Kids: homemade gift for teachers

We made these and had so much fun. I painted the kids hands with appropriate colors to look like Santa and on the back it says, " This is so you remember when I have grown so tall....that you made a huge difference in my life when I was very small" So cute!

Kids: Fine motor skills

Another awesome dollar tree find: (sorry it's upside down)

These little kits are SUPER ANNOYING however, my kids had a ball with it and it took up a good chunk of time. The kits come with a tiny wrench and screwdriver and my boys thought that was amazing. it comes with 29 pieces and you put every tiny little piece together and poof a helicopter is born. My only complaint about this activity is that they continuously fall apart when your little boys want to play with them after!

 

Kids: Glow in the dark Tubby time

I'm always looking for new CHEAP ways to entertain my kids and keep them excited about life and exploration. I picked up a couple packs of glow sticks at the dollar tree (who doesn't love the dollar tree) and threw them in the tub with kids and turned off the lights....the laughter was priceless they had so much fun. After we got all washed up I let them take the glow sticks to bed for a fun night light!

Mama Rant

It's cold. Like, really cold. My feet are cold, my nose is cold. My children are about to be cold, because they are sick of being inside already and it hasn't even snowed yet, and because of this I might just put them on the street corner with all of thier belongings holding a free for the taking sign. You see I may be a super cool Mama when it comes to filling our days with fun activities, baking, cooking awesome meals ect. But, this Mama, DOES NOT GO OUTSIDE when jack frost is knocking on my door. We go directly from this heated house to the car that has been idling for 3 hours so I can make sure it's beyond warm, in fact stifling HOT!  So to all you entrepreneurs out there would someone please create a GIANT indoor space that completely makes us feel like we are outside in the middle of summer. Like, I'm talking a beach with real sand and waves, fake sun coming from the roof. Trees. Mountains, flowers. I'm even ok if you want to have some mosquitoes and a few flies. If you live in Maine you know why the heck we need something like this. Unfortunately I live in Maine which pretty much means we are poor cause we have to pay like 5 million dollars to heat our damn house in the winter so I'm thinking if someone could produce my vision in the actual town I live in that would be super cool. You will probably save the lives of children all over the state because mothers wont be going on crazy killing sprees during these horrid winter months!
Sincerely,
Mom of 3

Teaching kids to LOVE good food - Scallops in butter wine sauce with roasted veggies and couscous

In this house we believe that children deserve good food as much as we do. We started at a very young age, flavoring even their jarred baby food....who wants to eat watered down mush? EWWW! All meals at our house are wholesome and delicious. We round each meal with fruits or veggies and those are usually my children's favorite parts. So many times I have been asked how I got my kids to be such great eaters. It's pretty simple. It's usually their only option. We don't fill our cupboards with processed junk or chicken nuggets that I found out actually have bone particles and all sorts of other parts of God knows what animal, in them. Those are not choices I was going to make for my children. Growing up thinking that Little Debbie's swiss cake rolls was  a "snack" and was packed in my lunch daily. HELL NO....not in this house. I made this promise to myself months before my children took their first breath. If your children are offered "good" food only, then they will learn to love it. I truly believe that. When my kids are offered mac and cheese or chicken nuggets they make faces of disgust....or they are super excited until they try it and then the push their bowls away after a bite or two. No flavor, not consistency, and no nutrition. Why would I give that to them. Food is Fuel. I want to fill their bodies with the good stuff and plenty of it. BUT, I want to taste amazing too! I also need my food to fit within a budget, that can sometimes be challenging but I have mastered that at this point. I will blog on that in the future! My kids know that at every meal they will be required to try everything. That has been the rule from the get-go. After a taste it's their choice what they eat. There is no other options after meals though. I think this is the mistake that most parents make when trying new things. If they try it and they say they don't like it and you pull out processed crap that fills their bellies for the time being that's what they will get used to. My kids generally clean their plates and ask for more. I start their portions small. A couple bites of everything and if they want more of something...the answer is always yes...unless they want more milk....they have to eat a decent amount to get that. When they are done. They are done. I don't argue. I don't demand they finish what I would consider a good amount of food. I let their bellies be their guide. I wish I had learned that at a young age....I didn't...I'm still learning!

Tonight's Dinner:
Scallops in a butter wine sauce with roasted Veggies and couscous

This portion fed 1 adult 3 kids no left overs (except couscous)
prep and cook time: 22 minutes combined

Ingredients:
1/2lb Large sea scallops
olive oil
3/4 cup white wine
1 1/2 dried or fresh tarragon
dash of salt
1 Tablespoon butter
pepper to taste

1. Pat dry scallops. Heat oil in large skillet on med heat. Cook on each side until browned and cooked through (took me about 3-5 min on each side) remove from skillet and set aside.
2. Add Wine, tarragon, salt and pepper to pan. stir scrapping over the brown bits left my scallops. Add butter and simmer for 5 min. Pour sauce over scallops and devour!

Roasted Veggies.
Ingredients:
1/2 red pepper
1 plum tomato
1 bundle of asparagus
sprinkle of oregano
sprinkle of parsley
sprinkle of Seasoned garlic salt
olive oil
Feta cheese

1. Cut pepper into thin slices. Cut tomato into bite size pieces. Cut tops of asparagus.
 2.Put Veggies on a broil safe pan. dash seasoning over them. Drizzle oil and toss veggies.
3. Put veggies on low broil for 5 min. Turn up to high until veggies are looking crisp but not burnt. Sprinkle feta cheese over veggies and put back under heat for 1-2 min until cheese softened.

kids: Home made moon sand

Today we brought out an old time favorite. You will have to excuse to old photo. I made this sensory bin myself by mixing a bag of flour with baby oil until the consistency was right. This is WAY cheaper then the commercial stuff but has the exact same effect. My kids love playing with this stuff and although it makes a complete mess while they are playing, clean up is a cinch. I just sweep up the pile and throw it back i the bin....try it. It's a blast! Let me know how much your kiddos love it!

Kids: Busy boxes

I started these last winter in an attempt to occupy my kids during the winter when I needed to get things done, like cook dinner, do dishes, fold laundry ect. These have easily been the number one greatest home made projects of all time. A year later they are still being loved and used on an almost daily basis.

The busy boxes have a few rules both for the kids and I....

1. I NEVER say no to using the busy boxes (except the play-doh one because I absolutely HATE play-doh)

2. Only 1 busy box may be used at a time.

3. They have to sit at table to play.

4. They must clean the entire busy box up when they are done playing.

 

All of the products used to make these were purchased at the dollar tree or walmart or we already had them at the house. The cost was low and I have not had to re-purpose anything and I refill them often.

 

We have 8 boxes in the following categories:

play-doh

coloring

sorting

stringing/beading

stamping/stickers

gluing

painting

cutting