Kids Cooking

Lately my son has been really into cooking…hopefully this will last!  My husband is such an amazing cook, I think that is a lot of his inspiration.  The kids have been asking if they can make dinner, however due to other plans we decided on breakfast.  They made their own pancakes.  We mixed up the simple batter and then they added in special items like sour patch kids and sweet tarts (gag).  They were nasty, but the kids had fun making them.  They did make some that were delicious combos like peanut butter and banana, and strawberries with chocolate chips, YUM!  I love to encourage their creativity, and they mess never lasts too long.  Tonight is pizza night…maybe they’ll invent a new favorite!

Basketball Circle Game

My son is just slightly obsessed with basketball.  To entertain him, as well as our whole family, we made up a game to play with our hoop.  We drew circles around our driveway (and then across the street) and wrote numbers inside the circle to show how much each one is worth.  The closer the circle, the least amount of points.  It was lots of fun.  I started with numbers 1, 5, and 10.  Isaiah added ones worth 30 and 90 points!  It is a great way to practice basketball skills as well as addition.  Love it!  Here is a look.

Water Exploration

Today my kids discovered water draining down the road by our driveway and we decided to turn it into a fun project.  Here are some fun water ideas that we did.

* We brought out our water bottles and a bucket to refill them and slowly added more water to the stream to see how far it would go…they loved making it grow!

* We tried to float some of our bath toys in it but it wasn’t deep enough.

* We build dams out of different things to see which would hold the water the best.  Some things we tried were sticks, leaves, and rocks.

*We studied it the next day to discover most of it was gone!

* Splashed it it, of course!

* We also made a big pond, as we called it, and measured the water.

* We raced the water we poured in the stream down the hill.

* We also made handprints by getting our hands wet and slapping them on the ground!

* Add food coloring and see the water turn colors.

It was a fun way to experience the good outdoors without too much exercise for my sweet daughter.  I love the times when my kids are just creative and invent new games and ways to explore!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Easter Week

Easter in our world today a lot of times means eggs, bunnies, and chicks.  These things are fun and entertaining, but this year we are seeking to have our kids remember the true meaning of Easter.  Here is a look at our week of Easter Celebration.

Sunday: Palm Sunday, Jesus is treated like a King as people wave palm branches and lay their coats down so he didn’t  have to walk on the dirty road.  They also shouted Hosanna (Save us).  Today we will be making our own palm branches and talking about how Jesus is the true King!

Monday: Jesus cleans the temple.  This is the day Jesus found people making the house of the Lord a place to make money.  Jesus was upset that they weren’t respecting His Father’s house.  He took out the things that didn’t belong, and cleaned house!  Today we will paint Easter Eggs and get really messy…then show each other how we need Jesus to clean us up, just like he saw dirty things happening and clean house.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday: Mary pouring perfume of Jesus feet, what a great display of love and adoration Mary showed for Him.  Today my kids and I will make reed diffusers to spread the wonderful smell around our house, see more at http://impressyourkids.org/mary-anoints-jesus-feet-easter-for-kids/  I saw this idea and loved it! (We ended up making Easter cookies instead due to family life, this worked better for us, we talked about the wonderful smell of the cookies baking)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday: Money Hunt: Judas sold Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.  Today my kids and I will hunt for 30 coins hidden over our house.  Once we find them we will count them and give them to our church!

Thursday: The Last Supper: We are actually going to our church tonight to celebrate Jesus’ last supper with his disciples, with our fellow believers.  We will also participate in communion together.

Friday:Good Friday: Today is the day we will talk about Jesus dying for us on the cross.  He did it out of His deep, unconditional, love for us.  He chose to die for us.  Another idea I saw on impress your kids is to draw a red dot on their hands (representing the nails) and also writing their names above the dot to show he loves Ayla, Isaiah, Michelle, and Trevor.  He died for us.

We will also make our own crown of thorns (saw this idea on Pinterest).  Use a paper lunch sack and fold it down so it looks like a circle/nest.  Glue all over the top, add sticks to it and you are done.

Saturday: We are going to make resurrection rolls (Easy).  Take a large marshmallow (Jesus’ body) dip in melted butter (oil)and roll in cinnamon and sugar(spices).  Roll a crescent roll (tomb) around it and bake.  When they are done the marshmallow (Jesus) is gone!  It is quite yummy too!

Sunday: He is Risen!  We will be at church, celebrating our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!  I am so thankful for His love and death for me a sinner, who is undeserving, but ever so thankful.  We will also get to spend time with family.

Have a meaningful Easter!

Backyard Camping

We had a wonderful spring break!  Truly so much fun to get to spend lots of low key time at home with my kids, how I’ve missed that!!  To end our week of fun we decided to camp in the backyard (but not sleep all night due to the rough sleep my husband has had and the colder temperatures at night).  We My husband set up the tent in our backyard, we brought out pillows and blankets and enjoyed our pretend camp.  We had fun tent wrestling, going on a hike around our backyard, collecting sticks for our fire (in our fire pit), star and moon gazing, looking for signs of wildlife,  and roasting s’mores.  It truly was a fun memory for our family, next time we might even spend the whole night outside (when the weather warms).  Here is a look.

April Fools!

Now that my kids are older, I thought this year I try some April Fools pranks on them…looking forward to seeing how they respond.  Here are some ideas to make this day fun and exciting for them!

* While they are sleeping draw a mustache on them, make sure it is washable marker!!!  I might be chicken and do it on their feet or arm since we have church that morning… we’ll see.

* Rearrange their drawers.  Move them around and watch them be confused.

* Open a jar of canned fruit and put the fruit into another container and refrigerate.  Rinse the can and fill it up with candy.  Watch as your kids are delighted to open up the can filled with candy!!!! (BE CAREFUL of sharp edges on the cans.)

* I am not doing this one since sleep is far to important to me still but it would be fun to move the clocks ahead and have them awaken in the middle of the night…maybe when they are teenagers?

* I am trying to find a whoopee cushions to put on my sons chair..he would LOVE it!

* I will freeze pennies and right before church, slip them into their shoes!

* Another fun idea might be to turn the volume up really loud on your TV so they kids get surprised…not sure my son would enjoy that:)

* I was thinking for our family we might do a dinner that is a mystery.  I did this in youth group awhile back and it was loads of fun.  Decide the menu and separate each item you’d need for the dinner.  Spaghetti: Needed: sauce, cheese, noodles, fork, cup, milk, brownie, green beans, butter, bread, knife, etc.  Type each item up and make enough copies for each person.  Cut each item apart and have each person draw 3 items at a time.  After drawing the 3 items that is what you get for your first course.  Maybe we’ll get dessert first with an empty cup and a knife…who knows!

What fun ideas do you have planned for your family?

Number Game

We have been loving the weather!  Spring is here and it feels great.  Here is something my kids and I have enjoyed doing together over spring break.  Draw several squares with sidewalk chalk joined together and number them (we did 1-12).  Inside each square write a number as well as an activity.  Have your kids roll the dice and do what numbers add up to (mini math lesson!!!).  Our kids really enjoyed the suspense of waiting to see what is rolled and playing some games we haven’t played in awhile.  Here are some ideas for what to put in the squares.

1. Play Duck Duck Goose

2. Play a round of croquet or ladder golf

3. Paint rocks

4. Trace your body with sidewalk chalk and label the parts.

5. Take a family bike ride

6. Eat popsicles

7. Play 4-Square

8. Look for signs of spring

9. Play hide and seek or tag

10. Play a basketball game

11. Roller skate

12. Relay races

Happy playing!

Birthday Ideas

I love spoiling my kids on their birthdays and making them feel the love!!  My son opted for no party, just his favorite friend to come and play Wii at our house and have cake, simple and fun.  I still wanted to make him feel special.  Here are some ways we celebrate in our house.

Birthday Countdown:  My son has been enjoying a birthday countdown that took me about 5 minutes to make but he loves it!  I put the numbers 7-1 on 7 colorful sticky notes on his door.  Each day he wakes up and takes one off.  They are super simple…but things he loves like he gets to pick dinner, or McDonald’s brought to school, extra Wii time (Much coveted by him in our house!!!).  It is an easy way to delight and rejoice in the boy he is.

Balloons: My kids are obsessed with the helium balloons that you see at the grocery store, you know the ones in the shape of Dora or Spiderman?  This year I will be getting one and tying it to his door so when he wakes up, he can be surprised!  I will also be putting balloons in the shape of a 7 on his door for him to enjoy!

Tradition: Breakfast in bed with a birthday tray is a tradition we have.  Each year they choose a breakfast and we wake them up by bringing it into their rooms and singing happy birthday!!!  The tray is filled with small (Target dollar spot) toys.  We all sit around with him and watch him enjoy his breakfast and open his first gifts.

Other Birthday Ideas: I’ve seen people do presents on the hour.  So their child gets a present each hour the day of their birthday.  I do like that idea, but we aren’t giving him that many presents…maybe another year!  We might also do a scavenger hunt for my son’s present this year…since his big present is a new basketball hoop that he can play on!

Family Fun Friday- Dance

We are going to do some fun activities involving dance, since we love to be active during the cold nights!  Our kids always ask what the theme is for our Family Fun Fridays and really look forward to them.  Here is a look at our night.

* Dance contest: Who can create the coolest new move…you also have to name it:)

* Crazy dance-a-thon: Put on some tune and dance, dance, dance!

* Costumes: Get dressed up and present a special dance

* New Moves: I will teach the kids some of my old moves, could be pretty funny!

* Classics: We will do the YMCA, Twist, Macarena, etc.

* Grab Bag: My kids love things like this.  Pull out of a paper bag a dance type and a music type (2 bags, 1 for type of dance, 1 for music type), then do the moves!

* Dance Tag: Instead of running, dance to get away!

 

Family Fun Friday-Dr. Suess

Dr. Seuss’ birthday is March 2nd so that is our theme for our Family Fun Friday!!  We are celebrating by having green eggs and ham for breakfast!  The kids are off of school as well so I have a few extra things we will do during the day.  Here are some ideas of how to celebrate.

* Make our own books.  I will set up a writing station for the kids with paper, pens, stapler, etc. to make their own books, be real authors like Dr. Seuss.

* We will read lots of his books

* We will use our recycling and craft supplies to make our own creature like are in so many of his books (egg cartons, googly eyes, feathers, etc.)

* We will play Horton Hears a Who game

* Freeze red and blue candy fish in blue jello for a fun snack!

* Like Fox in Socks: we will play a game to see who can put on the most pair of socks in 1 minute.