Kid-Friendly Egg Dying

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Mae

So besides the obvious Jesus’ Resurrection, Reese’s Peanut- Butter Eggs and Jelly Beans; egg dying is a HUGE Easter tradition.

You can find about ANY type of dye kit these days. There are HUNDREDS of ideas on Pinterest on how to make the most beautifully decorated eggs.

Now I am going to be completely honest with you. We usually get a box add our vinegar and scribble with crayons and voila EGGS! So don’t expect me to give you some AMAZING decorating techniques.

I am however going to give you something I learned when Munchkin was MUCH younger. The coolest kid-friendly Easter Egg dying technique.

Behold the wire whisk!

Simple and yet SOOO amazing!

You know the cheap wire ‘egg holders (droppers)’ that come in the kits. They are SUPER kid friendly. They really aren’t even adult friendly! I read on a parenting message board about using the wire whisk.

Last year we did and we will NEVER attempt to let Munchkin use an Egg Dropper again!

What you need:

Wire Whisk(s)

Egg Dye in Plastic Drinking cups

You choice of crayons, stickers, other things that make eggs pretty (see Pinterest!)

Note the plastic drinking cups allow for more dye coverage

This is so simple. Place the Egg inside the wire whisk. Allow the toddler/preschooler to dunk the egg in the cup. Wait until the Egg reaches the desired color and then remove.

Removing the egg from inside the whisk can be messy but isn’t too terrible. This should be done by an adult. Rinse whisk before switching dye colors.

Munchkin waiting for the right hue on her egg

This was fun and easy to do. It really allows the toddler to be a much more ACTIVE egg dyer!

Success!! A pretty Easter Egg!

I hope you have fun this Easter! This is Rand McNally’s favorite holiday, and the day he officially asked me to be his girlfriend a LONG time ago . Enjoy your family and friends this weekend!

Can I Eat a Successful Meal at a Restaurant with a Toddler?

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Mae

Here is the answer you wanted… YES! A local store asked this question and I was quick to respond with an answer. I decided to elaborate with a full post on the topic!

The key to a perfectly lovely meal in public with your toddler is to set your child up for success in a restaurant environment.

Munchkin is 3 1/2 (how did this happen!) and she has only been removed (by us) from a restaurant one time (we found out the next day she was SUPER sick- double ear infections/bronchitis ugh!). I think it is VERY important to set your child up for success out in public. Set the boundaries early and you won’t have to do much to have a well behaved child in public. I have taken the girls a bunch by myself and they both behave well (most of the time!).

Here are my tips that have worked over the last almost 4 years!

Do Not Attempt a Meal when your Child is Tired

I don’t care how hungry everyone is… this is why some one invented the drive thru. No kiddo is going to happily sit through a meal if they are overtired. I would also NEVER attempt a full shopping trip at the grocery store when they are that tired either. This can happen at nap time or bedtime.

Do your best to get to the restaurant before you child believes he/she is starving!

Is your child actually starving.. no! But haven’t we all been there… believing there was no way the waitress was going to make it to our table before we ate our arms off! Now explain to a toddler who has limited verbal skills that the sweet guy or gal is doing their best to get the food out. We try and get to a restaurant around 11/11:30 or right around 5pm to avoid the busy times too.

Bring snacks!

See above… It is quite possible you have a starving child on your hands. Having your own provisions to avoid this is key. Cherrios, squeeze apple sauce, anything will do. This should give the waitress/waiter time to find some bread to entertain your kiddo for a minute or two!

We LOVE these in our house! Both girls can eat one in about 2 minutes

Order your Kids Meals ASAP

We always order the girls’ meals with our drink order. This gives them a start on it in the kitchen. Also, tell the wait staff to please bring out their meals first!

This Menu is from LoneStar Steakhouse ... looks yummy!

Entertainment is Crucial to Success

You can’t expect idle chatter to entertain your toddler. Nor can you expect 3 crayons and paper menu to be the golden ticket. We had a bag of quiet toys that could be easily wiped clean ready to go in the car at all times. Some favorite toys are- puzzles, links with toys attached, color wonder markers, little plastic figurines (any character your kid likes), some little matchbox cars, extra crayons and paper , stickers, mini Slinkies, and some books. These toys may seem run of the mill but… they are special because they are only in the bag! A dollar store/bin is a great place to find most of these items. Let’s face it they will be near food and it is highly likely they will end up in ketchup. Plus, if you forget one at a restaurant it isn’t a huge deal.

These markers are great because they can't stain fabrics or wood!

Smart Phones, Tablets, and iPads OH MY!

I am going to start this by saying I have a smart phone and a tablet, Munchkin has an Innotab kid’s tablet. So I am in NO way against kids using technology! But there is a time and place for everything! I have had the occasional meal where things moved slower than molasses. However, a typical meal is on the table within 15-20 Minutes. So if you pack a bag of toys there should be plenty for your kiddo to stay occupied during the wait time. Munchkin rarely gets to use my phone. However, she enjoys a puzzle app and some matching games from time to time. This usually happens when I am finishing up a conversation or my meal. She doesn’t watch movies on it because I want her to be part of the family… kids should be able to talk and communicate during the meals too!

The iPhone

What do I do if all of the above fails…

Nothing is fool proof… there I said it! Now before you start mumbling “I thought she said we could have a successful meal out with our toddler”… give me a second to explain. There will be a time or two your child will test you… even if you have set him/her up for success. This is when you provide the Exit Strategy. Yup I said it… EXIT! There is no point tainting someone else’s dining experience. Let’s be honest you aren’t enjoying your food either if your kiddo is acting this way.

The way I see it… You have two options:

1. Get everyone’s food to go. If you are with your spouse/or a friend remove the child, while boxes are packaged and the bill is paid. You will feel much less stressed eating your burger reheated at home instead of fighting off glares from the booth next to you.

2. This works great if you have multiple children… Have one parent take the offending child to the car. They can eat there. While the other parent is in the restaurant with the other children. Now my parents did this with us when we were little (I ate in the car at Friendly’s and my sister had to at the Coach Diner- Left a LASTING impression on me over 20 years later I can vividly remember it!). My parents then rewarded the behaving child with a dessert! They didn’t say you earned this… but guess what?!? When we got into the car we were soo excited to share. Made the other sibling think twice about misbehaving in the restaurant. Never know what you are going to miss out on… when you are eating in the car!

What are some of your tips or tricks for eating out at a restaurant with kids?

A Birthday Party for Peanut!

Posted on February 5, 2012 by Mae

As I mentioned in a previous post Peanut turned one last month! How it happened is beyond me but we celebrated her special day yesterday. I love to plan parties and throw them. I was raised in a house where Birthday Parties were always a big to do. So I am going to blame my parents for my obsession with the ‘perfect party’.

I decided a few months ago that we were going to have an owl them for Peanut. She is still too little to really have any true likes. She isn’t in to TV or any certain characters. So I took the liberty of planning her a super special Owl party!

I found a great location at a local community center which worked GREAT! There was a cute Barn in the room and the walls were painted in a barn motif too! The best part it was reasonable in price and would be safe for Peanut. I was afraid of having her party at some other popular locations because she might get smushed since she is such a peanut!

It all started with a Google search.. Owl Invitations. The images were endless, but I came up with this super cute one! I called my super crafty sister and asked her if I thought we could come up with something similar.

On the back were all the juicy details! As I mentioned in an earlier post we offer a donation suggestion in Lieu of Gifts. This year we chose The Pajama Program. I included these details on the bottom of the party information section with the needs of the Pajama Program.

I looked a ton of Owl Themed plates but decided on these cute plates from Celebrate Express. I ordered the dessert plates and a couple of Balloons to match. I used light blue table cloths, bright pink plates, green and orange cups, and purple silverware.

I decided on a party during lunch time. Peanut usually is awake and happy during this time which is key for a one year old. This meant we needed to plan a meal. I thought about pizza but decided I would make it easier on some friends who have a dairy allergy. So I made a make your own sandwich buffet! It went over very well It was really easy to do and a great non-pizza option.

Check out the awesome walls!!

We did two crafts at the party! Since Peanut has an older sister I figured that would keep her and her friends busy. They love crafts and all go to preschool. I found this great paper bag owl craft online. She had templates which were AWESOME! So definitely check her out. I used craft paper that I had in my scrapbook stash which made things cheaper. I grabbed some paper bags at the dollar store and the kids really enjoyed it.

The second craft my friend Jennifer from Mosk Momma found at JoAnn Fabrics. During Christmas time they had wood ornaments that could be painted or colored. I got them for a STEAL… Less than .50 a piece. Each kiddo got to make their own. They used good old crayola markers. Here is a picture of Peanut working on her Owl with some help

Now I have a love for cupcakes if you haven’t noticed from reading this blog. So I will be doing a separate post on them soon! However, I will give you a peek at how cute they were! It was my first time dabbling with Marshmallow Fondant and I think you will see more soon. It wasn’t as awful to work with as I thought it might be. I made homemade Funfetti cupcakes that were pretty tasty and so easy to make.

The cute owl on the right was a mouse pad in the dollar bin at Target!!!

A sweet friend made Peanut’s Smash cake. She totally rocks! It was adorable and Peanut did a fantastic job smashing it to pieces

Here is the smash cake…

The last detail from the party was the Party favors. I really wanted to find something that was owl-y and usable. Every kid loves favors but they are usually expensive cheap toys. That is they work out to be about $5-$10 a kid and are toys that don’t last long once they go home. I spent HOURS looking for something and came up with crayon tote bags. Sue from SewnJust4U made my life so much easier! She made the process painless and her work is amazing!

I made a cute little coloring book with Owl images I found online and included it.

We had 3 bitty ones at the party and my AWESOME sister made cute owl crinkle taggies for them!

Inside the crayon totes were these treat bags. I was pretty proud of myself because I was able to recreate the owl face on my own! As you can see in the photo above I gave the little one cereal instead of gummy bears.

So there you have it… the ins and outs of Miss Peanut’s first birthday party! She had a wonderful time, we collected a ton of donations (more on this to come) and everyone seemed to leave with a smile on their face. I call that a success!

Munchkin’s 2011 Interview

Posted on January 4, 2012 by Mae

Oh Pinterest you always keep me busy, between crafts, recipes, organization ideas, I have found myself being MUCH more productive.

A while back I had read this blog post from Hey, ho, KellyGO and then my friend Stacy over at Just Two Sisters did something similar with her crew. I figured why not see if Munchkin would participate and answer a few questions for me too! Needless to say at first she said the same answer for everything. UGH… So we took a break and I revisited today. She finally gave me real answers!

I also saw an idea about asking some questions on the kiddo’s birthday. So we might be trying that too. We will see!

Needless to say, here is our 2011 end of year Interview (artwork by Munchkin)

2011 End of Year Interview

Munchkin Age 3

1. What makes you happy?

Playing and sharing toys

2. What makes you sad?

Friends that don’t share

3. What makes you laugh?

Funny things like when Peanut is silly

4.What is your favorite thing to do?

Feed Nii (the Fish)

5. What are you really good at?

Learning at school

6. What are you not very good at?

Kicking things at people

7. What is your favorite food and drink?

Peanut Butter Sandwich

8. What’s your favorite color?

Purple and Pink and blue

9. Where is your favorite place to go?

School

10. Who are your best friends?

A, C, and F

11. What are your favorite movies or TV shows?

Belle (Beauty and the Beast)

12. What are your favorite books?

Princess books

13. If you were a cartoon character, who would you be?

Belle

14. What does Mommy do when you’re not around?

Play catch up… (though I think she meant Ketchup)

15. What do you do when Mommy isn’t around?

Play with balls (the ball pit)

16. What is something Mommy always says to you?

I love you!

17. What do you and Mommy do together?

We play alone when there is no Daddy or Peanut

18. How are you and Mommy the same?

We always love each other

19. How are you and Mommy different?

You are a Mommy and I am a Munchkin

20. How do you know Mommy loves you?

You hug me.

21. What is your favorite toy?

Belle Doll

22. What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy?

Daddy time when we play with Peanut

So excited to see what 2012 brings!!!!

Christmas Traditions!

Posted on December 27, 2011 by Mae

Well here we are the day after Christmas… It feels like last week has been a blur! That is partially because Peanut had surgery last Monday to have tubes put in. She has battled 4 sets of double ear infections since October! The first two nights of the week were sleepless. She was in a lot of pain (not from the tubes but from have 2 terrible infections going on!), and was up nearly every hour. I haven’t slept that poor since Munchkin was a baby!

Needless to say, this week came an went even faster than it would normally!

We were still able to do a few of our favorite Christmas traditions. We made a gingerbread house, baked and ‘painted’ sugar cookies, made a few more types of cookies, went to Church on Christmas Eve, went for a drive around our town to see lights, and listened to carols!

Here are two of my favorite cookie recipes!

Secret Kiss Cookies

Ingredients:

1 Cup Butter 1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup sugar 1 cup ground pecans

2 cups flour 1 1lb bag of Hershey Kisses

Powdered Sugar

Directions:

Beat butter, sugar and vanilla. Add flour and nuts.

Chill dough for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven @ 350.

Wrap each kiss in dough (a little goes a long way!) Making little balls. Bake for 6-8 minutes. You can place many cookies on the tray I leave about an inch apart. They do not spread when baking.

Cool and then coat in powdered sugar. Be very gentle these are delicate!

Chocolate Mint Cookies

Ingredients:

3/4 Cup Butter 2 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 Cups brown sugar 1 1/4 tsp baking soda

2 tablespoons water 1/2 tsp salt

2 cups of semi-sweet choc chips 2 (4.5 ounce) packages of Andes Mints

2 eggs

Directions:

In a sauce pan over medium heat, cook sugar, butter, and water, stirring occasionally until melted. Remove from heat, stir in chocolate chips until melted set aside to cool for 10 minutes.

Pour the chocolate mixture into a large bowl, and beat in the eggs, one at a time. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt, stir into chocolate mixture. Cover and refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie sheets. Roll dough into walnut sized balls and place 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.

Bake for 8-10 minutes in preheated oven, be careful not to over bake. When cookies come out of the oven, press one mint (sometimes a 1/2 is more than enough!) and swirl with a toothpicks. Let them set (or don’t!) before eating!

Store cookies in an airtight container!