Flower Pot Cake

*Note: I know I'm a lousy photographer, so please forgive me. Maybe one day I'll get a better camera. Right now I'm poor, so this will have to do. :)

A friend of mine baked some cakes inside of terracotta pots she got at Wal-Mart for a quarter a piece. They turn really cute and tasted great. I'll share with you what she shared with me on how to do it. It's better to learn from other people's mistakes.

She placed a small piece of greased parchment paper on the bottom of each pot, to keep the batter from leaking out the bottom holes. You want o fill the pot about 2/3 fill, just to the "cuff" of the pot. She placed the pots in her muffin tin, for extra support when put them in and pulling them out of the oven, but she said a cookie sheet should work fine too. Just make sure you only put pots along the outside (of either the cookie sheet or muffin tin). The ones in the middle never seemed to cook all the way through. Cook them for about 45- 50 minutes. After about 30-35 minutes, turn the pots so that whatever side was facing outwards is now facing towards the center. When checking them to see if they are done, use a long skewer. Toothpick can be deceiving. You need to make sure they are cooked all the way to the bottom.

If anyone gives it a try, let me know how it goes. We frosted ours and put cookie crumbs on the top. Good, but next time I'm leaving the crumbs out. They made them hard to eat without making a huge mess.

Don't Eat Pete!

As kids we used to play this game all the time for FHE. It is a silly game, but we loved it. For those of you who do not know how to play, these are the rules:

1. You send one person out of the room.
2. The remaining people pick one number to be "Pete."
3. You then place M&Ms on all the numbers. (Cheerios if you want to be a bit more healthy)
4. The person who left the room now returns.
5. That person then proceeds to eat the M&Ms off the game borad.
6. The purpose of the game is to see how many M&Ms you can eat before you try and eat "Pete." When the person picks up the M&M on Pete's number, you all yell "Don't eat Pete!" And the person's turn is over.

I know it's not the typical type of game, but kids love it. Especially young kids because they don't have to remember many rules but they still have fun.

Note: If you want a PDF file of the game board, email me at fun4mommies@gmail.com. Let me know if you want the 25 or 100 card (Or both). But, a board isn't hard to make either.

A Couple Of Blogs

Just a couple of blogs/websites I wanted to share with everyone.

First, imommies.com. They have this ability to find some major deals for you. Just this week I was able to order 2 free DVDs from Fisher-Price. I got the info from their blog. And when I say free, that includes no shipping or handling either. They also recently had a link to a website to get gift cards to some restaurants for 70% off. I subscribed to imommies a couple of weeks ago (I use google reader. It is a must for anyone who checks blogs often). It seems to me they don't post often, but when they do they have great information.

Second, seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com. This is a spoof blog.

The Deseret News' Mormon Times: "A clever twist on Mormon mommy blogs," it's "a hilarious spoof...so true to form, you might not catch that all those exclamation points are meant to be ironic."

I just read a bit, but even just reading the "about me" section made me want to pee my pants I laughed so hard. Only because it is all true. And I feel I can laugh because I have one of those personal blog they are making fun of. Some my feel offended by the blog, or just think it's dumb, but I liked it. Comment and let me know what you think.

Tooth Fairy Jar

Lost Button Studio has a really cute tradition about a "tooth fairy jar". It's a simply twist in the traditional "under the pillow" technique. Go check it out.

Email us with any fun family traditions you may have.

Christmas In July

For a family home evening one time, my husband and I decided to have a Christmas in July. And I thought it would be a great FHE activity for children as well.

The lesson is about giving, and take the time to remember why we celebrate Christmas and remind your children that we need to have Christmas in their hearts all year.

You draw names. You head off to the dollar store and give each child a dollar and change for tax (or how ever much you want to spend). They get to buy a gift for the person who's name they picked. Once you get home, you have the lesson, then let the kids give the gifts to each other.

If anyone else has some good FHE ideas, please share them. It's hard to come up with ideas that are fun for the kids, but where they still learn something too.

Pediacast

I have recently been introduced to podcasts. I have an ipod that my husband bought for me a few years back. I usually just listen to music or books on it, but lately I have totally been into downloading podcasts. For those of you who doesn't know a podcast is "a digital recording of a radio broadcast or similar program, made available on the Internet for downloading to a personal audio player" (www.bbn.com) I listen to several, but one I love is called Pediacast.



It is a weekly podcast produced by a board-certified pediatrician and Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Dr Mike earned his medical degree at The Ohio State University and has over 10 years of parenting and clinical practice experience. He answers questions sent in by parents. It is full of information. Give it a try. You can download current and old podcasts for free with itunes. But is you don't have an ipod or mp3 player to listen to it, you can listen for free on your computer at pedicast.org. The show notes are on the main body of the blog and to listen to the show click on the podcast player in the left side colunm.

If anyone else has discovered any other great family oriented podcasts, please share them with us.
Happy Listening!

Cheerios Anyone?

Kami shared a great blog she came across. chasingcheerios.blogspot.com
It has some great ideas. I really like all the homemake toy ideas she has, especially using photo copied family pictures to make easy two or three piece puzzles for a toddler. Homemake toy ideas are the best.

Thanks for sharing Kami!!!

Bored Box

I don't know what you guys are thinking, but summer is way too long for kids. I know I always looked forward to starting school again because we got so bored. I remember one summer my mom took the TV out of the house. She said we watched it too much. It was set up in the garage, so we could watch it if we wanted to sit in the wheelbarrow. That summer she had what I call a "bored box"

A "bored box" as a box of just random items. When we were bored, you could get it out and make up something to play. It had items like construction paper, stamps, markers, finger paints, yarn, dice, game pieces, etc. You could add fabric, glue, scissors (if your kids are older), tape, cardboard, crayons. The whole idea of a "bored box" is to find items that help your kids use their imaginations.

What would you place in your "bored box"?

"Thank You"

When talking to the girls at work about their kids and their kids' friends, one thing I worry about is how to teach my children to be grateful for what they have and thankful for what others do for them. In a world where people grow up feeling that the world owes them, how do you teach your children that they are not entitled to anything? How do you teach them to be thankful for all they do receive?

One thing I hope to be able to start with my kids is monthly (or weekly) "Thank You"s. Let your child think of someone who has done something nice for them. Help them to write a thank you card. If you have some craft time, make a thank you card. Allow them to mail the card. For some reason, sending and receive mail fascinated kids. As you create a habit of "Thank You"s, your children will start to see more and more things to be thankful for.

Incorporate this tradition into a Family Home Evening lesson. Please email us with any other good habits that can be taught to our children. We all need a little help from others in raising good kids.

Kids Can Cook

Kraftfoods.com has been a favorite of mine to find easy recipes, but did you know that have a whole kids section? The have lots of fun things that are easy for kids to make (such as the links below) Also kids-approved recipes and nutritional facts. Check them out. You'll fins something fun.

Cheesy Pizza “Fundue”

Cheesy Volcano Meatballs

Buried Treasure Cupcakes