stop light idea

I am sure everyone who has kids in school already knows about this, but I thought it was cute. The teacher has a paper stop light at the front of the class with green, yellow, and red. She then has a little close pin with the childs name on it clipped onto the side of the green light. If your child stays on green (which is good) she/he gets a skittle or a small treat at the end of the day. If they stay on green the whole week then he/she gets to pick a prize from the treasure chest. Conner does this at school and it seems to keep him on track. He has only been on yellow once, which quite frankly I am a little surprised, witnessing his attitude at home. Anyways just thought it was a cute idea to share.

Reveal Product Review

I found a product today that I just felt I needed to share. Even if it's just with Deon and Sarah since I think we are the only ones who ever get on here. I got the new Rubbermaid Reveal mop today. It was a costly $25, which for me was really hard to justify, but then I thought of my floors that get mopped once every two-three months and I thought it was time to break down and get a mop that I would actually use. I LOVE it. It is so simple to use. And the best part is, it has a removable micro-fiber cloth that you can throw in the wash. It has a spray bottle attached so you just pull the trigger on the handle and it sprays the cleaner. Plus, you can use whatever cleaner you want so you don't have to buy special cleaner. I prefer the Orange scented Pine-Sol. (Or the Orange Mr. Clean is the former is not available.) It uses a fraction of the amount that you would use if you made a whole mop bucket of cleaner. Plus, you can just leave the extra in the bottle and use it next time so there is no waste. You can buy extra bottles (see below) if you want to keep more than one cleaner at a time. (For instance, if you have wood floors and want to keep a vinegar/water cleaner and a pine-sol cleaner for your tile.) Plus, it is much cleaner since you are using a new spray of cleaner evey few feet, not sticking it back in a dirty bucket. PLUS, I know, there are a lot of pluses, it is so light and easy to take up the stairs so I actually mop my upstairs bathrooms. (I dreaded carrying a mop bucket full of water up the stairs, but now, no need.) The pad just velcros on so it is really easy to put on and take off. You can buy replacement pads if you need to and they are only about $5 which is about the same as a regular mop head, but it won't need to be replaced as often. So, I guess what I am saying is, it is worth the $25. Oh, and it swivels to get into tight places.

Haircutting

My friend Jessica had a good idea for cutting boys hair: I have an idea because of our recent haircutting experience. For a boy, let him pretend shave with daddy's electric shaver with the cap on (dad holding it) and then when it's time for hair, let them hold the clippers while on, feeling the buzz, then feed them pretzels or their favorite non-sticky snack (cheeze sticks and hair don't mix- we used pretzel sticks) and let dad buzz the hair more easily with safe plastic measured settings on the clippers.

We should have done this the first time we cut Charlie's hair since he hated the buzzing a little much. He's finally getting used to it. Thanks Jess!

Macaroni and Cheese, I can't help myself!

So I was just thinking about this today. I love mac and Cheese, but not just any mac and cheese, Kraft Mac and Cheese. I refuse to eat the regular Kraft Mac and Cheese it has to be in the form of spirals or cartoon shapes, it just tastes better that way. So that is my thought for the day, Oh and that's probably why I am not loosing any weight. Ha ha.

Bear Check-up

Aurora was asked to take a Teddy Bear/Stuffed Animal to preschool today. I thought they were going to do a teddy bear picnic, but they actually did a whole day of bear related activities. One of my favorites is that they did a Bear Check up. Then they had a little piece of paper that they wrote all the "stats" on. It said:
BEAR CHECK-UP
My Bear Went to the doctor today and this is what we found out about him.
Weight ____________
Height ____________
Age________________
Does your bear have a fever? _________________
What color is your bear? _____________________
What is your Bears name? ______________________

Then they got to weigh, measure and observe their animals. Aurora actually took her giraffe who according to the piece of paper is named Moap. I have no idea where she go that from.

Primary Program

My ward had their Primary Program yesterday and they had a good idea I thought I would share. The music leader stood in the back of the chapel on a big box so all the kids would see her. Then next to her was a woman holding a helium mylar balloon on a string. The louder the kids sang, the higher the balloon went up. It also kept the kids attention. I just thought it was smart. Unrelated to the balloon, afterwards the kids all got kazoos from the primary presidency for doing such a good job. Which usually I would think, Crazy, right? But they loved it! So if you are looking for a cheap but totally fun prize for good behavior, I would get your kids a kazoo.

Coloring pages

My boys have really been into coloring lately. I decided to let them each print out 5 coloring pages a day off of the computer. If you go to google and type in, "kids coloring pages free," it will bring up literally hundreds of coloring pages to color. You can also specify search. My kids are really into spiderman, spongebob, sharks and dinosaurs. This activity has kept my kids busy for HOURS! Love it.
They have even started coloring princess pictures for their aunts. So don't be surprised if you get a bunch of princess pictures in the mail.

Working Out!

okay so I have officially started working out again. I have also stopped eating sugar during the week. I think not eating sugar is harder than working out. So if anyone would like to join me in not eating sugar, I could really use some motivation. I still eat sugar on the weekends, but eventually I would like to go without sugar all together. Let me know if you are up for it and we can have some sort of bet going.

from Deon