Merry Christmas!

Just a quick post to say Merry Christmas to you and your family! We are having a wonderful Christmas! Santa was very good to our boys and I have a feeling that I will not see my boys for days with all the Lego's they got! Their fingers will be hurting by the time they are done building! We had candy canes for breakfast.....the healthy ones :) So easy to make and the boys loved it. Just cut up strawberries and bananas in slices and arrange in the shape of a candy cane! 

Snow Much Fun

Today the boys and I made snowman pillows, an idea I found on Pinterest. The idea was not linked for me to give credit as it was just a picture. I knew they would love them so I headed out to the stores to get the supplies. I had to guess a little as there was no supply list or instructions. This was a super cheap project! I got the pillows for $5.58 each, a set of two pillow cases for 3.58 the Santa hats for $2.99 each, I had the ribbon, and I had the foam for the eyes, nose, and buttons. So each pillow cost about $10.00. 

I had the kids put the pillow case on their pillow. Then they held the pillow up while I tied the ribbon, and their little finger helped me to double knot it! I also tied up the top of the pillow to make it look more rounded like a snowman. I used the foam sheets that have a sticky side on the back. I cut out the eyes, nose and buttons and the kids peeled the paper off and stuck them on. Lastly I safety pinned the hats on. The kids had fun and so did Mommy too!

The Elf on the Shelf

Do you have an elf?? This is our third year with our elf Roddie. The kids love him and become angels when Roddie shows up. Chores get done with out asking, dinners get finished, the talking back stops, it's great! We have found our elf in some fun place in the morning and thanks to Pinterest I think Roddie will have even better spots! Thought I would share with you some of Roddie's places we have found him over the past three years.

Roddie hanging out in my pots and pans.

 

Roddie wanted to help me decorate

 

Roddie need a nice relaxing bubble bath!

We have so much fun with Roddie. It is a holiday tradition for our family. When does your elf show up? Ours shows up right around Thanksgiving or right after. Has your elf forgotten to move? Ours has but we just assumed that was a spot he liked and wanted to stay there one more day. Has your elf ever been touched? What did you say or do? Nathan touched Roddie one year and I knew right away as I found him on the floor and not in his spot. I asked Nathan if he touched him and he started to cry and said yes. So I left Roddie there for 2 days! We then wrote Santa a letter about how sorry Nathan was for touching Roddie and can he please give Roddie his magic back......it worked! The next day Roddie was in a new spot! What are some creative spots your elf has landed in? I would love to hear all your stories and ideas!

Hot Day Fun!!!

I don't know about where you live but here in IL we need some rain....badly!! With that being said the kids are dying to cool off everyday but we are trying to conserve the water and our water bill!! So thanks to Pinterest (I heart that site) I found a great idea. Water sponge balls!!! They were so easy to make. You just buy some Cello sponges (I bought the package that was 4 to a package), cut them into 4 strips, put 6 strips together (I liked using 2 different colors) and zip tie in the middle. My husband has a great little tool that cuts the zip tie so there is no sharp edge left over and it cuts it clean. I used some dollar store buckets filled with water and put one kid at one end of the yard with a bucket and sponges and the other kid at the other end of the yard with a bucket and sponges. The kids had a blast and got really wet. All we had to do was re-fill their buckets from time to time. We saved on water, money and the kids had a blast!! Thank you Pinterest!

Let's Remember That Birthday!

Today my youngest son turns 4. I can't believe how fast the time goes by. We have lots of excitement planned out for the day. Over the years I try to write down all the moments and funny things my kids say so I can look back someday and remember. That got me thinking about doing a birthday sheet of questions for the kids. Here is what I came up with.

Strawberry Picking!!!

The kids and I went strawberry picking!!! The strawberries looked great this year. This is the second year I have taken the boys. They really have fun trying to find that perfect strawberry. The great thing about strawberry picking is we get these cute little baskets.

I am already thinking of idea on how I can use these baskets! Maybe for my scrapbooking items, or the boys art items, or maybe in my pantry to hold those lose snacks??? What would you use it for?

Summer Bucket List

The kids and I sat down and made a list of all the thing we want to do this summer and created our summer bucket list. Last year we made a list and checked off the things. This year, thanks to Pinterest I found a great idea with popsicle sticks from The Home Teacher.