DIY Valentine's Day Craft for Kids!

 

 

Since my son is in Pre-School this year, I thought it would be fun to do a craft together to add to his Valentine's Day cards for his friends.

 

I saw this cute little mice craft made out of chocolate Hershey's Kisses on Parents.com, but I wanted to change it up a bit and give it my own personal touch.

 

Here is what I came up with:

 

 

 

I bought the contruction paper, pipe cleaners and googly eyes from the Dollar Store. The Cheese Strings and Hershey's Kisses were from my local grocery store.

 

 

 

 

To start off,  cut a heart and 2 little feet out of the construction paper. Next, cut a small piece of the pipe cleaner to make the tail. ( I made 4 mice tails out of 1 pipe cleaner) Parents.com has a printable template for the ears and feet if you would rather use that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Using tacky glue, I glued the heart shape ears to the bottoms of the Hershey's kisses. Then, I glued the feet and tail to the sides of the kisses. I gave it time to dry before added the googly eyes.

 

 

 

 

 

Here it is complete! My son's big job was shaping the tail how he liked, passing me the googly eyes and eating the left over cheese strings and Hershey's Kisses, lol!

 

 Parent.com used yarn for the tail but I thought using a pipe cleaner was more sturdy. They also put the mouse on a cheese-shaped piece of card stock, but I wanted to give each child a Valentine's Day Card and a healthy treat instead.

 

On top of each envelope next to each mouse, I added a cute little message "You're so mice" and "Mice to know you"

Hopping on the Faux Fur Vest Trend

 

 

 

I am not always up to date with the current trends, but when I saw that faux fur vests were in this winter I knew I had to have one. The one I am wearing in the above picture is from Sirens. I paid $39.99 for it and I absolutely love it!

 

I like that I can pair it with so many things from a cozy knit sweater to a black dress shirt. I also love that it can be worn with either leggings or jeans too. So versatile. The options are endless!

 

 

 

 

 

If you looking for a faux fur vest, here are some of my favourites below:

 

 

 

 

Forever 21- Longline Faux Fur Vest - $51.80

 

 

Bootlegger- Kismet Frankie- $39.99

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zara -Buckled Fur Vest- $25.99 (Currently on sale)

 

 

Banana Republic- Faux-Fur Vest- $129.99 (Currently on sale)

 

Hudson's Bay- GUESS Draped Faux Fur Vest- $61.05

My more talking and less yelling approch

 

Don't be fooled by this cute smile- his shirt is almost 100% true. Last week, my son had been on his worst behavior ever! Everyone always said watch out for the "terrible 2's" I think everyone was mistaken. I think they meant watch out for the "terrible 3's!!" Now some people might feel differently, but for me, age 2 was not that bad at all. Age 3 has been the worst to date.

 

I found myself everyday, all day, yelling at him. I would just loose my patience so fast. It was not only frustrating, but exhausting. By the end of the day I would have a massive headache and/or be in such a bad mood.

 

I knew what I was doing (yelling) wasn't working, so I needed a new approach. Something other then yelling that would get his attention. I also knew whatever I decided to do needed to be consistent or else it wouldn't work. So, I decided to stop yelling and try more talking.

 

What drives me crazy is the meltdowns! These usually happen when he is over tired from not napping that day or going to bed past his bed time. The crying, yelling, screaming, falling to the floor because of something stupid like him wanting to take off his own jacket or pick out his own colour plate for dinner. I would get so frustrated, so usually I would start yelling back, and telling him to smarten up or else he would go to his room. Well, that never seemed to work because he would just do it again a few days later. Now, I pick up him from the floor and in a calm voice I tell him to calm down. I explain to him that this is not how "big boys" act and that next time I will remember that he can take off his jacket himself and pick his own colour plate if he asks me nicely.

 

Another pet peeve I have is him not listening. I tell him numerous times to do something, and it just goes in one ear and out of the other. He just doesn't get it. So, instead of yelling over and over again, I count  to 3 in a calm voice. I tell him that he isn't listening to what I am saying and he has to the count of 3. So, now he knows when I get to 3 he needs to do what he is told. This has been working great! Now I have to be honest, it's not like he does what I say at the start of 1, but by the end of 3 he FINALLY does what I ask.

 

 This talking back phase is horrible. The "no", "leave me alone", "don't tell me" etc. Now, I make it super easy and less stressful. Whenever he talks back and doesn't use good manners, I remove his toys which he hates and say that isn't the way we talk and to get his toy back I make him apologies for his actions. It was that simple. I learned myself that I didn't even need to yell to get his attention. I got his attention in another way, a way that mattered to him.  

 

 

I know this is just a phase and he will grow out of the meltdowns, not listening and the horrible attitude, but to my surprise, this "talking" approach is actually working. He is listening to me more and understanding what he has done wrong. I think I spent too much time just yelling, other than explaining what he was doing wrong. I think this has been a lesson learned on both our parts.

 

 

 

Our Night at Monster Jam!

Well I think it's safe to say my son had the time of his life last night at Monster Jam! After the show I got "Thanks mom, that was so much fun", "mom that was so cool", "can we go again tomorrow mom", " mom I loved all of those big trucks"

 

The show was approximately 2 1/2 hours in length with 1 intermission which I thought was a perfect amount of time, but my son would beg to differ. He wanted it to go all night!  Not only did they have monster jam trucks compete, but they also had a great show by the dirt bikers. They were amazing!  They were doing wheelies and back flips!

 

If you are planning on attending a show, I would definitely recommended ear plugs- for your child and yourself. It's extremely loud!! If you forget to bring them, don't worry you can buy some there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another exciting part of the evening for him was when the trucks flipped over and the tractor? (not sure what that machine is called) came out. This kid is obsessed with 3 things- trucks, cars and construction machines. He loved watching them flip the trucks back over and take them away.

 

 

 

I took this picture of him in the car passed out on the way home. He looked so cute. We bought him a big Monster Truck toy for a souvenir  - he held it all the way home, and slept with it last night as well! 

 

 

 

If you are interested in attending a show, visit their website here to see when they will be in your area next!! :-)

Things I cannot live without when my baby is sick

Well it happened. My sweet little girl got her first cold. This weekend was full of sleepless nights and lots of cuddles.

To be honest, I knew it was coming. My husband, son, and I were all sick with a bad cold the week before. We were hoping and praying that our 7 month old daughter wouldn't catch it, and unfortunately she did.

When your child is sick, not only do you feel so sad for them, but you also feel so helpless. So, what do you do? You try to find anything you can to help them  feel comfortable.

 

 We wouldn't of made it through this tough time without these MUST have items, so I thought I would share them with you. With these cold temperatures it seems everyone is getting sick, so maybe some or all of these items will come in handy for you and your little one.

 

My daughter's pediatrician recommended this ThemoScan by Braun and I have to say it's pretty amazing. It's great for babies since they don't sit still. This kit comes with 40 lens filters and it even has a pre warm tip feature. Within seconds, with a press of a button it delivers an accurate temperature. So fast and easy to use!

Braun Thermoscan Giftset with 40 Bonus Lens Filters

Having both Advil and Tylenol on hand is a must! Always make sure you stock up when it's on sale so you never run out like I did. Leaving in the middle of the night to head to Shoppers Drug Mart in the freezing cold isn't fun. I always start with Advil first because it provides the most hours of relief. I also like that both have an oral syringe for easy dosing.

Advil Pediatric Drops for Infants

 Infants' Tylenol

 

 

 

My poor little girl was so stuffed up this weekend, I found this Vicks Mist Humidifier worked great. It really helped her breathe a bit easier during the night. A cool feature with this model is that it projects a starry night on the ceiling. She is too young to even care or notice now, but in the future if I need to pull it out again I think she will love it!



Vicks Starry Night Cool Mist Humidifier

 

 

 

 

 

 

I didn't even know this existed until my friend told me about it a few months ago. If you don't have one you need to run out now and grab one! Total lifesaver. I don't know what we would have done without it. Babies can't blow their noses  like we can, so this nasal aspirator kit relieves their nasal congestion. I know this sounds gross, but you basically have to suck all the mucus out by inhaling through this tube. Don't worry, there is a filter so you will not get any mucus in your mouth. If you find the mucus is dry, you can use the hydraSence Easydose that's included in the kit that will liquefy the mucus prior to aspiration.

hydraSense^® Nasal Aspirator Starter Kit

 

 

 

 

 

 

I added Vicks BabyRub to my daughters chest and neck each night to help her with her breathing since she was so congested. I must say it worked great. It contains fragrances of eucalyptus, rosemary, and lavender so it very soothing and helps babies relax.

Vicks BabyRub

Winner of the Monster Jam tickets is.....

 

 

The winner of the 4 tickets to Monster Jam is Brandee Lane!!! Congratulations!! Please contact me by Monday, January 12th to claim your prize. Thank you to everyone that entered!

Awesome Night at DisneyLive! Mickey's Music Festival!

Well the count down is finally over because last night was DisneyLive! Mickey's Music Festival and boy did my son and niece have a blast!

 

It was held at the General Motors Centre in Oshawa.  I was really happy about that because there isn't a bad seat in the house, which is great especially if you have kids.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The show was around 1 1/2 hours in length with a 15 intermission in between. Not just Mickey and his friends were there. They also had many characters from The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and Toy Story. What I really liked, is throughout the show they got the kids involved with games, dancing and singing. Both my son and niece hardly sat in their seats the entire show, they just loved dancing to all the music.

 

Here are some pictures that I captured from last nights show:

 

 

On our way home my son was constantly asking if we can go again, so hopefully another show will be coming soon!



It's always great to hear from one of my followers.  Lisa Hemingway who won my giveaway to the show sent me this picture of her daughter and nephew all excited for the show to start! Thanks so much for sending me this picture Lisa!