A little girl's dream... to have a royal dinner with the Disney Princesses. We spent a week stomping all over Walt Disney World in Florida creating many wonderful memories. One highlight of our experience was dinning in Cinderella's Castle and getting to meet the Princesses. Each girl (except my nine year old who was not interested) picked out the princess dress of her choice for the occasion. This really added to the fun and splendor of the night.
When we returned home from our vacation we decided it would be fun to have Grace, my oldest be chef to her princess sisters. Grace selected her recipes from her crockpot cookbook (click here Kids In the Kitchen) and prepared her appetizer, entree and dessert. She then served us all and we enjoyed a Royal dinner at home in our "castle". What fun it was to have a wonderful memory extend into our "common" lives.
Princesses ready for their Royal dinner of Garden Salad, Creamy Lasagna, and Apple Crisp Ala mode for dessert.
We got to enjoy our vacation with cousins.
Two of my princesses dressed in commoners clothes in front of Cinderella's Castle.
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I have four kids... that translates to mean I am the keeper and maintainer of 80 finger nails and toe nails (not including my own)! I remember when I was pregnant with my third child and it dawning on me jut how many fingers and toes I needed to keep manicured... oh man! I should have gotten my manicurist license!
We are headed off on a child's dream vacation (and a child at heart like myself) to Walt Disney World. I had the bright idea to paint each of my girls finger nails and toes and adorn them with a Mickey Mouse head. Remember I do not have my manicurist license so do not judge the appearance of my girls nails. Thankfully to my girls they do not look like black hearts, but rather Mickey Mouse and that is all that counts.
What I used to create Mickey Mouse:
Nail Polish
Q-tip with the cotton taken off the end
Toothpick with the pointed tip cut off
What I did:
I first painted the nail the color of my daughter's choice
Then once the nail was dry, I put black paint on the end of the bald Q-tip. I used this for Mickey's head. Then I put black paint on the end of the cut off toothpick for Mickey's ears.
There you have it. Very easy to make Mickey... um for a professional or a talented person like yourself. I have very happy girls who are all the more excited about their Disney Vacation! Just a bit of added extra fun!
So many girls... so many backpacks! Two and two and who is who? With four little girls and two of each kind of backpack I knew I needed a simple way of telling the bags apart. As well as for even the youngest child who can not yet read, to identify her own bag.
I had a bigger plan in my head as to how I would decorate backpack tags, but true to form, I ran out of time and needed something fast and easy!
Here is what I came up with.
I went back to my old friend Microsoft Word and came up with this very simple and easy tag. I used my girls initials, since these are for travel and I just do not want their names on their bags. I had each child choose their own picture to help them identify quickly and easily which is their bag.
Then I found these self laminating tags in the travel section at Target. It was $5.00 for a box of four.
They turned out cute for as easy as this ended up being.
A wonderful friend of mine and her mom surprised me with a gift for our little baby boy! I was so touched and blessed by their thoughtfulness toward us as well as their excitement for our first boy! I just love what they made for me! I wanted to share it with all of you for ideas and inspiration. Either for your own little one or as a gift. Let me tell you, your recipient will be thrilled and blessed, just as I was!
A darling blanket made from two different flannel fabrics. I can just picture our little boy putting this to use. Adorable!
Matching burp clothes... how fun is that!
Love it! I know this will be a favorite of our little boy! All those ribbons to grab on to and cover them with slobber! I can not wait!
What a joy and blessing to have this surprise package at my doorstep! It just makes the fact that we are having a boy (uncharted territory for our family) all the more real! Thank you to my beautiful friend and her beautiful mom! Pin It Now!
I love having my kids in the kitchen with me... most of the time. Sometimes I just need to get dinner on the table after a full day of non stop demands and mishaps with out added extra stress. I knew that the ideal scenario for me to have my kids cook dinner with me, is easy and early. Not at the end of the day when everyone is hungry, tired and needs my attention. When dare I say... my patience is low.
A while back I began searching for a good, EASY cookbook for kids. I really wanted a cookbook that did not require my kids, who are still very young to be over a hot stove or opening a hot oven. My ideal book would be recipes for the Crockpot. I was so thrilled when I came across this kids cookbook on one of our outings to the bookstore. The moment I opened it I knew I had found exactly what I had been desiring. The recipe instructions are easy for a child to read and understand. The pictures on the pages are not cluttered and overwhelming. The ingredients are not strange but rather kid friendly and adult appetizing as well. Recipes that my kids could make for the whole family to enjoy for dinner. Recipes that are made early in the day and ready when everyone is hungry! Fabulous!
I not only want my kids to have fun dumping ingredients in a bowl, I want the time they spend in the kitchen to be rich with learning. From measuring out ingredients to the responsibility of cleaning up, I want my kids to learn the joy of serving others. Each child has a turn to learn to be the servant of all when it is her day to be the family chef. That child is the one who prepares the meal, sets the table, fills the drinks, serves each person and helps clean up when dinner is done. The joy and pleasure my children have in doing this, is a great reminder to me that is the attitude I too need to maintain in my heart! Meal time does not just have to be one more task required of us as parents, but rather one more opportunity to teach our children the joy of serving others.
Grace chose to make a Taco dish that was not only easy it was yummy! As you can see she chose to serve dinner on paper plates... smart girl! Easy clean up!
Since I have more than one Crockpot, we decided it would be fun to have Grace make dinner in one and dessert in the other. For dessert she choose a Gooey Chocolate Cake that was oh so gooey good! The cake was warm, topped with vanilla ice cream that melted in and added to the yummy factor!
Does this picture make you want to purchase a cookbook for your kiddos?
Here is just a little something I have been up to. Only a peek though since I am still in the process and there is much to be done. See if you can guess where this is taking place.
In a previous post I painted this ugly school shelf I have. Notice that the closet is painted in the color that is found throughout my home. Not a bad color, just not my choice. When we bought our house, every wall and closet had a fresh coast of paint... all the same paint, this paint. Slowly I am changing that. The room this closet is in has been painted by me now three times, the closet obviously remained untouched. Thank goodness! Even though the space is small the job was back bending, even the ceiling was painted!
I painted the room blue, painted the shelf and just could NOT live with the closest unpainted any longer! I was unsure if I would have enough blue paint left over from painting the room. I sure did not want to buy more, so I got creative. The kids bathroom is different shade of blue and I definitely have enough of that paint. So it was worth taking a chance. I also thought having the closet a different color would not overpower the room with so much blue!
Now doesn't that look better?
It was definitely worth bending my back for. The blues look nice together... what a relief!
Remember... just a peek! Did you guess what room this is? Check back for more!
Here is a closet that finally was refreshed with a coat of paint. Such a simple thing but it really made a big difference. .
This is the closet in the kids bathroom. A bathroom used by four soon to be five kids! I knew I had to come up with some sort of order for whose towel is whose, without spending a ton in monogramming. I just needed to be creative with what I already had.
So I reduced the amount of towels for the kiddos to two or three towels a person. I assigned a different towel color to each child. Then I made hanging color coded labels for easy reference of whose towel is whose. Easy even for daddy to keep things running smooth.
For now, again using what I already had available, I put labels on bins for simple easy, no excuse here is where "this" item goes organization. I even started a bin for the new baby to hold all those little things baby needs, like nail clippers, lotion etc. Eventually I will replace the bins with something a little more attractive, but for now it gets the job done.
I have found a start toward better organization is better than waiting until things are exactly, perfectly how I picture and hope them to be.
Once again using Word I made a double sided tag and then sealed it with contact paper. Using ribbon I already had and hooks I had from a picture hanging kit, I hung the tags. I drilled small holes into the shelf and then twisted the hook into place.
My girls just love getting into all their hair bows to do their dolls hair. The result has been missing bows and a drawer destroyed of any organization by little hands. I chose to hang their bows inside the closet. I used a mug hook left over from our Personalized Chore Charts (click here). I drilled a small hole into the wall, stuck the mug hook through the top of a ribbon and then twisted the hook into the wall.
So far my system is working great! No more wondering who forgot to hang up their towel and finger pointing from one child to another of who to culprit was.
A little girl's dream... to have a royal dinner with the Disney Princesses. We spent a week stomping all over Walt Disney World in Florida creating many wonderful memories. One highlight of our experience was dinning in Cinderella's Castle and getting to meet the Princesses. Each girl (except my nine year old who was not interested) picked out the princess dress of her choice for the occasion. This really added to the fun and splendor of the night.
