Friday, December 25, 2015

Favoritism destroys relationships & pushes people away

Favoritism is probably something that you have encountered in your life at one point or another whether it be from a parent, grandparent or other individual. Kids in particular seem to pick up on the small things such as one grandparent paying more attention to another grandchild or esteeming them more highly for whatever reason. It is NOT ok to treat or love one grandchild more because they look a certain way or are a certain color. Believe it or not racial preference in some families is very real, they may view one child as more beautiful due to his or her skin tone or features. Having a mixed race family I know exactly how that feels, in fact my children see and feel it as well. I live my life biting my tongue because I just want to keep the peace but deep down it tears my heart to shreds. It's NOT jealousy it's a desire for equality, a need to not have to explain to my children why they feel the way they do. You're probably thinking that I should stand up and say something but the truth is I can't, because the moment I do I will regret it. Why you ask, my reasoning is that people have a way of flipping the situation and making you look like the bad guy. The sad truth is that it destroys relationships and pushes people away. I learned how to keep my ears down and tolerate, I limit visits and stay at bay as much as possible. I will continue to love my mixed babies and husband no matter who or what looks down on us because to me I don't see color I see perfection. I look upon my girls faces and I see a well painted canvas a work of art but more importantly I see blessings. If you are also going through something similar whether it be due to race or not don't let it bring you down, hold your head up high and be proud of what you got. Smile in the face of adversity and keep walking! 


Please note that this post is a personal share and is to be used as encouragement to someone else who may be going through the same dilemma and does not apply to all grandparents or individuals. 





Books in a box countdown to Christmas Day 25

Christmas is finally here! We are spending it in NY with the in-laws and they do gifts after dinner, not what the girls want to hear, lol. We only got to read 1 of the 2 books because they were way to excited and couldn't sit still. They got "Fancy Nancy Splendiferous Christmas" by Nancy O'Connor and "Santa Kid" by James patterson which we did not get a chance to read. The kids and I love the Fancy Nancy books so adding this one to our collection was a must! Plus we get to learn a French word or 2 every time we read one. We really enjoyed our "Books in a box countdown to Christmas"  idea, it really was fun! Next year I will probably do it again, although I think I might have to buy some more book shelves to put all the books on.

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, love & hugs from The Victory Test.




Thursday, December 24, 2015

Books in a box countdown to Christmas Day 24

It's Christmas eve! Today's books are "Maisy's Snowy Christmas Eve" by Lucy Cousins & "The Snow Must Go On!" by Molly Wigand. The first book was about animals that gather on Christmas Eve but can't seem to find their friend Eddie so they set up a search party and end up finding him buried in a bunch of snow. The second book was about the residents of Artic Springs putting on a big show so that everyone can see just how fun the town is. We really enjoyed the first book, it was a quick read but also very cute. Victory actually sat through the whole book it really was toddler friendly. 


Christmas 2014 - Throw Back Thursday. Victory 1 year old!



Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Check out: 
for instructions on how to make your own sock snowman.

Books in a box countdown to Christmas Day 23

We are fast approaching Christmas and the girls are becoming antsy. They love to read but continually glance over at the stack of books longing for them to disappear because that would mean that Christmas was finally  here. Today the girls quickly unwrapped their books and couldn't wait for me to read them. The first book was "Christmas Magic" by Michael Garland and was about a girl who has a magical Christmas. Everything comes to life, ornaments, stockings and even the snow woman she built. The second book was "The Snowman Storybook" by Raymond Briggs which was about a snowman that comes to life and takes the boy on quite the adventure. Today was simply a "snowman" kind of day!



Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Books in a box countdown to Christmas Day 22

We had 2 great books today, here's a little about them: The first one was "Shall I Knit You a Hat?" by Kate Klise. It is a book about a mother rabbit who knits a hat for her child who then decides that it would be nice to make hats for all of his friends. They come up with some pretty unique hats! At first the friends don't look to excited about the hats but once the storm hits and their heads are dry they realize just how valuable the gifts where. They then find Ms. Rabbit and little rabbit and thank them. It really was a cute book and I believe that their was a lesson to be learned, many times we take things for granted. Sometimes what we view as trash is actually a treasure to another. The second book "Snow Wonder Were Friends!" by Molly Wingand is a book about 2 children that venture off on an adventure where they find a magic land that looks like theirs expect that the people are actually live "snowman" replicas of themselves.


Monday, December 21, 2015

Books in a box countdown to Christmas Day 21

Today the girls got " The Birth of Jesus" by Katherine Sully and "My Dad is Great" by Gabby Goldsack. We had a great time reading both books and Victory seemed intrigued by the illustrations in " The Birth of Jesus".


Sunday, December 20, 2015

Books in a box countdown to Christmas Day 20

As the stack of books becomes smaller the closer we are to Christmas and the girls are super excited! Today we had 2 books"Snowie Rolie" by William Joyce and "Lui and the sea moon" by Keith Faulkner. "Snowie Rolie" is based on the kids cartoon " Rolie Polie Olie". In this book the young robot makes a new friend due to an unforeseen circumstance; however once the situation is resolved the new friend becomes endangered. Rolie Polie Olie is determined to rescue his friend and sets off on a mission . "Lui and the sea moon" is about a polar bear that thinks there are 2 moons, the sea moon and the sky moon. The sea moon is actually just the reflection of the moon. These books are both really cute.


Saturday, December 19, 2015

Books in a box countdown to Christmas Day 19

Today we had 2 books "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" by Iza Trapani & "Love You Forever" by Robert Munsch. They were both great books however "Love You Forever" had me in tears. Robert Muncsh wrote this book using the song that he had written to both of his stillborn babies, so sad...  Victory loved "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" mostly because she recognized it from the song. 




Friday, December 18, 2015

Books in a box countdown to Christmas Day 18

Today's book was "Sleep, Baby Sleep" by Maryann Cusimano Love. It was a cute bed time story and is great for babies and toddlers.

 Click here: http://maryannlove.com/book/sleep-baby-sleep to preview it.





Thursday, December 17, 2015

Books in a box countdown to Christmas Day 17

Today's book was "Bur Bur's Boating ABC's" by Joanne Pastel & Kakie Fitzsimmons. It wasn't a kid "favorite" in my house however I personally thing the book is great. It is both educational and multicultural.


Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Books in a box countdown to Christmas Day 16

First things first, Victory loves monkeys so today's book was a hit! It was "Chimp and Zee and the Big Storm" by Laurence Anholt. It's a must read for little ones that love monkeys!


Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Books in a box countdown to Christmas Day 15

Today's book was "Where Do You Sleep, Little One?" by Patricia Hooper. It was about animals and where they sleep. Great bedtime story, my little ones enjoyed it!


Monday, December 14, 2015

Books in a box countdown to Christmas Day 14

The "Moonthief" by Roger McGough was the cutest book ever, my girls really enjoyed it! This book is about a bear that steals the moon for his loved one hoping to get her the best gift ever. He later discovers that his partner already has everything she needs, him! I really appreciate the message this book conveys, that love is priceless and more precious than any one object. 

                     

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Books in a box countdown to Christmas Day 13

"Ruby and Fred" by Blair Lent and "Fancy Nancy Bounjour Butterfly" by Harper Collins were today's books of the day. The girls loved them both! Jaden was very interested in the French words that Nancy used and Victory loved the illustrations. Ruby and Fred was also a very cute book, it was about a parrot, cat and a dog. The Parrot is very annoying and keeps on getting on the cat's nerves but when the cat attacks the dog comes to the rescue. The parrot learns it's lesson in the end, lol. Jaden pointed out that the box is getting emptier and that Christmas was around the corner!




Saturday, December 12, 2015

Books in a box countdown to Christmas Day 12

Today's book was "Crafty Chloe Dress-up Mess-up" by Kelly Dipucchio. It's about a book parade at school that involves the students dressing up as characters. Chloe's two friends want her to dress up as two different things and she doesn't want to let anyone down. In the end she makes a super unique costume! This is a must read that your little ones will love, hopefully as much as my girls did.


Friday, December 11, 2015

Books in a box countdown to Christmas Day 11

Today's book was "Paper Parade" by Sarah Weeks, it is definitely one of the cutest books ever. Not to mention one of the characters in the book looks just like my hubby, bald head and all. Victory pointed at the guy in the book and with a skeptical voice asked "Why is daddy in here?" LOL. I would buy this book 10 times over just to see the priceless look on her face. Kids will forever surprise us and they will bring us great joy when we least expect it. I am so grateful for my trio and for these precious once in a lifetime moments.

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Thursday, December 10, 2015

Books in a box countdown to Christmas Day 10

Today's books were "If you're happy and you know it!" by Jan Omerod & Lindsey Gardiner as well as "Olivia ...and the missing toy" by Ian Falconer. The girls liked both books but Victory loved "If you're happy and you know it!" the most. We actually sang it instead of just reading, she piped right in and danced as well, lol too cute!



Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Books in a box countdown to Christmas Day 9

Today's book was "The New Adventures of Curious George" by Margret & H.A. Rev. This book contains 8 great stories for 8 times the fun ; ) I am so happy to be able to contribute to my children's love for reading. I feel that knowledge is gained by what we see, read, experience & live, so getting my kids the best books is a priority for me. Most of the stories have George accidentally wreaking complete havoc but then taking the disaster and making something positive out of it; for example: One of them, took place at an animal shelter where a puppy had gone missing, George ventured off and by accident ended up letting the rest of the puppies out. Thankfully the mother of the litter smelled her missing pup and they were able to find it. Too cute!


Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Books in a box countdown to Christmas Day 8

Today's book was "Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother Too?" by Eric Carle. It's a good book for younger children as it has a lot of repetition which is great for learning. So far the girls are loving their books in a box countdown to Christmas, they remind me every night! Also the emptier the box gets the closer to Christmas we are.


Monday, December 7, 2015

Books in a box countdown to Christmas Day 7

Today we had 2 books, "My Little Pony-Pony Tales  pt. 1" & "Cock-a-Moo-Moo" by Juliet Dallas-Conte. Jaden loves the MLP comic books so today was a special day for her, she was ecstatic when she unwrapped it.  Cock-a-moo-moo was really cute, it was about a rooster that forgot how to crow. The other animals made fun of him until one day the fox came and the rooster alerted them becoming the hero, in the end he finds "his" voice.


Sunday, December 6, 2015

Books in a box countdown to Christmas Day 6

Today's book was "The Colors of Us" by Karen Katz it's about an artists' positive perspective on skin color and how even though people come in different colors they are still beautiful. Being a mixed race family we can see the great value of having this book. It will help little ones to better understand diversity in all of the different races, I would recommend this book for everyone regardless of color. It will be a staple book in our home which we hope that our children will pass down to theirs someday.




Saturday, December 5, 2015

Who needs an elf on the shelf when I have the cutest elf of them all ; )


Home Depot Free Kids Workshops

For today's craft we visited the Home depot for one of their free kids workshops. Victory and I made the funny face stackers which is recommended for ages 5-12, but together we were able to complete the project. My 8 year old did have some difficulty doing her's so prepare to assist. Upon completion you're supposed to receive an apron (of course they ran out), certificate and cool pin. Hopefully next time they will have the aprons so we can put the pins on it.

Check here to see if they have one in your area: http://workshops.homedepot.com/workshops/kids-workshops.

Here are some pics:

                                                       



                                               



Books in a box countdown to Christmas Day 5

We had 2 books today, "That's When I'm Happy" by Beth Shosan & "Freda Stop's a Bully" by Stuart J. Murphy. They were both very good, however the bullying one really hit home with my 8 year old daughter who has gone through it at school. The book spoke about the steps you should take if you are bullied, it had illustrations and easy to read words. I definitely recommend this book to your children whether or not they been bullied. This book will be one that we that we keep handy and read often.



Here are some pages from "Freda Stops a Bully"

      
            

Friday, December 4, 2015

Sock Snowmen

Today we decided to make our very own sock snowmen. Instead of using socks I used a undershirt my husband had for over 4 years and still had never worn. There are 5 members in my family so I prepared five "sock" tubes, below you see some illustrations on how I did it. It's much easier to just use socks but I didn't have any white ones laying around and didn't feel like running to the dollar store either. We used glue guns because they dry the quickest but you can try craft glue.

                                            Finished Product:

Instructions: 
If you have a sewing machine use it as it will make it much easier, 
it took me about 20 minutes to sew all 5 tube "socks".

I personally used pillow stuffing I already had.


You can also just cut off the access after tying off the head and use fabric or baby socks to make the hat. Use buttons and embellishments to decorate your snowman. We used a permanent marker to make our faces and the kids drew on their snowmen also.


                              Once finished we named them, lol.

 My husband made this one.

  My very artistic 8 year old daughter Jaden surprised us all 
with this little cutie. 

My 14 year old Juliana is into super hero's so naturally 
she would make a snow hero ; ) Very creative!

He is my little guy simple but cute : )

The is Victory's snow girl, made with my help 
of course. It wasn't the easiest to make due to the hazard 
of the glue gun, but she loves her girl. See her pic below!






Books in a box countdown to Christmas Day 4

Today's book was "Stop Monkeying Around" by Christine Swift. It was a quick read but the girls loved it!


Books in a box countdown to Christmas Day 3

Only 1 book today! At first the girls were a little disappointed but quickly adjusted, they sat and unwrapped it together. Today's book was "WHY?" by Richard Torrey, the girls loved it.

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Crayola Air-Dry Clay Christmas Ornaments

If you're looking for a Christmas craft to do with your children look no further. Check out these easy to make Christmas ornaments. All you need is some Crayola Air-Dry Clay which you can get at Target, Walmart, or a craft store. I got a large one from Jo-ann Fabric & Craft Store for under $10 on sale. You will also need cookie cutters, paint (I used water colors) and wax paper to prevent the clay from sticking to the surface. I added a little bit of water to my clay as needed to make it more manageable. Another alternative is to make the ornaments from salt dough, check out Penniless Parenting for a no bake recipe: http://www.pennilessparenting.com/2011/08/salt-dough-frugal-kids-craft.html

The first ornament below was made using everyone's finger print which I made to look like a bouquet of flowers. You will need a thin tipped paint brush for writing which I find can be quite difficult and challenging for the kids. Sharpies are much easier for them to write with. I had everyone make their first initial and then paint it, it takes about 24 hours to dry. I used the end of the paint brush to make the little hole at the top so they can be hung on the tree. Plastic ribbon works well for the ties but you can use whatever you like, be creative! You can also do baby hand/foot prints using this method.

Books in a box countdown to Christmas Day 2

Today was a great day, the girls loved their books. They unwrapped "Ladybug Girl at the beach" by Jacky Davis & "Five Silly Monkeys" by Steven Haskamp. I am so thrilled with the books I got so far, they love them but today was extra special. Victory sure loves Monkeys : )


Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Books in a box countdown to Christmas Day 1

So today there were 2 books to unwrap which made the girls very excited. We decided to do it right after supper in our living room by the tree. Victory unwrapped "Tinkering Tink"  an embossed storybook by Laura Driscoll and her sister Jaden got "My Little Pony Twilight Sparkle's Magical Journey" by Hasbro. They couldn't wait to read them! Jaden read the My little Pony one and daddy read the Tinkerbell one. It was great, they wanted to keep on going though, lol. Tomorrow will be day 2, stay tuned!


Books in a box countdown to Christmas!

Today starts the books in a box countdown to Christmas in our home. I bought over 30 books, some that are Christmas related and some that aren't. I wrapped them and labeled them from 1-25. I also decorated a box to put the books in under the tree. Each day starting today the kids will unwrap a book or 2 or 3 depending on how many are labeled with the days' date and we will read them together. I decided to do more than just the 25 books because I have 2 young children and wanted them to have more turns at unwrapping. This is a "Victory Test" twist on the "25 books to Christmas" tradition that is normally seen. I will share daily as we unwrap and embark on the adventures that each book will bring. Have a Merry Read!


The emptier the box gets the closer we are to Christmas!