Friday Finds for Father's Day

So many cute ideas and it's not too late to get started on any of them!!

 

Quesa-Cat: Friday Fun

I got this idea looking at a menu one day...wish I could say it was my own. But doing it at home sure is cheaper!

Meet our lunch time visitor - he frequents our house, along with his friends - quesa-mouse, quesa-monkey, quesa-dog and whatever else Little Miss is in the mood for.

I start by melting the cheese and folding the tortilla in half...

Then I cut off his spunky little ears...

Cut his face into 4 easy-to-eat pieces...

Move his ears up...

Add a face. I've used ketchup for this - salsa, cut up fruits/veggies - whatever I have on hand.

Creativity is the best way to get your kids to eat!

Painted Shoes

Here is a quick fun project for your little aspiring Van Gogh...

Little Miss is really into painting lately. So for her birthday we gave her a set of paints and some cute thrift store (canvas) shoes...

The finished product...

Really though it's never finished. Every couple of weeks she'll announce that she needs to work on her shoes again. Super fun and super cheap! Paint included - $4. My favorite kind of kid project.

Did I mention all the painting is giving her some great fine motor skill practice? She is way cute wearing them around town too! They match everything and people are always asking her about her shoes. I might need a pair...

Love is Spelled T-I-M-E

A wise man once said - "Love is spelled T-I-M-E, time." How true it is. And as a busy parent it is so important to find one-on-one time with your children. My new goal is to find one-on-one time on a weekly basis. Now that we live super far away from family I think this will mean having "mommy and me"/"daddy and me" dates at the same time. 

I've been so busy and preoccupied with moving in, decorating, fixing up our new home - that I really need to refocus on being a mom first. So, I've decided I will do something super fun with Little Miss and Mr Man every Friday - just us. Something out of the ordinary and beyond our normal routine.

Remember forts? I grew up making tons of forts with my sisters out of queen size sheets. So fun.

Little Miss and I made this fort and watched a movie together in it. Sadly, forts are not as large and spacious as they once felt, good thing we like to cuddle!

What are you doing for fun with your children today?

{Something I have to tell myself every once in awhile to refocus: people matter, not my to-do list...}

Green Carpet and Other Tidbits

It has been quite the whirlwind three months...here are some things I've learned...

• Dark green carpet is the worst. It shows every tiny little speck of lint! Even right after vacuuming it still looks dirty. Green carpet and I do not get along. Donations for my "buy new carpet before I break my vacuum" fund are now being accepted. *thank you to the previous owners for putting in green carpet everywhere...*
• Balancing life with two kids is hard...living with in-laws for 3 months, moving to a new state, buying your first home, seeing your mom through breast cancer, having everything you own packed away in storage, your husband starting a new job and finishing his thesis while learning to balance life with two kids - way harder. But doable.
• Checking your email less than daily when you run a blog like this - big mistake! I will get back to you all - I promise. Just probably in between naps. =)
• Ants are smart - I'm beginning to think our home was built on a big ant hill...cinnamon (the kind you cook with) works as an ant barrier. They will not cross it. Kind of a cool trick. I'm just hoping they don't figure out how to jump over it...they are smart ones these ants of mine!
• People come first, not things. (I already knew this before - but it's been reiterated a lot lately) I like having unscheduled time. Before moving in with the in-laws I was uber scheduled and planned out. Now I'm somewhere in between. I love to get things done and be busy still - but sitting on the floor reading to my kids whenever I want comes way before cleaning or running errands. Sometimes it's okay to stay in your jammies all day. My self worth is not measured by the number of things I've crossed off on my to-do list.
• And most of all - I love being a mom to these two munchkins!!

Carrot Birthday Party

This was the first party Little Miss had - her second is in a few days. Yes, she gets two this year...spoiled! We're moving soon, rather far away, and wanted to celebrate with my family and my husbands. So...two parties. She chose the themes. Her first party - a carrot party.

She saw a carrot cake at the store a year ago, right after her 2nd birthday party and announced that she wanted a carrot party for her next birthday - then she talked about it straight for 9 months...she doesn't forget anything! So...a carrot party it is! All based off of this cake...

I found a book to go with the theme. Carrot Soup by John Segal. Super cute.

It's all about this rabbit who can't find his carrots and he goes all over trying to find them. In the end he has carrot soup (his favorite) with his friends. There's even a recipe at the back of the book - which I didn't make, but that's okay.

So to begin the party I read Carrot Soup to the children (+ adults) - then we searched for the hidden carrots (+ chocolate) around the room. Which they loved!

After we found the carrots we tied them to string and tried to bite them with our hands behind our backs. This game didn't serve a purpose except for hilarity for those watching. It was super entertaining!

Next we ate soup (+ rolls) that had carrots in it. Yum! After dinner we opened presents. The end.

Themed. Fun. Simple. Low key. Easy clean up. Love my little girl! Can't believe she'll be 3 in a few days!!

I'll post pics of the next party too, which is also a food theme. Little Miss loves her food!

Did I mention the adults tried biting the carrots too? That made it way more fun! 

Check out last years birthday bash... A Ladybug Birthday Party

137...I Think, and Other Random Thoughts

We're in limbo at my in-laws right now, so our scale is packed. But last I checked I was at 137 - 7 lbs to go until I reach pre-baby weight! Sweet. And this picture is proof that my fat face is gone, and that Mr Man's fat face is getting bigger, haha - hooray!

I've been trying to eat healthy. On moving day we had to eat out - I chose the new Teriyaki Turkey Burger at Carl's Jr instead of a regular burger - under 500 calories and super tasty! (no, they didn't pay me to say that...)

And more randomness - remember my post about Maylee's Boutique? They're generously offering my readers a 10% discount when you use this coupon code at checkout...

the-mom-blog

Enjoy!

Hope ya'll have a great weekend! Even if you woke up to this this morning like I did...

Where is Spring? This ought to cheer you up - I know it helped make me happy at 4 this morning...

Confessions of a Germaphobe

Yep - I'm a germaphobe. Are you? It's gotten worse now that I have small children too. I disinfect everything weekly and if someone is sick we don't see them until well after they're better. Unless they don't tell us they're sick and show up unannounced and insist on hugging Little Miss...you know who you are. So rude. Anyway...

My germaphobe-ness (just made up that word) has led to a brilliant discovery! You can only continue reading if you promise to laugh and then try it yourself....

I wash my hands ridiculous amounts of times. Every time we come home we wash. Just before we eat we wash. After taking Little Miss potty I wash. After changing Mr Man's bum I wash. And the list goes on. And with the added bonus of it being winter my hands are like sandpaper! Poor husband has to hold sandpaper hands. It was getting so bad that the skin in between each finger was cracking and bleeding on a regular basis.

I found an old lotion sample, threw it in my purse, and started using it whenever I remembered. Aquaphor by Eucerin. Grease-fest! After leaving an entire hand print on the chiropractor table (so gross - I promised him it was lotion, not sweat) - I decided I would only use it right before bed. And a miracle happened - I woke up every morning with super soft hands that lasted almost the entire day. Too good to be true.

When my sample was out I went to wal-mart to buy more. But, stopped off at the baby aisle to grab some A&D bum cream for Mr Man first. You'll never guess what I saw there - Baby Aquaphor by Eucerin...bum cream?! Same bottle - all they did was add the "Baby". I took that bottle with me to the lotion aisle and compared ingredients...exactly the same! But, if purchased in bum cream form it was a lot cheaper.

So...every night I apply a nice slather of bum cream to my hands. =) No joke. My hands are super soft and surviving the winter great! I've even had a couple of people mention how soft my hands are - which hasn't happened f.o.r.e.v.e.r! Awesome.

That's my confession - I use bum cream on my hands as lotion. You should try it - you'll like it!

It's Never Too Early...

Currently, I'm awkwardly sitting sideways in our office chair - chair cannot be moved because it is wedged in between towers of moving boxes. And since typing sideways is...difficult to say the least. I'll make this short. Here is something I've been thinking about lately...(I planned on having cute pictures, but due to moving + a lovely bout of croup with the Little Miss you'll just have to imagine it...)

There are a couple of things it is never too early to start teaching your children...they are never too young to...

• Have manners! Even before Little Miss could talk we had her signing "please" and "thank you", I wouldn't give her things for fussing or grunting - she had to be polite. Yep, I'm that kind of mom. Judge away. Ever seen the movie "Raising Helen"? You should. It's a good flick. There is one scene where the preggo sister reprimands her unborn fetus for kicking her while "mommy is trying to talk". It's pretty much hilarious, and played by Joan Cusack. Go watch it - you'll love it!
• Have patience! Children should have patience. They don't need to feel entitled to everything they want right away and as their parents we can teach them this fairly easily at a very young age. Here's the trick - don't be quick to give them everything. "In a minute" is fine for a child to hear. Little Miss hears it too often apparently - she's started saying it to me. Which is also, hilarious.
• Know how to give mommy a backrub...I am very serious about this one. My back hurts after a long day of being mommy - plus I love backrubs. So...why not!? Here are 2 tricks to a good kid backrub...

1. A paint roller. We have a small one that Little Miss can easily grip and she is loving "painting" mommy's back. Super fun for her - feels good for me. It's a win-win. *insert cute picture here of Little Miss giving me a paint roller backrub*
2. Drawing pictures. When I was little my grandma would have us draw pictures on her back using our fingers and she would try to guess what we drew. For some reason she could never figure it out and would always ask us to do it again...smart lady. Love this game! Thank you grandma!

So, start teaching your children! And if you're wondering - paint rollers are super cheap at wal-mart! =)

Mint {Green} Oreo Cupcakes

This is the perfect St. Patrick's Day treat for the chocolate lover, the mint lover, the oreo lover....the lover of pretty food. My husband always teases me because I am slightly obsessed with food being appealing to the eye (I've watched food network one too many times). I love garnishing. Even just for the 2 of us. Anyway - this is also the perfect treat to make with kids!

Don't they look pretty? It get's better...

First start with some mint oreos - remove the tops and place cookie side down in a muffin tin lined with paper cups.

My new favorite cake mix is this butter recipe - it uses butter instead of oil and is so much better! Thick and creamy. Love it. One box of cake mix will yield about 28 cupcakes. Make according to box directions and cover up your naked oreos about 3/4 of the way full.

After baking - they'll look like this on the bottom.

...and this on the inside...

No cupcake is complete until frosted. First you'll need one cube butter and one 8 oz cream cheese - both room temperature. Beat together with a mixer until fluffy.

Next add 1 Tablespoon vanilla.

And about 1 lb powdered sugar - a cup at a time. About 4 cups. I think I added a little more to get the thicker consistency I wanted for piping on the frosting...

That's about thick enough...

And of course it has to be green for St Patrick's Day!

And done.

Make sure you have someone to help you lick the beaters - like a cute little girl still in her pajamas...whoever said cream cheese frosting wasn't good for breakfast?!

I used the largest cake decorating tip I had and piped on the frosting in swirling peaks.

But something was missing...oh yes. A dusting of fine oreo crumbs that I made out of the tops I took off originally. Placed in a food processor and voila. Beautiful and tasty!

Happy St Patricks Day!! Have fun with your kids!