WFMW – greatest tips/hits edition – getting kids to float on their backs

I taught swimming lessons for years in high school and college so I have a few tips for teaching kids how to float on their back. 

For beginners who aren’t comfortable in the water:

1.  Have them float on their back with their heads resting on your shoulder, like they are sleeping on a pillow.  When you have them there, point something out to them up in the air.  For example:  “Do you see that cloud up there?  It looks like a bird” or “How many clouds do you see?  Can you count them?”   This helps get their mind off being on their back. 

 

For kids who are more comfortable in the water, have them do this while they are on their back:

1.  Tell them to put their head back and to push their stomachs up to the sky (so their backs are arched).

2.  If their feet are sinking, it helps to have them put their hands above their heads.  This changes their center of gravity.

3.  If they are doing all of this and still can’t float, have them take a big, deep breath and hold it. 

Note:  Make sure you keep a hand under their back until they get close to mastering the skill.  At that point, you can tell them that you’re going to move your hand away.     

 

Good luck!  I hope some of these tips help you and your kids.  They always worked for me. 

For more helpful hints, head over to We Are THAT Family!

A big, fat no

Sorry guys. 

It turns out the email I received was only for certain customers (although it would have been nice if it had said that).  I went around and around with Shutterfly to see if there was any way they would extend this offer to you guys.  And I basically got a big, fat no.  I tried. 

So…use Snapfish.

Alright, stop what you’re doing

Some people are having a hard time w/ the Shutterfly free photo book code.  Rachel tried to do it yesterday but was told that the code was expired.  She emailed them and they sent back a reply saying that the photo books were either 20 or 25% off. 

I know this isn’t true b/c I just finished mine this morning and paid $8.60 for the photo book (s&h plus tax).  Plus, when I log into my account, a pop-up usually appears w/ the promo (plus 20% off another photo book).  If you get this pop-up when you log in, you shouldn’t have any problems.  It’s the people who don’t see this pop-up that I’m worried about.

So…I have an email in to Shutterfly to see why this is.  Maybe they’re only giving the discount to certain people, which I hope isn’t the case.  The email didn’t say anything about that. 

If you left me an email on the Free Photobook post, I’m going to send you an email so you know.  I don’t want you to spend a lot of time doing a photo book if the discount doesn’t apply to everyone. 

I’ll update as soon as I hear back from them.

Thank you Rachel for letting me know!

WFMW – Lent

For Lent I’m giving up alcohol and an extra hour of my time each week. 

A few years ago we had this great visiting priest that gave a sermon on Lent.  He said that instead of giving up the usual things (chocolate, pop, etc.) you should give up something that will bring you closer to God.  Or take on something that brings you closer to Him.  Since then, I’ve tried to go to church twice a week during Lent.  That way I’m giving up that extra hour to Him.  I think when Luke and Kenny are (both) eventually in school, I’ll try to up that number.  Right now we’re lucky just to make the one extra service.  Mornings aren’t exactly my thing. 

So, what are you giving up?  Don’t feel bad if you say chocolate or pop.  Or even tabloid magazines.

For more helpful hints, head over to We Are THAT Family.

WFMW – Another free photo book

 

Sorry guys. 

It turns out the email I received was only for certain customers (although it would have been nice if it had said that).  I went around and around with Shutterfly to see if there was any way they would extend this offer to you guys.  And I basically got a big, fat no.  I tried. 

So my suggestion has now turned to….use Snapfish.

Seriously though, if you aren’t in a hurry to get your photo books you may want to wait and see if they send you the offer some time in the next few months.

For more helpful hints, head over to We Are THAT Family.

Works-for-me Wednesday – Borrowing discounts from the library

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I read in Parents magazine that many public libraries have a program set up where you can check out discounts or free admission passes to local attractions, such as museums, state parks, etc.  You just check out these passes like you would check out a library book.  Isn’t that a great idea?

After I read this I went to our local library asked if they had anything like this.  The librarian told me that they didn’t but she thought it was a great idea.  She had me fill out a comment card and I stapled a copy of the article to it so they would know that I was legit.  I’m hoping that whoever reads my comment will like the idea enought to get it started.  If not, I’ll just keep asking about it.  Oh, and get all my friends to do the same. 

For everyone else, I highly recommend asking about it at your library.  If they don’t already have this program, maybe you can get it started in your area.  Discounts are always nice.

This idea worked for me and hopefully it will work for you too!  Head over to Rocks in My Dryer for more great ideas.

Works-for-me Wednesday – toys worth buying

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am loving this Works-for-me Wednesday. 

I have 2 boys, age 4 and 18 months.  They love anything that has to do with cars and balls but here are some of the specifics:

 1.  Leapster – My 4 year old is in love with it.  We keep it in the car and he plays it while we’re driving around.  It has been wonderful during those long drives.  Who am I kidding?  It’s great during those short drives too.

2.  Trains – We have a few of the wooden train sets.  They’re nice b/c there are so many different companies that make them and they all fit/work together (or at least, that’s been our experience so far).  

3.  Letter Factory dvd- If you have young kids who are working on their letters and letter sounds, buy this dvd.  It is the best.  My son picked up those skills in record time after watching this dvd.  It was amazing.  

4.  Philadelphia Chicken and Dog Train by Sandra Boynton – She turned some of her books into songs with accompanying cds.  The songs are catchy, even after you’ve heard them 3,287,098 times. 

5.  Little Tikes Patrol Police Car – My boys fight over who gets to use this.  It’s such a cute adaptation of the original Cozy Coupe.  We’ve had so many people ask us where we found it. 

6.  Nerf Reactor -  We actually have 2 of these.  My son got one of these for his birthday and then my husband asked for one (for himself) for Father’s Day. 

7.  What’s in Ned’s Head? – This game is great.  I had never even heard of it before we received it as a gift.  Basically, the game consists of a giant pop-up head and different plastic pieces of gross things such as an ear wax covered Q-tip, vomit, spider, dirty diaper, etc.  The players all draw a card that has a picture of one of the gross pieces on it.  On “go”, everyone reaches into the head through the different body openings (his ear, nose, mouth, etc) and tries to find their piece first by touch only.  It gets a little competitive at our house.  Some players have a tendency to find the other person’s piece and hold onto it until they are able to find their own piece.  But I wouldn’t know anything about that…

These are our fail proof toys.  I can’t wait to see what everyone else is suggesting.  Head over to Rocks in My Dryer to get more ideas.

Works-for-me Wednesday – Calendars

 

 

 

Make Your Own Calendar

 

 

 

For the last few years I’ve made my own calendars through Shutterfly.  I’ve tried doing calendars at other places and sites but Shutterfly is by far my favorite.  I absolutely love them.  You make the calendars on-line through their website.  You pick the type of calendar you want to do and then figure out a theme or background for each month.  Then, you add your pictures, captions (if any) and any special dates (birthdays, holidays, etc) that you want printed on the calendar.  When your calendar is finished they’ll print it and ship it to you.  Piece of cake.     

Last year I did a collage calendar where you can put up to 9 of your own pictures on a page.  Here’s how it turned out:

The cover (sorry about the glare):

October

November

Too cute, huh? 

This year I’m switching it up and trying the classic calendar where you just have one picture for each month.  I started it back in August.  I sat down one night and figured out what I wanted the background of each month to be.  This is what my September page looks like right now.  I just love the baseball diamond background.  

Then, whenever I had time I would go through my pictures and figure out which one I wanted on each month.  I love that you can do as little or as much as you want at a time.  I’ve slowly played with mine and now all I have left to do is add pictures to October, November and December.   

Each 12 month calendar costs $19.99 plus shipping.  Plus, if you buy more than one, the second calendar is only $9.99 plus shipping.  They’re a great gift for grandparents. 

This works for me and I hope it does for you too!  Head over to Rocks in My Dryer for more helpful tips.

Works-for-me Wednesday – Vinegar and Dripping Sinks

 

 

 

Vinegar and Dripping Sinks

 

 

 

Okay…no judging please:)  Our kitchen sink started dripping about a year ago.  That drip got worse and worse.  My husband tried to stop the drip but didn’t have much luck until he turned off the cold water.  No drip but no cold water.  That meant we had about 1-1.5 minutes to wash our kids hands/faces after meals before the water became too hot.  Why didn’t we just call a plumber?  I don’t know.  We kept meaning to but just never got around to it.  Plus we had a busy schedule.  Do you like all the excuses? 

Yesterday my husband swore he was going to fix our sink for good.  He read up on fixing sinks, got out his supplies and  his trusty Home Depot book and asked me for some vinegar.  Vinegar?  He said that he had read in some Men’s Health magazine a tip that said that when fixing a leaking sink you should soak the parts that you want to reuse in vinegar.  The vinegar will get all the buildup and gunk off the parts.  So, he soaked them and it worked.  The parts were clean and he didn’t need to buy new ones (except for the one broken part).  Too bad my husband, while fixing the faucet, broke a pipe and we then spent over $700 having a plumber come out.  (Insert big sigh here.)  But hey, our sink now has both hot and cold water and no drips.

It worked for us and hopefully it will work for you.  Head over to Rocks in My Dryer for more helpful tips.

Works-for-me Wednesday – ChaCha

 

 

 

 

ChaCha

 

 

We were sitting at the Chiefs/Rams preseason football game 2 weeks ago wondering when the Rams won their last Super Bowl (we’re Chiefs fans so don’t ask me why this came up).  Eric’s friend John said he would ask ChaCha.  We had no idea what he was talking about.  It turns out that ChaCha is a phone service that will answer any random question you can think of.  You text ChaCha your question and they’ll text you back the answer.  If you want to know where the cheapest gas can be found near you, ask ChaCha.  If you want to know who the first 5 people in line to succeed the President are, ask ChaCha.  You get my point. 

ChaCha is free although standard text messaging fees apply.  So, if your phone plan has unlimited text messaging, you don’t pay a penny. 

And if you’re wondering, the answer to our Super Bowl question was January of 2000.  Kansas City hasn’t won since January 1970 – but there’s always this year.  Go Chiefs!

It worked for us and I hope it works for you.  Head over to Rocks In My Dryer for more helpful hints.

Works-for-me Wednesday – gift for a 6 year old boy?

 

 

 

Gift for a 6 year old boy?

 

 

 

Today is the backwards editon of Works-For-Me Wednesday. 

So, instead of offering advice, I’m asking for help.  Here goes…

My nephew turns 6 this month.  Does anyone have any great ideas for a present?  Is there something that you’ve come across that they’ve loved? 

My oldest is 4 so I could pick out a gift for that age and younger in a heartbeat but I’m not as good with the older kids.   

Stop by Rocks in My Dryer to see if you can use your expertise to answer someone else’s questions.

**UPDATE:  Thank you all for your input.  I ended up getting this.

Works-for-me Wednesday – Chigger bites

I guess chiggers, not to be mistaken for mosquitoes, love my mom.  She can’t do any type of outdoor work without getting eaten up.  Someone recently told her that wearing a dryer sheet will keep the chiggers away.  So last week she worked outside (long enough to fill an entire big trash can full of weeds) with a dryer sheet tucked in the waistband of her pants.  And guess what…no chigger bites.  I wouldn’t wear a dryer sheet out in public but it’s worth a shot around the house.

It worked for her and I hope it will work for you too.  Head over to Rocks in My Dryer for more tips.

Works-For-Me Wednesday – Floating on Their Backs

 

 

 

Floating on Their Backs

(Swimming Lessons)

 

 

I taught swimming lessons for years in high school and college so I have a few tips for teaching kids how to float on their back. 

For beginners who aren’t comfortable in the water:

1.  Have them float on their back with their heads resting on your shoulder, like they are sleeping on a pillow.  When you have them there, point something out to them up in the air.  For example:  “Do you see that cloud up there?  It looks like a bird” or “How many clouds do you see?  Can you count them?”   This helps get their mind off being on their back. 

 

For kids who are more comfortable in the water, have them do this while they are on their back:

1.  Tell them to put their head back and to push their stomachs up to the sky (so their backs are arched).

2.  If their feet are sinking, it helps to have them put their hands above their heads.  This changes their center of gravity.

3.  If they are doing all of this and still can’t float, have them take a big, deep breath and hold it. 

Note:  Make sure you keep a hand under their back until they get close to mastering the skill.  At that point, you can tell them that you’re going to move your hand away.     

 

Good luck!  I hope some of these tips help you and your kids.  They always worked for me. 

Please head to Rocks in My Dryer for more helpful tips.

Works-For-Me Wednesday – Kids in Church

                  

 

            Kids in church

 

 

 

 

If you’re anything like me, church can be hard with little ones.  Until my son turned 3, my husband and I would take turns taking him to the back of the church, missing the majority of the mass.  We tried so many things to occupy him so we could focus on the service:

-Trucks (can roll a few pews away)

-Crayons (too loud – that is probably NOT a problem for most kids but my son would draw like he was out of control)

-Food (either was gone in a second or too messy) 

-Other toys (he would either want us to play or he would get too crazy with them). 

-Books worked for a while but they didn’t hold his attention. 

And then we found the Crayola Color Wonders. 

If you haven’t used them before, they are markers that ONLY draw on the special pages.  We didn’t have to worry about him drawing on anything that he shouldn’t and they’re quiet.  They were our saving grace.  Now that he’s 4 he’s doing much better and is starting to get more out of church but I’m sure we’ll go through the same thing with his 1 year old brother when he gets older.  At least we found something that worked for us. 

Head over to Rocks in My Dryer for more tips!