An Eye Spy Bottle is simply an empty water bottle (or other bottle) filled with rice (or other filler) and various small objects. Your child then turns the bottle, searching for the various items.

I kinda assumed the older kids would be more interested in this activity than my toddler, but it has been the other way around.

Faith is 20 months, and she picks this bottle up quite often. She turns it until she finds the balls (marbles).

Want to make one for your kidlets? Check out these tutorials from I Can Teach My Child or from Meet the Dubeins.

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There seems to be this unspoken assumption that Moms are somehow little mini-gods who are 100% responsible for their child's every act and word. Like we're supposed to cast spells on them before going out in public. "Abra-canabara. I turn you into a well-bred, please & thank you, yes, ma'am - no ma'am, perfect little angel!" And suddenly our children turn into mini adults straight from an old, stuffy British black and white.

Think I'm crazy? Think about this. A mother stands in the check out lane at the grocery store. Her two year old son, sitting in the cart, eyes the candy and demands some goodies. "I want candy!" The mother calmly replies, "No. Not today."

Suddenly the entire store is echoing with this two year olds ear piercing screams. People are now staring at this poor mother, waiting to see if she will cast some spell on the child to make him quiet.

The mother firmly tells her son to stop screaming. "NO!" he yells, and slaps her on the cheek.

I will stop right there, because the rest does not matter. Everyone in the entire store now believes this mother is a complete failure. A slacker of a mom. And every single one of them could probably offer their opinion of what this mother needs to do in order to be a good mom.

But here's the things. Our kidlets are individual people, with minds of their own. They are cute little sinners. Plain and simple. And they have this devilish knack for pulling out their demons at the most inopportune times.

We cannot base our worth on their behavior. We cannot judge our skill as a mother by their behavior. (To do so puts us in a dangerous place, as we will begin to pressure our children to perform perfectly simply for the sake of our reputation.)

Our skill as a mother is based not on our children's behavior, but on ours. Is our behavior sprinkled generously with love? Then we are a good mom {not a perfect mom}.

(Disclamier: This story may or may not be about me and my two year old son. I may or may not have chosen to ignore the stares and address the issue later in private. Similiar situations may or may not have happened more than once.)

Often, one of the many responsibilities of a mother is management of the finances. Even if it is not solely her area, she still must manage the money she spends while doing the family shopping. It can really become just another thing on the plate to stress over. Crystal's book, The Money Saving Mom's Budget, may very well be the key that can get moms moving in the right direction, releaving stress and clearing guilt.

The Money Saving Mom's Budget

by Crystal Paine

Crystal's book, The Money Saving Mom's Budget, could not have come at a better time for me. As a mother of four in just five years, life washed me over and swallowed me up without warning. My health, my house, and my finances in cluttered messes around me, I realized about six months ago that it is time to swim to the top, break through, and breathe again.

Crystal offers straightforward, step by step advice for those who find themselves needing a financial make over, but have no idea where to start. She takes the overwhelming concepts of budgeting, saving money, and managing money and breaks them down into manageable steps of action.

With each page turn, I became more and more confident and excited to jump in and get started. “We can DO this!”

I am most excited about the chapter on clutter reduction and the chapter on writing a budget. These are two areas that very quickly frustrate and overwhelm me.

Crystal poignantly demonstrates just how much money we waste when our homes are cluttered and chaotic.

I throw away toys and other items that have broken when stepped on. I spend money on fast food or expensive frozen convenience food because I cannot find my kitchen counter for cooking space. I could not find my children’s socks on Sunday mornings. After several stressful Sundays, I just went out and bought more. When I see marked down children’s clothing, I swipe it up, purchasing items they do not need because I have no idea what they do or do not have. I waste money on water and laundry detergent, washing loads two or even three times, because I totally forget about the load in the washer for days on end.

You get the point. I waste money, because my home is cluttered and chaotic. Crystal gives very precise, “get it done” steps for decluttering your house from top to bottom.

Chapter three addresses the ins and outs of writing a budget. I’m going to be completely honest here. Budgets scare me. Not because I’m afraid of skimping or having to stick to it, but because I’m clueless. How do you know how much to budget where? What if you don’t even have enough to cover the bills? What if you’re behind in bills… do you budget that in or do you budget according to being caught up? If you follow the cash system, what’s cash and what’s not? Confusing stuff.

Crystal’s guidance in The Money Saving Mom's Budget is the only budgeting help that I’ve heard or read that has not left me feeling like an idiot. She assures that it’s ok to take it slowly and learn as you go. I like her “Three Months to a Realistic, Workable Budget”.

Month One: The Food Budget

Month Two: The Bare Bones Budget

Month Three: The Full-fledged Budget

I’m still a bit scared of the complexity of the full-fledged budget, but I think setting up and following a bare bones budget will make it feel much less like a gigantic algebra equation and much more like a simple plan of action.

Overall, I give The Money Saving Mom's Budget a solid five stars. This is definitely going to be my financial guide for the coming year.

(Disclaimer: This post contains referral links.)

Any activity that combines craft time and snack time, as well as encourages the kidlets to play outside, is a winner in my book. This fun bird feeder project is one of them.

I originally found the idea for this project at Preschool Alphabet. The concept and process is pretty easy. Loop one end of a pipe cleaner and let your child string round cereals onto it. We used Fruit Loops and Multi-Grain Cheerios. Once they have it all threaded, just bend over the end so the cereal does not slide off.

 I'm pretty sure Faith thought the pipe cleaner was just a fun fork. Ha ha!

 Here are the kids' final products... well, except Faith's. She was still eating hers.

The final step was pretty easy. I simply commanded my kidlets to put on their boots (and Daryn to put on his shirt - no idea why he's shirtless in January). Then I shooed them out the door to hang their feeders... at which point they all asked if they could put on their coats and play outside. Made me happy.

I love how toddlers are so serious about their play. That engrossed look of concentration makes me smile. My 20 month old had this look plastered on her face for a good hour today.

 When I emptied the juice bottle this morning, an idea jumped into my head, so I grabbed a sharp knife and cut a square hole on one side of the bottle, near the bottom. I lined the edges of the hole with clear packing tape to make it less scratchy.

I then placed the bottle and a small bowl of pom poms in front of her. She shouted with glee, "Po-Pom!!", and immediately got busy... dropping them in... pulling them out of the hole... and all over again.

 She carried the bottle around with her for a least an hour. She even brought it with her when her brothers invited her to "nuggle" with them.