Ants on a Lily Pad

In my quest for eating healthier and teaching my children to make wise food/snack choices, Simon came up with this tasty treat.  He calls it....

Ants on a Lily Pad!

Very simple to make and oh so yummy!  One plain rice cake, a bit of peanut butter spread on top and then raisins(ants) sprinkled over.  This has become a requested favorite of the kids. 

Making Sugar Scrubs

This was a first for us.  We made several different kinds of sugar scrubs yesterday for Teacher's Appreciation Day and Mother's Day gifts.  Simon wanted to help.  Here we all with all our ingredients and containers.

 Mixing it up and being silly.  I told Simon, he could make this up for his girlfriend one day!! :)  He looked at me as if I was a crazy woman! lol

 A few short minutes later, we had our first batch completed!! 

 The dark scrub is Brown Sugar-n-Spice Scrub.  The white one is Peppermint Glimmer Sugar Scrub.  The light brown is Coconut Sugar Scrub.  They were fast an easy to make. 

 Here they are all packaged, labeled and ready to gift.

 For those interested in trying this at home...

~PEPPERMINT GLIMMER SUGAR SCRUB~

1 cup oil (I was out of olive oil and used canola)

several drops of peppermint oil (you can find this in the candle/soap making supplies at a craft store)

2 cups white sugar

Mix up and put into an air tight container.  To use, simply scoop a teaspoon or so in your hands, scrub in a circular motion on your skin.  Let in sit for a few minutes and rinse well.  Pat or air dry.  Makes your skin feel wonderful!!

 ~COCONUT SUGAR SCRUB~

1 cup olive oil

2-3 cups of organic cane sugar (if you want a drier sugar scrub use closer to 3 cups.  Using 2 cups will produce a more moist scrub)

several drops of coconut oil

Follow the same directions as above. :)

 ~BROWN SUGAR-n-SPICE SCRUB~

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup organic cane sugar

2 tsp. cinn.

2 tsp. nutmeg

2 tsp. ginger

1 cup olive oil

Mix and package the same as above.

 I also made some using almond oil along with the coconut oil scents.  The variations on making these scrubs are endless!!!  It also is an easy project for kids to help with.  Just remind them NOT TO EAT the scrub!!! :)



Chocolate Chips on the floor....I think NOT!!

A short story.........

Mommy goes into the kitchen and a 10 year old boy comes running out of the music room.  His mouth is STUFFED full of something.  She asks what it is….the boy holds up a finger suggesting she wait until he has finished chewing up his food.  This makes the mommy slightly perturbed.  He can talk with his mouth full of food any other time.  She is suspicious of WHAT is in her son's mouth.  She demands that he tell her NOW!!! 

“It’s just a few chocolate chips.” The boy tells his mommy. 

“WHERE, did you find them?” asks the mom. 

The guilty looking boy replies, “I found them on the floor.”  

Hmmmmm…..methinks the boy did NOT find them on the floor!!  Finally the truth comes out.  The boy had been hiding a bag of chocolate chips in the attic stairwell.  This makes mommy mad and sad!!!  Punishment follows and the sneaky boy is sent to his room.  Apparently he worked on this sweet card of apology and placed it in his mommy’s kitchen where he was so sure she would find it later that evening.  She did not.  This made the boy very sad. 

He thought to himself, "What kind of mom doesn't find the apology note from her son?" 

For you see, the VERY sorry boy put it right outside her music studio where she would see it the minute she finished teaching lessons.

The mommy found the sweet card during the day while the boy was at school.  It made her smile.  She thanked her son on the way home from school later.  He was glad she finally found it and has no more plans to hide chocolate chips EVER again!!

 This was ALL the money he had leftover after Christmas shopping for his brothers, sister & Daddy!

The same evening the chocolate chips went missing(and before I knew he had made me such a sweet card), Simon sewed his sister a nightgown for her doll.  He did a great job!!  Although I'll have to admit, I was just a bit scared when he used my serger for the first time!!!  Callie was beside herself with excitement for she knew that Simon was making her a Christmas gift and she wasn't allowed in the room! :) 

Here is Simon, with the Christmas gift he made for his sister.  She's going to LOVE it!!!

My 2 Birthday Boys!!!

It's BIRTHDAY time in our home!!!!  Seth turned 12 on Saturday.  Simon turned 10 today.  We celebrated Seth's 12th. birthday with my parents and Duane's dad over bowls of steaming chili and garlic bread.  A cake dubbed 'Ft. Candy' was served along with scoops of vanilla ice cream.  The evening was topped off with a special phone call via Skype from Richard and Sarah over in the Philippines!!!!  Seth had a wonderful birthday and was very happy with his special day.  It's hard to believe that my firstborn is 12 already.  He is almost as tall as me.

 The birthday boy with his candy cake.  This was a BIG hit with the kids and oh soooo very easy to make!!!

God has special plans for Seth.  I'm sure of this.  He spared Seth's life last January when he was in a terrible sledding accident which resulted in him being lifeflighted to another hospital.  It was a very scary time for all of us.  He still has some more procedures to go through, but has healed up so wonderfully.  We are greatful for everyone's prayers that got us through that ordeal.

Seth is a very sensitive, caring and loving boy growing up into a teen.  He loves to draw, play war games, set up his huge army men/tanks/etc.... toys, and talk and talk and talk your ear off!!!

 The camera went off right before the last candle went out!!

 Walkie talkies from grandpa & grandma, a giant dark chocolate(his favorite kind) candy bar from Callie & Samuel, an army gun from Simon, A kettlebell and workout DVD from his parents.  Yep, he ASKED for weights for his birthday.  He told me he wants to start working out!!!!  I bought him a 5 lb. kettlebell to start out with and bought a slightly heavier one for myself.  I figure we can work out together!!!  We are already runnning 3 times a week at the track.  Hopefully I can keep this up and get back in shape!!!

 Simon got a gift from grandpa & grandma at Seth's party.  He got an Ultrimatrix that he had been wanting for a loooooong time.  He was SUPER excited!!!

 I love the gifts my father-in-law chooses for the kids each year.  This year it was......

 a GIANT tub of fudge swirl ice cream and a box of ice cream cones!!!  It was very YUMMY!!!

 This child LOVES to pose for the camera.  She's a natural at it.  Don't know who she takes after!!!  Definitely NOT her mommy!! :)

 After seeing his brother, Seth's cake on Saturday, Simon put in a requst for a candy cake.  He wanted Hershey bars, Reese Cups & Kit-Kats.  Another super-easy birthday cake made.

 Can someone PLEASE tell me what blogger did??  I can't rotate my pictures anymore!!!  Grrr...

 Simon had 3 friends over today for his birthday.  The deal is on their 10th. birthday they get to invite 3 friends over for a party.  Simon has eagerly been awaiting the arrival of this day!!!!! :)

 I made up a treasure hunt with 10 clues inside and outside the house.  The boys loved it!!

 The treasure was 'buried' in the sandbox.

 Dividing up the treasure.

 Don't laugh at my hastily drawn car drawn seconds before flying out the door to pick the kids up from school.  Simon came up with this game.  It was "Pin the WHEEL on the car"!!  I thought it was a cute idea, just needed someone with a little more artistic ability to pull it off!! :)

 Opening up a gift from Callie & Samuel--spiderman pajamas.

 More Garfield books to add to his collection.

 He saw this battery-powered Bubble Gun at the Balloon Festival this summer.  They were $10!!!  I said, "NO WAY!!!"  I picked this one up for .87 cents in the Summer Clearance!!!  Gotta love waiting for something to go on sale!!!  This was from Seth.

 Cards and money from his friends.

 An Xbox game he had asked months ago for.  I found it on Amazon.  It came in the mail and Daddy hands the package to Simon to give to me.  I nearly had a heart attack thinking he was going to guess what it is!!!  He was curious about it, but didn't ask too many questions, thankfully!!! :)

 The boys each made their own personal pizza up.  I overheard them talking about how 'this was the best pizza they had ever eaten'!!!  Another one says, "That's because we made it ourselves!!"

 My second-born son turned 10 today!!  He is a very easy-going boy.  Loves Garfield books, playing xbox, playing with friends outside & telling jokes!

 After the last guest had left, and the last party item, dish was washed.  This is what I did to relax.  I sewed Callie a new nightgown!!!  I thought it was fitting to sew up some cupcake flannel fabric I had on Simon's birthday!!  I have been seeing tops with square necklines.  I've never put one on anything and decided tonight was the night I was going to figure it out.  Soooo, without a pattern, I figured out how to put a square neckline on a garment!!  YIPEE!!!!  I was afraid it would turn out terrible so I decided to try on out on a nightgown.  I figured if it turned out awful, no-one would ever see it(except us here at home) and I wouldn't be wasting my good knit fabric. 

 A close-up of the neckline. 

 She insisted on a picture with her eyes closed!! Silly girl....

 Oh I wish my pictures were rotated.  Blogger did this to them and I can't for the life of me figure out how to fix them......

She wanted a loooooooooooong nightgown so she could be a princess.  This one is long all right!!!  I'm sure it will still fit her next winter!! :)  This should keep her nice and warm all winter long. 

 Another one that you'll have to turn your computer around to see.  That's why I LOVE having a laptop.  It's easily turned. 

Simon wanted to read Callie her bedtime story tonight.  I tried to get a picture, but they both dove under the covers. 

I had to beg them to let me take their picture.  Simon said it was okay as long as no-one saw the book he was reading.  Callie's bedtime story selections usually range from Dora the Explorer, to Strawberry Shortcake and other princess stories.  Definitely NOT a 10 year old boys' reading choice.  I thought it was nice of Simon to read her several books tonight and wanted to remember the moment. :)

And if you got this far, I thank you very much for allowing me to share with you my kids' b-day parties and sewing for Callie.  :)