This 'n That

• This time change has messed me up. I don't know why it's been so rough but I have been exhausted! Maybe I need to get more sleep... I love the longer daylight though.
• We made a quick trip to Georgia last weekend to see Andy's great-aunt. She broke her hip a couple months ago and has been declining in health. It was a good visit although not very long!
• One of the other guests at a recent Pampered Chef party told me about a produce co-op in our area. We got our first basket this week and are very pleased with the selection and quality for the price. More on this later...
• Baby Boy is almost one! He crawls at lightening speed, is starting to climb and can take a few steps when he desires. 
• Toddler Girl is almost two! She has quite the personality and is talking a lot now. We understand a lot now but some days we find our interpreting skills lacking. "Wounded Cheerios" and Lego Fries" was the best we could come up with this week!  She is like a big sister to Baby Boy  and is quite the role model for him. ;-)
• Do you have any good ideas for organizing and hanging necklaces? I have a jewelry box for earrings and other small pieces but need a better system for necklaces. Any ideas--especially something that hangs on the wall--would be appreciated. I've looked at a few ideas on Pinterest but haven't found exactly what I want yet. 
• We've had 80 degree weather here for the past week or two. Time to switch out the clothing! My mom called me today and they had multiple inches of snow in Oregon where she lives. And it's spring!

What's going on in your life?

Toddler Activity: Sticky Collage

This is one of my favorite toddler activities ever!

All that is needed is contact paper and collage materials--anything that will stick well to the contact paper. No glue or tape needed so it's super easy for toddlers to do independently once you get it all set up for them.

Of course, no matter how independent, supervision is always advised for toddlers. Or teenagers. But teenagers will probably not be as interested in creating a sticky collage!

Anyways...

Tape a large piece of contact paper to the door, table, the wall or even the floor and let your little ones go to town sticking collage materials to it.


I usually use clear contact paper but any kind can be used. Clear is good if you want to carefully cover the front of the collage when it's completed.

In my years of working with toddlers, I've done many variations on this activity. This can be done with many themes or colors of collage materials and the contact paper can be cut in different shapes-- rectangles, hearts, trees, wreaths, zoo animals...

Very fun!

**For the collage on this day, we started with pieces of scrap fabric but most of them didn't stick as well to this paper, causing some frustration of the part of the toddler. So I filled a small muffin pan with small pieces of tissue paper and construction paper and this worked much better for her!**

**On a funny note: I had to stop her several times from taking the tray of fabric scraps to the trash can. She kept picking it up and saying, "Mess. Trash!" **


Lord help me!

Cleaning Out The Car

Thinking of household tasks that somehow get put off indefinitely--cleaning out the car is always one of those at our house!

My excuse could be that we are a one car family and if I have the time to clean out the car, the car is gone for the day. But the real reason is that I don't like to do it!

So I put it off until I can't stand it anymore!

Yes. 

Since today was really nice and sunny, Toddler Girl and I went out to the car with a trash bag. We filled the whole thing up in no time at all! We also brought a small stack of things in from the car and put them away.

I had been storing two big bags of dog food in the trunk for a few weeks since we kept forgetting to bring them inside, so we brought those in too. 

Later on, I washed the windows and swept the car out.

Much better!

Could your car use a little TLC today? Or is it always squeaky clean? :-)

Soup Frozen In Muffin Tins

Just when you thought I would not find another alternative use for muffin tins, I came across this on Pinterest.

I thought this would be an excellent use for leftover soup. Especially if there's only 1 or 2 servings left.

I had an extra quart of chicken and rice soup last week so poured it into a muffin pan and froze it.

Yesterday, I popped them out and stored them all in a gallon freezer bag. Run a bit of water over the bottom of pan and they'll pop right out!

To use, just place several "soup pucks" in a mug and microwave.

I haven't actually tried the nuking in the microwave part yet but I don't see why it wouldn't work!

I'm thinking this would be a great way to have chicken soup on hand for sick season!

**And in other muffin pan news, Jessica shares how to make lemon cubes. In muffin pans!

What A Difference A Year Makes!

Recently I came across this post and noticed this picture of Toddler Girl (back when she was still Baby Girl!) a little over a year ago.

2011

 I barely recognized that baby in the picture! So when we headed to the park today, I grabbed my camera in hopes to get a similar picture. But this time, a picture of a big girl!

 2012

Here she is at almost 2 years old already!

Where has the time gone?

A Last Pot Of Chili

March typically signals the end of soup season at our house. At least heavy hearty soups!

I asked Andy this morning if he minded having chili for dinner even though the weather has been somewhat warm.

His response: "Not at all!"

Chili is one of his favorites and it seems I don't remember to make it often enough.

As I prepared dinner, I realized that this may be one of the last pots of soup for this winter!

We'll soon be moving from heavier hot foods to lighter and cooler choices. Salads and 'cold plates' will be making more of an appearance on our table once again.

I don't have a recipe for chili. I brown a pound of ground beef and then just dump ingredients in until it looks and tastes right.

• Diced tomatoes
• Chopped green pepper
• Diced onion
• Tomato sauce
• Lentils
• Pinto beans
• Sometimes kidney beans
• Chili powder
• Garlic or garlic powder
• Salt
• Water for right consistency

 When beef is almost done cooking, I like to throw the peppers and onions in with it and let them saute a few minutes. Combine all ingredients with cooked ground beef. Bring to boil on stove and then turn heat down to lowish and let simmer for an hour or so.  Or cook it in the crockpot like I did. Turn on high for 1-2 hours and then on low for 3-4.

Don't you love my exactness? :-)

Serve with cheese, sour cream and green onions for garnish. I had some fresh avocado, on sale at Bi-Lo this week, which we sliced and ate on our organic baby lettuces, also on sale this week!

Yummy!

What springtime foods are you looking forward to eating?

Scrubbing

Today, I had "scrubbing the high chair and booster seat" on my list as a chore to do during nap time. It's one of those tasks I tend to put off and we all know how awful those chairs get if not scrubbed down often!

I like to use dish detergent and warm water in a spray bottle for this task. Just spray it on, let it soak for a  minute, then wipe down with a wet rag.

But my spray bottle wouldn't work for me today so I dumped the soapy water into a bucket and just scrubbed with a rag. This worked just as well!

A toothbrush specifically set aside for cleaning works wonders for cleaning edges, corners and any other spot that needs extra friction to get the job done!

The high chair and booster seat looked so nice and shiny after just a few minutes of scrubbing that I decided to go ahead and wash down our table and chairs while I was at it.

Nice and clean!

What have you been putting off that you can do today?