I love you S'More!

I realized today that Valentine's Day is Monday. I knew the kids had school parties that day, so I decided to tackle the V-Day projects this afternoon, knowing full well I won't be up to it Sunday night! (We have our annual youth retreat this weekend). I didn't really want to pack up the kids to go and buy cards, so I looked around the house for some cute ideas that wouldn't take too much time.

Here is what we came up with for Isaac's class:

 I got the printable from Chica and Jo and I already had the popcorn maker.

Isaac was so excited when he realized everyone in his class would get one.

Here is what we came up with for Zoey's class:

I already had the chocolate chips and the graham crackers, plus I had just purchased some heart marshmallows for cupcakes I was going to make Monday. Zoey wanted to eat a chocolate chip for each Valentine gift we put together...she didn't win that fight!

Anyone have any good ideas on what to do with the kids V-Day night? I want to have some fun things planned for the dinner table and could use all the help I can get!

Super Simple Gel Paints

 Today we made Gel Paints. So much fun! 

(I found the idea here.Thanks In A Nut Shell).

The recipe is super simple!

Over a stovetop, heat 1/2 cup of cornstarch and 2 1/4 cups of water. Wisk until gel forms. Once cooled slightly, pour into heat safe containers. Mix with food coloring (about 10-12 drops) and stir. Make sure the kids don't use them until they have cooled off enough.

 We started off by using foam paint brushes, but ended up using them more as finger paint. Be careful, they do stain, but it washed off our hands after a few tries.

 

 

 

 

I cut up an old diaper box and used the cardboard for them to paint. Huge props to my husband who purchased me this Ryobi cutter for my kitchen. I use it all the time and it's amazing for cutting cardboard. It takes 5 seconds! (When he gave it to me I said I would never use it... I was wrong... again.)

Cinnamon-Vanilla Biscotti

I am an awful baker!

This is not modesty... this is fact. You can ask anyone... especially the youth. Once I attempted a simple birthday cake for a youth outing and it totally flopped. I was out of butter so I used the butter spray instead. That was 10 years ago and  I still haven't lived it down. 

So you can imagine how insane it was for me to want to bake biscottis. I just had this desire, and it wouldn't go away. I decided to overcome my past fears and attempt it.. and they didn't turn out 1/2 bad!

{I just made some changes to Rocco DiSpirito's Anise Biscotti recipe}

I'm excited to give some of them as a thank you gift to some people who have made my life easier lately. I decided to pair it with some of my favorite teas and some fresh ground cinnamon coffee. I got the idea Martha Stewart here.

 

   Cinnmaon-Vanilla Biscotti

1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon cinnamon

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, beat together the oil, eggs, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla extract until well blended. Combine the flour and baking powder, stir into the egg mixture to form a heavy dough. Divide dough into 2 pieces. Form each piece into a roll as long as your cookie sheet. Place roll onto the prepared cookie sheet, and press down to 1/2-inch thickness. 

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the baking sheet to cool on a wire rack. When the cookies are cool enough to handle, slice each 1 crosswise into 1/2-inch slices. Place the slices cut side up back onto the baking sheet. (I egg washed the tops and sprinkled with sugar) Bake for an additional 6 to 10 minutes on each side. Cookie slices should be lightly toasted. Serve with your favorite coffee or hot tea!
REMEMBER: Biscotti cookies are going to be harder than a normal cookie. They are for dunking in your favorite beverage and they get soft as they soak it up.

8 degrees

The day started out at 8 degrees, but that didn't stop my little ones from spending the afternoon in the snow with their dad. He's their snow buddy... and I am the one who gets them warm afterward. I love that job!

Chocolate "CUP"cake

My little man Isaac loves chocolate... especially chocolate cake. We had some alone time today while the others slept, so I decided to make his day by "baking" him this easy chocolate cake in a cup. It was a huge hit!

Warning: This chocolate cake is way too easy to make and you most likely have all the ingredients available! You may want to stop reading now.
(You can find the recipe here)

Chocolate "CUP" Cake

A large microwavable mug

4 Tablespoons flour

9 Tablespoons hot chocolate mix

1 pinch of salt

1 egg

3 Tablespoons water

3 Tablespoons oil

Cooking Spray

 Coat your cup with cooking spray. Mix flour, hot chocolate mix and salt in cup. Add egg and mix. Add oil and water and mix (make sure to get all the flour on the bottom of your cup mixed in.) Place in microwave oven for 3 minutes. Enjoy!

 

Quiet Time

I got a message on my last post from Tina about "Quiet Time" at our house and thought I would make a post of it. It's always a daily struggle: Isaac stopped taking naps when he turned 4, but I still need some down time in the house to get things done while his brother and sister sleep. I have a couple of things I do that I will share, but this post is more about getting ideas from other moms about things that have worked for them. So, if you're a mom and you have any sort of ideas for keeping kids occupied for sanity sake, then PLEASE comment them here! Maybe we can come up with enough ideas to keep us all smiling when 1pm comes around!

Here are some things that have worked for Isaac and I:

• I set up a craft table in the basement about 2 years ago and stock it with all different art supplies. Isaac will go down there and mess around with all of it and will sometimes come up with some really cute stuff. (art table includes: colored pencils, crayons, markers, scrapbooking scissors, watercolors, dot paints, construction paper, coloring books, colored popsicle sticks, glue sticks, etc)
• Isaac loves puzzles, so I have quite a few. He will take the box downstairs and do as many as possible. I also have a stopwatch that he will use to see if he can beat his time the second time around. (makes a puzzle last longer) We are up to 100 piece puzzles, which is nice, because those take a lot longer.
• I will keep any sort of catalogs that are semi-kiddie (mindware, oriental trading, etc) and have him take a marker and circle certain things. i.e. everything that is for a boy, everything that is red, everything that daddy would like. I also have him circle things that he finds interesting and that he might like to try one day. (one word of caution: sometimes he gets so excited about what he sees that he will have to show me every couple of seconds, so this will backfire every once in awhile)
• Instead of just giving him markers and some paper, sometimes I will give him something larger.... posterboard, large piece of cardboard, table paper, etc. I will have him create a whole scene- our family in space, his friends at a farm, Jesus being born, etc. This takes him a lot longer than just coloring one paper and he gets very into it!
• I haven't tried this one yet, but LOVE the idea. I want to get him a "Quiet Time Journal" that he makes entries in every day. He gets one page to do anything he wants on- color, write his name, glue pictures on, etc. I love the idea most because it is a contained way of keeping some of his best stuff around, and it doesn't have to end up on my fridge!

OK, so those are a few of my ideas, but I could definitely use some more.. so come one creative moms, spill the beans!!!
What are some things you've tried for Quiet Time?
(Come one Denise and Andi.... I'm counting on you!)

Ode to Thanksgiving

Today was our Ode to Thanksgiving day and we loved every second of it! We did a bunch of projects and talked about what Thanksgiving really means. Now I'm ready for Thursday!!!

While Zoey was napping, Isaac and I made Paula Dean's Chocolate Cupcakes. He said they were "awesome!"

 Isaac and I decided it would be fun to let the grandparents know how much we are thankful for them, so we made "encouragement jars." In each are little questions about each person that Isaac answered on his own, things like "What makes Grandy smile?" and "What does Papa want to be when he grows up?" We folded them up and put them in jars so that they could pull one out when they needed a pick me up. (These would be a very cute holiday teacher gift paired with a gift card from Starbucks!)

 Next we made "salt dough" handprints... plus a few extra things. It's an easy recipe that you can place in the oven and harden. I am so excited to hang their handprints for the holidays. It would make a great inexpensive gift as well!

Salt Dough Recipe (close to homemade play-dough):

4 cups of flour

1 cup of salt

food coloring or paint as desired

Water to moisten

a little bit of oil

Mix flour and salt and gradually add water until dough consistency. (Add food coloring if desired). Make desired shapes and place in a 150 degree oven for 1 hour (I kept them in there longer). Then place in a dry area for a day to harden. Paint if desired.

 Lastly we made coloring pages to talk about what we are thankful for. Isaac made a portrait of his father playing hockey and Zoey made a portrait of her daddy and Elijah. I think I was left out because I was the facilitator... yeah, we'll just go with that.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday

with family and friends!

"O give thanks to the Lord, call on His name; make known His doings among the peoples!" (1 Chronicles 16:8)

how do YOU do it?

With 3 kids running around this joint and a calendar that is always full, I have no choice but to be as organized as I can possibly be! That being said, I am still needing inspiration on how to make this all work and to keep it together in the process. I realized how crazy it is getting when my friend Connie came to visit and told me that just looking at my calendar stressed her out.

The funny thing is that this month was light because I was on maternity leave!

I want to get some input on ways that people have made it easy on themselves to stay organized. PLEASE HELP ME OUT... what do you do around your house, big or small, that helps you get through the day. What is your one special organization tip?

Here are the things that have worked for me... most of them inspired by someone else's idea.

I have a "meal calendar" that helps me think through what's for dinner every night. I make sure I have everything I need before the week starts so I am all set by Monday. I can change it around if something comes up, but I don't have to look through my cupboards and think of a brilliant idea off the cuff.

 

We have a special "library book" bookshelf that is in our living room. Isaac and I go to the library every Monday and he picks out 12 books that he wants to read that week (I always keep it the same number so I never have to remember how many to take back). This keeps them handy when he wants to read a new book, and when the books are due, I know where they all are.

 I have organized all the kids puzzles in our puzzle box. I cut off the top of the box, and put it in a ziplock with all of the pieces for easy storage. I also mark the back of each puzzle piece corresponding to that puzzle so I know where a piece goes when I find it under the couch. It takes some time when you do it, but is SO worth it afterward, and it makes it easy for the kids to put it away themselves. Plus, it's so easy to pull down the puzzle box when Isaac has his quiet time.

 Lastly, I have a coupon folder (inspired by my sister Keri). I have all my coupons in here separated in different categories... groceries, restaurants. stores, etc. I also keep important receipts in here and gift cards.... that way I can just grab the folder and throw it in the car when it's errand day.

So those are my special organization tips... nothing life changing, but it helps me keep some sanity in this crazy house. Now PLEASE comment me with at least one thing you've found to work good in your house. I want to learn from others so I can make this work!

Having our FILL of FALL...

 Today we were feeling in a very FALL mood. We started off by roasting marshmallows for our indoor S'Mores. (I found this cute S'More maker at the thrift store for $5 a couple years ago and we've

gotten a ton of use out of it!)

 Then we took advantage of the beautiful weather and headed outdoors to find some colorful leaves. We had so much fun making crazy people and animals out of our findings.

 

 We painted fun fall landscapes for daddy with our Kool-Aid paint.

It smelled so fruity!

 

 We ended our fall fun by making a fresh Apple Cake from scratch. I found this recipe on a blog I follow and couldn't wait to try it. It is SO MUCH easier than an apple pie, and although it's a completely different texture, it SMELLS and TASTES amazing!!!! The best part: I had all of the ingredients already in my cupboard!

SUPER SIMPLE APPLE CAKE:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix 1 cup of sugar with 2 cups of finely diced and peeled apples. Let sit for 15 minutes. Add 1/4 cup veggie oil and 1 egg and stir. Add 1 cup of flour, 1 tsp baking soda and 1 tbs of cinnamon and stir. Add 1 tsp vanilla and stir. Pour into a greased square or circular dish. Bake for 45 minutes.

I honestly wish fall could last forever!

Saturday Morning

We are very busy people, that's why I love Saturday Mornings. If we don't have previous engagements, we sleep in (if that's what you want to call it), bring the kids in our bed, make breakfast and watch cartoons. It's the perfect family time.
What do you do on Saturday mornings?

Can we do that?

I am in the process of making a "creation station" in our basement, where the kids will be able to create, explore and invent. I bought lots of craft materials to put in the station so Isaac can go down and experiment on his own. The problem started when he saw some of the things I had purchased and wanted to do everything right away. I decided to let him do a couple of the all-ready-to-go crafts.... making bead bowls and plaster. All I heard all day was, "Can we do that?"

I love popsicle stix!

This afternoon I was trying to think of a way to display all of our love scriptures for Valentine's Day. I got the mail and saw this in my Parents magazine. It's a little "springy" for February, but it does the trick... plus, Isaac loved putting them together!

printer, paper and scissors

I was looking for an easy, fast craft today and I happen to find one in my inbox today! It's a printable craft that you can just cut up and tape together. You can find it HERE if you are interested. It kept Isaac busy for about an hour and I got lots of stuff done. I love parenting sites!