Kidz Korner

Valentine's Day Craft

Logan had to make a card box for his valentine's from school.  Here's what we came up with.

You will need:
A cereal box
construction paper
glue
scissors
pipe cleaners
and anything else you'd like to add

Cut the top flaps off of your cereal box, cover the box with construction paper, cut a triangle for the neck and using two pieces of paper cut out a head. Glue the head shapes together.  Draw your bugs face, use pipe cleaners for antenna.  Make arms out of paper or pipe cleaners it's up to you, Be creative.

Upon finishing the Love Bug Box...Logan tells me he is going to get made fun of because this is too girly.  I couldn't help but crack up laughing.  I realized he was totally right.  I told him I was sorry, that mummy is a girl and I think differently than he does.  I told him not to get upset and to be honest with me when he doesn't like something.  He said he was afraid to hurt my feelings. lol.  So we decide to make something else.  This is what he came up with.

                             Still Valentines appropriate, but a little bit more manly. Way to go Logan!

Follow up to Birthday Party on A Budget

So Logan's birthday party turned out to be a great success.  There were 11 kids total, a few caught the bug that's been going around, but 11 ended up being a great number.  I wasn't sure 2 hours was going to be enough time but for kindergartners it was plenty.  They were starting to get bored after the first game so we stopped and had cupcakes and juice.  Then we played another game and around the 7th frame we stopped again and let Logan open his presents.  Then we let them bowl until it was time to go.  We took a group photo which I put it everyone's thank you cards.  I think the kids really enjoyed themselves.  Logan gave me a big hug and said,"Mom, this was the best birthday party ever!"  That made my day.  It was the easiest party I've ever thrown.  Now I just have to figure out what to do for next year!

What's new with us?

A big change is in the works for us today.  Ang has started a new job that is requiring her to work swing shifts.  Starting today she works from 3-11 for 7 days in a row.  Then she goes to 11-7 and then onto first shit 7-3.  It's going to be weird for a while.  She won't hardly see Logan when she is on second shift, and it will be weird sleeping alone when she is on third.  I don't know how she is going to deal with changing her sleeping habits every couple of weeks.  She seems to be totally ok with this since the money is good.  However  I think I will be feeling like a single mother in the evenings with just the kids and I.  To prepare myself and to keep my stress level down I got everything ready this morning for the evening ahead.  Pj's are picked out, school clothes are ready  for tomorrow and I will be making dinner shortly.  I have rented the kids favorite movies for the weekend (Star Wars of coarse) since we will be stuck in the house due to colds and the weather.  Not that I am worried that I can't handle my kids alone but I am very used to the team work schedule that Ang and I have going on.  Everyone should be so lucky.  I do have to say I think I will enjoy the time to myself after the kids go to bed.  I haven't been ALONE since I became a mother, lol.  With this better paying job I think I might have to convince Ang to get me a bigger bath tub, you know the kind with jets you could swim in!  My ideal evening alone....A bubble bath, a bottle of Moscato and a good book.  I also might have to sleep in the middle of the bed surrounded by pillows.  She can just shove me over onto my side when she gets home.  Hopefully all of this new found alone time will entice my creativity so if anyone has any suggestions or specific topics they would like me to write about please feel free to share!  I am definitely up for a challenge!

Chicken Cordon Bleu Chowder

2 cans (19 ounces each) ready to serve creamy potato with garlic soup
1 cup cubed cooked chicken breast
1 cup diced fully cooked ham
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese

Heat soup, chicken and ham in 3 quart saucepan over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally.
Stir in cheese. Cook about 2 minutes, stirring frequently until cheese is melted.
For a fancy twist, sprinkle each serving with fresh chopped chives or dried dill weed.

Planning a party on a budget

     So my oldest son Logan is about to turn 6 and I want him to have a real party this year.  Of coarse we have the typical "family" party for him, but this is his first year in school and he has friends he wants to invite. I asked his teacher for a list of all the kids in his class, there are Eighteen of them... So how do I make this work on a budget?  First things first... Figuring where to entertain all of these kids being that it's winter and an outside party is just not possible.  There aren't many places around here to start with so I thought it would be fun to have it at the local bowling alley.  Logan loved this idea!  Great I was off to a good start.  I called to see what they offered as far as pricing, food, drinks, shoe rental and so on.  At first the lady told me $10.50 per child plus $1.50 for shoes. Now that did include cupcakes and Pepsi.  Hmmm, hyping a bunch of kindergartners up on Pepsi.....not my idea of a good time.  These were the prices for a Friday or a Saturday.  I asked, "What about on Sunday?"  She said if I had it on a Sunday between the hours of 1-3pm the cost would be $7.00 per child and it would include their shoe rental but not the cupcakes and Pepsi...now that's more like it.  I went to Walmart and bought enough juice, not soda, for the kids, and got the invitations at the Dollar Store. I filled out the invites requesting a weeks notice for an RSVP.  I am waiting to purchase the rest of my supplies, paper products and party favors, so I don't over spend and end up with a bunch of things I don't really need.
     Ok so we are now 4 days away from the party.  I had sent out the invites 2 weeks prior, on a Monday, requesting a weeks notice by that following Sunday.  As of now I am still getting rsvp's!  Um hello I don't understand.  The reason I asked for and rsvp buy a certain date was so that I could properly prepare for the exact amount of children coming.  I was planning on doing my party favor shopping this week to get everything in order.  Now I will have to do a lot of unnecessary running around for last minute parents calling me to rsvp.  Very frustrating!
     Thursday night was my last rsvp, thank goodness, I had already made up the party bags on Wednesday but made a few extra just in case.
     The party is tomorrow!  I am very excited, I think Logan is gonna have a blast with all of his little friends.
So my grand total of kids is 14.  That is including mine.  The gift bags are done, 30 cupcakes are ordered, I pick them up today.  I got 30 so the parents could have some too.


Budget: $300.00
Bowling Alley: $98.00
Juice: $4.14
Invitations:$2.12
Party Favors:$14.84
Paper Products:$2.12
Cupcakes:$20.00

     My total comes to $141.22.  Had all eighteen kids rsvp'd, plus my 2 totaling 20, my total would have been $183.22.  Coming in under budget is an awesome feeling, it allowed me more spending money for his gifts, which kept me from dipping into my pocket.  You should always set a limit for yourself, otherwise you could end up spending more than you planned for.

Kidz Korner

Make a time capsule

Start with an old coffee can.  You can let your kids paint it if you want or just leave it plain.  Sit down and think of some questions to ask your kids.  Kind of like an interview.  Ask them their favorite things, what they want to be when they grow up, write down some of their funny words or sayings.  You can put in some pictures, drawings, cards, notes.  Ask them to pick out a  small toy or figurine, for example my kids have tons of How to Train your Dragon figures and they put one each in ours.  I also put in Wyatt's binky.  You could even take video of them making it and then put the video in the capsule.  Of coarse you'll have to wait until spring to bury it but you can continue to add things to it until then.  When spring comes bury your capsule, somewhere you won't forget, with your kids.  You can even make a treasure map to it.  Decide how many years you'll wait to open it and put your map somewhere safe.  You could even frame your map and hang it up as an exciting reminder of the treasure you will one day find.  I promise you your kids will love this, now you just have to find a way to keep them from digging it up until your ready!

Riddle Me This...

What gets wetter and wetter the more that it dries?