Started homeschool

So my munchkins are 3 and 4 now and itching to learn and go to school. unfortunately I feel that the choices for education here in Niagara County is lacking to say the least. (sorry if your from here but, this is my opinion.) Therefor I’ve decided to homeschool versus put my children in headstart or universal pre-k. I’m working out of the lesson plans from Erica over at Confessions of a Homeschooler. Her letter of the week and k4 curriculum is perfect for our needs. My little guy is eating up the Letter of the week lessons and my Daughter is just about ready to move on to the k4 stuff.

If you are looking to homeschool or just want to have a few educational activities for your toddler or preschooler I highly recommend Confessions of a Homeschooler. You can buy the pack I’ve mentioned from her site or just browse around and download individual lessons for free.

We are also working on singing the alphabet, colors, counting and the other basics your child will need to know before starting Kindergarten. This week we started teaching the days of the week. I know in most preschools they have sung a really cute song to the Adam’s Family theme. It’s a fun song but my children didn’t take to it.So my hubby, know for knowing random stuff, started singing the Happy Day theme, and now my kids are running around singing the happy days theme AKA the Days of the week song.

 

Sunday, Monday, Happy Days. Tuesday, Wednesday, Happy Days.
Thursday, Friday, Happy Days. Saturday, what a day. Spending all week with you!

 

I’m still new at this homeschooling stuff so if you have any tips or tricks please post them below!

Happy Birthday to my Babies.

November and December are busy months for everyone but they are extra special in our home. My Little Ones Celebrated their birthdays recently. Pumpkin had her Party on Nov. 6th. She Turned 4 on Nov. 2nd. I cant believe that she is 4 already.

Pumpkin -

one day old

One year old

Two years old

Three years old

Four years old

And my baby is no longer a baby. My little Sweet pea turned 3 on Dec. 5th! We are getting ready for his party this coming Sunday.

Sweet pea -

hours old

One year old

Two years old

Three years old

Where did time go? I swear it was just yesterday I was bringing home Pumpkin then Sweet pea. Now they are Preschoolers. I never thought I would miss the days of bottles, Paci’s, and diapers. Even though Sweet pea still wears them. It wont be long before he is potty trained too.

Yoplait Save Lids to Save Lives Giveaway - CLOSED

It's time for the Pink Yoplait Lids Again!!!!
One in eight women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with breast cancer within her lifetime – our friends, wives, mothers, sisters, neighbors – and this year, the fight against breast cancer starts right next door.
That´s because, through Save Lids to Save Lives, Yoplait will donate ten cents to Susan G. Komen for the Cure^® for each pink lid redeemed both online at Yoplait.com and via mail by December 31, 2011, up to $2 million. Plus, Yoplait is tracking pink lids redeemed by zip code to make sure funds generated from your lid collection go back to local breast cancer programs in your community. Here´s how you can support your local community´s fight:

• Look for special pink lids on pink Yoplait yogurt cups, in grocery stores in September and October

• Save your pink lids and redeem them via mail, or – for the first time – redeem them online at Yoplait.com. Make sure you enter your zip code when redeeming lids online!

In addition, you can visit http://bit.ly/slslcoupon to download a printable coupon* for $0.30 off any (1) variety Yoplait Yogurt cup (Includes Original, Light, Thick & Creamy, OR Whips!) today!
On Yoplait.com you can dedicate your lid to a woman who means something to you, read inspirational stories about those making a difference in the fight against breast cancer and find out how to support your local Susan G. Komen Affiliate.
During the past 13 years, Yoplait has donated more than $30 million to the breast cancer cause through all of its breast cancer initiatives.

Through My Blog Spark I was offered the opportunity to work with Yoplait to share about the Save Lids to Save Lives Campaign.  I was sent the prize pack above and some coupons for Yoplait Yogurt.  Well, that is great news because my children LOVE yogurt. Especially Yoplait Yogurt!   We cant stock enough in our home to keep up with the demand.  I am also happy to share about this campaign because our family has been affected by breast cancer and we all walked with my MIL through her battle with breast cancer.  One she has thankfully survived! So, when I get a chance to share about ways to raise money for breast cancer research, I am all over it!
Look for pink lids on your favorite Yoplait products this fall and redeem your lids online, by mail or both! Yoplait reserves the right to discount any codes entered fraudulently.
HOW IT WORKS:
1)Enjoy a Yoplait Yogurt that has the pink lid.
2)Collect your lids and those from other family and friends.
3)Redeem your lids either online or by mail.

To get the word out about this program Yoplait has partnered with My Blog Spark to giveaway and awesome prize pack just like mine that includes the following:

• Two VIP coupons, each valid for one free Yoplait yogurt core cup product
• A Yoplait pink lid collection kit
• Tote bag
• Heart-shaped key holder
• Hope Journal
• Pen

Are you ready to enter the Yoplait Save Lids to Save Lives Giveaway??  This giveaway will end on September 15, 2011.

1. Follow Family Treasures via Google Friend Connect.
2. Subscribe to Family Treasures & confirm it – on the sidebar on the left.
3. Tell me your favorite Yoplait Yogurt flavor!
4. Share with us – Who are you saving lids for?
5. Tweet this giveaway and post a link back here.
6. Blog this giveaway, link back here, & remember to share a link to your post here.

As always the winner will be sent an email (so make sure I can find it) and I will announce the winner here on my blog.  Said winner will have 48 hours to contact me and send me their name and shipping information or I will have to choose another winner.
The Yoplait prize pack, information and coupon have been provided by Yoplait through MyBlogSpark. Facebook is in no way affiliated with this giveaway and is not liable for anything pertaining to this giveaway.

What I do when I’m not here

What?!? you mean I have a life outside of the computer? Yes, its true there is life outside this little box we spend too much time in front of. Lately I have been spending a lot of time trying out cute hairstyles on my 3yr old. Her hair is incredibly long (down to her bottom) and curly. What to see what I’ve been doing? ------

		Adventures in Hair land VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

As any mom of a toddler knows getting them to sit still for a min is hard imagine trying to get them still for 5min or more. FUN, FUN! Now I cant take credit for all these style ideas. I get inspiration from Hair sites like Princesshairstyles.com. I even got to try a new and cute hair decoration. Look for the Sidewinder review soon!

Even My little guy got into the Hair action! He got a haircut this weekend.

What do I do with my hair do you ask? Well, I rock the messy mom ponytail. What? After wrangling the little ones to get them ready I just don’t have the time or energy to do anything nice with my own hair. So there you go, the Glamorous life of a mom!

Out of the mouth of babes

As any parent knows there comes a time when your child says something that will

A. Shock you
B. Embarrass you
C. Make you laugh so hard you have to pee
D. All of the above!

As a mother of Toddlers I’ve heard things that no non parent would ever think could be uttered in a normal non drunk off your a$$ situation.
Such as  todays one liner spoken by Lila, our three year old.

Mommy, mommy! I found Ariel’s boobs!  - shouted enthusiastically as any three year old can.

Now to anyone else that would sound absurd and a little disturbing. To a mom it was perfectly Clear she found the seashell top from this toy.

Our most embarrassing moments come in public. Don’t you love how little ones don’t have that little voice that tells them this isn't the moment to shout – Mommy, you farted! (for the record I did not, but thanks to the offending party who cut and ran).

My sisters favorite is when Lila (at 19months old) screamed Cock through out the store while she what shopping for CLOCKS! I love that one, mostly because I wasn’t on the receiving end of that embarrassing moment.

We spent 3 months getting the worst looks in public when Lorelai screamed “Help me” Every Eff’n time we took her shopping. OMG am I glad that stage is over and Peyton never went through it.

My son the other day called me a Hoe. It is hilarious! My father was trying to teach him to say No way, Jose! What I got was No way, Hoe!!

I have tons more but before I share more of my toddler tales I ask you to share a few of yours. In a few weeks I will pick my top favorite entries and post them then you can vote for #1.

So sent them in parents I know you got them, so lets share them!

Happy Birthday to Me!

 

As much as I don’t want to admit that another year has passed and I’m just a little bit older than yesterday. Today is my 28th birthday! Its also the fist one I have ever spent away from my parents. (I miss ya, mom and dad.)

It’s a birthday week at our house. Today is my birthday and tomorrow is my girl Lorelai’s 3rd birthday!! I cant believe that three years ago today I was in Labor waiting for my precious angel to join her mommy and daddy. Little did I know the stinker had her own plan and didn’t want to share mommy’s day instead she waited until ONE minute after midnight to be born.

 

And to honor the birthday celebrations in our house I will leave you with some birthday humor -

 

Few women admit their age. Few men act theirs.
- Unknown

The best way to remember your wife's birthday is to forget it once.
- H. V. Prochnow

The secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age.
- Lucille ball

“It takes a long time to grow young.” - Pablo Picasso

Hope everyone has a great day - I plan to!

What a crazy fun weekend!

The children and I have been going non stop this weekend! First there was a Monster mash parade and breakfast yesterday, then we went to another Halloween bash at the power authority museum. We ended our night at the aquarium where we found Peyton’s favorite animal -The Sea Lion. He was in heaven. There was jumping up and down, clapping and squealing – and that was just from him! It was great.

Today we started our Trick-or-treating off at 3pm and we were done at 5 with bags full of goodies! We went to the outlet mall and then to a few family members homes.

What do you think? I might be biased but I think I have the cutest Tinker Bell and sock monkey around!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remember when trick-or-treating meant hitting every house you could and staying out until you dropped? Now the city has put a time limit on how late you can go out, and most parents (me included) don’t trust people enough to let their child(ren) go door to door. I don’t even think we started trick-or-treating when I was a kid until after 5ish, I couldn’t believe that we were actually done by that time. Sigh, how things have changed.

Please Weclome the new member of the Family Treasures Blog!

She's not new to my family but she's new to this Family!

 I'm so excited to introduce you all to my sister Ashley. Ashley resides in Iowa with her fiance, dog and their little guy due in Nov.
She hopes you all welcome her with open arms and minds.

If you want to read more about her personal life please follow her blog, Life is short. Stay awake for it..

Ashley is ready and excited to share with you some wonderful baby products she has found. So please check back often the "Baby Shower Event" will be starting soon.

She's also an amazing cook so hopefully we can get her to share a few of her favorite recipes once in a while.

Note: if you are a company that markets to children and infant products and want to be showcased during our Baby Shower Event. please contact Ashley or myself by e-mail.

Tinkerbell anyone?

I don't know about you but the DVD/Blu-Ray release of the new Tinkerbell movie, Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue, has been long awaited in our home. Every time Lila sees the commercial she has to stop and watch it. Then immediately ask for us to buy it.
Little does she know we bought it last night and are waiting (well trying to wait) for her birthday to give it to her. She is so excited about her upcoming birthday. She asked for and is getting a Tinkerbell themed party. Including fun things like fairy wand snack sticks and refreshing pixie nectar. As well as a few pixie hallow games. I still havent found any of those yet, but I have time.

Busy, fun and crazy weekend!

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Happy belated fathers day to all those dads out there and to those moms who have to be both mom and dad (you rock!).

We had more than our fair share of rain here and if it doesnt stop soon I swear nebraska will cease to be a state instead it will just be another great lake! Bad news is the 7 day forcast say's.... yup more rain!

Robert spent his fathers day doing what he loves. He played video games, played with the kids and in the evening taught Lorelai the joy of jumping in rain puddles (in other words he made use of the lake that was our parking lot.)

So one of the kids got into the excedrin migraine and after a frantic call to posin control we were glad to hear that other than a possiable tummy ache one pill cant harm them! Thank GOD!! (yes we are sure it was only one pill)

So my weight loss is now hit the dreaded plateau, I havent lost a single pound since i hit my half way point. I hate that!! The only good thing about it is at least I'm not gaining! I need new ideas to re-jump start my weight loss.

Now I know you all are on the edge of your seats wondering who won the giveaways so here it is.....

Clair won the Bepe Baby giveaway!
Kate won the U'neaks giveaway!
and last but never least
Kathy won the simple green!

Congrats winners i have contacted you and you have 24 hours to claim your prize before a new winner is chosen.

Monster troubles

So I know around this age children are developing their imaginations but why does it have to include monsters? We don’t tell Lila any scary stories or let her watch any non age appropriate shows. So how did my happy little girl end up being so afraid of the monsters in her room?



As you know we tried to transition her to a toddler bed but after a week of her crying out all night and running to our room to flee the monster behind her chair, window, door, ect… we had to relent and are now back to a crib. Where she sleeps peacefully! I guess the monsters can’t find her in there.



I feel like we took a huge step back with her. I’d love to go back to a toddler bed so help me out all you parents out there.

How do you deal with monsters?

Crazy Icky Week

This past week has been icky!! The weather turned from sunny and nice to cold and wet. I was starting to think we'd never see the sun again. As you can imagine I was thrilled! (insert eye roll here) We just got over a long winter of being locked up in the house all day so I was not a happy camper looking at the prospect of staying indoors for a whole week. Add in the fact that the kiddos have been sick you can imagine to whining I had to hear and that was just from the husband. OK, just kidding........ a bit. No really any parent knows how clingy a toddler can become when they are ill, I felt like they would become permanently attached to me forever.
Alas, they are on the mend and the sun finally can out today. All is well in the Russell home again. I thought I would share a few pictures of my crazy week.

As you can see Peyton felt awful and we found Lila sleeping in her chair at nap time. The move to a toddler bed has not been without some difficulties.

Yes we lived in our Jammie's this week, but it wasn't like we were going anywhere. (Me included)

Photo book - PEYTON

I finished my second photobook!! here is peyton's first year -

Click here to view this photo book larger

Bittersweet

My Baby girl is growing up way too fast. Last night she officially moved from the crib to a BIG girl bed. She was/is so proud of herself!



Mama on the other hand wanted to go back in there and put the crib rail back up. I want her to be a baby just a bit longer. Here she is all tucked in and ready for her first night as a Big Girl!


She only rolled out of the bed once but after a bit of consoling and milk she went right back to sleep.




Mama found her siting up playing quietly in bed this morning. :) WAY TO GO BABY GIRL! (yep she's still my baby forever.)