Random Acts of Christmas Kindness

Check out this neat site for some great random acts of kindness ideas this Christmas season.  Fun to get the kids involved in this.
RACK

Toilet paper Tube Turkeys and Scarecrows

I meant to post this project several days ago but I got busy and forgot. If you need a last minute fun craft idea to keep the kids busy tomorrow, give this a try. They also make cute table decorations.

Supplies Needed for Scarecrow:
Toilet paper tube
Muffin tin liner cup (for hat)
popsicle stick
yellow construction paper (for hair)
Wiggly eyes
Markers
Glue

Supplies needed for Turkey:
Toilet paper tube
Construction paper
Wiggly eyes
Glue
Markers

Pumpkin Cupcakes

I've been in the mood for making pumpkin cupcakes with my kids so I went on an online search for some simple cupcakes. I found some super cute and simple pumpkin theme cupcakes at Family Circle. You could even use a boxed mix if you wanted and just decorate with orange frosting but I think the pumpkin flavor would be great! Enjoy!

Pumpkin cupcakes!

Fabric Pumpkin Craft

I discovered this adorable fall craft today. These little fabric pumpkins are so cute. Although an adult or older child may have to do the simple sewing, small children could help gather sticks from outside. They could also help stuff the pumpkins/squash. Enjoy making these Squash Softies.

Preschool Lesson Plans on Kindle

We have just completed a new project. In addition to the various other formats, we are happy to announce that our preschool lesson plans are now available on the Kindle. See the link below for more details including a new low sale price of $7.99 (that's less than .29 per lesson!!!). Get it now for back to school learning.

Red, White and Blue Chocolate Dipped Stawberries!

I recently brought home a bunch of juicy red strawberries from the strawberry farm. We've been eating them everyday. I've been making jam, freezing strawberries, making smoothies, Popsicles, etc. I was looking for a strawberry muffin recipe and somehow I stumbled upon a really cool recipe for red, white and blue chocolate dipped strawberries. They are so cute and look yummy too. I think I'm going to give these a try for the Fourth of July. I know my girls would love to help me make them and they would for sure help eat them! Red, White and Blue Strawberries. Enjoy!

So many things in our little lives!

Our family has been hit hard with sadness over the past 9 months.  First my dad passed away in August, 2010, five months later in January our wonderful dog Cazzie passed away very suddenly and unexpectedly.   Last month, we had to say goodbye to our sweet little dog Ally.  She was an American Eskimo like Cazzie.  She was our older of the two.  We enjoyed 15 wonderful years with her.  I never expected to lose both of my beautiful dogs only 4 months apart from each other.  Our home is not the same without our furry babies to enjoy it with us.  Between all of the grief we've faced in less than a years time, our move (I still haven't unpacked everything yet) and everyday life,  I have pretty much been neglecting this blog.  To be quite honest, some days, the grief seems like more than I can handle.  I manage though.  My kids insist that I put on a happy face and keep them busy.  Kids are great about not letting you wallow in sadness. 

We are now in the full swing of summer.  We've had park days, play dates, a trip to the zoo, a parade, cook-outs, a visit to the strawberry farm, a baseball game, mini golf, outdoor picnics, a trip to the library (to get a pile of books and sign up for the summer reading club), several bike rides and lots of water play.   We are currently getting a little break from the heat.  The past couple days it's been gloomy & raining so I've been busy making strawberry jam, freezing strawberries and making some strawberry treats.   Like I said, kids are great about not letting you sit around and be sad.  They keep me busy and I am very thankful for that!  I hope everyone else is having a great summer so far.  I'm hoping and praying for a fun summer for my family and a break from sad stuff happening for a long while!

Where I've been...

We had several requests for showings on our house in December which kept me very busy and then a week before Christmas, we received and accepted an offer on our house.    The first weekend after the holidays we took a trip to Wisconsin for a wedding.  On the way back, we took the kids to Chicago for some museum fun.    A few days after we returned,  in the wee hours of the morning on January 13th, my family was faced with much sadness as our wonderful American Eskimo dog Cazzie died very suddenly.   He was a great dog, full of energy and love.   We were blessed to have him for  12 years but I wish it could have been even longer.   He was such a good boy and we all still miss him terribly.   

I spent the next few weeks packing and house hunting.   We ended up having a double move as we had to be out of our old house before our new house was finished.  We spent our transition staying at my moms house and my kids especially loved that.  In fact, they tried to convince us to just forget about buying our new house and live with nana permanently.  Nana does love to spoil them!    We finally moved into our new home just before Valentine's Day.   Moving was a ton of work and I'm so happy to finally be in our new home.  I still have a lot of unpacking to do but we are getting settled and have all of our essential things unpacked now.   

A couple of fun tips that I want to share with you:   My friend Kelly (who is an Army wife and experienced in moving) gave me a great idea to help keep the kids busy while I packed.  She suggested letting them decorate the moving boxes.  My kids had a blast with this and it kept them busy for a few hours.  Great idea Kelly!  It worked out much better than me trying to pack while they unpacked the things I had already packed :)

Another fun thing that I did with our boxes after we moved into our new house:  I let my kids make cars out of boxes.  I gave them paper plates, markers, crayons and tape and they had a ton of fun creating their own special car.  When they were done, we pretended to have a drive-through restaurant and they placed an order at "Mommas pancake house".  After dinner, we had a "drive-in movie" night.  My kids loved it and the next day, they wanted to do it all over again.   I think it made a fun new house memory for them.  I have to give my friend Sarah credit for the drive-in movie idea.   In a phone conversation, she told me that she did that for her son's birthday party and it was a huge hit.  I knew my kids would love doing that too.  So, if you are moving or just have some boxes around the house, have some fun and make some memories with them!