25 Play Group Ideas!

1. Make peanut butter pinecone bird feeders
2. Splash Pad
3. Washable body paint and kiddie swimming pool
4. Decorate boxes and sit in them while watching a movie
5. Play dough (or use edible play dough from previous post)
6. Paint on bubble wrap
7. Story time at the library
8. Go to a park
9. Go for a ride on the city bus
10. Take a tour of a grocery store
11. Ice cream sundae bar
12. Play with bubbles
13. Chalk up the sidewalk
14. Pot luck lunch
15. Bicycle Parade (decorate bikes with streamers and have a parade)
16. Car wash
17. Coloring books and stickers
18. Finger paint with pudding
19. Plant some seeds to take home and watch grow
20. Make baby food glitter jars (put glitter, beads, sequence, or whatever you can think of in a baby food jar, fill it with water (add food coloring if desired) and seal the lid with duct tape)
21. Make paper towel roll rain makers
22. Play at the soft play in the mall
23. Draw pictures/write letters and deliver to a nursing home
24. Play dress up
25. Have a tea party

Peanut Butter Play-doh

This is a fun recipe for edible Play-doh! (It's pretty tasty too. :) )

1 c. creamy peanut butter
1 c. corn syrup
1 1/4 c. powdered milk
1 1/4 c. powdered sugar.

Knead together and play! (Or just eat it. :) )

Happiness

A good friend of mine just posted this on her blog and I love it!

It got me thinking about whether or not I'm happy, and that I choose whether to be happy or not.

What makes you happy? How do you go about choosing to be happy? Do you think it's an attitude or an action?

Wow. It's Almost Christmas!!

Well, it seems that we have all been pretty busy with shopping, cooking, baking, planning, partying, etc.  I can't believe Christmas is almost here.  I wanted to jot down some of my favorite Christmas traditions.

1.  Christmas Eve:  Old:  Every Christmas Eve we open a few gifts: a pair of pajamas and an ornament.  We are carrying this tradition on to our kids.  I love it.  New:  Now that our family is growing (8 grand kids in almost 4 years and one on the way) we spend lunch at the Pizza Factory and bowl after at Phat Cats.  Such a fun day out.

2.  Christmas Day:  Old:  When I was little, we used to see at least one movie in the theaters, sometimes more depending on what was out.  I loved that but haven't done it since I got married.  New:  My husbands family tradition has always been a big Christmas dinner.  Ham, funeral potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls, jello salad and Chocolate Roll for dessert.  I am very much looking forward to that.

3.  Other Traditions:  Seeing Christmas lights(Temple Square, neighborhood lights, etc.), making and frosting sugar cookies, delivering neighbor gifts, lots of Christmas music.

What are your favorite traditions?

Thanksgiving is coming!

I'm amazed that Thanksgiving is just a few days away! It was just barely Halloween, right?

Anyway, as we all get excited about the Turkey, potatoes, stuffing and pie. Here's a friendly little food-safety refresher.

Keep food out of the danger zone. Food should not remain between 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit for more than 2 hours. Use a food thermometer to keep track of how warm or cold food is.

Store leftovers promptly and properly. This is sort-of part of rule #1, but deserves a separate section. If you live in a cold climate (outside temperature must be below 40 degrees F) It can be helpful to put containers of leftovers outside for an hour or two until they have cooled down, then put them in the fridge. Just don't forget to move them into the fridge! :) In order to help food cool down fast enough, cut left overs into smaller pieces and store in shallow containers.

Thaw the Turkey correctly. The USDA has some great information on this. Here are their instructions:
In the refrigerator
Place frozen bird in original wrapper in the refrigerator (40 °F or below). Allow approximately 24 hours per 4 to 5 pounds of turkey. A thawed turkey can remain in the refrigerator for 1-2 days. 
In cold water
If you forget to thaw the turkey or don’t have room in the refrigerator for thawing, don’t panic. You can submerge the turkey in cold water and change the water every 30 minutes. Allow about 30 minutes defrosting time per pound of turkey. The following times are suggested for thawing turkey in water. Cook immediately after thawing.

For more information (including a chart for thawing time) visit this page from the USDA.

Let's all have a happy and healthy holiday with no food poisoning! Happy Thanksgiving!

Zaycon Chicken Event!

Alright friends! 

Zaycon Foods chicken event is going on right now! $1.69 a pound is an incredible deal! A 40lb box comes to $67.60. If your not sure what im referring to click here for my blog post about zaycon's chicken event! You wont want to miss the chance to get caught up/or started on your year supply. Chicken in stores are averaging 2.51 per lb! Click here to check out zaycons website!!! Happy Canning/freezing!


* Do you find this website helpful?
*Do you prefer canning or freezing your chicken?

The Number 10

One thing I really hate lately is a messy house.  And with three little girls with short attention spans, a clean house can quickly and easily turn to chaos.  So I have learned the power of the number 10.  And just like how you count to ten to calm yourself down you can do little things in tens.

So say your house looks like this:

When my house and kitchen especially gets this bad, I don't want to do anything.  No cleaning or cooking.  I want to curl up and hope it just disappears.  But instead of doing that, I take on this job ten at a time.

Ten dishes

Ten toys

Ten clothes

etc.

Hey and if you don't care how long it takes, take a ten minute break between your list of ten items.  Some days, that's what I do.

And pretty soon, your house can turn back into a home:

It's certainly not perfect, but what house is with toddlers and toys?

So don't let a messy house overwhelm you.  Take it in tens.

You'll feel better and I know a clean house can change everyone's mood.

Do you have a system for cleaning your home?