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:)