Homemade Lollipops

I found this idea and recipe here and thought it would be fun to try.

My kids are sucker FREAKS and we had our nephew over for a sleepover, so I figured we'd try them out. I don't have a candy thermometer so they didn't turn out just like they should, but the kids liked them!

I think I needed to leave the syrup in the pan to boil a bit longer and then they would have been thicker. I think I will put a candy thermometer on my ever-growing list of things I need for my kitchen.

My daughter loved them!

So did my nephew.

My son (not pictured) wasn't thrilled with them. He's in a weird picky phase right now. It's a day-t0-day thing with him. He's the kid we have to FORCE to eat everything!

So - here is the recipe:

3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 (3oz) box cherry gelatin dessert *I used berry
Non stick vegetable cooking spray
lollipop sticks


Spray a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (I used foil cause that's all I had) with the cooking spray. Lay the lollipop sticks out on the sheet. In a small pan on medium heat, stir together the sugar, butter and corn syrup until sugar is dissolved. Slowly bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Continue stirring and heating until the candy thermometer says it has reached 300 degrees F. Remove from heat and stir in gelatin. Using a metal spoon and working quickly, drop spoonfuls of the syrup on the end of each lollipop stick. Cool completely.

It's super easy and fun!

Ending the day on a positive note with your kids

I started doing something about a year ago with my son, and I'd love to share it with you. Are there days when you feel like all you do is yell at your kids? Please tell me I'm not alone :). There are times when I think-"Did I tell them they did a good job today? Did I make them feel good? What will they say they remember of me when I'm gone?"

I bought a super cheap journal, and decided that every night, I'd write to my son in it. I tried to write in plain, capital letters so he could sort of "read" it (he's not reading yet but he's getting the idea of letters/sentences etc.).

I just write in the form of a letter, telling him some positive things about the day, trying to be as specific as possible. It makes us both feel awesome to end the day on such a positive note. Besides, I'll keep these journals forever and he'll be able to look back on them someday. So cool.
You know how I know he likes it? Because he begs me to do it, and smiles everytime I read it back to him, and I found this in one of the pages in his journal :).

Sweetness.

I haven't been doing well at keeping up with this journal, so as I post this, I'm jumping back into it and starting it up again. This needs to become an every night occurance here.

Christmas Coloring and Acivity Book

I created a Christmas coloring and acitivity book available for purchase here. I had a lot of fun making this. I used to teach, so this was fun tapping into that outlet for me. I love it! It has 13 pages, and after you purchase it for only $2, I'll send you the PDF file within 24 hours for you to print as many times as you wish! It would be great to give your Sunday School students, use for stocking stuffers, give to your neighbors, whoever!

You can bind it anyway you wish - staple it, punch holes in it and thread with string, yarn, ribbon, or use key rings. You can even use a heavy cardstock for the front and back to make it more durable. It will make a fun and meaningful activity to keep the little ones busy at Christmas. It would be great for all the kids at your family gathering too!

Here is a sample page:

Here is the cover (above). Head on over to my shop and order one! There is a dot-to-dot, picture puzzle, coloring pages, finish the scene's and more!

Hey everyone! Need something to keep your kids busy as the days get colder? My son and I found a really fun project in the FamilyFun magazine recently and we just had to try it out. It was a hit! He played with it for a looooooooong time over the weekend. I've been trying to find a link to the article with no success - I think it may only be in the magazine. Anyway - here's a photo of it:

Basically, you just use one of those plastic box frames, take the cardboard out of the inside, and fill it with sand (I used rice instead). Then....

• Take some of your little "guys" or animals or light weight toys and attach magnets to the bottom of them. I used a glue gun because it's my favorite thing to use! :)
• Take a craft stick and glue a magnet to the end of it. I glued two on there to make it stronger. This is what you will use to make the objects move around.
• Elevate the box frame so you have room to stick your hand underneath and play. The magazing said to use wooden spools, but I just used playdough containers after removing the playdough. I just put it in a plastic bag so I could use the containers for this project.

Run your magnet craft stick under the frame to make the objects/toys on top in the rice move around! It really requires pretty STRONG magnets to work. The magnet sheets just won't do.

Don't have one of those frames laying around like I did? Maybe try a cardboard box, or just search around your kitchen for something similar that you could run a magnet under.

Have fun playing! :)

Are your kids bored? Need some FREE entertainment? My five year old son is really creative. He and I made this really fun play area that kept him busy for the entire day!

We just used painters tape (you could also use regular masking tape) and marked off areas for his spaceships and airplanes to land on our kitchen table. Yes, I let him crawl all over it to use it :). It was basically a space center. If this isn't interesting to your little one, you could do a car garage, roads, a map, buildings, a zoo etc.

He used a marker to make lines along the tape for the roads and runways. Then he went to town with his wooden blocks and those really cool clicking blocks - not sure what they are called.
He told me he needed clouds for his spaceships to fly around, so we got out the foam and cut out some clouds! We used string to hang them from the lights. Later, we added some black lightening and even a tornado!

We are having the most awesome weather here, but I know it will end VERY soon. I'm always looking for good indoor play ideas so if you have any you'd be willing to share, please do!

sidewalk chalk paint

We had so much fun the other morning making some sidewalk chalk paint. It was super easy, and I got the idea here . You just take 1/4 cup of cold water, and 1/4 cup of cornstarch. Add food coloring and you've got some fun paint that dries like chalk on the sidewalk or driveway!

This little turkey (below) thought it would be really fun to paint herself. Which she did. Naughty!

Great summertime cheap fun!

Rocky Road Popsicles

We had SO much fun making these treats! They were pretty easy, and my son had a blast helping me. I got the recipe here .

For some reason the pudding didn't set for me, but I went ahead and poured it in and froze them up anyway, and they tasted fabulous!

While waiting for the pudding to cool, we decorated the craft sticks we used to make the popsicles. We made caterpillars, worms, etc. We even wrote our names on some of them. They are delish!

Recipe:

1 package chocolate cook and serve pudding mix

2 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup marshmallow creme

12 popsicle sticks (or craft sticks)

12 disposable plastic cups (3 oz. each)

Optional mix ins - we used mini marshmallows, crushed up oreos, and chocolate chips.

In a large microwave safe bowl, combine the pudding mix and milk. Microwave uncovered, on high, for 4-6 minutes until bubbly and slightly thickened, stirring every two minutes. Cover with plastic wrap (make sure plastic touches the pudding to prevent a film from forming). Cool for about 20 minutes, stirring a few times. Stir marshmallow creme into pudding and set aside.

Start layering your popsicle! We just put a few of the mix ins in the bottom, then added the pudding on the top - since it wouldn't set for me for some reason - I couldn't really do the layering thing.

Freeze and enjoy!

I just want to tell you all how thankful I am of your support. I didn't win that last contest, but I am so thankful for those of you who voted for me. I really appreciate it....now....what could that fabric design be used for? Hehe! Any ideas?

Here is the "Idea Book" I was telling you about earlier. It has really worked out nicely so far. I just uploaded some pictures of things to do when we are bored, or need some good ideas. Then I put labels on them, printed them, and put them in a binder (in page protectors).

My son made the cover. Nice huh? He's into space :).

I added a section in there for activities that I pulled out of our Highlights magazine. I love that magazine!!

Some of the ideas we put in the book (in case you can't see them) were:

Make a fort, color, use stickers, paint, make a sculpture, read a book, have computer time, go outside, go on a walk, call a friend, make a book, make some slime, the list goes on and on!

Bored Book

I'm in the process of making a "Bored Book" for these loooong winter days with a little four year old boy (and 14 month old girl) who can get stinking bored out of their minds! Idle hands are the devils playground... not sure where I heard that but I know I've heard it somewhere before. Anyway, here is a start to what I'm doing so you get an idea...

I'm making this in an 8.5 by 11 inch file so it will print right onto computer paper (or copy paper). I've got about three pages of these so far, so when we are done we can put each page in a sheet protector and fill a binder with them.

I just went around the house and took pictures of ideas of things to do. When I'm done making this book, I'll be sure to post the finished product. I'm hoping this will help with bored snow days stuck inside!

The picture above is what we started with.

Here is what we ended up with!

Have some old marshmallows? We were bored the other day, so we took some marshmallows from the cupboard and started constructing. My son Kaeden loved this so much! He had to stop every few seconds to eat one of those gross marshmallows, but hey, it could be worse right? We used:

*Marshmallows

*dried spaghetti noodles

*pipe cleaners

You could really use whatever you want. He made this "machine" and it was the perfect bordem buster for our afternoon so I thought I'd share in case any of you have some bored kids at home dying for something else to do :).