Baby Shower Games, Prizes, & Favors

Pretty generic post today, but I offered to help a friend of mine plan her friends baby shower.
She's really hands-off, to say the least.

 So after searching & looking for the 4 days I was given, I found 5 minimal work, non-corny baby shower activities & games, some prizes & favors .
And they're cheap!
FAVORS: Dollar Tree (there's that store again) has 8-pack "thank you" cards.  I bought those . And a pack of Kisses Hugs. You set up the cards up with a kiss in the middle. This is an overused technique. But it's also simple and sweet. Easy, quick & cheap! She just has to have the mother sign the card XO & with her name.
PRIZES: I have learned a secret. A lot of men like candles and hand sanitizers, too. So the prizes are different scented & styled candles & hand sanitizers.  It is great for women, and if there are any men they'll have an excuse to have one.
ACTIVITES & GAMES:
GUESSING GAME- I put lollipops in a vase with a single fake flower.  Guess how many lollipops are in there & you win it.
PLAYDOUGH BABIES- give the guests globs of play dough in a cupcake liner & tell them to make a baby. You can actually leave or do something else for 30 minutes then come back and judge the babies. I told her to do a prize for funniest and cutest .
FREE THE BEAD- freeze beads in an ice cube tray. (You can also get the little babies, but they freak me out).  And hand them to guests in clear plastic cups. First three to come to you with their free bead win.  Be sure to announce once you've had three winners
SIGN THE DIAPERS- tell guests as they come in to write on a diaper & put it in the gift bag. You don't have to pay this any attention, just make sure you mention it to everyone.
RANDOM PRIZE- put a sticker or tape a piece of paper under a random chair or two or three  before guest arrive. Whenever you're ready ask people to check under their chairs. whoever has the paper/sticker wins a prize!

  This stuff was super simple. It'll be pretty easy for her to do, and everything was under $30!  I can't wait to hear how the shower and games went! (I'll be beach bound for the shower) 

The Birthday Surprise

I have no idea what to blog about today, so I'll just tell y'all what I was up to! Well, I got my husband an awesome birthday gift.

It cost a whopping $1.90: a card, a movie, and a Crunch bar! 

Simple and sweet, like him. He absolutely loved the card...but it's not his birthday.  He was born in February.  

It all started when I saw this super sweet card in Dollar Tree (most of my fantastic ideas start in this marvelous store).  My Jeffrey deserves gifts for no reason. He's kind, loving, funny, hard- working, smart-- I could brag on him for days.  Just look at him dad-ing it up with little Parker.  I absolutely adore this man; ya'll see I took the first reasonable opportunity to brag on him. So I wanted to get him a card, "just because",  But the card I loved was, indeed, a birthday card not a "just because" card. I still decided to buy it and give it to him.  Originally I was going to cross out the "happy birthday". Tacky, but it works.  Then I was just going to leave it because he'd think it was funny.  Then I came up with the brilliant idea to kill my sweet, tiny gesture with a prank. I pretended I thought it was his birthday. I put the card in a gift bag with a cheap, corny DVD. (I also added fire to the flame by claiming that this movie that he had never heard of was his favorite movie.) The boys colored birthday cards- a great suggestion from a friend of mine.  And we baked brownies and sung to him.  I even wrote a sweet birthday message on his Facebook wall (yes, I took it that far).  

And you know what? It was so much fun! At first, he laughed; then he went crazy and kept yelling "it's not my birthday!".  Eventually, he kind of fell for it and sort of played along. Altogether, my husband had a great "birthday" surprise; he felt loved, important, and a bit frustrated! And that was what mattered most today!

My name is Kayla; I'm fun.

Counting Activity: Rolling Dice

We're covering numbers and  counting in our curriculum, as you already know.  I found these really cool dry erase dice at Dollar Tree-- for one dollar each- to use with the boys. I thought I'd share our activity of rolling dice. 
Because we're on number 1, I put one on all of the sides and let them roll it. When they get to 2, it'll say 1 & 2. And when we get to numbers like 16, it'll have two 16s & four random numbers that are less than 16.  
The red die has the actual number, the yellow one has dots. Kid A has the number block when he rolls Kid B has to find that amount of dots on his block. Then Kid B rolls and Kid A has to count the dots and find the corresponding number on his block.  Then they switch blocks: Kid A has the dots & Kid B has the number. Kid A will roll, & Kid B has to count the dots & find the number on his die. Then kid B rolls and Kid A has to find that amount of dots on his die.  I called this a "round"; we did three rounds.
My 3-year-old really liked the game and completely understood the rules. 
My 2-year-old enjoyed the game too.  Aside from erasing the side facing up every time he rolled, he did a pretty great job of following the rules too!  
As you see I tried to make a "circle" for them to roll the dice in (using a belt, how pathetic!), but that just distracted them.  They did better just sitting and rolling on the open floor 

The only downfall of this activity was the fact that I had to keep putting the dots and numbers back on them-- Thanks, Azariah!  And that's probably going to get a bit tedious when we get to bigger numbers, but HOPEFULLY, by then I'll have him convinced not to erase my hard work every roll. Other than that. it was really a fun activity, and I even got a few turns.  We will be doing this weekly, for sure. 

Update!

I like to keep things updated just in case there is one avid reader. 

I do try to post every evening, but with the holiday weekend: I bit off more than I could chew.  I've been shopping and to three cookouts in two days.  It's been such a fun weekend though!  On top of seeing and spending time with our awesome family and a few great friends, I found a Vera Bradley purse for $1.50 at a consignment shop, we went swimming, and I have had more ribs than I know what to do with (so has Azariah Parker).  Also, I have not cooked a thing; this mommy actually had a few-less-labors weekend!  But I have missed a day or two on the blog, and I apologize. 

I will be posting through Friday of this week. 

We are going to the beach Friday evening, and I won't be posting while on vacation.  I will not even be taking the laptop with me.  I'm going to enjoy a week with my little family, and I will gladly be back with a few vacation pics and anecdotes on Wednesday September 13. 

I'll probably make a poster and post another reminder on Friday.  But I just wanted to post an update and reason for my inconsitencies this past weekend! 

Kitchen Creations: Yogurt Parfait Dip & Other Yogurt Things

Okay, technically it's just yogurt with stuff added, but am I the only person who doesn't want to grab the spoon every time I eat yogurt? So I give you my "Yogurt Parfait Dip", a short list of things to dip in the yogurt, and a few personal and random yogurt facts .

One day we were out of granola, and I was craving a parfait.  So I took some cheerios & crushed them into my yogurt; I haven't looked back since.
To make my yogurt dip, I use these few items:

                                                                                                                                                           yogurt, strawberries, bananas. cheerios, and brown sugar

I put yogurt in a bowl, crush up a hand full of cheerios, slice a few banana pieces, and sprinkle some brown sugar on top.  Then I start dipping strawberries, & enjoy my snack! 

My kids are really big fans of the "dipping" thing too; I guess they get it honest!  But sometimes we don't have strawberries to dip, but luckily there are many substitutions.  We usually have a few on-hand. 

1. Any Other Fruit (Blueberries, Bananas, Pears, Oranges, etc.) 

2. Marshmallows

3. Graham Crackers 

4. Teddy Grahams-- aka Cute Little Graham Crackers

5. Granola Bars

6. Waffles 

7. Muffins-- this is something the tots do 

8. Pretzels-- again this isn't something I do personally 

9, Rice crispy treats

10. Honey buns 

11. Cookies-- one more toddler food

12. Sweet Potato Fries

13. Chocolate Candy 

14. Celery 

15. Carrots 

16. Cheese-- toddler snack, yet again

17. Pancakes 

18. Cupcakes

I believe, with my kids, I can slap yogurt on anything, and they'll eat it.  Does anyone out there have anything they like to dip in it?  Or any other ways they like to eat their yogurt?  I sometimes use yogurt as a craft, and let the boys make their own dip.  I freeze it, and eat it as a kind of sherbert.  I mix it with cool whip and make it into a heavenly concoction (especially if I add granola and strawberries); I freeze it this way too; it's probably my favorite way to eat it. What I love most about yogurt is it's delicious and it's also a pain-free and fast way to stop diarrhea when paired with a banana. It's a food we keep in the house; I may be posting other "kitchen creations" using it soon...   

Why I Give My Children Cups at 3 Months

At 3 months, I give my children sippers. I get looked at crazy & asked, "why?" & "how?" So I figured I'd blog about it. 

The "why". It all starts with Skyland, my oldest. He was 13 months when he finally got off the bottle, & 2 1/2 by the time I weaned him off the sipper.  And he gave me havoc during both weaning periods.  My doctor used to tell me to start weaning him around 6 months, but Skyland would not take the cup.  He was formula fed until 11 months (he had a hard time digesting food for a while), I didn't want him to risk missing meals.  So we waited until he was eating regular meals to wean him, and by then he was super attached.  

But I decided with Azariah, my second born, that we weren't going to put everyone through that, again. I didn't want sleepless nights, loud chaotic days, & an all-around upset child again. I swear Skyland went through withdrawals, and I just could not deal with that again.  Once was enough! 

So I bought cheap bottles for Azariah, and at 3 months-- with my pediatrician's blessing and encouragement--  I switched him to the Nuby with handles. It worked flawlessly. He held the handles and fed himself, & was fine with every switch of brand or style of sippy-cup. I kept a few different brands and styles in the house after 6 months so he never got attached to one. By the age of one, he was pretty flexible. He could use cups with straws, take-and-tosses, water bottles, anything. Poor Skyland couldn't even use a straw until he was 2! 

Because this method worked so well with Azariah, I'm sticking with it for Noelle. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right? On the 24th, my sweet girl turned 3 months. And yesterday, I moved her to the sippy cup.  The "how" is pretty easy: I hand them the cup instead of the bottle. She grabbed it and held it the first time I gave it to her; I was impressed and sad at the same time.   But she seems to be liking her newfound independence and isn't putting up a fuss. Doesn't even notice her bottles are gone. Using sippers makes her seem like less of an infant, but it prevents a hard time for everyone later on. 

Frozen Strawberry Chardon-ade

The boys started their homeschooling today, and while they did awesome with the school work, they weren't too crazy about the new schedule.  Pair their uncooperativeness with the never-ending cleaning, and put a fussy Noelle in the mix, and let's just say Mommy needs a drink.
Around 1pm, my senses told me that I'd need a drink by dinner, so I prepped one and put it in the freezer.  (I won't lie: I took a few sips to hold me over; it's been a rough day.)
It's probably nothing new to some of you, but I named it something funky; so it's mine for the evening.

My brain is completely fried, so I have no smooth transition.  Here's how I made it.
You need:
-Lemonade
-Sliced Strawberries
-Chardonnay-- I used Cupcake Chardonnay today.
(I used lemon juice and made my own lemonade, so I could add extra sugar! Sweeter is better in my opinion, but regular lemonade would work fine)

...

I mixed all the ingredients together, blended them in a blender, and put it in a freezer.  I didn't measure anything. But you don't really need measurements: All I know is I used 5 strawberries, and the rest is really up to you!
4 LONG HOURS LATER: I had a Frozen Strawberry Chardon-ade waiting on me. That is also pretty yummy with pineapples, might I add!

...

I would say that my mixed drink was 1/4 lemonade and 3/4 wine.  Because I made my own sugary lemonade, it was still pretty sweet; I barely tasted the wine.  For me, that makes it a tad more effective.

UPDATE: My husband is anti-wine, and he hi-jacked my drink! Said it was "pretty good".