It's peanut butter jelly time....

Are you anything like me and just stare into your pantry when it is time to pack your kid's lunch?

With all of the restrictions around school lunches I end up begging my son to just eat whatever the school lunch has today. Otherwise you are stuck trying to figure out what will stay cold by the time they have lunch and what is ok to send.  My son LOVES peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and is constantly asking if he can take one to school.  I would stare longingly at the peanut butter just wishing I could make one and send it to school!   

Then, came grocery shopping day and let me admit I use Walmart's grocery delivery (and i am in love, look for my next post on how amazing it is!) .  I put peanut butter into the search field and this amazing product came up!!!  Wowbutter and then name says it all! 

"Safe for schools! Tastes like peanut butter"  oh but its not peanut butter, but it really does taste like peanut butter.   Pssh, I was sceptical, but intrigued so I bought it.  Then I had my son try it and it really does taste like peanut butter!

Now, let me give you a little hint - if you send your son to school with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and tell him to tell the teachers it's not really peanut butter..... they totally won't believe him.  Then, they will make him go sit at a "not safe food table."  Yep, did you know those exist now? Well at my kid's school I guess they do.  I guess I should be glad they didn't just throw it away and make him buy a lunch.

The next day I knew better and then I also learned that the behind the label are these awesome stickers.  So, when my son was getting in trouble for bringing a "non-safe" food to school again, he just turned the container over and they let him eat his sandwich.  :)  Win.  

Now, I just have to get him to eat the veggies I send with him to school and we will really be winning. I hope this makes your lunch packing adventures even easier!

DIY Reusable Cleaning Wipes

Recently, I quit my full time plus job and went back to part time ***breathing a sigh of relief*** which is seriously the best decision I have ever made.  Even though it has been absolutely amazing, we have had to cut back and save anywhere we can.  One of the easiest places to start is on cleaning supplies.  I hate cleaning with a passion and clorox wipes have always been so handy and wonderful but the cost can add up when you have a house full of gross and messy boys!

So I saved an old clorox wipe bottle and took off the label.

 You could totally leave the container plain but my husband is a total crazy person about things being labeled so for the short term I just wrote on the container with a paint pen.  When I get more time I think I will make a cute label and attach it with contact paper so that it is water tight. 

Next, is the best part because you can finally found a use for all of the baby washcloths that I had laying around the house.  Were you more proactive than me and actually got rid of your baby washcloths? Find some at a consignment store, on varagesale or use a cut up t-shirt as super cheap options.  I just saw a pack of 24 on Varagesale for $1! I think I will be making another one to keep upstairs at that price!

  Fill the container as much as you can with the washcloths (or t-shirts, etc) 

Grab a jug of vinegar and fill the container up with the vinegar.  My husband really dislikes the smell of vinegar so I add a few drops of essential oils into the mix to help with the smell.  I have also found that squeezing a lemon into it gives a great smell too!  It's a great use for those lemons that are about to go bad.

You can close it up and leave it until you are ready to start cleaning.

When you are ready to start cleaning, grab the cloth on top and squeeze out the excess vinegar.

I always keep a small bucket or another container on hand to put the dirty wipes into as I am cleaning.  Then toss them in the washing machine and once they are clean, put them right back into the container!  I use a $2 jug of vinegar about once every other month. Way better than $10 a month! 

Make ahead Strawberry Smores

Are your kids anything like mine? The minute my son comes home from school he wants to eat everything in sight and I have spent way too much time staring into my pantry for something to give him.  While camping last year I thought to myself that Smores would be the perfect after school snack! But how can I keep them on hand and keep my costs down? In comes my awesome idea.

First grab all of your items together, 

1. Graham Crackers

2. Strawberries sliced

3. Marshmallows

4. Bananas are a great addition as well!

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Place rows of graham crackers on the cookie sheet and place one marshmallow on top of the graham crackers.

I found that it worked best to cook the bottom layer of graham cracker and the marshmallow for ten minutes. After ten minutes, take the cut strawberries and place them on the marshmallows.  Next, place the graham cracker on top and push in so the marshmallow sticks to the graham crackers.

Next, take a large container and place all the smores in the container.  If you are stacking 2 smores on top of each other I would put a sheet of foil in between so the 2 smores don't freeze together. 

Then you can toss it in the freezer.  I personally love them frozen, the marshmallows are perfect and squishy- so I eat them straight from the freezer.  My son on the other hand, dislikes them frozen so I pop them into the microwave for a couple of seconds. 

Enjoy!

Confessions of a Stay a Home Mom

This is a topic that has been weighing on my heart for quite sometime and I hope someone can benefit from my experience.  I have had the privilege of staying home with my oldest son for 2 years before I slowly went back to work.  I have the rare view over the span of 2 children to have experienced 100% staying home, part-time work and full time working mommy and now (thank god) back to working part-time.  Here is what I have learned over the past 7 years.  I so did not appreciate being a stay at home mom, not at all.  Now don't get all up in arms until you keep reading, then you can burn me at the stake.

Being a first time mom is absolutely terrifying and overwhelming.  Thank god I did not have to juggle that with working full time, if I had I am not sure myself, my children or my marriage would have endured. That being said, being a full time working mom gave me a perspective from my husband's view that I never would have had before.

1.  Being a parent is exhausting, but working and being a full time parent is doubly exhausting,  I found myself coming home exhausted and mentally drained from work that I had a hard time connecting with my children.  When I stayed at home with my oldest son he talked at 12 months, he walked at 9 months, he knew all of his alphabet at 2 and spoke like a 4 year old.  It was a terrifying moment for me when I watched a video of my older son at 2 and you could understand him clearly and he could count for days, shortly after my younger son came into the room.  He was the same age and knew none of his letters, barely talked and had hit barely any of the milestones my older one had at a much younger age.  I knew in my heart that he was a different child but that I had failed him.  I had not put enough time and effort into him as I had my older child and he was suffering because of it.  Shortly after that I started adding books into bedtime and carved out a specific puzzle time.  I think that it is easy to be an unattached parent when you are a stay at home mom too, so whether you are working or staying home or a little bit of both I have to be very mindful of how I spend my time.  If the kids ask to read a book, read it.  If they are playing video games, ask them to come play a board game with you instead.  This is one I constantly struggle with.

2.  When I stayed at home my husband would be exhausted and all I wanted him to do was take the kid so I could read a book and take a bath.  Now, my husband and I are so much more aware of what kind of a day each other has had and we let each other relax if necessary.  He knows that I need down time and I now know that he does too, so when he walks in the door now I don't just yell tag your it and hide in the bathroom until bedtime :) Although there are SOOO many days I want to.  I think it is good to be understanding of them working but you are working too so on my husband's days off I take off for drinks with the girls, or a movie alone or just to shop in peace for an hour.  I am still not very good at saying I need time, but I think as mothers we need to take a page out of the guy's book and just tell them you will be back in an hour.

2.  I never appreciated the sacrifices my husband made to make sure I could stay home with our son.  I think because I never made his sacrifices feel appreciated he began to feel resentful and then would overspend out of frustration.  Now, after 3 years of 50-60 hour work weeks I am so appreciative of him when he picks up an off-duty shift to help supplement what we lost.  Thank god he loves his job, that make it easier for him to work a ridiculous amount too.

3.  I don't know what it is about being with your kids less but you literally have a lower tolerance to them.  It used to drive me insane when my husband had not see our kids for 4 days and had been awake for 2 minutes and was already yelling at them.   I remember thinking, oh my god what is your problem? You haven't seen them in days and all you can do is yell at them??"  That was one of those foot in mouth situations for me when I started working full time.  I had been working so much that I literally was seeing them 1 hour a day and in that hour I yelled about 20 times.  I am convinced it is a sensory overload thing,  you go to work and its so peaceful and quiet and no one is in your face and then BAM! you get home and your spouse is in your face and your kids are in your face and its so LOUD..... and before you know it,..... adult freak out moment.  I also think that as a stay at home mom you totally grow a tolerance to it, so that helps. Now, when I see a freak out moment coming I am much more understanding and try to give it a little and peace and quiet on my husband's first day off.

4.  Sometimes when you have an checked out husband the best thing that you can do for them is work part-time.  My husband is amazing, he works hard and is amazing at his job and is an amazing father but the moment he gets off work sometimes it's like a switch. Super productive husband is now ...blah. He seriously called me the other day and asked me where I keep the cleaning supplies..... and no we did not just move in,  I thought he was joking.....nope not even a little bit.... he didn't even know where to start looking. It was in that moment when I realized I totally enable him.  In the past, I always go the family lined up to make sure his extra shifts were covered if we needed childcare or made sure the house was clean and did all the laundry without asking for help.  I was exhausted and I am pretty sure he was convinced that we had Dobby living under our stairs.  You are staying home but you are still working hard and I think it is very important that dads still pitch in.   I think it is also very important for dads to set an example for their children that everyone in the family has to participate because they are a part of the family.  I found out the hard way that I can't expect my son to do chores when he asks "why? daddy doesn't have to do anything." ouch.  So, stop being supermom and ask him to help you carry up the laundry baskets or ask for help putting the clothes away.  It is good for him and your children.

5.  I totally should have cooked more because I appreciate nothing more after a horrendous day at work than not having to brave a restaurant or to start cooking.  Seriously, it is heaven.  I try very hard to make sure that I have dinner any day that he works now and miraculously he has started doing the same for me.


6.  Lastly, being a Stay at home mom is hard and thankless but you will never regret it.  I regret going back to work 3 weeks after having my son and missing out on most of his first 2 years and you will never have that regret.  Cherish the opportunity to have that time with your child and be mindful that your spouse is giving you an amazing gift.

The Easiest Cake Ever..... and it is Minecraft!

I don't know if your elementary school kiddo is like mine but mine is completely obsessed with Minecraft,  So when he asked to have a Minecraft birthday party I wasn't surprised but I did silently die inside...... Have you seen those characters??? Oh my goodness there is so many of them and for being so basic some are very complicated!  Let me tell you, I was so not looking forward to that cake!  I went to Pinterest for inspirations and found tons of Minecraft cakes, many I do not have enough talent for and then I found a couple like this one!

Video tutorial
and

http://www.minecraftcakes.com/10-epic-minecraft-cakes/

 I fell in love with the simplicity of these cakes and thought "Hey! I can actually do that!"
and let me tell you...... it was even easier than I thought it would be.  Seriously this could be your first cake ever and it will come out AMAZING! That is how easy it is.

I made my cake from the box because I was running late! Dunkin Hines from the box cakes are the BOMB! I have made cakes from scratch and their blew mine away :( It was moist and so yummy. 

 I just baked it in a normal baking dish according to the directions - make sure to flour the pan!

Once it was finished, I let it cool and flipped it out the the pan, floured it again to make sure it did not stick and put it back into the pan.  Since I made the cake the night before, I covered it and put it into the fridge until the next morning.

Make your Jello according to the box & put in the fridge. 

Pay close attention to the color, one of the blue boxes is actually a red color! So don't grab that one :)

Cut off the edges to make a rectangle

Cut the cake into rows to make squares.  I counted out everyone coming and made sure there was enough for everyone coming and made slightly larger ones for the parents.

We tried every plate, dish, baking tray and platter we own and none of them worked to put the cake on so we used the lid of a paper box and covered it in foil and taped it to the box. Worked great with our short time frame, if you are doing it I would probably suggest buying a cardboard cake box or ghetto rig a box like us :)

The one part of the cake that has me stumped was the grass.  I had seen shredded coconut but seriously what child do you know that actually likes coconut? not mine at least! I thought about the candy grass from easter but my son's birthday is in February so I was out of luck for that!  I walked up and down the store's aisles looking for a tip that might work and then I saw this..

and it worked out AMAZING for the grass and was pretty delicious too.  It took one can to frost the cake like shown and then we took one more can with us to the party and frosted the pieces as we served them.  Make sure to stack the blocks with the biggest on the bottom and don't frost them until you are happy with how it looks. I frosted the pieces before the jell-o and rice krispies and I would suggest you wait until you have everything in place before you frost any of the pieces.  I had to move and messed up the frosting on a few pieces because once I added everything it did not fit.

I used this recipe  Perfect Rice Krispies for the Rice Krispies and it was fantastic! I would make them as you are putting the cake together so they do not get hard and stay squishy and yummy!!  Cut them into blocks when they are warm, not fully cooled down because it makes it easier to make them into the right square shape if you do. Just squish the sides where necessary.

Now it is time to cut the Jell-o and add it any way you want.  Now the easiest part of the whole cake was having my son choose which Minecraft toys he wanted on his cake- he chose his legos which were super easy because of the lego plates!  Make sure to wash they really, really good and I put a piece of foil to add stability and another layer of cleanliness for my crazy husband. I did our placement solely on how I could get his Minecraft legos to fit on top :)

I think it turned out pretty great and it was seriously the easiest cake to serve! 

Which is always handy during the always chaotic birthday parties and my friends who are on diets loved the Jell-o option.

Ribbon and Award Holder

I love showing off my son's achievements! 

How quickly they take over you fridge though :)

Over the summer I took off the cabinet doors in my laundry room and added baskets to give 

us more storage, so I had 8 extra UGLY cabinet doors hanging around.

I love using the cheap $1 paint from Hobby Lobby, I chose 2 blues for accent.

Next I went to the Dollar Tree and bought a package of wood clothespins, 

foam brushes and a picture hanging kit.  $3!

I love foam brushes because it moves the paint around enough to give it the cool textured look above. I let one color dry and the painted the other color on top.  I painted the clothespins and let them dry.

To finish it off, I hot glued the clothespins onto the cabinet door and added the hooks from the hanging kit on the back.  

Tame the kid's clothing clutter

Do you have kid clutter?  I know I do....omg everywhere......

I felt like I had coats, hats and bags everywhere I turned.

Then I went into IKEA, love that place!

I found these rods in the kitchen section for $2 a piece and a bag of plastic hooks for $2.

They also have the cute cups above for $1, 

I use them to store all the nail clippers since they seem to never have a home :)

I also bought this great cube organizer at Target and these cute baskets there too, the plastic one I found at the Dollar Tree.  On top of the cube organizer I put a shoe organizer which fit perfectly! What a great solution, fits perfectly on one side of my son's closet. 

Hide all that kid junk under the bunk bed!

We got my son this awesome IKEA bed about a year ago because it can flip over and go from a bunk bed to a normal bed.  My son kept asking for a bunk bed but we know our son and figured that wouldn't last long! (which it hasn't- we have flipped it almost every other month). The one and only thing I hate about this bed is that junk is like a magnet in the bottom and it is the first thing you see when you come in!

Now, isn't that much better??? ahhh... yes it is....

I wanted to make sure when we flipped the bed that however the curtains attached to the bed it would not be seen so I hot glued velcro to the metal beam.  I would make sure that you put the soft side on the metal piece so the bedding doesn't get stuck to it when the bed gets flipped.

Classy hand stitching eh?

It ended up being about a yard and a half of fabric ($5 on sale at Hobby Lobby)

Velcro ($2 on sale at Hobby Lobby)

for $7 I can walk into my son's room and not cringe! Totally worth it!!

Harry Potter Time Out Chair

Have I mentioned how much I love my mom cleaning out her house? She found a set of 6 vintage school house kid's chairs.  They were such a cute size and shape and from the 30's, but they were pretty beat up from years of being used as step stools and well me and my cousins, just being us as kids :)  So I wanted to do something fun with them.  I am a HUGE Harry Potter nerd, so I figured a Harry Potter chair was perfect!  The front side of the chair I went with "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good" and when they are out of time out the back says "mischief managed".  I free handed the footprints to look like the marauder's map.  

Just like on a couple other projects I went with the crazy cheap acrylic paint ($1 bottle covered the entire chair) and a silver paint pen ($4).  Then I waxed the chair with Annie Sloan wax, that stuff lasts forever! I've done a desk, a dresser and 2 chairs and it is barely a quarter gone. It's pricey but in my opinion, totally worth the investment!

Blanket Box into a Minecraft box

Take an old blanket box and turn it into a Minecraft box

My parents are selling their house and cleaning out some lovely gems from my childhood, like this little guy.  I was just going to post it on Varagesale (check out one of my other posts about this awesome app!) for her but at the last minute thought that I could turn this into a pretty decent Minecraft craft.  If you have a elementary or junior school aged boy, you probably know a ton about Minecraft just like me!  One of the best things about the Minecraft phase is that the graphics are so easy to replicate into a variety of different things!

I was going to make it a grass block but my son begged for a "treasure box" and then proceed to show me 20 screens so that I could see what it looks like!  I love chalk paint but its crazy expensive so I usually choose the small acrylic paints (see above picture) $3 for 3 different colors? Cant beat that!  Once I let the paint dry I waxed it with Annie Sloan wax and then let it dry. 

I think it turned out pretty cute and my son absolutely adores it! Not bad for $3!

Those unworthy of our sacrifice

I am often asked by our non-law enforcement friends and family if I am scared of my husband's job, if I am scared every day when he goes to work. my answer is always no.  I think they assume i don't love my husband or that I am under the impression that he is not in danger,  neither of these is true.  I am very much in love with my husband and I grew up in a law enforcement family, I am very much aware of the danger my husband is in.  As a child I remember every single funeral of every single officer that was killed in our state. I remember the news footage of a young wife, carrying one child in her pajamas and holding another by the hand while running into the hospital to see their dying father. My children are the very young and every time I look at them when my husband is at work I see that memory and think how easily that could be us. I also am very much aware that my husband being murdered is not the only danger to him,  I grew up visiting a police officer whose life was shattered when he was shot in the head.  We watched as his wife left him, his life fell apart and he was barely able to function, he passed away 20 years later from the wound suffered by that gunshot.  I remember my father being covered in road rash after being drug by a car.  I see the long recoveries from officers in our departments who have been shot or ran over and their lives and families are never the same.

I will, just like my father did, expose my children to the death and destruction this job leaves and the hate inflicted by those they try to protect because it has taught me to cherish every moment.  It taught me patriotism, because although there was hate there were also the very ordinary citizens who lined the street at every funeral.  They took time off of work, they brought their children out of school and they taught them what a hero looked like.  They taught them what was good about this country, and every time I saw that I thought that this country is worth it.  If I lost my dad it was worth it because every day he made a difference, he protected a child who needed protecting. And as I chose a police officer for a husband, I have always felt that.  I am a strong patriot of this amazing country, I could never share my life with someone who did not have a deep sense of sacrifice, duty, honor and patriotism that my husband does.  The love I feel for my country has always washed any fear I have away, because this country is worth it.

The last few months have hardened my heart, because the ordinary citizens no longer stand beside us.  People I was considered friends are teaching their children to put their hands up at the first sight of a police officer.  Really?? Is that where we are at?? Is this country so afraid of consequences that we are no longer teaching our children that life has consequences?  That very adult decisions, no matter the age of the person, have very adult like consequences?  Today I was sent a picture of "protestors" who threw paint of the memorial at the Denver Police Memorial. To date, Denver Police Officers have sacrificed 68 of their own to greater good.  These are not just numbers, they are 68 shattered families who have paid the ultimate cost.  This is one department in the sea of thousands who have sacrificed their fathers, their mothers, their children.  After the last year, I wonder constantly if this country is worth it.  If we will ever get to a point when the ordinary citizens will no longer sit down and allow our heroes to be spat on the way that they are, if they will continue to allow the country to spiral out of control.  This country is a disgrace for the way we have treated our veterans, our soldiers and our officers.  I hope that if my family pays the ultimate sacrifice that this country once again feels the need to be worth it, to be worthy of every soldier that has laid down their life for it, for every police officer and fireman who has paid the ultimate sacrifice.

"And so my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." John F. Kennedy Inauguration Address, January 1961

Mount Rushmore with kids

For the last 2 years my son has been begging to go to Mount Rushmore because of Phineas and Ferb,  I have been putting it off for such a long time because I kept thinking there is nothing for kids to do and it will be a miserable and boring trip.  Let me tell you now that I was so wrong!  My 6 year old and 2 year old absolutely loved it.  It was a ton of walking which was a bit tough on my 2 year old (or my husband who ended up carrying him when he got tired!) But they both did absolutely great and most importantly they had a great time!

So I really only thought that this was all there was to Mount Rushmore-- there is so much more but you have to pay attention and look for it! Ask a volunteer for a kid's passport, it keept the kids engaged and looking for things throughout the entire time we were there!

Follow the signs to walk near the base of Mount Rushmore and they have awesome exhibits like this trickled throughout the hike.  The kids could go in and out of the teepees, and try different tools and bowls.

The hikes are steep as my cute little grandma found out! But not too terrible.

We got to learn about the Presidents through signs like this through the hike.

Look at that view! wow!

 Check back in for my other posts on our trip to South Dakota! It was such a great trip and I can'r wait to share all we loved with you! I hope you have as great of a trip as we did :)