On Homemade Playdough

I guess it's true that the third time really is a charm!  At least, it is when it comes to my playdough making skills.  I have probably pinned at least ten different playdough recipes on one of my Pinterest boards.  I'm not sure why this was such a big deal to me, but I just really needed to successfully make playdough for the kids.  I was pretty sure it would prove that I really am a good Mom.  I can do anything!  Including make playdough!  SUPER MOM!!!

Recipe one was a big fat failure.  The playdough was dry and crusty and not at all fun to play with.  We trashed it after about ten minutes of me trying to convince the girls it was fun.  They weren't buying it!

I really thought recipe #2 was going to be awesome!  It was advertised as the softest, silkiest playdough EVER.  I mean, it had to be good right!?!  One of the main ingredients was hair conditioner.  Not only was it the best stuff on earth (as far as playdough goes), but it was going to smell good, as well!  SOLD!

I got the ingredients gathered up and had the girls come help me measure ingredients and pick out the color they wanted.  We stuck it all in a bowl, started mixing, and just couldn't get the consistency right.  The other main ingredient was cornstarch, so we spent some time adding water and more cornstarch to see what would happen to the mixture.  They loved it when it got really soupy and messy.  They played with it for about 20 minutes before they got a little out of control and soupy cornstarch/conditioner goo started flying all over my kitchen.  Yup, you guessed it.  Trashed this one, too.

I waited a few weeks before I was ready to try again.  I pinned yet another playdough recipe, sent Heath to the store for Cream of Tartar (fine, I admit it, he was already at the store, so I just called and had him pick some up, but it sounds better if I sent him for the sole purpose of buying playdough ingredients), and got busy.

You guys!  This playdough turned out awesome!!!  I found it on Pinterest and the link led me here.  Thank you, Chef In Training!  The girls helped me make it.  We made four batches in four different colors.  It was easy, it was fun, and the girls LOVED it.  It really is soft and squishy.  The girls have played with it for hours already and we just made it a few days ago!

Heath looked at me like I was a nut job as this whole playdough making process was in full swing and asked why we didn't just go buy some at the store.  I can tell you why!  That would be too easy!  And the girls wouldn't have had as much fun with the "making" process.  You also get a lot more of each color.  But mainly because I wanted to, OK, Heath!  Back off, buddy!

Playdough Recipe

1 cup water
1 cup flour
1/4 cup salt
2 tsps Cream of Tartar
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Food coloring

Step 1:  Dump all of the ingredients into a saucepan and mix until well blended.

All of the ingredients...minus the Cream of Tartar.  Apparently, I took this before Heath got home from the store.  OOPS!

Having adorable little assistants really helps with the whole process.

Step 2:  Cook over Medium heat, stirring constantly, until it forms into a large ball.

It will look pretty soupy at first, but will start forming dough relatively quickly.  Be prepared!  You are going to get a good arm workout!  Especially if you make several batches!

Step 3:  As soon as it balls up, remove it from the heat and put it on wax paper to cool.

This is what the balls looked like when I took them out of the pan.  Shout out to my super cute playdough model!

Step 4:  Once it has cooled down, knead the dough until it's nice and soft.

Step 5:  Give it to your children and enjoy at least an hour of peace and quiet.  Get a cup of coffee, a good book, and go sit in a quiet corner until the little stinkers are done playing.

Even Logan liked this stuff!

Step 6:  Store in an airtight container.  We have ours in Ziplock bags and it's holding up great.

We had a lot of fun with this.  The third try was definitely a win!

On Snackeez

My kids are obssessed with every single silly thing they see on TV commercials.  We bought them Stuffies for Christmas.  They actually really love these.  They are soft, comfortable, and they love to hide their treasures in the pockets that are all over these stuffed animals.  Their recent obsessions are Kinetic Sand (which I admit I kind of want, too) and Stretchkins.  For a long time, they were obsessed with Snackeez.

Hannah was especially good at repeating the commercial highlights as she tried to sell me on these things.  "But, Mom.  It holds a drink and a snack all in one place.  It doesn't even leak!  It's spill-proof!"

"Wow, Hannah, that sounds pretty cool!  We have a million water bottles, cups, and bowls, though, so I think we'll be just fine without a Snackee in our life."

She would walk away with her head hanging low and then brighten up and decide that maybe Santa could bring one for her.  Looked like we might have these things in our lives eventually after-all!

That "eventually" was way sooner than I was expecting.  A few weeks ago, I had all three kids packed up and running errands with me.  If we have more than one stop, this usually goes downhill quickly.  They were actually all being very cooperative and happy about the situation on this particular occassion.  We were on our third and last stop at Walmart picking up a few odds and ends that somehow missed my shopping cart at the grocery store the weekend before when it happened. 


The only check-out lane open was right next to a huge display of "As Seen On TV" crap...I mean, stuff.  Front and center was a very nicely organized 3 shelf display of Snackeez.  Oh, no!  I knew what was coming.  Sure enough, they turned those big blue eyes and sweet little smiles on full power.  I was sunk.  They know exactly how to get me to do whatever they want.

I didn't even put up a fight.  They had been so good during the errand running, and had been begging for these things for a month, so I caved right away.  It took them about 3.2 seconds to find the perfect Snackeez and throw them on the check-out belt before I could change my mind.  Sneaky, girls. Very sneaky.

Camden proving that it is, in fact, spill-proof.

Trying it out.  Water tastes so much better in a Snackee!

We rushed home, washed the Snackeez, and life has never been the same.  They use these all the time!  You win, Snackeez, you win.

On Breathing Them In

My life is a rush from one little person need to another.   I swear there are days when I don't sit down for more than a minute at a time.  The reason I know is that because the second I do find what I think is a quiet minute and settle my backside down somewhere soft and comfy, someone senses it and comes running in with another disaster and is ruining my peaceful minute before it even starts.  I swear they do it on purpose!  Before I can even take a deep breath, I'm up on my feet again helping someone, hugging someone, helping settle a dispute, getting someone food, wiping another booty, and the list goes on.

Some days, I look forward to bedtime like a 6-year-old looks forward to Christmas.  I find myself watching the clock and counting the seconds until the magic hour when they start going to bed and I start getting closer and closer to the second when I can finally relax and only worry about me.

I sound like I do this all on my own, don't I?  I DO!  Heath sucks at life!  That's a huge lie.  Heath is a master at bedtime.  I love that he takes this last kid event of the day on in such a wonderful way.  There are very few times a week when I have to put any of them to bed, let alone all of them.  There is one thing I love about being in charge of bedtime, though.  When I'm lucky, I get little bits of it during the day, but it's mostly at bedtime when the kids are in the perfect sleepy little mood.

They go from 90 to nothing, breathe a quiet and content little breath, and those sweet little bodies just melt into my hug.  I live for these moments.  I melt just as much as they do.  I get them as close as I can, stick their sweet little faces right up next to mine, and breathe them in as deeply as I can.  That smell that is all child.  A little bit sweet, a little bit sweat, a little bit drool, a little bit food, a little bit dirt, a little bit leftover toothpaste...and 100% perfect.  Even though I know it's 98% disgusting things I don't want to think about, their little smells are the best things I've ever been part of.  I can't get enough of how my kids smell.

Kisses and snuggles with my boy.

There is no weight in the world more perfect than the weight of a completely relaxed child settled on your chest.  They always fit just perfectly and feel just right.  I have no poetic words for it.  It's simply a little piece of heaven.

I love hugging them in tight, whispering a quiet prayer, a soft "I love you", sticking that little face right on mine and breathing them in one last time for that day.  Heaven.

It's not just the kids, though, guys.  I feel like that's important.  As much as I need it with my kids, there is someone else I need it with just as much, probably even more.  Only with this person, I'm the one who gets to do the melting and trusting and letting someone else just hold on to me.  I cannot end a day without walking up to my man, wrapping my arms around him, putting my head on his chest, closing my eyes and just breathing him in.  It grounds me.  It makes me stop and realize that all I need in life can fit right in my arms.

Hugging and breathing in the ones you love is always a win.  So do it as often as you can.  Etch that smell and feeling in your memory and keep it in your heart forever.

On Breaking Hearts and Taking Names

Please tell me that I'm not the only one who gets a little heartbroken for their kids when it comes time to learn some hard lessons.  I have the biggest urge to hug them and give them whatever they want just so I don't have to see the devastation on their little faces.  Sometimes I think the lesson learning is harder on me than it is on them.  This time, however, Camden was the one walking around with a completely shattered heart.

Logan had his 15 month well baby check this past week.  I usually try to schedule his appointments on Heath's Friday off so that I don't have to take all three kids with me.  It didn't work out that way this time, so I packed iPads loaded with games hoping to keep the girls occupied and distracted through the appointment.

We left a little early and met Heath for lunch.  YUM!  The kids were perfect little restaurant patrons.  Afterwards, we had about 45 minutes to kill.  Not quite enough time to justify running home, so we obviously went to Target.  That's where I came up with a plan.

I told the girls that they could each pick out a $10 or less toy.  The deal was that if they followed all of the rules at the doctor's office and were on their best behavior, they would get to keep the new toy.  I wanted them to know exactly what they were working for, so we cruised the toy aisles until the found the perfect toy.  Camden picked a pretty cool treasure chest that she would get to paint and decorate.  Hannah picked a Mooshka doll.  Both were super excited to get home and open their new toy.  First, they had to pass the doctor's office test.

Usually they fail this test miserably.  For the most part, they are really well behaved when we are out in public.  For some unknown reason, they have never been able to keep it together in a doctor's office.  This is incredibly frustrating for me.  I usually only have half of my attention on the doctor.  The other half is trying my darnedest to discipline and correct the crazy behavior of my kids without completely freaking out on them in front of a medical professional.  I typically leave with a few more gray hairs and the huge urge to start drinking heavily.

I thought for sure my wonderful plan of bribing them with a new toy was going to be my ticket to a doctor's appointment where I could finally focus on the doctor.  I couldn't have been more wrong.  I have a three strikes and you're out policy.  They hit strike three before the doctor even walked in.  No one would sit still, no one would stay quiet, there were huge fights over which kid got which iPad.  Guys, they are exactly the same!  Same iPad, same games, same everything.  It makes absolutely no sense!  It was another disastrous appointment as far as kid behavior was concerned.

On a positive note, Logan is a healthy, happy little guy.  He's pretty small, which is new in this house, but he's right on track with milestones and development.  Thank goodness there weren't any major concerns that needed discussed with the doctor because I wouldn't have heard a single word of the advice the doctor would have given!

I marched the kids out to the car, drove straight to Target, marched all 3 up to the returns counter, and made the girls hand their toys over.  Hannah got it.  She knew why she didn't get to keep her toy.  She was upset with herself, but not completely devastated.  Camden, on the other hand, didn't quite understand and wailed like it was the end of the world.  Yes, guys, I was that Mom with that kid.  We've all seen it happen.  The kid is losing their ever-loving mind while Mom runs through the store with a frazzled look on her face, grabbing things at lightening speed so that she can get that kid the heck out of there.

She cried the whole way home.  It was heartbreaking for both of us, but I think by the end of the day she had figured out why her mean old Mom made her take her toy back.  Every day since this happened, she has come up to me at least once and said, "I'm being a good girl today, right?  Can we go get my toy at Target?"  Nice try, sister!  There will be a day when we go back and try again, but not yet, little lady.

This was a parenting win in my book.  It was hard on us and broke all of our hearts, but it was necessary.  Hopefully they'll be better kids in the long run because of it.

On Why Vacation with the In-Laws is the WORST!

My in-laws are the most horrible group of humans on the planet.  They are all ugly, mean, lazy, selfish, and just plain miserable to be around.  I can't even stand to be in the same room as they are, so just imagine how a week of living in close quarters went for me.  It was pure H-E-double hockey sticks.  Just ugh.

Ba-hahahaha.  Had you going there for a minute, didn't I?  My in-laws are pretty much the exact opposite of this.  They are the most full of life, hilarious, caring, loving group of people you will ever meet.  It explains a lot about why my husband is as wonderful as he is.  Sure, there are things that make me a little crazy, but you have that anytime you get a huge group of people together.  The lack of organization made me a little nuts, especially when I was trying to pack, but I tend to way over plan, so they are good for me.  I learned how to relax and just go with the flow pretty quickly.

I could go on and on about the fun things we did, but let me be negative for a minute first.  There was one person in particular who made this trip a whole lot harder than I was anticipating.  Any guesses?  Yup!  It was the youngest member of the group...my sweet little son.  I thought once we got there and the travel portion was over, he would get back to his sweet, fun, happy little self.  Wrong-o!

I lost two pounds last week and I'm convinced it's because I had an extra 20 pounds stuck to me the whole time.  I wasn't allowed out of his sight and had to hold him pretty much the whole time.  He was just completely overwhelmed, I think.  There were around 30 people coming in and out.  The noise level was quite a bit higher than he was used to.  Every time he turned around, there was a new person in his face.  Now that I think about it, it was probably a bit terrifying!  Add to that the molars coming in, and it was a recipe for disaster.  He didn't sleep through the night once.  He was up multiple times every night.  He finally started relaxing a little on Thursday, so we got a bit of a break from the crying and clinging for a day or two.  I can confidently say that in his little mind, this vacation was a huge mistake!

Now on to the highlights.  I think we'll just do this in list form.  It will be easier for everyone, right?  Here you go...in no particular order...

1.  My daily morning coffee with Laverne.  If you don't know this woman, you should.  I hope everyone has a Laverne in their life.  She knows how I feel about her, so I won't give you all the details.  LOVE!

2.  Going to a winery with this group of beautiful ladies:

3.  Being there to hear Chad and Kristen announce that they are expecting a little one early in 2015.  Yay for more babies!

4.  The fact that our little cabin was right on the lake and had a beautiful view.  We had the best time playing in the water.

5.  Getting to spend time with members of the family who I hadn't met yet or had just met in passing.  I am a better person for knowing them.

6.  All of the card games.  This family is hilarious when they get competitive.  Lauren, thank you for introducing us to Cards Against Humanity.  It's the most awful, yet wonderful game in the whole world.  My stomach was sore from laughing so hard.

7.  Watching the girls love every second of this vacation.  From playing with their cousins, to spending time with Mamaw and Papaw, to eating Pinwheels with Wendell, to watching them get more and more brave in the water.  I especially loved how exhausted they were at the end of every day and how well they slept!

8.  Watching all of the love that this group has for each other.

I'm sure there are moments missing from this list, but that's all you are getting.  Logan is apparently upset that I'm bringing this vacation up again because he's pretty ticked off in his crib right now.  I know, I know, buddy, nap time is clearly over.  I'm coming...in a minute.

Vacation with your family is always a win.  Even if one member is a stinker about it.  There's one in every family, right?  We can't wait to do this again...in a few years...when Logan is older and happier about life.

On Being Peed On

We went on vacation with my husband's extended family this past week to a beautiful lake in Kentucky.  It was memorable, to say the least, for some very good and some very not-so-good reasons.  I'll write a blog (or two) about that this week after I decompress for a bit.  This is a quick, funny little story about our little man.

I devoted a whole blog to what kind of traveler Logan has turned into a few weeks back.  We knew car travel was a miserable thing for him, but we were still very naively holding out hope that riding on an airplane might go differently for him.  It.  Did.  Not.  He seemed to hate it even more and spent his time on the flights crying, fussing, and climbing all over us.  We were all exhausted by the time we landed in St. Louis on our way to the lake.  We had a three hour car ride on top of that fun little experience after we landed.  He actually did a lot better in the car this time.  I think he just gave up and the fight went out of him.

I'm tempted to go chronologically here and write a whole long thing about how the week went, but I'm going to resist and will spend this week writing several blogs about the trip so that I don't end up writing a 4 chapter novel that you have to sit and read all at once.  Yawnsville.

Man, I'm terrible at short stories!  I'm already into the fourth paragraph and haven't started my pee story.  Shut it, Casey, and get to the point!

Fast forward a week to leaving day.  By the time we returned our rental car, muscled 5 checked bags, 5 carry-ons, 3 children and a stroller into the airport and through security, we had about 20 minutes before our flight started boarding.  We thought we would let the kids run and get out energy, but then we saw a nifty little place called "Beers of the World" and we decided a big old beer might get us through this first two hours on a plane with the most horrible little traveler ever.

As we were waiting on our beer to be delivered, Logan filled his pants with a not so pleasant smelling little gem.  I grabbed a diaper, the wipes, and set off to get this job done.  We walked into the women's room...no changing station.  UMMMMM...we left.  Further investigation led us to the "Family Assistance" room or some such nonsense.  Eureka!  Just what we were looking for.

Logan hates these changing stations, so he started getting a little nervous the minute I pulled it down and set up diaper changing shop.  I was in full on Mommy mode and got that diaper off and the butt clean in record time.  I stepped down to the end of the changing table, lobbed the diaper straight into the trash can (score!) and felt something wet hitting my feet.  Any guesses?

The boy was peeing a magnificent rainbow of pee right off of that table all over the bathroom floor...and my feet.  Both of our faces were a mirror of each other when we realized what was happening.  We looked at each other in shock for a second before I screamed, "OH, NO!" and started laughing.  He wasn't as impressed as I was and started crying.  Lucky for him, he came out without a drop of pee on him.

Have you ever cleaned a puddle of pee off of a public restroom floor?  I gagged quite a few times before it was all over.  I also had to use baby wipes to get as much pee off of my feet and sandals as possible so that I didn't smell like a walking diaper all day.

The story ended well with an ice cold beer and a laughing fit like we haven't had in a long time over this little adventure.  It was just a taste of what we had coming with that boy on the flights home.

Finding a way to laugh in a situation that isn't ideal is always a win.  Let's be honest, there really wasn't anything else I could do.  It was pretty darn funny.

On Fight Club

Isn't the first rule of Fight Club (or one of them) that nobody talks about fight club?  My girls clearly didn't hear that rule.  I can't even begin to count how many times in a day I hear, "MOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!  She hit me!!!  She kicked me!!!!  She threw that toy at my head!!!"  Ai-yi-yi!  I am going to lose my mind, which is scary since there isn't much of it left after three kids!

These might be staged.  You couldn't tell, could you?  Their faces crack me up!

This is how I want them to look at all times.

I don't know if it's summer boredom or if they are still adjusting to seeing each other all day every day after a year at school.  They were getting along great during the school year, but I'm convinced it's because their time together was so limited.  You guys, they are 5 and 3.  What on earth will 15 and 13 look like?

I am also woman enough to admit that there are days when I want to punch them each in the face.  Ok, not really, but spanking them all day sure sounds good!  Days when I haven't had much sleep, Logan is cranky from teething, and my patience level is basically non-existent.  I have to really step back and take a deep breath so that I don't spend all day yelling and punishing them.  That's my immediate first response when they start in with the hitting at 7:30 in the morning.  

I spent about a week trying the punishment thing:  taking away favorite toys, revoking TV privileges, separating them for hours on end, yelling, and yes, spanking.  It just kept getting worse.  And we all kept getting more and more cranky.  Luckily, my mom reminded me about our reward jar.

I first started this when Hannah turned 3 and decided that Camden was her own personal punching bag.  My poor little Camden was only around one and half and I would hear that poor baby crying every 30 minutes or so.  If I wasn't there to witness, I would ask Hannah why she was crying.  She would look me in the eye and with no remorse say, "I hit her."  At least she was honest!  

At the end of my rope, I went the opposite direction of the negativity.  I can't remember who came up with this idea.  It was probably my mom.  She has some of the best ideas!  I headed out to Target, stocked up on dollar section toys and goodies, filled a bucket with prizes, and bought two jars and a bag of sparkly pom-poms.

The new system required me to watch Hannah like a hawk every second of the day until she got the hang of the idea.  Any time I saw her doing something I liked (playing nicely with Camden, doing things the first time she was asked, taking initiative to help, and following other rules), she would get to add pom-poms to her jar.  I would always switch up the number of pom-poms she got to add and would have her count them out as she put them in her jar (see?  It's educational, too).  When the jar was full, she got to pick a prize.

Pom-pom system.  We fill the white one for a prize.

Bucket of fun

She went three days without laying a hand on Camden when we started this the first time.  She got a LOT of prizes.  It helped change the undesirable behavior.  We are currently doing it again in this house.  It's helping!!!  It's not nearly as successful as it was the first time, but both girls are really doing their best to behave in a way that makes me stand up, notice, and praise them.  I still only have one jar.  I need to get a second with different colored pom-poms so each girl has their own jar to work toward filling.  Have you ever been to a store with three kids ages 5 and under?  That's why we don't have a second jar yet.

Hitting and being aggressive is always a fail (mainly because it makes me crazy).  Reward jars have proven to be a huge win in our house!  I've even heard them complimenting each other!  Say, what?!?