5 Ways to Eat An Apple...

Who says there is only 1 way to eat an apple?

I'll give you five adorable methods..

{one - the sweet as apple pie}

he'll bring the sugar 

{two - the pucker up}

he's sweet on them sour apples!

{three - the ninja assassin}

this apple didn't stand a chance!

{four - the apple with a side of cheese}

this face says it all...

{five - the roundabout}

the only real option when you're front chompers 

have gone a missin'!

Our Wonder*filled Week will be posted in the next day or two, but first I need to hit the hay {we saw lots of the stuff today!}.  It has been a LONG week. Ending tonight with the vacuum simultaneously breaking along with the rear window of our SUV.   Yep the latter was the one that hurt more than a bit.  The only vehicle that fits us all.  {ugh.}

So these pictures, of course the highlights of our day and what we choose to remember!!

It was also 80 degrees here and gorgeous {minus the swarms of bees}.  

We've picked apples in winter coats and now shorts, 

that's Chicago weather for ya!  

These sweet faces are all we need!!

Until soon,

{michelle}

EEK! Halloween Decor.. {will take your arachnophobia to a whole new level!}

I am so not into the blood, gore, and guts of Halloween {yuck!!}

I am a wuss about scary movies.  

I just like making costumes for my boys, pumpkin cupcakes, chili, trick-or-treating, 

watching It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown,

now that's my speed.  

I am so in trouble when my boys want to be scary, gross stuff.  

My Halloween decor is pretty limited, so I am excited to add this little project into the mix.

Especially since the Mr. is afraid of spiders.  I am not their biggest fan, but there is something

about finding that thing your husband would run from...it's good knowledge {buahhahhahha!}.

{framed eek}

The eek is wrapped in yarn, 

like it was just spun by the creepy-crawly himself!!

{with black spiders}

{added in a few punches of color}

I like both versions...which one is your favorite?

I'll show you how to make it in a few simple steps.

You'll need:

a frame, you could use glossy black spray paint on an old frame

felt or plastic spiders

wooden letters

yarn

tape

crafting glue

First take your wooden letter, wrap the yarn around starting at one end
{tie a knot on the backside of the letter}.  Keep going until your little
fingers want to give out or until you reach the end of the letter.
Dab a little glue to secure yarn end.  Do this with all letters.

I chose a white yarn with a little silver sparkly to glisten like a real spiderweb!

Tie a string to the top of the letter.

{love the fabric it's for another project, but I should have chosen one that
didn't distract so much, whoops!}

Grab your frame {spray painting an old frame in a glossy finish is a great idea!}
Use remaining yarn to make a spider web and secure with tape at ends.

 
Thread letters through the spiderweb and secure string to top of frame.
Hanging at different lengths adds some fun and dimension.

I reused the chalkboard background from the boys' second birthday

and drew on a few webs and spiders.  It will make a fun Halloween party backdrop!
Best thing, when all is said and done, just wipe off and reuse!

Another peek...at the eek...{couldn't resist!}

Linking up to Maggie's fab & fun everything Halloween party...

Now get your scare on!!

{michelle}

Scarecrow Festival

A few years ago, when Ethan was first in preschool, I served on their board.

One of the things I was responsible for, along with a very awesome partner, was

the school's entry into Scarecrow Festival.

I still have memories of painting the castle and transporting it there.
Trying to setup among hundreds of entries {pure craziness}.

My favorite part is the yellow brick road made up of  footprints from all of the
children in the preschool, so sweet!

If you're in town, the festival is this weekend and it really is very cool!! Thousands of people attend.

Aside from an entire massive area devoted to all kinds of scarecrows in many different categories, {mechanical, family, traditional, children's, whimsical} 

there is entertainment, carnival rides, and the weather this weekend is supposed to be gorgeous!!

{click on the link below for more info}

Scarecrow Festival {St. Charles}

Maybe we'll see you there!

{michelle}

Kids Money Management Jars

This project is super simple and a great way for kids to visualize money management.  

SAVE, SHARE, and SPEND jars!

{the 3 S's of money management}

E had all kinds of money banks from an electronic ATM to a piggy bank, and more.  We still use some, but I wanted a way to have everything in one place centralized for two reasons.  

{1} So he could visualize what to do with money he received and 

{2} To have a central, visible spot for us to keep track of his money 

and teach him about decisions to make with it.  

Last winter on a trip to IKEA, I was on a hunt for jars for this project and we

found the perfect ones, for $2.99, affordable especially if you have seen the price of 

piggy banks these days.  

{IKEA}

I had ordered some adhesive chalkboard labels to place onto the jars.

You could also use chalkboard contact paper.  

{ETSY-Bradens Grace Wall Art}

Decide whether you want these jars to be for the family, maybe something you are all saving for, or to have individual sets for all of your kids.  For now, we have one set as E is the only one working on the money management concept, my other lil' monkeys just know how to spend it!

I used SAVE, SHARE, and SPEND to teach as it is easy to remember.

Ethan understands that share doesn't mean go give your money to your friend,

although he has offered to do so before.  The share is for something he wants to be

involved in, whether it be support programs through church, or making a lemonade stand for the Red Cross as he did for our Spring garage sale.  It gives him the opportunity to choose a cause other than what we do as a family.  SAVE goes into his bank account, not saving for a rainy day, 

that's the SPEND jar here.  He ends up saving up in his spend jar.  

There is a lot of flexibility with the jars so you can adapt them to how you want to teach your kids about their money whether you do allowance or not, etc. 

These jars have helped him become more responsible with his money and realize the value of saving for something he wants.  Sometimes he'll even take something out of his spend jar to share.  We usually compensate him when he's not looking, but the point is he also knows how to contribute to a much bigger need than a new Wii game.  

Since monopoly money is not accepted {at least in our little corner of the world},

it's good to give an understanding of money in a kid-friendly format.  

What you mean that plastic card you use {debit} 

and those papers you write {checks}

aren't for free?!

I would love to know, how do you teach your children about finances?

{michelle}

mother*wonder Monday {three} - Quality Time for Older Sibs

Happy Monday friends!  This topic resonates with me...

Making time and creating breathing space for older siblings. 

After some time playing hoops with E last night, it always impresses upon me the importance of that time together one-on-one.  While I never forget that he needs it, sometimes it can be tricky to make it happen.  I am also empathetic to the fact that before his brothers arrived, he always had me to himself.  I want to be fair about it, and make sure everyone gets some alone time with mom and pops {look for an upcoming post on that}, I think he may crave it a bit more because it is after all how he began.

Overnight our family went from this...

to this...which is a lot for that amazing little guy in the middle to handle.

While our situation is unique in that the rest of my brood does not know what it's like to be a "singleton," a common dilemma is making the older child(ren) know they are just as
awesome and loved as always regardless of how many they are big bro or big sis to.

A few ideas that we have tried that E has LOVED...
{some free activities and some that have required some planning}

I also found it best to be up front about the time we had, but also very into it, so he knew that time was going to be the absolute best no matter how much I wanted to crawl into bed instead.  We also chose more time out for E as opposed to time out for us.  We knew it would speak volumes to him.

Leaving Home
If you're lucky enough to get a few hours out...

*Round of mini-golf and ice-cream
*Trip to science surplus store {for at home projects below}
*Bowling, they love it!
*Rollerskating or Iceskating
*Arcade and pizza
*See a play at a local children's theater, super inexpensive,
we have 3 near us with tickets around $10.
*Minor league baseball game

*Museum/planetarium overnights, places like the Adler Planetarium {Chicago} offer an astro overnight, if you stay until 10pm instead of overnight, the fee is less than half
and you really don't miss a thing.

*Night downtown, play, museum, fun place for dinner...all of the above for something extra special.

{free}
*At Christmastime make a scavenger hunt for lights...did he see that leg lamp?!
*Trip to park and library
*Grab a basketball, soccerball, whatever and go play!
*Bikeride with no destination or plan
*Weekend free movie showings
*PJ party at local bookstore, Friday nights here at Barnes and Noble

I also tried to save any giftcards we had to be used during these times to offset some of the cost.  
E joined the reading program at our local library when he was 4 
and the prizes were museum, arcade, ballpark passes.
It's good for them to know they contributed to the fun too.  

Staying Home
Trying to get some time in while feeding, changing diapers, rocking to sleep, etc.
On the days E was not in preschool, I would try to setup a morning activity for him,
one that I could either talk him through or check in on, something easily understood.

*A science experiment.  You can find so many using regular household items online,
or get a kit like this one with everything in it, the experiments build on one another...
Truth be told JoAnn Fabrics sells so many of these and the 40 and 50% off coupons apply!

{via Fat Brain Toys}

*Create activity bags like these...

{via Pinterest}

*Digging, excavation kits...

{via Amazon}

*Before sibling arrives, create ziploc bags for projects that can be easily explained/set up.
These books were great inspiration.  

                                               {via Amazon}                                                                      {via Amazon}

We did not have a plan every day, but I felt like having a plan for some days made me feel like I had say in how much wii was played, tv was watched, etc.  Games are also great, I-SPY does not take much!

Keeping Routine
While it can be so fun for an older child to play with visiting family and friends, we found E felt most secure when he knew specific routines were done by us...bedtime, taking to school, etc.  Yes it was hard to load up 4 carseats with babies twice a day when I didn't have help, but it made all the difference in the world to E and his brothers enjoyed getting out too, even if just for a ride, I did too.

At the end of the day, all they REALLY care about is time with YOU doing something fun!

Taking time for mother*wonder,
{michelle}

Anthro, Me, and TeePees

I had to laugh today when I peeked at my new Anthro catalog and saw 

this beautiful tee-pee.

anthropologie.com

It reminds me of this one {grin}.  

Of course the Anthro version is much more sophisticated and for a different audience.  

tutorial

With my boys I definitely had to secure the sides up or it would be pulled down or ripped easily,

but the Anthro version is so pretty like it is.  

I love ours too, dare I say we made it first? {smile}

Ahh, having given 3 years of my life to managing Anthropologie Home at our store here

{after leaving Corporate America}, it makes me smile to see the similarity.  I loved even the small Kids section we had within Home, it was so me and what I thought about for my kids.  

I would not wish in a million years to be there versus what I am doing now

{this is a lot less drama!}, but I definitely have respect for what I did there and what I learned to do, and some really special people I met.  

These days, my Anthro nod isn't high fashion or  hanging chandeliers from branches...

but it appears we are still on the same page a bit.  Funny how that happens!

michelle

Our {Wonderfilled} Week 6

Hello there!!  

I have missed writing and am back!  We had a garage sale this weekend to prepare in just two short days, and some important doctor visits and follow-ups, but I am all-in to be grateful for this past week!

 Last Sunday I delayed Our Wonder*filled Week and wrote about Ethan's greatest triumph.  

So, this week I have some thankfulness resonating from the prior week too.  

I was super grumpy from all that I was trying to accomplish.  I needed a breather.  Tonight I grabbed E after dinner,told him to put his shoes on, found the basketball buried in our laundry room bench and took him to shoot some hoops.  We had so much fun, and I realized I need to do that more often.  I always loved basketball and it was so nice to see that part of me is still there.  On the way home, we laughed and chatted and then...

154.  I love you mom.

{made my day}

155. waiting for the first taste of fall, just-baked pumpkin muffins

{seriously, spontaneous photo, so sweet}

155. Saturday morning silliness

{the bookshelves are attached to the wall}

156.  having enough brothers to make a train!

{where's our engine and caboose?}

157. boys who love to color, especially Griffin and his purple crayon

{I think there is a book about that one...}

158. silly. silly. and pretending to be serious.

{there's the lil' engineer}

159.  the complete awe of having a big brother who can build very cool things.

160. having the truth set you free...with Him all things ARE possible.  

Linking up to the gratitude movement going on at Ann's lovely blog...

Thank you for joining me in *wonder*,

{michelle}