His New Addiction

Last week, Caeden learned how to cut with scissors!  What a small, but exciting milestone!  Being a former teacher, I'm always excited when he learns to do small things like this!  I was pretty proud of him, for only being a young two-year-old!  Here he is: holding the paper with one hand, and cutting with the other!!!  This is his new favorite thing to do!  It was the first thing he asked to do after eating breakfast this morning... :)

Next, we are working on learning how to:
ride a tricycle
hop on one foot
put on his jacket.

To stay, or not to stay...

That is the question!....that Caeden wondered in his head last night.  Caeden had his first night OUT of a crib last night - He slept in a toddler bed for the first time.  He went to Nana & Papa's this weekend, so we took the opportunity to clean out his room, put up his dresser, pack away his diaper pail, wipes warmer, baby blankets, etc.  And convert his bed!  It was great to be able to do this without a 2 year old walking around behind us making a bigger mess than we already had!

When he got home Sunday night, he was so excited to see his "big boy bed!"  He crawled right in, laid down and said, "This how I sleep!"  HA!  After bath, PJ's, prayers, and books, Daddy told Caeden "When you wake up tomorrow, you say 'Mommy, Get up please!"  A few minutes later when Reid laid him down, he yelled, "Mommy, get up please!"  Ha!  At least, he knew what to say - just not at the right time!  He then proceeded to cry, which isn't normal for him.  So, I went back in to reassure him and left the room.  He stayed in there and went to sleep!  When he woke up this morning, he started whining, "Mommy, up please!!"  I was just glad he stayed in his bed!

Now, I'm perfectly aware that this is common the first several nights, since it's still new to the toddler.  So, we'll continue to see as time goes on, how he does.  But at least we've had a good start! 

PS - I have to admit, I was a little sick at my stomach when we were working in his room.  I kept re-playing the day we were in his room putting together his crib...when he was in my stomach...and now we were taking it down.  Ugh...kinda sad...but I know we can't keep him in a crib forever! ;)

Shopping Rhea Lana!!!

Okay, this is my last chance to call all shoppers!!!  Again, if you know me well enough, you'll know my top 3 favorite times of the year are:
1) CHRISTMAS!
2) My son's birthday!
3) Rhea Lana's!!!

Luckily, I get to experience Rhea Lana's twice a year, as opposed to once-a-year like the other two on my list. :)  I just went this past weekend to shop at the Springdale sale and I just wanted to share a few of what I got.  Now, I just want you to know that I never spend more than $5 on an item (my personal goal) and I usually buy name-brand clothes.  Most of these are Gymboree, Old Navy, or Children's Place. 

I also got Caeden a tricycle that looked brand-new!  Even my husband will tell you there wasn't a scratch on it and that the tires even looked barely used.  This is the exact same one we were going to buy him for Christmas!  It costs $50 at Walmart ($55 at Toys 'R Us) and I paid $15!!  Woohoo!  What a deal!

So, if you are needing ANYTHING related to your child, you need to get to Springdale and start shopping!  This is the one time, each season, that I shop for Caeden!  Reid is okay with the money I spend because he knows I don't shop any other time.  Since I just shopped at the Rogers sale a few months ago, I only bought 15 clothing items this time.  I paid $60 that!  If I went to Old Navy or Gymboree, I would have only gotten 3-4 outfits for that price!  This is why I'm such a huge fan!  I'm putting the location and hours below in case you choose to shop!  Good luck on good finds!!

Location: Ozark Center Point Place in Springdale (At the intersection of I-540 & Hwy 412).

Monday-Wednesday: 9am-7pm
Thursday: 9am-3pm
Friday: 9am-7pm (Items are Half-Price!!)
Saturday: 8am-2pm (Items are Half-Price!!)

Picking the Perfect Pumpkin!

Saturday morning we went to the Right Choices Corn Maze with my family.  This is an amazing place in Southwest City, MO that's about an hour from here.  If you're looking for something fun to do with your family this fall, you definitely need to check it out!

First, we went to the pumpkin patch.  Caeden picked out his favorite big and little pumpkin!

Then we went to the little farm zoo....We saw ducks, goats, chickens, turkeys, pigs, and sheep.

Next, Caeden went down the big hill slide.  It's basically a piece of plastic colvert going down a hill.  The kids sit on a potato sack while they slide down - Caeden LOVED this!

We then went on a hayride.  Caeden's favorite part was throwing the hay...

And after the hayride came the Corn Box!  This was a big sandbox filled with corn kernels.  Caeden had fun "throwing" the sand, burying his feet, and just rolling around in it.

Next, mommy and Caeden rode on the Cow Train.  This was a short 4-minute ride through part of the corn maze - the perfect attention span for a 2 year old!

Then, he and daddy shot the Corn Cannon.  Daddy helped aim for the target, and let Caeden push the button.

And lastly, was the Corn Jump!  This was like a big inflatable pillow.  Caeden had fun running back and forth and of course, jumping!

We had a blast!  I always love doing things like this on the weekends!  It's just a fun way to spend time together as a family!

Fun with Fall!

The last few weeks, I've been doing some fall crafts with Caeden & Ella.  We've been talking about the season Fall and reading books on the subject.  Before we made our crafts, we went walking in our neighborhood and looked for "fall" items: colored leaves, pinecones, acorns, dried leaves, small twigs, etc.  They each got a large ziploc bag to put their "treasures" in.  And here are the various crafts we made:

Leaf Rubbings
I put some leaves under their white paper, set out some fall-colored crayons and showed them how to color over the leaves.  I then let them have a try - You can tell which ones I did and which ones the kids did. :)  But I still thought they did a great job!  This picture is now hanging on our fridge.

Leaves Go Crunch!
Before the kids started this craft, I cut out a large leaf shape from yellow construction paper.

                                 

I then let the kids crunch and crumble up the leaves we had collected.  I gave them each a plate with the crumbled leaves and some glue (with a paintbrush).

They brushed the glue onto their leaf shape.

Then sprinkled the small leaf bits onto the glue.

So fun!  This is also hanging on our fridge!

Leafy Placemats
This one I forgot to take a picture of.  But I cut out a sheet of wax paper, and let them put some colorful leaves on top.  Then, while they were off playing, I put another sheet of wax paper on top and ironed them together (make sure you put a thin cloth between the iron & waxed paper). This fuses the wax paper together, with the leaves in the middle.  I then cut out a construction paper frame to glue around it.  Ta-da!  They each had a fall placemat to eat on!  Sorry there's no picture with this one!  Caeden's only lasted a few days and I forgot to take a picture...

Fall Hats
For our last craft, I gave them each a strip of posterboard. In front of them, I put their pile of "treasures" we had collected from our neighborhood.  I had to use the hot glue gun for this craft, so after I put a dot of glue onto the board, they would press a piece of nature onto it.  When they were all done, I fit the hat around their heads, and stapled the ends together.  Hee-hee!  They look kinda funny, but are still cute! 

Here is one more thing I plan on doing this week....We're going to make Cinnamon Leaves for a snack!  I'm going to spread some butter on a piece of toast, and then use my leaf-shaped cookie cutter to cut the toast.  Then I will let Caeden & Ella sprinkle a cinnamon/sugar mixture onto their toast....and eat it!  Yum!  I'm sure they'll enjoy this craft the best!  Hope you choose one of these to try with YOUR little one..and have some fun with fall!

Toddler Summary: 25 mos old

This is a summary of what all Caeden was doing at 25 mos old:

EATING
As usual, Caeden is still a great eater!  He just eats his 3 mail meals, plus an afternoon snack.  His favorite foods are hot dogs, grapes, strawberries, and Raisin Bran Crunch.  He sees his daddy eating this cereal every morning, which is why he loves to eat it now too!  I don't complain though, since it's pretty healthy overall.  In the last month or so, he hasn't really liked cheese anymore.  He'll eat it if it's mixed into a recipe, but not just plain string cheese, like he used to.

PLAYING
Caeden's favorite toys really vary by day.  He's still into his trains, and loves to watch Barney when it's on T.V.  We still do Table Time every day and he likes to do our fun activities and songs as we learn about the Bible.  He's getting much better at playing with friends.  He is more willingly sharing and taking turns.  He is becoming more independent in his play, which is great!  And he is doing much better at asking me for help when he needs it.  We started "roomtime" this last month - advancing up from "blanket time."  He's done a great job!  I think the first few times were an adjustment for him because he wasn't used to having that much space to play in during this designated time.  We've also done lots of fun "fall" crafts these past few weeks (more about that in a soon-to-come post).

SLEEPING
Caeden is still sleeping fine.  He sleeps around 11ish hours at night and between 1 hr 15 min to 1 hr 30 min for his nap.  Of course, he still has to have his beloved blankie to sleep with.  He's still in a crib....We've talked about moving him to a toddler bed soon, but I'm just so nervous and don't want to do it too early. 

LANGUAGE
Caeden is talking more and more every day!  Everytime we see family and friends, someone always comments on how much he's talking in full sentences.  Reid and I can understand most words that he's saying, and others can probably understand 75% of what he says.  He's suddenlyinto playing peek-a-boo lately and says "Peet-ee-boo!"  So cute!

DISCIPLINE
We still use time-out for Caeden most of the time.  But when he straight up defies us and is very deliberate about it, he gets a spanking. We never do this in front of other people and we always explain to him why he's getting a spanking, why he's getting punished THIS way, and how many spankings he will get.  We then hold him and comfort him afterwards.  But really, this doesn't happen too often. 

LEARNING
Caeden is always amazing me by the things he's learning.  He knows all of this colors and we're working on his shapes.  He knows a circle, but that's it.  He guesses on the rest. ;)  He's also been into singing more.  One of his favorites is Jesus Loves Me, which he calls "I Know."  So if he wants to sing "I Know,"  that means Jesus Loves Me.  We've also been learning a lot about the season fall recently.  When we're driving in the car, he now points out when he sees red or yellow leaves. 

OUR SCHEDULE
7:00--Wake up, Eat Breakfast, Get Ready
8:00--Free Playtime
9:30--Outings (This is usually when we go to the library, play group, walmart, etc)
10:30--Table Time/Crafts
11:00--Playtime with mommy
11:30--Pick up toys & Lunch
12:00--Free Playtime
1:00--Nap
2:30--Video Time (Caeden is a slow waker-upper)
3:00--Snack
3:15--Blanket Time
3:45--Play Outside
5:15--Playtime with Daddy
6:00--Dinner & Family Playtime
7:00--Bath & PJ's
8:00--Bedtime!

Of course, these times are approximate, but we try to stick to this basic routine most days.

Looking to make some extra money???

If you have clothes you children have outgrown – this blog post is for you!


If you have toys, books, or puzzles that your children don’t play with anymore – this blog post is for you!

If you have lots of clothes in your kids' closet that are the wrong size for the season – this blog post is for you!

And lastly, if you want to make some extra money – this blog post is for you!!!

You can get rid of these extra items and make some great money…at the NWA Rhea Lana’s sale! For those of you who are great friends with me, you know I’m a big fan of this bi-annual sale! This is the time I go shopping for Caeden each season, to get name-brand clothes at a great price! I also use this opportunity to sell items I know he will never wear or has only worn a few times.

WHY SHOULD I CONSIGN WITH RHEA LANA’S?
• Get rid of un-needed items in your house that are just making “clutter!” (Be honest – we all have this!)

• You’ll make some great money (I know if I sold Caeden’s clothes in a garage sale, I would only get $2 MAX for some of his outfits! If I sell them at Rhea Lana’s, I can make double that! At a garage sale, I would maybe sell his toys for a quarter each. But at Rhea Lana’s I would probably make $2-3 per toy.)

• You get to shop early, before the public! (Which means you can replace all those clothes you’re selling, by buying name-brand clothes at a cheap price for YOUR kiddos!)

• You can choose to send your unsold items to charity – which means YOU don’t have to drop them off.

• It’s much easier than running your own garage sale!!!!

WHAT DO I DO IF I WANT TO CONSIGN?
The process to sell your items at Rhea Lana’s is so easy! Here are the steps below:

• Join mailing list
• Start cleaning out your closets!
• Wash & iron clothes; Clean shoes & toys
• Package them together as explained HERE
• Take prepared items to Ozark Center Point Place on October 11-13.
• Shop early! You’ll get in on Saturday, October 15th at 1:00pm!
• Make 70% on sold items
• During the week, watch your sales LIVE online or on your phone.
• Collect your consignor check and unsold items on Sunday, October 23rd.
• If you choose, you can leave your unsold items to be donated to various foster families in NWA and to the Potter’s House.
• They GUARANTEE all items to be accounted for!

**You can also read a short tutorial HERE!

WHAT CAN I SELL AT RHEA LANA’S?
• High quality fall/winter children’s clothes (don’t forget jackets, winter coats, and snow boots!)
• Shoes
• Pajamas
• Toys (small and large) Remember your: play kitchens, tool benches, and outdoor playsets
• Books, puzzles, DVD’s
• Baby Equipment (changing tables, gliders, Jumparoos, high chairs, car seats, strollers, Bumbos, pack ‘n plays)
• Maternity clothes

WHERE IS RHEA LANA’S?
This Fall Rhea Lana’s is going to be held at Ozark Point Place in Springdale. This is at the intersection of I-540 & Hwy 412 (Next to Jose’s, Hobby Lobby, & Fun City!)


All right, hopefully I’ve inspired some of you to join with me in consigning this fall!!! I promise you won’t be disappointed! For those of you just interested in shopping, keep watching for another blog post soon!