Merry Mittens

Don't you hate how bare your house looks after you take down your Christmas decorations? That's what I had in mind when I came up with this craft - festive mittens that can stay up all winter long. It's super easy to do, and all my kids enjoyed putting it together. Yes, even the teen had a blast decorating her mitten.

What you need:

• felt in different colours
• glue
• pen or marker
• mini clothes pins (can be found at craft store)
• scissors
• decorations for your mittens (sequins, felt or paper scraps, glitter, etc.)
• string

You can use the template below to trace a mitten shape onto the felt. It can be pasted into Word and re-sized. Mine was about 1/4 of the page. 

Once you have traced and cut your mitten, it should look something like this:

Next, decorate your mitten any way you like. I used a snowflake pattern for mine. The kids used sequins, glitter glue, felt scraps and fabric markers. You can also buy adhesive felt shapes at the craft store which are great for this kind of project. 

When your mittens are decorated, pin them onto the string with the mini clothes pins. I used a hemp string because I like the natural look, but you can use yarn, or ribbon or whatever you want. And that's it. Add as many mittens as you like to make the garland as long as you want and hang it up indoors over a door or window - somewhere it can be seen and admired.

While I was getting the things ready for this craft, I thought of some other ideas for felt mittens:

• Make smaller mittens and glue a magnet to the back. Display on fridge or magnetic board.
• Make two matching mittens and attach to the ends of a string. Display over doorknobs or coat hooks.
• Attach a string and use as a Christmas tree decoration.
• Sew two mittens together and stuff with potpourri. Attach a string and hang.

Book Recommendation: Pigs to the Rescue

They say you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, but that's exactly what I did when I ordered Pigs to the Rescue. It looked hilarious, something silly the kids would enjoy.

The Greenstalk family have their share of problems, from a broken down tractor to a kite in a tree. Luckily, they have some very helpful pigs. Did I say luckily? Well, maybe not.

The illustrations in this book add to the hilarity, and the kids love looking for the sneaky snouts and tails that show the pigs are nearby and ready to help. And face it, you've always wanted to shout Pigs to the Rescue!

This is the second book in John Himmelman's "to the rescue" series, falling between Chickens to the Rescue and Cows to the Rescue, though the books stand well on their own. Pigs to the Rescue is recommended for pre-school to grade two, but this is a fun book the whole family will enjoy.

How Do You Explain That?

I ran into an old friend this week. She was with her three children, all under ten, beautiful little steps of stairs. She and her husband were very good friends of ours, and we spent a lot of time together before children came along and our social lives disappeared. Over the years I often wondered why we never kept in touch.

While her kids wandered a short distance away, she told me she had tried to track us down on Facebook with no luck. She did manage to find some of our relatives. That’s when she asked the question she was so obviously itching to ask from the start, whispered behind her hand in a way made famous by paperback spies:

“Is Hubby’s brother gay?”

Yes. He is.

It was her next question that caught me totally off guard.

“How do you explain that?”

I haven’t seen this woman in five years and this is where she wants to take this conversation?

Before I could answer, she went on with a monologue about how she couldn’t imagine trying to explain anything like that to her kids. When something “like that” came on TV she would rush to change the channel. She was trying to raise her kids with old fashioned morals and values, but it was hard.

I took the hit to my values and morals and absorbed it like a pro. Perhaps she was expecting a sob story of family shame and denial, of how we were all so disappointed. I answered her question as simply as I could.

How do we explain that?

We don’t. It just is.

Our kids don’t ask us why their uncles are together. To them it is no different than their other uncles and aunts, grandma and grandpa, mom and dad.

It just is.

And thank God for that. Thank God that my children will grow up believing that same sex relationships are equal, and that, as far as gender is concerned, there is no right or wrong when it comes to love.

It just is.

And if they ever do ask, that's the explanation. Plain and simple. And without a hint of scandal.

So we said our good-byes. I gave my regards to her family, and she told me to send her an email or look her up on Facebook. Then I watched her walk away with her three precious children.

I won’t be in touch. I remember now why we lost contact to begin with. I’m doing her a favour really. Her children would surely notice our lack of values and morals, and I wouldn’t want her to have to explain anything. I pray that her children will never have to explain things to her.

Five is Not a Family

I’m a firm believer that every experience should be a learning experience. When you stop learning you stop growing, right? So what I learned on my vacation was this: Five is not a family. It might be a clan, or a gaggle, or a mob, or a boy band, but it is most definitely not a family.

Now anyone out there with more than two kids probably already knows what I’m talking about. You go to a motel/hotel/campsite that advertises a family rate. Excellent. Come right in dear sir and madam and your one, two, three…oh dear. I’m sorry. The family rate only applies to families of four. You’ll have to pay extra. You’ll also have to pay for a cot as the room only has two double beds.

Off to the restaurant. How many? Five? Oh my. Well, you’ll have to wait an extra thirty minutes for us to push two tables together. There must be an extra chair around somewhere.

Only two can sit together on amusement park rides. Two plus two is four (too bad).  No groups greater than four on the mini golf course (drat). The waterpark has a family rate (yay!) but it only includes four towels (boo!). It became a running gag during our vacation, and by the fifth day our son joked that we should vote someone out of the family just to keep things simple.

In the end we decided to keep everyone and put up with the inconvenience of being a herd rather than a family. More is merrier, even if it does cost extra.

Car Trip Must Have

I've been off the grid for a little bit. 'Tis the season of vacation and we were car tripping across the maritimes, camping and having a grand old time with the family. A lot of work and preparation, but it's worth it.

There is a very precise formula when packing for a long car trip. There is much debate about what should be included, but there is one thing that my car never leaves home without - wet wipes.

I have two packages of wet wipes on hand at all times, one in the glove box and one in the pocket of the back seat. There's also a small pack in my purse. They're good for everything. Kid gets chocolate all over hands and face - wet wipes! Teen spills Dr. Pepper all over the seat - wet wipes! Dog upchucks in the back - wet wipes! Mom has a meltdown on exit 82 - wet wipes!

So I might forget to bring toothbrushes, pajamas, or earplugs on the trip, but I will never forget wet wipes.

What's your never forget car item?

Down for the Count

Ahh, that Robbie Burns. He knew what he was talking about when he spoke of the schemes of mice and men. Does anyone ever have their plans go exactly right? Anyone? Show of hands.

There are many simple and spectacular ways a family's scheduled events can go asunder, but nothing beats a stomach bug for efficiency.

* Warning! Stop reading here if you:
        - are emetophobic
        - are faint of heart
        - have a low "ick" tolerance
        - are not at least this tall 

We planned for a nice long weekend visiting the in-laws around the bay. The weather forecast was good, and we had visions of hikes and kayaks dancing in our heads. By Wednesday evening we had everything packed and ready to hit the road very early the next morning so we could be there by noon.

Our littlest one woke crying on Wednesday night, mere hours before we planned to leave. She didn't know what was wrong, but climbed into bed with mama and daddy to make it all better. Probably just a bad dream, we thought, until the leaned over the side of the bed and upchucked everything she ate in the past week. So we cleaned, and comforted, and got a bucket for the bedside just in time for her to yell "MOM! HOLD MY HAIR!" which I continued to do for the next six hours.

By morning she was bright as a button again, so although we were hours behind schedule, we pushed ahead with our plans. We arrived just before dark. We lost a day, but we'd make do with the time we had left.

By the middle of day two, the boy was complaining of an upset tummy. An hour later we were scrubbing the bathroom floor and he was quarantined to the room at the end of the hall. I started the washing machine while Hubby went to the store for ginger ale.

Around 8:00 I started to feel a little woozy. It's been a long day, I thought. My head ached. All that scrubbing, I said. Did I feel nauseated*, or was it just in my head, I wondered.

Glurk!

By the end of the weekend, the only ones left unscathed were Hubby and his dad.

Things I learned this weekend:

• Five year olds can throw up way more than you would think
• You might think the worst is over. It's not. Don't say it out loud.
• If your flight is cancelled and you decide to wait in the airport closet, don't talk to the guy selling maple syrup (This may have been a dream).

* Nauseated means feeling sick. Nauseous means sickening. If you tell me you are nauseous, I might laugh, and that wouldn't be nice.

Picnics

After almost two weeks of computer troubles, I'm finally back online. It couldn't have happened at a better time though. We finally got the weather we've been waiting for. Beautiful and sunny and warm. Perfect weather for outdoor fun.

One of our favourite things to do on a warm summer day is pack up some grub and head out for a picnic. There is a knack to knowing just what to pack for a picnic, and after a few years of trial and error, we have it down to a science.

Food
When packing for a picnic, it's important to keep in mind ease of serving and eating the food, as well as food safety.

A few of our favourite picnic spots require a long walk from the car to the picnic grounds. We don't want to lug any more items than absolutely necessary. We try to keep it down to one cooler that can hold all the food. Potato salad is considered a picnic staple, but because it requires extra dishes and doesn't do well in the heat, we keep it off our picnic menu. The following is a typical momster picnic:

• Baked ham and apple sandwiches on oatmeal molasses bread
• Pasta salad with Italian dressing
• Chocolate chip cookies or rice krispie squares
• Lemonade (served from large mason jars)
• Snacks such as goldfish crackers, cherries, watermelon, etc.

Food is packed among layers of ice packs to make sure everything stays cool and fresh. I will also throw in some frozen juice pouches which do double duty as extra ice packs and nice cold drinks once they start to melt.

Fun

Once again, we don't want to carry unnecessary items to our picnic place, so we try to keep our extra supplies to one bag or basket. Sunscreen and bug spray are essential. Plates, cups, utensils, and napkins are all packed and kept to only what is necessary. This leaves room for some extra fun things to help make the day memorable for the kiddies. We usually pack something to play catch, a Frisbee or ball of some sort. I like to toss some surprises into the bag to take out during the afternoon.

• Bubble mix and wands
• Jump ropes
• Bug/guppy/frog catching nets (we make sure all the critters are set free)
• For evening picnics we bring along glow sticks and sparklers for night time fun 

Picnics are a great way to get the most out of summer family time. These are the times your kids will remember.


Do you have any picnic tips or recipes to share? We'd love to hear them.

Organized Chaos

I believe that a good relationship is built on honesty, so I'll tell you right up front - I am terribly disorganized. I am a total scatterbrain. I lived in blissful ignorance of this for years. But by the time the youngest child started school, I knew I was in over my head. There were just too many misplaced lunches, missed appointments, and forgotten field trips, not to mention that last minute panic at the bus stop when you remember that it's Blue Day and your child is dressed entirely in pink. The guilt was crushing. The whining was unbearable. I had to do something.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm still a scatterbrain, but I've managed to create a sort of organized chaos with the help of a few tricks.

First of all, we stick to a 2 activities per child rule. This does not include school related activities like after-school sports or performances. Swimming, dancing, music, karate, gymnastics, gator wrestling - whatever. They get to pick two and stick with them. We also try to choose things that are nearby, to cut down on travel time.

The next step is to remind myself of all these goings on. 2 activities x 3 kids = 6 + other appointments, meetings, outings...too much for the old string on the finger trick. So I set up reminders in my email program (I use Microsoft Outlook). It works beautifully. I can set it to give me as much notice as I need. If preparation is necessary, I set it to remind me a few days in advance. For regular activities I just need an hour or two. These reminders also get emailed to hubby as a back-up plan (yes, I'm that bad). Then he can call out "Frankie has swimming in an hour?" and I can say "Sure does!" and pretend like I hadn't forgotten all about it.

So now I don't have to worry about forgetting, but I still like to see at a glance what the whole family has going on. Scheduling new appointments and outings is much easier if you know who has swimming, who is working, who is running away to join the circus (you wouldn't believe how often that's put on the schedule). The best way I've found to keep track of the whole family (short of microchipping everyone) is with a family organizer/calendar. My favourite is this one by Sandra Boynton. It's colourful, fun, and it comes with stickers and a magnetic phone list to put on the fridge. There is enough space to keep track of a family of five. I use different coloured markers for each family member, so the month is usually a beautiful array of scribbles (with Hubby's column suspiciously sparse).

So this is how I've managed to juggle the daily family madness. These tricks are expecially handy at this time of year when all the field trips, sports days and year end activities are clumped into a three week period.

Now, if someone could tell me a good way to remember where I put my car keys, I'd be smiling.