We ended up trying it out last week. It was wonderful. The bubbles stayed in the bath the ENTIRE bath time, which for our girls is about a half hour. When we have used other brands the bubbles had all burst within the first 10 minutes. I would definitely buy this bubble bath again.

The people at Lander were not only generous to us but they want to send some to two of our readers. Post a comment about your favorite bath toy and we will enter you in the giveaway. We will close comments on Monday evening at 9 pm and randomly select two commenters to win a year supply of Lander Bubble Bath!

[UPDATE 10/19/2009 (bbrown): I did a query to the database using the ORDER BY RAND() expression, ran through it a dozen or so times to make sure that it seemed sufficiently random, and then ran it one last time: the winners are Melanie and Tiffany! Congratulations!]

Dreaming of the day when I can move into my new home and get back to living life with the lived in look!

Other favorite songs include:
Itsy Bitsy Spider
Twinkle Twinkle
Mail song from Blues Clues
Dora theme song
Five Little Monkeys
Patacake
Oh Christmas Tree

I know there are more. I will edit the post when I can think of them.

[UPDATE (1/9/2006) bbrown: Grammy reminded us of another of their favorite songs: Laurie Berkner's "Moon, Moon, Moon". I can't imagine why we didn't think of that one. Kimberly asks for it every time we're in the car and they both sing it whenever they see the moon.]

What kind of society are we becoming? Why are children requesting gifts at such a rate that they are needing gift registries? I understand that kids love gifts and that they would like to get things that they want, but honestly. Where have the old-fashioned days gone where you just drive your parents insane until they give in and get you the object of their desire?

My poor kids. I will not be letting them register for their Christmas or birthday gifts. They will have to learn grace and dignity and accept the gifts they are given. If it is something they seriously would not want they can return it at a later date but still they must accept it nicely.

2 cups cold water
3 tsp sugar
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 tbsp light corn syrup
liquid food coloring
small bowls with lids

In a small pot, stir water, sugar, and cornstarch. Whisk over low heat for 5 minutes until mixture is thick and clear.
Stir in corn syrup. Pour paint into small containers with lids.
Add a few drops of food coloring to each and mix well.

Have fun painting. Beware, this is more staining than normal finger paint. I do it with my girls while they are naked!

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Like a trooper I went on and got Kimmie her milk. My toe kept on throbbing. I finally sat down again and looked it over. It was completely purple and hurts to the touch. I broke my toe today on the job!!! I called my employer to let him know. He said “if I needed to got to the doctor he would pay the bill.” Funny man. No doctor needed. I am icing it and watiting for the swelling to go down so that I can tape it.

Never knew this job was so dangerous.

Am I sad about the end of this phase? Yes, of course I am. However, it is like the same sadness I have about not being pregnant any longer. Of course, I cannot go on being pregnant forever just as I cannot go on nursing forever.

Madeline and I have shared a very close bond these first 4 months. It is now time for her to share that bond with others. She is such a sweet little girl that I look forward to her bonding more with Bill and him getting to know her better.

Today she has been wanting to bottle feed the majority of the day. So, I guess we are both in agreement. Our time spent nursing is nearing the end.

Now in saying this, you must understand that I also do plenty of things where I am running the show. Children are not able to put themselves to bed before they overtire. Children are not capable of making good food choices. (Although, often mine do ) Children are not capable of knowing whether or not something is going to hurt them. In all of these cases I do lead my children. I must! As their mother I must foster this creative being within while keeping the body whole and safe. (Somedays not an easy task.)

Of course, I have to run errands but, even when I am out on those errands I try to make them as interactive and interesting for my girls as possible. I try to engage them while driving with their silly music. I hope that in doing these things I am giving them a strong foundation to seek out things in the world.

When my girls want to stop and swing, weather and Maddie permitting, I do. When we are at home I stop what I am doing to read them a book or build a block tower. These are the things they will rememeber when they are grown. (Actually, they are more likely to remember if you don’t do it, but still.) I try to allow them to lead any actvity we are doing.

Just the other day we were painting. Annie was not using the paint exactly correctly, and it was making a mess but, still I allowed her to experiment. In my mind, messes can be cleaned and this learning that she has discovered is worth so much more to me. In the end Annie created the masterpiece that she wanted.

So I ask you, do you lead all the time? Or do you allow your children to show you a thing or two?

Madeline has begun to watch tv also. She got a kick out of Finding Nemo today! I love to hear her laugh out loud.

I have decided that I am going to do more constructive things. I have developed a kind of lesson plan! Who doesn’t love a good lesson plan Oh well, I guess the teacher side in me is coming out!

So this is what I have decided. The lesson plan could be nothing more than just things to be done each day. I could never actually plan out activities. They are too young and are not that predictable. Here is what I am planning to do each day.

2 15 minute blocks of book reading
2 15 minute blocks of music
3 30 minute blocks of tv
1 30 minute block of outdoor play
2 30 minute playroom sessions
1 15 minute fingerplay session
1 30 minute art (coloring, playdough, markers, painting)

Of course they can do more of any of the above aside from tv. I hope that this helps to eliminate some of the behaviors I have been witnessing. I am not opposed to them watching a movie every now and again, but one a day is too much!

Do my kids think that batteries grow on trees??? Man do I sound like my parents! When did this happen?

First you are telling me, since I have never hear anyone tell this to a mother of 3 sons, that somehow girls are more sexually active than boys are. I completely disagree with this notion. Who the heck are the girls having relations with??

Second you are telling me that I am not capable of raising daughters who are sexually responsible. I cannot agree with this statement either. I believe that I can and will raise very strong girls who turn into very strong women.

Third you are basically telling me that you know what the future holds for my children. This one offends me the most. I do not even have preconceived notions as to who or what my children will be. They will show me this in their own time. These are their lives and they are capable of making them whatever they want. I may sit around and wonder what they will be like, what kind of person they will be. But these are only the dreams that I have for them. Nothing more.

Fourth you are saying that my girls are all destined to be sluts! Enough said.

So, next time you see me and my 3 gorgeous and divine girls refrain from telling me that “I am going to be in trouble once they hit puberty.” I may have to tell you how I really feel.

[UPDATE (bbrown): Seconded.]

I visit many other sites of people whom I have never met. Some are infertility sites that I relate to on a very intimate level and some are just family site, like mine, that I look at. I love to hear stories about family life. I encourage my friends to blog so that others, and myself, can have a glimpse into their lives.

Please share with me who you are and why you come to the site. I know you are all out there. I know you all read about the trivial things that matter the most to me. If you do not feel comfortable leaving a comment then you can email me by clicking on the contact us button on the right.

[UPDATE (bbrown): I tell Sandi all about our site's statistics and she's always wondering how the heck people find us. She's constantly amazed how many times a day our syndication feed is hit. Since the number of family and friends who use RSS aggregators can probably be tallied on one hand, it's neat to think that our little corner of cyberspace is getting the traffic it gets. Obviously, you're welcome to visit and sneak a peek into our lives. If you could leave a comment or shoot us an email, it would satisfy Sandi's curiosity.]

Annie and Damian love to get in each other’s faces, nicely, and they love to be rowdy together. They were up to their regular mischief, kicking each other, seeing who can make the other laugh and having a general good time. When we were getting canned veggies, a woman walked by them and told them all to “shut up.”

First things first, I do not use those words to tell them to quiet down. Secondly, HOW RUDE! I did not say anything the first time she passed by. Then she came back down the aisle and said it again, looking me in the eyes and saying “you need to tell them to shut up! That is what I did with my kids.”

My sister looked at me—she has a very bad temper and did not want to lose it on the lady. I said to her, “Those were your children, these are mine.” She said, “Well, this is a nice public place.” Give me a break! It was the grocery store and honestly all they sounded like were children having fun in a shopping cart. Okay, maybe they were a little loud but who cares. It is the grocery store not a 5 star restaurant!