Summer fun (Paint fight)

Happy Wednesday Everyone!
As promised, here are the pictures from the paint fight. I ran into a few glitches with the paint fight idea, but with a few tweaks... we had a blast. First glitch- I could not, for the life of me find any large bottles of Crayola washable paint. I looked all over town, and turned up nothing. I looked online, to see about ordering some....but I didnt want to wait the three days for it to get here considering I had been promising my kiddos a paint fight for like 3 days. I bit the bullet, and made my own paint. Flour, boiling water, food coloring gels, and a dash or two of cream of tatar... after experimenting with it a bit to get the texture to the right consistency... I had paint. 

I also skipped the water balloons and the canvas. It became an issue of whether or not I wanted to spend the hot afternoon picking up fragments of the water balloon, or not. I chose not, so I filled our little pool and sat it close to the paint buckets. I also decided that the canvas I would use to make Christmas presents later. I have an idea that I will share...but after Christmas =). I wasn't sure whether or not the food coloring in the paint would stain the house, so I did tape a drop cloth to protect the side of our home. I'm not sure my husband would have appreciated the new rainbow splatter paint job on the front of our house...then again, ya never know! ;)

So On to the fight!

Kyrie painting the sidewalk

I bought a package of rollers and paint brushes at the dollar tree and put them in a bucket next to the paint, so that the kids could choose which one they used. There was a brush and a roller for each kiddo. =)

The war begins =)



Tyler


It took some encouragment for them to actually start a war, mostly because Im sure they have heard a thousand times..."Don't do that to your sister!" Once they got into it, no one was safe.



Refilling



Kyrie covered with paint =)



Eventually we had to go in, it was very hot and we were tired. Yes, Even Mom got in on the fight. I also was the one taking photos, so when I joined in... the camera went in the house.  We topped the afternoon off with sno cones, a bath, and a trip to grandma's house.

I can honestly say the only thing that I wish had been different, was the paint. I really really wish I had the tempura paint..because once the small clumps of flour set in the girl's hair.. it was dang near impossible to get out. So, if you are going to do this... word to the wise. Either buy the tempura paint, or find a flour free recipe. Aside from that... we had a great afternoon... and we didn't spend a ton of cash.
Once it was time to clean up, I dumped the "paint" into the gravel in my yard, hosed it down, and threw the brushes and the plastic in the trash. Easy clean up made it really nice.
Anyway, get out and play! =)

Blessings and love as your week continues!
xoxoxo-audrie

I'M BACK!! =)

Hello Friends,
 I know it has been a while since my last post, but I am back now and working on some really cool things that I'm excited to share with you. I would have had one of those posted today, but I could not find large bottles of washable paint anywhere close to my house...and I refused to drive all the way across town in 105 degree weather..HA!

Update: Kyrie is still waiting to be seen by a cardiologist. The last appointment that we had was cancled, and we are having a hard time finding a date that my husband is off, and they have an open appointment. Also, I called Friday to book an appointment and the physician that originally refered Miss Kyrie has moved his pratice to a town 30 minutes away.. so I'm going to need a new referal from the new office.. or from one of the physicians in the new office... so, I get to start working on that stuff next week.

More big news around here... We are expecting baby # 4 in Early November. We were shocked, but thankfully that has passed =) and everyone is adapting very nicely.

I reapplied to nursing school (horray) under much diress... with Kyrie and a new baby on the way, I wasn't sure that it was a good idea....or that I could handle it for that matter. However with the support and encouragement of my family and awesome friends..I mustered up the will, I talked to my instructors, and worked out the way.. So, hopefully sometime at the beginning of next month I will know whether or not I'm back in school.

So, an idea for the kiddos... This is the one that I havent posted pics of yet..because I havent done it yet..but Im going to tomorrow. =) 
My poor kids have been stuck in the house for most of the summer. Mama is too hot and hormonal to sit outside, and the first trimester of this pregnancy tried to kill me. I spent most of it on the couch with my little bag of ginger.. praying for waves of green to pass. It was by far the worst first trimester I've ever had.

Anyway, so Thursday I hit the 20 week mark, and now I'm feeling pretty good. It would be great if it would rain here in small town USA, but no such luck. So, since summer hit, and for the remander of the season... consider the temperature to be somewhere between the surface of the sun, and the 7th sector of hell. DRY, miserable heat. Anyway, enough of that rant. My poor kids are bored out of their domes. I've exhausted all of the board games, and dance party CD's, coloring books at this point.. and they are getting restless. Which means..a distaster is in the quake. And you all know my standing... if you dont entertain them...they will entertain themselves, without supervision. So, the next question was.. what mess can I let my kids make that is fun..can be done OUTSIDE, and requires little clean up. One trip to the dollar tree, and Walmart and the paint fight idea was born.

My shopping list for the "Great Paint Fight"

foot and hand sized plastic containers one for each color your using, I found some at the dollar tree that were perfect!

A bag of water balloons...however many you feel like filling =)

Large bottles of WASHABLE paint, these I had to go to Walmart for, and they were the most expensive item at something like 4 bucks a bottle.. I only got primary colors

A set of cheap paint brushes, I found a few big paint brushes and a set of sponge rollers also at the dollar tree.

A garden hose... to hose them off before you bring them inside!

One drop cloth... I lucked out today, because dollar tree had a canvas drop cloth..but either way..it's optional


So, I'm not sure any explanation is needed here... fill the tubs with paint.. let them paint the canvas...themselves, the cement...probably even the dog... then hose them off..and bring them in. It's not rocket science.. I'm not sure how I'm going to use the balloons yet..but I'll figure it out, and post pics! =)

So, this post it going to be a bit short.. thanks for being so patient with me as our family has undergone so many changes. It's been hard not being able to blog my ideas.. it seemed like once I had an awesome idea, if I didnt do it right away..then I forgot it. Or, I just never had time to do it. Mostly the latter, but I have forgotten a few things. Expect me to be back to work though! I'm really excited about the new chapter that my family and I are about to head out on..and I really just cant wait to see where this all goes. Thanks ever so much for your thoughts, prayers, and support through this time. It has really meant so much to us. I swear during the times that I was anxious about taking her for tests, and exams I could just feel her being lifted up. It was really humbling.
I just ask for your continued prayer, for Kyrie...as we continue on this journey with her, as we adjust to mama being a full time student again, and as we prepare for the newest addition to our family. Thank you so much for being patient and for being prayerful. It means so much. =)

Blessings and Love as your week continues!
XOXO-Audrie

No matter how we fight it, tides of change find us.

As you know from my last post, my family and I have been undergoing some huge changes. So large, that we have just needed time to digest everything. I dont want to make it sound like everything that has happened has been bad... because that would be grossly untrue. We have just definately learned how to be apprecative of all of the blessings that we have been given, and how just how precious our sweet angels really are to us.

One of my most favorite pictures of Kyrie as a baby!

The latest update on the Rayroux family is this; Miss Kyrie is going to be seen by a pediatric cardiologist for a murmmur that is a possible VSD (Ventral Septal defect, a hole in the dividing wall of the heart). The murmur is VERY loud. For all my medical friends out there.. It's like a grade 4, on S1, valve clicks are present, and it nearly sounds like a Pleural friction rub. She's had spells of cyanosis and syncope ( not getting enough oxygen, and fainting as a result) after strenous activity, and she just now passing 30 lbs, but eats constantly. She's always pale, tires easily... and I am petrified. If the issue is bad, her cardiologist will take her to surgery immediantly to close the hole. I know that I should be thankful that the condition can be corrected, but knowing that there is a possibility that someone will have to operate on my 5 year old's heart completely undoes me. So, I've spent most of the last two weeks bawling my eyes out, and praying for her little heart to be healed.

My water baby at the lake.

 I never thought that for one second that I would try to barganing with God for miracles, but almost every night I've pleaded with God to heal and protect my baby girl. I'm so vigilant with them. I don't even take my children to the park alone, because with three small children I don' feel that two protective eyes, in a world full of onlookers is enough. Neurotic, maybe..yes...but I want them safe. I always pray over them, I just thought that I would be able to protect them more. I promised them that I would never let anything bad happen to them.. so here I am now, wondering how the heck I can protect her from this. No matter how hard I cry, or how hard I work to keep her safe from the dangers of this world.. I am helpless to save her from a heart condition. I can't forsee how this is going to play out. I can't plan for how this is going to affect her. I'm her mother, I'm supposed to be able to fix everything. It kills me that I can't fix her broken little heart. I don't even know how to explain this to her. I can't breathe, I can't sleep, I can't eat... all I do is pray for guidance. Just looking for some sign as to what direction I am supposed to be going in, because I am totally and completely lost.

Kyrie Nicole

I know that even though I want to heal her, and I want to fix everything.... I know that there is a plan. Even though I can't see it, I don't understand it... I know that God is going to use her to teach someone something. I know that..and I know that every time I praise God.. praising Him through the hurt, and the confusion and the fear, we win a small battle. Even if I can't see that small battle right now, I know that in the end He will find the final victory. I don't know what direction that I am supposed to go, or how I am going to get there, but I know that the whole picture will soon emerge from the darkness. It's just so hard, and conflicting. My everything hurts. She is so precious to me, she brings so much to my life. Her sacrcastic sassy way beyond her years intelligence is what I need to get me through most days. Her little smile, and laugh.. when she crawls into my bed in the morning and wraps her little arms around me.... I need it, I need them...I need her. As selfish as that sounds, sometimes I think I need her more than she's ever needed me. I just love that little soul.. so much.

"I think I need her more that she's ever needed me." <3

Ugh, okay enough... My face is red and swollen, that heaviness is back in my chest making it hard to breathe... and I cant see out of my glasses any longer.

If I don't do any cool posts in the next few weeks, please bear with me. We head to see the cardiologis on the 16th, and depending on how things go from there.. the only things that I may post will be updates on Ky's condition. I promise, I will get back to the scheduled list of awesome things... but I have to be with my baby. I know you can all understand what it's like to have a sick child.. but still.... I just feel like I needed to explain my absence. I really love my blog, and being able to help others. I'm not going to write this off! No matter how we fight it sometimes...the tides of change find us. Whether we are surfing glissining waves, or hanging back on the beach.. it always finds us.

In closing, please please please...if you find yourself with a few moments, please say a prayer for Kyrie, send good thoughts, well wishes, whatever, and for our family. We would be much appreciative of anything.

 I'll post again as soon as I am not a huge ball of mushy, sappy mess. Blessings and love to you as your week continues.

xoxoxo!
Audrie

Parenting is a life long road trip, without a map.

Hello Everyone! I hope you have had an awesome week! The last two weeks have totally flown by me! Easter weekend we had family visiting, this week I have been getting all of my readmission forms and stuff together so that I can go back to nursing school and finish my degree in the fall...not to mention that we are frantically planning our baby boy's 3rd birthday! =) I have been working on some special things for that, and I will be taking pictures and posting instructions with everything that I make!

This week's post is for the mama who spends half day trying to plan snacks and trying to figure out how to sneak extra veggies into their kids diet. I'm almost sure that I have the pickiest child in the world. Okay, we're talking she will search through a taco that I have intentionally ordered without lettuce to make sure that their isn't a sliver hidden in there. And let me tell ya, If there is one in there and it ends up in her mouth... she'll bring it to my attention. You would not believe the small amounts of a distasteful food that my child can find. To the point, that one night I jokingly asked, "Kyrie.. what's the deal? Is it going to choke you?!" Her response..."It might, ya never know."

How do you remedy that? Well, you get creative. Let's start with the snacks.. let me tell you what I do. I keep a Tupperware container regularly stocked, and I have a snack drawer that's replenished twice a week. The first thing that you have to do, is decide on what you think is suitable for your children to have as a snack! When we started this, we pulled out just about all of the junk food and soda in the house. We have one small box of cookies that have individual packages, and are only for special occasions. Other than that... They are stuck with what my husband and I have decided is okay for them to eat.

Now, I'm all for teaching portion control and independence. Which is why I buy everything in bulk and divide it up into toddler/child sized portions. I also don't think that my 5 year old needs me to go to the fridge and get her a juice box and a cheese stick, when she is perfectly capable of opening the door and getting it herself. That is why I chose a container, and a drawer to put things in. I chose a drawer that is kid height, and away from anything dangerous, and a Tupperware container to keep in the fridge as the "safe box". Meaning anything in the safe box, they don't have to ask to take. I was afraid that they would blow through everything in one or two days..but there's something cool about being able to go get a snack without having to ask mom first. Our box usually lasts about a week, but sometimes I like to add little changes in there midweek, to break up the monotony.

In my safe box, I usually keep sliced apples, gogurts, string cheese, grapes, carrots.. stuff like that. Sometimes for my change, I'll cut up the cheese sticks, throw them in with a bag and add some mini turkey pepperoni.. just something to change it up a it. I also keep small 8 ounce water bottles, and juice boxes right next to them. Every once in a while, I can find small individual jugs of chocolate milk... and we really like those!

For our drawer, I keep gold fish and wheat ritz crackers,  packaged in snack sized bags (hence the snack, not sand which bags!) granola bars, small tubs of peanut butter.. snack sized bags of cheerios, the stuff that doesn't have to go in the fridge. Let's face it... You just can't have apple slices without peanut butter on them, I'm pretty sure it's written somewhere.

Set rules, and explain it to them. If they break the rules...take it away. I only had to take our box away once, before they were begging me to bring it back. It hasn't happened since then. This system makes it possible to control what they snack on, but still gives them some sense of control because they have a few choices. If you give them options, they will choose from what they are given. This way there is no fighting at snack time, because you have already won the battle!

Meals, what do you feed a picky eater for dinner? What can I make that everyone will eat, that wont cause me to pull out all of my hair?!?! I've been there. First of all, there are tons and tons of recipes online for picky eaters. First things first, you have to take the "bad" out of food. If you serve your child something that you don't like...odds are, they aren't going to eat it. Especially if you follow the refusal to eat it with "Ugh, I hate asparagus!" If you don't like to eat something, but your going to try to poke it down your kids...it's best to keep that secret yourself. The message you are sending them..."Holy cow, this is gross!" Silence really is golden sometimes.

Also, when you introduce a new food...be encouraging. Encourage them for trying it, and if they decide that they don't like whatever it is this time...Don't force it. We have a two bite rule in our house. You have to take two bites of something, and actually taste it. If you don't like it, then you have to tell me exactly why you don't like it. Sometimes, just figuring out why they don't like it can make a difference. "Well, Jenny had them in her lunchbox, and she said that they were yucky, and so I don't like it either?" Which is usually followed up with, "Did you do two bites? If you didn't even try it, then how do you know you don't like it?"

Also, if you refuse to serve them the foods that they didn't like the first time, then you are setting them up. Studies show that after being served a food 6 or 7 times and being made try it, most children will at least eat it. It may not be their favorite, but they will eat it. Kids develop at a totally different rate. Give them time and be patient, but don't give up. Always be encouraging and offer praise for something new. Rome wasn't built in a day, and I highly doubt you haven't found something that as a kid you wouldn't touch...but you do now.

Substitution and creativity can create a world of options. Think about what foods look similar.. for example, if your kid eats mashed potatoes. Steamed cauliflower mashed up, can be mixed in the potatoes, or substituted all together. I have skipped the potatoes, and loaded the cauliflower up with garlic and threw in a little cheese.. they never knew the difference. Neither did my husband for that matter! Spaghetti sauce is one of my favorite places to be creative. Most of the time I use ground turkey, just because I don't like greasy foods. One of my most favorite ways to make spaghetti is with a tomato, basil, and spaghetti squash sauce. Quarter the squash, clean it, bake it in the oven at 350 until it's soft. Throw one of those quarters (or two) in the blender with your sauce..mix until smooth.. and then finish it like you always do. I've also been known to make my own mac n cheese with squash. Same baking concept, just when I add in my cheese, I also add in the squash. Butternut works well with mac n cheese, it makes it a bit orange, but that's about the only difference!

There are a ton of different options.. baked sweet potato french fries, instead of regular fries. You can do this! Start reading labels on boxes. Certain pastas are made with veggies instead of wheat, kick out your vanilla ice cream and make a frozen yogurt banana split, or sundae. I've been known to steam carrots, throw them in the food processor, and sneak them into meatloaf. If you can think it, you can try it. Don't be afraid to experiment. The worst that happens, is you know not to make that combination next time. Just be brave, and step out of your comfort zone. Remember, that first impressions are everything. Be sure that the impression that you are making is positive, because picky eaters are born when we project our prejudices.

Patience is the key, and I believe that I read once in the bible that patience comes through great trials and endeavors. Parenting is a life long road trip without a map. It is what you make of it. Please take time out of your week to stop, and look at the awesome gift God has blessed you with. Marvel in the splendor, and generosity of our awesome King. And most importantly, remember to thank Him for the little hand prints on your coffee table and television. =) Remember, Rome wasn't built in a day..and no kid is perfect. Things take time!

Blessings and Love as your weekend begins!
xoxoxox!
Audrie

The most important and powerful influence in your child's life is ....you.

It's been a while since my last post! Sorry it took so long, I took a few weeks off to spend some much needed time doing a few small home things.. Not repairs, but things like painting, gardening, organizing.. basically a honeydo list. =) We also got our oldest daughter in Tball, so I have been busy with that as well.
 I'm working on a bunch of projects with the kids.. most of which I have left the camera behind for. With Easter and our sweet nephews coming this weekend, I have come up with lots of fun stuff to do with the little guys. I'm also stocking up on ribbon, and other stuff to start the tutorial for my bows and funky ribbon shoes. Be sure to look for those coming soon!....

Lesson of the week!

My latest streak of genius came with my children last week. For some reason they were all in bad moods, and were constantly saying fairly harsh things to each other. After thinking about it for a while, I came up with a lesson for them. I must say, that even with my little guy... I could see the wheels turning as we did this.

I've added a few things to my craft drawers. I added foam stickers, some medals that I found at the dollar store, silly string, and a few other things that I have already forgotten about! =D After looking through all of my stuff trying to figure out what in the world I was going to do to help my children.. a can of silly string fell off my counter top and hit my foot. Voila! A creative way to teach was born.

We bought a small Disney princess dry erase table for the kids to do their crafts at,and enjoy a snack. I sat all 3 of our children around this table, and we began. I began with questioning them about the things that they had said to one another. I started with my eldest, and wrote them all on the sheet of paper, leaving a few spaces between sentences. After I had questioned each children and recorded their phrases of the day, I asked them to cut out each of their sentences.

From there, I got each of them a solo cup and a can of silly string. I wrote their names on each of the cups, and then questioned them as to who they said their phrases to. For example: Kyrie said " Your stupid." to Nataleigh, so that strip of paper went into the cup that was labeled, "Nataleigh". After placing a strip of paper in the cup...I explained the purpose of the silly string. The silly string represents the other person's feelings. Nataleigh was then allowed to spray the silly string in the cup and cover the strip of paper. We went back and fourth like that for nearly 30 minutes. And as soon as each strip was done.. we left them there to dry. Because no one had bothered to even say that they were sorry, so the awful things that they had said to each other were now buried.

About 2 hours later after the string had gotten hard, I brought them to the table again and asked them to get the strips of paper out of the silly string. Which at this point, was impossible. The paper had absorbed the moisture from the silly string and was falling apart,and the silly string was breaking apart in pieces. The lesson was.. " You can't take back nasty and hurtful things that you say to people. When you are careless with your words, they become a part of that person's feelings forever."

After giving hugs to each other, and a little prayer.. all was well in the neighborhood again. And sure, they're kids.. they forget about stuff like that. They aren't going to remember every single thing we teach them all of the time, so that's why it is our job to keep teaching them! Ignoring this kind of behavior, teaches them that being mean is alright. Being a bully is okay. With as many children being bullied and the tragic ends that some of these kids are seeing, it is your job to teach your kids how to act.

I really believe that some, not all, but some issues that children are facing now could be resolved with a stronger home base. Providing them with morals and rules, setting boundaries are just some of the things that we can do to prevent them from making the same mistakes we made. I know that some parent's will not agree with me, and that's fine. I would like you to remember that you child, doesn't want you to be their friend. Your old, out of touch, and really not as cool as you think you are. I am not nears as cool as I think I am.. but the thing is... Your not supposed to be their friend. You are their parent. You are who they learn from, and if they don't learn from you, then they will learn from someone else. Who do you want your children to learn from? What do you want your children to learn from? The kid that has no rules and no boundaries, no consequences for his/her actions...or From having their cell phone, game boy, car keys, etc. taken away from you after breaking curfew.. or in the case of a little guy..taking away a favorite toy, and sitting in time out for saying mean things to someone else?

You are the most important and most powerful influence in your child's life. Make sure the impact that you are leaving counts. Even if that means rocking their world after they have done something that makes you want to pull your hair out. If you don't fill in the holes that life tends to create with love, support, guidance, and discipline... they fill find someone else to help them fill those holes. Love, treasure, and hold on to them, but remember that along the road, we have to guide them.


Blessings and Love,

Audrie  xoxoxo

Every second counts

The last few weeks I have been blessed with the opportunity to stay at home with my children. I have been just blessed by their presence in my life. I simply cannot imagine my life without my children. I love them in ways that words cannot describe. I am taken back by the events that have happened in out sleepy little town this weekend, and as a mother I've spent the entire day praising God for my sweet babies. I've also been praying blessings and peace for a mother that lost her 4 son yesterday evening. The only thought that I could think was... That could have been my son. I could be that mother. Things can happen in the blink of an eye, and then an entire course of fate has changed.

Now, I know that the press says that the likelihood of the child being alive, is slim at best. However, in my mother's heart.. I just can't give up that hope. I know that all things are possible through Christ, and I believe that He is real. I believe that miracles happen, and I believe that Christ is in control of even the worst of situations. So, if come tomorrow, I'm a fool... then so be it. I'd rather hold on and send that family some hope until the very end... then to send them sorrow. I just can't imagine what this woman is going through, but.. if by some chance she or one of her family members happen to stumble on my little blog.. then know that my family and I send you hope, peace, and unconditional prayers and love. Faith can move mountains, and if you give God the reigns.. then He will take control.

Through the course of the day, we had an unusual Sunday morning. We decided to take the kids to breakfast, and then to the park to play for a while. In the meanwhile, taking a few minutes to pray for the family of this child. Today is warm... almost hot, and the wind was mild in comparison. (In NM we have three kinds of weather: Very hot, Very hot and dry, and Very hot, dry, and windy. With the latter being the usual) It was a nice day, and there were a lot of people out. We spent a while taking pictures at one playground, then moved on to the next. The last hour that we were there we were across the river at a swing set and slide that no one was playing on. Nataleigh spent nearly the entire time on the swing.. being pushed by her daddy, " Push me higher Daddy!" Tyler laid in the swing and kicked up dirt, never more than two steps away from his daddy.  Kyrie jumped off the swing and ran to the slide. The wind blew through her beautiful dark brown hair, and her big blue eyes just glimmered. And for a second, she just looked like a little angel. It was that feeling that everything in the world was perfect, and nothing could ever happen. It lasted only a second and was bitterly shattered as I caught a man out of the corner out of my eye.  He just kept staring at her, and then he would look at me. As if to see if I was going to race him to her. My heart raced, and I went from being peaceful straight into survival mode. 

I flew to my child. Talking loudly to my husband, telling him that it was time to leave. I looked straight into the eyes of the man that was looking at my daughter and mentally dared him to try it. I am without a doubt that if he had, in one second I would have had him ripped from limb to limb. He would not have been walking when I was through with him. I regularly come fully equipped with instinct, dead on aim, and a pair of steel toes. I'm fluent with all. Within seconds, I had Kyrie in my arms. I met my husband at the swing set, and I only had to say, "It's time to go, now!" once before he had everyone loaded in the truck. It was only when we were all safely in our truck that he asked what "set me off". We immediately left the area, and I subsequently sent out a text message to every parent I knew.

 There  is something lives inside of every mother that eternally bonds them to their child. It's beyond intuition, it's a 6th sense. It is more intense than flight or fight. It's love, instinct, agility, and adrenaline all mixed into one, and completely understated. When something disrupts that bond, it upsets the universe. It is becoming harder and harder to survive in this world. I mean that in the literal sense, and in the figurative sense. People are becoming more and more desensitized and violent, and more and more families are falling victim to lust and promises of empty pleasure. Its time for everyone to stop and take a good look at what's going on, and treasure what they hold dear. It's time to start praying, to start caring. Just because it isn't you today, doesn't mean that it couldn't be tomorrow. When will it matter? What does it take to send you into survival mode? How many times have you ignored that voice inside you that tells you that something is not right? How lucky do you really think you are?






It is time to start arming yourself and your family with knowledge and prayer. Teach your children about strangers and safety, teach your children to listen to that internal mechanism of wisdom. Give them the tools that they need, so that in the face of adversity they are knowledgeable. Teach them to pray, give them something to believe in and help them to find faith. Educate yourself, do the research. Research methods and means to protect yourself and your family... and one of the most important things that we can do as parents for our our children, is pray. Pray protection, peace, guidance, pray for their future. If you think it in your heart, then speak it to the Lord. Don't wait until the last minute to take a minute and check yourself. This world changes constantly. In this life, happiness can change to despair in the blink of an eye. Make every single moment important, because every second counts.  
.




xoxoxo,


Audrie

Supervised Chaos

This week's post is for the mommy that find's herself pulling her hair out because her 2 year old has dumped an entire bag of flour in the floor, and proceeded to roll around in it. =) I've been there, and I would like to share some thoughts and tips that I have learned along the way.

The most imporant rule I have learned as a parent, is this: Never ever think badly about your children. So, what do I mean by this? Most parent's dont think that their children are horrbile monsters that were created for mass destruction and world domination...(at least I hope so) But, EVERYONE has days that they have thought, "OMG! My children are driving me crazy!" I am the same way, but it's time to retrain that though. When you find yourself begin to think that, stop. Replace that thought with, child must be bored. What can we do to solve this? Break the negative cycle now, or your going to be miserable for a long time.

I'm going to be blunt, and please don't take offense. I have found mself in this very situation. If your children are making huge messes, then you probably aren't doing enough to keep them entertained. If you wont find something creative, and appropriate for them to do...then they will create something themselves. I cannot tell you how many that I have recently spent painting over crayon and markers, and taking nail polish off my hardwood floors. I was at my wits end, a few months ago. I was trying to go to school, run my home, and study.. it was a disasterous combination. It took a summer break, and two months before I devised a strategy to keep them engaged.

There are a few basic things that every parent of young children should keep stock of.

Cheap shaving cream
Bars of Ivory soap
Multicolored feathers
Pipe Cleaners
Fuzzy pompom balls in various sizes and colors
Glue
Google eyes
Popcorn
Straws
Finger paints
Glitter
Food coloring
Construction paper
Scissors
Bubble solution
Wax paper
Cheap plastic table cloths
and, of course....Crayons

How you combine them, it totally up to you, but I swear to you, if you make things for your children to do...then you will have less drama.  Kids are super easy to enterain. You can put shaving cream on a plastic table cover, let them smear it all over the table cloth, make picture and shapes... whatever. Then, while they are stripping their clothes on the way to the bath, you fold up the table cloth and throw it in the trash. Mess dissappeared, and you aren't stuck scrubbing something off the walls. Ivory soap you can microwave...(yes it can be microwaved, and no.. it doesnt explode) once the soap cloud is cool let them help break the cloud up, dump some boiling water in the bowl...with a few drops of food coloring.. stir..and you have colored bath tub soap paint.  Just a few that I have done.

The Soap cloud

 Shaving cream!

The biggest part about parenting is remembering that they are kids. Not little adults. You are the parent, you are the adult. You have to take control of the situation. Do a self inventory, and see where you spend most of your time. Ask yourself three questions: What do I spend most of my time doing when the children are awake? What do they say to me when I am doing these things? What are the signs that trouble is in the wake? ( Do they get super quiet? Does he/she dissappear?) If you don't meet their tactile needs, they will do it on their own.....and you will have little to no control over what they do.  I would rather waste a plastic table cloth, and spend an hour giving my kids a bath (and be called the best mom in the world), than to scrub crayon off my walls and floor.

It doesn't take much, but a little creativity can dissolve a huge headache. This is also a time that you can make special, teach them, make memories. Being a "good" parent is what you make of it. You can make happiness out of messes. If you control the enviornment, they can paint the shower walls with soap pain..and only you will know that as soon as they are out of the bath....the shower head will wash it down the drain. Let them be creative, but give them an outlet to do so. This time is gone in the blink of an eye. Before we know it, they will be gone and building families of their own. What do you want them to remember?

For me, I want them to remember happiness, the times their mommy let them make giant messes, and the shaving cream... oh, the shaving cream!


Blessings and love as your week continues!
xoxoxo,
Audrie