Purpose

This blog is for all moms of young children who want to keep things fresh in your home . . . new ways to spend time with your kids, recipes, books, helpful websites, etc. Being a mom is fun but sometimes it's hard! Whether you are a mother working outside the home or inside the home my hope is this blog makes your role as a mother easier and helps keep you and your children engaged!

Friday, October 28, 2011

Great Books for Your Children

I am slightly obsessed with books and activities for my kids, and love learning about new resources (which is why I started this blog in the first place - so that I could share anything I learn with all of you and spread the love).  I went to MOPS the other day, and my table leader, Martha Cox, brought her library of books (I think there were about a hundred) and went through several of them and shared highlights from some of the books.  They ranged from science and math books, to character building and Bible stories/devotionals.  She loves books and teaching her children as well, and spent many hours researching the best books she could find.  It was truly impressive, and I have already purchased some of the books she recommended.  I put the others on an Amazon wish list for Christmas ideas.  :)  I am adding a tab with all of the books she recommended on my blog simply due to the fact that it was so impressive.  The list was 3 pages long.  Additionally, she recommended some avenues to get books at a minimal cost. 

1.  Use the library and netflix for educational DVDs (ex. - Bill Nye the Science Guy)
2.  Interlibrary Loan - a resource where you can request any book on-line and have it shipped to your library for free.
3.  Amazon!  Get an Amazon mom account.  http://wwww.amazon.com/gp/mom/signup/info

As I start going through the books she has recommended, I will let you know what I think!

Monday, October 17, 2011

New Recipe!

I find that 4 out of 5 new recipes I make aren't that great, but there are a few that do actually come out kinda good.  Tonight I made a version of "Turkey and Vegetable Chow Fun" but I didn't have any ground turkey so I substituted ground beef, and I couldn't find Japanese eggplant at the store so I left that out.  It was quite yummy!  Here is the recipe:

12oz fettuccine
2 t toasted sesame oil
1/4 C oyster sauce
2T rice vinegar (not seasoned)
3 T vegetable oil
4 oz mixed mushrooms cut into pieces (about 1 cup)
2 cloves of garlic chopped (I used 3)
3/4 lb ground turkey (I used 1 lb of ground beef)
1 bunch of scallions, sliced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped (i left this out figuring it would be too much green for my kids)
Sriracha or other Asian chile sauce for serving (optional - I used a chile garlic sauce that was DELICIOUS and you can find it in the Asian section of grocery store)

Bring pot of salted water to boil.  Add the noodles and cook as labeled.  Reserve 1 1/4 C of cooking water, and then drain and rinse the noodles.  Transfer to large bowl and toss with 1 t sesame oil.  Mix oyster sauce and vinegar in a cup and set aside. 

Heat 2 T vegetable oil in large skillet over high heat.  Add mushrooms and cook til wilted, 1 minute.  Push veggies to one side and add the remaining 1 T vegetable oil.  Add garlic and cook 30 seconds.  Add turkey and stir fry until cooked through (I cooked the turkey/beef separately and then tossed it in at this stage), about 3 minutes.  Stir turkey and veggies together.  Add scallions and half of the oyster sauce mixture and cook 1 more minute. 

Add noodles, 1 cup of the reserved cooking water and the remaining oyster sauce mixture and 1 t sesame oil.  Stir fry until heated through, 1 to 2 minutes, adding more cooking water as needed to loosen.  Top with cilantro and serve with Sriracha if needed.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Halloween Food and Games

So this past weekend we celebrated my daughter's 2nd bday, and since we had a bunch of big kids coming to the party (since she doesn't really have her own friends yet), we decided to go with a fun Halloween theme.  We made a bunch of Halloween food and played some fun Halloween games.  Here are some pics in case you are interested in trying these for your own party!

crooked teeth! (Apple slice with almonds)

brain cupcakes!

eyeball cupcakes!

salty bones

closer look at some spider cupcakes

edible eyeballs!

digging for edible boogers and eyeballs in the spaghetti noodles - EWWWWW!


We did a few other games and it was a lot of fun!  We gave out prizes for the games that I got in the dollar bins at Target - they had so many!!  Good times!

Have a Science Fan?

My 6 year old has claimed he is going to be a scientist for about the last 3 years, and absolutely loves to do science projects. Today was a day off due to Columbus day, and so we spent the afternoon on science! He got a kit called "Mind Blowing Science" for Christmas last year and we hadn't gotten around to using it yet, and we did several of those projects today (there were 12 in the kit). Check out the pic fro his volcano:

and the pic from making corn starch "goo"

and a pic of the box in case you are interested in it


He loved doing these experiements and they were actually pretty cool!  This would be a great Chirstmas gift for your 5 - 7 year old if they are into science.  :)


Saturday, October 8, 2011

Supporting a Cause

This morning our family participated in a walk for Alzheimers. This was just a 1 mile walk so the whole family could do it, and my grandfather died of the disease so the family could also relate to it. I think this is a great way to get the younger ones thinking outside of themselves a bit and come to more of an understanding about what it means to serve and support others. They really enjoyed it - especially since it was at the mall and they got free carousel rides afterwards! We made shirts for it with our loved ones names on them (my husband had a great aunt that died of it as well) and the kids had a great time with that as well. In November they have another one at the Dallas Zoo and I think we will plan on attending . . .

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

DIY Coasters

So there is a blog I follow that has tons of great ideas called 24/7 moms (I think) - I've included a button for this blog at the bottom of my blog.  Today they highlighted an idea by Lee La La for Do It Yourself Photo Coasters.  I haven't tried this yet, but am going to, and if it works - this is pure brillance.  So many new gift ideas and stocking stuffers will be in the works!  Here is a link to the instructions if you want to try it:
http://leelala.net/2011/02/diy-tile-coasters/

And here is a pic of the finished product from her site:

SUCH a good idea!

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Bday Idea

I am in the midst of preparing for my youngest child's 2nd birthday.  Last year when I was thinking about what I could do that would be really special for my 4 year old's bday, I came up with making him a personalized shirt special for his day.  He really appreciates individual attention and anything nice that you do for him.  He lit up when he saw his face on the front of his shirt and his name on the back.  Needless to say, I think I have started a tradition.  I made one for my daughter's bday this year and included a pic of it below.  Just an idea to help make your child's bday extra special!  All you need are the transfer sheets from the craft store (if you want to iron on any picture like i did below), the shirt ($3 at the craft store), and any iron ons you want (like numbers or letters).  The site that I used to get the picture was http://www.purplechimp.com/.  I selected the clip art I wanted and then typed her name and "Birthday Girl" like you see in the picture.  It's actually kind of fun!


Memorial Park (Lewisville)

Yesterday we went to Memorial Park for the first time and it was fantastic.  There are 3 different playgrounds for the kids to play around on.  1 was definitely suited for smaller children, 1 could have gone either way, and 1 was geared toward bigger kids.  With that said, the one for bigger kids was of course the one my 1 year old was most fascinated with.  There were walking paths all around, and it was just a gorgeous day.  If you take 3040 to 2499 and turn left, and then take your first right on Forest Vista, and take that all the way to Valley Creek, you are there.  It took us about 10 minutes.  I didn't manage to get any pix in, but I highly recomend this park.

Today I am going to try and take the kids to the Pumpkin Patch and they are going to be SO EXCITED!  The pumpkin patch in Flower Mound is one of their very favorite activities of the year and the best part about it is that it is free.

Stay posted this week for some pix of the Halloween food and games we will have at my 1 year old's celebration this weekend.  It should be fun!

Are you new to the mothering world?

I have a particular passion for women who have just entered the world of mothering, especially when it comes to getting your baby on a schedule and sleeping. Please send me a message if you have any questions! I would love to help!