If you walked into my house right now, I would probably want to cry. I would apologize for the state of my house and claim that it is quite the mess but if I am truly honest THIS is my life. This glorious mess. The cheerios, the half eaten banana, the clothes (that I was attempting to sort) all over the table and couch, the half dressed toddler, the little boy still in his pajamas as it is approaching dinner time; all of this is quite normal around here. I've been trying really hard to keep an organized clean home, but the counter covered in clean tupperware drying, the half-empty dishwasher with clean dishes in it is normal, the bits of play sand all over the island with toy animals strewn about is all very normal around here. I'd like to pretend it's at it's worst, but even as I'm typing my half dressed toddler is jamming a toy screw drive in my ear and "hammering" my shoulder....and I just pulled banana peel out of my son's mouth.
Oh I know I will miss this, and I'm trying VERY hard not to stress about this mess. My goal for 2016 was to be present in the moments and not to focus so much on my 'To Do' list....here's to trying!
Today:
Breakfast - apple slices, pistachios (eaten in the car....)
Real Moms group for me!
Lunch - string cheese, pretzels, and CHEESE GRITS (the best thing to have ever been eaten, made for my bible study this morning so yes a lot of cheese grits were eaten today)
Lucy played with Kinetic Sand
Rhett (and later Lucy) pulled everything out of drawers in kitchen...and the tubs of clothes I'm trying to consign!
Tonight - Mike has the kids while I go to a small group focusing on Hospitality and Jesus - Win!
Dinner - Roast from Costco (that was so kindly delivered after the raw chicken debacle...)
Thursday, February 18, 2016
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Valentine Activities
Valentine's Activities 2016
I tried to do a couple activities each week, and I'm logging this so I can look back to this next year.
Jello Playdough:
Heart Marshmallows:
Hand Print Hearts:
We painted our hands to make hearts with our hand prints...this was tricky with Rhett so I only did a one hand print for him. We wrote a bible verse on it, "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart... Proverbs 5:3" and signed it as our cards from the kids.
Celery Stamps:
With my friend Katie and her kids, we cut celery stalks and let the kids dip them in paint and stamp them and it looked like little hearts. Sadly, Lucy just wanted to spread the red paint everywhere but when the adults did the stamping it looked pretty cool!
Salt/Glue Hearts:
I used elmer's glue to draw a heart and then poured salt over the glue. I then let Lucy put water that had been dyed red on the salt using a paint brush. The idea was to allow the salt to absorb the color...I must have done something wrong because this was a failed attempt. We put googly eyes in the center and a nose with a pom pom, but these didn't turn out as cool as I had hoped.
Bible Verse Hearts:
I printed these cool bible verses from here on love to review with Lucy, I was hoping to be really creative and make a wreath with all of the hearts or something fun but never got around to it. So maybe next year.
3 Ingredient Slime:
We made pink slime, and used this recipe and it was super easy and it was hours of entertainment for Lucy! So cool!
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| This was as we were still mixing it by hand, the consistency actually got better as we played! |
We made strawberry/pink play dough using this cool recipe. You just cook it over the stove and it smells wonderful. We've also made orange, and I hope to make green for St. Patricks day. It's super easy and the consistency is SO much better than the no bake play dough. Don't let the fact that you have to "cook" it deter you. It kept my 3 year old and 11 month old busy for over 20+ minutes!!
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| After you cook it, you get to knead it on the counter while it cools. Please don't let the kids grab it while it's hot. I usually toss it around and am actually quite silly so the kids are entertained while they wait. |
Heart Bird Feeders:
We took bird seed and coconut oil (using this idea) and scooped it into heart shaped cookie cutters to make heart shaped bird feeders. We gave these to grandparents for Valentine's day - fun and easy! The trick was to scoop the bird seed into the cookie cutters, pat it down, I used a chop stick to make a hole for string, and then I carefully pulled the cookie cutter off the pan before cooling it. Once it cools when I kept the cookie cutters with the bird seed, the hearts would crumble when I tried to get the cookie cutter off. So remove the cookie cutters before cooling or allowing the coconut oil to harden.
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| This is what happens if you don't remove the cookie cutters before it's cooled, they all break apart! We tried different shapes, and I loved the hearts. We gave these as gifts, AND I forgot to get a picture of the finished product that looked wonderful. |
Heart Shaped Foods:
One of my friends had the great idea of using a tiny heart cookie cutter (which I later found out is used to decorate the tops of pie crusts) to cut cheese. I attempted to cut mini cucumbers into hearts by cutting a ridge down the spine of a cucumber and then cutting it into slices. Then I attempted cutting a kiwi into hearts, but let me tell you it took some work and they are far from perfect. And the kids, they didn't even seem to care but us adults LOVED it.
One of my friends had the great idea of using a tiny heart cookie cutter (which I later found out is used to decorate the tops of pie crusts) to cut cheese. I attempted to cut mini cucumbers into hearts by cutting a ridge down the spine of a cucumber and then cutting it into slices. Then I attempted cutting a kiwi into hearts, but let me tell you it took some work and they are far from perfect. And the kids, they didn't even seem to care but us adults LOVED it.
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| If you try this idea, just have fun with it and don't worry about perfection! |
Heart Chocolate drizzle:
This idea came from my mom, aunt, and sister. They melted chocolate chips, scooped the melted chocolate into a baggie, cut a tiny hole and then created hearts by drizzling the chocolate on a silpat baking pan liner. Let the hearts or designs cool and then place on cupcakes, cakes, twinkles (see below), or any dessert for your sweethearts. Such an easy idea and wonderful way to bedazzle any treat!
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| So fun and easy to drizzle these hearts! |
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| I wish I could take credit for this chocolate drizzle, So fun! |
I found these fun heart shaped marshmallows at Aldi, and used them as special treats throughout the weeks leading up to Valentine's day. My daughter also loves hot chocolate so it was a special treat. I was hoping to make a sweet treat candy kabob with the marshmallows and some fruit but never got around to it, but maybe next year.
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| I loved that they came in white and pink. Lucy of course only wanted the pink ones. |
Heart Twinkie's:
So years ago my mom had pulled out an ad in a magazine that showed Twinkie's cut in half on an angle then arranged to look like a heart, then it said to add fresh raspberries and/or raspberry preserves and voila, you've made a dessert. We took the idea and just added canned cherry pie filling and then added the chocolate drizzle hearts but the hearts were made with white chocolate instead. It looked amazing, if you like Twinkie's you'd love the treat and it was just a simple idea for February.
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| Is this not the cutest idea ever?! |
Heart Pancakes:
Make your usual pancake recipe, if you need a fantastic recipe try mine! I prefer a thinner batter and we love to add chocolate chips to our pancakes in this house. We made our usual pancakes but added a little red food coloring to make them pink, and then placed a cookie cutter on our griddle (I sprayed our cookie cutters with oil so the batter wouldn't stick) and then poured a little batter into the cookie cutters, lift the cookie cutters when the batter starts to bubble and then flip it. Such a simple idea but the kids loved it and it made our Valentine's morning a little extra special.
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| I actually had a pancake "cookie cutter" shape that was given to me, so it was easier to lift because it actually has a handle, but we also used our collection of cookie cutters and it worked well just be careful of the heat. |
Raw Chicken Surprise
So this day has gone far off the path of what I thought it would look like when I woke up this morning. Let's back track, I woke up with an idea of what I thought the day would look like and even though my mornings are scrambled with a 3 year old who desperately wants my attention to watch her play, twirl, eat, talk, sing, you get the point...and an 11 month old who loves to snuggle constantly and pull everything out of every nook and cranny in this house. So my day was going as usual but I decided I wanted to log my day. I wanted to remember some of the fun things I do, especially as I was smelling the wonderful scent of orange 'Jello' play dough I had just made with my kids, happily allowing them to make a mess of the kitchen. I told myself not to sweat it, even though I knew we'd have company later in the evening. So after this blissful moment and some normal craziness to get out the door to go to our story time, I came back home to write what is below.
Today's mission....avoid screen time as much as possible....and try to keep the house manageably clean.
Finish Laundry AND Put it all away (Never happened, I'm sitting next to a pile of laundry begging to be folded now...)
My day was already a little comical as we went to Babytime instead of the toddler storytime, but my 3 year old didn't seem to notice or mind. And even after battling naps my day was still going per usual. And then during nap, I decided to get a head start on some beef stew. Earlier we had plans of having a friend over and I don't usually try new recipes but I was pretty excited about this beef stew.
So I'm dunking the stew meat in flour and tossing it before frying it up so it gets that nice brown glaze. I compile this whole stew, I even doubled the recipe so there would be nice leftovers and I notice a chunk of pink "dough" in the flour jar. Weird, but I pull it out and it looks like a piece of play dough from earlier or maybe the slime we made last week. So I continue cooking, at this point I've destroyed my kitchen and have the stew simmering on the stove. After it has filled the entire house with it's scent, I go back to that weird piece of "play dough"....and I realize it is NOT play dough!! It looks to be a piece of meat....raw meat....and not beef. GROSS! After calling my mom, talking to my aunt, and sending pictures of this pink sticky thing we come to the conclusion it must be a piece of chicken. raw chicken. In my big jar of flour. I still feel physically ill as I'm writing this. Needless to say, the entire pot of beef stew was thrown out, the flour jar was dumped and thoroughly washed, and the play dough that was cooked but did indeed have flour in it is sitting on the counter as I contemplate tossing it. And I realize my 11 month old stuck some of that in his mouth earlier in the day....ugh. Hoping and praying that little tiny piece of raw meat didn't contaminate all of the flour and that somehow the play dough is clean. And no one gets sick.
My husband let me know earlier in the day our guests would not be coming for dinner...that would have been quite the story. My mom, aunt, and sister showed up with a roast for me to cook and some moral support, but after everything we ordered pizza. And laughed. And had some great conversation on hospitality.
People, I can't make this stuff up! Life is funny, and I hope to continue to log my journey!
Today's mission....avoid screen time as much as possible....and try to keep the house manageably clean.
8:00 AM - one PBS show for Lucy (I started the day off with a bang, right?)
8:20 AM - Breakfast: milk, pears, cheerio's, raisins
8:30 AM - Make 'Jello' Play dough with the kids help
9:30 AM - Kids still playing with play dough (one eating it...) with cookie cutters and rolling pins - YAY
10:00 AM - scrambling to get everyone dressed
10:20 AM - head to Library Story Time
10:35 AM - 5 minutes late for what is actually 'BabyTime', but luckily we had Rhett (11 month old), and Lucy didn't seem to notice all the 1 year olds
11:40 AM - head home to eat lunch
12:00 PM - lunch : cheese quesadilla's, peppers, berries
12:15 PM - Make healthy "cookie" dough balls (dates, cashews, and chocolate chips)
12:30 PM - attempt nap for both kiddo's
12:45 PM - Rhett down for nap
1:00 PM - attempt to have Lucy play quietly in her room
1:20PM - still attempting quiet time for Lucy
1:30 PM - attempt NAP for Lucy - success!
Today's Activities:
Library Story Time
My day was already a little comical as we went to Babytime instead of the toddler storytime, but my 3 year old didn't seem to notice or mind. And even after battling naps my day was still going per usual. And then during nap, I decided to get a head start on some beef stew. Earlier we had plans of having a friend over and I don't usually try new recipes but I was pretty excited about this beef stew.
So I'm dunking the stew meat in flour and tossing it before frying it up so it gets that nice brown glaze. I compile this whole stew, I even doubled the recipe so there would be nice leftovers and I notice a chunk of pink "dough" in the flour jar. Weird, but I pull it out and it looks like a piece of play dough from earlier or maybe the slime we made last week. So I continue cooking, at this point I've destroyed my kitchen and have the stew simmering on the stove. After it has filled the entire house with it's scent, I go back to that weird piece of "play dough"....and I realize it is NOT play dough!! It looks to be a piece of meat....raw meat....and not beef. GROSS! After calling my mom, talking to my aunt, and sending pictures of this pink sticky thing we come to the conclusion it must be a piece of chicken. raw chicken. In my big jar of flour. I still feel physically ill as I'm writing this. Needless to say, the entire pot of beef stew was thrown out, the flour jar was dumped and thoroughly washed, and the play dough that was cooked but did indeed have flour in it is sitting on the counter as I contemplate tossing it. And I realize my 11 month old stuck some of that in his mouth earlier in the day....ugh. Hoping and praying that little tiny piece of raw meat didn't contaminate all of the flour and that somehow the play dough is clean. And no one gets sick.
My husband let me know earlier in the day our guests would not be coming for dinner...that would have been quite the story. My mom, aunt, and sister showed up with a roast for me to cook and some moral support, but after everything we ordered pizza. And laughed. And had some great conversation on hospitality.
People, I can't make this stuff up! Life is funny, and I hope to continue to log my journey!
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