Potty Training at Night

I am not an expert on potty training. I think the way you do it depends on your child. With Hazel it clicked with her when I gave up. She is so stubborn so when I stopped pushing her she figured it out on her own. With the twins Evan got it right away but Erick was struggling with it so we gave him a few more months and tried again and then he was ready and did great.
Anyways I have found a great trick to help protect the mattress when you start putting your kids in underwear at night. Puppy pee pads!

I figured it out when I was potty training Hazel and I had some left over from when our dog had puppies. I just put a couple under the sheets so she didn't know they were there. If she had an accident I would have to wash the sheets but the mattress would be safe and I would just throw the pad away and put down a new one. And they are so much cheaper than any of the stuff they have specifically for children's beds.

Learning to write

I have found a great website that has printable letter tracing pages but my favorite part is that they have name pages too! The first thing a child needs to learn to write is their name and this is a great website to help with that. So far they have had all of my kids names, except we couldn't find Erick the way we spell it :(
There are also a lot of other activity pages to print out for preschoolers.
I know you can't wait any longer to check it out so here it is . . .
http://www.printactivities.com/Tracing.html

St. Patricks Day

I think it is important to celebrate the holidays when you have kids. They love any holiday no matter how little it is. For the bigger holidays I try to go all out but for smaller ones like St. Patricks Day I just try to make the day a little more special than any other day.
This year my kids set leprechaun traps with pictures of rainbows they drew as bait.

They almost caught one but it got away. He did leave some chocolate gold coins behind.

And I made cookies with green frosting and sprinkles. Out of 101 cookie cutters they didn't throw in a shamrock one so I had to settle for the circle.


For dinner I made waffles with scrambled eggs with green food coloring. I have been reading Green Eggs and Ham with the twins so they thought that was pretty cool. Haven't figured out how to do green ham :)

What I do for sick kids

All of my kids have been sick over the past 2 weeks. Hazel brought home this cold with a horrible cough. We found out when we took Delilah to the doctor that it was RSV :( luckily everyone now seems to be getting over it with no problems. Anyways I thought I would share my tips on sick kids since that has been what I have been focusing on lately.
I hate that they have taken all of the childrens cold medicine off the shelves. I feel so helpless when my kids have a cold. But I did discover something that helps. Childrens Ibuprofen.

It helps with inflammation and pain so if your child has a cough it can help lessen the coughing because it helps with any inflammation in their throat and it helps with the sore throat that is probably there from all the coughing. Also it helps the stuffy nose because it stops the inflammation in the sinuses. And of course helps with a fever if they have that (it is the only thing that will help Hazel's fevers). Also it lasts longer than other medicines so you are not constantly having to give them more. I am super careful with medicine so I usually just give it to them at night so they can sleep and during the day only if they really need it. I am not a doctor so you might want to talk to your doctor about it and make sure you read the directions on the bottle. Some people can be allergic to it and babies under 6 months should not take it.
I also always put a humidifier in their room at night (and during naps if they still take them) when they are sick.

We have this one and the cow one like it. My kids love them.
It doesn't usually seem to help right away but I think it helps loosen all the mucus so it is easier to get out later.
When they are having a hard time breathing because of the mucus I some times sit with them in the bathroom with the shower on really hot. The steam seems to help. I have also heard you can take them outside if its cold and the cold air can help (I have never really tried it and don't know if or how it works).
Also lots of fluid of course.

I did just hear recently that if they do have a fever you shouldn't give them medicine to get rid of it. The fever is doing a job and you should let it do that job. That is something you might want to research on your own.

Hawaiian Quilt

For Christmas I tried to make my mom a Hawaiian quilt but I didn't get it done in time. I finally finished it and gave it to her yesterday so I thought I would share it with you.

It is just as simple one but it is the first one I have ever made. I made it 42"x42" and I used a website called QuiltsHawaii.com. It has instructions on how to make them along with a few free patterns. It also has some interesting history on the Hawaiian Quilt.

How to get the smell of puke out of your carpet

I am a little bit late on blogging this week because Hazel has been sick. There is nothing I hate more than sick kids (ok I might hate myself being sick a little more). I would like to know why kids feel the need to wander around when they feel like they are going to throw up. Well that is what Hazel did and she got the carpet in her room pretty good. The whole upstairs smelled like it and I tried everything to get it out, I scrubbed it, I opened the window, I used Fabreeze, I used my steam cleaner and it still totally reeked like barf! I was complaining to my sister about it and she said she had that problem with her couch from her son being sick and she used baking soda on it. She said to put baking soda on it and leave it for a couple hours then vacuum it up. I tried it and it worked. The room doesn't smell completely barf free but it is a TON better. The smell could just be in my head now or there might be another spot I haven't found yet, like I said she likes to wander. Thank you Carlye!
I would also like to add if your kids are sick please please please keep them home. I am so tired of seeing kids obviously sick (I mean green stuff running out of their nose or a totally hacking cough) at school or church or other places. They will be more comfortable at home and you won't be spreading it. Thanks :)

2 Things I Always Have In My Freezer

So there are 2 things I always keep in my freezer, Ice Pack and Popsicles. I keep the ice pack for the normal bumps and bruises kids get everyday. Evan and Erick went through a time where they just kept biting each other. It was driving me crazy because they had bit marks all over their arms, I was constantly getting the ice pack out for a new bite because really that was the only thing I could do to make it better. Also my kids are always bonking their heads on things so we get the ice pack out for that too.I figure it helps numb it a little so it doesn't hurt as bad and it also helps with the bruising and swelling. And an ice pack is easier to deal with than ice that will just melt and drip all over them.
I keep the popsicles for mouth injuries. I have learned it is so much easier to get a popsicle into their mouth than it is to get them to hold ice up to it. They don't see it as anything medical they just think its a treat and a treat always make you feel better.

About a year ago Evan was all excited to go outside to play and went running to the back door and tripped and face planted into the dog bowls. His lip looked horrible, I thought he might even need stitches. But after some hugs and kisses from mom and an orange popsicle (that you can see in the corner of the picture) things were better.