I discovered this on the bathroom door in the kids’ bathroom last night as we were bathing the kids.  It speaks for itself.

I made art aprons or smocks for the kids. They can be used for helping in the kitchen or doing art work. I used a shoulder tie smock pattern with two modifications:

• The original pattern is sized for a two year old, and in order to make ones that are suitable for my four and six year olds, I lengthened the pattern.

• The original is lined and I chose to go with a single layer. I simply hemmed all the sides.

To personalize the aprons, I have the boys stencil their aprons with their first name initial and star patterns. First, I trace the pattern on the freezer paper. Then I iron the pattern on the apron as a stencil for the kids to paint. I really like this project because it’s a group effort. Mommy sews up the apron and the boys decorate their own apron to their liking. The boys also got to pick the placement of each pattern to make it even more personalized.

To wear, tie the shoulder ties tight so they don’t fall off.  This is a backless apron without additional ties in the back.  It stays put as long as the shoulder ties are tight enough.

The boys stenciling the apron with much concentration:

All four kids modeling their aprons:

Markers.

Kids love ‘em.

I don’t.

I really, really dislike markers.

Seasoned moms know why I dislike markers without much explanation. For the rest of my readers, note that markers are meant to be used on paper to create art. But when they’re in the hands of little ones, markers are suddenly a tool for art work on furniture, self, clothes, siblings, wall, and any other surface that is not pre-approved.

Yes, even the “washable” markers; because it’s not so easy to take your drywall and put it in the washing machine.

In short, markers + little people = homemade vandalism.

Yes, I’m being a tad dramatic. But note the title of this post, and sympathize with me for a bit longer.

After initially purchasing markers and discovering firsthand their destructive potential, I banished them from our house for a while until recently when my 6 year old became more artistically inclined in a constructive way. He began drawing some lovely drawings on some newly purchased paper on an easel. No problemo! Even applause and praise and joy.

Until today… when my two year old daughter, unsupervised, grabbed hold of a nice purple marker and in a matter of seconds drew some big concentric circles on a chair and a rocker glider cushion.

Remember: for two years we’ve had no such incidents (though pencils and pens have made occasional appearances on walls). But that was only because I hid the markers until recently. As soon as they came out into plain view, our furniture suffered. And my desire for a neat immaculate appearing home suffered.

Second story, though related: I was at a friend’s house for a BBQ this weekend and she told me that earlier that morning she had allowed her twin three year old girls to play in the mud. The girls had a blast and by the time they were done playing, they were covered with mud from head to toe. I told my friend that she’s a good mom and then confessed that I’m such a clean freak that I would never allow my kids to do that. In addition, I’d hate to clean the kids up afterwards.

Markers and mud. These two topics got me thinking. It’s true that I dislike having my furniture marked on, but I need to accept that this as a fact of life when I have four little ones, ages 6 and under. I need to loosen up a little because after all, furniture is replaceable. I should be happy that my two year old can draw perfectly round circles and that she picked her favorite color of purple.

However, this does not mean that the children can have a hay day with the markers and draw wherever they please. As much as I need to let go of my preference for neatness, I need to teach the children to properly use the markers. I have instructed the oldest one to be responsible for his markers and not to leave them out so that the younger ones can grab hold of them. As for the younger children, the solution is not to hide the markers like I did until now. The key is to use the markers with them with a lot of supervision. In the end, using markers and having a non-marked up furniture can co-exist.

As for mud. . . . . I’m still working on it. Even though I’m not fond of letting the kids play in the mud, I know rolling in the mud is what great memories are made of. My neat-freak tendency hinders the innocent and pure enjoyment of mud play. I am sure that my children would enjoy rolling in the mud and decorating themselves with it.

In the end, having little ones around means I can’t have a neat and clean house as I’d prefer, but the joy of having the little ones around take priority over my personal preferences. Rather than being freaked out by the messes, I’m learning that I need to laugh a little and enjoy their artwork even if it’s drawn on a medium that is not to my liking.

FlashMaster is an electronic flash card device that helps kids practice math facts, and it covers addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division tables.  Instead of accumulating stacks of math flash cards, FlashMaster consolidates all into one hand held device.  It’s very convenient and many kids find the device much more appealing than using traditional flash cards.  However, one drawback is the price as it is $49.95.  After using this device for about 4 months, I believe it is worth the price.

I read many reviews before purchasing this device and one comment that consistently came up was:  “My kids love this and have been asking me to use it everyday.  Math is no longer a drudgery.”  I was secretly hoping that this would be the case with my boy, but after the initial wonder of the new “toy” the novelty wore off.  We were back to, “Come on, let’s practice your math facts and let’s get to it. . . . NOW!”   I was initially disappointed by my boy’s lack of interest, however, not disappointed in the device itself.  Since I spent $50 for this device I was determined to make it work for our family.  I have finally discovered the key to making it work for us, and now I’m wondering why I haven’t thought of it sooner.  The key is to come up with a plan and a schedule to work on the math facts.  I created a spreadsheet that outlines all the different math activities my student has to perform each given day, except Sundays.  So far I have him do four different activities each day and then have him record his scores and percentage for each activity.  If he gets 90% or above for all four different activities, he gets a sticker and a choice of a small treat.  I evaluate his spreadsheet weekly and if there’s a weak area he needs to work on more, the same activity is repeated in the following week.  This plan works wonders!  My boy loves a challenge and he’s now very eager to work on his FlashMaster.

Another plus to the FlashMaster is that I can send my student with his spreadsheet to work on his own in a different room.  He knows exactly what to do so he doesn’t need my supervision.

Add me to the list of happy customers!

Daddy made two marshmallow guns for the boys out of PVC pipes and joints.

Andrew posing with the marshmallow gun:

Daddy helping Andrew to shoot the marshmallow out:

Simultaneous shooting:

The boys love their new toy that Daddy made for them.  What fun!  Matthew officially declared that Saturdays and Sundays are his favorite days of the week because Daddy doesn’t have to go to work.

… to the question, “Boy or girl?”

Here’s a clue.

The below ultrasound video was recorded onto DVD for us yesterday when all the children went with me and Lois to the clinic for a check-up and to discover the sex of the baby. Anyone wanna guess what we found out?