We’ve been waiting for snow around our neck of the woods, but no luck. In fact, our winter so far has been a pretty mild one. The kids keep peeking out the window first thing in the morning in hopes of seeing a white covered yard. Nothing. So when I mentioned to them about creating a winter journal, where they could draw and write about anything they saw around this time of year, they were ecstatic. And why not make it a snowflake themed journal? After all, it seems those are the only snowflakes we’ll see around here for a while.

Would you like to make one with the kids? It’s pretty easy!

DIY Kid’s Craft: Winter Snowflake Journal

Materials needed:

• 1 marble composition book (any color, you’re going to cover it)
• 1 or 2 pieces of a wintery solid color cardstock (my girl used blue for her’s and my little guy used black)
• 2-3 empty toilet paper rolls
• Elmer’s glue
• Sharpie or pencil
• White washable tempera paint
• Paint brushes

I got all of my supplies at my local Walmart. (A little saving’s tip: During back to school sales, I like to pick up marble composition books by the bulk and have the kids use them throughout the year as different kinds of journals – school, travel, favorite quotes, seasonal, stamps, and sticker collections are just some ideas.)

How to make a kid’s winter journal:

1. Start by gluing the cardstock to the top of the marble composition book (see photo above). Make sure to flatten out all air bubbles. Then, open the notebook and follow the steps below. If you like, you can repeat the same steps for the back cover.

When you are done, it should look something like this:

2. Now, it’s time to prepare the snowflake stamps.

Using an empty toilet paper roll, draw lines (about an inch long) around one of the ends. Then cut and fold. Follow the steps below.

If you notice on the last photo above, we made two types of ends. The one on the left has a pointy end, and the one on the right, we left straight. Once you’ve completed these steps, make sure to also cut off every other strip. This will help the stamp look more like a snowflake and less like a flower.

3. Let’s decorate those journals!

Let your little ones have fun stamping away. It’s okay if the snowflakes aren’t perfect – what snowflake is? Then with the paint brush, have your kids paint some dots around the cover. Finally, add the word ‘Winter’ and the year.

DIY Winter Snowflake Journal for Mom

Materials needed:

• Moleskine journal
• White tempera paint or a white-out pen
• Thin-tip paint brush

How to make a winter journal for yourself:

As cute as the kids’ winter journals are, I wanted to make something a bit more sophisticated for me. I used a white-out pen to draw snowflakes of different sizes and shapes. I then wrote the word ‘Winter’ and the year. I love the contrast of the white and black. Don’t you?

Make sure to let the journals dry for about 24 hours before you head outdoors to explore your wintery surroundings and document it all.

Have fun!

Lisa Renata is a proud multicultural Latina of Mexican, German and Japanese descent. She and her husband of German, Scott-Irish descent are raising their two lovely kids bilingual and in a home full of diverse traditions. She holds a degree in Cultural Anthropology and is a certified Interpreter. She is also the creator of SaboraCajeta.com, where she shares her craft ideas, and her passion for sewing and photography. You can find Lisa occasionally sharing simple and fun crafts here on modernmami.com.

Disclosure: As a participant in the Walmart Moms Program, modernmami™ received compensation for the time and effort in creating this post. All thoughts and opinions are our own.

From many moms, I have learned how difficult it is to get kids to eat their veggies. I thought a great idea would be to combine zucchini with cheese, making for a delicious way to introduce this vegetable to children using familiar flavors. This is what you will need:

Zucchini and Cheese Kid-Friendly Recipe

Ingredients:

• 3 fresh zucchinis, cut in cubes
• ½ cup of chopped white onion
• 1 spoon of butter or margarine
• 1 cup of crème fresh or sour cream
• Salt and pepper or “cubitos de pollo” (chicken stock base in cubes)
• 2 cups of shredded cheese (suggest Monterrey Jack/Cheddar combination)

Steps:

1. You will need a sautéing pan with a lid and a wooden spoon.
2. Sauté onions with the butter.
3. Add the zucchini and let it cook for 5 minutes – don’t cook it too long as you want the veggies to be crunchy.
4. Add the crème fresh and the seasonings; combine well.
5. Top with cheese and cover for 5 minutes.
6. Serve hot.

This is a delicious and inexpensive way to introduce your children to zucchini; it’s also super quick! You can serve this recipe as a soup, side dish to a main course, or eat as an entrée. This is a great option for dinner or a quick lunch. If you want to reduce the calories, replace the crème fresh with Greek yogurt, the butter with olive oil, and the cheese with a low-fat option.

Enjoy!

All photos copyright and courtesy of Adriana Martin.

Fourth of July is just around the corner! If you’re looking for an easy and fun kids craft to help make your house festive for Independence Day, then look no more! Get your little ones ready to help you make this super easy 4th of July banner.

4th of July Banner Craft for Kids

All you need are three things and a lot of crafting enthusiasm from you and your little ones. Scrapbook paper, ribbon and a stapler (all of which you can find at your local Walmart) are all you need!  Okay, maybe a ruler and pencil too, but really that is all you need.  I promise.

Instructions:

First, pick out festive paper.  The typical colors for the 4th of July are red, white and blue, but why stop there?  You can add a bit of glam by adding a lighter shade of blue and some prints.  Once you’ve picked out your paper and ribbon, gather all the little helpers in the house to begin.

Start off by making a triangular template.  This will help guide the kids.  Once you’ve made the template (using steps one and two in the photo above), you can give it to your little one to begin tracing the triangles onto the scrapbook paper (steps three and four on photo).  I do advise, however, that the triangles are traced on the back of each paper that way the lines (or little mistakes little hands make) will not show up on the front of the banner.

Once your little one has traced all the triangles, have him or her cut them out.

Lay the cut triangles out on the floor and play around until you and/or your little one is satisfied with the order they will be in.  Then cut your ribbon.  We used about 4 yards of sky blue satin ribbon.

Begin to staple each triangle onto the ribbon by starting in the center and moving outwards.  Staple each triangle twice, one on each end.  When you add the following triangle, make sure that the tip of each end touch.  Continue until all triangles are stapled onto the ribbon. *Note: you can also sew a straight line over the ribbon and triangles if you choose to.

You are done!  Time to decorate and…

Happy Independence Day!

Lisa Renata is a proud multicultural Latina of Mexican, German and Japanese descent. She and her husband of German, Scott-Irish descent are raising their two lovely kids bilingual and in a home full of diverse traditions. She holds a degree in cultural Anthropology and is a certified Interpreter. She is also the creator of SaboraCajeta.com, where she shares her craft ideas, and her passion for sewing and photography.

Disclosure: ModernMami.com is a member of the Walmart Moms program, resulting in compensation for this post.

Baby boy is starting to say more words these days. They aren’t many, but they sure are cute to hear! He’s been saying dada for a while now, and just recently started saying mama too, though he doesn’t say it very often. He was also saying small words like, wow, uh uh(to say no), and his sister’s name. In the past three months, especially in the last few weeks, he’s progressed to saying more words and even some phrases. Here’s some of what he says:

• No!
• Yeah
• I see you!
• Oh no!
• Uh oh!
• This way
• Bye!
• Hi!

Those words and phrases you can distinctly make out. In the case of no, it’s very, very clear! Isn’t that word always one they learn right away? There are a couple more words that are a little harder to understand, but we know it’s what he’s trying to say.

• Leche (milk) – He also signs this along with trying to say it.
• 1, 2, 3, go! – He doesn’t actually pronounce the numbers, but you can hear he says three one-syllable words before he says the word go, which is clear.
• Thank you – Pretty much every time we hand him something, he responds with a two-syllable phrase that very much sounds like he’s saying thank you!

It’s fun when kids are first learning to talk. I love hearing his little voice developing and seeing how quickly he picks up on things. He learned to say “I see you!” really fast after hearing me say it only a couple of times to him while playing peek-a-boo. Big sister loves hearing him talk too and will be the first one to come running if she thinks he said something new. Her favorite, of course, is hearing him say her name. She just about melts when he does that!

What were some of your babies’ first words?

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Disney Baby. I’ll be joining the Disney Baby blogging team next month, and look forward to sharing these kinds of stories with you over there! Stay tuned for more details!

Photo: Philippe Put/Flickr

Tantrums. We’re so there. Oh, how I wish we could skip this stage of parenting! Can anyone make that happen?

Tantrums are nothing new to us, of course. Being that this is our second child, we know all too well what it’s like to deal with a toddler and tantrums. Even so, it’s hard to actually get through them!

When baby girl was almost 18 months old, the terrible twos hit. And they hit hard. She actually started acting up even before that, but 18 months was probably when it got really bad. Similarly, baby boy has started his tantrums before the 18-month mark. Luckily, though, they’re not as bad as his big sister’s. Let’s hope that doesn’t change.

Back when we dealt with baby girl’s toddler tantrums, most people would provide us with some form of the following advice:

• Ignore it.
• Let her cry.
• Some kids will hit themselves.
• So what if she makes herself throw up, what’s the worst that can happen?

When you’re in the moment, though, it’s very hard to ignore your child banging her head against the wall or crying so hard she vomits. Though baby boy is not doing either of those things – he really just cries and runs around in a circle for a bit – it’s still hard to ignore the crying fit.

The good thing is that we are more prepared this time around and know that if we don’t pay it much mind, he’ll calm down. We also know that he’s truly just frustrated or upset about a situation and cannot communicate that to us. Reminding ourselves of this makes it easier to distract him from the offense or help him calm down faster.

It’s still tough.

One thing we were told back when baby girl’s tantrums got to a very difficult stage, was that we should start formal time-outs. We had already been doing time-outs, but not formally. We weren’t telling her it was a time-out and we also weren’t using a specific chair. Perhaps it’s time to initiate the time-out ritual with baby boy before his tantrums worsen.

Baby girl’s tantrums did eventually get better. We stuck with time-outs and soon enough, we didn’t even need them. I just can’t remember how long it took us to get to that point. I know that baby boy’s tantrum stage will also pass just as hers did. But, I’m already ready for them to be over.

How long did the tantrum stage last for your kids?

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Disney Baby. I’ll be joining the Disney Baby blogging team next month, and look forward to sharing these kinds of stories with you over there! Stay tuned for more details!

Photo: Chirag Rathod/Flickr

I’m sure many of you are looking for fun activities, games, and fun things to do this summer with the kids. I know that, like me, many of you are also busy with many other responsibilities between work, running businesses, and life in general. With all that goes on in an average week, sometimes it’s hard to get outside with the kids and let them enjoy the outdoors. And yet, outside play is such an important aspect of childhood!

One of our favorite ways to play outside is to head to a local park with a soccer ball and kite. Baby boy and baby girl love to kick the ball around in an open field and we enjoy flying kites with them.

If you need ideas for games and activities you can do outside, you should definitely check out the Let’s Play site, where I’ve been a contributor and have participated as a Let’s Play Ambassador for over a year. Other ambassadors and myself provide play ideas and our stories on raising active kids. You can also take the Let’s Play Pledge on Facebook to commit to an extra 60 minutes of play each week.

Save Play Giveaway

To help you play a little more this summer, Let’s Play is offering a giveaway for three (3) ModernMami™.com readers with a kit full of fun things you can do outside! The “save play” kit includes:

• 1 10’ play parachute
• 1 sand bucket
• 1 jump rope
• 1 carton of sidewalk chalk
• 1 Let’s Play frisbee
• A How to Save Play Card, offering suggestions for saving play and resources like the Playground Finder App and Play Ideas on LetsPlay.com
• Creative ideas for active play with sidewalk chalk (e.g. Save the King, Hopscotch, Roman Ball)

How to Enter

Required entry: If you’d like to enter this giveaway for a save play kit, simply leave a comment letting us know some of your favorite ways to play outside with the kids.

Extra entries (optional):

Each of the following will count as 1 extra entry. You’ll need to leave a separate comment for each entry.

1. Follow @modernmami on Twitter.
2. Tweet the following (1 time only): Get outside with the kids & save play! Enter to win a @letsplay kit full of fun activities from @modernmami! http://bit.ly/LfYPUZ #giveaway
3. Receive post updates by subscribing to our RSS feed. You can do so either via email or through a RSS reader. Leave a comment saying you did so or are already a subscriber.
4. Write a blog post on your own blog sharing the details of this giveaway. Be sure to include a link back to this post. Leave a comment with your post link.

All entries must be in by Sunday, June 17, 2012 at 11:59 pm EST. You must be 18 or older and a U.S. resident. No purchase necessary. Remember to leave a separate comment for each entry. The winners will be chosen using Random.org and will be notified via email. (Please be sure to provide a valid email address with your entry.) Winners will have 48 hours to respond and claim prize, otherwise a new winner will be chosen. Prize will be provided and mailed by giveaway sponsor and ModernMami™.com is not responsible for lost or damaged goods.

Disclosure: ModernMami.com is a member of the Let’s Play Ambassador team, a compensated program.

Photo: markheybo/Flickr

It’s funny how different baby boy is from his big sister, and yet, how alike they also are. They are so alike, in fact, that when baby boy was a few months old, it was just like looking at a photo of baby girl from when she was the same age.

The similarities show up in interesting ways, though, and go beyond the physical. One thing he’s been doing lately is what we call the “pretend I’m sleeping game.” He lays down, pretends to snore (full-on snorting noise), and then sits up looking around the room saying, “Huh? Huh? Huh?” That last part is him pretending to wake up surprised.

His little game is funny, but it’s especially interesting and entertaining to us because his big sister did the exact same thing when she was about his age. And, I mean exactly. She played that game in the very same way and laughed about it just like he does.

To be honest, we’re not even sure where he picked up this game or if he saw someone do it. Baby girl hasn’t done it since she was much younger, so he didn’t learn it from her, for once. He just started doing it one day out of nowhere.

Of course, there are many other things we’ve noticed are the same between our boy and our girl. Some are very obvious and others more hidden. It’s amazing to us how two children can share so much, though they each have very distinct personalities. We’re loving it!

Have you noticed many similarities in your children or are they vastly different?

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Disney Baby. I’ll be joining the Disney Baby blogging team next month, and look forward to sharing these kinds of stories with you over there! Stay tuned for more details!

Photo: Lars Plougmann/Flickr

My brother recently had a baby girl, his third child after two boys. I asked him this past weekend if he felt much different in parenting a girl versus parenting boys. It’s something I think about a lot with fathers since I know they tend to be ultra-overprotective with their daughters. I see this with my own husband too.

Though we’d like to believe we put all traditional stereotypes on gender roles aside, the reality is that much of our parenting is still based on what we know (or believe) to be true about boys and girls. From birth, we act a certain way with our babies, depending on whether they’re boys or girls. Boys are talked to in a stronger voice and told things like, “Nice grip, my man!” by their daddies. Girls are immediately called “little princesses” and spoken to in a softer tone.

It’s not something I’m proud of, but one of my initial reactions to my baby boy was to say, “I didn’t know boys could be so sweet!” It’s not like I thought boys were mean, especially from birth, but hearing me say that, one might think so.

Fathers tend to be more guilty of these things than moms. They are usually the ones to tell their boys to “man up” and typically provide more cuddles to their daughters than their sons. I believe moms usually want to cuddle their boys just as much as their girls, but even we sometimes fall into the trap of treating our kids different based on gender. I’ve caught myself saying things like, “It’s a boy thing,” when describing some of baby boy’s actions. Why is that?

The fact is that a lot of the differences probably have nothing to do with whether he’s a boy or she’s a girl. Differences might just be due to their personalities or a variety of other reasons. Our kids are so complex and so much goes into what makes them who they are, that who knows why they do what they do. Don’t you think?

Have you found yourself acting different when parenting your boys and girls? Do you feel fathers are more guilty of this than moms?

Photo: bingbing/Flickr

Baby girl completed Kindergarten last week. Her first year of school is done and over with and I now officially have a first-grader. Wow.

She was pretty sad about finishing up the school year, mostly because she was feeling like she’d miss her teacher and friends. She came home on her last day of school saying, “I want to stay in Kindergarten another year. I don’t want to move to first grade.” I told her that it would all be okay and that we definitely want to move forward in life, not backward. “Progress is good,” I told her. “Why?” she asked.

Her question stumped me for a second. How was I to explain such an abstract concept of progression to a six-year-old?

I decided to compare it to physical growth – hers and that of plants. She had recently learned of a plant’s life cycle, so I knew it would be an easy connection for her. “If a seed doesn’t progress, then it gets stuck as a seed and doesn’t grow into a plant, right? The same goes for you. You want to get bigger, don’t you?” She nodded and I continued to explain that our minds need to grow too. “If not, we’ll get stuck and we’ll never know anything new!”

She seemed to understand this, but still wished she could stay in Kindergarten and learn new things there. I realized no amount of words were going to help my baby girl in that moment, so I gave her what I knew she needed, a hug.

As a woman, I know that sometimes us girls just need a big hug, without words, to help us feel better. It makes little sense to many, except maybe other women. Sometimes we don’t want to make sense of things, or fix the situation. I know exactly what that feels like and yet there I was trying to “fix” my baby girl’s feelings on finishing Kindergarten. The hug I gave her did so much more to help her than any of my words.

With that hug, I immediately felt a release of the worry in her little body. Since that day, she still sometimes mentions she’s going to miss her teacher, but she hasn’t said anything about wanting to stay in Kindergarten. In fact, she’s made statements starting with, “When I’m in first grade…” I guess she’s showing progress after all.

Were your children sad when they finished their first year of school?

Yesterday, the kids and I went to a local indoor play center, Amaya Papaya. Baby girl found herself making friends with the owner’s daughter, who is the same age as her. Baby boy did what a typical 1-year-old toddler does – he went from center to center playing a little of this and a little of that without really interacting with other kids.

A couple of times he came running towards me with the beginnings of a crying face, though there was nothing wrong as far as I could tell. After the second time he did this, I realized he was doing so because he was hearing other babies crying. “Crap,” I thought, “The crying is contagious now.” But, then a few minutes later, as we were sitting down to eat a snack, something interesting happened.

A little baby girl, probably around 9 or 10 months old, was sitting on the floor and began to cry. Baby boy looked her way, then looked at me pointing to her. “She’s ok,” I told him. But, he continued pointing her way and started to go towards her beginning to cry as well. This time, though, he went up to her and patted the little girl’s back. My baby boy was trying to comfort her!

I realized the crying he was doing due to other babies crying wasn’t because the crying was contagious. He was crying out of sympathy! Another mom sitting nearby us with her 15-month-old boy said her little brother used to do the same when they were younger. He would cry whenever she cried.

I’ve noticed that the last few times my baby girl has been upset, her little brother looked at her and then started making up his face to cry as well. I just never put it all together until I saw him in action with another baby. My little baby boy is sympathetic! Sweet, isn’t it?!

Did your younger children do something similar with their older siblings?

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Disney Baby. I’ll be joining the Disney Baby blogging team next month, and look forward to sharing these kinds of stories with you over there! Stay tuned for more details!

Photo: memekode/Flickr