meaningful and simple and avoid the mad dash crazy materialistic frenzy which leaves so many people feeling void and unfulfilled. One way we started was to forgo Santa and all that he entails. Sometimes it can be hard like when you see the kids at the mall in line for their pictures with the man in red but mostly it frees us up to take the focus off of “naughty and nice” and “loot lists”. Yes, we give gifts but we want that to be a small part of the celebration not the main event. So like last year Reagan will receive 3 gifts on Christmas which is symbolic of the gifts the Magi brought and she will receive a stocking. Last year this wasn’t difficult since she was still in the “I’d rather play with the box” phase but now that she is two and has definite interests and likes it is harder to limit myself. The cutest thing in the world is hearing her say “Mommy, I like babies”. She certainly does and we are smack dab in the mist of the dolly phase. Lots of people are asking her what she wants for Christmas. When she isn’t playing shy she will say things like shoes (this chick LOVES shoes) babies, pet shops and books. The other day I heard her say a kitty cat. So narrowing it down to 3 things when the variety and selection is so vast was challenging. Probably not as challenging as it could be for some families since we steer away from battery operated, character or plastic (although some has creeped in, I’m looking at you multiplying Pet Shops). One tradition from my childhood I will start with Reagan is opening on present on Christmas Eve. Although it will always be new pajamas.

Another tradition we started this year is celebrating Advent. There are many ways to celebrate Advent from doing it daily to something that is done on Sunday. But basically you light a candle(s) and read scripture about the birth of the Savior. So far we have found it an amazing and refreshing way to keep our thoughts focused on God’s precious gift of a Savior. We light our candles and read our scriptures each day but on Sunday we have a longer reading. We also spend time praying, singing and either having a yummy treat or doing a coloring sheet. Reagan also received a small gift from our Count Down to Christmas calendar each evening but her favorite part is blowing out the fire.

Here is our Advent calendar. A total DIY project made of things I had on hand.

The Christmas Countdown picture was made with a 12×12 canvas and scrapbook supplies I’ve had for years. I cut the letters with my handy dandy Cricut. I used a small curtain rod I’ve had since we moved here to string all the gifts up. They are each wrapped and numbered. There is a small dolly set for Sundays and a couple of books I found on the cheap but the rest is pretty much things scored from the Target dollar spot like little socks, chapstick and stickers. Oh and peppermints since Reagan loves peppermints. Nothing too exciting unless you are a toddler girl.

I’ve been trolling Pinterest for months looking for the perfect Advent calendar. In the end I ran out of time and had to wing it…turns out it is perfect for us!

Some of our other new holiday traditions include our church Christmas program, the holiday programs at the community school, visiting our neighbors and friends with treats and celebrating with our toddler friends with an upcoming cookie decorating party. I’ll let you know how that one turns out.

 

Tot Trays

I’ve missed blogging so I’m back. I have no acceptable excuse for such a long absence (nearly a year) other than I’m forgetful….and lazy. Never under-estimate the power those two characteristics have together.

Moving On.

Now that Reagan is 2 and smart as a whip she’s been keeping me on my toes with ways to stimulate, engage and challenge her. I also needed some ideas to encourage her to explore individually as opposed to needing constant companionship and guidance for every activity. As I re-read that I realize that sounds a bit harsh but have you ever encountered a toddler that won’t play on their own or the poor mom who needs a toddler-ectomy to remove the small person so attached to her rear end that she knocks them over every time she moves? Frightening, but also unhealthy for the toddler. So I found some fun activities to engage, encourage individual discovery and build confidence.

We’ve started Tot Trays at the Manor. Tot Trays are a Montessori inspired idea to introduce and engage toddlers in early learning skills and activities. Pinterest is full of ideas and the blog 1+1+1=1 is also a great resource. I would imagine that there are numerous ways to present this concept but I will just tell you how we are approaching it here at the Manor. This could also be entitled “Tot Trays on a Budget” since I’m still embracing frugality.

In our living room I’ve set up a hand me down bookcase right next to our piano. This is our tot tray station.

The top shelf holds our Advent things which I will talk to you about tomorrow. Promise. The next 3 shelves each hold 2 metal cookies sheets from the Dollar Tree. A lot of moms use plastic trays from Oriental Trading or the like but I’m not a huge fan of plastic or paying shipping. Each tray holds a different skill or activity. The tot can pick any tray they would like and engage in it for as long as she would like but she must return the tray to the shelf (and all the pieces on the tray) before selecting another tray. We really need to work on pick up after ourself around here. I will demonstrate the activities one time and only give guidance when she seeks it, other than that it is her gig. We also do not have “Tot Tray time” this is a self guided and directed activity that she can engage in when she chooses as long as we don’t have other chores, obligations ect. I will switch out the trays with other activities on a weekly basis.

So, what’s on the trays this week? Glad you asked…

Bean scooping. Great sensory activity and for building those fine motor skills.

Pouf ball counting/sorting. Great for learning numbers, counting, color sorting and fine motor skills (especially with the bagel tongs). Pouf balls are a big hit around the Manor, I practically buy them in bulk.

Paper cutting for that manual dexterity. Reagan loves to make confetti.

Decorate the Christmas Tree. I printed out a Christmas tree on cardstock and included plastic “jewels” and glue so she can design and decorate.

I brought down the Melissa and Doug Shape/Puzzle clock from the playroom so she can work on mastering puzzles, number and shape recognition and the beginning of time telling skills. It is a bit early for telling time but we can introduce the concept.

And in celebration of the season I made a Nativity magnet play set. I found the images here. I cut out, laminated and put magnets on them so she can play on the tray or the refrigerator. It is a fairly large set.

 This morning when she woke up I waited until she noticed the trays before I explained what they were. It didn’t take long as she is very observant. I also explained the ruler which are one tray at a time and clean up after yourself. As you can see so far she is very interested.

I plan on adding a basket where the guitar is to hold the books we are currently reading/interested in and a lap tray from Michaels craft store the next time I get up to Des Moines.

 All of the things I used to assemble the trays I either had on hand or got at the Dollar Tree (or hand on hand FROM the Dollar Tree). You can make a lot of magic happen with a well stocked art cupboard and a printer. Just a thought.

 

 

 

 

 

Playgroup!

So we moved our playgroup from Wednesday morning to Tuesday afternoons and this is soooo much better for me. On Wednesday mornings I was scrabbling to get everyone dressed and fed before playgroup. Now I am able to plan out fun activities and such plus now Keith and Heidi backdoor neighbors) can come. Double win!

This month’s theme is The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Last week we played a sorting game I made with my new lamniator

Our craft last week was Plant pals. Of course I was lame and forgot to take pictures (I think)

This week we read the book again and then we made thumb print caterpillars and hand print butterflies. Thanks to my friend Helenanne’s tip clean up was a breeze! Oh you want to know the super awesome paint clean up trick? Dishsoap, yep, just mix a little in with the paint (won’t affect it a bit) and BAM…Mess Be Gone.

Here are too many pics just so you can see our fun!

Someone is very excited that her friends are coming over.

Trying to look innocent.

Sitting on our friend Jaydon

Let the fun begin!

Reagan waiting for me to finish picture taking so we can get messy!

Look what we made!

The Time Out step got a little busy at one point with a double occupation by wowsers, look at that brilliant mess!

Sewing for me

I finished a long time UFO yesterday and it looks super awesome with my new boots. Perhaps I will wear it to the movies tomorrow. I will look super fly right?

This is a fun corduroy that has been curing in my stash for years.

Play “Date”

Saturday Reagan’s little boyfriend Jaydon came over to play. It is so cute to watch these two interact together. They’ve been friends since we moved to Iowa when she was 4 months and he was 18 months old.

First we made salt dough (aka Homemade playdoh) which is super easy and extra messy!

Excuse my messy microwave. Clearly I need to make banana bread.

Then we made handprint keepsakes which I baked to harden. Do you know how hard it is to get a good handprint from a toddler? This is 3 decent out of 50 attempts…each. We will paint their name and date and give them to family members.

Up next is out painting project. This was fun…and a complete mess!

Exploring the table I set up. Oh, what’s this? Reagan had already pitched her egg carton on the floor.

The mess started developing rather quickly once we got started.

This is the completed activity. I must confess I was very surprised how focused and engaged in the project they were. We must have painted nearly an hour. Afterwards a bath was very much in order. I forgot to get a picture of Jaydon’s caterpillar finished but basically it was John Deere green and yellow which is fitting for a tractor loving 2 year old!

We finished with a bit of finger painting before our bath and snack.

My goodness, I love being the mama to a toddler!

I got this idea over at Pinterest. Are you addicted yet? I am.

 

 

 

Happy New Year and Birthday

Well Happy Birthday to me!

As I sit back and reflect on the year that just passed and make plans for the new year ahead I find myself praising God for His mercy and grace. I am blessed beyond what my human head can comprehend.

My goals for this coming year are rather simple. I wish to put God first. First in my thoughts, actions and intentions. I want to be open to Him so He can use me as a vessel to shine His light in this dark world and do His will.

I want to live and parent intentionally. What I mean is I don’t want to let life pass me by, or let life ‘happen to me’. I want to plan and act with purpose. I want to be an active planner and participator in my own life. I have several things on the agenda to make sure I live in this moment, here and now.

I want the rhythm of my home to be simple and creative. I will rejoice in the frugal, I will create with reckless abandon.

I will find light in the darkness and I will radiate happiness. I will let He who created all shine through me.

And I will blog more….

Embracing Frugality

In honor of being so completely behind on my laundry I decided to make some laundry soap. A.) Cuz anything DIY tickes me pink and B.) I’m cheap

Also the laundry is wayyyyy backed up so I needed something in bulk!

This is so easy to make I am shocked more people don’t do it. Especially considering the price and ingredients in commercial detergents.

Here’s what you need

A box grater

A pot

A stirring spoon. Please note if you are using plastic which is porous you shouldn’t use it for cooking. I got this out of my fabric dying stuff. Any cheapy stirring thingy will work so take a trip to the dollar store or find a nice stick in your yard.

A five gallon bucket with lid. I got mine at the bakery department at our grocery store. It is the bucket the icing comes in (ick, so glad I make mine from scratch). They charged me $1. But if your bakery won’t part with their lard icing buckets than any hardware store would have one pretty cheap.

Fels Naphta, washing powder and Borax. All three can be found in the laundry soap aisle and are super cheap. Double bonus…you can use the borax and washing powder to make homemade dishwasher detergent! Seriously, the Fels naptha is like 97 cents and the other 2 boxes are less than $3 bucks each and you only need a little so it will last you a crazy long time.

Directions: I did not invent this, this recipe is ALL over the internet. I’m just sharing with you so you don’t have to hunt it down. You’re wlecome

Grate the fels naphta with the box grater into the pot. It smells yummy (don’t eat it, unless you have a cussing problem. It’s soap) Add 4 cups hot water and stir over medium heat until it is all melted. Pour the melted soap into your 5 gallon bucket (which I have sitting in the bathtub) and fill half way with hot water. Stir. Add 1 cup washing powder and 1/2 borax. Stir to disolve. You could also add any essential oils if you wanted to scent it. Fill the bucket the rest of the way with hot water, cover with a lid and let sit over night. It will turn ino a gel which on occasion may need a stir. 1/4 cup per load for a regualar top loader washing machine. 1/8 cup for a fancy HE front loader.

 

Enjoy, Please leave a comment and let me know if you tried it!

 

It was a wonderful Christmas!

It honestly couldn’t have been better. Such a sweet and simple Christmas. We went to Church in the morning and then came home and opened a present or two. During the afternoon I cooked since we had some lovely friends over for supper. Throughout the day we let her open the rest of her presents. I use the word open rather loosely since I didn’t actually wrap most of them. Just displayed them on the piano.

In keeping with the simple, meaningful family rhythm we are trying to have in our home we decided to keep the focus of Christmas on little family traditions, doing nice things for others, special foods and most importantly the birth of Christ. We wanted the gift giving to be small and not extravagant. That is actually hard to do, especially with a first child. It would have been so easy to go over board as I kept seeing so many neat things she would have loved. In the end I edited it down to 3 gifts (like the Wise men brought) and a few simple stocking stuffers. I also did this for Michael.

I dyed lots of playsilks in rainbow colors. Playsilks are great for imaginative play. They can be anything the child dreams up! A super hero cape, a blanket, a tent, a doll sling, a table cloth or a million other things. I dyed some 11×11 hankie size to put in this wooden tissue holder I decorated. Reggie loves emptying the kleenex or wipes box so this was a big hit.

I found this little wooden sorting game on Etsy. It also has a scoop to practice those fine motor skills. This is also a nice addition to our play kitchen. Acorn soup anyone?

Michael loves the wooden bus and the peg people. Reagan and him played for a good long time. We may need to work on not throwing these little guys all the time. Kind of hurts when you get pegged with one.

Here first reaction…at first I thought she was excited but then realized she was irritated at something..

It seems her new gifts where getting in the was of her morning piano playing! She bangs on the piano first thing every morning. It’s the best way to wake up!

She loved her new doll cradle! It has been a huge hit! Margaret knit her dress. Isn’t it gorgeous!

It came with the cheapest bedding so I had to make it a cute replacement.

This was just a plain wooden tissue box holder I scored at Hobby Lobby for like $2. A quick paint job and piece of scrap paper and doodads and it is a cute container for all the playsilks. Not too shabby for under $4.

All in all it was a top notch day. I hope you had a beautiful holiday with the ones you love.

The crazy is creeping out

For real.

Christmas is in 3.5 days and I have the following things on my to do list. Christmas dress and dress coat for the wee one. Matching Pajamas for the Merry McKissick clan (ok, the three of us) Write out Christmas cards (procrastinate much?) Decorate wooden tissue box to hold playsilks.

MMMMMM, so what did I do today?

Let’s see, I reorganized my kitchen. ReFeathered my diningroom. Hauled in and unpacked 5 boxes from my garage. Cleaned the wee one’s room. Had 5 different visitors drop by at 3 separate times. Read the book ‘No, No Noah” 8x and made fudge.

I also invited 9 people to my house for a Christmas day feast.

Waiting to do my sewing until Friday night will make it more fun right? Who doesn’t love a challenge?