Flat Stanley

 

The school that I teach at has been participating in the Flat Stanley Project. Flat Stanley is a chapter book character that after becoming flat travels all over the world! At our school, we have been sending him to friends and family as well as well as some famous people that we know which has really opened our children's' eyes to many different professions as well as new experiences that they may not otherwise see or learn about. Its been alot of fun! We send Stanley to them and they take pictures with him and send them back to us with a letter or description. If you are interested in participating, then send me an email through this blog and I will give you the contact information you will need!

Much Love,

B

January 17, 2016
        It's been a while since I posted, over the past year a lot has happened that has kept me away from the blog. 
       Professionally, I kept teaching, blogging, doing PR with a tabloid, and such. Teaching always keeps me busy and there is never any downtime. 
     Personally my son was born and was growing and get more rotten everyday.. :-)  I also suffered an injury that landed me in the hospital and then resulted in some life-long medical issues. I'm doing pretty good now, still have my moments but I am walking, working, and moving through life so I am ok with that! It is progress.
   My goals are to get back on track and start focusing on all the fun I was having before. Thanks for hanging with me.

Much Love,
B

Snow Days...

      So I am always saying how I never have enough time, but honestly in the past 2 weeks I have been home more than I have been out. The snow has been absolutely out of control and my kids have had 6 snow days and one 2 hour delay. Our crazy "never standing still" kind of life has come to a screeching snowy halt. It's actually a bit strange to me and I'm now trying to come up with activities to keep the kiddos busy. Feel free to add your own ideas in the comment section below.
 
 
   Activity 1: Build an indoor fort. Remember when we were growing up and we would take couch cushions and sheets to stretch across chairs? We had so much fun and you know your own kids would have a blast building it and playing in it. Here's a link: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/31314159885403343/




Activity 2: Let's play in some glow in the dark bath water! This is a very safe activity using the wonderful properties of tonic water. They can have lots of fun whether they are in the water actually taking a bath or playing with a variety of water toys... glow in the dark makes everything more fun!  Click the link to see more. :-)  http://www.funathomewithkids.com/2013/08/safe-and-edible-glow-water-for-baths.html













Activity 3: Play Tic Tac Toe.... Giant Style!  Take any color duct tape and tape down a board on your floor and then use paper plates upside down as the game pieces. This is a simple game, that when it is enlarged, it can be even more fun!

Activity 4: Make rocket balloons! You first need to tie of some string from one chair to another and feed two straws on each string. Each person will then blow up a balloon (do not tie it) and tape the straw to the balloon. On the count of 3, they will release the balloons and see who wins.. :-) I think this is a lot of fun!

Much Love,
B

Happy New Years 2015!!!!

It's soon going to be 2015! Can you believe it? I don't know about you, but with all the things going on in my family's life, 2014 seems like it blew by. This time of year is a great time to celebrate with friends and family and to enjoy the company of others, but with everything that has going on... I was shocked to realize there are only 3 days left until New Years Eve...YIKES!!!! I know what you are thinking. How can I even begin to put together a great event in this little of time? Keep reading and I will do my best to share some of my ideas that I have come up with or been given in the past couple years. :-)

First the Invite:

With the limited amount of time, you can't go too crazy on the invite. I would suggest sending out via Facebook or email. This will send a lot faster than traditional snail mail, but just because you are going the email or Facebook route, does not mean it needs to be any less fabulous. ;-) One great website that can turn your amazing photos into great invites is www.picmonkey.com you can take a very cool photo of champagne in glasses (ok... for a picture apple juice will do) into a FABULOUS invite. This is simple, but FABULOUS! 

Fabulous Invite

The Theme:

The theme for your party will really show how much thought you truly put into your party. Just because we need a few extra minutes in our day and got a late start does not mean our guests need to know that. To come up with a theme you need to know what type of party you are looking for. Is it kid friendly, fabulous and sophisticated, or something entirely different? Once you know, I can lead you in the right direction. :) 

NYC Theme: This is a fun and exciting theme all centered around NYC and NYE. :-) You can even play off the theme of the NYC TAXi as your centerpieces. 

All That Glitters: Girls love glitter and you can never get enough glitter! You can really demonstrate this by what you glitter and how it is displayed. In this case as a centerpiece bottles were covered in gold glitter. They don't even have to be champagne bottles. (They are being used as centerpieces and the glitter will cover the labels.) 

Masquerade: Everyone  loves a little mask and a little mystery. You can get masks at any party store and they doll them up or fancy them up into what you want in the colors that you want. Your guests will be excited about this one! 

Food: What kind of food would you want at your party and that won't take too long to prepare? Below I have posted some delicious and FABULOUS foods for you to add to your party! :-)

Rock Candy in your drink...pretty and tasty 

Clock Cookies with a little surprise...

Cookies and Milk.....

Sparkling Cotton Candy (Alcohol can be substituted).....

Salted Chocolate Oranges.....

Mushroom Pinwheels.....

NYE for Kids.....

These are just a few of my favorite ideas!!!  If you have any you would like to share you can post the comment and a link to the picture below!  :-) 

Thanks for reading!

Much Love,

B

Halloween is Coming Part 2

    As Halloween creeps upon us.. I feel a bit of panic setting in. My kids don't have ther costumes yet for the all important trick or treat.
    Every years since my children have been able to talk they have picked out their own costumes. Although I am very crafty and creative and I even try and pretend to be a "Jack of all Trades" kind of mother, I don't always have time to whip up a costume. So some of their costumes over the years  have been homemade but I must admit that the majority of them have been store bought.oh no... I can hear the shreeks of disapproval and the nodding of the head beginning. If I had the time...say and an extra five minutes... I would so be whipping up the best costumes you have ever seen.... but with the week I spent in the hospital, the lack of time, and oh yeah... just having a chaotic life... the Halloween store is going to be my best friend this year. :-)
     For those of you who are in the same boat as me and would like some ideas for your costumes, I am going to post a few goodies.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Halloween is coming.... PART 1

I love Halloween! I love the chance to create amazing treats and gifts for my children. I know that public schools don't all support candy and/or holidays, but in our family we also participate in extra curricular activities such as cheer. These types of activities also can give "eager to create mothers" another opportunity to have fun with Halloween. I recall about 6 years ago when we started cheer and my oldest child was about 4, some wonderful cheer moms decided to create a Halloween extravaganza for our "Tiny Tot Cheerleaders".

   This was my first opportunity to surf the web for really unique ideas for the kids! I was also lucky because this year there was only 6 kids on the team to create for. The "food craft" that I created was an orange jack-o-lantern. It was a simple concept...but there was a lot of effort involved. You take an orange and cut the top off, then scrape out the insides, and then cut a face. I used mine as a pudding cup and filled them up with pudding. you could fill them up with fruit, candy, or even treats.

Again, I repeat, these are a simple concept and adorable, but they are time-consuming and if you have a lot of children to prepare for, I might suggest preparing them again and freezing.






Another cute idea which is much less time-consuming would be the chocolate lollipops. You can buy the molds at any candy/cake supply store and the chocolate disks that you melt down are found pretty much anywhere including Walmart. These will go over very well whether it is at school or at an after school activity.

Once you are almost done with the cute crafts.... what are you going to put them in? The basket or container can be almost as important as what you put in them. For my daughter cheer team, I tied the whole gift together with a Halloween themed cheer bow. A little sparkle never hurt anyone. ;-)

WHAT TO WEAR.???    
PART 2 Coming soon...

To Coupon or Not To Coupon...

   I don't know about you, but I love the couponing show "Extreme Couponing" It's soo awesome how they accumulate all those coupons, they coordinate all of their transactions down to the penny, and they are so driven and get hundreds and hundreds of dollars of free groceries! I feel so inspired after watching that show. I go online search for all the deals get my Sunday paper...and then the sound of screeching tires goes off in my head and I realize, I don't have enough time. I think the longest I went was 3 weeks, but in most cases I make it through one shopping trip and then the coupons start expiring or I just forget about it all together. I have good intentions (I even bought myself a little plastic tub to hold all my coupons) I want to  do it and I know how to do it, but it is soooo time consuming. I work 40+ hours a week, I tutor, I have 3 kids, and I run my kids in the evenings to their cheer practices. When I feel like I have a few moments.. I just want to "veg out" and not organize or search for coupons.  Am I a BandWagon Couponer (if there is such a thing)?  If you are like my and you want to get out of that couponing rut, I have compiled a couple ideas for you. :-) Tell me what you think!

Much Love,

B

http://www.blissfulanddomestic.com/2012/03/31-days-to-yumminess-grocery-shopping.html?showComment=1342681248761

http://www.couponing101.com/a-beginners-guide-to-couponing/

http://thecouponproject.com/how-to-use-coupons-keeping-your-coupons-organized/

http://thekrazycouponlady.com/2010/09/24/how-to-start-your-coupon-binder-this-ones-for-you-kathie-lee/

http://www.pennypinchinmom.com/getting-started-on-penny-pinchin-mom/keeping-those-coupons-organized/

http://www.tlc.com/tv-shows/extreme-couponing