When the kids are away, does Mommy play?

My oldest two kids go to school.  Hunter is in 3rd grade and Hayden is in 1st grade.  They have both asked me on numerous occasions what their 2 year old brother and I do all day while they are in school.  Some of the things they think we do are sort of silly.  They have made me giggle.

*Do you go to Legoland?

*Do you go to Six Flags?

*(after learning we had gone to Target)  Did he get to look at the toys?  Did he get a new toy?

(Surely I am not the only Mom that can't take a trip to Wal-Mart or Target with kids without walking through the toy section..)

*Did you go on a bike ride?  (This is sometimes a yes.  I need exercise, and I have a chair attached to my bike for Wyatt.)

*Did you go swimming?  (We don't have a pool, and the public pools are closed now.  Well, at least the outdoor ones are...)

*Did you go to the museum?  (They are talking about the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History.  We have a membership, and we do sometimes go during the day for an hour or two.  They all LOVE this place.)

*Did you play Lego Star Wars? (They are referring to the PS3 game.  I don't play video games, and I assure you the 2 year doesn't either.)

*Did he go to McDonald's for lunch?  

*Did you play with my toys?

*Did you read my books?

*Did you go to the park?  (Sometimes when it's nice out, we do this.)

They really do worry about this stuff!  I tell them that the majority of the day is spent doing craft projects, playing with playdoh and Duplo blocks, and practicing ABC's, colors, and shapes and cleaning the house.  Sometimes we go to play dates also.  They get so jealous if Wyatt gets to do something that they don't.  I think they don't think about all the fun stuff they get to do at school, and that they got to spend time at home with Mommy when they were 2 years old also.

Silly boys. 

Gutzy Gear Review

Have you heard of Gutzy Gear?  It is the newest, coolest backpack accessory for elementary age kids!  See the pic?  That's my oldest son.  He's in 3rd grade, and all his friends at school are asking his where'd he get them and how can they get some for themselves!

Each package comes with two straps and one patch.  The Gutzy Gear straps can be everything from Smileys to food to animals and sport!  My oldest son loves the food patches while my middle son who is almost 7 and in the 1st grade loves the guitar and music patches and the animals.  There is something for just about every kid!

Not only can Gutzy Gear be used on your back pack straps, but you can also use them on a duffle bag or suit case, guitar strap, skateboard strap, or even a seat belt!  I don't know the safety factors involved in using a Gutzy Gear strap cover on a seat belt, and I am not suggesting it, but it doesn't seem much different than the covers you can purchase that are made for that purpose and Gutzy Gear can be personalized!

This is MY favorite part, though.  They aren't iron on patches and they aren't sew on patches!!  They are made with SUPER strong velcro on the back!  How cool is that?!  That way the kids can move them around and change them out all on their own!

All of the kids that came to the party we had and that we've given the Gutzy Gear to have LOVED it!  I haven't heard any negative feedback at all.  The only thing I have heard people ask is where they can get more of the patches.  A friend of mine lives in North Dallas, and she said she saw some at the Wal-Mart near her house, however I live in North Forth Worth, (about an hour's drive from her) and I haven't seen the patches for sale anywhere around here yet.  I am sure they will be popping up in stores everywhere very soon.  They are just too cool!

Thank you so much for letting us try out the Gutzy Gear and share them with our friends!


(Disclaimer: All opinions are my own.  I received this item to review and keep and was not compensated for doing so.)

If you live in DFW, check out this great deal Legoland Discovery Center and Sea Life Aquarium in Grapevine have coming up for 9/11!

In rememberance of the 11th anniversary of the tragedy occurring on 9/11, Sea Life Aquarium and Legoland Discovery Center at Grapevine Mills Mall will offer FREE admission to active and retired U.S. military, police, firefighters and emergency medical services personnel, and their immediate family members visiting on September 11. A valid service identification must be presented upon entry to receive complimentary admission to each attraction.
I just love both of these attractions, and to see them do something like this for those that do so much for our communities and our country is wonderful!
        

First Day of School for a New Year

This morning came way too early.  I had the alarm set for 5:45am, and got up just after 6am.  It is the first day of school today for my oldest two children!  My oldest is in 3rd grade, and my middle son is in 1st grade.
They dressed in new 'school' clothes (i.e., regular clothes that are new and they really like a lot). Since their school doesn't have uniforms or much of a dress code enforced, they can pretty much wear what they like.

I made their lunch for them with extra love and care, making it extra special for such a special day.

My 2 year old stayed the night with Grandma and PawPaw last night.  (Thank you, thank you a million thank yous! That made this morning sooo much easier!)
I know he wants to go to school, too, but he's got 3 more years at home.

I hope my kids and yours all have a fabulous first day of school and the best school year yet!

Rainy Day Scavenger Hunt

A few days ago it was raining with no sign of letting up in sight.  The boys were bored.  I knew because they kept saying "Mom! We are so bored!"  So I had to come up with a plan and quick.
I got to thinking.  What can I take three boys to do when it is raining outside that won't cost anything and they haven't done 500 times already this summer?
And then I had an Ah-Ha! moment.
Take them on an indoor scavenger hunt!  Where?  At a local thrift store!  Perfect place..lots of random stuff, big area, and we are bound to find whatever I wrote on the list.

I grabbed a sheet of paper and jotted down a few things such as:
-an orange shirt
-a purple skirt
-a baby bottle
-an action figure
-a stuffed lion
-a baby blanket
-3 different kinds of baskets (woven, plastic, milk crate, and metal, etc)
-a piece of furniture with flowers
-a funny doll
-a book about animals
and so on and so forth.

So then we put our shoes on and headed to the thrift store near our house.  They spent a good amount of time looking for the items on the list.  This was a really great team building opportunity for them.  It showed them how to work together, vigilance, and attention to detail.  They really loved this activity.  They even asked when would be the next time we went on an indoor scavenger hunt.
We didn't buy any of the items on our list, but I did find a great vintage flour sifter for $1 (SCORE!!) and a Darth Vader action figure for $.69!  (Star Wars is a really big deal in our home.)

The next time you find yourself with some bored kids and wondering what to do, try giving this a go.  Let me know what the kids thought about it!

At the Movies with Kids - "Paranorman"

I took my oldest son (8 years old) to see this movie last weekend with his friend and his friend's mom.  We got our tickets, bought our drinks and popcorn, and settled into our seats in the (almost completely full so we had to sit in the front) theater.
This movie was cute!  The animation was really amazing, and the story line was excellent.  I would compare this to "Coraline".
My son has been having nightmares of zombies since then, unfortunately, though.  There were a few times during the movie that I jumped and my son grabbed my arms in fear.  This was the scariest movie he has ever seen, though.  He has never seen anything zombies before, and so afterwards, my husband pulled out his book about different monsters and let him read about all the different ones.
Overall, I would give this movie a 4 out of 5 stars.  I think it is great for kids that are probably 7 and older.
And....keep a look out in a few months for a "Paranorman" giveaway!

Time for Back to School......Already?

School starts in less than one week, and it is hard to believe that summer has gone by so quickly.  We did a lot this summer, and I hope the boys enjoyed themselves.  Mostly, we stayed in town and did things near our home, but we did take a weekend trip to San Antonio.

They spent time at splash pads, pools, and waterparks...

(that's my 2 year old on a big kid waterslide!)

We spent some time at the Museum of Science and History...

(we love that place!!)

saw 'Beauty and the Beast' at the Children's Theater in town..

played with legos almost every day...
(of course! doesn't everyone?   This is at Legoland Discovery Center)

...we played at the hospital, too (Wyatt had surgery and was admitted for almost a week.  No worries, he is fine, and it was just for precautionary measures!)

....we went to a rodeo!  (The boys were super excited about this!  They even got real cowboy hats for the event.)

And we went to San Antonio!  (First picture is all three boys piled into one bed to watch tv before bed.  The second one is them playing in a window at a rest stop outside of Austin.  The next few were taken at the Alamo, the Riverwalk, and our awesome, wonderful, super fabulous hotel.)

And of course we had a lot of fun playing at home this summer, too..

I hope you and your family had a wonderful summer break also!  What sorts of things did you do?  When do your kids go back to school?

                                                            Thanks for stopping by!

"Twinkle Toe" movie review

We got this movie in the mail today (I won it in a giveaway).  The kids always get SO excited when they open the door and see a package sitting on the porch.  They ripped open the box and couldn't wait to watch the movie.  I was actually very surprised they were so interested in it, since they have been more interested in Star Wars lately.  Well, I was definitely wrong.  They have watched it twice so far today!  Hunter actually kept rewinding the musical numbers and dancing around the playroom.  Yay!  "Twinkle Toes" is a hit in our house!
I think it was a great movie for kids.  It teaches some great lessons about bullies, being an original, and standing up for yourself.  You can accomplish anything if you believe in yourself and put your mind to it!

I am Enough

Bubble Painting

 The boys were wanting to paint yesterday, and Wyatt was wanting to blow bubbles, so I thought to myself Why not do both?  
And that is exactly what we did!
I made a solution by mixing some dish washing liquid and water, about 50/50.  I added about 15 drops of food coloring to each cup, stirred, and added a straw so they could blow the bubbles over their papers.
They really loved this activity.

This is what they looked like after they made them, while they were still wet.

This is what the paintings look like now, after they have dried.
Aren't they great?  We will save them, and use them in a future craft.

Sensory Pasta Play

Wyatt loves to help me cook.  Sometimes, I am cooking something that he just really shouldn't be helping with because I don't want him to get hurt.  That't when I like to busy him with a small bag of alphabet pasta (10/$1 at the super market) and various sizes of bowls, spoons, and meauring cups.  I also took a piece of card stock, put on of each of the letters of the alphabet stickers on it, and let him match the pasta letters to the letters on the card stock.  This activity kept him busy for the entire time I made dinner yesterday.  When he was done playing, I put the pasta up for next time.

Color Matching Game (DIY)

I have been working with Wyatt on color recognition.  He's 2.5yrs old, so this is an important activity for him right now for his development.  I made this game for him.  It basically works like a matching game, but it's just the primary and secondary colors (red, blue, yellow, purple, orange, and green) and you say the color when you flip a card over (to help enforce the recognition).
To make these, we picked up some of the large paint chip cards from Lowe's last weekend.  I cut them into two small squares each, glued a cute scrapbook paper on the back, and waited for them to dry. Ta-da!  Free, fun, educational activity for your toddler!

New Blog, New Adventure

All three of my children love imaginative play, and that is why I am writing this blog.  Hopefully, this blog will not only inspire some of you and your children, but also continue to enrich the relationship between myself and my own three beautiful boys.
Enjoy the time spent On Imagination Lane. <3