Advent Calendar

The morning after we decorated our Christmas tree I woke up at 5am to my 3-year old yelling to his brother to get up because Santa had been to our house. My 4-year old didn't get up, so my 3-year old came to our bed to tell us Santa had left Christmas presents for us to open. I explained that it wasn't Christmas, so Santa hadn't visited our house. This made me realize that we really needed to teach the boys a sense of time.

I've used a calendar before to cross off days of the week for a countdown to something, but advent calendars take it to another level with treats or little presents. It's a great visual representation too. This year we created an advent calendar with brown paper bags.

I drew Christmas, holiday, religious, and random things on the baggies with a Sharpie. Then the boys colored everything in like in their coloring books. My husband and I helped color a little. I couldn't resist coloring the leg lamp, and my husband enjoyed coloring my version of a Cardinal into a chicken pooping. It was fun for all of us.

After the boys went to bed we stuffed the baggies and taped them up. Every year we have traditions that we scramble to do because we didn't plan ahead, so this year we organized everything into the advent calendar. For example, we will go to the zoo to see Santa on the 10th, so I wrote that on a slip of paper and put it in the number 10 baggie. I did easy ones for during the week because we don't have a lot of time. Some of our activities are as follows:

Coloring contest (my husband is the judge)
Treats

Write letters to Santa

Popcorn garland making

Cookie making

Going to the movies

Ornament making

Hot chocolate night (with all the fixings)

Popcorn ball making and eating

Holiday movie camp out in the living room

Holiday book reading marathon

Holiday light show

Preschool Christmas Program

Birthday party (our baby girl turns 1)

Open 1 gift

St. Nick's day

A letter from Santa on Christmas morning

We will open a baggie each morning at breakfast, and then we will talk about when we will do our activity or event. I also wrote all the activities on a calendar we see everyday, so we can be a step ahead. Thank goodness the boys can't read yet.

It seemed like a lot of work and time, but my husband rationalized it by saying that it's not much time when it's divided out through 25 days. We also scheduled 2 birthday parties, Christmas programs, traveling for Christmas, and Santa visits. I feel better just knowing it's all written down.

12 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 12

Happy Thanksgiving Eve! I'm so proud of my family for completing this Thanksgiving project. The original goal was to teach our children kindness, but I think it has gone beyond that. I know it has changed my attitude towards others, and instead of being indifferent I look for ways to be nice. I even said Happy Thanksgiving to the TSA.

Pictures that my mom
sent to us while we
were away

The last five days my husband and I have been in Las Vegas celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary. We didn't share our vacation on social media because we didn't want people to go to our empty house and steal our crap, which is why I didn't mention that in previous posts. Our children stayed with the grandparents. So to continue this project, I put all the supplies and instructions into brown bags for each day. We received pictures of the boys doing their project with some details of how it went. 

We are very grateful that the grandparents were willing to watch our children, so we could take a trip. I'm happy that this project could spill over into the grandparents, but more grateful to them for helping to complete it. It's definitely extra responsibilities. 

This last day of  the 12 Days of Thanksgiving we are celebrating our family. We sent post cards from Las Vegas to our children, and brought back treats for everyone. After all, Thanksgiving is about friends and family. 

12 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 11

Getting letters in the mail is the best. My toddlers confirmed this statement when they tore into an envelope like a hyena. I know I love it when the mail isn't an advertisement or a bill, so we are spreading the love of mail to others.

This is the first Thanksgiving that my boys have been able to make hand turkeys by themselves, so we decided to send Happy Thanksgiving cards using their hand turkeys. My 3-year old wasn't too excited to make them. He liked to trace his hand, but more because he "accidentally" colored his own hand. My 4-year old really liked it, and made turkey after turkey. He told us not to look at his until it was finished because each turkey was special with all different colors. He didn't mind making as many turkeys as we needed for their cousins and great grandparents.

Nothing says Happy Thanksgiving like a hand made turkey card in the mail.

12 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 10

My son with Annie

My senior year of high school I went to the local animal shelter and adopted a dog. She was the first dog I saw, and she was very excited. Annie is a white rat terrier mix, and she became mine that day. Now it's time to teach my sons about animal shelters.

The boys and I bought some dog treats and dog food. My 4-year old asked if the treats were for Annie or Maddie, my in-laws dog. I explained that they were for animals that needed homes. They were a little confused because in the eyes of a toddler, who wouldn't want a cat or a dog. I explained it further by saying that this is the place people go to pick out their pets like Annie or Maddie.

At the animal shelter

At the animal shelter, the first room you walk into had all the cages for the cats. So when the boys delivered the treats and food they were lucky enough to play with some of the cats. One of the cats made fast friends with my 4-year old. He wanted to take it to my parent's house not our house, which I thought was interesting. It makes me wonder if he thinks that most pets should live in the country. After all, Annie and Maddie do.

My 4-year old did not want to leave his new cat friend, so much so that he had silent tears. Maybe we'll have to start considering having a pet. We should start with a Goldfish.

They didn't get a chance to see the dogs, but the treats and food were well received.

Like Bob Barker said, "Help control the pet population. Have your pet spayed or neutered." We love our pets, and are so thankful animal shelters take care of future pets.

12 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 9

When I was pregnant with my oldest child, I read multiple parenting books. One of the main concepts that stuck with me was that praising your child will promote positive behavior. Before I had children I thought this was common sense and easy to do. However, I have found that it's much easier to focus on our children's negative behavior, so at the end of the day I find a few things to praise our children for. With that in mind we decided to try positive words with strangers.

I wrote some positive messages on Post-it notes. Some of these messages included: smile, Happy Thanksgiving, and have a good day. The boys taped the Post-it messages to driver's windows in a grocery store parking lot. The Post-its weren't sticky enough to stay on the window without a little tape, especially in the wind and cold. My first idea was to put the messages under the windshield wipers; however, the boys couldn't reach the wipers. I also thought it was best to keep the boys from touching stranger's vehicles.

The boys were so anxious to give out the messages that they just handed them to people getting in and out of their vehicles. Some of the messages went on the vehicle windows, but it was more fun to have them hand delivered. The boys were cautious and a little shy, but they eventually got the hang of it. All the messages were well received. A kind word is enough to change someone's day.

12 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 8

Our parents do a lot for us, and one of those things is watching our kids. I'm able to be a substitute teacher because one of our moms volunteers to drive two hours one way to our house to watch our kids. They change diapers, fix meals, and pick up from preschool. They do all this and more without any complaint or refusal. So we decided to help out the grandparents and give them a big thank you.

We made survival kits with the following items:
Nuts: because the kids will drive you nuts
Glow sticks: to distract the kids with glowing things
Coins: to bride the kids
Balloons: because everyday is a party with you
Tootsie rolls: so you remember to roll with it
Chocolate: to give yourself a time out with a treat
Turkey drawings: to say thank you

We are very lucky to have our children's grandparents so willing to help. We are even luckier that they taught us how to be parents. We are so grateful that they are apart of our lives. Thank you Grandparents. You mean the world to us.

12 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 7

When we had a play date at the park, we noticed one of the swings was broken. One of the links was broken. So we fixed it.

We went to the hardware store to buy a replacement link. The boys were very helpful and good because they knew they were going to play at the park as a treat.

My husband is a giant, so he is the one that actually fixed the swing because he could easily reach it. However, the boys tried to help.

It turned out to be a great little project because the boys loved playing on the new swing. They also helped other children play by fixing the swing.

12 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 6

I never fully walked away from teaching. I'm still employed by the school district to be apart of the after school program. I've been with the program for 3 years to help tutor, supervise, socialize, and cook for any high school students that want to attend. I enjoy the students that attend because they choose to be there for whatever reason. It's a program that I'm proud to be apart of.

My husband and I juggle around our schedules to make the after school program a priority. He comes home from work early to be with our kids while I'm at school. I give hugs and kisses and tell the boys I'm going to school. Now whenever I leave the house without them they ask me if I'm going to school. It's a logical deduction.

In the past, I have taken the boys with me to the after school program when something came up. I think it was beneficial for both my kids and the high schoolers. We all played a game of Uno. My 3-year old kept saying Uno after he layed down each card. One of the high schoolers was trying to help him play, and it was fun to watch them try to work together.

Today we had our Thanksgiving celebration at the program, so my boys and I decided to give out chocolates wrapped up. I tore tissue paper into squares and the boys counted out the chocolates. They wanted to unwrap them for the high schoolers, but I stopped them in time. They said it was to help them with the wrappers, but I'm sure once they saw chocolate they would have devoured them.

The whole family came to the program with me tonight, and the boys handed out their treats to the big kids. My boys were pretty shy, but they still handed them all out. They even wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.

12 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 5

I was told early on in my teaching career that "your agriculture students will stay in the community." I took that statement with a grain of salt and didn't think much of it. However, almost a decade later I see my former students everywhere. 

Our family attended the town car show a couple of months ago, and the local police were there. I recognized one of the officers as a former student. This encounter has been in the back of my mind, and it seemed an appropriate time to do something for our local police department. 

We had been wanting to do something for awhile, so a couple of weeks ago we started with putting blue ribbons around our trees. Then Saturday we tried to take donuts to the police office. (Yes, again with the donuts.) However, they were out on a call, and the office was locked. So today the boys picked out cupcakes to deliver to them. But again, the office was locked, so we walked over to the city clerks office, which adjoins the police office, and asked after the officers. They were happy to help, and took our names down with the cupcakes. They also gave the boys suckers and police badge stickers. 

Even if we didn't make the cupcakes or deliver them to a police officers, the boys were excited about the experience. They couldn't wait to tell their dad all about it, and I had to address them with an officer before their names. My 3-year old went so far as to say that's what he wanted to do. At least until nap time when the badges peeled off in their blankets. 

Some people often wonder why my blog is titled Ag Teacher to Ag Mom, and really it's because my role as a teacher feels very similar to my role as a mom. As a teacher. I rarely said no when asked to do community service projects. Even when my students grumbled about it and I had to convince and bribe them into it, they were better for it. Now one of those students is a public servant, and I'm doing service projects with my own kids. We have come full circle, and the cycle repeats itself. 

 

 

12 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 4

Today we went for a walk around the neighborhood when my 4-year old said, "Look." He was holding up an empty juice box someone had littered. I was about to say aacky, drop that, when I realized we should be picking up trash to throw it away. So our walk consisted of 6 blocks and the bottom of our stroller full of trash. We even found a pizza box.

Luckily, it was trash day, so we deposited the litter into our can on the curb. My 4-year old wanted to keep walking to find more trash. It was like a scavenger hunt for him. I think every walk will involve litter clean up now.

Instead of the trash scavenger we played in the back yard. I praised them for picking up other people's   trash, which let to the conversation about who picks up our trash. I explained that the garbage collectors take it away to the landfill. This is when it occurred to me that a garbage collector is one of the most thankless jobs, but probably the most needed. What would we do without the garbage collectors?

It seemed fitting to make thank yous for the garbage collectors, which is what I called them for the boys benefit. (Sanitation engineers would probably be preferable.) We taped the cards to our trash can on the curb. We didn't wait for them to collect the trash, but the cards were gone when we brought in the cans.

Our morning walk snowballed into an entire conversation about garbage. This walk could have gone very differently, but I'm so glad that I didn't tell my 4-year old to drop the garbage and keep on walking.

With this Thanksgiving project I find myself looking for ways to be nice or give back, which gives me a very different perspective on my daily activities like parenting. We aren't going above and beyond to do things, we are just finding things in our everyday activities. If we can do it, so can you.

 

 

12 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 3

Last night we watched The Polar Express, so this morning my 4-year old asked to play with his Polar Express train. Two years ago that was his Christmas present, and it was put away in the basement. My response was that I wasn't sure where it was in the basement, so we couldn't play with it. With that answer in mind he asked to talk to Daddy. I called him at work, and he explained that he didn't know where it was either. To keep everyone in a happy mood, and to start the day off right we all trekked to the basement to look.

Surprisingly, it was in the second plastic tub we looked in. Even more surprising was that the boys held the flashlights and moved tubs for me. They even offered to carry everything upstairs, which they did with a little help.

The boys started putting the track together, while I searched the junk drawer for a screwdriver. The engine and controller needed new batteries. As I was in the middle of unscrewing the tinies screws possible someone knocked on the back door. I answered it, and it was an Alliant Energy worker saying he was there to change the batteries in our meter. He said the power would be out for about 30 seconds. I said okay, shut the door, and then realized that we were both doing the same thing.

I told the boys that an electric man was here to change a battery, and I asked them if they thought he would like a donut. (Yes, the donuts from Saturday.) We had one donut left in the box just for the electric man. My 3-year old gladly took the box to him, and showed him the donut. He told him all about The Polar Express. My 4-year old needed a little pushing to get out there. The boys yelled thank you and ran back in the house.

If we were not doing the 12 days of thanksgiving it would not have occurred to me to give a complete stranger a donut, much less have my sons talk to him. It's not hard to find nice things to do for other people you just have to be in that mindset.

Note: everything was safe talking to this stranger. We didn't leave the porch and buses were dropping kids off at school right across the street.

12 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 2

We walked into church today with the sound of coins clanging coming from my purse. It was loud enough that people looked up when we sat down, but they were safer in my purse than in the hands of my toddlers. The coins were in glass jars labeled with my sons' names and the word give. The boys were pretty possessive of their jars of coins, which is why they were safer in my purse. However, that coin clanging was the reminder for them that they are big boys.

Today was the first time the boys left us during church for the kid's liturgy. They are usually too shy to go, but I walked them to the separate room. They went around the room and had to say their name and their favorite season. I left and stood at the door more to reassure myself than them. My 4-year old said his name followed by winter. My 3-year old introduced himself and said fall. This was a pretty big milestone for us. 

Afterward, the boys ran back to their seats just in time for the offering. We took the lids off the jars and each boy got to dump their jar of coins in the basket. My 4-year old had to get used to the idea of giving up his coins. The night before they got to take their spending jars to the store and pick out a toy they could afford of $1.50 or less. This was the first time they really connected coins to toys, so giving some away was tough. It was a little easier for them when they saw us do it too. I also explained that the money would be used to help other people. 

I was very proud of my boys today. They are taking risks outside their comfort zones, like walking up in front of church or going with other kids without us. They are also following our example by giving up their coins. Those coins were precious to them, and they gave them away. We learned from each other today. 

12 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 1

It's November 12th, and everywhere I look I see Christmas. Even the town has it's lights all down Main Street and around the courthouse. I understand being organized and prepared, but what happened to Thanksgiving. Is it just eating, watching football, and shopping? Or is it a holiday to get ready for Christmas?

Many families have their own traditions, so this year we are starting our own. It's common for families to count down the days leading up to Christmas, which gave me the idea to countdown the days leading up to Thanksgiving. Each day we will complete an act of giving.

Today we took donuts to the librarians. This was a tough one for the boys because they didn't want to share. After they each had one they wanted to take the boxes home with us for later. I compared their happiness for donuts with what others will feel when they get a donut. When I explained that the librarians didn't have any donuts and that it would make them happy, they agreed. After all, who wouldn't love a donut on a Saturday morning.

I hope that this is a ripple effect, and all your families will do little acts of giving. Make teaching kindness and giving a priority.

Veterans Day

I compared veterans to the toy soldiers from Toy Story. It was something my toddlers could relate to.  Once I mentioned that their aunt and uncles were veterans and we were celebrating them, my 4-year old said that he always wanted Veterans Day to get here. I think he's expecting a party with cake and presents for them.

We have a coloring book that explains most patriotic holidays, so we colored a few pages after I read the description. (The coloring book was passed out at a 4th of July parade. We might be nerdy because we kept it.) We were going to mail the colored pages to their aunt and uncles (my sister, brother, and brother-in-law) who are veterans. However, it wouldn't get there in time, and I wanted to reach more people to say thank you.

We settled on making a video instead. I borrowed my friends iPAD because it has iMovie on it, which makes it pretty simple to make videos. My sons loved it. They freaked out when they saw themselves in a "real" movie. They went through and named all the people in the movie. They called my husband's grandpa Daddy. My grandfather they called "a man." They have never met either of our grandpas, but they must recognize that strong Jensen gene pool.

This video is for all the veterans out there. We may not understand all of your sacrifices, but we do understand it's for all of us. Thank you!
As a side note, my brother-in-law didn't make it into the video, so here's his Veterans Day shout out: David Banks.

Vote

My first voting experience was in the 2003 caucus. I had just turned 18, and I participated so I could get extra credit for Government class. The only thing I really remember about it is that all the veterans were in favor of John Kerry. I didn't know anything about the candidates or the issues. I don't even remember who I voted for.

I'm not a political person, but I feel like it's a responsibility to vote. I usually tell people that if you don't vote you shouldn't be complaining about any political decisions. If you were happy to let other people make the decision for you at the polls, then you gave up your choice in political decisions.

This year my husband and I filled out our absentee ballots with our sons. To help them understand the process we first read some library books about voting. The library loves to highlight books related to the time of year, so they weren't too difficult to find.

Next we did some voting on what to have for dessert. As a family we voted on cake or cookies. The cookies won. My 3-year old son was upset that the cake didn't win. My husband and I had a laugh about that because his fit will probably be similar to adults' after this election.

Lastly, we went through the absentee ballot with them. We explained what the names and circles meant. After it was filled out we sealed and mailed it.

It's a day away. Remember to vote.

Now the real issue is cake or cookies? Vote in the comments below. 

Parenting success

One of the first things I saw this morning was a parenting failure on social media. Usually, parenting failures are funny, which is why people share them with the world. However, I've noticed that not a lot of people will post their parenting successes. Maybe its for fear of seeming like a braggart, but I think if we don't look for the good things we drown in the failure. Plus this is my blog, I can brag about my parenting prowess.

Happy babies make
for success.

These are my parenting successes in the last 24 hours:

1. My 4-year old wanted his Halloween candy for breakfast, but when I said no he settled for organizing the candy. He made piles of the same candy and asked me for little baggies to put the organized candy.

2. My 3-year old didn't hit anyone with his sword while trick o treating. He didn't even hit his brother.

3. After trick o treating the boys settled for one piece of candy after supper along with a homemade brownie that they made with Grandma.

4. The boys wrestled in the living room while the adults tried to get supper on the table. Supper was late after trick o treating.

5. Breakfast wasn't spilt on the table, even with my 3-year old's sword next to his cereal.

6. My 3-year old let his brother hold his sword while he finished getting ready for preschool.

The boys helping Grandma
make brownies.

7. My 4-year old explained that there wasn't time to have the Halloween party at preschool, but they still had fun anyway. Although, he came home with treats and he wore his costume, so I'm not sure why he thinks it wasn't a party.

8. The boys were up at 5:30am and asked to read books in our bed. We read with the flashlight on my phone until the alarm went off.

9. No one was injured.

10. No one had any meltdowns, including the adults.

I can't take all the credit for these successes. My husband had a lot to do with it, so I guess these are his successes too. Also, my mother-in-law is helping us out a couple of days while I substitute teach.

Many of these successes involve candy and that sword, but that has been our world the last 24 hours. My next parenting strategy is to eat all their candy and hide that sword.