The best parenting idea I have ever come across..

Here's the thing...I LOVE my kids. They are the best part of my life and perfect in my eyes of course. BUT, and it's a big but - being a mom is by no means easy and both of my girls like to test me in different ways. My youngest ( who just turned 3 ) loves to stick her tongue out at me and go 'na-na-na-na' , or when I am telling her not to do something she will say ' blah-blah-blah ' and shake her little bum ( it is so cute that its hard not to laugh - but its her way of giving me attitude I guess ). My older daughter ( now 9 ) is the one who tests most often ( because of her age I guess ), she will scream, throw hissy fits over nothing ( a few days ago it was because of her hallowe'en costume - it was itching her so that caused a nuclear meltdown in the behaviour department ). Anyways, her behaviour had gotten out of hand lately and I found myself correcting her constantly, nagging, getting angry and doing all the things a 'good' mom shouldn't be doing. So I decided to take a look in the mirror and see if I was contributing to the problem - and ( obviously ) I was. I noticed that I didn't praise her good behaviour nearly enough and was constantly noticing the bad rather than the good. I wasn't doing it on purpose by any means - but for some reason I was doing it. So I came across this idea on the net called ' behaviour bucks ', I modified the idea to best suit me & my household. It is such a simple concept though. First I printed out a list for the fridge of our 'house rules' - they were ' Be Respectful ' ( no 'backtalk' , no attitude, no yelling, no rolling of the eyes, no door slamming, no feet stomping, no violence etc. ) ' Be Responsible ' ( Do the chores you are asked to do without being grouchy, do your homework & keep your room tidy ) & ' Be Kind ' ( use kind words & actions with your family & friends ). Then I got two glass mason jars and labelled one ' Mom's Jar ' and the other ' Good Job Faith '. After that I made some fake $1 bills on my computer, labeled them ' Faith's Behavior Bucks ' and put a picture of her face in middle of it ( a really funny one of her - she loved it ). Next I made a list of ways she good earn the fake money ( which included earning $1 for feeding the dog, $5 for a big room tidy, $1 for helping with the dishes, $1 for being extra nice to her little sister, $1 for being extra polite, $1 for watering the plants and so on and so forth. The behaviour bucks that she earns can be used to buy television , computer, video game or phone time ( $1 for every 15 minutes ). She loses $1 every time I have to go to three warnings as far as bad behaviour ( just f.y.i. she has not lost a single dollar so far ) I cannot believe how much this has changed our house ! I started doing it about 2 weeks ago and it's great. She has been able to cool down much quicker when she starts a 'meltdown' , she is much cheerier, kinder to her little sister & helping out around the house more. It has also really shown me that she does so many great things in a day that I had been kind of taking for granted . Not only that but she is so proud when she earns her money - and she spends it very wisely ( she's not cheap - but thrifty like her mom ). It has also really cut back on the amount of screen time she has. Anyways, I know for sure I am no 'super mom' , but I am really glad I came across this idea. It has worked for me - I don't know if it will be useful to any of my readers - but heh you never know. It has made a difference for me so maybe it will for someone else.

If you haven't been to my site yet for some free coloring , crafts , birthday party ideas etc. you should check it out - it's lots of fun and I add stuff constantly.

Forgot to Introduce Someone

I just thought I should introduce a very important member of my family - he's such a cutie ! His name is Max - we got him about a year ago and the kids just adore him. He is a Pug - Schnauzer mix ( I am not sure if that is any kind of designer breed - but my daughter calls him a Snug-A-Pug ). He is quite the boy - he has a bit of a devilish personality and does quite a bit of barking but overall he is a great little family dog. He's really good with the kids and never growls or snaps ( even when my three year old trys to pull him around by the collar ). He also loves to run !! Oh my goodness when that front door opens - if he can - he will race right straight to the road and run like some kind of crazed creature right up the centre of the street ( I am trying to figure out to train him that although this is hilarious to see, it is very dangerous !! ) He also runs in circles around my house chasing our cat Tippy ( who he does not ever actual hurt - he likes to just pin her down and lick her - she hates it !! ) He loves people ( sometimes a little too much ) and tends to pee on new visitors !! Gotta love that - it's a little embarassing , but what the heck - no one is perfect !! He needs a hair cut in this picture but this is our boy Max.

Yet Another Hot Tip Coming In...

I have another one for you ;
* Having a fruit fly problem ?? I just was told the greatest solution by my friends mother - move out !! Haha - totally kidding :) Actually the cure is fill a little bowl with some cider vinegar and a bit of liquid dish soap !! The little buggers will drown themselves ( it sounds kind of cruel - but heh, nobody is making them do it :) I had a serious problem with them around my kitchen sink for some reason and this worked after about 2 days they were totally gone !

Hot Tips Coming In...

My fiancee has a 'smart mouth' and always says 'Hot tip coming in' really sarcastically when I do something silly. So I am going to give all you moms out there some of my 'hot tips' that I have come across being a mom ( things that I am sure most of you already know - but heh I didn't know so there must be someone out there that these thoughts will be of use to )

MY HOT TIPS FOR TODAY

* Making a pie crust ? Roll the pie crust out on a piece of wax paper and then just peel it off ( otherwise if you are like me it will just stick to the counter and you will end up really irritated and throwing it out )

* Training a puppy to do tricks ? Use hand signals instead of words - really , they have no idea what you are saying !

* Is your cat suddenly peeing on your carpet ? Try changing cat litter - honestly , it worked for me - she just didn't like the scented stuff - who knew cats were so picky ?

* Got something stuck inside your vacuum cleaner hose ? ( I once got one of those darn dollar store rubber balls stuck in mine ) Use a wire coat hanger ( stretch it out ) to reach up inside and pull out whatever is in there

* Want a REAL cure for the hiccups ? I swear this ALWAYS works - my grandmother found this idea in an antique book she has - one teaspoon of white sugar ( take it all in one mouthful without a drink - they will be gone right away ! )

* Is your dog barking driving you nuts ? Get a tin can and fill it with marbles, every time he barks shake the can - they hate the racket and it seems to work !

I have a bunch more of these silly little things I have learned as a mom - I will write some every time it crosses my mind ( my mind isn't very active so that probably won't be very often :)

Brianna's Princess Party

Wow, another birthday come and gone. This weekend was my little ones third birthday and I did a princess party for her. I built a castle out of boxes , dressed up like Cinderella and had a lot of fun !! ( I felt like a kid again ! ) I am going to be putting the ideas on my site soon but thought I would add them to my blog as kind of a random thought. All of the kids came to the party dressed up ( girls were princesses and the boys were either pirates or knights - one little guy even brought his own horse !! Fake of course - my oldest daughter is in the anti-princess phase of her life - 9 years old - so she dressed up as a pirate ). I built a big cardboard box castle and the kids loved it , they ran in and out like maniacs - it even had a secret door at the back that opened up to an area filled with pink balloons. We played Pass The Glass Slipper ( like hot potatoe ), pin the wand on the fairy godmother , kiss the prince ( this was a funny one - I printed out this really ugly looking prince and then had each kid put on bright red lipstick & a blindfold then see who could get closest to his lips with their lip print !!) , we made jewelry , we made princess & king crowns. We also did a treasure hunt outside for some gold coins that I had hidden. It was a lot of fun - can't wait to get the pictures posted on my site with some more details, hopefully someone else out there can get some use out of my crazy ideas :)

Great New Ideas To Add This Week

I just came across some fantastic craft recipes to add to the site. Loads of craft recipes are going up this week - like for example fabric crayons , finger paints , homemade lipstick , scratch n'sniff paint , washable window paints , lip balm , fake blood , face paints and a whole bunch more ! Just wanted to let you all know that I am in the process of adding all of this stuff ( takes a long time ! ) Hope you & your kids get some enjoyment out of it. I know my kids will - we made slime the other day - it was really fun - but a big mess !!

New Barney Stuff Added...

Well the kids are all better now and I have been back to working on my site . This past week I added a whole new set of Barney coloring pages as well as a Barney birthday page ( with printables , ideas and all that fun stuff ). Right now I am working on Harry Potter birthday ideas - any ideas ?? I am getting a bit stuck with that one - I have two girls and I have only seen one Harry Potter movie so far. Oh well I will come up with something :) I have also recently added a Go Diego Go birthday section ( we did this idea for my nephews first birthday - it was really cute ! )

The other thing I finally got around to doing was fixing my Hallowe'en crafts page and adding a bunch of new ideas ( including some very cool recipes that could be used to gross kids out at Hallowe'en parties !! I also now have a whole page dedicated to Hallowe'en Printables including Jack-O-Lantern patterns , cards , crafts , coloring etc. The cutest printables that I put on the site for Hallowe'en are the Sesame Street ones - they are like little paper dolls and you print out the costumes for them - too cute !!

Well that's all I have to post for today - I would love to hear from any of you. Let me know if there is anything specific you are looking for that you would like me to post on my website and I will try to find it or create it for you. Thanks again to all my loyal visitors & to those of you who have been generous enough to give a donation to keep the site running :)

The Girls Are Sick...So No Updates For The Next Couple Of Days

Oh man :( My oldest daughter has a bad cold and my younger girl is just getting over a cold and now has caught the stomach flu !! Why oh why is it that September seems to bring every single virus there is available into our house?? Oh well - anyways just wanted to quickly post and let you know that until they are all better mommy is off the computer ;) In the meantime , please continue to enjoy the crafts , coloring pages & birthday party ideas on my site. The cost of keeping the site running has unfortunately gone up ( the more stuff I put on the site , the more the site costs for me to run ) so donations are of course appreciated although never expected. Take care
Shasta

Finally Finished Barbie & Bratz Birthday Ideas

Just wanted to post a quick update that I have finally completed my Barbie & Bratz free printable & birthday party ideas section of my website. Took me awhile to get them done , but hopefully someone will enjoy them :) I hope all of my readers are enjoying the beginning of the school year. I wish someone would post something - a comment - anything - I am feeling like no one is listening ! Haha ! Thanks again for reading and visiting my site - feedback is always welcome
Shasta

Back To School

Wow , this has been a busy week. I am trying to get my oldest daughter all ready for back to school ( she is so excited - she just loves school ). It's a lot of lists & shopping isn't it ? But lots of fun - she even gets the teacher she wanted this year so that's a bonus ! School here in Canada ( Ontario at least ) starts on September 4. We have one last long weekend left and then its back to schedules - going to bed early , getting up early - catching the bus ( forgetting the lunches and having to bring them in after she's left !! Oops - nobody said I was perfect ;)

Apart from getting her ready for school I have also been really busy adding to the site. I added a brand new Disney Princess Ariel ( Little Mermaid ) section with birthday party printables & coloring pages - I have 40 of them ( plus a few from other sites )( clip-art will be added soon ). I am currently working on a Cinderella section. I also will go through my Hallowe'en crafts & coloring pages this week and add some new items. I just love Hallowe'en and I have a bunch of really fun stuff to add so I can't wait to get that started.

Well , I wish all the kids the best in the new school year. I can't believe summer is over already , it just flew by! Time passes so quickly...

Welcome To Our New Blog

Hi everyone and welcome to the first official 4KraftyKidz.com blog post! This is my first attempt to do any blogging but I figure how hard can it be right ?

I have decided to replace my newsletter with this blog ~ I wanted to give my web visitors a chance to let me know what you like about the site , what you don't like ( say it nicely please ;) and what you would like to see added. I was also thinking that a blog would be a great place for you to all exchange ideas for keeping your kids busy. September is just around the corner and for my house that means that my nine year old will be back to school and I will be home alone with my youngest ( now two and a half ). She has gotten used to having her big sister around to play with / torment so now I will need to come up with some really creative fun things for us to do during the day to keep busy. Luckily I have been finding more and more fun stuff and adding it to the site so I will have something to fall back on :)

I just wanted to throw out a quick thank you to the wonderful people who have made donations to my site - I appreciate it very much and every little bit really does help to offset the costs and keep it up and running.

Yesterday I added a whole bunch of new Disney princess coloring pages ( still have a few more to go ), I also went and got rid of some dead links that were there ( sorry if you come across anymore - I am doing my best to weed them out ).

I have been really working hard in my spare time to improve the site - especially the birthday party printables section ( one that I use a lot - I love to throw these ridiculous childrens parties that always MUST have a theme ! ) Please be patient with me and come back to check on the progress often - I have thousands of ideas swimming around in my head , but there are just not enough free hours in the day to post them all !

Today I will be updating the Sponge Bob birthday party ideas ( I am going to post the ideas that I used for my daughters birthday party which was last weekend - the kids had a blast - we played lots of games and I decorated the tree fort like a pineapple house ! ) This picture is the pineapple house ( the red balloons were jellyfish which we used in the catch the jellyfish game , and then squish the jellyfish game ) - my daughter and I had lots of fun making a house for Spongebob !

I have also just recently added a whole bunch of cartoon clipart ( still working on it though ! ) , clipart is great when you want to make your own cards & party invitations - best of all its free so you can't beat the price :)

I have inspired my step-mom to start a new site too - she is obsessed with crochet work ( and is amazingly talented ) , so she has decided to start up a little website offering crochet patterns ( lots of vintage ones that you can't find anywhere ! ) Check it out if you are interested www.momsloveofcrochet.com , she would love to hear any feedback you might have.

Well this is the end of my first post - my hopes are that this will be the first of many and please feel free to post your comments/questions anytime and I will get back to you.

Take care & happy crafting :)
Shasta