Toy Thursday: Color Your Bath Water!

We have our neighbors over for dinner several evenings during the week. In fact we often combine our efforts to make a complete meal for both families. After dinner, we visit until the kids get fussy and need to go to bed. On one of these occasions, our little neighbor boy (four years old) was on the verge of throwing a temper tantrum when his mom told him they had to walk back home for bath night. As I could see his face turn into a frown and arms go up, the light bulb turned on. I called him to follow me so that I could give him a color bath drop. And immediately his attitude changed as they went home.

Likewise, Judah has enjoyed playing with Crayola Color Bath Dropz. I actually discovered them by chance one day at Walmart in the soap section. I found a kit that contained a plastic frog that fits over your bath facet. Since our bathroom was decorated green frogs and Judah was hitting his head on the facet of late, I thought, "why not." The frog does work great by the way.

The real fun though lies in the three little dye drops that were included in the package. After we finished with the those colors, I checked back at the store for more. Sure enough I found a container full of them in the soap section for about $3.00.

When we tell Judah it is bath night, his response turns into the color he wants. We have combined the primary colors for orange, green, and purple water. We have also doubled the colors for dark blue, deep red, and bright yellow. He helps daddy feed the frog with the little drops allowing the colored to come out of the frog.

And the byproduct for mom is a stress free environment. He actually looks forward to his bath for once. He excitedly talks about the water changing color, learning his colors at the same time. The water drains leaving little (if any) dye residue stain that can be easily rinsed right off.

So why fight bath night? When we say, bath, the conversation turns to colors. Happy splashing!

Wash Wednesday: Poop

Ah poop. It's not pleasant but it's always there. My mom managed to potty train my oldest child in a weekend (she deserves sainthood for that) and now our toddler is going through it.

Our toddler is a strong boy. He dislikes sitting in a poopy or wet diaper (who would like it?) and has figured out how to undress himself and take the diaper off--no matter what the diaper contains. Yes, ew.

At least once a day I hear the preschooler screaming "POOP" from whatever room they're playing in. I sprint to wherever they are and inspect to see what the poop is on, how far the poop has been trailed etc.

It's gross. And I can't wait until he's potty trained. And then there's always the "blowout" from the baby's diaper. And the ever so fun "Poop in the tub".

I never thought I'd ever write about poop. But I'm a mom. And it's inevitable.

I've found the best way to clean poop depends on the situation. In the tub, we use the "reusable" cups from gas station drinks (cleaned of course) to rinse hair. When the poop in the tub occurs, we scoop it out with the cup into the potty. Toss the cup. Drain the water and refill the tub with HOT water and add bleach. This way the tub gets clean as well as the toys. We usually let it sit for at least a half hour so the bleach can do its work. Yes, I probably have the cleanest tub in Iowa. And we go through a lot of bleach.

When there's the poop on the carpet situation, clean it up with clorox wipes and then use resolve carpet cleaner. That should remove the stain. But no promises.

Clothing needs to be washed in hot (and by itself) right away. I usually run an empty load (with bleach and detergent) after wards as well. Just to make sure all of the ick is gone.

Ah poop. I'm a College educated woman with a degree in English and yet, I'm not above writing about poop. Because when you're a mom, you're a Jane of all trades...even the not so pleasant ones.

Tip Tuesday: Watching Your Pennies!

Recently, my husband and I have been extra careful watching our pennies...Yes, that means we have been trying to tackle our spending process to stay within the bounds of a budget. Perhaps this is because we are currently taking Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace Seminar.

At any rate, getting back to money basics is hard work. Bills fill your mailbox. Receipts overflow on the counter. Then of course your daily (or not daily) conversations about money may/may not be pleasant.

One of our goals to help us be more frugal is to track our pennies (and dollars). We have learned to use Mint.com as our main resource to control our spending and curb our money habits. This web site features an online free service of financial record keeping.

The cool features on this site provide the ability to import all banking transactions and balances automatically in one secure place to set budgets, track spending, and set goals. In this economy, it helps to have a tool with which you can see your spending habits. Here you can literally track to see where every penny goes by trending graphs across months and automatic categorization of spending. My personal favorite is that you can split up receipts to accurately keep records for your budget. Also, you can set future goals for saving money like investing or saving for college. Mint.com helps guide you along your financial path.

We ourselves have information from all our banking accounts dumped into Mint.com. We then take our receipts and account them to the transactions recorded. From there we can electronically set up a monthly budget according to our personal needs and wants. Mint.com informs us through alerts to our smart phones if we are within budget or over budget. Since everything is electronic, information is easily accessible and transferable. And most important, we contain updated real time information regarding our assets, debts, and transactions.

Consider setting up an account with this free, secure service today. And watch where your pennies go.

For more frugal tips, visit Learning the Frugal Life.

Make Monday: Make it Patriotic!

Unless you've been living under a rock (or in a cave) you know what's been going on in the world. Osama Bin Laden has been caught. Not only caught, but killed.

My children always know what is going on in the news. I'm a Fox News Junkie. When Liam was only a toddler, we'd get home from work/daycare and he'd say, "Mommy, Inna watch Fox Choose." Yeah, he's in the know. And that's a good thing. I can remember when the Challenger exploded (I was 5) but my dad MADE me watch it. He was always watching the news. And that was before 24 hour news channels!

Liam has grown up a patriot. He had to. He was my date to many political functions when his Dad was in Iraq, proudly serving his country. Liam knew that "daddy was in the sandbox making the world safe."

So this morning, when he got up, I told him that there were some Navy SEALS, guys who were kind of like Daddy but really REALLY specially trained, captured and killed Osama Bin Laden. He responded, "The guy who killed all of the people on 9/11?"

He's 5 folks. I'm impressed. When I answered in the affirmative, he responded with a "YES!" and a fist pump.

Later in the morning, I could hear him playing with his little brother Sean (2) in his room. He was playing "Super secret spy" and spying on Sean who was on the floor while Liam was perched up on the top bunk of his bunk bed.

I asked him what made him play that game. He responded, "The Navy SEALS. The guys who got Bin Laden." There were no gun sounds (I don't allow gun play) and he was using binoculars to spy.

I suppose it is equivalent to Cowboys and Indians...and after all, Bin Laden's code name was Geronimo.

I encourage you to tell your kids about what's going on in the world. And teach them about the great country we live in. After all, patriotism is important.

David, Liam and Sarah Bowman just before his deployment to Iraq.

Salvation Sunday: What has God been teaching you?

So my friend Lynn and I have been talking this afternoon about things God have been teaching us lately...

You know, God has a way of trying to get our attention at times. Have you ever been in a situation where it is almost like God is putting up red flags along your path? These red flags like barriers hopefully cause us to stop and question our journey.

On the other hand, have you ever felt things fall into place almost too easy like God is sending them your direction? His way is made clear to you through circumstances or people.

God's plan is far greater than anything we can imagine or plan for ourselves. Take for instance the story of Sarah's house hunting experience this week. Perhaps her "dream" house did not work out for a reason. And yet, God has something far greater in mind for her family.

While we think we know what we want, need, or plan for our lives, God has a perfect plan (usually better and completely different than what we want). I suggest we follow it...for we all know in His permissive He will let us go our own directions. However, then we must live with less than perfect consequences.

This is true with Adam and Eve. God's perfect will was that they live happily in the garden all their days in constant commune with Him. He gave them the choice to eat the fruit of the tree though. Sadly, their choice was to disobey thus sinning and separating themselves from God. God, in His permissive will allowed this.

Thank God though that He provided a way through Jesus Christ as redemption to this less than perfect sinful life. With Jesus, all things are made perfect again.

We have a choice. I pray that we follow God's perfect path. It will be so much better for us. But if we do get off the path, we have only to come back to Jesus.