pedi's anyone?

As much as we are willing for spring to come, it just hasn't happened yet.
Friday, though, was about the closest thing we have had or I am afraid will have to spring for a while.
In celebration, we treated or little toesie's with a pedicure. 

Presley loves getting her toes painted.  She is quite the girly girl.   Usually she sits in the chair with me and gets her very own polished toes.  This time, however, she informed me that she wanted her own chair and her own water.  Basically, my 3 year old wanted a spa pedicure, and well, I let her.  She grinned from ear to ear, and held still and was so cooperative. 

 

My baby girl is all grown up...  Any day now spring, our toes are ready for flip flops!

Happy Wednesday Friends!!

a little timeout...

and a whole lotta attitude!

rewards

When it comes to discipline, I'll admit, I am not the best at it.
I am definitely lacking structure in this department.
I mean, I read all about having a newborn, how to breastfeed, signs and symptoms to watch for with an illness, but as far as having a preschooler and the terrible 2's and the even worse 3's, I must have skipped the chapter or else the book ran out.

I would describe my parenting style as somewhat laid back.  I like to let my daughter make choices and have consequences within reason, but my plan, or lack there of, could possibly be coming back to haunt me. 

I wish I could tell you that I have the patience of a Saint, and never raised my voice.  And that when I tell my daughter to get in time out that she skipped on over to the corner and stayed there without a fight.  I'd love to tell you that my daughter never talked back to her momma or hit the dog or colored on my wall.  That she listened well and followed directions and never ever had a temper tantrum.

I can't tell you that, and I don't know to many parents that can.  But what I can tell you, is that I need a plan and fast!

It all started on Friday when I got the mail.  Seriously, getting the mail these days is quite the task with 2 foot of snow on the ground and frigid temps, but I manged.  In it, an American Girl catalog.  I think we have received said catalog once or twice, although I am not sure why because I have never purchased a single thing.  Presley snatched that catalog from my hands faster than you could imagine, sat down on the floor, and started turning the pages.  With each page she proclaimed how much she loved that doll, had to have that outfit, or bed, or dog, or any accessory that could possibly come with one of these dolls.  I explained to her that these dolls were definitely not in mommy's price range and that she could look, but would NOT be getting one.  She explained to me that she had plenty of money in her piggy bank and wanted to buy one herself.  I escorted her to her room and dumped her bank and counted the change.  $20.00!  I explained that she needed much more money, not that I expected her to understand, and figured we would drop the subject right there.  The girl literally shuffled through this magazine for an hour, and has since shown everyone that has come to our house her favorites, which changes with each glance. 

And this my friends, prompted my plan.  Now I wouldn't call it bribery, more or less a Reward system based on good behavior.  I sat down with Presley, and together we looked through the magazine.  She pointed out her choice and I mentioned to her that I had an idea of how she may be able to get her doll.  Her eyes lit up.  I have never seen her want something so bad.  Together, we picked out some age specific chores that she could make an allowance doing.  I printed this chore chart and bought some stickers.  {on a side note, this printable is seriously the bomb dot com.  free and cute and personalizable!!}  The other half of the reward system, another chart, to encourage her to sleep in her big girl bed, which is still a struggle every.single.night.  We agreed that I would pay half of this doll if she slept in her bed 20 times, and she could earn money for the other half with her allowance from her chores.

Chores like brush your teeth, listen well, follow directions, help mommy, feed the dogs.  I am hoping this reward system will deter some of the bad behaviors we have been experiencing lately.  I made her a bulletin board for her room with her sticker charts and a picture of "Saige," her favorite American Girl doll {today}!  

So far, she is really into it and put her clothes in her "hamster" today.  Love this girl.  She has my heart and I am excited for her to participate in some positive behaviors and hopefully acheive her goal.

Wish me luck y'all!!

Snowed in...

I have been a mid-western girl my entire life.
However, in my 20 some years, I do not remember getting this much snow.
And I think I may have mentioned a few hundred several times,
that I strongly dislike snow period!

After a whopping 10 inches and just now getting the roads cleared, my little town is preparing for yet more snow!
Only this time they are saying 12 inches plus.

So, what does one do when they are snowed in?

You get together with your neighbors and drink adult beverages and let your kids play,
OK and maybe the adults too!!

We made snow tunnels, and igloos, and climbed snow mountains, and made snow angels. I the kids, had so much fun, but after being frozen like a Popsicle, were ready to come inside by the fire and thaw out.

Presley, and her best friends, all so cute in their footed Jammie's.

Another neighbor, shared the recipe with us for snow ice cream, and we had to give it a try!

Recipe:
5 cups clean snow
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup milk

As fun as it was, I am done!  Let's hope this next storm is the last one!

Ready for spring!

since there is still a little chocolate...

 

We will continue to celebrate Valentines Day.  And excuse the lack of posts lately!  I am a slacker due to the chocolate induced coma I have been in.

I love my daughter's enthusiasm with each holiday.  Christmas was a blast because she was so excited and animated, and such a trooper on New Year's Eve- she actually made it until midnight.  Now, Valentine's day, I think she has declared as by far her most favorite holiday because of all of the chocolate.  My girl loves her some chocolate!  I tried not to stock up on too much because when it's in the house, I have no self control and I am always willing to assist in getting rid of it.

With that being said, there are just a few sweets left and I was actually excited because, as I have mentioned previously, I am trying to eat better and exercise, but with this blessed chocolate staring at me I struggle.  My excitement fizzled when I walked into the store yesterday and saw that where there once was Valentines candy is now replaced with Easter candy.  O.M. Gee!  I give up all ready!  I am a prisoner of chocolate! 

We definitely did more celebrating than just the obligatory chocolate eating.  The school party at Presley's school was fantastic and the kids had so much fun.  The hubbs and I actually got out alone and ate at our favorite restaurant RA.  In my opinion, the best sushi in Kansas City.  It was so nice to enjoy some adult conversation without any 3 year old interruptions. 

All in all a successful Valentines! 

 

 

 

 

There you have it sweetie's!

 

Valentines

We decided to take advantage of Valentine's Day by having some craft time.
Presley picked out these little Valentines when she was nosing around on my Pinterest.
Yes, she's 3!  Yes, she knows how to get on my Pinterest App on my phone and "look at pretty pictures."

When she saw these little monster pencils, she immediately wanted to get some.
I had to explain to her that you could not just buy these little guys, but she insisted that she "just loved them!"

Luckily for me, Target had the pencils that we would need to complete this craft, so we went with it.
And I have to admit, we had a lot of fun in doing so!

First, you'll need to score these sweet little heart pencils from the one and only Target's $1.00 section, if there are any left. I bought the last 2 at my Target.  If you see some, grab them up for next year.  You need an assortment of pom pom balls, the more sizes and colors the better, as well as some googly eyes.  I found a package of pom poms, eyes, and pipe cleaners at Michael's for like 4.00 or something like that.  Then you have to go stop by this awesome blog, and read her tutorial as well as print the pencil flags that she made for you!  And thanks to The 36th AVENUE for thinking up this little Valentine and sharing with the world for people like me to use!  And the last thing you'll need is a very special little helper.  See mine above!

 

 

 

 

 



Go ahead and hot glue your pom poms to the top of your pencils.  We removed the erasers just like this tutorial told us to.  Presley suggested we give the monsters ears, and I thought it was a perfect idea.  So each monster got a set of eyes and ears.  She really wanted to give them mouths, but they looked scary with mouths.  We decided to skip that for now!

She enjoyed seeing each one as they were finished.  She of course had to name each of them, and pick out her favorites, and claim which ones would be hers. 

We {ok I} signed each of the flags and attached them to their color matching pencils.  Glued those babies on and voila!  I was feeling pretty good!  Until, my daughter says, what about my teacher's?  Do they get a Valentine?  Well crap!  Are we supposed to give teacher gifts for this holiday?  I decided I could whip something up quick.  Ha!  This did not turn out to be quick, but I do think it turned out cute!

Part 2 of Valentine making turned into Teacher clipboard making.  Coincidentally, I had 2 plain clip boards laying around the house for another project.  Found some color coordinating scrap book paper, and modge podged said paper onto clipboards.  {did I mention how much I love modge podge?  It's because I don't!}  We {ok I had lost my little helper at this point to an episode of Max and Ruby} I used a heart from the free printable provided by The 36th AVENUE and modge podged that little baby on, hot-glued some of the pom poms to the top of the clip board along with some googly eyes.  I then attached an extra pencil to the board and YES!  Finally done and loving how cute they turned out!

There you have it!  Our monster-eyed valentines for Presley's preschool class! 

Happy Valentines Day you little love birds!! 

Valentines Day Pinspiration

After dropping off Presley at school a few mornings ago,
the teacher asked me if I could organize the Valentines Day party for PJ's preschool class.

Of course, I'd love to!

And if you know me at all, then you know my mind immeidately starting fleeting to all of the cutesy things I have been seeing lately all over the web.
And I got really excited, Oh we could do {fill in the blank} and yes, they would love {fill in the blank}.  And then I remembered that I am talking about 3 year olds here and a party that is a mere 45 minutes.

Keep it simple!  Right? Right!

However, in my internet browing frenzy, I found some adorable essentials for Valentine's Party throwing.

via

drink straw flags = perfection

via
And whats a party without Sugar!

via

via

Enjoy your party plannin you little love bugs!

It's like riding a bike...

This weekend, we were blessed with some lovely weather.
And our little family took full advantage of the sunshine and fresh air.
Presley was finally able to take her new set of wheels on a test drive.

 

This girl, much like her momma, is a thinker.  Has to make a plan, see the exits, think it through.  Before we even took off, she asked, "Exactly where are we going?"  "To the sidewalk?"  "Are we crossing the road?"  "Daddy, you will be with me, Right?"

Something that comes second nature to us, Riding a bike!, was such a task for my little 3 year old.  I loved watching her trying to figure this out.  She wanted to be good at it and take off, but she just couldn't get it down at first.  The "big kids" were riding along, on what must seem to her like huge bikes, with no training wheels, and she was working hard to join them.  And become a part of the big kid bike club.  

 

But that didn't come without trial and error and a lot of frustration.  "I can't do this!"

Continual encouragement and coaching and cheering, "YAY, Presley!"  "You did it!"

A cycle of a little success, followed by frustration.

Her and daddy kept at it, she was determined to get this right.

And by the end of the ride, she was mostly doing it all on her own.  She was shouting "Look at me, I'm a big girl!"  So proud of herself, and you could tell, something as simple as riding a bike, is such a big deal to a 3 year old. 

a girl can never have too much.. lip gloss!

Thanks to a recent Christmas present,
PJ has recently realized the need to have lip gloss on at.all.times.
"Mom, my lips need some gloss"
as she puckers up to show me.

The best part of her newest lip gloss wearing,
is the aftermath, because the girl just won't move her lips.
She keeps them puckered up just right, you know so that none of the lip gloss will rub off.
She talks and sings and never moves her lips.
At a restaurant the other day, friends asked, "What's wrong with Presley's lips?"
Oh that, it's just her lip gloss.
This girl never leaves a dull moment.
And she has my heart.
 
In case you weren't all ready aware, Presley would like to show you the proper way to apply lip gloss.

She of course has to have all 4 Dora lip glosses put on, layer over layer to get the full effect.

Then you must dip the wand in the gloss, several times to make sure you get plenty.

Apply a generous amount of gloss to lips.

with a few different glosses.

{notice the puckered lips that will stay that way for at least an hour after application}

Reach down, and grab a few more different flavors of gloss.

and continue to layer your glosses.

Put the lid back and assume the position.

"Mom, don't make me laugh or my lip gloss will fall off!"
Ok, Presley, I won't make you laugh.
But mommy sure is because I get to look at this lip glossed face.