Super Hero's!

Power Ring

Mask's and wrist bands

Wrist Bands

SUPER HERO'S TO THE RESCUE!! ((Doo do dooo!)) 

My lil guy has absolutely fallen in love with super hero's:) it's adorable! Trying to outfit him superhero gear, not so adorable or do able on a tight budget. So.. what should a super hero's mama do? Go to Joann's!! (any excuses is a good one to spend a few hours in that store). There we found felt in the colors of the super hero's he loves, FLASH(red), Green Lantern (green), Batman(Black), and his personal favorite SUPER B(him self-a teal color). With a ink pen, scissors, elastic, Velcro and some Fabri-Tac I set to work... and soon came out with four super hero mask's, wrist bands and even was able to find supplies to make power rings(shopping those end caps is a life/budget saver)! All for the bargain price of one super hero outfit in the store! It's SUPER MOM!! To the rescue!!


A few notes: I should have washed the felt before making items, it's a little scratchy. I should have kept the receipt to show you how awesome of a deal this venture was! (felt $1.25 for 1/8 yard, elastic$2.99 for more than you could ever want/need, glue $5.99(ish) worth every penny but sewing is an option!) Also I should have made a pattern out of paper instead of tracing a fabric version. But so far they are holding up well to two weeks worth of playing! As soon as I figure out how to upload drawings I will post patterns:)

ugh! pull ups?!?!

I felt like such a failure when my son, who was once potty trained through the night started to wet the bed... I figured it's just a phase, he'll "grow out of it", he didn't. Then my hubs and I tried waking him up twice a night (BAD IDEA!!! NEVER!! EVER!! Wake a sleeping child!) not only does it mess with the child's sleep, it messes with your sleep... phew! The next step was to buy plastic pants and let him feel the wetness...ha! That didn't work... he slept through and the bed still ended up wet. Finally(two months from first wet bed) in a fit of 'I cannot wash another load of pee sheets or loose more sleep over this issue' rage I bought my first package of pull ups. It hurt my green heart! But we are a much better family for it:) I figure I saved the world from all his diapers in the early stages, a few pull ups wont hurt, right? Except the budget, those pull-up brand pull-ups are expensive!! So I did coupons, watched for sales and tried my best to keep the cost down but!! When I saw 15 off brand pull ups for $5.99 and 10 pull up brand pull ups for $11.99 the math won! Feeling guilty I went down the book/sticker isle hoping to lessen the blow with a $1 treat I found super hero stickers and that's when it clicked!! He could decorate his own "special night time under-roo's" any way he wanted!! What is cooler than that? So we now have super hero, smile face, puppy dog, bug "special night time under roo's". He is not limited to my budget:) PHEW!! Hope this tip helps ease your mind and your budget! 

He tends his flock like a shepherd: 

He gathers the lambs in his arms,

and carries them close to his heart;

he gently leads those that have young.

Isaiah 40:11

Anti Veggie?

Do you have one of THOSE kids? You know the one who refuses to eat anything but noodles and yogurt:) I used to have one of those kiddos, boy howdy did I have to get creative!! Veggie pancakes, veggie packed marinara sauce, sweet bread with carrots, the list goes on and on my friend! And so does the list of things your child wont eat... but never fear! Help is near! Manufacturers are starting to gets smart (starting to) meaning you still have to read labels and make your judgment calls but! I have found a few products that will assist in the feeding of the small child. Pictured are Ronzoni Garden Delight Pasta-full serving of vegetables in each serving. Mott's Meadly's-cherry berry with a full serving of fruit and vegetables in each serving. Frutables by Adam and Eve-full serving of fruit and veggies in each serving. Last but not least Kraft Macaroni and cheese- 1/2 cup of veggies in each cup of noodles. Each of these products are B tested and approved and full of good things!! Happy Feeding!!

Free-bee!

Hey! Need a card in a instant? A real, actual, factual, paper card... then look no further! Free printable cards-easy to personalize! Just thought you and your budget should know this pertinent information! 

Magnetic Tape

"All you need is trust and a little bit of pixie dust"(Peter Pan)....or an active imagination and some magnetic tape! Yes, that is correct, magnetic tape, a metal cookie sheet(or refrigerator) , and story props. Print the story prop out and color them or print out the colored version. Add magnetic tape to the back of each piece (may need two strategically located pieces of magnetic tape to hold the character or prop to the cookie sheet). Print out the words to the story, or have a copy of the book on hand and let the story telling commence! It doesn't have to be a beautiful theatrical performance just an animated telling of .... what ever story you wish to relay to your child! A few favorites: 'Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?', 'Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?', 'The Ginger Bread Man' or any other favorite you can think of! Just print out a few of the major characters and props from your clip art, add magnetic tape and "off to never never land!!" 

Gift's to give!

OH! SNAP! It's your birthday and I don't have anything to give you... ugh... dislike! Simple solution: homemade coupons providing a simple or extravagant service tailored to the person your giving to. This some times can speak more than some quick gift you threw together! Especially for me,it reminds me of the many coupons I received from siblings. "One coupon for breakfast in bed" or "Free day of baby sitting" or "I'll cook you a meal and bring it to you" or "Good for one date with one weeks notice" or "Coffee delivered to you with or without chocolate"- I have been known to give these, I feel they personalize the gift and do not contribute to the clutter that seems to take over anyone's house at any given moment in time:) So... go ahead create a coupon and give it to some one you love, like or just need a quick gift for (works great for rewarding those hard working students in your life:) Blessings and Happy Valentines Day to you!! 

It's Monday again:)

Media Free Monday!! I still am not sure who this day is most hard for me? or the small child? But we shall trudge on and only "change the rules an ity bity bit" for illness and holidays!! Phew! I think I can I think I can I think I can....

   Today was exceptionally warm so we spent 1.5hr at the park and then back to warm our faces and hands!  Along with lunch we listened to a few  Audio Books (free). This activity helps us to  keep our mind's off of the TV and computer games that are, for today, off limits! Another link for FREE audio books We hope you enjoy these stories as much as we do!!

Media Free Monday's!

The small child of the Van Marter house hold filled the hall way's of our beautiful house with a irritating temper tantrum because I had turned off the television and wouldn't let him go immediately to the computer for another media fix. I decided in that moment to instill 'Media Free Monday's' in an effort to curb his attachment to this mind numbing devices! As I contemplated this more while carrying my screaming 3yr old to his room (and shutting the door), a thought came to me... we hardly watched any television in our house growing up yet, we didn't suffer in a wealth of exciting childhood experiences! In this split moment I decided to also extend 'Media Free Monday' into Tuesday mornings and sometime's evenings (Although being a single parent Monday night and Tuesday night in desperation I may turn the tube on!) MFM has been known to infaltrate Wednesday's as well!!  The small child has no knowledge of this extension of MFM (and shall remain blissfully un-aware!!) this "rule" has helped him to extend his creativity in wonderful ways! I have seen super hero cowboys, special cowboy's, superhero's who get along with bad guys and he has found a new tolerances for ART?!? This hasn't come with a few melt downs, tears from mother and son, and a few "exceptions" to the rule but!! after the first few (painful) hours of MFM morning the creativity blooms! Some times it needs help and I have an arsenal of idea's to kick start the creativity! For example...http://www.10paperairplanes.com/  has provided hours of entertainment to our home! Also Crayola Quick and Easy Face Paint has helped to keep the MFM blues away! So has giving B a few CD's and a CD player to sit and enjoy repeating the same song over and over again! More idea's to come... Happy Media Free Monday friends!

MONSTER away!

To you this picture represents a tiny spritz of scent aka smelly stuff but... to a 4yr old boy with a very healthy imagination this is SCARY dream spray! a few dozen spritz's around the room and a healthy dose on his bed and all night time terrors are simply misted away! This is not a JVM(<---my initials) original but it was remembered in not so quite desperation from the endless excuses as to why the small one should not go to bed... Scary dream spray coupled with a flash light and 4 books (because he's four). Has kept the night time "I need a drink of water" etc... at bay! Another rule is he get's one time out of bed (to pee/drink/ect..) any time after that he is disciplined! I praise the Lord he isn't as stubborn as me(SORRY MOM/DAD) it only took 3 nights of disciplines to curb the multiple night time pop ups!(for me I think the parents lost count;) oops! One other "trick" we have found to make night times successful is a quick, easy, simple routine! For you this can be anything as long as it is repeated!

The Small One's Night Time Routine

8:30-Potty and dressed for bed

8:40-floss and brush teeth

8:50-Bible story and prayers

9:00-lights out

(9:15-9:30-he faithfully appears for one last pee)

9:45 he is usually asleep!

Some nights he is awake, in his bed till 10pm or later but! He's in his bed! Quiet and safe:)

Feel free to share your successes! Your routines! Your tribulations! Because this is parenting NOT perfection:)

Just a tip!

Hey! just in case you were ever wondering... I use this (permanent marker) almost every time I have a large get together! For cups, plates, and labeling my pitchers of liquid! Now, I've done this since Mr Clean invented the magic eraser(my Mom has been doing it longer, can't count how many times we had to ask "is this really sugar or salt?")...Never thought about the significance of this organizational tip till my (super awesomely creative) friend said "you should blog about that." So... If your short on time, label makers, or just need to make a note... use a permanent marker! Trust me those magic erasers (even generic) will get it off!! (Now this doesn't apply to children! As a daycare worker found out...duh!?!?) But for almost any and all other surfaces's go for it!! Plastic, glass, refrigerators... you can do it! It helps me keep those half opened jars of sauce used up in time! Open jugs of milk used up in time and lets my guest know which is which (even if they all look like water because you use Smuckers all natural lemon-aid:) Happy labeling friends!

ps. I also tie the marker to something solid during the party so everyone always has access to this wonderful labeling device!!

p.p.s You can use it to mark up your containers that hold sugar, salt, malt-o-meal, etc... I also write the recipe on the outside with tips and tricks for the next time!