Mother's Day Twist

Celebrating Mother's Day with a twist this year by giving my children a gift from me. After all, they are the reason I'm a mama!

I made these Bedtime Bags for Ian and Lilly this week and plan to present them to my children on Sunday with a new book and pair of p.j.s inside each one. Got the idea from the Creative Family book I've been telling you about here and here. I changed up the pattern a bit. My favorite personal touch was adding quilt batting on the backs of the letters to make them poofy.

Here's the plan for the Bedtime Bags. They will hang in the kids' rooms and contain everything needed for that night's bedtime routine. In our house this includes a lovey for each child (Lilly: pink bear, Ian: blue blanket), a bedtime story or two, and a set of jammies. Voila! No more searching for things at bedtime, and the best part is, the kids can find things themselves.

Trust me -- these are easy peezy to make. Imagine a pillowcase with handles. If you're new to sewing, skip the pocket and letter. Have a fun weekend sewing, and a Happy Mother's Day!

18 Hours

Long, wonderful, rainy day yesterday . . . worth documenting:

2 a.m. Terrible thunderstorm. Lilly ends up in bed with mama and daddy.
8 a.m. Breakfast
9 a.m. Paint
10 a.m. Play with rice and seashells on deck
11 a.m. Short break in rain -- go for a walk, bubbles in tow (air so heavy the bubbles stand still; kids squeal with delight)
12 p.m. Lunch, Larry Boy video, naps, yada yada
5 p.m. Dinner at McAlister's
5:30 p.m. Art Show and Circus at Ian's preschool: Tiger Ian steals show, hopping up on platform and screeching, err, ROARING for the crowd. We were proud!
7:45 p.m. Ian and his good buddy, Andrew, play with the lightsaber on grandpa's iPhone after the show. Instant Ian popularity (wish it were that simple for me)!
8 p.m. Head home.

Anyone else look at those images and see LAUNDRY?

I promised to write more today about Amanda Soule. Visit her website here and link to her blog, too. I bought her book, The Creative Family, last year, but am just now reading it cover to cover. It is full of ideas to nurture the creativity of your children, focusing on the less-is-more concept.

Mental note: clean kids' rooms; throw away unnecessary plastic and Happy Meal toys
Obvious confession: I'm a total Amanda Soule wannabe

Be Completely Present

Lilly spent at least 30 minutes on this new container of Play-doh today. She didn't say a word, just worked and worked, pulling it apart piece by tiny piece. It's fun to see children experience and discover things, isn't it? She is definitely my little crafter. Give her a sheet of stickers and she can stay busy for an hour!

And speaking of growing up -- isn't she? She looks so like a little girl now. Where did my baby Yee go?

It's tough for me to be completely present in the moment as a stay-at-home mom. Honestly, some days I am just flat-out bored (guilty admission -- let's keep that just b/w us, okay?). When I see pictures like this one and realize how quickly my children are growing up, I remind myself how important it is to be intentional about parenting.

Soooo, in the interest of doing something worthwhile with my dear ones, I am setting a goal this spring to get a garden started for my children. Amanda Soule dedicates a portion of her book, The Creative Family, to gardening with kids. I plan to follow her suggestions: let Ian choose what veggies to plant, help him make garden markers, and keep a garden journal. Pray for rain, people!

More on Amanda Soule tomorrow. I could seriously blog every day about her amazing ideas, but then, this wouldn't be my blog, it would be hers! I'm off to dig in dirt!