Activity Advent

Advent is different to different people.  It's different between families.  Different between denominations.  And maybe even different between family members.  I still have a very basic, "Sunday School" education of the religious advent experience so I am not here to elaborate on that (although I will probably be diving into that for my own personal benefit).

This year I wanted to do an Advent Calendar for my kids.  I didn't want to give them candy everyday, because quite frankly we're still trying to get through that mess from Halloween.  I couldn't give them a gift everyday because that's expensive.  So, I decided to go with the idea of an activity advent.  This is not an original idea, but I did make up my own list.

There are a number of ways you could set yours up.  Martha has some great ideas that you could use and easily incorporate a written note with an activity.  I personally will be going with some simple, but cute envelopes.  That's just all I have time for right now, and it will be enough for my 1, 2, and 4 year olds.

We have made a real concerted effort this year to talk less about Santa and more about "Jesus' Birthday".  I don't mind sharing the spirit of Santa with my kids, but I don't want the real meaning of Christmas to be lost either.  We've been talking a lot about Jesus' Birthday and how we're going to have a party for Him on Christmas.  I have plans of decorations, cupcakes, etc.

So my list is more geared in this direction, with exceptions.  We have a few that are about doing for others (but we'll incorporate conversation about how Jesus did for others) and a few that are just about some of the fun things to do at Christmas.  Here is the list I came up with.  Feel free to make changes that suit your family.  AND FEEL FREE TO SHARE SOME OF YOUR ACTIVITY IDEAS.  We'd love to hear other things, too.

1. Using your nativity set, share the story of Jesus' birth day with Daddy.  Then let Daddy read the story back to you from your Bible.  (I'm going to be on a short girl's trip the first 3 days, so I had to make ones Daddy could do.)
2. SCAVENGER HUNT (I have a Hallmark series started for each of the kids from their birth year. I've bought these for this year, wrapped them, and hidden them.  They'll get to do a scavenger hunt for them, open them, and hang them on the tree.)
3. Using our new nativity stamps (found these at Joann's; the foam ones you use with paint), paint a picture of Jesus' birth day to hang on the mantle for His party.
4. Take a drive or walk tonight just to look at Christmas lights.  Don't forget to ask mommy and daddy for some hot chocolate!
5. As we get ready for Jesus' Birthday Party, we will surely need some party garland.  Let's make lots of paper garland to string around the house.  (You know the kind.  Just strips of paper glued into circles interlocking with the next.  I got a book of Christmas paper at Hobby Lobby.)
6. Just as each of your have for your Birthday Party, let's make Jesus a banner for his.  It should read, "Happy Birthday, Jesus".  (Much like this, but not in a pirate theme.)
7. With help from mommy or daddy, come up with a Christmas prayer to pray each night.  Think of all the Christmas things you want to thank God for, and all the different people you want to pray for during this time of year.  Mommy or daddy will write it down and we can read it together every night.
8. Make a special Christmas treat to deliver to a friend.  (Think simple.  Chocolate covered pretzels.  Chocolate covered marshmallows.  Etc.)
9. Make a special Christmas card to mail to a friend.  Ask mommy to help you address it and stamp it, then put it in the mailbox outside.
10. Make a special Christmas treat to take to your teachers.
11. With mommy and daddy, make brown bag dinners to take and deliver to homeless people.  You may even have to go to the grocery store and help mommy shop!
12. Make a birthday card for Jesus.  We'll put it in a special place for his birthday party!
13. Make a Christmas card to send to a special family member. 
14. Tonight's the big night!  We're all going to Clinton's Christmas Concert at church!  (Clearly, this is very specific to us.  Clinton was old enough this year to join the Angel Choir at our church...we can't wait to see him perform!)
15. Make special gifts for your friends at school.  (We may do the same as last year, or we may come up with something different...like this adorableness.)
16. Make a special doggy treat for Gracie.  Even dogs should get to celebrate Christmas with something yummy!
17. Put on a Christmas play for mommy and daddy.  (Ha!  We'll see how this goes!)
18. Make a gingerbread nativity.  (I thought this was a great alternative to a Christmas classic.  There's no tutorial here, but it didn't look like rocket science.  I'll post my own tutorial once we do ours.)
19. Decorate gifts.  (Have I ever mentioned my love for wrapping everything in brown craft paper?  I'm going to let the kids paint with their nativity stamps.  Add old cards.  Add jingle bells.  Etc.  More to come on this.)
20. Gather all the change you can find around the house.  Then mommy is going to drive you around until you find a red bucket with a bell ringer.  They are collecting money for kids and we're going to give them everything we found!
21. Go see a movie!  ...at the big movie theater! ...with POPCORN!  ...and SPRITE!  (Probably Happy Feet 2.  Not a Christmas movie.  But we're all psyched about it and it will be a nice treat.)
22. Make reindeer food for Santa's reindeer.  We want to make sure they find our yard and get a good snack!  (There are umpteen variations of this.  Here's just one.)
23. Make cookies for Santa.  Mommy has all the special ingredients to make Santa's favorite cookies.  Let them get good and cool because tomorrow we'll be adding to them.  (BTW--if anyone has a wheat free sugar cookie recipe they'd like share, I'm in need!)
24. Decorate Santa's cookies.  Mommy has lots of special supplies ready for you to make Santa's cookies extra special.  (This will include icings, sprinkles, gum drops, jelly beans, etc.  Things that will make their eyes light up.)
25. Now today is such a special day because it is Jesus' birthday!  Before you open up this gifts for you, let's sing Happy Birthday to Jesus and remember he is the reason for Christmas!

*Notice to all readers.  Items on this list could change at any time without prior notification.  Items on this list may not work for everyone, so feel free make changes.  ;-)

Hope this gets you thinking about how to get your kids in the spirit!  I know I'm hoping to get Clinton talking about something other than NEW TOYS!  :-D

Let the Season Begin,

Homemade Cereal Bars

My little Heidi Sage has a favorite food...well lots of favorite foods.  But one that I buy a lot of is cereal bars.  In fact, the general rule at our house is that if you go to the store, you always get some milk and cereal bars...no. matter. what.  If we're not out yet, we will be soon enough.

In an effort to feel as if I were providing her a healthier option, I decided I needed to start making them myself so I would know exactly what was going into them...and see if I could save some money.

The recipe I finally came up with was one I got from my friend Heather.  She had gotten it from allrecipes.com and had already done about a dozen trial runs tweaking the recipe each time.  I took her version and tweaked it a bit more to my kids' tastes.  Feel free to use as is...or tweak some more!  :-)

Homemade Cereal Bars

4 cups rolled oats

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons flax seed meal

2 tablespoons cinnamon

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 sticks butter (melted)

1/2 c. amber agave nectar (see picture below, could also use Honey)

1/2 c. peanut butter (or almond butter)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Spreadable fruit (see picture below)

Preheat oven to 325.

 

First thing I did was the pulse the rolled oats 2 cups at a time through my food processor.  My kids like a smoother texture.

When I was done it looked about like this.

We then added all the remaining dry ingredients:  1 c. wheat flour, 1 t. baking soda, 2 T. flax seed meal, 2 T. cinnamon, and 1/4 c. dark brown sugar.  Mix it all together good, then add all the wet ingredients, 2 sticks melted butter, 1/2 c. agave, 1 c. applesauce, 1 t. vanilla, and 1/2 c. peanut butter.

I then lined a 9x13 pan and an 8x8 pan (not pictured) with parchment paper to allow easy removal after cooking.  I took 1 3/4 cups of the dough and mashed it flat into the 9x13 pan (the 8x8 pan takes 1 c. of dough).  This is quite a thin layer.  It will puff up some during cooking, but I was trying to mimic the thinness of a store bought cereal bar.  To keep the dough from sticking to your hands, pour about a 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of cooking oil (I used canola) and coat your hands with it.

Cook for 20-25 minutes.

Remove from oven and spread a thin layer of spreadable fruit all over the hot oat mixture.

You will use another 1 3/4 cups of the dough to create the top layer for the 9x13 pan (and 1 c. for the 8x8 pan).  I took a fistful at a time, mashed it flat in my hands and then pieced it together across the top of the spreadable fruit.  Trying to mash it down on the fruit makes it spread and squish everywhere.  Place back in the over for another 20-25 minutes.

Once it is done baking, let them cool for about 15 minutes in the pan then remove and continue cooling on the counter.

Once completely cooled, use a pizza roller to cut the bars into your desired serving size.

I made both strawberry and blackberry bars.  My kids and I gobbled them up quickly and have already made more batches.

I hope you find yourself in the kitchen whipping these up soon!

Yum,

Sno Cones! (Minus the Syrup)

When I think back on my childhood, one of the summer memories that jumps to the front of my mind is gathering up a couple of bucks, heading down to Main Street, and getting a Sno Cone from Ms. RuthAnn.  On one of those scorching Texas summer days, it was a sweet relief with all its cold sugary goodness.  Just thinking about it makes me want a blue coconut, strawberry one.  Mmm-mmmm...

And I would love to share that past time with my kids.  HOWEVER, when I think of getting one for my kids all I can see is a cup of colored sugar that will bring me grief for the next 4 to 6 hours as my kids bounce off of the walls in a crazed sugar-filled hysteria.  No, thank you.

But never one to deprive my kids of summer happiness, I've come up with my own solution.  This is just as tasty, just as loved, possibly cheaper, and made at home...

To make it all you need is a liter of Club Soda and a container of 100% juice frozen concentrate.  I love this Old Orchard brand.  We made the Blueberry Pomegranate last night, which my kids LOVED, and in the freezer I still have Cranberry Raspberry and Apple Passion Mango.  And for a yummy treat at breakfast offer your kids the Pineapple Orange.  Yum.

Now, the club soda is the magic ingredient here.  If you've ever frozen fruit juice you know it comes out hard as a rock.  With the carbonation in the club soda, it freezes differently.  Softer, if you will.  Possibly a bit airy.  Whatever you want to call it, it's the secret to a good homemade Sno Cone.

Slowly mix the club soda and the thawed juice concentrate.  Slowly is the key...and in a container big enough to hold both.  Otherwise you'll have a bubbly mess overflowing everywhere.  Trust me.

Next, pour it into containers that it can freeze in smaller portions.  I used a silicon muffin tin and plastic ice cube trays.  Either works fine.

After they freeze, pop out the desired amount (we used three "muffins" per drink) and pulse them through the food processor.  I believe a blender would work just as well, though you may have to add a little liquid to get it going.

Pulsing...

Pulsing....  He can already taste it.  He's been dreaming about this ever since I put it in the freezer six hours before.

All ready for the gobbling.

...and it's gobbled.

I love these because they're yummy, cold, cheap, and NO ADDED SUGAR...just the natural sugars from the fruit juice.  Let me know if you try them...you can even post a pic on our FaceBook wall of your little ones gobbling them up!

Now, for my next experiment...frozen margaritas...

Happy cooling off,

Linking to...

Simply Entertained

You may have noticed things have been a bit slow over here.  Maybe it seems we've gotten lazy.  Maybe it seems we're dropping the ball.  The reality, however, is that we're super busy.

Deborah just started a new job, so her blog time has been minimal.  She has been working on her garden, though.  And even has some guest projects from her mother, our Grammy.  Those should be posted shortly.

Chelsea is in Europe.  She's been attending fashion shows, meeting designers, and other dreamy things.  She'll be back in the states in July, so it may be a while before we hear from her.  Hopefully, she'll have some amazing things to share with us when she gets back.  I enjoy living vicariously through her.

And I have my house on the market.  UGH!!!  Cleaning house has never been my strong suit, but it's especially hard when the expectations are for it to be spotless....while tending to three children under five.  And I have about decided my kids have it out for me.  While I'm in one room cleaning up one mess, they're usually in another room making another one.  It's a vicious cycle...and I may surely lose my mind.

The past couple of days I have dared to make a bit of a mess here and there, but only ones I could clean up very quickly should someone call for a showing.

Yesterday we painted rocks for our pumpkin patch.  Painting rocks is one of Clinton's favorite things to do.  And all was going well until Heidi Sage decided to start painting the patio furniture, the chair cushions, and the deck.  Oh well...at least she's cute...

Today we made cupcakes.  To simplify and keep it easy we used a box mix and canned frosting.  They don't taste quite the same to a distinguished palette, but the kids do not care one teeny tiny bit.  To make them extra special, I got out my super fancy Ziploc sandwich bags, filled them with icing, cut off a tiny corner, and swirled the icing.  I let the kiddos take care of the sprinkles...

Hope you're keeping busy this RIDICULOUSLY hot summer!

The Ride-On Birthday Party

If you're like me with lots of little ones in tow, then there's a good chance you've seen your fair share of birthday parties.  And if you're like me with several of those parties to throw yourself, then you know they can get expensive....FAST!

Last fall Clinton's friends, Charlotte and Schaefer, had their 3rd Birthday and invited us for the celebration.  Their mother threw the cutest party and my kids LOVED it.

The idea is that everyone brings their own ride on toy, as indicated on the invitation; and the kids spend the whole party just riding around.  And do you know what two hours of outdoor busyness equates to....A NAP!  Best.  Party.  EVER!  :-D

First things first, a circle drive works best.  This one was at one of our local country clubs.

Next, is setting up little stations for the kids to stop at...

Here was a bucket of toy tools.  The kids loved stopping to fix their bikes!


Here there were streamers and ribbons for the kids to decorate the rides with.


Another idea for a station is a car wash.  I think there are two ways you could go here.  Simple--grab 10 or so spray bottles at the dollar store, fill them water, and set them out with rags for the kids to wash their rides.  A little more difficult-- build an archway out of PVC with some blue fabric streamers hanging down.  Accompany it with a bubble machine and the kids will feel like they're riding through a car wash!

Any other ideas you have add to our comment section....we'd love to hear them!

There were also a few road signs along the way...

 My kids truly had a blast!  The best part was there's no activity planning, or schedule to keep, or worrying if this kid or that wants to play this game or that.  Everyone brings what they like to ride on....and they ride!

After lots and lots of riding around, we went into the club house for some cupcakes and milk.  Heidi Sage had no problems partaking in this particular activity.

In addition to the above mentioned ideas, all you need are some balloons and bottles of water for your guests (it can get pretty toasty in the really warm months...hydration is good!).

I love this idea because you can make it as simple or overboard as you want, it can be very budget friendly, and it keeps the kids busy....and makes them tired.  If only I had a warm-weather birthday baby...sigh.

I'll be keeping my eye out for other awesome birthday party ideas as we make our way from party to party this year.

Linking to...

Egg Grams

The other day I saw an update on my FB page from a blog I like to check out from time to time.  They were featuring THIS blog and their idea of what I like to call Egg Grams.

Seeing as I'm a mother of young children with an endless supply of craft items and a small Target addiction, I had all the supplies I needed...except the stamps.

We had a big bag of Skittles, some small pill ziploc bags, stickers, a few hair clips for some of the girl eggs, and some pink paper for little notes.

We packaged up the skittles, put together a few stickers, folded up our notes, and put our little packages together.

Once the eggs were packed, I taped around the seams with Scotch tape.  I made small address labels to put on the egg out of white sticker labels.  And I adhered a 98 cent stamp and a Forever stamp for shipping.

Clinton dropped them in the big blue mail box at the Post Office.

He thought it was awesome.

Once we got home, he decided he also wanted to send some to his Bebe and Hop (my parents).  He picked out special items for their eggs.  Hop got Skittles and a Matchbox race car out of his highly coveted car collection.  Bebe got Strawberry Shortcake stickers and a Dora Matchbox Jeep.  Clinton's been trying to get rid of that "girl" car ever since it found its way into our house.  :-)  I put extra postage on those...hopefully they'll make it!

Feel free to check out the original post I found to see more ideas of things you could put in your eggs.

Hoppy Mailings,

Broadening Our Horizons

Have you noticed how some weeks we have a lot going on and others we seem to be slackers?  Yep, we've noticed, too.  HOWEVER, we're not actually being slackers.

The truth is making outfits for Heidi Sage (and company) is not the only thing we do!  Gasp!  Turns out we do a whole lot of other things...and we've decided to start sharing those with you, too.

For example, Chelsea is often working on garments that are not just for kids.  And Deborah likes to garden.  And I have a tendency to throw a few meals on the table each week.

We hope you'll enjoy some of the new things that will start appearing here....but don't worry!  There will still be plenty of child-friendly projects and crafts!

To get us started, I decided to pull an old post from an old blog I used to write...but now avoid.  :-)  I was reminded of this post a few weeks ago as I sat in a committee meeting and tried volunteering myself to make 600 cake balls for a charity event.  Turns out my fellow committee members were more aware of my insanity than I was.  They decided to take another route since I had three kids to tend to.

After I got home, I went back and read this post about when I had made 600 cake balls for Chelsea's wedding.  Really glad I'm not making 600 this week...

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Have you ever agreed to a project that you were very excited about, but found out about halfway through that maybe you would have rather agreed to poke your eyes out with a fork??

Me, too.

About a year or so ago, we ALL started planning a wedding. My sister Chelsea's wedding. During some discussions it was brought up that Brian's favorite kind of cake was not really cake, but cake balls. And somewhere in that discussion it was decided that the groom's cake should be made of cake balls. And somewhere else in that discussion we came up with a figure that would be needed based on how many cake balls Chelsea can eat in one sitting. And from that point we moved forward to see what it would cost to order each guest the number of cake balls that CHELSEA can eat in one sitting. And through that calculation we came up with a cost of approximately $4,000. Gasp.

First mistake--don't ever base anyone else's eating capabilities on what Chelsea can do. She eats like horse and looks like a freakin' bean pole. You see, Chelsea can eat 8 cake balls in one sitting....yes, EIGHT. And when you break it down, that's 1/3 of a cake. No one....and I mean NO ONE eats 1/3 of a cake at a wedding....so our calculations were a bit off. But it was too late....we had run with them...

So, anyway....somewhere in all those discussions, I agreed to make these 600 cake balls. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

But you see, Bakerella had made it look so easy. You just bake...then shred....then mix....then roll....then freeze....then dip. Easy peasy pumpkin pie, right?

So, for the past year every event I have gone to where I have been asked to bring something, I have taken cake balls. I've made cream cheese cake balls, red velvet cake balls, chocolate-chocolate cake balls....you get the picture. But making one batch of cake balls is much different than making 600.

Here's what 616 (plus the dozen or so eaten by bystanders) cake balls look like prior to a careful, artful creation. The amount of ingredients alone should have been a huge red flag....but I was still in that, "I'm so happy to do this for my baby sister and her hubby-to-be" state of mind.

I spent two straight days of baking 16 cake mixes...in a kitchen that's under construction, no less. Not sure I'll ever bake another cake again...maybe just pies from here on out. :-)

During those two days, I also shredded each of the cakes and mixed them with the appropriate flavor of icing. We had Chocolate-Peanut Butter and German Chocolate...the groom's two favorite flavors. Happy to oblige, I was.

I spent a whole third day doing nothing but dipping and topping my little prizes.

To be honest I only dipped about 550 of them, because we didn't have enough boxes to pack them in...but I still like the ring of 600, so I tell that story.

After carefully packing each of the hand rolled, hand dipped treasures into their boxes, we packed them in coolers so they could stay unmelted during the 400 mile trek from my parents' house to Austin. I was just glad I didn't make those in Nashville and try to board a plane with 600 cake balls and two toddlers...can you imagine the crazy that would have come out of my eyes?

Anyway....I was feeling really good about myself for having finished such a big project and being able to contribute such an important piece to the reception. I realize it wasn't "THE Wedding Cake", but it was the Groom's Cake....so it was almost as important.

But I'll have to admit I was a bit taken aback when I saw the presentation of the cake balls. Actually, I'll be honest...I lost my breath for a moment. I had been informed that the cake balls would be resting beautifully on a tiered platter. I had imagined 200-300 of those sweet puppies being displayed at once....oh, what a grand presentation that would be.

I walked in looking for this tower of perfection. I looked left. I looked right. I looked around the room about five times and there was not a single grand tower of chocolate anywhere. And then over in the corner, barely peeking up off the table, I saw it. A small tiered platter that held no more than 37-39 cake balls at a time. A sad little tear trickled down my cheek... could this really be? Did I slave for three days hunched over an endless supply of cake balls for such a small display that was so easy to miss?

Indeed, I had. I wiped my tear. Remembered this day was not about me. And headed upstairs to help the bride button 427 buttons down the back of her dress.

I will say, the compliments about the cake balls throughout the night were endless, and greatly appreciated. We, of course, over estimated our audience's cake ball consumption by about 450, but the cake balls were passed on to others and joy was spread beyond the walls of just our celebration....

And isn't that what life is really about? Sharing the love... Indeed it is.

Cheers,