What do you do all day?

As a stay at home mom I get asked, "What do you do all day?" quite often.  Well, that's a great question.

I wake up around 9, eat a granola bar, tell my toddler to fend for herself, then I take a leisure bath that lasts about an hour long while my daughter watches tv.  Follow that by lunch (usually left overs from take out the night before) and then nap.  My daughter usually naps for 2 hours so I get a great nap in too.  That gives me the afternoon to read a book and facebook, play on pintrest, and write on my blog.  Soon my husband comes home and I let him deal with things for awhile while I go in the bedroom to watch a movie.

Jealous?  Don't be.  I don't even get that much rest on a Friday night/Saturday morning when she spends the night with her Mimi and Popa.

Here is my REAL day.
5am-get up, take a shower (some days I just can't get out of bed so I have to sleep a little longer and give up the shower...it depends on how well Daphne slept the night before), straighten up our bedroom.
6am-start on breakfast.  Usually we have pancakes, waffles or biscuits (all home made) with eggs and either bacon or deer sausage.  On lazy days, yes, we eat poptarts.  (Sigh, we wouldn't but my husband buys them when I'm not around and my daughter loves them.)  During this time Daphne usually wakes up so I have to tend to her as well.
6:45am-we eat and I make sure the hubby is ready to go to work.  He has to be out of the door by 7am!
7am-we rest and watch Curious George.  Daphne loves him and I love that they have a real life application section after every show.
8am-she's riding her tricycle around the house like a mad woman while building castles out of blocks, creating a doctor's office to give her babies a check up (she has an entire kit to play with), trying on dress up clothes, or something of the sort.  I start the laundry from the night before and that morning and start on cleaning the kitchen up from breakfast...but I never get finished because she always wants my attention for something (which I freely give).  Books are usually requested during this time as well.
9am-snack time!  It's usually fresh fruit or veggies and some kind of protein like nuts.  She love peanuts and cashews.  Then it's clean up time.  10 min to get it ready, 20 min to eat give or take depending upon how long it takes her to eat, and 10 min to clean everything up.  Plus, it's time to straighten up from playing.  Sometimes it over runs her entire room and you can't walk through it.
10am-She usually wants to play some kind of game even if it's just on my phone.  We have quite a few learning games that she LOVES.  Regardless, I can't leave her unattended because you never know what my munchkin would do on my phone if I wasn't standing right there.
10:30am-uh oh, she forgot the art easel was up and begging to be played with.  Is it crayons, markers, stamps, stickers or paint today?  She knows to be excited when the old plastic table cloth is out because it means paint time.  Will she get to use the scissors today?  Hmmm...mommy keeps those put up unless she asks for them specifically or I feel up to cleaning up a floor full of little pieces of paper the size of confetti.
11am-time to start on lunch!  This is usually something out of the freezer that I previously made with something like home made mac n cheese plus a fruit and veggie.  By the time I made lunch and we eat, it's close to nap time so she straightens up her toys.
Noon-I read her a nap time story, sing to her, and lay her down.  If I'm lucky she sleeps about an hour.  So during this time I clean up from lunch, sweep the kitchen and living room, put up anything she left out and (if I remember) switch out the laundry.  If she takes an hour or more nap, I have time to fold the laundry before she gets up.
1pm-she wants to cuddle so I get time to read or facebook while she cuddles on the couch and watches Mickey Mouse or something on Sprout.
2pm-she is asking for a snack of some sort.  I let her pick from the snack box for this one or cut up fresh fruit/veggies.  Then we spend the next hour or so playing.
4pm-Daddy gets home!  I may clean some while he plays with her or I may rest on the couch.  I'm exhausted by now!
5pm-time to start dinner!  Daddy will give her a bath during this time if he's able to.
6pm-dinner and time to get ready for bed.
7pm-bedtime.  Mommy and Daddy take a break together and then start cleaning up from dinner and getting ready for the next day.
Throughout night-get up to comfort a little girl who had bad dreams, fix the blankets that she knocked off and can't find in her sleepy daze, lay in the floor and get a toy out from under the bed that she dropped in her sleep and won't go back to sleep without it.

Please realize this doesn't include incidents like story time, going to the zoo, outside play time that gets shoved in the mix somewhere during the day, walks when the weather is nice, or other trips like the store or doctor's office. It doesn't include cleaning up spills of milk or water that happen with a toddler.  The one load a day doesn't take into consideration when she has an accident in her pants and I have to wash extra laundry that day, or when I forget about the load one day and have to rewash it the next.

I hope you can now understand why I don't have the energy to go out clubbing on Friday night or out to the bar on Saturday. You see, my job is 7 days a week.  If I am hung over the next morning, I still have to cook, clean and take care of my child.  And yes, I know sometimes you don't want to go out partying, but please understand this most of all.  My daughter and husband...they are my life.  Yes, a trip to the store once or twice a week is nice for some quiet time, but most of all, I love to be with them. My life may seem monotonous and boring to you frequently.  And I will admit, sometimes it is.  (A little secret...laundry isn't my favorite thing...it's not even in the top 100 of favorite things.)  But I do this because I love my family.  God has called me to serve my family and there is nothing more I would rather do.

I love fishing!

I had been contemplating how to make a fishing game for Daphne and finally figured it out.  I cut out different shaped fish on the craft foam sheets that were large enough to not be weighted down by magnetic eyes.  Then I super glued the magnet to the fish where the eyes would go and made some fishing poles with magnets on the end.  Here are the end results!

My big boy caught a fish!

Easter Eggs

When I bought my cricut I thought it would be used to make beautiful presents at a really cheap price.  (My mother gave my sister and I each some money and told us it had to be used for something frivolous that we wanted...no bills paid, or clothes bought, nothing for our husbands or children.  Just for us.  Being on a tight budget she knew I would use the money to pay bills or something but this was special money she wanted me to use to get something I wanted but would never buy on my own.)  My sister got a monogramming machine.  I got the cricut with some cartridges.  Fast forward to now, I never thought I would be using my cricut to make GAMES and puzzles.  But, I am!  However you don't have to have one.  It will just take longer.  I cut out 28 eggs (just in case I made a mistake) and then put letters on each egg.  Upper case version at the top of the egg, lower case version at the bottom of the egg.  Then I cut different shaped lines through the eggs to make puzzle pieces.  Daphne, who is learning her letters, is having a blast with the puzzle pieces.  Plus, you can put them in the tub with her.  The foam will stick to the bath tub wall once they are wet.  She LOVES playing with these things in the water.  I can't wait to post about the fishing game I made this weekend as well!!!  I admit, I made a few games for her this weekend...lol.

Much needed board!

I didn't want to spend $20 on a dry erase board that was solid white and rather ugly looking.  (I wanted a bigger one for a "things to do".)  So, I decided to make my own.  So, I made my own.  I bought a poster cover/frame that was plastic for $6, a spool of ribbon for under $2, and pulled out my scissors and cricut.  I'm thinking about cutting out a larger bird..he just looks so little and lonely down there.  (Maybe make him a baby and put his mommy on there?)  I also cut The Stevenson's out with the cricut.  (My husband and I debated over if the apostrophe should be in the name or not.  I'm still not sure, but he won the debate so it was put in there.)  I previously bought a curtain for the kitchen that was too long so I took it down and cut off the bottom to use the curtain as the background of the board.  Once the board was put together I hot glued brown ribbon around the edges.  Now, for less than the cost of an actual dry erase board, I made one that wasn't an eye sore and matched the kitchen!  It took less than an hour and looks great.  I love it!  Sorry about the glaring...I'll try to get a picture after sun set so there won't be window glares on it.

Everyone who knows me in my private life knows I forget everything so easily.  It's not that I'm a forgetful person, but once I got sick with Peripartum Cardiomyopathy (PPCM) and had a lack of oxygen for awhile, my mind just doesn't remember things at all.  I even forget to check the calendar to see if I'm forgetting something.  It really is annoying.  My doctors said if my memory hasn't come back by now, it probably won't.  So, I've been trying to find ways to remember things.  This big board was the latest in ideas.

 

What creative thing have you done for your kitchen to help make life easier?

Abraham Lincoln

I know he was born on the 12th and President's day was Monday, but we're a bit behind on things. (I still haven't let her make her Mardi Gras mask. Hmmm...sounds like a great Thursday project to me...lol.) But today we are celebrating President Lincoln. We are going to make a stovetop hat and learn some interesting facts. When nap time is over, we will get to making the hat and I'll post pictures. But for now...I'm going to post a copy of my hand out!

As always, please feel free to copy the item. This is something of my own creation although I did take the picture from Google. Please don't get me to lie as to which image it was. There were 10 of these in the first 50 pictures that showed up. But the rest is all me...lol.

George Washington

Friday is George Washington's birthday! So in honor of it, I've decided to do a little craft with my kiddo. We are going to make a hat and go over some interesting facts...which include where and when he was born, who he married, and a few other things. Did you know he married a widow with two children? They never had more so Washington only had his two step children. I found this quite interesting in a day and time when large families were the normal.

Please feel free to copy my little hand out and use it! I'll post pictures of the hats we make on Friday!

Meet the mastermind!

I would like to introduce you to the mastermind behind my blogging...Daphne.  She is the reason I spend time doing this.

Daddy was smitten right away!  Now she has grown up a bit and is quite energetic.  I want to help her grow and experience things in a child like way.  I just have to remind myself that it's busy and exhausting...but so much fun for all of us!

So come play with us!!!

The Doc is in!

On days when I'm too sick to do much with Daphne, I let her watch tv.  It stays on the Disney channel or Sprout!  One of her favorite shows is...Doc McStuffins!  One day I got out my medical "stuff" and let her play with it...my ownership of my nursing equipment was gone...it now belonged to her.  So, for Christmas, she got her own medical "stuff" (mommy spent a lot of money on some of these things and I really wanted them to stay in decent condition).  Daddy is going to build her light box (oops, I mean x-ray box) in the next week or two so she can look at x-rays and ct scans.  We got copies of family x-rays and copies of ones I had throughout my life...which is quite a few I might add.  Her prescription pads I ordered off of the CDC website.  They tell you what to do in case you have the cold and a place for the doctor to sign.  There are a few different kinds so she can check stuff off and scribble her own notes in there.  I swear she is on track to be a doctor...her handwriting looks identical to some of the doctors I've worked with previously.  So here are some pictures!  The stethoscope was $6 at walmart during Halloween   The thermometer was an old one we had around the house.  You can get an otoscope on ebay for less than $4.  The prescription pads were free.  The jars I had around the house.  All of the stuff in the jars I got at the $ store.  So all of this was less than $20.

She is listening to the baby's heart beat! Thump thump...thump thump.

All of her supplies set up and ready to go!  What's going on with this patient?

Doctor Daphne is in surgery. (I got her "doctor's coat" at goodwill for $1.50 in the men's section and cut it up and sewed it for a better fit.  I think I want to get another one in maybe the little boy's section so it fits just a bit better.  But when I have the time and money...we'll see if I remember it.)  If you are wondering...Sleepy Bear came out of surgery just fine.  He has made a full recovery and is currently taking a nap.

Sometimes it's best to trick them!

Daphne will only eat McDonald's chicken nuggets. That is the ONLY meat she will eat. Her protein comes from nuts and dairy products. I've been desperate for awhile and have been trying everything...but tonight I won!!! McDonalds will give you empty chicken nugget boxes and french fries bags if you ask for them. So I got some and made my own nuggets with ground chicken and, salt & pepper, some bread crumbs (or flour) and a little oil. I shaped them like the ones at McDonalds and cooked them. After they were cooked and blotted with a paper towel I put them in a nugget box. I made fries and put them in the fries bag. Then I cut up apples and put them in a bowl for her. And the verdict? A very picky 2 y/o who will eat a healthy meal at home...all because she thinks it came from McDonalds.

Valentine's Day Fun!

CBC

It's a Butterfly Thing

Interestingly enough, the pictures are foggy.  I guess I need to clean the lens on my IPhone.  (I'm getting a new one next month.  That 2 year contract is way too long.)  I decided today's lesson would be the life of a butterfly.  What kid doesn't like learning about butterflies.  So...I pulled a book about butterflies out and I looked up an animated video on youtube just for kids about the butterfly life cycle.  It was a great video, but the guy's voice was computer distorted and sounded funny.  The kids got a great laugh out of his voice.  But it was very informative.  Then I printed off 2 life cycles from google images.  One I cut up and one I used for teaching.  After we went over the life cycle and learned all the words, I used the cut up one to play a game of putting them in order.  (I can't wait to get to the teacher's co-op so I can get them laminated and put some magnets on the back!)  Our crafts were as follows.  I pain-stakingly created this leaf below in paint.  (If you want a copy of it, I will email it to you...as always, free of charge!)  The eggs are rice.  The caterpillar is pom-poms with little wiggly eyes on it.  The pupa is a sheet of foam paper (not sure what it's called but it's found in the craft section in tons of different colors and sizes).  The butterfly is tissue paper and half of a pipe cleaner.  The pictures today are of my examples so the kids could see what we were trying to do.  (of course they got tons of free play, exercise and free activity time.  This was just a special lesson we did!

Below is a butterfly jar.  I copied one into paint from google and typed inside the jar.  Then I let the kids glue butterflies in them.  Once again, I googled random butterflies.  Since they were so little I did the cutting but they got to cut paper later.  I wanted them to be able to see some of the different butterflies out there.  They had a blast!

We NEED the park Mommy

Daphne informed me yesterday that children need the park. Ok. I'll go with that.  Unfortunately, it's been raining a lot here and our back yard "park" and the actual park were way too soggy.  Today was a little better.  (Oddly enough, as I type this, it's raining...a lot.)  We are just getting over the flu and it's rather cold outside so...I didn't think going out in the rain would be the best idea.  However, we were able to hit the park this morning after story time.  Although I try to skip fast food if possible, the park trip was an impromptu trip with a friend who also came to story time.  So we got some chicken strips apples and milk from Mc Donald's and headed to the park.  We ate and then played!  I was so scared to let her climb this very high play ground equipment but...I kept my cool and let her do her thing.  Guess what...she had a blast! Besides burning energy and allowing children the chance to stretch, grow, play, be creative, and get some exercise in, the park does a lot more.  It gives her a larger place to explore.  It gives her the chance to explore not only the outdoors, but the chance to explore what her body can do.  It also gives Mommy a work out chasing her around.  While at the park I was able to take a step back and see how amazing my little girl was.  She was so confident in her ability to climb the equipment that she even helped a smaller child. It's very rewarding when a parent comments on how sweet and helpful your child is.

Up up and away!

 

Snack time!!!  Cheese cut in the shapes of planets and a star.  I put them on a tortilla and then cut them to fit the shapes.  You can do this with anything.  I am happy to say this snack pleased my picky picky eater!

 

Up Up and Away!  Daphne wanted to ride in a space ship.  We had a plastic tub and a card board box.  So....she got a space ship!  Yes, she has a helmet on...lol.  Ok, ok...it was a drum that the top came off of to put other musical instruments in.  My little astronaut was a happy space traveler!

Is it Groundhog Day?

Everyone's groundhog activity!

This is an activity we did. We colored the bottom of a paper plate to look like grass, printed off a cloud, sun and groundhog. The groundhog was taped to a craft stick and put through a hole in the plate. We taped the clouds and sun on. Now the groundhog can go in and out of his den! Did he see the shadow?

A Groundhog Day book I made with activities at the end. If you would like a copy of the book, I will email it to you!

And for the grand finale!  Cupcakes with groundhogs peaking out of his den!