Teacher gifts

With the school year coming to a close. I'm always looking for a nice, easy, affordable teacher's gift to thank Bubba's teachers for putting up with him (though I'm told he's an angel most days). Check these out:

What I did was take a washcloth that I knitted, fold it in a triangle and then wrap it around the top of a Dawn Dish soap that I picked up from the Dollar Tree. Who doesn't need dish soap or new wash cloths?

What are some of your ideas??

Chicken Stock

I love chicken stock. I mean seriously, I think there is something healing about it. It's just plain old yummy!

And the best part is, it's super easy to make. I mean, crazy easy. I take my bones, leftover from a chicken roaster or the $5 rotisserie chickens, toss them in the slow cooker, cover with water, turn on low, and let it sit for a day or 2. Strain, add more water and repeat. Seriously, I find that I can get about 4-5 slow cooker's worth of stock out of 1 set of bones. 

Talk about getting bang for your dollar. I freeze it in yogurt containers, then thaw when I'm ready to use. Our favorite application (other than soup) is for rice or Polenta....mmmmm.....Yep good stuff, and like no work.

Sometimes I even add my vegetable scraps to the slow cooker as time goes and I prep food at home. Onion ends, carrot peels and tops, celery pieces....the sky's the limit and it just adds to the flavor. This is one of my husband's favorite uses of the slow cooker. When we run out of stock he instantly asks when the next time we are having chicken it :) 

First Hair Cuts

As a mom of boys you wouldn't think this is a tough subject, but let me tell you. It's HARD. I mean the first hair cut is almost like a right of passage or something. I feel like after that haircut I move from mom of a baby to mom of a toddler, even if he has been toddling around for months now.

But seriously, the kid changes before your eyes. Trouble went from baby, with cute little baby curls, to toddler. I mean I think he grew about 4 inches. But it was time. The kid is almost 18 months old and I really put it off long enough.

Check out that curl!

Sooo much hair!

Moms of boys, how long do you put off haircuts? Am I just overly sentimental (I know I am, this is totally rhetorical).

Pancakes...

Bubba has a love of pancakes. Not just any pancakes...chocolate chip pancakes. I mean seriously. He LOVES them.

I wish I could say that he loves them because he love my recipe (I gave up pancake mix 5 years ago), but no. I know the truth. He's a chocoholic, just like his momma. Yep....Here is what happens when you go to change a diaper and turn your back for 5 minutes...okay 10, it was a pretty messy diaper.

Happy Monday friends. Hope you got a nice smile.

My pancake recipe. Mix each ingredient in the order listed then rest the pancake batter for 5-10 minutes (if you can wait that long):

1 cup sour milk or buttermilk
1 egg
1 T oil
1 c flour (1/3 wheat, 2/3 white)
1 T sugar
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt

Labels

So it's really important to read your food labels. Not just to know what is in your food. But to be aware of the portion size. I know this. I practice this. I've had a lot of success losing weight with this. But today in my haste I overlooked this small factor. Ahhh well. Wh

Snow Days

Snow Days. The bane of my existence. When did these days of childlike joy turn to dread?

When my child was enrolled in school.

I'm sure your asking yourself why? I mean my children are perfect angels all of the time, right?? Insert sarcastic laugh here.

I have learned to love and look forward to my afternoons with only one child at home (who naps most of the time). And as much as I truly LOVE my 4, almost 5, year old, I love him at school...He has a zest for life, and energy that sometimes just wears me down so quickly when we are cooped up in the house due to unfavorable road conditions. And heaven forbid I send him out in the neighborhood alone....a topic for another day.

That's one reason snow days in our house have been nicknamed Preschool Mom Days. I need to focus his energy on something positive. Not to mention I hate the idea of him losing an entire day (all 2.5 hours of it) of learning. Typically it's no where near as long as his normal preschool time, but I've found that he loves these set aside times. And this week he actually requested one of our activities, a repeat from last year.

Preschool Mom Days typically consist of a few different activities, some of them building on skills I know he is learning in the classroom. Cutting practice. Writing practice. Workbooks. Story books. Science experiments. Art projects. Baking cookies. All are fair game. I've found that Pinterest is my best friend on these intentional fun days.

Here are some highlights of our most recent Preschool Mom Day. Hopefully you could be inspired ;)

Popcorn Dancing

We mixed water with baking soda and added a few kernels of popcorn then added white vinegar and watch the magic happen. I was skeptical at first as the kernels didn't do anything, but once we tapped the sides of the container the kernels started dancing. Both Bubba and Trouble found it pretty interesting.














Writing Practice

This was fairly straight forward as we used a writing mat and he traced all the letters that he's learned in school thus far and the letters in his name. Just once, but that seemed to be enough and he was pretty proud of himself and enjoyed showing off his new skill.

Bathtub Art

We used shaving cream mixed with food coloring and just let the boys go to town, Bubba enjoyed this a little more that Trouble, but they both enjoyed the bath afterwards (a major perk for me). This was the requested messy activity.



How do you survive a Snow Day?