Taming the Toddler?

I SO crave order. Order in my life and order in my home. I am often fighting a losing battle. The children are passing around a fever and cough (AGAIN), not to mention I have a mischievous 14 month old and a lively 2 year old, both of which can create havoc in mere seconds. Just to give you an idea of what I'm up against here...

I look over one minute and he's on top of the table (apparently Mommy wasn't giving him grapes fast enough)...
I don't know if you can tell or not, but we have the dining room table pushed over against the wall to deter him from climbing up on at least one side of the table. Less area for him to work with...

And so much for showcasing the lovely table runner that we received as a gift last Christmas. You can't see how pretty it is because he's sitting on it. I guess we will have to save that for putting on the table only when we have guests.

Of course, I take him off the table, give him more grapes to snack on in a safer location and it's not long before I hear an unfamiliar noise coming from the laundry room...



and apparently Mommy needed a reminder to take the bag of recyclables out to the garage. This kid is into EVERYTHING!!!
I can't seem to keep up with him, which explains why our Christmas tree looks like this...


Notice how Zeke is demonstrating how he figured out how to pull a chair over to reach higher:) He's too smart for me.

And as for our 2 year old, he needs a little motivation to be a good "listen boy" (as he calls it), so we are using window clings as a fun way to encourage/reward good behavior...


My kiddos have always been big into stickers and so last year I bought a few Christmas/winter window clings and decided to use them as motivational tools throughout the season. They seem to really dig it, so I bought a few more this year but notice that we only have the pieces of the nativity up so far. Looks like we've got a little work to do...

Ephesians 4:2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.


"Lord, please help me do that!"

Inexpensive gift idea: Hair accessory organizer

I mentioned in my "Beauty Tips" post, that I pray for my girls to know about True Beauty. Since Christmas will be here in just a few weeks, I thought I'd take a moment and share an inexpensive homemade gift idea that can help encourage the little girls in your life to remember that they are beautiful (with or WITHOUT fashionable accessories:)

I made this one for my girls last Christmas and spent about $10 or less on materials. (I did have a super good coupon to use at the craft store when I bought the materials though!)



Here's what you'll need...

-an inexpensive, unfinished wooden plaque (whatever size or shape you like...I was making mine for two, so I went BIG!)

-4 ribbons (1 cm wide) each measuring 15 inches in length

-5 ribbons (2 cm wide) each measuring 13 inches in length

-acrylic paint, paint brushes and an acrylic paint pen

-a glue gun

-embellishments of your choice, such as the wooden photo frames that I used, or you could use other wooden items (flowers, animals, etc.) or stencils or rub on decals...so many choices..get creative with it:)



General idea of putting it together:

1. Paint base color on plaque. Set aside to dry.

2. While paint dries, cut ribbon to desired lengths. Take two of the ribbons (the ones that will be placed at each end) and on each of those ribbons, make a loop (at whichever end will be at the bottom) big enough to wrap around two fingers and glue with glue gun. The loops are to hold headbands, just slide them through the loop.

3. Use glue gun to glue embellishments on plaque.

4. Paint the Scripture (Psalm 45:11) on the plaque and let dry. If you are making a smaller plaque, you could choose a different verse or even just use the child's name. **If you are nervous about doing it freehand-- I chose a font that I liked in a WP document and printed it out on my computer in the appropriate size. Then I laid the paper down on the plaque and used the pointy end of the paint brush to trace over the letters. This made indentations that I used as a guide to paint the words.

5. Glue ribbons to the bottom edge of plaque with glue gun. Voila!

You can keep it simple or fancy it up as much as you want! I've seen fancier ones on Etsy for anywhere from $30 to $50 dollars!!! I tried to keep mine pretty simple, more affordable, and hopefully, made it extra encouraging for my girls by adding an important message from God's Word:)

Anyone have any other easy, inexpensive gift ideas? It doesn't have to be crafty. Leave a comment and share some of your ideas.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
James 1:16-18