We have been so very busy with house projects and travel lately. Summers really are insane in New England. Everyone squeezes as much into these few months as possible since the weather is so wonderful this time of year. We are no different than all of the other families around here. August looks just as busy as June and July have been. I am glad that we are having so much fun and getting tons of projects finished. Will we ever slow down, though??

We are continuing to prepare for the arrival of the Tooth Fairy even though no one has a loose tooth yet. It never hurts to be prepared, I suppose.

At the library I found a great Tooth Fairy book by accident – Tooth Fairy’s First Night (Carolrhoda Picture Books). The girl in the book does not believe that the Tooth Fairy exists so she sets up a hunt complete with clues to make the TF find her tooth. Then the TF sets up a hunt for the girl to find her treasure. I wonder if out Tooth Fairy will do the same for us… It would be fun to write letters to the Tooth Fairy and to read her responses.

Every kid needs a place to put a lost tooth so the TF can find it. While we were shopping at a local arts and crafts store today, the gilrs picked out two heart shaped, wooden boxes. This afternoon they decorated their boxes. They were so funny talking about having loose teeth while they were painting. The excitement is building!

We have researched the Tooth Fairy pretty extensively now. Plus we have a place to put the lost teeth. We are ready for a tooth to fall out a moment’s notice! Who is more excited about the Tooth Fairy – me or the kids? I’m hoping that her much anticipated arrival lives up to their expectations.

Photo courtesy of Robert S. Donovan

My sweet 5 year old has discovered the Tooth Fairy. A good friend of hers recently lost a tooth, and someone at Vacation Bible School told her about her experience with the Tooth Fairy. There has been a lot of excitement about teeth that might be loose. It has also spurred some questions about this mysterious character. Today C5 wanted to know where the Tooth Fairy lives. I avoided the question because I just didn’t have a good answer for her. I don’t remember ever asking my folks about that. Was I really not that curious as a child? Why is it always my kid who needs to know all of the details about something when she gets interested in it?

I did some research for my inquisitive child. Now I am armed with answers! (Oh, I found out that the TF lives in Tooth Fairyland in the sky, of course!)Maybe you haven’t had the pleasure of preparing for the Tooth Fairy to visit your home yet, so hopefully you will benefit from what I found out.

~ A good friend told me that the Tooth Fairy always left a letter with the cash reward for her daughter. You can find all kinds of letters at this Squidoo page.

~ There are many books out there about the Tooth Fairy. Some even include folklore from other cultures about her.

~ Many parents online recommend that you think about how much money the TF will bring because your child will expect the same thing every time the Tooth Fairy comes. It seems that the going rate is $1, but many TF’s bring coins instead of paper bills.

~ I have a friend whose TF brings a little gift such as brightly colored floss along with the cash. What a great way to promote oral hygeine!

~ Many of your Tooth Fairy questions can be answered at Write the Toothfairy.

Just think of the Tooth Fairy as another opportunity to celebrate the magic of childhood and make memories with your children!

My dad is my hero. Week after week he visits us and brings muffins to share. Then he spends the day helping with laundry, cleaning, and taking care of the kids. Plus he has a contagious laugh and a winning sense of humor! It is such a  joy to have him around. We have a standing date at this local hot dog place that the kids love to go to when he visits. He and the kids joke back and forth about where we are going for lunch. It is all part of the fun of it!

I have to start taking pictures of him with the kids. They are hilarious together, and my dad is a great sport about dressing up and pretending. Today he wore a crown at the tea party the kids set up. He helped the girls with their dress up clothes, too. It was precious to see them all playing together!

I also appreciate how my father tells stories. He talks about times he spent with my mom, times when I was a kid, and times when the girls were younger. My grandmother, his mother, told stories like that, too. I remember asking her to retell those stories over and over even though I knew them by heart. I just loved the experience of spending time with her and hearing about our family history. I’m happy that my children will have that same experience to look back on.

I treasure these days, and I am grateful that my kids will have memories of my dad visiting each week.

Photo courtesy of rocketjim54

Today’s Fitness Friday is all about taking care of yourself  when you are sick. I have been pretty sick lately, but this week I somehow managed to get in some exercise. Maybe you’ll feel inspired, too.

~The kids and I have been taking neighborhood strolls. These excursions are nothing like the power walks I used to take when the kids were little and buckled into the stroller, but my energy level is pretty low with this awful cold. At least we are getting out and about.

~We had a spur of the moment soccer game in the backyard. The kids had a ball watching mommy run around trying to keep up with them! I think they had the advantage since they aren’t sick anymore.

~Of course, A2 and I had a swim lesson together. This week A2 swam to the deep end of the pool with out the barbell that we usually depend on to keep us afloat. That meant that Mommy had to work harder to keep up! We ended up swimming the length of the pool twice.

~This week we also were able to go on a hike at a local wildlife area. It was a lot of fun to explore nature and to get some exercise together as a family. It certainly wore the kids out!

I am hoping that I will be well enough to get back to the gym this week.

Photo courtesy of broma

Photo courtesy of Thomªs

Cleaning the house never ends. I am constantly doing laundry, vacuuming, picking up toys, doing dishes, and the list goes on. The battle to keep the house in a reasonable condition happens every day, and with young children – 2 1/2 & 5 – the work load can seem insurmountable. I am trying hard to train my wee tykes to help me out with keeping the house clean. I hope to teach them responsibility and respect for our things. I also think that housekeeping is a life skill that they need.

Sheila at To Love, Honor, and Vacuum has lots of great tips to help you get the family – even the little ones – involved in cleaning up the house. I like one of her ideas a lot. She suggests organizing the toys to help kids clean up, and this is something I know works. In our family room I have the toys organized according to category in baskets. In the past I had them labeled so other folks could figure out the system, too.

Mommy Vignettes has a Hub Page,  How to Clean your House with Young Children. She also lists some practical, age appropriate ideas for enlisting your small children in chores. I particularly like the idea of having your kids help with sweeping and mopping the kitchen floor. I have my kids help me with this. They get to use the dust pan and small broom while I use the regular sized broom. Then I fill a large bowl with hot, soapy water. I add a bit of white vinegar to the water, too. (Sometimes I give the kids baking soda and a bowl of water instead.) The kids use sponges to scrub the floor by hand. I assist them and follow with kitchen towels to dry. Then the kids get a bath and Mom gets a shower! It is messy, but really worth it. (This kind of work is really great for kids with SPD, too.)

My last bit of advice for cleaning with small children is to prioritize. What matters the most to you on any given day? Do you need the toys to be cleaned up before everyone goes to bed? Does the kitchen have to be cleaned at the end of the day? Decide on an attainable goal for the day and focus on that. There will be many things that do not get finished. Be patient, though.

Out project To Do list keeps getting longer. Do you have this problem in your home? I can’t seem to keep up with the day to day things. Then we add on a few things and the whole system goes out of whack.

Currently, we have seeds to plant and a garden bed to prepare. We have a homeschooling curriculum that I have to organize and read. Plus we have the remnants of the Tinker Bell party to clean up. Now we have added the wonderful new project of assembling a table for the kids. Will we ever finish all of these projects?

Almost everything on our To Do list is related to homeschooling , so I am hopeful that we can work together to get things taken care of for the kids’ sake. It looks like our next few weekends will be filled with school preparations. I suppose I can look at it as a learning experience for the kids! We can even consider it family time.

How do you keep up with the TO Do list?

Photo courtesy of koka_sexton

In my post, Set a Wellness Goal, I had encouraged my readers to get on the fitness bandwagon with me. No one responded to that post with their own fitness goals. I don’t know about you, but I haven’t been able to reach my wellness goal. This winter was long and hard on me and the kids.

If at first you don’t succeed, try again!

I am going to try setting a new goal. My kids are both taking swimming lessons, so I am going to take them to the Open Swim at the YMCA a couple of days a week. (I know that I really need to  get a good workout, but sometimes I have to start small in order to get started at all.) They need the practice, and I like the pool. I have taken them to Open Swim once and found that I actually get the same endorphin high that I normally get when I workout. I must be getting some benefit from being in that pool with them. I think that I will be more motivated to go because I can do this particular activity with my kids. I might just feel inspired to squeeze a workout in, too!

Are you willing to try again and set a new fitness goal? Let me know what your plans are. Inspire me!

Photo courtesy of whiskymac

We had an amazing Tinker Bell party today. My birthday girl had a great time making memories with all of  her buddies. What  a fabulous hostess my kiddo has turned out to be! She made sure to introduce all of her friends to each other and greeted kids as they arrived. I was impressed.

We were able to have the party outside because the weather was gorgeous. (Thank you, Lord!) That gave us more flexibility with the games. This is what I ended up doing.

~The fairy wings were a big hit with the kids, but didn’t take as long to decorate as I thought they would. They are really cute, though.

~We had a Fairy Treasure Hunt. I included a list of  hunt items: Pink Pixie Dust (glittery sugar), a Silver Wand, a Silver Fairy Crown, Fairy Gold, & Bubbles. This activity was a favorite. The kids were even helping each other find things.  They were very excited about their treasures.

~I had planned on reading a story to the kids, but at the last minute I decided to use a puppet. I have to say that they LOVED the puppet, especially my own kids. If you ever have the opportunity to use puppets with preschool aged children, I recommend doing it. They are captivated by it and even talk to the puppet.

~I had the kids put on their wings and crowns and get their wands before we played games. They all needed a lot of help getting their things organized, so I’m glad there were moms there to help. We ended up playing:

• Fairy Freeze Tag – The child is “it” tags the other kids with her fairy wand. In order to become “unfrozen” the child had to clap her hands and say, “I believe” ten times.  The kids took turns being “it”.
• Follow the Leader – I started out being the leader and had the kids take turns being the leader. They loved being in the spotlight!
• Fairy, Fairy, Tink – This is Duck, Duck, Goose. The child who was “it” used her wand to tap the other kids on the head.
• Fairy Freeze Dance – We used the sound track from the Tinker Bell movie for our music.

~We took off our fairy things and washed up in order to have cake! I gave the children cupcakes and glittery, colored sugar for decorating. (I also made a cute Tinker Bell cake.)

It was a fun party that I think my birthday girl will remember! This is what being a mom is all about.

Photo courtesy of The 5th Ape

Swimming lessons have begun! We took two rounds of lessons last year and decided to take a break. C4 was terrified of the water last year and refused to put her face in at all. It was not worth it to me to force the issue, so we stopped. Besides, my goal is simply for her to be able to swim not for her to compete or anything like that. Waiting was the right choice! She had a great time today, and she wasn’t even nervous before the class started.

We arrived at the lesson early to allow the kids to warm up to the situation. My kids adjust better to anything new if I explain what will happen and answer their questions at the venue. It seems to relax them – and me. I also give important safety information. For example, today we talked about the life guard’s job. I also explained that they might hear a whistle blow, and three blows mean that the life guard wants to clear the pool. My kids are so curious, and they are pretty independent thinkers. They often question the authority figure when they are told to do something that appears confusing. That kind of questioning seems defiant to some adults even though the questions are not to meant to defy authority. I try to avoid having that happen, especially on the first day of a class.

I saw my little girl actually swim from the side of the pool to the rope and back again with the barbells. She splashed in the water. She even went down the slide into the pool. She smiled the whole time, too! She did check with me throughout the class, but there was no sign of distress. What progress! I am so glad to see her enjoy the water now.

Wednesday is A2’s turn with her very first lesson with Mommy. I’ll keep you posted!

Photo courtesyof  bonsaihiker