Nightly Bible Time

Tonight I got out the Bible we got AJ for Easter and we started what I hope to be our NIGHTLY Bible time. The Bible we got is AMAZING! It is called My First Hands On Bible and looks like this:

Let me tell you, this is so easy to read and fun! I love it! I high suggest it! I pulled out the Bible and I explained to the kids this would be a nightly thing. We are going to focus on one story for a few days before we move on to the next. I set an alarm in my phone to remind me to do this story time every night. I am sure it will come naturally after a few weeks, but it's new right now and we need the reminder. I really want this to become a nightly thing. As they get older it will change but the point is to spend time everyday talking about the Lord and praying as a FAMILY.
   The kids seems to really enjoy this time but it is going to take some time to get them to understand this is a time to show respect and listen. I want them to have fun with this and enjoy it but I also want them to be able to sit and really engage in what is being said. That part is going to take some work but the activities in the this bible really help.
  I will update on this in a few weeks when I find out how long we will focus on each story and stuff like that. It is going to take some trial and error and some research before I find out what works for us.

Back To Church We Go

    It has been a long time since I have blogged, I miss it. I decided today would be the best time to start up again. I want to use this as a way to document the progress my family makes. We have been through a lot as a family but we have been track to improve our lives. Things started to take a turn for the better once we decided we should start church again and begin to raise our children to know the Lord. This past year we dropped the ball on that. But recently we picked it up again. I think it was Easter of this year that we realized we failed our kids majorly when they thought the day was all about the eggs and the candy. I felt awful and like a failure.
    During some of the most important changes in our life, we forgot about God and we forgot that we needed he and he needed us. We forgot to teach our children. Our nightly prayers slowly faded away, Sunday was no longer made for worship. We fell back into our old habits. We have been teaching Sunday school for the Kindergarten age group this month and earlier this year. We have been doing that off and on since we joined the church back in 2010. I say off and on because they switch out volunteers every month. We do love teaching, A LOT! It is fun and it is a great way to serve, however, I think at this time we need to be at the service and worship with the rest of the church. Maybe once we are back on track with that we can start teaching again.
   I am really looking forward to getting back were we need and want to be.

Potty training QUEEN! (MY TIPS)

Yes, it's true! I am the QUEEN of POTTY TRAINING! No, not really. But if you ask my Junies ( A group of about 25 June Moms I have known for 4 yrs! Love y'all! BTW Happy Anniversary!!) Some of them would beg to differ. The joke about sending their kids to "Erica's potty boot camp". There really is no huge secret to it. I just prefer to get my Kids out of diapers ASAP. At 2 years I start. With AJ (My first, now 3) I did the 3 day method. Look it up on babycenter.com Basically you leave your kid diaper FREE for 3 days slowly taking them out of the house with undies on. That worked wonders for AJ. In 3 days he was out of the house wearing undies NO accidents. He did however wear pull-ups to bed for 3 or some months after this. Until he started waking up dry.

It worked so well with AJ, once Layla hit 2 I started it with her. No luck. So I bought the Potty watch. It is a timer that sings every (15, 30, or 90) minuets. Telling your kids that they should use the potty. It worked so well with Layla. She used it for a week. I would have continued to let her wear it longer, however, it is not water proof and she tried to bathe it. =p But after that week she was doing good! She did have a few accidents here and there, but she was mostly doing great! After 3-4 weeks the accidents stopped. She does still wear a diaper to bed but that will stop in time.

Now, here is why I am successful at potty training;

1) All kids are different and not everything will work for everyone! If it worked for your first kid, it may not work for your 2nd.
2) Once I go for the potty training, there is no stopping me! DO NOT switch between diapers and undies during the day! It will confuse the child. Just stock up on undies and EXPECT accidents! Always bring a extra pair of undies and pants for the first few months!
3) Don't expect the child to hold it during bed/ nap time! That is not fair! Their bladders are much smaller then yours. Unless you are getting up every 2 hours to take them potty, don't expect them to hold it. Try it with undies on, sure! But if they wet the bed, what's the big deal about diapers to bed for a few months? No biggie!
4) Take the child potty before leaving the house. AND AS SOON as you get to the store or where ever you go. Then again when you leave. It is easier to take the kid when you first get there then have to stop to clean up a accident or take them potty.

5) HAVE FAITH! IN yourself and YOUR CHILD! You can do it and I SWEAR your kid will not be wearing a diaper at their prom!

Coupons, meal plans, shopping lists.

Coupons, coupons, coupons. That is all you ever hear about these days. So I decided to give it a really try. What I hate most about it is, I feel unorganized!

Yesterday before our shopping trip I had a plan!

FIRST, I made a meal plan. You can do this for a week, two or a whole month. I made 18 different meal plans. I cleaned out or pantry to see what we had and planned around that. Let's say we where going to make Tacos. So in the pantry we have a taco kit with the seasons and the shells. So on the meal plan chart. I put Tacos, underneath I put ground beef. Because that is all we would need to make that meal. I continued like that.

After I was done I wrote down on a shopping list what we needed from the meal plan. Then added lunch meat, juice, ETC. Normal everyday things we needed. I did that off of our coupons we clipped. Say we had $1 off V8 Splash. That was the juice we would get.

So on the list I wrote. V8 Splash and next to it I wrote $1 off. I have to add we had coupons for all but the meat and about 5 other items on the list. After I have finished my list I put the coupons we would be using in a separate section of my coupon file.

At the store I tried to stick to the plan but you have to be aware, you may run into a few in store deals you can't pass up.

We came across a deal of by 10 of participating items (football promo) get $5 off at check out. I looked at the list and we where buying 6 of those items anyway. (Gerber puff, and other Gerber grads items) I had coupons for those already. $1.00 2 puffs and $2.00 off the other 4 Gerber items. So I added 4 other items from the list. The cheaper ones there where that would would use. So for buying those other 4 items, I got $8 off the Gerber items with the promo and my coupons.

Anyway, we went to Kroger and the double and triple coupons. Double up to .50 and triple up to .39. Which could make a .50 coupon a 1.00 off coupon. Easily making some items free. We did walk out with a few free items. 2 free Tic Tac (.75 off coupons) 2 free mentos gum (1.00 off coupons) and 2 free Crocker muffin mixes (.50 off coupons doubled).

We knocked about $60.00 off our bill, that is $60 we would have paid last shopping trip!

If you stay organized, it's is a lot easier to do, and I must say... IT'S FUN AND FEELS GOOD!

Give my way a try!

Do you have tips? Let me know!

Protesting naps!

So the kids normally go to bed at 8PM. Tyler gets his last feeding around 8 or 9 and is down for bed. Skyler and I then watch our show of whatever day it is. (Housewives, Grey's, Teen Mom, S.V.U, Gossip Girl, lots) Then we stay up until 12 Just to hangout and have our alone time. We are up at 7:20 every morning.

This morning I woke up to thunder and lightening around 5AM. I laid there and tried to go back to sleep (Which I can never do) Just as I was closing my eyes lightening struck what sounded like our yard. I have never heard something that loud! It even made Skyler JUMP out of bed. He never JUMPS out of bed, he is the heaviest sleeper! So it was LOUD! I waited for Layla (2) to wake up crying for me because of it. She is such a shy scared girl. She needs Mommy at the slightest loud noise. When she didn't wake up, I was relieved and started to close my eyes when I realized Tyler woke up. I tried to get him back to bed, finally @ 7AM he was sleeping and I was too. So I got 20 minuets of sleep before the alarm went off.

I knew Tyler was going to be cranky! I got up with AJ and Layla and fed them breakfast. Around 10:30 I laid them in bed with a movie. They nap around 11. So I figured they could watch one show and then go to bed. I needed time to put the cranky butt to bed. So I got him to bed and turned the kids TV off. About 20 minuets later, AJ walks in trying to trick me into thinking he napped. "I took a nap, and now I am up!" Nice try! So I lay him back down and Layla wakes up! That was the end of that! Normally they take a 2 hour nap.

I feed them lunch and they take a bath. I then lay them back down to try nap time again. Layla starts screaming so after about 15 minuets of SCREAMS I got her out. AJ was asleep. So I figured she wasn't sleepy because of her 20 minuet nap earlier.

Now I am dreading dinner time! I know she is going to be so cranky. It's hash night. We always have hash the day after steak and it so yummy! One of our faves! Since it's hash, it will be a quick one pan few plates meal to clean up after. Then Skyler and I will take Ty and go shopping while his Mom stays with AJ and Layla.

I dread the days when my kids protest naps. Normally I stand strong and know the will eventually fall asleep but I can't let them scream forever! I dread these days for a few reasons; 1) NO ME TIME! 2) I expect cranky screaming kids @ about 5-6 PM when Daddy gets home. 3) I know the will fight bedtime extra hard at night. and 4) Sometimes the crankiness spills over into the next day and screws with out routine.

10-10-10

Hello ALL! I decided to start this blog to keep my Family and Friends up to date with our Family. So Yesterday was 10-10-10, Some say it's a lucky day. I don't know about that, but for us is was a good one.

The Children and I were baptized. It was emotional for me. It took a lot to not cry. I didn't want to look silly. But I held it in and enjoyed the moment. Growing up, I was taught getting baptized was something that was done by choice. I didn't grow up in church but I always wanted to go and I remember asking my Mom why I wasn't baptized. When Skyler and I met, he told me that his Family believed it was something to be done when you were old enough to decide on your own.

The last few Sunday night we sat through a Bible class. The topic came up of why Children are baptized in the Methodist Church. The explanation made sense to both of us and we decided that is what works for our Family. When the kids get into there pre-teen, early teen years, the will go to conformation, confirming their approval with our decision to baptize them.

After we were baptized, we became official members of the Church. It was a great day in Church.

After Church Skyler grilled the family some burgers, yummy. And I took a nap with the kiddos while Skyler watched the Rangers game (We lost!) About 3 o'clock, some family friends came over and we had a painting party, we painted some plaster house and figures. Then Skyler (I have a great Husband!) grilled some steaks.

That is my definition of a GREAT SUNDAY!