I am a horrible Mom! I let Mason run out of finger paint for the tub. He loves it, and I have slacked off. No worries though! I found a simple and cheap recipe so that we can make our own at anytime...and never run out again! You can feel good knowing that you can let you child use the paints to paint on his/her body or the tub tiles. When bath time is over, the paint will wash away.
Age: 18-40 months
Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
2 tablespoons liquid soap
1 tablespoon cornstarch
food coloring
Directions
Mix all ingredients together for each color and store in a covered container. The mixture will last for a few weeks.
I added a little more cornstarch than the directions called for. Mix soap and cornstarch until you reach the desired consistency your child likes!
I cannot believe Easter is right around the corner! I will be decorating around the house this week for sure. Along with my usual decorations, I will have Mason color some pages to hang around the house to show off his brilliant use of colors, also known as scribbling!
Click HERE for printable letters from the Easter Bunny and Easter coloring pages from FreeEasterPrintables.com
Click HERE for Easter mazes, coloring pages, cards, egg decoration printables, mini Easter basket printables, and word puzzles from kaboose.com
Click HERE for coloring pictures of Easter eggs, Easter bunnies, baskets and more from freecoloringpages.com.
Click HERE for free Easter craft patterns and projects. Print and color your own Easter holiday coloring books, calendars, games, and more from About.com
Click HERE for Easter word searches, coloring pages and more from momsbreak.com
Click HERE for free Easter printables from coloringbookfun.com
Click HERE for free Easter coloring printables from coloringpages.net
Click HERE for the cutest free personalized letter from the Easter Bunny to your child from easterbunnyletters.co.uk
Click HERE for free Printable 3D Easter Bunnies from allfreeprintables.com
Click HERE for free Easter coloring pages from hp.com. Once you are there, be sure to click around on their site. They have other free printables like cards and games too.
There is a Puffle Party going on inside the world of Club Penguin right now! That's right, from March 15 to March 27, you can be part of the Puffle Party too. Or, even better, you can throw your own Puffle Party!
Club Penguin, for the first time, has been taken over by all things Puffle. Because of member requests, players will be able to transform into a Puffle themselves and role play as their virtual pet in-world. During the Puffle Party players will experience new game play including new costumes, new games, new rooms, and will be able to interact with a Puffle Handler.
In case you are not familiar with Club Penguin, you might be wondering, what is a Puffle? A Puffle is a small, fuzzy creature that Club Penguin members can adopt as virtual pets. So far, over 28 million Puffles have been adopted in Club Penguin! Because Puffles are easy to care for and also help kids to take care of real-life pets, both kids and parents alike love Puffles. Now, not only are Puffles available in the virtual world of Club Penguin, but are now available as plush toys from JAKKS Pacific.
Any kid who is a Club Penguin fan will Love the Puffle Plush. The Puffle Plush are authentic, serialized, and collector based plush that are high quality replicas of the unique Penguins and Puffles that are in the Club Penguin online virtual community.
You can now find your favorite Club Penguin 4" Puffle Plush and Club Penguin 2" Clip on Puffle. The 4" Puffle Plush feature accessories like a jester hat and knight. There will be new Puffle Plush released throughout the year, leading to a high collectability element. Plus, all the Puffle Plush items contain a unique coin that unlocks aspects of the online world.
The new Club Penguin 4" Puffle Plush and Club Penguin 2" Clip-On Puffle are available at Toys "R" Us and retail for $6.99 and $3.99, respectively.
If you are interested in throwing your own Puffle Party, here are some tips on how to pull it off!
Pick a day and time to celebrate the Puffle Phenomenon.
Invite a few friends over to celebrate with you!
Make a Puffle Cake (recipe below).
Have a fun craft for the kids to complete (see below).
Log on to Club Penguin and join the Puffle Party online. Make sure you play Puffle themed games, get a matching hat for you and your Puffle and go to the Puffle Only room where you can become your own Puffle.
Get ready to have fun with your Puffle Plush pet. You can style their crazy hair in different styles, or take your Puffle for a walk, feed it or tell it a bedtime story.
Tell JAKKS Pacific about your party. Visit www.facebook.com/jakkspacifictoys. Like The page and post photos or make comments from your party.
Have fun!!!!!
Puffle Cake Recipe
Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup milk
2 cups self rising flour
1 stick butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup cake icing in your favorite Puffle color
1/4 cup white icing
food coloring
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Mix the sugar, eggs, and flour in a large bowl
Melt the butter in the microwave then slowly stir in the milk. Add this to the mixture.
Grease a 9 inch round pan. Pour the mixture into the pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes or until the cake looks done. Let it cool.
Cover the cake and leave it in the refrigerator overnight.
In the morning, cut small pieces out of the cake and make it look like the Puffle's hair.
Frost the cake with your favorite Puffle color. Don;t forget to use the white icing for the eyes.
Enjoy!!!
Puffle "Hair Day" Craft
Materials:
Eggs
Cress Seeds
Cotton Wool
Paint and Brushes
Pens or markers
Egg cup
Teaspoon
Directions:
Boil the eggs for 10 minutes
Cut the top off the egg and use a teaspoon to empty it out.
Clean the shells carefully.
Paint the shells the color of your favorite Puffle. Let them dry.
Put the painted eggshell in an egg cup, then draw eyes and mouth on it.
Dampen some cotton wool, then place it inside the egg.
Sprinkle some cress seeds on the cotton wool.
Move it to the window sill so it can get lots of light.
Sprinkle a small amount of water on the seeds everyday.
Watch your Puffle grow hair.
Thanks to JAKKS Pacific for providing the items above in order to facilitate this review. All opinions are 100% mine.
Did you know that research now indicates an association between pacifier use and a reduced risk of SIDS? Recommendations are now for the use of pacifiers at nap time and bedtime throughout the first year of life. Dr. DeKun Li, a research scientist with Kaiser Permanente's Northern California Region, has studied pacifiers and SIDS. His study finds pacifier use during sleep reduces the risk of SIDS by as much as 90%. Experts aren't sure why pacifiers reduce the risk of SIDS. It may be because the pacifiers keep the airway open during sleep, or perhaps babies sleep more lightly because they are sucking. Or maybe babies are less likely to roll over onto their stomachs with a pacifier in their mouths. So far, these are only speculations and further research will be necessary to determine exactly what the reason is. Until that reason is proved or disproved, I will be using a pacifier again with our newest addition.
So really, the only question in my mind is which pacifier brand so I use this time around? The answer?...The First Years GumDrop Pacifier. Why?...This one is easy! This pacifier is made of one piece of latex-free silicone, which is also BPA-free and Phthalate-free. Other brands we have used in the past are the traditional silicon nipple and plastic holder. I am forever checking and rechecking that the nipple has not loosened and is safe. The GumDrop Pacifier has taken those worries away! The lightweight, "single body construction" of this pacifier means no loose parts to break off, or worse swallow.
The GumDrop Pacifier is soft and is designed to fit the natural shape of your baby's face. The GumDrop Pacifier offers the same nipple shape as the Soothie. But, with it's contoured shape, there is no fear that the top of the pacifier will even come close to covering your babies nostrils. What else is there to love? The GumDrop Pacifier meets Consumer Product Safety Commission standards for pacifiers. To me, that says safe, safe, safe and I feel comfortable with that.
I know I love the First Years GumDrop Pacifier. So, I was really excited to hear about the launch of their GumDrop10 Piece Starter Set. I love, love, love this too! Included in The First Years Gumdrop Slim Bottle Starter Set is three 4oz. bottles, two 8oz. bottles, two newborn pacifiers, a 40-count pacifier wipe pouch and two replacement nipples. It is available in both girl and boy sets for ages Newborn and up. It makes sense to me that if I am going to use the GumDrop pacifier, then I should also use GumDrop accessories.
Let me start with the super cute bottles. The First Years GumDrop Slim Bottle is modeled after the GumDrop Pacifier. It has a 100% silicone nipple that is the same shape used on the GumDrop Pacifier. This bottle also features a narrow bottle design that is perfect for older infants to grasp and hold. Very important to note that these bottles are also BPA-Free and Latex-free.
I love that each bottle comes with its own nipple and cap to cover the nipple. You never have to worry about the bottle getting dirty or not having enough caps because you have to share them between bottles. The designs are also adorable and brightly colored. You also receive 2 replacement nipples in case of wear or one gets lost. I noticed that the 4 oz bottles come with slow flow nipples and the 8oz bottles come with medium flow nipples. This is nice so that you don't have to buy additional nipples when your baby graduates to a faster nipple.
Also included is a pack of The First Years Pacifier Wipes. These wipes are awesome! When you open the pack, you are greeted with the refreshing smell of apples. The First Years Pacifier Wipes helps to keep pacifiers, toys, bottles little hands, and just about anything else clean while on-the-go. These wipes are designed to clean children's items that have dropped and go back into your child's mouth, which is just about everything! These wipes are made with food grade ingredients, which means they are safe. No alcohol, artificial preservatives, or chemicals have been used in creating these cleansing wipes.
You get 40 wipes per pack and are well worth it! If you have a child who uses a pacifier while out on the town, you know that the pacifier will inevitably fall on the grimiest of floors and pick up all kinds of germs. They are great when there is no sink or anyway to clean a newly dropped pacifiers or toy. The wipes and accessories are a no-brainer and just make healthy sense that will keep your child well. If you have a child who uses a pacifier, this is the one to choose!
You can find these great pacifiers and accessories at retailers like Babies R Us, Target, Walmart, Kmart and other major retailers. MSRP: $17.99. To see what other moms are saying about GumDrop, check out this video:
Do you love what you have read about the new GumDrop 10 piece Starter Set? Do you want to win one of your own? Fill out the form below for a chance to win. The Giveaway will run from 3/22/12 at 12:00pm until 3/29/12 at 12:00pm.
Congratulations to Melanie C, winner of the GumDrop Giveaway. The winner has been notified by email and will have 48 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen.
Today is the first day of Spring. What does that make you think of? For me, I think of finally getting back outside, cleaning up the yard from the winter and planting some flowers in the newly laid mulch.
So what better way to celebrate Spring than with a dessert that is dirt inspired? I LOVE this recipe! I always look forward to eating it when I see it at parties. This is also a favorite recipe with toddlers and it makes a great dessert for parties.
Ingredients:
instant chocolate pudding
milk
oreo or other chocolate cookies
whipped topping
snack sized plastic bags
gummy worms
Directions:
Make and refrigerate the instant chocolate pudding with your child.
Then have them separate the oreo cookies and scrape off the cream with a small spatuala or spoon.
Put the cookies in one pile and the cream filling in another. For an easier recipe, or for the cookie separation and just let your toddler crumble the entire cookie in bags.
Put the cookies into a plastic bag then close it and have the kids break them up into dirt by squeezing the bag.
Pour the crumbled dirt into the bottom of a cup . Just leave a little bit in the bag for topping.
Next, scoop chocolate pudding on the top of each cup and add white cream filling to it as desired.
Sprinkle the remaining crumbled cookie topping and garnish with a couple of gummy worms.
This has become our traditional St. Patrick's Day dinner! We love it and you can't go wring with this recipe. I found this recipe on SimplyPotatoes.com. I always cook it up with a few minor changes (that you will see below).
Dublin Coddle One-Dish Dinner
"Coddle" is the Irish name for this traditional comfort food - a favorite of Dubliners young and old. A hearty helping of sausage and potatoes with bacon and carrots creates a simple, satisfying meal.
6 frozen pork sausage links, cut in half crosswise (or Jimmy Dean Sage Sausage)* *
1 cup thinly sliced onion
1 cup 1/4-inch thick sliced carrots
6-7 medium sized Russet potatoes cut up in cubes or sliced round. (You could also try red potatoes.)
1 cup apple juice***
1 tablespoon parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions:
1. In 4 quart Dutch oven or large saucepan, cook bacon and sausage until
browned. Drain on paper towels; set aside.
2. In same saucepan, cook onions, stirring occasionally, until soft and lightly
golden. Add carrots, potatoes, apple juice, parsley, salt and cooked bacon
and sausage.
3. Reduce heat to low. Cover; cook 30-35 minutes or until potatoes and
vegetables are soft, adding more apple juice if the mixture gets too dry.
TIPS:
*I cooked and added all the bacon as directed. The flavor was amazing, but I like my bacon to be on the crispier side. So, when I make this, I add the bacon as directed, but then make a couple of more slices to crumble on top just before serving.
**If sausages are too frozen to cut; thaw slightly. Add some spice and heat to this entree up by using spicy pork sausage links. Also, I used Jimmy Dean Sage Flavored Sausage. The added sage stepped up the flavor of this dish.
***I definitely used more than 1 cup of apple juice. I added it throughout the cooking process so it created a little broth, which was perfect to have with some crusty bread.
I LOVE this activity! This is perfect to recycle those old and broken crayons that are just taking up space. These homemade crayons are easy for small hands to hold and they produced bright colors and patterns.
Here is our pile of old crayons. I picked through and kept the good ones and used the rest for this activity.
Age: 18-40 months Need:
Old crayons and crayon pieces
muffin tin
paper muffin or cupcake liners
Directions:
Discards black, brown and grey crayons
Remove paper from all the crayons
break remaining crayons into small pieces no more than 1/2 inch long.
Distribute crayon pieces into muffin tins lined with liners.
Bake at 300 degrees about 15-20 minutes until all the crayons have melted together.
When cool, remove the new cupcake crayons from the tins - they will be ready to use!
I was a little nervous when they first came out of the oven!
But let them cool, take the wrappers off and flip them over! Viola!!!!!
I think this is a great way to recycle old crayons! If you have enough like we did, you might just want to melt all the reds together, all the blues together, etc and create a single colored crayon. Either way, it is fun!
.
. These wipes are awesome! When you open the pack, you are greeted with the refreshing smell of apples. 
