Slow Down!

Okay so some advice to all you moms out there. SLOW DOWN! Guess what? the dishes, laundry and toys will still find there way back to the sink, and floor tomorrow. Our kids are only small for a short while. I just started to realize this when my middle child turned 3. I feel like all day I rush, rush, rush to get everything accomplished all the while yelling at my kids to sit down, calm down, stop talking etc... Then when they are finally in bed, fast asleep I go to kiss their heads one more time and realize that I should have slowed down, I should have taken more time to listen to their thoughts, played with them, or even taught them something. We always hear the older generation say, "They grow up so fast," I think I may be catching onto what they're saying. So my goal is to once a day (because let's be realistic here) slow down and actually communicate with my children.
If you want to make a goal with me that would be great, I need a little motivation.

button game

Okay, so the other day I was trying to come up with something different for my boys to do. They love getting all of my buttons out and spreading them all over the floor, So I decided to make a game out of it. They first separated the buttons into colors and then they started making sharks, dinosaurs, fish and octopus. They had a blast and it kept them busy for about an hour. We then did patterns with the buttons. They both had tons of fun and they learned something at the same time. So if you have a zillion buttons sitting around you may be able to do this activity with your kids.

Spinach, chicken, cranberry salad

okay so the salad doesn't look exactly like this but, you get the idea.

The recipe isn't exact but it's delicious, or as Scotty says "Licious."
4 cups cooked bow tie noodles
2 cups cooked chicken (marinade chicken in 1/2 cup teriyaki sauce before cooking)
4 cups fresh spinach
craisins to top
peanuts to top
mandarin oranges to top

toss noodles and chicken together throw over spinach and top with craisins, peanuts and mandarin oranges. Yum Yum!