Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!! We will celebrate the gift of LOVE this month. I know that I love spending time with my family on the big "V" day. I get the joy of making heart shaped pancakes and turkey bacon...LOL ;) The kids look forward to those pancakes! When you have toddlers you want to make sure that they too feel special today. Valentine's Day is for Love, not just husband and wife but family love. Start family traditions like we did. Whether it's pancakes or chocolates make memories that last! So grab some Hershey Kisses and some Hot Chocolate and settle in and read this month's issue of The Toddler Times!

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February 2010: Issue #0011

Our Special "Valentines Day" e-zine will feature:

• For the month dedicated to "Love" we will explore the gift of Toddler Adoption.




• Toddlers Are Fun's "Mom of Green" Tina Keller will be here to share our monthly "Green Tip.




• Two Fun Toddler Valentine's Day Crafts the entire family will enjoy!

  Candy Heart Collage and Valentines Day "Noodle" Necklaces




• We will have a Fun Toddler recipe...."Conversation Heart Cookies":)




• Our Valentine's day contest will be announced...

The LOVE of Toddler Adoption

As I was doing research for this topic, I came across so many wonderful stories of adopting toddlers. I never really paid close attention to these amazing people. I have watched television shows on TLC about this, but I never understood fully like I do now. I will be considering adoption in the future for myself and my husband.

I decided to touch on a few areas of toddler adoption. Again, I feel that we should saturate ourselves with the knowledge about adoption in general. You will have to decide what options will work best for your family. Do you wish to adopt internationally or domestically? You must also decide whether you are going to use a public or private agency.

* The Costs *

Remember to decide the amount of costs you are able to spend during the process. This may help determine which type of agency you are willing to use. With public agencies the costs are very low. When you use private agencies for toddler adoption the costs can get high. The choice is yours, and you know ultimately where you stand financially. I am unaware of the pros and cons of either but I welcome any adoption stories and comments on this important topic. I will publish your adoption stories here on my site!!

* Transitioning Phase *

Adopting toddlers can be different then older or younger children. Toddlers tend to misbehave and act out when they are in a new environment. Can you imagine? I am a mother of a toddler and I think about him moving away from me and how he would feel. They do and can understand the transition. You should weigh your options and decide whether or not you wish to consider toddler adoption.

Some questions you should ask yourself while considering adoption:

• Do you have enough time from work to be able to spend MORE time with the child for the adjustment?
• Research. Join support groups or different discussion forums on adoption and ask questions from others who have already adopted a toddler. Learn from the experts…..
• Make sure that you are willing and able to do everything for the child. You may come across a child who has endured some sort of abuse. They may need extra care and attention. I am an abuse survivor and we do need some extra TLC.
• Work with the agencies to know everything you possibly can about the child’s past. This will help you to be able to relate to their needs. This is so important.

I respect the families who have adopted children. There are so many children in the world who need homes. I am humbled in the presence of those who care so much. A child is a child of God. They are our children no matter what. We must take the time to not forget the blessing and miracles in every child. For more helpful information about international adoption, visit International Adoption Facts and Information.

As you read this page I ask a small favor. I am guilty of this myself. Really search your soul about adoption. Do you have the ability to give a home to a child in need? Or do you just choose to ignore the truth. I think we may come up with too many excuses. I know I did.

I am so glad that I decided to write a page on toddler adoption. God has opened my eyes and I see clearer now. I will no longer look at adoption as “not an option”. We look at it now, as “when” it will be. I will be praying for that day when I can give meaning to a new area in my life. Praise Jesus!! Thank You Lord for opening my eyes!

Valentines Day Arts And Crafts

Items You'll Need:

• Poster Board
• Glue
• Candy Hearts

What To Do:

1. Cut out hearts from poster board.
2. Have your children paint the hearts with glue (I usually dye my glue pink) and then place the candy hearts onto the poster board.
3. They can make any design picture or collage they want to. This is an excellent arts and crafts for toddlers.

** Valentines Day "Noodle" Necklace

Items You'll Need:

• Thick Pasta Noodles
• Red, White, and Pink hearts cut from construction paper or buy some heart shaped beads at any craft store.
• Yarn or you can buy the bead necklace wire at any craft store.

What To Do:

1. I have my toddler color the noodles with markers. Pink, red and white. (washable markers preferred)
2. Have your children string the noodles and hearts onto the yarn or necklace wire. This is a favorite arts and crafts for toddlers in our house.

Click Here For other Great Toddler craft ideas for Valentine's Day!

Our Toddler Recipe is..
"Conversation Heart Cookies" :)

It wouldn’t be Valentine’s Day without Conversation Hearts. We’ve created a way to express your feelings in a BIG way by making these conversation heart cookies. Don’t hold back…show your Valentine how you really feel!

What you need for cookies:

• 1 roll of refrigerated sugar cookie mix or your favorite sugar cookie recipe
• Heart-shaped cookie cutter

What you need for icing:

• Red, yellow, green, blue and purple paste food coloring
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 4TBSP water

What To do:

Roll out chilled dough on a lightly floured surface to a 3/8-inch thickness. Cut out hearts and bake as per directed on the package or follow the directions in the recipe below. Cool completely before icing.

Decorating Cookies:

Mix the powdered sugar and water in a bowl until smooth; adding more water, if needed, a few drops at a time. Divide into 6 bowls for pink, yellow, green, blue & purple and leaving one bowl to color red - it will be used to write the words on the cookies. Color the icing using the paste food coloring. **Tip - you only need just a dab of the food coloring to get a light pastel color for the cookies but you will need to use slightly more red for a nice, deep red writing color. Ice cookies following the outline of each heart, stopping short of the edge of the cookie.

Add the red icing to a plastic baggie. Push the icing into one corner of the baggie. Snip off the very end point to make an icing bag. Print Valentine’s Day words and sayings onto the cookies. (Refer to the cookies in the picture above for ideas.)

To store these cookies, line a baking sheet with wax paper, then lay cookies in a single layer onto the paper. Freeze. Once frozen, the cookies can be stacked on top of each other. To thaw, place cookies in a single layer on a baking sheet or plate—do not thaw cookies while they are stacked together or the icing will stick to the other cookies.

Our Monthly "Green" Tip

Green Tip:

Why not show the one you love this Valentine's Day how much you also care for the environment! Choose something that can reused, consumed and sustainable!

Green Valentine Gift Ideas:

• Make A Card on Recycled Paper
• Send an E-Card
• Fair Trade or Organic Chocolate
• Live Rose Bush that can be hand planted in Spring
• Make a donation to an Environmental Organization on behalf of the person
• Make Dinner at Home from locally grown food

How great is that? Stay tuned because Tina's full page at TAF is coming soon!

" Click Here to ask" your green advice.

Our Pictures of "Snow" Contest

Our "Green" St. Patrick's Day e-zine will feature:

• How to tell if your toddler is ready for pre-school? Most school registrations begin in the month of March. We have tips to help decide if your child is school ready.
• Toddlers Are Fun's"Mom of Green" Tina Keller will be here to share our monthly "Green Tip."
• For St. Patty's Day we will have a Fun toddler craft.
• We will have a Fun Toddler recipe...."Green Smoothies..":)
• Our March Madness Contest will be announced...

Take Care and I ask for Blessings to be poured over you and your family! Remember to love each other, see you next month....

Blessings, Ingrid ;)