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It’s time for another edition of Tuesday Troubles. I’ve said it before, but this should be named “things i’m annoyed / confused / want to complain about”, however I couldn’t figure out how to make any of those into a snappy title, so Tuesday Troubles it is. And yes, I do realize that these aren’t true “troubles”. I know that many of these for sure could be defined as first world problems!
~So we have this mysterious shortage of spoons in our house. We have eight or ten or whatever of all the other utensils (including salad forks and giant spoons), but umm, we have four spoons. WTF? Where are they all? No one leaves the house with real spoons in their lunches (not like I used to do when I lived at my parents and constantly took their spoons and left them at my office), so where are they? It’s seriously driving me crazy. It’s like those socks that disappear in the laundry. I refuse to buy an entire new set of silverware, so it’s either hunt down some matching spoons or use giant spoons from now on.
~Sort of related, but not really, do you have a set of fine china? Do you use it? I needed a gorgeous set of Vera Wang fine china when we got married and yeah, I never use it. It looks stunning in the china cabinet that’s for certain, but I want to use it! Do I just break this out for normal dinners with B? Because clearly all that fancy entertaining I thought I was going to do is NOT happening. B and I find ourselves using plastic kids bowls on a regular basis.
~As you know Santa is bringing L bunk beds for Christmas and I am working on picking up some other things for his superhero room. I snagged these vintage (well not really) superhero tin metal signs and am hoping to pick up a few more things to surprise him with. I want to do a Pottery Barn type anywhere chair or bean bag or something, but I want it to be cheaper than that. And figure out some sort of area reading area for him. Ideas??
~I have about 10 unlistened to voice mails on my iPhone and not only do I not plan to listen to them, I can’t bring myself to delete them. It makes no sense as they are just appointment reminders (that have passed), calls from the electric company telling me they will be reading my meter in two days and not to be concerned if there is a creeper in the yard, whatever. Why can’t I delete? Does anyone else have this issue?
~And finally, I need some ideas for crafts and games for L’s Christmas party at school. Nothing too fancy or time consuming because we usually do about 5 activities and rotate the kids through them all. Help!!
That’s it from here for now! What’s troubling you today?
I have the opposite issue.. i dont listen to them either but I CANT have them sitting there.. I HATE that little red number in the corner of the app that drives me NUTS.. im so happy the new ios 7 updates on its own now!
Did you ever get the new iphone! I just upgraded this past weekend.. love!
check pintrest! SOOO many ideas.. you can have them dip their hands in red paint..and make a santa.. SO cute!! however that would be really messy!
I never did get the new one!! I will wait until I totally destroy this one first.
I find Pinterest so overwhelming! SO many options on there. I could be drawn in for hours!
I must know which Vera Wang china you have. I think we got the lace pattern by her when we got married and I’ve yet to use it. It still has the tags on it! What a silly tradition I felt like I had to do!
Ha!! It’s the grosgrain!
http://na.wwrd.com/ae/us/place-settings/vera-wang-grosgrain-5-piece-place-setting/invt/032677719824/
Are they allowed to eat sugar at L’s school? I know around here there’s a big push for “healthy” treats only. If they’re allowed some sugar, this is one of my favourite Christmas activities for kids: http://www.erinbassett.com/creativite/2012/12/sweet-christmas-trees.html. I did it last year at work for the kids’ Christmas party and they all loved it.
We try to keep it on the healthy side, but I want to do that at home! It looks cool!
At my daughter’s bday party, I let the kids “Go Fishing” for prizes. It can be made to a Christmas activity pretty easily. I’d fill a basket with candy canes and small Christmas-y toys and knick-knacks and attach binder clips to each item. Then I used a regular HomeDepot Stir Stick (I’d paint it red and white) and I tied a ribbon to the end with a magnet on it. The kids then stood behind a line and threw their “fishing line” into the basket and they got to keep what they caught.
At the party there were two games (this and bowling) and this game was the big hit.
Ohh, I like this idea! This seems easy and I think the kids would like that.
I bet the missing spoons were thrown away! I had mysterious missing silverware, kids silverware in particular which is expensive, and I realized I was tossing it in the garbage when I was scraping the uneaten food in the trash can. Just a quick scape scrape drop (on accident of course) yikes!
Why only the spoons though?? It’s so odd! Soon we will be eating off of plastic spoons.
Do you have ?little hands” at home that help clear off the table? Sometimes they forget to remove the spoon from the plate/bowl and throw out spoons by accident. That’s what happened at my house and we changed the everyday silverware to dollar store forks and spoons. 🙂
He clears his plate, but he uses kids plastic silver wear 99% of the time. It’s so odd.
I have been trying to solve the case of the missing silverware for years! The best I can come up with is they occasionally get tossed in the garbage when the little ones “clean up” for me. I have often found my Ikea plastic bowls, plates and cups in the trash as well, but at least they are big and bright and stand out.
I was room mom in Kdg once and we did red and white pony beaded candy cane ornaments on pipe cleaners. Quick, simple and no glue.
I wonder about the silverware. He uses plastic silverwear and doesn’t clean up our plates. But maybe I throw it away and have no idea. But it is only the spoons at my house which is so odd.
Hand turkeys are always fun, add feathers where the fingers go to spruce it up a little… Or the corn on the cob craft from one of your recent reviews is cute too…
This is for their Christmas party though. I would SO do hand turkeys though. I should actually just do those at home tomorrow…
Here are a couple of craft ideas for Ls party.
1. Puffy paint snowmen. You can make really cool puffy paint by mixing plain shaving cream (no gel) and white glue. Just put shaving cream in a plastic bowl and add the glue a few really good squirts. There are no precise measurements. Stir together. Make sure shaving cream is still puffy. Use like normal paint. The thicker it goes on, the puffier it will be.
2. Hand and feet reindeer. Trace one of child’s feet on Brown paper. Trace both hands on another color or brown. Cut out all. Use footprint for the head of the reindeer and the hand prints glue on as antlers. Draw on face and add red nose if you want a Rudolph.
3. Candy cane Rudolph. Take regular candy canes and glue or get self adhesive googly eyes and attach to the hook part of the ckaneop about where the curve ends. Take 1 full size pipe cleaner/chenille stick and one city in half to make antlers. Take full size and wrap around top of cane leaving two ends that are equal. Bend end slightly to look like antlers add the extra half pieces if you want more tines on the antlers. I glue small red puff ball to end of cane below eyes for the nose.
Great ideas!!! I have always wanted to take puffy paint like that, but never had. That sounds awesome!
I’d check Target for the chair! After a 30 second search, I came across this one
http://goto.target.com/c/92454/81938/2092/p/circo-bean-bag-chair/-/A-14440379#prodSlot=medium_1_20&term=lounge+chair
I’ve seen the Target ones, but I don’t know if I love them. I guess I should just ask L what he thinks.
One game/activity I love to do with kids is make memory games-how I normally do it is pre-cut thicker paper (i use scrapbook paper) then give them a sheet with 5-10 pairs of pictures themed with whatever we’re doing (so for this, christmas). Color pictures, cut them out, glue them, and a game to play later. Depending on time you could also pre-make some, or print out pictures onto cardstock and pre-cut them so there’s only coloring, no cutting or gluing. I give out ziplocks with names pre-written on them to store.
Kids also freaking love dot-to-dots. You can find ones that do ABCs instead of numbers too. It’s a good filler activity so that if they speed through something you’ve got an easy activity to pull out
That’s a cute idea! They could make a little game to take home and play over the holidays!
Yep, I have a really bad habit of not listening to voicemail. I have a zillion on my phone as well.
I like when I call people back and they are like didn’t you listen to my voicemail? Umm, no.
Besides breaking out my good china for holiday meals (and um, I have a set of like, twelve and holiday meals are rarely more than four, but that’s just nitpicking) I find excuses every now and then to use them (usually just for my husband and I). When that Brit couple got married and everyone got up in the middle of the night to watch on TV? I served tea and scones and such to my husband using the fine china. London Olympics where I made English food all week? Fine China. Any dinner that takes an entire day to cook requires serving on my fine china. Promotions or raises at work? Break out the fine china. Sharks headed to the playoffs? Fine china. Jack in the Box tacos and that $50 bottle of wine we’ve been hording? Fine china. And don’t laugh, I fell in love with my husband over Jack in the Box tacos and a $50 bottle of wine so it’s sort of a tradition with us.
Umm yeah, I have a set of 14. 14. Like that’ll be the day ever have 14 people over for a fancy meal.
I have solved the spoon mystery. We have the same problem..I have noticed on occasion spoons in the garbage in pudding cups. I of course fish them out of the garbage but obviously I missing some. I seriously think that my kids think because they are eating a pudding cup they must be at school and this must be a disposable spoon …and bam….no more spoons at our house. Of course we have grapefruit spoons and the long ice tea spoons….but how annoying are those?!
But he uses kids spoons??? I’d like to think I don’t throw spoons away, but maybe I do?
I think you need a really “super” reading spot…like the “book cave”!
Exactly!!! But what??
I took your spoons to make up for all the ones you left at school. 🙂
I believe it!!!!
Get an “Ugly-Where Chair” – http://www.uglysofa.com/ugly-where-chairs/
They are suppose to be just as good as the ones from PBK or Land of Nod.
Ahhh, this is the website that I was thinking of!! Thank you!
Walmart carries a Big Joe bean bag chair that is made like a chair and sits really good; my little niece has one and I even like sitting in it; also comes in lots of colors. I’m sure other stores have this same chair too.
OMG I hate it when silverwear disappears, I think sometimes they get thrown in the trash by accident….
Ohh, I will look at Walmart! I never thought to check them out.
A couple of ideas for L’s party that I remember from student teaching…Pin the Nose on Rudolph and Christmas Bingo. I was in a kindergarten class, and the kids loved those!
Ahh, pin the nose on rudolph sounds fun and easy! Thank you!