Law and Order and.. Toothpaste?

Not the TV show, as much as I do enjoy a good Law and Order SVU episode now and again - but rather, how we handle certain situations around the house. We put heads together and came up with a wonderful adaption of the old "star charts" from way back in elementary school.

The rules basically narrow down to an evil plan to bribe them to do things we want in order to get sticker stars. For the most part, it was a way to get Natalie to brush her teeth (using toothpaste too), to drink water in a sippy cup instead of juice at bedtime, do well on her schoolwork, to help clean up toys and be our little helper.

Aidan's chart is mostly for brushing his teeth. He'll also be getting stars for dressing himself (or for now, at least doing most of the "grunt" work), and I want to think about maybe adapting it for his future potty training.

So far, Aidan has 5, Natalie has 6 - the picture is a little old. (can you tell we have toddlers in the house? - big ol' carton of multi-colored goldfish!) Aidan has stars for brushing his teeth. Natalie has stars for brushing teeth, 100% on her schoolwork for the day (or at least corrected her errors after I looked worksheets over), being my little helper and dressing herself all by herself with no help from me whatsoever.

So far, the kids are only brushing their teeth with water (which is better than nothing, which is what they did before) - but I think they hate the taste of toothpaste. The bubble gum sparkly kids crap is just that - crap. Tastes like crap. Our toothpaste is really strong, so they hate that. I've been doing some looking up on the internet and I think a fruity flavored toothpaste would be good. There is Tom's of Maine Outrageous Orange Mango, Silly Strawberry or the Orajel toddler training Fruit Splash toothpaste. The last choice would be best for Aidan, who likes to brush with Chris and I but doesn't really understand "spit it out" - Orange Mango, I think, would be best for Natalie because of the flavor - she is not much of a fruit punch or strawberry person.

I'll be updating you guys on how the star charts are filling up and any new developments with the teeth brushing stuff.

My Letter to Wrigley

I am devastated. I haven't been able to find a gum that I can chew for a length of time without becoming ill so I have decided to contact Wrigley about their Orbit Positively Pomegranate gum, which is a limited edition. Rumor has it, they have begun removing it from stores already. This is the only gum in the 22 years of my life that does not make me ill. And it's limited edition. Mother Fooky Hekky! I NEVER WIN.

So, I decided the best thing to do for my own personal satisfaction was to contact them about my situation. I have no idea if they'll see it, read it, reply to it or do anything about it - but I wanted to at least make the effort to touch base with them so that I feel better about making an effort, or at least compliment them on a terrific product that I thoroughly enjoy.

Here is my message to them:

"I have considered myself to have little luck when it comes to gum. I like gum - it tastes good, gives me something to do and freshens my mouth - what's not to like? Well, the mouth sores, stomach aches, headaches and other problems I get after chewing almost any type of gum is what's not to like.

I have a sensitivty to salicylates - and without end, I have been searching for a solution to my gum need that doesn't send me to the bedroom to cry, or make me need to spit it out after a minute because of the oncoming stomach problems/pains. I've found it! The Orbit Positively Pomegranate! No headaches, no stomach aches, no troubles breathing, no mouth sores, no rashes on the face - nothing!

And it's limited edition."

Meet our newest addition :)

His name is Arora - and he is a beautiful white faced pearl pied cockatiel. We got him from an owner who didn't have time for him (or time to clean out his cage regularly). His cage was filthy and probably hadn't been cleaned in weeks, and his tail feathers were filthy from dragging around in his own poop (despite the raised wire bottom). The food in his cage was stale and had poop in it. Poor little guy :( I cleaned him, cleaned his cage up - threw away the gross food, deconstructed the unsaveable and totally stale toys in there (and kept good parts for making future toys) and cleaned up the saveable ones.


It makes me think about how much work a cockatiel really is. These birds are hand tame and I think we have a good thing going. Their pellets and water is changed out every single day, they get veggies when we have them, they get to snack on whatever we are eating (in moderation) and are monitored to make sure they are eating properly. They get a seed tower/toy every few days for a little bit of time. They get a small sprig of spray millet every few days. They get showers a couple of times a week, and aloe mists at least once a day. They need to have plenty of out of the cage time which includes flying around, sitting with us, being pet, climbing around and exploring (or.. you know, attacking the computer mouse)


Charlie prefers Christopher but will sit with me too, Arora strongly prefers me and is scared of everyone else, including Charlie. Arora will fly around and around, seeking me out. His previous owner always let him fly onto her head (which is not good) but we have got him landing on my hands or arms instead.

First: Chris with Charlie - scritches! Second: Arora sitting on my Deathly Hallows book while I read

Playtime!

With the addition of toddlers to my life came the addition of playtime!

The kids are having more fun and getting more creative with each passing day. They act out scenes from movies, play "monster" and chase each other around. They pull each other in the wagon and dump each other out. They wear Renee and Daddy's shoes, put buckets on their heads and make silly faces. They wrestle with Daddy, sing songs with Renee (and sings songs for us!) They make things with playdoh, they think necklaces are snakes or horse reins. They have car races, make sound effects while playing and play together!

When I first met them all, Natalie just repeated the same movie lines over and over, talked like Dora did and didn't ever play by herself or using her imagination. Aidan didn't talk, attempt to talk, or attempt to communicate, much less use imagination. He just pushed cars or trains back and forth over a track and that was the extent of it. It's so wonderful to watch them grow older, to expand their minds and watch them learn to be creative.

They fight over the occassional toy but it has gotten astronomically better over time, especially since I put Thomas Trains in the closet for the time being. They'll get them back when we cycle the toys and they are a little more ready to share. But, for now, it's fun! Little fighting, lots of playing!

Pizza Nights

Chris is amazing with pizza :) He prefers meat type pizzas which are pretty awesome, except I can't always stomach them - so tonight I made a white pizza with broccoli

Normally we just make 1 pizza for everyone but I wanted something different - it ended up being delicious and we had TONS of leftovers (but it didn't reheat well in the oven the following day - we forgot about it) :)

We almost always keep on hand what it takes to make pizza, and if we have no pepperoni and mozz, we make the dough ball (because we always have plenty of flour and yeast) and set out to the store to get the rest of the ingredients.

Well, Chris makes the dough ball.


The kids enjoy helping us make it all - Natalie likes working with the flour and pounding out her own pizza - here's a picture of the little one playing with the dough, this is from a night sometime back - I've yet to get a picture of Aidan working with it but he likes to poke the growing dough ball like Daddy does to test if it's done rising.

We decided that the best thing for the kids to be able to help out in the kitchen was to get them a step stool (which is what Natalie is standing on) - they fight over it a little but in the end, it works out pretty okay - they can both fit up on it as long as they aren't pushing each other off :)

Charlie's various landing spots

Natalie asked if Charlie could fly, after just spending a little hand time with him I decided we could give flying a try with the kids around and no Christopher to help me keep him safe. His first landing was on the camera bag, he did really well! Natalie told Charlie to get off in a very stern voice, "that is daddy's favorite bag Charlie!!" -- I told her it was okay and the bird was just sitting on it.

We tried it a few times after that without any issue. Then, one time and he landed on the deer. After the picture, she grabbed the dear - she was jealous that the bird was on her "very favorite moose".

"CHARLIE! THAT'S MY FAVORITE HOMEWORK. BAD BIRDY" and so, we were finally done.

In terms of trying to get Natalie to let it be okay, I don't know what to do. I'm not sure Chris would have said much except "it's okay Natalie, he just wants to sit there, he's not hurting anymore" so that's what I tried to do and it seemed to work okay for a while until the last landing on her schoolwork. (I should be glad that she likes homeschool though, haha)

Charlie the Pied Cockatiel!

We aren't sure if Charlie is a he or a she, we'll get a DNA test sometime - but for the sake of easy, we refer to it as a he. :) Christopher and I are brilliantly pleased with him. He is very tame, LOVES to be held and lets us know he is displeased with being in the cage sometimes by getting in the corner closest to us and gets all excited and eager to be let out. We think the breeder spoiled him a little :) She's stopping Cockatiel breeding and moving onto just the bigger birds and this was her last cockatiel left... awww!

Why Dora is the WORST children's show - ever.

I get it, different cultures shown and you can pick up some Spanish while having fun watching TV - right? That's cool! You also pick up some horrible social etiquette.

I can hear "Big Sister Dora" in the background right now - Dora and Boots are talking about her new sibling, whenever they mention it they shout "A BABY, A BABY, A BABY". Lovely. This is a great example of why I hate Dora. Really, really hate Dora.

1. The shouting - EVERYTHING is shouted. I understand she's interacting with the child viewer and the child is far from her, but it's the shouting. The constant tone of yelling. Natalie picked this up, major. We've been limiting her watching of Dora down to once a week, if that. Since I started doing that- she has given up on her constant-state-of-shouting habit.

2. The repeating! RePeAtInG! REPEATING! Not only does it feel like it get more annoying as it is said again and again - but no one talks like that, and rightly so - it's annoying as all get out. Seriously, annoying. Natalie, like the shouting habit, had picked up the repeating habit. Major. She has dropped that a little because we keep correcting her. Natalie is definitely confused, she sees Dora talking like this - repeating what she says and so on, and Natalie thinks it's proper. So, we have to turn around and correct the behavior.

We could try to stop the watching of Dora altogether, but Natalie LOVES Dora (and Aidan loves Diego, who is admittedly less annoying but Dora still shows up) and she would notice the empty spots on the DVD shelves, and she would continue to ask for them randomly if they were still there. She's gotten better about asking for Dora, I think she's picked up that it's a "treat" and it is a "once in a while" thing. Thank goodness.

That was all, just a rant. :) Go on with your day!

Birdy Business

Christopher and I decided to get a cockatiel to add to our little family :) We've ordered a cage, will be picking up a small cage from Petco for traveling, have contacted a breeder about getting a baby from them (and it's adorable!), we've decided we want to use natural wood perches in the cage, and I will be making most of the toys :) Or at least buying toys and then reconstructing them with remaining bits.



Excited! We've sent confirmation to the breeder we want to see the bird and possibly get it sometime within the next few days. I'm sure there will be PLENTY of pictures to come in the future!