Goldfish Smiles Across the Miles

What do you send to fabulous family FULL of kiddos with summer birthdays?

Customized Goldfish gift boxes - that's what! 

Knowing the Goldfish party cups were such a hit with my son's class as his bday treat, I was excited to create these birthday boxes on GoldfishMyWay.com to send to our far-away friends.

The site takes you through a short and sweet five step process to choose your occasion, write a message, upload a photo, pick your colors (yes - you get to choose the colors!), and then choose size and quantity.

The hardest part of the whole process for me was choosing which photo! Luckily, you can choose two full color photos - one for the front and the back to go along with your personal message - so that makes the decision a wee bit easier.

I decided on the large gift box and then a set of 12 party favor boxes so that each kiddo would have two each. (You probably just did the math - yep, six amazing kiddos and an equally amazing mama!)

My dear friend had no idea that a giant Goldfish box would be arriving on their doorstep so both she and the kids were really surprised when they opened it up to see their smiling faces on the packaging!

And, of course, it made me smile to be tagged in her facebook status later that day -

Got the COOLEST Goldfish Birthday box from some friends today. The kids are loving their personalized boxes. Too stinking cute! Thanks Kelli Perkins!

Such a fun gift to give! Thanks Goldfish My Way - brillant idea!


*I am a Goldfish Smiles ambassador so this is a sponsored post, but all opinions expressed are my own. Love those Goldfish!

Goldfish Cup Stacking, Anyone?

 A major perk to working with Pepperidge Farm Goldfish is getting to try out cool new products like these awesome NEW party cups from GoldfishMyWay.com.

It was no surprise that as soon as we opened the giant Goldfish-speckled box, my boy started stacking....

 Well, first we stuffed the vanilla cupcake graham packages into these colorful cups (his birthday treat request for his buddies at school), and then he started stacking...

He even had a little game of Goldfish Jenga going on - funny kid.

 I think he must have played with those cups for at least a half an hour before we packed them up to take to school the next day. It was fun to watch him pass them out at lunch time and see those first grade faces light up - "Wow!... Cool!... I've never seen these before!" The party cups were a great alternative from the regular birthday cupcakes that come in almost every week.

And if you think these party cups are cool, you have to check out the personalized gift boxes you can order too! I actually sent am planning to order a set of those to send to a friend and her kiddos for their summer birthdays. The website is so easy to navigate, I am sure the hardest part will be deciding on which photo to use!

*This is a sponsored post as I received free product to review, but all opinions expressed are my own. Seriously, what's not to love about Goldfish?

Scholastic June Review - No More Pencils, No More Books...

My kids and I have been counting down to the last day of school so this cute picture book, No More Pencils, No More Books, No More Teacher’s Dirty Looks written by Diane deGroat, was a perfect bedtime read for us.  My first grade son connected right away to the story being that it is about a first grade class saying good-bye to their teacher and getting ready for second grade.  Both of my kiddos got a kick out of the last day poems that the students made up  to recite during the awards ceremony -“ I love numbers, I love math. I think of counting, even in the bath.” That one had them both giggling. Reading this story is also a great prompt to talk about the past school year – favorite things that they learned, what they liked about their teacher, and what they are looking forward to next year. It’s hard to believe that the school year is coming to an end, but, just like in this story, we can’t wait for that first day of summer vacation!

Read the rest of June's book reviews over on Scholastic's Book Box Daily page!

*I am a member of Scholastic's Mom and Dad Squad and receive books each month in exchange for my and my kiddos' honest reviews. 

My kids and I have been counting down to the last day of school so this cute picture book was a perfect bedtime read for us. My first grade son connected right away to the story being that it is about a first grade class saying good bye to their teacher and getting ready for second grade. Both of my kiddos got a kick out of the last-day poems that the students made up to recite during the awards ceremony: “I love numbers, I love math. I think of counting, even in the bath.” That one had them both giggling. Reading this story is also a great prompt to talk about the past school year—favorite things that they learned, what they liked about their teacher, and what they are looking forward to next year. It’s hard to believe that the school year is coming to an end, but just like in this story, we can’t wait for that first day of summer vacation! - See more at: http://bookboxdaily.scholastic.com/2013/06/10/mom-dad-squad-june-reviews/#sthash.qb5leVlg.dpuf

As soon as we turned to the first page of this beautifully illustrated book, my kids and I were oohing and aahing. For two years, we lived within minutes of a gorgeous butterfly house and fell in love with these amazing fluttering creatures. I thought we knew quite a bit about butterflies, but as we read this book together, we learned several new facts and were introduced to many new species!
Did you know that the largest butterfly in the world has a wingspan of up to one foot and the smallest one’s wingspan is less than one third of an inch? Or that caterpillars eat poisonous plants so that they become poisonous as adults to protect themselves from predators? We had no idea! Along with these fun facts, we enjoyed reading the names printed around the colorful butterflies as well like Southern Dogface, Great Purple Hairstreak, Ruddy Daggerwing, and Eastern Tiger Swallowtail—just to name a few. We also loved how the author perfectly described these insects—creative, helpful, protective, and even magical.
My eight-year-old daughter says that she thinks this is a very interesting story for anyone who loves butterflies. What a spectacular springtime picture book!
- See more at: http://bookboxdaily.scholastic.com/2013/04/08/mom-dad-squad-april-reviews/#sthash.yZJUrXzM.dpuf

As soon as we turned to the first page of this beautifully illustrated book, my kids and I were oohing and aahing. For two years, we lived within minutes of a gorgeous butterfly house and fell in love with these amazing fluttering creatures. I thought we knew quite a bit about butterflies, but as we read this book together, we learned several new facts and were introduced to many new species!
Did you know that the largest butterfly in the world has a wingspan of up to one foot and the smallest one’s wingspan is less than one third of an inch? Or that caterpillars eat poisonous plants so that they become poisonous as adults to protect themselves from predators? We had no idea! Along with these fun facts, we enjoyed reading the names printed around the colorful butterflies as well like Southern Dogface, Great Purple Hairstreak, Ruddy Daggerwing, and Eastern Tiger Swallowtail—just to name a few. We also loved how the author perfectly described these insects—creative, helpful, protective, and even magical.
My eight-year-old daughter says that she thinks this is a very interesting story for anyone who loves butterflies. What a spectacular springtime picture book!
- See more at: http://bookboxdaily.scholastic.com/2013/04/08/mom-dad-squad-april-reviews/#sthash.yZJUrXzM.dpuf

Scholastic April Review - A Butterfly is Patient

As soon as we turned to the first page of this beautifully illustrated book, my kids and I were oohing and aahing.  For two years, we lived within minutes of a gorgeous butterfly house and fell in love with these amazing fluttering creatures. I thought we knew quite a bit about butterflies, but as we read this book together, we learned several new facts and were introduced to many new species! 

Did you know that the largest butterfly in the world has a wingspan of up to one foot and the smallest’s is less than one third of an inch? Or that caterpillars eat poisonous plants so that they become poisonous as adults to protect themselves from predators? We had no idea! Along with these fun facts, we enjoyed reading the names printed around the colorful butterflies as well like Southern Dogface, Great Purple Hairstreak, Ruddy Daggerwing, and Eastern Tiger Swallowtail – just to name a few. We also loved how the author perfectly described these insects – creative, helpful, protective, and even magical.

My eight-year-old daughter says that she thinks this is a very interesting story for anyone who loves butterflies. What a spectacular springtime picture book!

 (Taken at our favorite butterfly house - spring 2011)

 
For more April book reviews, visit the Book Box Daily page at Scholastic.com!

*I am a member of Scholastic's Mom and Dad Squad and received a free copy of this book in exchange for my and my kiddos' honest review!

Last Sunday Afternoon...

This was the year that we finally got a little creative with our Valentines and spent last Sunday afternoon creating Tootsie Pop super heroes (thanks to Pinterest)...

and friendly foam owls (thanks to Michaels)...

and sharing the connection between the two with my kiddos.

"Mr. Owl, how many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?"

"Well, let's see. One. Two. Three." 

CRUNCH!!!

Abby thought it was pretty darn funny that ol' Mom was able to recite a commercial from SO long ago. 

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?

The world may never know. 

Sometimes I even surprise myself.

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses...

I have A LOT of them.

Honestly, facebook has become like a mini-blog for posting all the cute kiddo pics and everyday happenings - if only I could bring them all over here, I'd be all caught up!

Between going back to school part time as a Learning Support teacher (did I happen to mention that?), kiddo activities and appointments, an insane work schedule for the hubby, writing Scholastic book reviews, managing B kids social media, and collaborating with my amazing artist brother on a super secret children's book series idea (hoping to submit soon!), I have been swamped! I didn't even mention laundry and errands and housework and teaching dance....yep, more excuses. 

In the meantime, I am still posting "teach it simple" ideas and pics on twitter - @teachitsimple2. Check out our Punxsutawney Pudding Cups we made for Groundhog Day (idea from FamilyFun)! I swear, I couldn't stop eating those peanut butter chips - oh my goodness!

Time Flies When You're Having Summer Fun!

It was really not intentional.

However, it seems that between the end of the school year craziness, dance recital week, a trip to VA to see the family, playdates, pool parties, my boy's 6th birthday, keeping up with my freelance writing, and just everyday life, my poor blog has been abandoned. So for the handful of friends/readers who pop over every once in awhile, please accept my apologies. :-)

At the rate this summer is passing by, I have at least managed to post on facebook and in tweets (thanks to my phone with which I have a love/hate relationship). Something is better than nothing, right?

 I am hoping to carve out some time to catch up and document some of this summer fun (and post a few slumber party highlights - yes, I did survive. You may have been wondering - haha!). In the meantime, I've been posting fun stuff for little ones on the B Kids facebook/twitter/google + pages and commenting over at GoldfishSmiles.com.  But if you'd like to see snippets of what we've been up to - you can find me on twitter @teachitsimple2. In fact, I just posted a pic of Noah's Lego Ninjago birthday cake that the kids helped me make. I ran with Family Fun's Ninjas in Training cake idea. (Thanks, Family Fun!) It was a BIG hit, and I discovered a new favorite (and somewhat addictive) treat in the process - pretzels and icing! yum!

Hope you all had a safe and happy 4th of July and are having loads of summer fun!

Who Would Have Thought?

When Abby wanted to invite all of the girls in her class to her first sleepover birthday party, I figured that there was NO WAY that all of them would come - five or six tops.

Nine girls have RSVPed.

Nine!

And a maybe...plus Abby makes a possible eleven.

Eleven!

Wow. 

Must have been the invites...

(Yep! Abby and I stayed up a bit past her bedtime making these last week to hand out at school. They really only took about an hour to make, but we got a late start.  Idea from the super cute American Girl Snooze-a-Palooza Slumber Party book.)

Or it could be the fact that no one has invited every single girl to a birthday party all year - let alone a spa night/SLEEPOVER. 

Yes, I am crazy.

Wish me luck!

"It's 4:44! Make a Wish!"

...exclaimed my cute boy just a few minutes ago.

I am absolutely sure that he wished for another Skylander. (I tell ya, those marketing people knew what they were doing with that whole product line. Geez...)

Not too long ago, as the kids and I were driving along somewhere (Girl Scouts maybe?), I noticed the clock read 5:55 and told the kids to make a wish!

They were completely fascinated with the whole idea that you can make wish whenever the numbers on a clock are all the same digit.

11:11, 1:11, 2:22, 3:33, 4:44, 5:55 -

"That's SIX wishes a day, Mom!"

Good thing they never remember to wear those digital watches that Gramma and Papa got them for Christmas!

Guest Post: Teacher Appreciation Week

I love teacher appreciation week. I think it's awesome for the kids to have a chance to think about the things their teachers do for them and express their appreciation for all of those things.

Between the kids, there are six teachers/aides. This year we tried to focus on some inexpensive ways to give to the teachers. Each day there's a theme. These are the first two:

Fruit/Flower Day:
Rather than giving traditional fruit or flowers, the kids drew pictures of flowers on cardstock and signed their names on the back. Then we cut them out and used self-laminating sticky sheets to laminate them. Now their teachers have a pretty bookmark that they can keep.

Gift Card Day:
Instead of doing monetary gift cards, we decided to do gift certificates for a free car wash. We put our phone number and when the teachers need a car wash, the kids and I will go and wash their car for them. The kids are SO excited about this one. What kid doesn't love to play with a water hose and soap suds?

*Jenny is a mom of five, makes the best banana cream pie I've ever tasted, and is WAY more creative than she gives herself credit for. Thanks for posting, Jen! - Kelli

Cinco de Mayo Cupcakes!

Back in the preschool days, some friends and I got together to throw a last minute Cinco de Mayo party for our kiddos - complete with coloring sheets, a cut and paste flag, and cupcakes!

Any excuse to have cupcakes, right?


It was actually my neighbor's three-year-old son who came up with the idea to have "a cake for Mexico's birthday." So we frosted them with white icing and let the kids go to town with the red and green sprinkles to create the stripes.

They LOVED it.

I also added some bean and cheese burrito bites and diced avocado to the mix so they could sample some Mexican food too, but the cupcakes were still their favorite.

Can't say I blame them.



Then it was time for to teach them the Mexican Hat Dance and the Macarena. The dance teacher in me couldn't resist. I pulled my sombreros out of my classroom stash so we could dance around them. Another mom brought some instruments for the kids to play too - including maracas! The kids were really into it. Of course, we had to get a picture of each kiddo in the sombrero - too stinkin' cute!



I wonder if I'd be able to talk Noah into wearing this hat tomorrow for another photo opp - haha! Yeah, I seriously doubt it, but I am sure he'll be all for the cupcakes!

Thumbs Up for This Teacher's Gift!

When it came to coming up with a class gift from my daughter's kindergarten class a couple of years ago, I was all thumbs.

Or I should say - the kids were all thumbs!

Literally.

Armed with a canvas bag from Michael's, fabric paint, and markers, I dipped my daughter's thumb to make the flower petal prints the night before so the bag would be dry. I took the bag to school the next day to get nineteen more thumbprints! I had asked her teacher beforehand if I could pull a few kids at a time into the hallway do help with a special project during center time - wink! wink!  Being that it was Teacher Appreciation week, she was more than happy to oblige.

With fabric paint squirted onto a paper plate pallet (and baby wipes at hand), the kids choose a color and made their mark! They were excited to write their names with Sharpies underneath too. I added smiley faces once the paint was dry and then wrote their teacher's name across the top.

She absolutely LOVED it, and the kids loved having a hand (or thumb) in creating their teacher's gift!

Go Bananas for Teacher Appreciation Week!

Teacher Appreciation week was definitely my FAVORITE week of the year when I was teaching elementary school. Muffins in the teachers' lounge each morning, luncheons, goodies, flowers, sweet cards from the kids and parents...it was AWESOME.

Since I'm now on the giving end with my kiddos being in school, I am happy to return those gestures of appreciation to their fabulous teachers. This was a fun one that I put together for Abby's teacher when she was in Kindergarten. It was a big hit (especially since her teacher was on a diet!) -

(Yay for clipart!)

And these went along with the poster - gotta love banana pops!



Her teacher had two young boys so I thought this would be fun activity for them to do as a family too. She commented several times how much she loved the idea, and the class really liked having that monkey hanging around in their classroom all week!


*Teacher Appreciation week starts May 7th so more ideas to come! Would LOVE for you share your ideas too! 

Our Tiny Tomato Project

My kids LOVE tomatoes - especially my daughter. Grape tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, Roma tomatoes. She's been known to take a bite out of a round, juicy tomato just like you would out of an apple! We've tried planting tomatoes in the past. We did a mini-version of the square foot garden thing, but the squirrels ended up enjoying the fruits of our labors more than we did. Grrrr. But this time is going to be different!

I hope.

We decided to try planting cherry and grape tomatoes as our Earth Day project hoping for a quicker turn around time and that we will get to them before the squirrels do.

We scooped.

We planted.

We watered.

The best part? It took less than a half an hour (not counting the quick run to the store) and we didn't have to dig up the yard. Our crazy lab does enough of that already.

Even better? These tomatoes are portable just in case those pesky squirrels come a callin'.

Earth Day Fun for Little Ones

*This was a fun one to write for B Kids this week. My kids and I love Earth Day!

Looking for something special to do with your kiddos to celebrate Earth day? Here are a few activity ideas that will be fun for the whole family!

1)    *Go on a treasure hunt! Talk to your kids about earth’s treasures like trees, flowers, butterflies, animals…and then take a walk in your neighborhood and count all of the “treasures” you can find.  For preschoolers – let them collect a few items like dandelions, rocks, and leaves along the way. 

2)      *Plant a seed. All you need is a foam cup, a bit of potting soil, and a seed.  Help younger kids scoop the dirt into the cup, bury the seed, and pour a little water. Place the cup in a sunny spot and wait for sprouts of green.  Don’t forget to help your little sprout water the seed daily!

3)      *Create an outdoor masterpiece.  Break out the sidewalk chalk and decorate the driveway or sidewalk for all to see! For extra fun, ask your child to lie down  and let you trace his body with the chalk. Then add eyes, ears, a nose, and a mouth. A great way to practice body part recognition too!    

                        

4)      *Have a backyard picnic! Make some sandwiches, grab some fruit, and spread out a blanket in your backyard.  Enjoy the fresh air, do a little cloud watching, and throw in some bubble blowing for extra giggles. Ask older toddlers and preschoolers to help clean up the trash and remind them of how important it is to keep our earth clean!

H

How does your family celebrate Earth Day?

Ever Tried to Plant A Kiss?

Simply adorable and a perfect spring picture book by Amy Krouse Rosenthal - Plant A Kiss -




We saw it a couple of weekends ago on the picture book wall at Barnes and Noble, and I read it with my son - twice! When we went to the library last week, I made a beeline for the Rs in the children's section,  and it was there so, hopefully, you can find it at your library too. 

A must read with your kiddos!

What Do Daffodils and Mini Muffin Cups Have in Common?

Displayed on the bulletin board outside of Noah's kindergarten class - how cute and clever is that?

 His teacher told me that they did a tulip craft too - can't wait to see it!

Family Favorite: Strawberry & Cool Whip Cake

In honor of my dad's birthday, I thought I'd share this super easy Strawberry & Cool Whip cake recipe that I made for him this past weekend - a long time family favorite!

That's really all there is to it - strawberries and Cool Whip double layered on top of a white cake - a box mix, of course!

Be sure to refrigerate leftovers - if you have any, that is.

An Easter First - Peeps S'mores!

I had heard rumors about these and knew we had to try them out...

Oh my GOODNESS! YUM! Just place a peep on a graham cracker and pop them in the oven at 300 degrees for 2-3 minutes - until they puff. Take them out, place a piece of chocolate on top and another graham cracker and SQUISH!

Definitely our new favorite Easter treat. Like my friend Jenny texted after I sent her a pic, "Every s'more needs a bit more sugar."

We'll eat to that! :)

It's Tulip Time!

There's nothing I love more than admiring and smelling the tulips with my kiddos at this time of year - so pretty!

 Makes all the seasonal sniffles and scratchy throats totally worth it.