Story Time at The Rienzi

When I was skimming through all the indoor Houston activites for kiddos on NinaLoca, I ran across some information that just really excited me. There is a mansion in the River Oaks area that has been donated to the Museum of Fine Arts, complete with all of the artwork and collectibles that the Masterson family had acquired over the years. It houses other collections from time to time and you can regularly tour it. But, during the summer time, they offer Rienzi Storytime Tours, every Wednesday in June and July at 10am, for kids ages 4-8, as well as other family activities.

I emailed a friend of mine and we decided to take our kiddos today to check it out. We loved it! They gave us a tour of some of the larger rooms in the home and would stop in each one and have all the kiddos sit down on the floor. The docent then gave a brief piece of information about the room or something specific in the room and then read a children’s book that somehow fit. In the Dining Room, she read “Bear Wants More” about a bear that wakes up from hibernation and wants to eat more and more. In the Drawing Room, the docent read a book about 3 mice who painted (Get it? We were in the Drawing Room?! hee hee ). In the Ball Room, she pointed out some of the Masterson’s collection of Chinese porcelain from the 1700’s and then read a book called “The Empty Pot” about a little boy who was trying to become the new emporer of China.

They have several different docents that rotate each week, and they each have different books that they like to bring and read to the kids. My 5yo absolutely loved getting to hear stories in such a new and exciting place. My 3yo actually paid attention and enjoyed kicking off his flip flops to listen. While my 21mo didn’t exactly listen to the stories, she absolutely loved pointing at all the paintings and statues throughout the house. Obviously the age range of 4-8 is best suited to the tour, but they don’t limit it to that age group.

After the tour was over and all the kiddos hugged our docent, “Ms. Mary”, we went out into the back yard to see the beautiful pool and grounds. We wound up playing hide-n-seek in the shrubs of the side yard until we were too hot and sticky to stay any longer.

All in all, a wonderful experience, and one that Kate is anxious to repeat!

Potty Trained!!!

We finally did it!  The boy is potty trained!!!!!!

(Yes, I meant to put all those exclamation points after that sentence.  That’s how EXCITED I am that he’s finally wearing ‘big boy underwear’.  If you’ve ever potty trained a boy, you understand my elation. )

After months of fighting, pleading, bribing, arguing, and disappointment, I finally found the right combination of things for Ethan to want to potty train.

We had tried bribing him with candy corn (the treat HE picked out at the store for just this purpose) and that wasn’t really working.  We tried putting him in pull-ups and telling him to let us know when he needed to go - yeah, right.  Then, one day, I got so tired of it, I just put ‘big boy underwear’ on him and set the timer.  Every 15-30 minutes the timer would go off and I would say, “Time to go sit on the potty!”  The first few times he fought me on it and didn’t want to do it.  It took a few times, too, before anything happened when we were ON the potty.  When it did, there was HUGE celebration, much clapping and cheering, and candy-giving.  

The few times that he had an ‘accident’, we went immediately in the bathroom and sat on the potty just to see if there was any pee left.  A friend of mine said that sometimes when they have an accident, they stop themselves before they’re completely empty.  This way you have a chance to praise them for going potty in the toilet, even in the midst of an ‘accident’.  (Thanks for that idea, Shannon!)

We also checked out a book from the library called “Time to Pee”.  It’s a great little book about potty training that starts off “If you ever get that funny feeling… don’t PANIC!”  Cracks me up!  I’m not sure if it was the book, the underwear, some cosmic alignment of the planets, or the combination of things, but suddenly it clicked with him!  And now, I don’t even know most of the time when he’s going pee, because he just gets up from where he’s playing, goes into the bathroom, and goes potty!  Yippee!!!  :)

Now, to work on wiping his own bottom.  That’s the part that no one talks about!  :P

How about you?  What were your tricks that helped get your little on to finally potty train?   

NinaLoca.com

If you’re a mom or dad living in the Houston area and you haven’t heard of NinaLoca.com yet, BOY are you going to L-O-V-E me for telling you about it!  :)

NinaLoca is a great site full of ideas for summer fun for kiddos.  She’s got everything from jumping places, to local parks, to museums, to kids-eat-free restaurants.  I’ve already found 2-3 places that we just HAVE to go check out this summer because of her great information.  Most of the places she’s listed she has a brief description and her own experiences (if she’s been there), too, which is MOST helpful!

Here’s her description of her own site…

Welcome to Nina Loca! Summer Fun Listings for Houston, Cypress, & surrounding areas. We list everything from kids eat free, play places, VBS, camps, volunteering for kids and teens, stuff for Moms and Dads, pet resources and more! We are Houston locals and we know the best places to visit with family and kids. Texas is cool!

So go check it out and then tell me where YOU just HAVE to go this summer because of this list!!

Earth Day: Kid-Friendly Ideas, Follow-Up

I was just writing an article on using fresh herbs and realized that I had forgotten to give you all a follow-up on our herb-planting Earth-Day fun.  And we took a LOT of pics, too!!  Shawn was great and kept the camera handy as we planted herbs and then made our Rice Krispy Treat Globes.

I started getting everything set up during nap time so that we would be ready to go when the kiddos got up.  Kate helped me choose some cans from our recycling bin, take off the labels, and wash them out. Then I smoothed out the tops to make sure there were no ragged edges to catch little fingers on and poked holes for drainage in the bottoms by tapping a screwdriver into the can using a hammer.  Then I painted a generous coat of gesso on each of the cans to give them a white background to start with that the acrylic paints would stick to.  I even painted a little on the inside of the top of each can since the dirt probably wouldn’t reach all the way to the top rim.  We also made labels on popsicle sticks for each of the herbs.  Kate enjoyed using her new writing skills to make these…

By then, the little ones had woken up and were ready to paint.  I gave each kiddo a ‘palette’ of all the different colors on the inside of a cut up recycled cereal box.  Kate was very particular and deliberate about painting pretty flowers and such.  Ethan immediately started swirling all of the colors on his palette together to make a lovely brown color… eww.  He then commenced to spreading the brown color over as much of the can as possible in very specific horizontal strokes.  Talk about contrasting Kate ‘the artist’ with Ethan ‘the engineer’.  You could almost hear his internal conversation where he was determining the quickest and most efficient way to cover the can with color so he could move on to the next step…  :P  Karis was just happy to dip her fingers paint brush in every color of the rainbow and splash it on the can.

Next, it was time for the herbs.  First we put some rocks at the bottom of each of the cans to help with drainage, and then put in about an inch or two of potting soil.  I had six different plants (2 basil, mint, oregano, rosemary, and parsley), so we each then took a plant to put into a can and then fill in around it with more potting soil.  (Did I mention that this was a very ‘dirt’y craft???  hee hee)  Notice the dirt on Karis’ face which blended in quite nicely with the purple paint she had been trying to taste earlier.  Geesh…  But, didn’t our project turn out pretty??  And the kids had a blast making them, too.  (Oh, and I sprayed the cans and labels with a matte finish acrylic sealer later that night after they went bed to make sure it would all stay perty.)

Then, it was dinner-time, so we made our Rice Krispy Treat Globes.  Yeah.  I’m weird like that.  The hardest part was mixing in the food coloring evenly.  By the time you’re done stirring one in, the other half of the hot mixture is cooling which makes it even more difficult to stir.  But, somehow we wound up with half blue and half green and then had the kiddos smear some butter on their hands, grab a little handful of each color and smush them together into a ball.  Great sticky and sweet fun.

We had a great evening playing together as a family and talking about the Earth.  The kids still love to water their herbs that sit on our windowsill and especially enjoyed the Rice Krispy Treat Globes, too.

Fashion and Class Pics

So, my 5yo fashionista decided last night what she was going to wear for her class pictures today.  And I hated it.  It’s a cute little seersucker yellow sundress with embroidered flowers on the front.  (And now all my friends know why I hated it.)  I tried desperately to get her to wear her adorable lime green polo and matching flowered skirt, or her cute bohemian-ish brown dress, or even the pink plaid sundress she wore last year in California.  All to no avail.  Her heart was set on the yellow sundress.  Stubbornly.  (I don’t know where she gets THAT from…)

This morning I tried again from a different tactic. Maybe the dress was too small.  It was from last summer after all.  Let’s try it on and see…

Although it was just a wee bit tight, she INSISTED that this was still what she wanted to wear.  Only now, she’s concerned that the front is a bit low and she should wear a shirt underneath the sundress so no one could see her chest.  (Her words.  Not mine.)  So, now we have a little bit tight yellow seersucker sundress WITH a white tshirt on underneath it.  Can this get any worse for me - cuz ya know it’s really all about me, right?

So, I sucked in a deep breath and said, “Go show your Daddy.  I think it looks kinda funny, but go ask him.”  He’s usually great about backing me up in these things, so even though it was a bit of a gamble, I figured I’d risk it.

She comes back with a huge grin on her face. (Oh, no.) “Daddy says I look pretty.”  I’m done.  Outnumbered. The deal is sealed.  There’s no convincing her otherwise once her Daddy has told her she looks pretty.  (Which I’m usually VERY grateful for, just not when I’m trying to convince her to wear something different. ) 

Reluctantly, I picked out the yellow bow to match the dress, fixed her hair (thank God there were no fights about hair styles today), fed her breakfast, made her lunch and sent her out the door to preschool in the yellow sundress.  I have the sinking feeling that this won’t be the last picture day that we will argue over her clothing.  And I’m sure it won’t be long till I’m BEGGING her to put ON a shirt underneath that strappy sundress to try to cover more of her ‘chest’.  So, I should just be happy that the ‘argument’ this morning was what it was.  And I’ll get over myself soon.  She should be able to feel pretty on picture day.  Even if her mommy doesn’t like her choice of dress.

Shawn just walked back in from dropping her off at school.  He told me that her teacher said picture day is this coming Thursday.

Relief washes over me and then is suddenly replaced by dread.  What will she pick out on Thursday???  I give up…

______

So, I know I’m not the only one to face this drama.  What’s your fashionista story???  Please share in the comments below so that we can both laugh about this one day.

Earth Day: Kid-Friendly Ideas

So, Tuesday, April 22nd, is Earth Day.  And, I’m wanting to do SOMETHING with my kids to mark this day as special.  We already do a little bit of recycling at our house and we ‘celebrated’ Earth Hour a few weeks ago by watching the first Indy Race of the season in the dark (see this post about Earth Hour) - btw, we would have gone completely dark, but hello! the FIRST Indy race of the season?  Couldn’t miss that one.  :)  All of that, but I’m still feeling the need to do something more, especially on a day set aside specifically for the purpose of recognizing the earth and our contribution to the environment.

So, I’ve been doing a little googling and have come up with a few ideas that I think we can handle here with a 5yo, 3yo, and 18mo.  Here’s a couple of links for your reading enjoyment…

Tin Can Herb Pots - This looks like lots of fun and I figure we can use the end products as gifts if we want.

Coffee Ground Fossils - I have to admit that this one REALLY appealed to the Earth Science teacher in me…

Rice Krispie Earth -  Okay.  This just looked yummy.  How long HAS it been since I’ve had a Rice Krispie treat anyways??

“Stained Glass” Butterflies - Not sure how this really fits in to the whole Earth Day theme, but it brings back such fun memories of my own childhood, that I HAD to include it. 

There were SO many other ideas out there that it was almost overwhelming!!  I figure we’ve got to save some ideas for next year, though, right?  :)

So, what are YOU doing to celebrate Earth Day this year?  Leave me a comment so I can change my mind again about what I want to do!

English Muffin Personal Pizzas

I don’t know where I first read this idea, but it’s ingenious.  My kids love it, it’s easy, and it’s cheaper than ordering out, too!

Just take an English Muffin and lightly toast it.  Then spread your pizza sauce on it, top with cheese and pepperoni, or whatever else floats your boat.  Put it in the oven on 350 for about 10 minutes, or until the cheese melts.

If you get the kiddos to ‘help’ make their own, they’re ALWAYS more apt to eat it when it’s on their plate.  Plus, it’s fun watching them develop the motor skills to put shredded cheese on top of their pizza.  (Be prepared for a little more cleanup than if you did it, though! )

I usually put the finished product on a plate then throw it in the freezer for about a minute or two just to help it cool down a little faster before serving to munchkins.

So, what about you?  Do you have any easy, kid-friendly edible ideas?  I’d LOVE to hear them!  Comment below….

Product Review: Graco TurboBooster SafeSeat Youth Booster

We just recently moved Karis into a car seat out of her infant seat which meant Ethan got kicked out of his seat. Since he’s over the weight requirements for a booster, we opted to just move him straight into this Graco TurboBooster instead of buying ANOTHER car seat that would only last another year or so and also cost an arm and a leg.

• I LOVE how easy this booster is to move from car to car. Basically unthread the seatbelt from the shoulder belt positioner and you’re good to go!
• Ethan loves the race car color scheme (as does his daddy!) and the fact that he now feels like a ‘big boy’.
• Kate loves that she’s not getting hit in the face with the side of a huge car seat. (She sits in the middle of the back seat between her two siblings. Not something she’ll be able to do much longer as her hips and shoulders grow and become wider than the opening between the two seats. Hopefully we’ll be able to purchase a larger vehicle by the time that becomes an issue. And when we do, we’ll probably get Kate the pink princess version of this same seat.)
• Shawn loves that the price didn’t strain our pocket book too much. I think we got ours on sale for around $40.
• Karis loves the fact that she’s not stuck in that rear-facing infant seat anymore. She loves being able to see out the windows! 

OrgJunkie’s Dining Room Organization Round-Up

So, I finally finished and am writing the promised follow-up post!  I told you that I was participating in Org Junkie’s Monthly Organizing Round-Up and cleaning up my dining area of the kitchen.  (click here to see my previous post on the subject) Since my 5-year-old, Kate, is a budding artist like her daddy all of her art supplies and drawings wind up on our kitchen table and floor, as well as the window seat behind it.  After a while, it all starts to mushroom and take over the room as you can see in this before pic…  The piles of crayons, and pictures and more pictures, and cards, and table cloth for when we paint, and flipflops (the windowseat is by the back door), and everything else just seemed to always collect here.  And even when it’s organized, it’s still just not very pretty to look at.  In fact, my husband complains about it frequently.

I decided that not only did all the mess need to be contained better, but it also needed to move out of my kitchen completely.  The ‘formal dining room’ in our house is right off of the kitchen and we’ve turned it into a playroom - perfect spot for all of Kate’s art supplies.  But before I could move everything, I had to clean out a space on the tall table (away from siblings’ hands) to move everything.  (Don’t you love when one project requires a second and third project to happen first to be able to make the first one happen???  Blah.)

Finally, I got the table ready and then moved all the ’stuff’ to the table.  Then, I cleaned up the rest of the ‘outdoor stuff’ that sits on the windowseat and found a big bin to hide it all in.  So, all the flipflops, sunscreen, bug spray, water guns, and sidewalk chalk are now out of sight!  And look how clean my windowseat looks now!!

Of course, by the time I got all of that done, I was exhausted and the kiddos were screaming for my attention (quite literally, I’m afraid.  Yes, I tend to be a tad “focused” when it comes to organizing projects! )  So, I stopped for the day and decided to come back to the art supply/artwork mess another day.  I think that’s actually a key - knowing when it’s okay to stop and come back to a project another day and not feeling like it all HAS to be finished immediately.  Especially when you have three little ones under foot.  :)

So, a few days later, I decided to tackle all her art stuff.  Luckily, I had already put some amount of organizing mojo into this area of our lives and had containers already in use.  So, all it took was a little re-thinking of how everything was working and what would make it even better.

She now has 3 magazine holders that are specifically designated for 3 different kinds of things.  One for workbooks, one for sketchbooks and CURRENT artwork (I’ll have to write another post about what I do with all her artwork that accumulates at such a FAST pace), and one for stationary (my daughter LOVES to write cards to people).  She has an art kit box (thank you, Tiffany, for that birthday present!) that houses all of her stamps, markers, map pencils, glue sticks, and scissors in neat little organized trays.  Then she has a stack of art projects like beading, mosaics, and stamping that require adult supervision. And the last box next to the bookcase is full of all her painting supplies, including smock and table cloth.  All of the crayons and coloring books moved to another section of the playroom in a three-drawer rolling cart where the youngest two could also access them.

When I was done, I called her over to the table and explained the system to her. (Lucky for me, she takes after her parents and actually enjoys systems!) She got it almost immediately and then called her daddy in to show him and explain each section to him.  Best way to learn is to teach it to someone else, right?

So, now, I just owe a huge debt of gratitude to Laura over at OrgJunkie for encouraging all of us to tackle this project.  And I’m SO in for the rest of the year, so keep your eyes tuned for my next project!  What’s YOUR next project?

My Dishes Saga Continued

Just figured I’d update you on my dishes saga since I bored you with the original story.

I went to Target yesterday with intent of buying my dishes – you know, the ones that I wanted, not the ones that KATE wanted… I get there only to discover they’ve cleared out the Global Bazaar section and are bringing in patio furniture and Easter stuff in that section of the store now. Great. So, don’t panic, just go look where all the other plates are. Do they still have the ones that I want?

No. Of course not. So, I go home dejected. Again.

Shawn mentions the possibility of buying them online. Hope reborn! I go online and… sadly, they are ‘not available’ anymore and the serving dishes that match are on clearance. Boo. Sad again.

Since most of my ‘dishes money’ is cash, I decided to widen the search to ALL dinnerware Target and otherwise. After much searching on many sites including IKEA, Linens-n-things, other major department stores, etc and still not finding the ‘right’ ones that called my name, I went to Walmart.com expecting NOTHING of course. It IS Walmart after all. What kind of good quality, trendy dishes are going to be at Walmart?

These!!!

I can’t wait to go to Walmart and check them out in person. And maybe even BRING THEM HOME!

Don’t worry. I won’t take Kate with me this time!