Happy Friday! It's been a Looooooooooooooooooooong week! I have a very sick baby and we've had a super FUN week! NOT!
So therefore nothing terribly exciting to report to you guys this week! But here are some pics of a new little chair that we got for the monster! I've been wanting to get the little monster a chair of her own! Every child I know really likes these foam chairs.
They are small and light and easy to climb on and off... and also super UGLY!! The question was if I would deprive my child in the name of keeping an aesthetically pleasing equilibrium around here? And the answer was YES! Sorry Yules but there was no way I was going to buy you such an ugly chair no matter how much you liked it! I'm a terrible mother but I would probably cringe and twitch every time I looked over and saw it in the living room! Haha! Okay it's not that bad, but just not for us! So anyways, I've been on the hunt for a little chair for Yules! There have been many occasions where I've been close to getting something like this:
Super cute but I was still hesitant! Sure the chair would look great in her room, but what if I wanted to move it around? A cute little pink chair might not look so great in the living room! Trust me, I've had a chair like this in my cart at HomeSense on more than one occasion! But always ended up putting it back because I knew it just wasn't right!
And then one day I found THE chair!! It was almost perfect! It was cute and little and had tufting and piping and it was grey!! My goodness I couldn't believe my eyes... I was in love!! There was tufting!!! Need I say more?
It was almost perfect... the legs seemed unfinished to me! But that was a quick fix and Husband came to the rescue!
I LOVE it! I wanted to get a pic of Yules sitting in it, but she's been so sick I haven't had a chance to take pics of her! Maybe next week! So anyways, this is the new furniture addition to our home! Yules will thank me in the future for not buying her one of those foam chairs! Haha!
The little monster was supposed to have a special Valentine's playdate with her friends but it was cancelled! So she didn't get a chance to hand out her Valentines... but that's okay...I think it's even more special when you receive something after the holiday is over and it is unexpected! I remember like 8 or 9 months after our wedding, we received a wedding gift from a friend. In the attached card it said something along the lines of "Isn't it fun to still be getting gifts?" It sure is!! So Yules will hand out her Valentine cards tomorrow when she sees her little friends!
I stole this super cute and easy idea from here! It was perfect because I bought a bazillion glowsticks for 25cents a pack on clearance after Halloween! I had no idea what I would do with them, but I couldn't walk away from such a good deal! And whatdoyouknow... I found a use for them! Haha!
YAY for Valentine's Day! You guys already know why this holiday is special to me... and if you don't then you can read all about it here!
This year is a little sombre because I know a friend is saying good-bye to someone she loves very much today! It's a good reminder to cherish the ones you love and the time you have with them!
I especially wanted Husband to know that he is loved and appreciated around here! Kalbs and Yules helped me put up this morning message in the bathroom for him to read as he got ready for work!
We wanted to thank him for being so awesome! *ignore the spelling mistake... it was really late... eek!!*
Here are a few things that the Kalbster said thank-you for:
We also wanted to make Husband a fancy Valentine's lunch! Okay, so it's not really fancy and actually what he usually gets for lunch... but I just spruced it up a notch for Valentine's Day! Good thing he works with a bunch of ladies, or else he might have been beat-up for bringing this for lunch! Haha!
Look at the cute paper bags I got at the dollar store!
Inside the bag was his sandwich!
He messaged me at lunch and asked why half of his sandwich was missing! haha!
First layer of the bento box:
Look! Even the utensils have little hearts! Hehe!
Cut the top of your strawberries off in a V and you can have heart shaped fruit too!
Bottom layer:
The tomatoes were supposed to be heart shaped too but husband bought the wrong tomatoes! You need very oval shaped ones! Refer to last years post if you want to see what they look like!
Anyways, hope you are all spending the day with your loved ones and getting showered with lots of LOVE!
The little kiddos in our group of close friends have multiplied and are growing like little weeds! It's come to a point (actually we've been at this point for a while now) that the little monsters need their own place to sit when they come over for dinner! I've been humming and hawing over a few different seating options for a while now... and finally decided on an idea I got from my girlfriend! This is the table we finally ended up buying!
I like it because it's a fold out table... which means I can easily whip it out anytime! It also means that it can easily be put away and doesn't have to be an eyesore taking up space in my house all the time! It's made from recycled plastic so good for the planet and super easy to wipe clean after meals or crafts! The legs of the table are also telescopic which means they can be short enough so the table is kid height and also tall enough for regular adult use as well! And as an extra bonus, it is GREY!! Haha!
Another reason it took me so long to decide on the table was because I had no idea which chairs to get to go with it! After a little searching, I found some chairs on Kijiji... and sent Husband to the scary Ghetto to pick up 6 of them (but that's a whole other story haha)! The chairs are stackable, so again they can easily be put away and not take up too much room! They were only 5 bucks each, so definitely the right price point! Only problem was they were SAD looking and in desperate need of a little a lot of TLC!
After a good clean scrub and a spray paint job courtesy of Husband, they actually look pretty cute! The monster loves sitting on her new chairs, at her new table! Yules can't wait to have dinner parties with her little friends!!
Here is a pic of the little monster enjoying a snack at her new table!
The monster has been into "drawing" lately! I've been letting her use crayons, but honestly they just aren't cutting it! You have to use a lot more pressure when using crayons and the colors aren't very vivid! I've been hesitant to give her markers... but this past week she was spoiled and given a set of markers by a friend! She got some Crayola PipSqueaks, which are great because they are short and thick which makes it easy for little hands to hold and best of all WASHABLE! She LOVES her new markers and wants to use them all the time! If you're super paranoid like me that your monster is going to get marker everywhere, here are 2 tips!
1. I let the monster play with the markers inside her cardboard playhouse! She was able to draw to her hearts content in there and I knew it wasn't getting on the walls or carpet! If you don't have a cardboard playhouse, a giant box will do just fine and they will have loads of fun sitting inside doodling away!
2. Every few weeks, we hit up Costco and I grab a couple giant sheets of paper for her to draw on! I like the sheets that are in between the many layers of paper towels/ toilet paper! They are a good weight but not as heavy and stiff as cardboard! Best of all they are FREE! Costco just recycles it anyways, so they are more than happy for you to take it away! I like them because they are huge and thick! That means that marker will not bleed through and Yules has a giant canvas area to draw on... which reduces the chances of marker getting on the floor! These large sheets are also great to put on the floor if you are doing messy crafts or activities etc.
Just thought I would post a little victory dance and pat myself on the back as I think I clearly deserve it!! Check out the rising yeast action yoz! Haha!
Arshdeep is a little boy that I taught many moons ago! I think of him from time to time! Not because he was super smart, or funny or cute or extraordinary! I think of Arshdeep from time to time because I refer to him as a little prince! He was an only child and came from a culture that really valued little boys! He was spoiled and loved very dearly! His mother did everything for him, from carrying his backpack on their walk to school, to hanging it up and removing the contents and setting it on his desk when he got to school! My sweet little Arshdeep was the one who had meltdowns and would cry because he couldn't zip up his own coat at recess, or tie his shoelace when it got undone! I've met many, many Arshdeeps over the years! I always gently try to encourage parents to let their children do things on their own like putting their coats and shoes on! I fully understand that it is faster for you to do it for them but you're not doing your kid any favours! We want to raise independent, self sufficient children who can master basic life skills! Right?
SIGH! It is so EASY to judge other people... especially when you don't have kids! I will now shamefully admit that I am turning my little monster into an Arshdeep! Aghhhhh I know! I am so BAD! We've been having a difficult time when it comes to feeding the Yules! She has never been that into eating, so naturally I'm concerned that she isn't getting enough nutrients, isn't growing enough blah blah blah! If I give the child a plate of food, she will play with it and most of it will not end up in her tummy! I also cringe when she makes a giant mess too! So of course it is much easier for ME to spoon feed her! That way she eats faster, it ends up in her tummy and not on the floor! That's an awesome plan right? WRONG! If I keep this up, she will totally turn into an Arshdeep! The kid will never learn to feed herself! What will she do, if I'm not there to feed her? Aiyah what to do? What to do?
I've finally decided to find a good balance between the extremes! I still do spoon feed her because that way I have peace of mind that she is eating! But I am purposely trying to give her lots of opportunities to feed herself regardless of how much food she wastes and the mess! I definitely think learning how to use utensils properly trumps cleaning up a little spilled food for sure!
*SIGH* I wonder what has become of little Arshdeep?
