MOVING!

Hi readers! I finally found the time to combine my blog and my website into one site.  You can now follow The Ultimate WAH Momma here!

Seperation Anxiety... will it end?! I need help..

Hi friends!!   I realized it has been awhile since my last post.  I just wanted to update you all on how things are going.  The cleaning service I started for myself has been excellent! I have gained quite a few clients and everyone is very happy with my work which makes me very happy :) I am however dealing with some separation anxiety with my girls.  Over this past weekend they cried at least 20 different times saying "I DON'T WANT TO GO TO SCHOOOOOL!!"  *Sigh* I hate this part of parenting.. making your kids do something that gives them such anxiety really sucks!!! Is anyone else dealing with this with their kids??  This is not just a "I don't wanna go to school" and then they get over it type of thing.. I am literately dealing with meltdowns every single morning before dropping them off to Kindergarten and Preschool. What are some ways you parents deal with this?? I've explained to them both that this is their "job" just like mommy and daddy have jobs .. school is their jobs and they need to go and make friends and have fun and learn just like every kid does.. but that isn't helping them cope.  I need some good mommy advice on how to help my girls do better when I drop them off.   Both of their teachers say they do great through-out the day and they interact with other kids and they don't cry.. its mainly at drop off and before drop off that they are falling apart and screaming "don't make me gooo!!"  So any advice from my fellow moms and dads who have experienced this would be appreciated!! What did you do to help your child get over "leaving mommy" in the mornings??  Thanks in advance for any advice :) I hope everyone is doing well!!

I'm still alive!

Sorry I've been away for so long friends! I have had a lot going on lately.. My oldest daughter started Kindergarten this week and that has been really hard on her.  I think the hardest thing to do as a parent is to physically walk away from your child who's screaming "MOMMA DON'T LEAVE ME AT SCHOOL!!!" because you know you have to and there isn't anything you can do about it.  I know this will eventually pass.. Its just been a rough week for her and I both and for her little sister who misses her big sissy dearly while shes at school.  But..  I do have some good news to share with everyone that I'm pretty excited about.. I have also started a new adventure for myself :) I have realized that I can't do any of the customer service jobs that pay weekly or bi-weekly from home because I still have my 3 year old who isn't in school yet.  Money was getting VERY tight around our household and I wasn't making enough online to help my husband with bills.  I started thinking one day that I have tons of experience in cleaning (both residential and commercial) so I decided to start my own cleaning service.  I went out and purchased a bunch of cleaning supplies (and my mom donated some.. thanks mom!!) I then put an ad on Craigslist describing my experience and what I had to offer and the e-mails just started flowing in!!  It has truly been a blessing and an AMAZING adventure!!! I have been gaining clients quickly and working a lot in the past few weeks but its all been worth it! I am so so so glad I started this and I encourage those mom's out there who have cleaning experience to give it a shot to.  I just love it!  I can work my cleaning appointments around the kids schedules, I get paid what I am worth and I get to determine my own prices,  I only clean for a few hours each day so I have minimal daycare costs (especially now with one in school), and I have the opportunity to help other busy moms and dads enjoy their time with their children, it is amazing!  I have gained a few weekly, bi-weekly, and once a month clients which is all I needed to stay busy.   I even have a job offer I may or may not be taking on in the next week that wants me to clean 3 days a week!  I do want to warn you if you try this, to seriously research any leads that come from Craigslist!  I have had a few scamers come across which you can usually tell from their first e-mail its a fake.  I Google every address and I use Google maps and do the "street view" so I know exactly where I am going with every client that I do work for.  I also make sure to have a phone conversation with the person before I come to their home.  If I am leary at all.. I have my husband come with me to do an initial meet.  If he can't come with me, I make sure I text him when I arrive inside the home with the address in case anything happens.. this way he knows exactly where I am.  I mainly wanted to post this to let all my readers know what I have been up to lately and to say that I may not be posting as much now due to my new business adventures :)  I'm hoping I will have more time to still do product reviews and find jobs for you all.. But my e-mail is always open.. so if anyone wants/needs to contact me I will respond asap!  I hope everyone else is having a great week and thanks for reading my random ramblings ;)   

DIY Butterfly cup puppets! Toddler Craft

Hmmm.. Another rainy day in Michigan..So we decided to get crafty today! We are sharing how to make your own butterfly cup puppets!  These are super cute, fun to make, and fun to play with :)

Here is what you will need:
1. Plastic cups
2. Glue
3. White paper (we used printer paper, you can also use construction paper)
4. Scissors
5. Pipe cleaners
6. Paint, markers, or crayons
7. Black construction paper




*I started by laying the cup down on the white paper and making a line along the top and bottom of the cup so you know how big to make the wings. 

*With the lines in place draw a "B" on each side so it looks like butterfly wings.  Cut the wings out and hand them to the kids to decorate.

*While they are decorating the wings (let them paint or color the wings how ever they want to) Make the slits in the top of the cup with scissors for the butterfly antennas.

*Cut one full pipe cleaner into 4's so you have short pipe cleaners.  Stick two in each cup for the antennas. **Note: Bend/twist the pipe cleaners together inside the top of the cup to keep them from falling out while they fly around. 
*I then let the kids cut out the eyes (On the black construction paper) for the butterfly and let them to glue the eyes on and they drew the mouth on with a black marker.

*If your kids painted the butterfly wings, let the wings dry a little, then glue the wings on the back of the cup.
*Your butterflies should now look like this:

 

That is what the back should look like..

There you have it! Butterfly cup puppets!! Once the glue drys these butterflies are ready to fly around the house! Here is a picture of my girls enjoying their butterflies :) 

And here's a close-up:

Have fun creating these cute butterfly cup puppets!!

 

DIY Sunshine paper plate- Toddler Craft

Today we are sharing how to make a Sunshine paper plate craft. Perfect craft for Toddlers and Preschoolers.

 Here is what you need:
1. Paper plates
2. Glue
3. Scissors
4. Markers and paint
5. Googly eyes
6. Tape (if you don't have glue)
7. Yellow Construction paper






*Start by letting the kids color or paint the back of the paper plate yellow.  Cover the whole plate in yellow.

*While the kids were coloring their plates I took that time to cut out the Sunshine Rays.  Cut the construction paper into 1 inch wide strips.  I needed 6 long strips and 3 long strips cut in half for each Sunshine (paper plate). Your construction paper should look like this when finished:

*Once the kids are done decorating the paper plate its time to glue the Sunshine Rays on.
*Flip the paper plate over (so now its right side up) and begin gluing (or taping) the 6 long strips to the paper plate. We placed the strips so they were touching the inside circle of the plate.

*Do the same for the shorter strips.  Do this in the pattern of long strip, short strip, long strip, short strip, ect. Like this:

*Once that is done let the glue dry a bit and flip it over to make the Sunshine's face.  Glue the googly eyes in place and let the kids paint on the smile. 
*My girls wanted to hang their Sunshine's up so I found this white ribbon:

*To make a good looking loop hole you should use a paper hole puncher.  I couldn't find mine at the moment so I just used the scissors and cut a hole in the top of the plate.  Then placed the ribbon through the hole and tied a knot in it.
*Now you can hang your beautiful Sunshines!

 

I hope you and your little ones enjoy creating Sunshine! :)

DIY paper plate clown face- Toddler Craft

My girls love our "Craft Hour" each morning.  Today we wanted to share how to make a paper plate clown face.                                                                           
                                                                                  Here is what you will need:

1. Paper plates
2. Pom Poms
3. Paint or markers
4. Glue
5. A craft stick (or Popsicle stick)
6. Tape (optional)                                          


*Start by letting the kids choose if they want pom pom eyes and nose or just painted eyes and a pom pom nose. My girls had to do the opposite of each other today so I'll show you both lol.
*If you are doing pom pom eyes, help them glue the pom poms in place first.  If you are doing painted eyes let the kids paint their eyes on first.
*Once the eyes are in place glue a larger pom pom in the middle for a nose.
*Once the eyes and nose are in place, let the kids paint on the mouth.
My girls agreed on one thing today and that was a painted red mouth (Makayla still had to be different and add teeth).  
*You can also use the pom poms to make hair for the clown like Makayla did on hers:

*Or you can leave your clowns hair alone like Kyleigh did:

But Kyleigh had to add pom pom ears and feet to hers :)
*Once their clown faces are complete, glue the craft stick to the back of the plate.  I noticed this wasn't very sturdy so I also put a strip of tape over the stick to keep it from moving around.
There you have it! Clown Face paper plates! The girls loved this craft so much they each made about 6 of them and decorated each one differently.  I loved this craft as well because it was made with stuff we already had laying around the house!  If you don't have an endless supply of craft stuff laying around.. I have some you can purchase in bulk on my amazon store.

Have fun making your own clown faces! 

DIY Music Maker for Toddlers

What a gloomy, rainy day is it here today in Wyoming, Michigan!! So the girls and I decided to make our own music shakers :) Here is what you will need.

1. Cups- We used foam cups, you can also use plastic. The shakers require 2 cups per shaker.
2. Paint- And some kids to paint them ;) Or you can use markers, crayons, stickers, ect.
3. Tape- I used regular tape, Packaging tape would be ideal
4. Rice- You can also use beans or popcorn kernels.

We started by painting the cups.. Let the kids decorate the cups how ever they would like to! 
After they are done being creative let the cups dry.
Once the cups are dry, fill up one cup about half way with the rice, beans or popcorn kernels.
Place the empty cup on top of the other cup and tape around the meeting point.  Make sure you have a few layers of tape around it so it doesn't bust open.
Now let the kids have them so they can make some music!

My girls loved making these shakers! While I was taping the shakers they put their princess dress-up dresses on, I turned on the music and they had a "Princess Ball" in the living room and had a blast shaking their shakers to the beat of the music.  :)