Building Self Esteem

Moving beyond the refrigerator and building self esteem, my dear friend Lisa suggested this idea for blog post, thanks Lis! A simple but often over looked way to build a child's self esteem is to show off their good works. Here are some ways I've enjoyed all the hard work my children have done.

This is the door leading to the garage. I have put some of the children's work to admire as we leave each day.  I found it easy to use file folders with the prongs to make an easy display to build on.

                                                 Framing and displaying their best work.

  Adding a magnet or clothes pin can make for some creative ways to show off your budding artist work.

Last year the girls made these cute little hearts. I originally displayed them with suction hooks on the sliding glass door. This year, we made this cute little decoration to welcome guests by our front door.

One day I'd like to use these ideas:
Magnetic paint
Nice frame with a magnetic backing to easily display and change art. (creative memories has a sample)
The fancy sticker word of Masterpieces above a designated wall for the children's art.
If I had the right spot, a clothes line to hold and show off their art.

Filling our home with children's art, builds self esteem and makes me smile! 
DeAnn

Christmas Frenzy

Christmas always leaves me exhausted! It was a lazy enjoyable day at our home. I found that I totally over bought, so we are good for the next few birthdays, valentines and maybe even easter.

My favorite Christmas gifts: Teagan giving each of the girls one of her cheerished dolls. Trinity giving Brendan a drawing she made for him. Sadie wrapping and giving me one of her stuffed animals.

This Christmas we had a lot of "things" yet the greater gifts were the thought, love for one another, that I will cheerish and remember.

~ DeAnn

Rudolph Kisses

This may have to be a new tradition! Rudolph came and gave the little ones kisses last night! They laughed and giggled when they saw their noses in the mirror. 

                         If this might be fun at your casa, use paint not lipstick. The lipstick was gone by morning.

Merry Christmas from our home to yours!  May the joy of the season fill our hearts and homes as we celebrate the birth of our savior Jesus Christ, the greatest gift of all.  Love, DeAnn

Tutu's and Jewelery

I wanted to share these cute crafts. Tutu's are the rage and I never knew how simple they are to make.
I made these two no sew tutu's in no time. A great way to spend a cold afternoon.

They are full, fun and easy! My girls are loving them.  Step by step instructions:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTXo6uv9HxA

 I also made this fun braclett.   Gotta love super simple crafts!

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yahhHoXE9c

Have fun! ~ DeAnn

Simple Gingerbread Houses

I love making gingerbread houses and typically we'll buy the kit and make one family house. This year, each of the kids made their own. To make it easy, the night before I made each one a house out of graham crackers. We never eat the house, so I cheated and used my hot glue gun.

Turn on some holiday music and set the table with candy fixings and let the fun begin!

Happy Holidays!  ~ DeAnn

Blind Sided

Last weekend, Teagan and I, went on our date night.  I needed to run into Petco for a leash. While we were their we looked at the critters. Teagan remembered how she had wanted a guinne pig. Thinking this will be a great opportunity to avoid the critter and teach Teagan a financial lesson.  Instead of saying "No" I suggested she price all the the things she would need to really bring her new friend home. My thought was she'll want something else before she gets to her goal, but if she did, I could live with a guinne pig.  

While she is pricing an employee asks if we need help. Nope just pricing to see what she needs to save. The employee then comes back with a cart and on the cart are two guinne pigs who were relinquished for adoption, cage and all the basic items $50.00! Teagan had that in her wallet! She was thrilled, and I was in shock..as we walked out with our leash and new friends.

It has only been a week, but I love these little critters. They are so loving.  Its been fun but the lesson in responsibility, the added bonus of sharing, helping one another as been priceless. ~ DeAnn

FLAT Travels

One of our traditions when the kids hit 5 (or 6 in this case) is to do a Flat Stanley project. We read Flat Stanley and then make our own to send out. Last time we did this, Flat Stanley traveled to multiple locations in Europe traveling the theme park circuit (thanks Juls)   we had fun and were all VERY jealous of Flat Stanley as he sent us pictures of him and his travels.  This time Flat Trinity and Flat Sadie are on their way to the Holyland, what a wonderful adventure...can I be flat too?  Can't wait to see the pictures from Israel!

 http://www.flatstanley.com/ if you are interested in more information and if you need a destination, we'd be happy to host your flat family member with some AZ adventures!  
 DeAnn

Box of Fun!

We all know boxes are the best part of Christmas if you are a toddler. Boxes are great fun for the primary ages too.  Yesterday hours were spent playing with this box:

Today we turned the box into a house or the walls of the house. They had a great time decorating, painting and then playing with their new holiday home.

Next year, maybe Santa will just bring boxes and paint.  I'm not sure who will have more fun. Me on my new bike or the kids and their new box.  Have a great week! ~ DeAnn

Our Elf on a Shelf

The latest rage is Elf on a Shelf, and when I went to Barnes & Noble to pick up one. I think I was lucky they had sold out. On the way to see if Hallmark, had any left, it dawns on me that I can create my own Elf on a Shelf tradition for a fraction of the cost. 

I purchased a cute little penquin, sprinkled her with magic dust, aka: glitter.  Wrote the jellybeans a cute little letter from Santa to introduce Glitter and her special job of listening and watching the jellybeans in order to report back to Santa each night while we slept.  Each morning Glitter is in found in a new spot, so the girls love to look for her.  The one rule is they can't touch her or she may lose her magic and turn into a misfit toy.
Its been a fun week with Glitter. 

Our Penguin on a Shelf!

~ DeAnn

Snowmen and Christmas trees

It was a quiet day here in our home the kind that allows for games and PJ's all day! Today we made snowmen out of shaving cream and decorated construction paper Christmas trees.  The shaving cream was fun to get our fingers into. We've used it to practice writing words, letters, but this was a new idea I thought turned out cute.   Thank you Highland Park Preschool for this fun idea!



Shaving Cream the snowman cut out.



Our snowmen, now they just have to dry

What you can't see in the picture is each snowman is sprinkled with white glitter, adding a more realistic look to the "snow".  The Christmas trees we did, were simple. I drew and cut out trees from green construction paper and had the kids decorate them. Then tonight we read the tale of Three Trees. I love this simple folktale and the kids did too, we had to read it twice. A nice quite day before heading back to work, school and oops! I forgot to check the backpacks and sign the agendas, Better take care of that.  ~ DeAnn 

Oops! You need to mix 50% glue with the shaving cream or your cute little snowmen "melt" when you go to hang them up. Minor details.....

Field Trip!

One of the things I admire about those who have choosen to home school is the creativity to make lessons come to life.  Though any of us can bring lessons to life and in my opinion we should.  Having the extra day to do a field trip was perfect! The girls are studying Native Americans, they've recently spent time learning different tribes and their homes. The girls loved the cliff dwelling and the hike to get there. It was fun to watch their eyes light up, as they explored and we discussed the dwellings.  Here are some pictures to bring the text book to life! They now want me to print the pictures to share with their classes.  Our field trip took us to Tonto Nat'l Monument by Roosevelt lake.  We all want to go back when we can do the tour of the upper dwelling, in which one needs reservations or early bird arrival.  The pictures below are of the lower cliff dwelling.

Make learning fun, its a gift to last a life time! ~  DeAnn

Thanksgiving 2010

Thanksgiving has come and gone but what sweet memories! It interesting how a few changes in routine can lighten the entire day. Part of our tradition is spending the afternoon putting up the tree after our Thanksgiving meal. This year we had the tree up the night before, so it was ready to be decorated. Then while the food was being cooked they decorated this years ornaments. Grandma brought out antlers for the kids too, they looked cute and had fun as they wore their antlers to decorate the tree. Santa hats and antlers may have to be a new tradition. Here is what Thanksgiving looks like at our house:

Blank ornaments from Michaels
The finished ornaments are fun to pull out

year to year!

Colored with permanent markers!







Tree Trimming after Turkey





Happy Thanksgiving from our home to yours!!

~ DeAnn



Nuts!

Its a blustery rainy day here in AZ canceling our trip to the zoo. The girls were driving each other and me a little nuts so it was time to get creative. I saw these cute little necklace charms at a craft fair. They were fun for the girls to make and didn't require a trip to the store to buy supplies. We used nuts from the garage,the girls picked out their gems and I glued them on. We used ribbon instead of a chain. I like the effect of the double ribbon.



~ DeAnn

Bread and Blankets...aaah!

Chloe has a cute little shirt, "So many Cupcakes, so little time." That is how I feel, so many ideas, crafts..so little time! November has been an off month for me, with being away and then a cold. I finally feel like me!

Today while I was catching up, the girls and I made bread! It turned out yummy and was a great activity as there was something all of them could do.

Here is the simple recipe we found!

3.5 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup shortening

1 tsp salt

1 package regular or quick active dry yeast

1/2 cup very warm water

1/2 cup very warm milk

1 egg

Butter.

1. Mix 2 cups of the flour,sugar, shortening, salt andyeast. Add warm water, warm milk and egg. Beat with electric mixer on low for 1 minute, stir in remaining flour to make dough easy to handle.

2.  Turn dough on lightly floured surfae. Knead 5minutes or until smooth. Place in greased bowl, cover and rise in warm place about 1 hour. Dough should double. Dough is ready when indentation remains when touched.

3. Grease bottoms and sides of pans

     +we just used a cookie sheet and placed them close to each other.

4.  Punch dough down. Shape into balls. Place close together. Brush with melted butter. Cover and let rise in warm place 30 mins. Bake at 400 for 12-18 minutes. 14 minutes worked for us. 

This evening, we had our first marshmellow fight! The jellybeans didn't know what to make of  mom throwing marshmellows at them. Their first thought was to eat them, but then the war raged! Arizona's version of a snowball fight.  After the jellybeans mellowed Teagan and I worked on making a blanket. Popular a few years back, but I never think warm, cuddly and cute go out of style. Teagan enjoyed making it, and all the girls want one now. 

Enjoying the Simple Things! ~ DeAnn

Hidden Benefits

I just returned home from a conference in Houston, as part of my position as the district liaison to ensure the education of homeless youth. When the conference was approaching, I was dreading it.

When I arrived to the hotel, I was given a basic room key. I go to the elevator to ride up to the 23rd floor. The button doesn't work, I push and push, ride up and down, try a new elevator and really wish the people socializing would move so I wouldn't be so embarrassed. Just as I was about to give in...I noticed a slot in the elevator to put my key if I was riding to the club floor, so I try it, whats a club floor? It works! This exclusive floor was full of treats and benefits. I enjoyed sharing the benefits of my "club floor" with my other AZ counterparts and in return made great friends.

The conference was informative, the scholarship ceremony were homeless youth shared their stories, left tears in my eyes and my heart inspired. The conference kept us so busy, I didn't even get to step into the Galleria which was next door. I did get to see Walgreen's to pick up a few souvenirs for the kids. :)

I returned home to hugs, smiles and pictures saying I luv you mommy. Time away here and there proved good for my spirit benefiting my family not crippling it. I'm so thankful for my many blessings. Thank you Mom and Teagan for taking such good care of my jellybeans!

~ DeAnn

P.S At the airport, I picked up astronaut food, for the kids and I to try. I choose an ice cream sandwich, it looked like an ice cream sandwich. It was a good laugh to watch each child make the yuck face. I wish I had thought to have the camera ready.

A Week of Halloween Fun

Annually we have a spooky dinner! It is a Halloween theme dinner followed by Halloween themed party games for the family. The kids love it, and now that they are older, its fun to have them help in the preparations. This years games where a boccie ball game with a witches hat and mice, 3 corners a game of elimination and tail tag, where its a tag game to grab your opponents tail and the one who has the most tails wins. Each child gets a small goodie bag too.   Here are some photos of what spooky dinner looks like at our haunted house:

 

The center piece

This year we had a mice theme.

Dinner was spaghetti and mouse meat balls



Bread Stick Bones

In keeping with the mouse theme, which by the way as totally unplanned but came together nicely. We were making more creative food for the kids Halloween school parties. It made for a late night but a fun day.



Broom sticks for the little ones daycare class

Mice for our school agers!

School parades, parties and smiles:

One of my Dalmatians

Enjoy your celebrations and send me your successes!
~ DeAnn













































Mummy Treats

I am getting ready for our annual spooky dinner. Last night Teagan  made these mummy pretzels. They actually look even better now that they've been in the fridge. I think she did a great job. 

Teagan used: Pretzel rod's and white icing. She put it in a bag and cut the tip. The eyes are chocolate chips.



Spooky dinner is just that, a halloween themed dinner. I add a simple craft and a party game for our family. The kids love it and I love planning it.  

Salon night!

What a fun evening!  3 hair cuts, one good belly laugh when my son who got a little too picky, picks up the shears and gives himself a nice bald stripe on a perfectly good hair cut! 

 Time to start over, it still turned out great and I enjoyed the banter and how well he handled the new stripe  Later we did halloween toes and fingers. It was great sharing and chatting with the girls. Their toes and fingers turned out cute, with ghost, pumpkins and witches hats! We had so much fun playing salon this evening. It was a great time bonding with each of the kids, the room was filled with positive energy. 

~ DeAnn

Flippin for Ribbon!

Last night while the girls made a new batch of flower and bow clips. I FINALLY, got around to making Sadie's new flip flops she has been patiently waiting for:

1. I made and tied two bows together.

2. Instead of just gluing the ribbon to the flip flop, which won't hold. I secure it with embroidery thread. Sewing it through the rubber strap.
3. Glue your premade flower to the ribbon. Let dry. Simple and inexpensive! This project cost all of maybe $2.00 ~ DeAnn

Disney on the Cheap

Our adoption and fall break fell perfectly, and made for a great excuse to take Sadie to Disney for her first adventure. We love Disney, but it can really add up!  Here are some of our ideas on saving $$$ but still having a great time! I prefer to go to Disney during low season, to minimize the wait times and maximize the fun. We plan our trips to avoid the summer and holidays. Often traveling on Monday and going to the parks, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. After our arrival on Monday, we typically eat in the hotel room and walk over to explore Downtown Disney, followed by time to relax in the hot tub.

Planning a head is a must. For fun I pack our own glow sticks, fairy dust to sprinkle the girls with as they sleep and we make sure to bring our own Mickey or Princess shirts.   I recently made phone number bracelett's incase the little ones got separated from me. The kids all save and take their own spending money.

The practical side: I've found we've saved $$$ by booking a http://www.getawaytoday.com/ trip vs planning a trip independently or even with AAA.  We typically stay at the Holiday Inn on Walnut. It is close enough to walk to Down Town Disney, clean and the parking is free. Its one of the cheaper hotels, has a pool, hot tub and fitness room. With our package we also got a hot breakfast free, a perfect way to start our day. 

Here is where planning ahead pays off. We pack in our snacks and drink water at the park, I often take the disposable plastic cups the hotel provides or an empty water bottle or two. I plan our dinner meal to be made in our hotel room.  My best advice is to pick up a hot pot.

It heats up more then just water if you use your imagination.  This trip, we made soup, mac and cheese, spaghettios and even nacho cheese sauce. It only takes a few minutes to heat up a meal.  

So when we are getting ready to leave the house...the counters start to look like this:

If I can I also pack in lunch, but usually we budget for a late lunch at the park.

How do we get all of us, luggage and the kitchen sink in the Tahoe?  I love having this little extra hauling space. Easy enough for me to load and attach. 

I found humor in the below picture after paying $27.00 for 3 hot dogs and one drink.

We had a wonderful time at Disney this week! Love the fall decor, shorter lines and comfortable climate.

Love the ears, makes a fun picture but I'm too practical to buy it!

Disney is definately one of our happiest places!

DeAnn