Valentine Play Dough

I realized today that it has been a long time since I’ve made play dough… That means it’s been a long time since we have played with it either!  SO, I figured this is a great way to spend a snowy day indoors…  Of course we had to make “red” play dough because everything around our house is Valentiney!  My oldest moved the peg on the calendar from 4 to 14 today just because he’s excited about the big V-Day…  So here is our Valentine Play Dough… My thought for the day is that I could make a couple batches of play dough and we could divide it up for our friends and neighbors for a special gift… Maybe go to the dollar store and buy some heart shaped cookie cutters, put the play dough in a ziplock and attach the cookie cutter with a cute bow!  Just an idea… For now we will just play with ours, YEAH!

Valentine Play Dough Recipe:

2.5 cups flour
1 cup salt
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups boiling water
1  package strawberry kool-aid (just the 0.13oz package, not the mix with sugar)

Love Jar

Ah Valentines Day… When I was single my friend Telicia and I used to call it S.A.D (Singles Awareness Day)…  We would sit around all sad that we didn’t have a special “Valentine” to spend the day with… WE DID, HOWEVER… We had each other and our other friends, we were just too focussed on the idea of a romantic relationship (aren’t all 20 somethings?)…  What I wish we would have done is taken our single, no responsibility selves out and LOVED on those less fortunate…  I can’t go back in time, but I can instill this value in my boys and that is what I hope the Love Jar does… It’s a new tradition for our family, but I hope to continue it for years to come changing the jobs to fit the stages of life we are in…    OK so here is the idea:  I thought of 14 LOVE JOBS.  I tried to think of jobs that were appropriate, yet meaningful for a 3 and 4 year old.  There are so many Love Jobs I would have liked to do like serving at a soup kitchen or passing out granola bars to the homeless, but I am going to save those jobs for when the boys are a tiny bit older.  So I thought of 14 jobs, one for days 1-14 in February.  I typed up each of the jobs and cut them in little strips.  I put them in our “LOVE JAR” and each day we are going to choose one “LOVE JOB” out of the jar and complete it.   I really hope that it is one more step towards teaching my boys to have giving hearts!

OUR LOVE JOBS FOR 2010:

*  Call someone you care about and tell them why they are special!

*  Fill a grocery bag with food items from our pantry and deliver it to a food shelf!

*  Make a list of three people you will pray for each night this week!

*  Make a picture for Michele (our World Vision kid) and mail it to him!

*  Find one toy of your own that you would like to give to a child who may not have many of their own.

*  Choose one book from your collection that you would like to give away to a child who may not have many of their own.

*  Bring an apple to your teacher and tell her you appreciate her.

*  Make cookies or cupcakes for a neighbor!

*  Help make a meal for some friends.  Invite them over to enjoy it with us or help deliver it to their house!

*  Draw a picture for a friend or family member, deliver it or mail it to them!

*  Take some money from your piggy bank and give to the children’s offering at church.

*  Pick up trash that is on the ground in our neighborhood.

*  Fill a bag with new school supplies and drop them off at a local elementary school for students who may have run out and don’t have money to buy new supplies.

*  Spend time together as a family discussing our many blessings.

Update on Project Valentine

So today was Day 1 of Project Valentine (see below for details) and we did a pretty good job.  Being that we have about 30 Valentines  total to make (and that is just for their preschool and ECFE classes)  and about 10 days to do it, I feel we’re well on our way…  I’d also like them to make Valentines for their Sunday School Teachers and their neighborhood friends, so I might need to up my game just a little…   Today I decided to let the boys paint with water paints… I cut hearts out of white paper, had them write their names (the best they can for preschoolers), and let them paint away… I did notice the more hearts we made the more sloppy they got with both writing and with painting so I stopped while I was ahead…I think they each completed 5 so we have about 20+ more to go!!!  WE CAN DO IT!

Project Valentine

I’ve challenged myself to help my boys make homemade Valentines this year for their friends and classmates.  I also suggested it to my Kindergarten class.  Last year I had a student who made Valentines for our entire class instead of purchasing them.  It was so sweet, cute, creative and I think even a bit cheaper.  I promise you that the Kindergarten students were SO SO SO excited to see what their “homemade” card looked like.  I think it is a great way to teach your children about caring for each other and the importance of giving homemade gifts.  I am not going to do anything fancy… Just some pink, red, white & purple construction paper, markers, glue, and maybe a tiny bit of sparkles or stickers!  I might even break out the water paints, we’ll see! I will post some pictures as we get them done… Tomorrow is DAY 1 of Project Valentine…  I challenge you to do the same, I promise it will be rewarding!

Vikings Purple Punch

I want to make a special beverage for the kiddos at tomorrows big Vikings game… I’ve found a couple different recipes, not sure which one I’ll make yet…  Here is what I found!  GO VIKES!

Purple Punch #1

2 liter bottle grape soda

1/2 gallon pineapple sorbet

Purple Punch #2

2 cups grape juice

1 quart orange juice

2 quarts gingerale

Purple Punch #3

2 cans frozen grape juice

1 can frozen lemonade

1 bottle gingerale

2 cups water

Goin’ on a Bear Hunt…

So we’ve been trying to be creative with ways to get our wiggles out….  This is our latest and most popular game around our house.  We call it “Goin’ on a Bear Hunt” and here is how it works….

1.  Make sure each person playing has a working flashlight

2.  It is best to play at night when it’s dark, so in the winter that’s any time after 4:30

3.  Find a stuffed bear or any stuffed animal…

OK… So we turn all the lights off in our house (well on our main level) and the boys each have a flash light.  This alone can entertain them for a while…  Once the flashlights have been tried and tested, tell them you need them to help you find a bear… I then send them to the bathroom while I hide the bear.  I say “OK” lets hunt and they run around searching with their flash lights for our hidden bear…  The first couple times I had to hide it in a pretty obvious location, but now we are old pro’s so I can be a little more tricky with my hiding skills.  They absolutely love it and it entertains them for such a long time…  Who would have thought something so simple could be so fun!

Snowman Craft: Something to do on a day off!

Supplies:

Darker colored construction paper

White paint

Sponges

ribbon or fabric for scarf

orange construction paper for nose

black construction paper for eyes and mouth

construction paper for hat

sticks for arms

buttons or paper for frills

Glue

Directions:

I cut out several different shaped circles for my kids in hopes to teach them about “small, medium, large”.  I wanted them to choose one of each size circle and then glue them together to make the “perfect” snowman… Of course they both choose “large” for all three circles and I just couldn’t argue with them…  Needless to say their snowmen are a little off balance, but the more I thought about it the more realistic this seemed to me…  I also let them choose the shape and color of the hats, nose, eyes etc… and they both chose the same (of course) but yours might choose differently.  After they have glued their three circles together, let them sponge paint the snowman with white paint.  I like using a darker colored paper with the white paint for two reasons.  One they can really see where they are painting and two it really shows them the texture!  Once your snowman is dry, you can add all the snowman frills you’d like…  Older children can do most of this themselves!  Enjoy and happy MLK…

Mini Monkey Bread

Monkey bread is a classic treat that is very easy to make.  Usually you see it served in a Bundt or round shape, but I decided to make individual monkey breads for my boys this morning…  I used 5.75×3 inch loaf pans to make these mini wonders… It was quick, easy and the boys LOVED helping!  Here is the recipe I used… I altered it a bit to accommodate the pans…

Mini Monkey Bread

Ingredients:

mini loaf pans (I used 5.75×3 inch pans)

gallon size plastic bag with zipper

1 can refrigerator biscuits (I used GRANDS)

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup butter

Directions:

Lightly grease 3 mini loaf pans.  Open the biscuits and cut each biscuit into 4 smaller pieces.  In a gallon size bag mix sugar and cinnamon together.  Put the cut biscuits in the bag and toss to coat (this was fun for my little guys).  Place the cut biscuits into the three greased pans.  I just divided them up evenly in two layers.  In a separate bowl melt the butter in the microwave.  Add the brown sugar to the butter and stir until mixed.  Pour the brown sugar mixtures over the three pans of sugared biscuits.  Place the pans in a 350′ oven for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.  Flip the pans over onto a plate for serving…  A quote from my oldest, “monkeys are lucky mommy…”  I agree make your little monkeys lucky too….

Valentine Craft (sun catcher)

Last year the boys and I made these “sun catchers” for Valentine’s Day.  We made them for our teachers, grandparents, aunts, friends, etc..  Not only are they easy, they really help with fine motor skills.  The older the child the more independently they can do this craft…

Supplies:

Clear contact paper

Colorful tissue paper cut into small squares, triangles, circles, etc..  Older children can do the cutting themselves

Decorative ribbon

Scissors

Directions:

Cut 2 identical large squares out of the contact paper.  Peel off the backing on ONE square and place it sticky side up in front of your child.  Keep the other square for later use.  Give them a stack of cut up tissue (I precut the tissue, but like I said depending on the age of your child he/she may be able to do this alone).  Tell them to put the tissue ONE PIECE at a time all over the sticky stuff.  Encourage them to fill up the entire sticky square.  When they are finished, take the square away and place the other piece of contact paper on top of it so that the sticky sides are touching.  You can then cut the contact paper in what ever shape you would like.  I obviously chose hearts, but we have made all different shapes for all different holidays.  Cut or punch a hole in the top of your heart and attach a ribbon…  Show your child how to catch some sun in their favorite window!

Healthy-er-WELL maybe Cookies…

Ok so are any cookies healthy?  Well not too many, but this recipe at least has some healthier ingredients, KINDA… You can add what you want to make them more or less healthy… My youngest has been begging for M&M cookies all week so this was the only way I could justify them, I added a few healthier ingredients just to make myself feel better about them! HA…

Flax Seed & 5 Chip Cookies

1 cup butter or margarine

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 t vanilla

2 cups Whole Wheat Flour

1 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup FLAX seed (optional, but you can’t taste it and it’s great for you)

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup each of 5 of the following fruits, nuts, chips, etc…  So basically choose 5 things you like in your cookies and and 2/3 cup of each of them… Here are some options:

Dried Berries (cherries or blueberries are awesome)

Chopped Nuts

White Chocolate Chips

Peanut Butter Chips

Dark Chocolate Chips

Milk Chocolate Chips

Butterscotch Chips

M & M’s

DIRECTIONS

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter, peanut butter and sugars.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Beat in vanilla, combine flour, oats, flax, baking soda and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture.  Stir in chips, nuts, fruits etc…  Drop by rounded tablespoon 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets.  Bake at 350′ for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.  cool for 1 minute before removing to wire rack.

Can you guess what 5 I chose???