Kid's Snack- Jello Slices

This is a neat little twist on jello that my daughter LOVES, and is also super easy.

Start with your favorite jello flavor, and a few oranges.  At snack time the day before you plan on serving the jello slices, cut the oranges in half and scoop the orange out with a spoon, leaving  the peel in tact-you can even leave a few chunks of orange in them.  Make up the box of jello, and instead of pouring the liquid into serving dishes, pour them in the hollowed, half-orange peels, and cool.  After a day, take them out of the fridge and slice them up.

For a fun little twist, use lime peels and pink,watermelon jello.  Then, when you slice and serve the treat, it looks like little tiny slices of watermelon.

Vacation With Alex

Well, this year Alex had her very first family vacation.  She's taken trips to Grandma's in the past, but I always had to stay home due to work.  Well, this summer, we decided to take a wonderful vacation, Alex, myself, and Grandma, to the beach.  It was Alex's very first time at the beach, but that wasn't all!  We didn't go to just ANY beach, we went to Chincoteague Island.  And, right over the bridge from Chincoteague is Assateague-home of the wild ponies!!
The trip was GREAT!  After the long car ride(and several times of Alex getting restless) we made it to the hotel to unload all of our luggage.  She couldn't wait to go to the beach, and we hadn't even told her about the ponies yet!  So she was very surprised on the short trip to the beach when she saw a herd of wild ponies along side of the road.
And when we made it to the beach, she couldn't hold her excitement in!  The sand was almost overwhelming to her, and the crashing waves and seagulls put her over the top!
On our vacation, Alex built sandcastles, hunted for seashells, learned to swim in the hotel's swimming pool(without floaties!) and how to boogie board.  We fed seagulls, looked for crabs off the dock, dug for clams(but only the little ones that get uncovered with the waves), and went to the Pony Round-Up carnival.  All in all, it was an amazing vacation.  I hope you enjoy some of our vacation pictures!!

Building Sand Castles

CANNON BALL!!!

Playing in the Waves

Assateague Ponies

Seashell Hunting

Good Morning Seagull

Boogie Boarding

Kid's Snack- S'mores Milkshakes!!!

When I think of summer, one of the first things that I think about is spending time outside, with campfires being on the very top of the list.  And what's a campfire without s'mores?!  Add in the summer classic of a milkshake, and you have an amazing snack you and your kids are sure to love!

This recipe is done in estimates.  I have never used a set recipe for this, which gives you the opportunity to add/subtract to your own preference.

What You'll Need:
Milk
Vanilla Ice Cream
Graham Crackers
Marshmellow Fluff
Chocolate Syrup
Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar
Blender

First, take a few scoops of ice cream and put them in the blender, with about a cup of milk and blend it well.  Add more ice cream to make your shake thicker, and more milk to make it thinner.
After blending your shake, take three graham crackers, crush them up very fine, and add them to the blender.  Then, add a few spoon fulls of marshmellow fluff.  Blend this very well.  Now, you add the chocolate syrup-just a little squirt.  Crush half of the chocolate bar very well, and add it as well.  Blend again for a few minutes, and serve.

Ideally, the marshmellow fluff will kind of stay separate, and the chocolate pieces will add a nice little chocolatey crunch.  Enjoy!

Feel free to add reviews on this recipe, or give your own variations in the comments.

Kid's Craft- Shoe Planters

This is a fun activity that helps merge from winter and spring into summer, recycling some of the old shoes that won't be of any use next year when your kids have outgrown them.

Simple and easy

-Take your child's old shoes from winter and spring, or any shoes that they have outgrown.  We used my daughter's old crocs, but you can also use old boots or sneakers.

-Fill the child's shoe losely with potting soil, and add a flower that will stay small.  We used Impatients.

-Find a nice spot out in the yard, by the front door, or along a walkway to keep the flowers. You can even hang the new planters from a wall, a fence post, or a doorway. Make sure that they are in a spot where they will recieve adequate sunlight for the type of flower that you have chosen, and that you keep them watered as well.

-Sit back and enjoy your new decor that your children will love.  You can even let them water them as needed.

Valentine's Day Meal Ideas

Kids love celebrating, no matter what the occasion.  Here are some meal ideas that will help make Valentine's Day extra special for you and your little one.

Breakfast- This one is as easy as adding an extra ingredient to your pancake mix- food coloring.  A few drops of red(to make pink),or some red and blue(for purple) will spruce up your special breakfast from yum to YUMMMMM!!!!  Add fruit and whipped cream on top for an added touch(Alex loves strawberries).  If you don't want to use food coloring, take a heart-shaped cookie cutter to your finished pancakes.  These tiny little touches mean the world to kids!

Lunch- Our favorite Valentine's lunch is as simple as sandwiches!  Make your child's favorite sandwich, and use a heart shaped cookie cutter and make adorable heart sandwiches!  I always take the extra pieces for myself!  Serve it with a nice glass of strawberry milk(pink for V-Day).

Dinner- Let your child pick his or her FAVORITE dinner.  Decorate the table with all the hearts that you can.  Buy confetti(if your child is old enough to not try and eat it) and scatter it around the table.  Cut out paper hearts and on each one put a reason why you love your child.  You can read them to your child as they eat.  Also, encourage your child to talk about who he or she loves, and what makes that person special to them. 

These ideas may seem cheesy, or boring to you, but you would be surprised at how much this will mean to your little ones!

RIP-Bernard

So, yesterday while myself and Alex were holding our beloved rat, Bernard, the dog attacked him, causing serious internal injury.  He was ultimately put to sleep. 

This was Alex's first real dealing with death, and let me tell you, it was hard on both of us.  I am heartbroken over the loss of my baby, but what made it worse?  Seeing Alex heart broken over it.  She keeps crying over him still today.  I keep telling her that he's in rat heaven, and I taught her how to pray to him.  I explained to her how wonderful rat heaven is, and that he is going to live there forever.  Nothing helps. 

So now, dear Bernard is laid to rest under a beautiful tree in our back yard, which I plan to plant flowers over.  Here's to Bernard- you will be missed little buddy.

In Memory of Caylee Marie

There are many horrible things that have to do with this story, but let's all remember the darling little angel whose life was lost.  Let us remember darling little Caylee Marie.

This song was written for Caylee