Easter Egg Jello

Here is a cute idea that your child will LOVE!!! We got some plastic eggs from the Dollar Store that open  the length of the egg. Use these for your molds!

 Place a hand towel on a plate and lay the half eggs on top. The towel will help the plastic eggs stay in place while the jello is cooling. Now, either follow the directions on a box jello or make your own with 100% juice!!! It's so simple, Click here for the Recipe! I used Organic Apple Juice this time around. My kids LOVE cherries and asked to add them to the jello so we added Morello Cherries from Trader Joes. These are a great substitute for Maraschino Cherries which are chemically colored with Red 40!!! You could also use frozen or fresh cherries!

 I had my daughter put one cherry in each mold while I was making the jello! To change the color of the jello to a pretty reddish/purple, I simply added a little Beet and purple carrot juice. I don't know about you but I don't think the color of murky apple juice is that pretty! =)

  

 Pour your warm jello mixture in the plastic egg molds!

 After a few hours in the fridge, you will have a nice YUMMY Easter treat to share! You could take them out of the plastic egg but I think it's easier and a lot more fun to keep it in!

Another thing we are going to be doing on Saturday evening is Resurrection Cookies. I found a GREAT blog post about how to do it and the verses you read to your child. Click here to see what to do! It's a great way to share the Easter story with a child!

My Baby Room Project

 I can't wait to show you guys what I did in the baby room!

I have had so much fun with this! 

First of all, I went to a garage sale and found three small frames for 75 cents! I repainted them, first in black and then in white. I sanded away some of the white to reveal some black once the paint was dry!

 They turned out so cute! Then I printed the first letter of each of my children's names in fun fonts on the computer and added them with a pretty cream backing to the frames. After that I hot glued some ribbon to the backs of the frames and here is my finished product! =) 

 Now this is where my idea gets really fun! I found this tree decal on Pinterest! This website has some other cool decals that you can put on the wall of a nursery or other places in your home. It's cool to get ideas or if you don't want to spend the time, just buy one! Check it out HERE!

I Drew and painted this tree in the corner of the room. 

Then I hung the little frames up like they are hanging off of the branches!

It's getting more and more exciting as I finish up these fun projects! Let's see what else I can accomplish in the next 11 weeks before his arrival! =)

   

Here are a few pictures of the room with the crib all finished! My mother in law made the sheets and crib skirt in fabric I chose, "White Tiger".  Also, you might notice that there is an added branch on the right side of the tree. I made his baby plaque and wanted it to hang on that side of the tree so I simply added another branch! =) That's the beauty of painting it yourself.... You can make the changes you want to fit your space!

   

DIY: Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs! (Options for dairy free and PB free)

I normally don't buy lots of candy but at  Easter and a few other holidays, like Christmas and Valentines Day, it's hard not to! One of my families FAVORITES is Reese's Peanut Butter cups... and how can you not LOVE all of the shapes they put them in for each Holiday!  However, Per piece of candy, these can be pretty pricy especially if you are buying them for your whole family! Here is an example from Target...Each egg is on SALE for 75 cents!!!! 

As you pick up an egg to decide if you are going to spend your money on it, you turn it over and check out the ingredients...It doesn't look too bad! OF COURSE it has sugar in it, it's CANDY! And everything else looks pretty normal...Companies have gotten smart by shortening or nicknaming their additives so you can easily over look them...Do you notice the third from the bottom, TBHQ....? This is short for Tertiary Butylhydroquinone...WOW that's a mouthful!!!! I don't know if any of us are adding this to our homemade baked goods! TBHQ is a controversial additive, used to keep oils from going rancid. It's a petroleum Derivative. The food industry pushed the FDA for years to get it approved as a preservative despite the fact that ingestion of large doses (a thirteenth of an ounce) can cause nausea, delirium, collapse, ringing in the ears, and vomiting. There are also other suggested problems that TBHQ may cause but I won't go into all of them. The FDA has rules on TBHQ that it cannot exceed 0.02 % of the oil and fat content in a food, which is their side of the argument...The trace amounts "can't hurt you"is what they would argue, but why even mess with it!? If something has to be LIMITED in or foods why would we even want a trace amount!? AND then on top of this, FEED IT TO OUR CHILDREN!!!!

 This leads me to something else! My husband got me into this FREE app that is SOOOO COOL! It is called Fooducate. Check it out! You can scan most bar codes and it will tell you a little about what you are eating and give it a grade! Here is the grade for one Reese's PB Egg. I knew it would get something LOW because it is candy but it will also tell you about the additives and preservatives inside what you are about to eat so you can really THINK before you buy it!!! 

 I don't want this post to be all a downer!!!!! Lets get to the POSITIVE stuff!!! How can you not love the combination of Peanut Butter and Chocolate!?! I couldn't help myself when I saw a recipe for DIY- Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs on Pinterest! YUMMY is all I could say! Thank you The Whimsical Princess for your post! I tried the recipe and changed it a little and ALSO will give you recipe suggestions for those of you who have peanut or dairy allergies! You should be able to enjoy these too! =) Let me say that I normally DON'T use sugar in my baked goods but when it comes to homemade Reese's with no preservatives VS. store bought....I'M IN!! This recipe will make you about 28 (2 inch) eggs! You can also make them smaller for portion control. Here's what you need.

Ingredients:

"Peanut Butter" filling

• 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 cups Creamy Peanut butter (Almond or any nut butter will work also)
• 1/4 cup butter melted (I would use Earth Balance for a dairy free choice, which also makes this Vegan)
• 2-3 tablespoons milk (almond, coconut, or other will work)

Chocolate coating

• 2 1/2-3 cups semisweet chocolate chips (carob chips if recipe is Vegan or dairy free chips will work just the same)
• 1 tablespoon butter (Earth Balance or other butter substitute)

Directions:

Mix together the powdered sugar, peanut butter, and MELTED butter. 

Add the milk one tablespoon at a time until it becomes a nice workable dough. 

Then form the dough into egg shapes, and place in the freezer for about an hour.

If you are making these for another Holiday form them into Trees, or Hearts...Etc.

Place the chocolate chips and shortening in a glass measuring cup.  Microwave 30 seconds at a time stirring in between until completely melted. This step only took me 1 1/2 minutes.

 I used five wood skewers for this next step, Stick in into the bottom of five eggs at a time.

Then dip into your chocolate and let as much excess run off as you can. I used a spoon to help me cover the whole area of the egg! Then place on Wax paper to dry. It's very simple to remove the skewer to use again.... just twist!

If you have any...cut off excess chocolate around each egg.

These are SO much better than store bought!!!!! Also they are pretty rich so you can ACTUALLY stop after just one! 

Totally kid approved....We even shared with our neighbors and the kids wanted more! =)

Here's to a CHEAPER and NO ADDITIVE candy!!!! Happy Easter!

Simple Behavorial & Financial Chart for Elementary Children

I'm moving on in the chart system to show you what I did with my son once I noticed that we needed to update the Coin Chart System to something else! Once your child reaches Kindergarten you really need to be teaching them about REAL money. They should be able to earn it and manage it! If you don't start now they will have trouble knowing what to do when they are older!

First thing I did was thought of a few areas which my son needs to work on, or areas he has trouble with. These can ALWAYS be changed on the chart as the child grows up and changes. I made up four columns of areas I want him to work on and ALWAYS have an OTHER column (things always pop up that wont fit into a certain category)! These columns are where all of his GOOD marks go! You can also use the columns to put their daily chores in... but I wanted as many chances as I can to PRAISE my child so all of his chores fall under helping out or cleaning up! 

Then, you have what I call Oops Marks! This is anything your child does that isn't ok, behaviors you don't want them to repeat! Here is where the coins system stays the same.... If your child gets 6 Oops marks in one day, they lose a special privilege. For my son, he would lose ALL TV and video games for the rest of the day!

Now, here is where the money comes in! For every mark on the good side, my son earns 10 cents. For every Oops mark he pays us 10 cents! I LOVE that is is only 10 cents because you can search for good things your child does ALL day long and constantly point them out with a good mark! This is the big change that we made from the "Coin System" because as you child gets older, situations become more complicated! It's good to have a system that is open ended! Also, I think it changes us as parents because we are searching for the GOOD in our children and not just focusing on the bad all the time! It seriously changes the mood of the whole family!

*Tip: Change the amount of money the child gets for each mark by their age! If you are doing this with your 6 year old and your 9 year old, your 9 year old should be making more per mark!

(pictured: my son calculating his marks at the end of the week)

Here are some examples of how the chart works:

 Anytime I ask my son to help me out by getting me something I need and bringing it to me, and he does it....without complaining, I will say "Brenden, that was such a big help to mommy, you get a helping out mark!" or on a shorter note, "Thank you Brenden, that's a mark!" If it is something he just does by himself without me asking him and it helps me out A LOT I might say, "Brenden, that was such a big help to me, I am giving you 2 or 3 marks for that!"

If his sister hits him on the head and he looks at her and says "I don't like it Kiki, that really hurts!" I would reply to him, "Brenden, thank you for using your words and not hitting your sister back! That is a mark !" Then I would deal with sister!

Something that may fit in the "Other" column might be, if my son told the truth about something when he could have lied! Or, if I thought something he did was sweet... example, My daughter was crying for daddy when he left for work and my son went up to her and said, "Kiki, brother is here, you can play with me! Come on, here is a toy!" and he got her to stop crying....This could also fall under the "Helping Out" column.... But all that really matters is you give them marks for good behavior! REMEMBER, the stuff you REALLY want them to repeat, give them MORE than one mark! It really helps to show them what behaviors you value!

The Oops marks are pretty self explanatory... If your child makes a bad choice you can say, "Oh, that's too bad you chose to do that! That is an Oops mark!" If it's REALLY bad, give them more than one Oops mark.... just as above this will show them the behaviors that you really feel shouldn't be repeated. Don't forget to remind them, when they are getting close to 6 Oops marks in one day, of the special privilege they will lose! It's pretty bad if they get 12 Oops marks in one day (my son has done it twice when we first started the chart) but if it ever gets to that point you can take away another privilege! 

The example below is of the chart I created in Adobe Illustrator, for a span of 4 weeks! You can just print a bunch of these out and have them ready to put up once the four weeks are over! You won't believe how fast it goes by! At the bottom I made up a place to total up the marks! You total up the good marks then subtract the Oops marks and get the amount of marks you will be paying you child for! For example, if my son made 48 good marks and 7 Oops marks...that would equal 41 marks I will pay him for which is 4 dollars and 10 cents! It's simple and straight forward!

On the topic of money, in the real world you get compensated for the work you do at your job. In MOST cases, if you don't work, you don't get paid! So at the end for the week, we say "It's time for your Compensation....not your Allowance." Also, if you can put into practice some way that your child saves some of the money they earn, that would be GREAT practice for the future! Remember you are raising and ADULT and you want them to learn good habits to take with them in the future!

TIPS
*For this chart to work, no matter how busy it gets, try to pay your child WEEKLY! Also have them be the one to calculate, with your help, how much they earned and how much they have to pay you!

*Although, this chart posted isn't decorated much.... like the Coin System, try to decorate the chart or have your child decorate it to make it more "FUN"!

*My system is only a suggestion, and things are different in every family! I hope you take the basic ideas and use them to apply them to your family and children! Your children, even if they are all close in age might all have different charts! This is a good thing! Take the differences in your children and make up a system JUST FOR THEM!!!! That is the way you will get the most progress and positive behaviors out of them! ALWAYS REMEMBER, when you start a new system, your child might seem that they are getting worse before they are getting better, ALL children will test the system to see if it's gunna work like you say it will!

I hope these ideas help you get on track with your child! PLEASE leave me any questions you may have in the comments section! I would LOVE to help!

Chart

Healthy Carrot Cake Morning Muffin

Ok, I have been experimenting a lot with the Easy, Healthy, & Fast Breakfast Muffin and I came up with something SO GOOD you will never believe you should be eating it for breakfast! My whole family LOVES Carrot Cake so I made it into a healthy muffin out of this easy recipe! 

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Flax Meal

1/4 cup flour (I used Oat flour in this one but it doesn't matter)

1 teaspoon coconut oil (or butter)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon sweetener (try using something rather than sugar like agave or 100% maple syrup)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg

1 Tablespoon milk (or substitute)

1 Tablespoon Raisins

1 Tablespoon grated carrots

1 Tablespoon crushed pineapple (you could also use applesauce for this step)

Mix all ingredients together in a coffee mug and cook in the microwave for two minutes!!

For a little "Icing" I mixed 2 Tablespoons of cream cheese in a small bowl and heated in the microwave for 10/15 seconds and mixed in 1 teaspoon sweetener (I used Maple Agave syrup blend). 

Then pour it over the top of the muffin!!!! Easy & Tasty!

Ideas to make your own Baby Mobile

I don't know if a lot of you are like me but I REALLY don't like the baby mobiles out there on the market! They never have exactly what you want unless you are buying a total bedding package that happens to have a matching one! Also, for my last two kids, BLACK has been one of the main colors!!! If you haven't read my blog before, I am having a baby boy in June 2012 and I am integrating some stuff for him into what is now my daughters room. My daughters room has creamy yellow walls, perfect for a boy or a girl, and the rest of the theme is pink, black, and white! I'm trying to phase out as much of the pink as I can and sticking with the black, white, and cream idea.... 

In 2008, searching for a mobile that matched my color theme for my daughter's room was pointless! I decided to make my own! YOU can do this TOO!!!! I'm telling you it's so easy! I searched thrift stores and gently used stores for an old mobile... I just wanted a simple frame! I cut off the ugly stained bunnies hanging from it and spray painted the frame black! Now, all you need to do is find something you love to hang from the mobile. First, I got a cheap plastic (PLEASE don't use glass) silver christmas ball ornament from our christmas bin! Even if you JUST hang these from the mobile, how cute would that be and your baby would LOVE to stare at it! 

Then, I got VERY lucky and found these cute little Hello Kitty dolls in the dollar section at Target.... My only problem is they had fluorescent green shirts.... Hey, nothing a little paint couldn't fix right!? There you have it! Just single stitch the ribbon to the back of the head and tie it to your mobile frame!!!!

 OK, I'm SAD to see Hello Kitty go but I needed something different for my baby boy!!!! His basic theme is Tigers (Cream, black, and white)! I started thinking about buying four small tiger dolls but they were hard to find! I started browsing on Etsy! If you haven't checked that sight out, it's pretty cool! People hand make stuff and sell it! I was sure that I could find something cute on there!

I came across this Tiger felt keychain! I was like...."$4 dollars for one! I could make this and for a lot cheaper!!!! AND in the exact colors I want!" You have to think this way too! YOU can make what you want! And it has special meaning because of all the work you put into it! 

I searched around for four tiger faces I thought were cute and here is what I came up with!

I made these four faces with felt, a simple needle and thread, cotton balls for stuffing, and a little hot glue on the small felt pieces! I am not a sewer! I normally give everything to my mother in law (she is making the crib sheets, bed skirt, and diaper changing pad for the room! I LOVE her!), so I know you can do this too! =)

 I bought some "white tiger" ribbon (some would call it zebra but I say WHITE TIGER! hehe)... and sewed it to the back of each tiger head and then tied it to the mobile frame!

 I mod podged the main tiger face I have used for my boy's theme to the top of the mobile. If you haven't seen it before, I painted this tiger face on a canvas for the baby's room. Check it out here!

 There you have it, a homemade baby mobile! Perfect for my baby's room theme! I couldn't buy this anywhere!
I also wanted to point out that you want to make sure, when sewing the ribbon onto the items on your mobile, that you kind of slant them down because the second picture is what your baby will see when laying in bed! Hope this inspires you!!!

Travel Coin Chart

 Due to such a LARGE response to my Coin Chart, A Behavioral and financial plan for you 2/6 year old, I wanted to show you all what I have done when we go on trips. You need to have your system with you wherever you go! Especially when you are taking a family trip, you want your child to behave so the family can relax and most importantly HAVE FUN! I made a travel chart for my son out of a simple file folder! You can see from the picture above that we have used this chart MANY times! We LOVE to travel to California a few times a year! 

Ok, so here it is! When you open up the folder you see the coins at the top. I used actual nickels! My son LOVED this and we just painted them different colors! The ten sticker chart system is below with a column on the right for GOALS. Then below that I added some fun stickers that I know he would like to choose from and don't forget you need a space to put the coins when your child looses one! 

This is a perfect size chart to just slip into your backpack and have with you at all times! The best thing is you child can earn something special, just for them, when you on the trip for their good behavior...

A close up shot of the nickles. You just attach them with Velcro and hot glue.... I used the softer side on the actual coin and the scratchy side on the chart!