Birthday Cake

So, my now 8 year old, requested a cheesecake for his birthday.
Doesn't sound too hard, I thought.
Then, he adds, "decorated like Leonardo the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle."
Great. No idea where to start.
First of all, you usually don't frost a cheesecake.
Secondly, I'm not an artist! (at all)

Here's what I came up with.
He was pretty happy with it, and that's all I cared about!

I mixed up the cheesecake batter and then mixed in some green food coloring.
After it cooled, I added the mask and smile.
Pretty easy. Not super professional looking, but it worked!

Homemade Butter

Do you celebrate Pioneer Day? the 24th of July?
Growing up, my family would always celebrate with cousins, bbq and a rodeo.
This year, due to my very large belly, I think we'll stay home.
But, to give my kids a little taste of pioneer life, we made our own butter.
I used to make this while teaching school as part of a social studies lesson.
Here's how, if you'd like to give it a try:

Ingredients:
all you need is some
Whipping Cream & Salt

Put some whipping cream in a canning jar, or whatever jar you'd like,
(I put about 1/2 pint of whipping cream into a pint jar, so it would have plenty of room)
Shake, Shake, Shake until the cream turns mostly solid and separates
(took us less than 10 minutes of shaking)

looks a little something like this

Pour off the excess milk
Add a bit of salt to taste
And, you've got BUTTER!

Summer Houses

The holidays are just so crazy!
It's often hard to sqeeze in each and every fun tradition that you and your kids want to do.
So, I thought it would be fun to make gingerbread SUMMER HOUSES.
One more fun thing to do in the summer and one less thing to do at Christmastime!
Perfect!

Decor. for the 4th

Here's what the boys made to decorate our house for the 4th of July.

They traced their hands (3 of each color) and glued them together into the wreath shape.

So simple, but it kept them busy for a while. I figure it's good for developing fine motor skills.

And, yes, my husband installed 2 peep holes in the front door.

One for me & one for the boys.

Happy Birthday America!

This is nothing spectacular or new.

I think you see this type of cake on every magazine around the 4th of July.

But, it was new for my boys.

And, we got to talk about our country and what the design of the flag means.

I LOVE angel food cake. Strawberry Shortcake is one of my favorite desserts.

So, we used a box of angel food cake mix and I cheated and used Cool Whip for the "white". It's almost against my religion to use fake whipped cream, but I let down a bit on my snobbish whipped cream standards due to time restraints. Nothing like real whipped cream if you ask me!

Here's what our cake would have looked like, but...

the 2 year old woke up from his nap while it was cooling and took a few handfuls out of various spots.

So, I cut out a few flag shaped pieces for the boys to decorate their own personal flags.

Father's Day Idea

Father's Day is just around the corner (June 20th).
My husband always loves when I come up with a gift that costs, "$ free.fifty-free", or at least close to free.
I came across the idea a while back and decided it would be fun for the boys to do with their
dad and Grandpas on Father's Day.
This link has the idea for Mother's Day. I just adapted it a bit.

How easy is this:
Grab a bag of m&ms. Then attach this poem and the questions below.

You're one special FATHER and I'm one special son

Let's play a game with M&M's & have some fun!
Pick a candy, any color will do.

And we'll learn together about you & me!

Red- What is one of your favorite things to do with me?

Orange- Where would you want to go anywhere in the world with me and why?

Yellow- What do you see us doing together in 10 years?

Green- Name 3 reasons why you love me.

Blue- Ask me any question you like!

Brown- Hum a tune and see if I can guess it!

Teacher Gifts

Didn't we just get done with Teacher Appreciation week?

Time flies.

Well, now it's time to find a little something for my kid's teachers to say thank you for a great year.

Teachers are worth it though, right?

I think it's so much more meaningful when the kids have to contribute to the gift giving process.

So, we went to the store and they picked out a few items that they knew were their teachers' favorites and then thought of appropriate sayings that went with each one

(with a little guidence from me of course).

We wrapped each item in a bow with the "quote" and then put them all in a plastic summer tote that I found at Walmart for about $1 each.

Here are the quotes that we put with each one.

The possibilities are endless.

 

• You are a wonderfully SWEET teacher!
(Sweet & Salty granola bar)

• Thank you for your SOFT touch!
(Softlips chapstick)

• All of my preschool days were SUNNY with you!
(Sunflower seeds)

• I’m a little bit NUTTY! Thanks for your patience!
(Planter’s Nuts)

• You are an EXTRA special teach, who made me feel EXTRA special too!
(Extra gum)

• Thanks for MOLDING & STRETCHING my mind!
(Silly Putty)

• Thanks for LIGHTing my way through preschool!
(candle)

• You deserve a long, indulgent summer BREAK!
(Reese’s Fast Break candy bar)

• You’re such a great teacher. I’m just BURSTing with gratitude!
(Starbursts candy – I think I left out of the picture)

• Thanks to you, everything I learned in preschool is CRYSTAL clear!
(Crystal Light drink package)

Batman Birthday Party

I have a hard time spending $ on birthday parties. People just go waaaay overboard when it comes to decor., cakes, party favors, food, etc...
Hundreds of dollars later...
It's just not my thing.
Maybe I'm just too lazy and too cheap.
Whatever the reason, I keep it as simple as possible while still celebrating and making it special for my guys.

A few months ago we had a great birthday party at the house for my second born who requested a Batman party.

Thought I'd share some the games we played.

1) We started off with a game of Batman Charades. I printed small pictures of Batman characters from the internet and put them in an envelope. Each child took a turn picking a picture card and acting out that character. They especially loved when someone picked Cat Woman and had to act like a girl!

2) We also played "Shoot the Villains". I pritned out several Batman villains's pictures onto cardstock, taped them to popsicle sticks, and stuck them in the ground around the yard. Each of the boys got to run around the yard and shoot the villains with a Nerf gun.

3) Last, we played Dodgeball. All the boys had to pretend to be Batman villains while the boy that was "It" tried to hit them with a volleyball that had Batman symbols all over it.

Everyone had a fun time and it wasn't too much work, or money for me!

Mom Jeans

Maybe you've all seen this a million times.

It just never gets old to me.

I crack up every single time!

Happy Mother's Day!

Fried Ice Cream

Our friends used to have an annual Cinco de Mayo Fiesta every year. We haven't lived close enough to do it for a while, but I always remember her yummy "Fried" Ice Cream dessert.
To be honest, I've never had this actually fried except at a restaurant. But, it's still delicious and not frying means that the kids can do this more independently.
Check out her scrapbooking blog called Summertime Designs!
She designs really great paper & accessories.
And, they are free to download.
Here is one that she made for Father's Day!

Ingredients:
2 cups Frosted Flakes
2 cups Granola w/out raisins
1 container Vanilla Bean ice cream
Cinnamon
1/3 cup brown sugar
Caramel Ice Cream Topping
Whipped Cream
(all of these measurements are approximate - no need to be exact)

Here's how she does it:
Scoop your vanilla ice cream into balls (I only do Vanilla BEAN....and generic is fine of this) and place on a cookie sheet or pie pan, whatever fits in your freezer.
Transfer the ice cream balls back to the freezer while you...
Crunch up the cereals (pour them in a large Ziploc bag and smoosh with rolling pin)
Then pour into a mixing bowl.

With the smooshed cereals in a mixing bowl, I sprinkle a single layer of cinnamon over the top and then add the brown sugar and stir the mixture.
Roll your ice cream balls in the cereal mixture until well coated.
Freeze until hard.

I never deep fried mine for the Cinco de Mayo party because it was too many people and I didn't have a big enough pan to fry them in.
But, if you plan on deep frying, make sure the ice cream re-freezes overnight so it is totally solid, and then you just need to use tongs and do it for a few seconds.

To serve, just take them directly from the freezer, and top with caramel ice cream topping as well as whipped cream.

DELICIOSO!

Pinatas!

In honor of Cinco de Mayo
(no, I'm not Hispanic, but it's a fun holiday...is that PC?)
we decided to make homemade pinatas.
You could do this for any holiday or celebration.
We still have a little work to do, but here's the project so far.
BEWARE!
This can be very messy.
I recommend having everyone wear an apron or old clothes,
and doing it outside!

Materials:
balloons
duct tape
toilet paper or paper towel rolls
lots of newspaper
flour
paint
treats or novelties to fill the finished pinata

First, blow up balloons to make whatever animal or shape you want.
We taped on paper towel rolls for legs, wings and a beak.

My boys decided to go with a        

PUMA

& a FALCON

Cut 1" strips of newspaper... lots of it.
Mix your paper mache "glue" using flour and water.
Make it the consistency of pancake batter.
Dip the strips of newspaper into the glue.
Run your fingers along the strip to remove any excess glue.
Lay the strip on the balloon.
Do this until the entire creation is completely covered in SEVERAL layers.
Let dry completely, probably an entire day.

Paint.
Or some decorate by gluing on bits of colored tissue paper.
When it's dry, cut 3 sides of a square out of the creation.
This is to allow you to fill it with treats. Tape it back down.

To hang, poke a small hole in the top.
Tie a string to a pencil, insert the pencil in the hole, and hang by the string.

One More for Mother's Day

At church I teach the 3 year old kiddos.
Thought it would be fun to have a craft that they could make on Mother's Day.
It had to be something pretty quick, that could be done by the time their mother's picked them up.
So, we'll be making these cards.

Here's the outline that I traced.
I'm not much of an artist, but it will do.
Feel free to copy it for your use.

We'll use glue sitcks (so the dry time will be faster) to fill in the petals, stem & leaf.
Then, put down different swirls of yarn on top of the glue.
Shouldn't take too long and shouldn't be too messy...
a great combination for 3 year olds in a church!

Mother's Day Ideas

I know, I know... probably everyone who reads this is a Mother.
And you don't want to make yourself a gift!
These are more for your kids to make for YOUR mother.
Is is possible for grandmothers to get too many cute pictures of their grandkids?
Probably not.

Here are a few gift ideas that your kids can help make to give to grandma.

They are all inexpensive and easy.

If you like photography, like me, these are right up your alley.

I Love You To Pieces

Picture Collage

Photo Collage

Easy Birthday Cakes

I am NOT a cake decorator. But, I DO think it's fun. I have memories of my mother making fabulous cakes every year for my birthday. Maybe that's why I feel compelled to attempt the same for my kids.

Plus, I HATE the way grocery store cakes taste!
Anyone else?
I'm probably the only one, but I think they're gross.
I prefer to make my own, sort of, (from the box) cake.

I thought this was the most beautiful cake I had ever seen!

(excuse the poor picture quality - I scanned it out of my baby book)

Wish I could get my hands on this cool cake platter!

 

Here are a few that I swear are really easy.

Maybe not completely professional looking, but great for little boys.

Boy #2 wanted a Batman cake for his birthday. My first thought was to make a bat shaped cake...

Then, I got smart. I just copied a clip art from the internet and printed it out the size thatI wanted.

I frosted the cake yellow.

Then, layed the bat on top of the cake and used a toothpick to trace it's outline.

Last, I used chocolate frosting (close enough to black) to fill in the bat.
You could do this same thing for almost any cake design!

 The Snake Cake.
You just bake the cake in a bundt pan & cut it into 4 equal sections.
Then rearrange the sections to resemble the shape of  a snake before frosting.
Add, your snake's design/pattern with frosting and candies,
and that's it!

The Turtle Cake (2 ways)
1 - bake all cupcakes
arrange them all, except for 5, in a circle
frost as decorated above
or
2 - bake one round cake and the rest cupcakes
and frost as shown

Either way works great.
Sometimes it's just easier to have cupcakes for a kid's party.

Here are a few that I've never done, but look cool and easy too.
I'm ALL about easy!

Most sports cakes are easy, like this basketball one.
I made a baseball cake one year, similar to this.
Just white frosting with red crisscrosses on a round cake.

or this football field cake

or this guitar cake

or this summer themed cake.
I did one similar, but used Teddy Grahams for the swimmers,
put fishy crackers around the sides, and used white lifesavers with red stripes as floatation devices.
(can't seem to find the picture)

After Easter?

Here are some things to do with all the leftover plastic eggs:

Egg Race
First, establish a race course with your runners.

When you're ready to start, separate the players into two or more teams and divide the eggs equally between them.
(Tip: You can use fewer eggs for younger players or increase the challenge by using more eggs for older racers.)
Have the teams line up with the first kid in each group holding his team's eggs in his arms.
At go, the egg holders must navigate the course, then return to start and pass their eggs to the next player in line.
If a runner drops any eggs along the way, he must stop and pick them up (a tough task with an already-full armload!). The first team whose runners have all completed the course wins.
If you only have a few runners, just have them all be on the same team and time each race.
With each new race, they can try to beat their old record.

Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt
Start by numbering all but one of the plastic eggs that will hold your clues with a permanent marker.
Decide how long & difficult you want your hunt to be and choose that many eggs.
Probably around 6.
Write a clue to the #1 egg's location and place it inside the empty egg.
Then, hide the egg with the #1 on it, in it's respective location.
Continue in this fashion until you've hidden all but the egg without a # on it.
Hand this egg to your child to begin the hunt.

All games were found and then adapted from: www.familyfun.com

Easter Morning Idea

I'm going to start this tradition at our house this year...

"We wake up Easter morning to find the Easter Bunny's maze winding through the entire house.
He ties a different color of yarn to each of our children's bedposts, and the kids have to follow their color (collecting their yarn as they go) to find their Easter basket hidden at the end of it.
The maze is really complicated too!
The yarn crisscrosses over stair railings, around doorknobs, through table legs, and, of course, over the other threads."

http://familyfun.go.com/easter/easter-games-egg-hunts/easter-morning-yarn-maze-706889/

Cascarones

A few years ago, our neighbors introduced us to their Easter egg hunt tradition.
They make Cascarones, and now we make them too.
Kids love hunting for eggs, but this adds a fun twist...
When you find an egg, you get to crack it over someome's head, showering them with confetti!

What you need:
Eggs (buy extra! we lost at least 6 during the process)
egg dye kit (although some like to just paint them or color them with markers)
confetti & maybe a little glitter
glue
scraps of tissue paper

* plan on having scrambled eggs for dinner!*

Dye your eggs like you normally would & let them dry.

Then, using a sharp object, like a tac or needle,

carefully open a hole in the bottom of each one to let the egg drain out.

You can even just crack a hole, but I kept overdoing it.

If the egg didn't come out very easily,
we used a chopstick to break up the yolk a little,
and make it easier to drain.

Rinse the eggs with water and let them dry completely, maybe overnight.

Fill each hole with confetti of your choice and maybe a little glitter.

You can make your own confetti with paper & a hole punch too.

Then, glue a piece of tissue paper over the hole to hold it all in.

Hide the eggs like you normally would for any Easter egg hunt.

But, remember:

When you find an egg, crack it over someome's head & shower them with confetti!

If you like this idea, but don't want to do the work, I just saw eggs at Walmart the other day,

dyed & filled with confetti., ready to go.