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!

St. Patty's Day Recipe: Irish Brown Bread

What do you get when you let your kiddos combine 4 and 1/2 cups of flour, 1 and 1/2 cups of rolled oats, and 2 and 1/2 cups of BUTTERMILK with their hands?

Great BIG smiles!!! :)

Last March, I saw this Irish Brown Bread recipe over on Family Fun and decided to add it to our St. Patty's day festivities along with our traditional Lucky Charms (that my kids start begging for in February), treasure trail of gold (Rolos), and green decor.

It actually turned out pretty well (despite the sticky mess). Of course, I'd never made it (or tasted it) before so I have nothing to compare it to - but it was good. Warm homemade bread with a little butter and honey - can't beat that!

Pancake Day Creations!

So I snapped a few phone pics of the kids' pancake faces at dinner last night. We went all out this time with whipped cream and chocolate syrup! After all, it was National Pancake Day...

Love that little smile that my son so carefully "drew" on his pancake. :o)

My daughter definitely took advantage of the chocolate syrup - that's my girl!


We'll be playing with our food later on today too when we make FamilyFun's Fruity Frog in honor of Leap Day (-see post below). Photos to come!

If You Give a Kid a Pancake...

And then give them scrambled eggs, orange slices, bananas, and grapes to go with it, their plates might just end up looking like this...

These crazy characters were actually created this past Halloween (hence the plates), but pretty much every time I make pancakes for the kids (as long as I slice up some fruit), this is what they end up looking like...

as I'm sure will be the case tonight when I flip some flapjacks for dinner in honor of National Pancake Day!

Better make sure to have my camera handy. :)

Happy National Chili Day!

There's nothing like a little known national holiday to help you decide what to make for dinner. :o) I joined in the celebration and made FamilyFun's quick and easy White Chicken Chili tonight -

I used ground chicken instead of cubed chicken to save some time, and it turned out great! We like to crunch up tortilla chips to put on top and sprinkle on some cheese too. Good stuff!

And did I mention how easy it was to make?

My husband even went back for seconds - now that's really saying something.

*Does your family celebrate those little known holidays? Our favorite is National Ice Cream Day on the 3rd Sunday in July!

Popsicle Sticks and Presidents Day

Here's an oldie but a goodie back from my teaching days: Glue a handful of popsicle/craft sticks to a half-sheet of construction paper. Cut out and glue on a paper door, window, and roof. Draw yourself a tree and some clouds...and tah-dah!!!

Don't forget to add good ol' Honest Abe looking out of his log cabin window - my kids got a kick out of taping on that penny.

*For more fun facts about past presidents and the White House, this is a great family read - So You Want to Be President (by Judith St. George and David Small). Great caricatures too!

Valentines with HEART!

Armed with stickers, foam hearts, glitter glue, and crayons, about a dozen kiddos (ages 2-11) got to work making valentines during our little decorating party last February. Between all of us moms, there were tons of supplies to go around! What impressed me most was how much time the kids spent decorating these valentines knowing they were for children at the hospital. They were definitely made with lots of heart!
 

Tomorrow morning, I've enlisted Abby's second grade class to make a bunch more homemade valentines that will be delivered to a local senior citizens' home this weekend - just in time for the big day!


Hopefully, the residents there will feel the LOVE that goes into making those cards!

Shadow Tag Anyone?

 Have a little Groundhog Day fun, and head outside for a game of Shadow Tag!

Just try not to let the kiddos catch you when you stop to take a picture!

*Here's hoping that Punxsutawney Phil doesn't see his shadow! Catch a live webcast of the big moment on Groundhog.org or set your DVR on the Weather Channel's morning forecast. My kids look forward to seeing Phil's furry little face every year.

A New Year's First - Bubble Wrap Fireworks!

Bubble Wrap is now on my list of kid-friendly New Year's Eve must-haves along with hats, noisemakers, and ginger ale in fancy glasses. We happened upon a Kid's Countdown at a local fun spot this past Saturday afternoon complete with a bubble machine, confetti, juice boxes, and "fireworks" (aka 30-40 kids stomping all over giant sheets of bubble wrap)!

What a fun way to POP into the New Year! The kids had a blast!

Idea from Christmas Past: Holiday Treasures Box

Among the presents sitting beneath our Christmas tree this year will be our very first Treasures Box inspired by none other than that optimism-instilling resource that I have come to know and love - Fishful Thinking!

The holiday season is a time of reflection with family and loved ones. Reflect, collect, and share something good that happened this year by making a Fishful Thinking treasures box.

Here are a few treasured experiences we've added to the box so far...

Abby's treasures:

• 4th of July fireworks
• Daddy buying me a big lollipop at the candy store
• Singing Christmas songs with the primary at church
• Counting all the way to 1000 by myself (just yesterday!)
  

Noah's treasures:

• Fishing with Papa
• Going to the playground
• Seeing the big rockets (at the NASA Space Center)
  
• Hitting golf balls with Dad
  

Daddy's treasures:

• Finding a new job
• Taking the kids to the driving range
• Going to a Dallas Cowboys game in their new stadium
• Playing "mean guys" with Noah (aka wrestling)
• Playing video games with Abby
  

Mama's treasures:

• Snuggling my kiddos
• Our trips to my grandma's house 
• Having family come visit three times since we've moved
• Taking the kids to visit my old elementary school and reconnecting with teachers and childhood friends
• Seeing Abby accept her Reflections contest ribbon for her giraffe drawing
• Singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" at bedtime with Noah 
• Taking family walks and catching fireflies 
• Visiting a live nativity with the kids. (They wanted to walk through three times so they could see baby Jesus again.)

There are definitely more where those came from! We will be adding to our Treasures Box this week, and then we'll open our box on Christmas day and pull out some of the "treasures" to read and remind ourselves of the many things in life that bring us joy.

It is my hope that the spirit of Christmas will be felt in each one of our hearts this holiday season and throughout the year as we reflect on and give thanks for the wonderful blessings that we have been given.


*This was posted on my personal blog in December 2009. We'll be adding to our treasures box again this year and placing it under our tree - once we put it up!

Thanksgiving Favorite: Marshmallow Pilgrim Hats

Chocolate, marshmallows, and fudge-striped cookies all rolled into one little pilgrim hat? Now that's something to be thankful for!!!

I found this idea on FamilyFun a few years ago, and we have been making them every Thanksgiving since - so good! Of course, melted chocolate + kiddos can get a little messy...but it's totally worth it!

Thankful Turkeys

Hey everyone! Forgive the intrusion. I first wanted to give a big "thank you" to Kelli for inviting me to do a guest post on her super-cool blog. This woman is kind of my hero. So seriously, I'm honored.

Before I had children, I had all these really great ideas about how I was going to raise well-mannered, grateful, loving, selfless children. They would delight in raking leaves for the elderly, giving their toys to children in need, and never fight with each other. I know, isn't it cute that I thought that might happen? We live in a very materialistic society, and it can sometimes be a struggle to teach our families to be grateful for the things that we have, instead of focusing so hard on all the things we want.

With the holidays fast approaching, it's a wonderful time of year to focus on our blessings. To jump start our Thanksgiving month, we created a "thankful turkey". (Confession: I kind of have a little thing for turkeys. They are so goofy and cute.) I was super excited to have a turkey for our family gratitude mascot.


This guy was so easy to make. I drew him on a piece of cardstock, colored him, and cut him out. Then came the real fun...naming him. Of course, everyone in the house had a different name in mind, so we settled things the diplomatic way...we played rock paper scissors. Our turkey ended up with the name "Jacob".

After hanging Jacob in the window of our breakfast nook, we cut out construction paper feathers, and each took turns writing something we were thankful for. We have tried to add new feathers regularly. This has been a great reminder of our many blessings, and it's so fun to see the different things that our family members are grateful for. I was even pleasantly surprised to see that my name showed up on a few feathers. Hey, every mom likes to be appreciated! ;)

Tis the Season To Be Thankful

A couple of Thanksgivings ago, the kids and I made a Grateful Sayings poster - one of my favorite Fishful Thinking activities.  Being that they were only 3 and 5 years old at the time, we kept it pretty basic...

Still, it became a permanent fixture in our kitchen up until we moved this past summer. Seeing it on a daily basis was a constant reminder to be grateful even for the simplest things.

Last November, we each made individual posters as a family night activity and then added to it throughout the month - using these questions to spark ideas and help inspire an ongoing attitude of gratitude.

Now that November has rolled around again, it's time to continue the tradition and reflect on the many things we have been blessed with in our lives. The kids are currently debating between making a "Thankful Tree"- where you write what you are grateful for on a paper leaf and add to it each day - or a "Thankful Turkey" - where you add paper feathers - a clever little idea that my friend, Jenny, shared with us. Their family's turkey is already adorned with plenty of feathers which she'll be posting about this week right here!


*Does your family have a special way of showing gratitude during the holiday season or throughout the year? Thanks for sharing!

A Halloween First - Our SNOW GHOST!

With a record-breaking winter/FALL storm TWO days before Halloween, making a snowman just didn't seem quite right...

Yes, we made a SNOW GHOST - complete with Oreo eyes!!! And I am happy to report that he lasted through Halloween night - just had to replace his soggy cookie eyes with milk jug caps covered with black duct tape.  Whatever works, right? 

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween!!! :)

Halloween Flashback: "Crabby Apples"

Instead of bobbing for apples at this year's fall festivities, transform them into these crabby-lookin' creatures - 

The kids decorated these at our friends' house last Halloween and had a finger-licking good time! They loved squirting the icing on the apples to make the jelly bean eyes, gummy worm hair, and candy corn teeth stick...oh, and eyebrows - that was Abby's idea. Too funny...er...I mean, scary.

We may do this activity after Halloween this year - have to do something with all that candy!

Columbus Day Origami - Paper Boats!

Let's face it, Columbus Day is one of those holidays that doesn't get much recognition, but since making these paper boats last year and "racing" them across a bathtub full of blue-food-coloring tinted water, my kids are actually counting down the days, especially Noah.

All together now - "Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492!"

Who would have thought paper boats would be such a big hit? Once my kiddos learned how to fold them, they started making them all the time! Noah even wanted to have a paper "pirate ship race" at his birthday party -

Don't expect them to stay afloat very long, but if your kids are like mine, they'll love making and decorating the boats just as much as blowing them across the bathtub (...or baby pool)!

Happy Columbus Day!

***10/10/11 - Update -  This year's Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria before they set sail!