Rudolph Applesauce Cups

Tomorrow is my preschooler's Christmas celebration at school and he chose to bring applesauce as his healthy snack. I like snack ideas that are easy to jazz up, don't take a lot of time and I can include my kids in the creative process.

I am sharing this idea with you because they were EASY to make (we made a class set in less than an hour) and my kids thought the project was fun.

If you are like me and running around with a million things to do - and not enough time to finish them all - then this project is a good one.

Supplies:
- Applesauce cups
- Pipe cleaners
- Red cotton puff balls
- Googly eyes
- Hot glue or glue dots
- Scissors or wire cutters

Instructions: 

1. I started by cutting my pipe cleaners in half and folding them into antlers before glueing them to the back of the applesauce cups 

2. Glue the googly eyes on 

3. Glue the Rudolph nose 

{This pipe cleaner was cut in half AND folded when photographed}

Good luck with your crafting!

Teacher Gift Idea for Halloween

Tonight I remembered that my preschooler's Halloween party was on Monday! And with a jam packed Sunday celebrating my husband's birthday, that didn't leave me much time to throw a teacher gift together in time for the party {I missed their birthdays so I felt I should step it up for Halloween}.

So what was I to do? I made a quick run to good ole' Target because they always help me out when I am in a pinch! I found a cute idea from Pink Peppermint Design and these glass jars from the Target Dollar Spot made this project easy. My original plan was to grab mason jars and plastic spiders to mix in with the Hershey's Kisses but these jars made this simple project even simpler. Win, win in my book! If your Target is out of these glasses, you could use my original idea ;)

After sitting at my kitchen table, this project only took me twenty minutes, from start to finish, for all four bottles. I created my own labels on PicMonkey because I only had access to a black & white printer. I would have preferred to have time to run to the craft store for cuter ribbon and use the color printer for the snazzier tags - but I was in a time crunch!

Since I couldn't use these adorable tags, I am sharing them with you, hoping you are more prepared for Halloween than I am! Clink on the link and you can download the PDF,

http://www.pinkpeppermintdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Bugs-and-Kisses-Full-Page.pdf


Wish I would have remembered to snap a picture for you before my kids signed their names - but at least you get to see their super cute preschool handwriting!

Happy Halloween!

My SuperHero turns FOUR

I am officially a mother to a four year old. Tonight at bedtime I took my time getting extra snuggles in. Nate moves so fast during the day he doesn't have time to stop and snuggle with his Momma very often, so our bedtime ritual is one of my favorite times of the day.

Tonight was more precious because tomorrow my baby boy will wake up a four year old. I think that means he is heading out of toddlerhood and into boyhood- and I don't like it. He is still the biggest Momma's Boy but he continues to spread his wings, find his footing and explore the world with the vision of a leader and entrepreneur. He often asks what chores he can add to his list to earn money for his piggy bank, he can count to 100 but still can't pronounce 13 or 30 the correct way, wears a superhero cape as often as he can or has me tie his baby blankets around his neck in similar fashion and loves to learn about science and nature.

This week we transitioned from his toddler bed (his original baby crib) into a new big boy bed in our new superhero themed big boy room. Even though we had fun decorating together and he is SO excited to share his new room with everyone, I know that this is such a milestone for him. One of many that we will pass this year. We are looking forward to starting basketball and baseball, spending our final year together before starting VPK next school year and learning even more random thoughts.

Some of my favorite witty lessons this year have been:
- Learning that cows have two stomachs
- Learning that izards do not have feet - they have "spatula" (After Googling it myself I learned the answer it spatulea. Nate pronounces it like the cooking tool, spatula).
- Being told about the planets of the solar system ( and I did not think to teach them to him)
- Learning  that a tripod is different than a dipod because a tripod has three legs and a dipod only has two
- Rediscovering that cheetahs are the fastest animal on the planet - Nate will learn to run faster than a cheetah


My favorite things to do with Nate is to play with his hair, scratch his back and count our numbers at bedtime, watch his brain soak up information like a sponge and retain it well enough to tell his awesome stories to others (he gets so excited; his voice pitch changes and he walks on his toes) and see him be such a good big brother (I'm sure at some point this will change but for now he continues to be loving and patient).

To celebrate this big birthday, Nate chose a superhero themed party. He requested a bounce house with a slide and was able to make his invitation list this year by naming all of his friends. Nate doesn't like a lot of fuss and we were mostly outside so I kept the decor pretty simple; a cake table and superhero capes for all the guests.

SpiderMan and SuperWoman here to celebrate! 

Piñata time! 

A good shot at the capes made for each child; they were part of the goodie bags

Nate does not play for the camera like his sister does, so I'm grateful he was excited enough over his birthday to smile for a picture. 

Spoke too soon about taking good pictures to celebrate his birthday - but at least there's one of the three of us. 

Shabby Chic Second Birthday

Oh, but where has the time gone? Each birthday brings tears to my eyes because I can't believe the years are moving so fast. My baby is fading and in her place is a tenacious toddler who could rule the world with her signature look and a twirl.

It's not just me who loves her - everywhere we go she attracts attention with her mixture of sweet and spice. If I had to list the reasons she makes my heart swell, there wouldn't be enough ink or paper. She is such a contrast to her big brother in her affections - she greets with a hug and a kiss and tells me, "Me love you, Momma" several times throughout the day. She loves her snacks but is still a good sport about eating her healthy meals, too. I've learned not to bother with laundry too much since she insists on changing her dress at least a dozen times a day. She has a passion for princess tea parties and mothering her baby dolls and stuffed animals. Her favorite color is pink and she won't wear anything that's not a dress or doesn't have a tutu.

She is such a girly girl and brings a loving contrast to our family - we could never imagine our lives without her in it.

Happy 2nd birthday, P!

Since this is probably the last year P won't insist on her birthday party theme herself (I'm envisioning princesses, fairies, glitter and/or the latest Disney character), I had fun with putting together a simple chubby chic theme to match the horse farm. The color palette was peach, gold and teal and I incorporated burlap and lace to make the theme more cohesive. 

Momma's Girl 

Not only did these cupcakes taste delicious, the frosting colors matched perfectly and I loved the laced doily wraps. 

The birthday girl's cake 

I used a pallet to discuss some of the wall coverings from the venue that I couldn't take down. It helped add to the theme and made a great backdrop for cake pictures. 

The paper doilies were folded into cones to hold popcorn

I used mason jars to create my own fruit cups - perfect for the theme and great to look at. The wooden bin made the perfect storage area and helped with the placement of the cake and other decorations. 

The tablecloth on this table was peach with a lace overlay and I added fabric streamers to the front of the table for more dimension (not pictured but used burlap, peach, lace and teal ribbons to create)

I loved this wooden bin to put the popcorn snacks in - matched perfectly!

Birthday cake close up 

Lace table runner and simple flowers 

Our sweet girl!