Another Lemonade Stand Award

This morning, I received another Lemonade Stand award. Thank you so much The Shafer Family! You are so sweet! I don't know how to thank you! You have all made my week!!! I feel so LOVED!!!

{In case you forgot}
Here's what it means:

The Lemonade Stand Award is awarded for being a blogger who shows great attitude and gratitude. The rules for accepting this award:

- Put the Lemonade logo on your blog or within your post.
- Nominate at least 10 blogs with great attitude or gratitude.
- Link the nominees within your post.
- Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
- Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.

Here are my picks! I can't believe that I was able to come up with another 10 blogs!!! There are so many fabulous blogs out there & I find ALL of you inspiring!!!

Ramblings of a Crazy Woman
Oops, I Craft My Pants
A Feathered Nest
Controlling My Chaos
Domestic Fashionista
Poppies at Play
Cupkateer
Trey & Lucy
Somewhat Simple
Summertime Designs

Check them out!

2010 Banner

I wanted to make a banner for New Year's Eve with the boys. I considered a "Happy New Year" banner, but thought that the boys would lose interest & not really get it. Instead...we went with "2010". You could use felt, but we just used good old cardstock! I don't have a cricut...so I just printed out some numbers...we cut them out...glued them onto the banner triangles. Then I strung the triangles onto some ribbon. This is just for display...we plan on hanging it up on the fireplace at my parents' house, but this works for now!

Ribbon Spool Shakers

I have two sick little guys {with colds} but my baby {3} get pneumonia very easy. We are staying in for most of the week & it is harder on the kiddos because today is a SNOW DAY!!! I wanted to find something fun for them to make {with stuff I already had}. I came across this great New Year's shaker from Family Fun. Here is what you need:

paint
paint brush
stickers
ribbon spools
tape (masking--NOT PACKING)
dry peas, beans, or rice



Cover one hole of your spool. You will need the other hole to put your dry peas in.


Pour some DRY peas (DRY beans or DRY rice) into the open hole of your spool. Just enough to make some noise...not FULL!! If your spool doesn't have a hole..use a pencil to make a hole big enough to put the peas in.


Cover the other open hole in the spool with your tape (or a sticker like we used).


Paint your spools. Top, bottom, & the sides.


Let them dry.


Set the kiddos loose putting stickers all over the painted ribbon spool. This was probably their favorite part.


Ta-Da!!! The boys are so excited to use these tomorrow night! I'm so glad that we sat down to make these!

The Lemonade Stand Award!

Thanks Momma's Playground for giving me my very first award...the Lemonade Stand Award! You are awesome Jamie!

The Lemonade Stand Award is awarded for being a blogger who shows great attitude and gratitude. There are just a few rules for accepting this wonderful award:

- Put the Lemonade logo on your blog or within your post.
- Nominate at least 10 blogs with great attitude or gratitude.
- Link the nominees within your post.
- Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
- Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.

I would like to pass the award along to all of these amazing blogs! Thanks for the inspiration!

The Masked Mommy
Fun Days with Mommy & Maddie
The Idea Room
Moments of Mommyhood
Naptime Journal
My Forever My Family
seven-thirty-three
Mother Is Not Concerned
The Activity Mom
Giggles Galore

Make a Time Capsule

I was looking up some fun things to do for New Year's Eve & came across a really cute idea {thanks Family Fun}. Have your child write a time capsule letter. They can write about the things that they like this year {food, toys, animals, color} & make predictions for next year {how tall they will be}. I also think that a good thing to put in the letter is their New Year's Resolution. Help them think of a goal that they want to work on this year. Then, you seal up the letter & keep it in a safe place {like with your holiday decorations}. On New Year's Eve next year...let them open their letters. It will be a fun little activity that you can keep doing from year to year. I can't wait to do this with my 5 year old who loves to write.

Once there was a snowman...

Life has been pretty crazy around here. I wanted to make something special for the boys for breakfast this morning...especially because it is Kaden's first day of Christmas vacation {& it is supposed to snow}.

My boys love "pancake balls" {also known as Aebleskivers}. So, I decided to make a snowman. You will need a pan that looks like this:



You can find them at Amazon & most specialty cooking stores. There is a special recipe, but I only use that on holidays. I usually just use my favorite pancake batter. Heat the pan & then pour a little oil {I use canola} in the bottom of each cup. Add your batter {about 1 Tbsp}. Once the sides get a little bubbly...take a fork or a skewer & turn the ball completely over to cook the other side. We usually serve ours with powdered sugar & flavored syrup.



For the snowman...I just stacked three "pancake balls" onto a small sucker stick. Then I used regular chocolate chips for the eyes & buttons, mini chocolate chips for the mouth, & an orange starburst shaped into a carrot. I sprinkles "snow" {powdered sugar} over the snowman. I also attempted to "stick" him to the plate with blueberry syrup...it didn't work {in the picture...he is in the process of falling}! The boys LOVED it. They were so excited to eat their snowman. {I don't think that they cared that some of the mini chocolate chips melted away.}

I found it!

I found the post with our finished product from our salt dough ornaments. I guess I am not as behind as I feel this year...we finished these last year on Christmas Eve. Here it is:

So, we got our Salt Dough ornaments finished on Christmas Eve...nothing like cutting it close!! I love how they turned out & we will definitely make more for next year!!







{reposted from December 2008}

Crazy...

This just has not been our typical Christmas season. Hubby was gone for nearly three weeks & thanks to the storm in the Philadelphia...he almost didn't make it home for Christmas. After HOURS on the phone, having 3 flights cancelled on him, & then being delayed for over 4 hours making him miss his connecting flight...we FINALLY got him home yesterday. It has been crazy. Our salt dough ornaments are still not made. We saved seeing Santa & the lights until Daddy made it home. So, this should be a crazy few days. On top of all of that..my amazing brother & sil are in town for the week. If I don't post until after Christmas...I hope that you can forgive me! Have a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year.

Christmas Morning Pull Aparts

Today, one my FAVORITE local show Good Things Utah...they had a fun Christmas Pull Apart that you can make ahead of time on Christmas Eve. HERE is the link to the recipe.

Here is the recipe:

bundt cake pan sprayed with non stick spray.
Rhodes rolls frozen rolls
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 small pkg butterscotch cook pudding {NOT INSTANT}
1 cube margarine or butter, melted

Place 21 frozen Rhodes rolls into your greased bundt pan. Sprinkle brown sugar over the frozen rolls. Pour butterscotch pudding powder {dry} over the rolls/brown sugar. Pour butter or margarine over the top of everything. Spray plastic wrap with non stick spray and cover the pan and leave overnight to rise. {Don't refridgerate}
Bake at 350 degree for 30 mins.
Check at 20 mins.. if getting dark cover pan with tin foil until done cooking.
I cover a cookie sheet with tin foil and cook this on top of it so it doesn't get all over your oven.
Pull it out and tip over on cookie sheet and you are ready to eat!

Bake Cookies Day

Today is "Bake Cookies Day". Get in the kitchen with your kiddos & bake up some cookies!!!!

A great gift...

Last year, I wanted the boys to make a gift for their grandparents & great grandparents. We decided to make ribbon bookmarks. These were very easy to make & everyone loved them {& they are still using them.} I am reposting this from last Christmas. This year, I think my kids could do almost everything.


First, I gathered my stash...



Then, I cut the ribbon to the right size (I did just a bit over 12 inches). I layed out my ribbons & matched up the buttons that I wanted to use.



My last step was trimming & burning the ends so that they wouldn't fray. I had to trim the thicker ribbon down so that the corners didn't show.



Here is my ending product. I am pretty happy with how they turned out! I knew that my dollar ribbons would come in handy some day!! Tomorrow morning we will sit down & glue all of the buttons on & decide which bookmark is for who. If you get one of these, just act surprised for the boy's sake! Thanks!

"National Maple Syrup Day"

Today is "National Maple Syrup Day". We are planning on having "brinner" {breakfast for dinner} tonight. It is a family favorite to have "brinner" & I love it because it is pretty easy! I'll post what we did after dinner! Happy National Maple Syrup Day!!!!

What we did...

I was pretty excited about National Chocolate Covered Anything Day. I have a little fondue pot that I have NEVER used. It has sat in it's cute little box & never been touched. I had some milk chocolate melts from another project. So we melted them & used them for our fondue. I didn't want to go to the store, so we used what was in the pantry.

Pretzel Sticks
Animal Crackers
Marshmallows



The boys loved it. Preston used the stick & loved dipping his marshmallows in the chocolate. Kaden started using his pretzel sticks to dip his marshmallows in the chocolate. What a fun holiday!!! {Please ignore the fact that my children look homeless. They have been wearing their beanies today & that doesn't work well with their hair. Haircuts are next on my "To Do" list.}

National Chocolate Covered Anything Day

Just a heads up...tomorrow is "National Chocolate Covered Anything Day". So start melting your chocolate! Stay tuned tomorrow night & I will show you what we did!!!

Muffin Tin Monday...Christmas Story

Each night we are reading a Christmas story for a Christmas Countdown...so this theme went along very well. Except for the fact that most stories don't have food in them too much. Luckily we had one book that focused a little more on food so I could use a little less imagination. We used the book "IF YOU TAKE A MOUSE TO THE MOVIES". Here is what I came up with:

Green cups: popcorn, snowman {jumbo marshmallow on a sucker stick}, & Christmas tree cheese.

Red cups: a carrot, candy {to decorate their snowman including an orange tootsie roll shaped into a carrot}, & lil' smokies on picks {a microphone}

Kaden decorated his snowman while I read the book to them. Preston didn't mess around with decorating...he just ate the marshmallows. Now...we are watching a Christmas movie while we eat...because after all...our book was "IF YOU TAKE A MOUSE TO THE MOVIES".

See Ya!!

I am taking off for the next little while. We are getting away to Las Vegas for a much needed break. I will have my computer, but not sure if we will get to any activities that are post worthy. If not...I will see you in a bit!!! I am even accepting that MTM will NOT be happening!

Santa's List Day

Today is "Santa's List Day" on our silly holiday list. Help your little ones write a letter to Santa. Little Man's preschool is mailing out letters to Santa, but a lot of post offices & other places do too.

Simple Traditions

I get very excited about Christmas. Not the actual day, but the whole month of December. Family time is an even higher priority & the traditions are so fun. One tradition that I started 3 years ago was sitting down with the boys & watching a Christmas show. Not necessarily every night, but when we could. Hubby was away at an Army training & I love the moments snuggling with the boys watching the movies. Sometimes we would lay out a blanket & have a picnic/movie night in the family room. The boys love it & ask to do it frequently. ABC Family has the 25 Days of Christmas & other channels play the old fashioned Rudolph & Santa shows that I remember watching while I was little. I love making snuggle time a priority & it sparks so many conversations with the boys.

A New Tradition

Last year we made salt dough ornaments. HERE is the recipe that we used. They were pretty simple to make. The boys had a blast cutting the dough with cookie cutters & watching them bake. HERE are the ornaments that we made last year {not painted}. We painted them {I'm not sure why I don't have a picture} & strung them with a string. I kept a couple for our tree {with their name & the year}, but we also attached them to the grandparent's Christmas presents.

I have already had requests from the grandparents to make some more this year & the boys LOVED seeing what they made last year. We are going to make this a Christmas tradition. What a treasure these ornaments are & will be forever! I will make a post for the ornaments we make this year, but I wanted to give you a head start if you wanted to make some.