Time Saver

A lady I visit teach told me this trick. She said there was many a night she was able to get back to bed quicker because of it. The down side is you need to own or purchase 3 waterproof mattress pads. How it works is you make the bed (or crib) in this order: waterproof pad, sheet, waterproof pad, sheet, waterproof pad, sheet. This way, if there is night time accident, all you have to do is pull off the top sheet and waterproof pad, and you are good to go. Instead of having to find a clean sheet and pad and make the whole bed. She said it works great for babies who spit up a lot, kids who still have occasional bed wetting, or a sick child who you think could possible throw up in the middle of the night. If anyone has tried this trick, I would be interested in knowing how well it worked out.

Coupons

A friend of mine from church uses pinchingyourpennies.com. I've never used, but she loves it. Let me know how it works our for you guys.

Memory Box

by: Ann P. Lewis (Wondertime)

For some of us, keepsakes have to be easy or no keeping happens. My method requires 1) a pen, 2) paper, 3) a box. I simply scribble notes (see ideas below) and drop them, dated, in the box. Someday I may whip these choice scraps into an archival masterpiece, but probably not. I'd rather sprawl on the bed and read with my kids — no chronology, no calligraphy, no pressure.

Examples of what to write.

Direct quotes: "Mommy, how does the [childproof vitamin] bottle know a child is trying to open it?"

Snippets of overheard play monologues or child conversations
Clara: "I wonder who invented crayons." Freddy: "Someone who was very experienced with things rubbing off."

General descriptions: "Freddy went to school today in his new cowboy outfit: suede vest with fringe and a badge over his heart, matching chaps, boots, and a gigantic hat."

Lists (friends, visits, words, fears, etc.)
"What is in Clara's schoolbag: 2 rocks, 1 cotton-ball fairy pillow, 1 filthy stu­ed animal, 1 pair sparkly shoes, 1 newspaper."

Milestones: "Freddy lost his first tooth at 9 p.m., 5/11/05, while sitting in Daddy's lap in the striped chair in the playroom. One quick tug and out it came. Not a baby anymore. Think of all the action that little tooth has seen so far."

You could decorate a shoe box, tin, recipe box, or any other container you want. Make sure you leave the box somewhere you spend a lot of your time and it is very accessible, such as in your kitchen or family room. And make sure you keep a pen and paper near it. Otherwise you will plan to get the stuff out to do it, but never really get around to it. Then you forget exactly what was said or done.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pumpkin cookies are one of my favorites and I found an easy and really good recipe.

2 boxes of spice cake mix
1 large can of pumpkin (make sure it's not pumpkin pie filling)
1 bag of chocolate chip

Mix this all together. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. I think they taste just as good as the "from scratch" kind.

Hamburger Gravy

Maybe all of you have had this before. Everyone one at work seemed shocked I never have. It is way easy and not too bad either.

About 1 lbs of hamburger (I use turkey burger)
2 packets of gravy (white or brown)
mashed potatoes (I use instant to make it easier)

Season and brown your meat. Drain the extra fat off. Mix the gravy packets according to the directions. Add the gravy to your pan of meat. Simmer till it starts to thicken. You pour this over mashed potatoes. Easy, right? Russ and I liked it. Next time I'm going to try and add a veggie (mushrooms or maybe green beans) to the gravy mixture. This way we wouldn't have to eat our veggie separate. It will all be in one dish.

Peanut Butter Playdough

I have heard of this before and I saw it on someones blog, so I thought I would add it! It's fun to play with and completely edible! If anyone does it in the near future, please add a picture to this post to show what fun it is!!!

INGREDIENTS
3 1/2 cups peanut butter
4 cups confectioners' sugar
3 1/2 cups honey
4 cups dry milk powder

DIRECTIONS
In large bowl, cream together peanut butter and confectioners' sugar, then beat in honey and fold in milk powder. Divide into 15 equal portions and refrigerate or freeze until ready to use.
-Ashley Hancey

I'm a Little Teapot

I'm a Little Teapot
The traditional tune was written for these lyrics in 1939 by George Harry Sanders and Clarence Kelley.
Lyrics
I'm a little teapot,short and stout.
Here is my handle, (Put left hand on left hip.)
Here is my spout. (Put right hand out to the side, with elbow slightly bent to imitate a spout.)
When I get all steamed up, (Rise up on tiptoes, then come back down.) Hear me shout.
Tip me over and pour me out. (Bend sideways from the waist, toward the right, to suggest pouring.)

- Sara Phillips

Holiday Footprint

I was talking to my friends at work about holiday traditions and we came up with a of couple easy,but fun, ideas. Warning...Some of these will require you to vacuum after.

Easter- M's husband used to do Easter Bunny footprints when her kids were little. You can cut out a stencil of a bunny footprint using construction paper. Then you lay the stencil down and use baby powder to make the footprint. You could use the footprints as a path to the Easter Basket.

Christmas-At V's house the Gingerbread Man used to try and steal presents on Christmas. In the morning there would be a trail of cookie crumbs to where the Gingerbread Man hid the presents he tried to steal.

St. Patrick's Day- When we were little, one year my mom cut out tons of little green footprints (Leprechaun's prints) and left us a trail to follow. It led to a Leprechaun trap we set. Of course the trap had sprung, but the Leprechaun escaped. His prints led all through house, where little green presents were left for us, things were turned upside down (Pictures, Chairs, Etc), cupboard doors all opened, and even the milk was dyed green. The Leprechaun even left us all a kiss on our cheeks (mom must have gave us a little green dot with a marker when we were sleeping)

***You can set traps for all of these, but of course they are all to smart to be caught :)

Does anyone else have any other fun "Footprint" ideas for any other holidays?

Fun Containers

I found a neat website that has tons of different container, jars, bottles, etc. They aren't very expensive and you could come up with tons of cute crafts and ideas with them.
http://www.specialtybottle.com/

Wondertime had a cute Tooth Fairy Idea with the small vials.

T-Shirt Project

(I got this project from the wondertime web site. I think it looks so cute and easy, but a little too girly for Baby D)













Cover your work surface with newspaper: Choose a picnic table outdoors (ideal), or a spot indoors near an open window, as the alcohol can be fumey. (It's flammable, too, so stay away from heat sources.)

Lay the T-shirt flat on the work surface, then slip the cup inside the shirt from the bottom, standing the cup upright in the place you'd like to start decorating. Stretch the rubber band over the T-shirt and the rim of the cup, pulling the T-shirt taut.

Put the bottle cap in the center of the stretched fabric. Have your child use a marker to make a circle of dots around the bottle cap, keeping the dots fairly close to the cap.

Remove the bottle cap. Using the eyedropper, slowly squeeze 20 drops of rubbing alcohol onto the blank spot where the cap was. (Supervise closely or do this part yourself; the alcohol can sting and is dangerous if ingested.) As the fabric absorbs the alcohol, the ink will spread outward in a circular pattern like fireworks. Allow the design to dry for 5 minutes before repeating on a new area of the shirt.

Experiment with different shapes — a dotted star, a heart, or concentric rings of dots. To make flowers, when the designs are dry, slip some paper towels inside the shirt and draw stems with markers.

When the shirt is done and completely dry, pop it in the dryer for 20 minutes to set the colors, then wash and dry as usual

Starfall

Here's a fun website for the kiddies that uses educational games to teach ABC's and reading skills. http://www.starfall.com/ - Sara Phillips

Fun fabric craft

Embellish a solid-colored shirt with bright fabrics and fun shapes -- and conceal stains at the same time. Have your child choose the fabric; iron it to one side of fusible webbing. Trace any shape using templates found on the computer, cookie cutters or stickers onto the fusible-webbing side, and cut out. Remove paper backing, and iron the shape on top of the stain. Use several sizes and vary fabrics for a decorative effect or to cover multiple stains. I have never actually done this, but found it on the web and thought it was a great idea! -Ashley Hancey

WELCOME!

I have created this blog for EVERYONE to share! I thought it would be a fun idea to have a place for people to post recipes, easy crafts for kids and moms, and fun activities to keep our little ones busy. I hope everyone enjoys it and I am excited to see all the fun posts. Thanks!!!