24 Days of Activities for Little Hands and Minds: An Addition or Alternative to the Advent Calendar

In the last couple of years, Advent Calendars have evolved from pictured doors, to crappy chocolate, to good chocolate, to toys, to beer... you get the idea.

I am not a huge fan of the crappy chocolate. Mostly because I have to expend way too much early morning energy just to keep *someone* from eating it, at least until they've downed a piece of toast for 24 whole days. That, and if it's good chocolate, it's likely supposed to be shared, which also presents a problem in this house.

This year, I go back to work on Dec 1. Our daycare is out of commission until January 1, so my mom is helping us out. This is a HUGE job, with my two kids for one person! To help keep them busy, I have been building some ideas to make an activity calendar for the month. I thought I would share 24 days of advent links and ideas because most of them came from my craft cupboard, Value Village, and the Dollar Store. I promise you, I spent 20$ max on this whole extravaganza. Some of these activities I know will be used again and again! I have them each in a bag (no fancy wrapping over here, though you could to up the *wow* factor).

December 1: A bag of used Hot Wheels, and a roll of masking tape. He will LOVE the new cars! Thanks VV.



http://3littlerascals.tumblr.com/post/13617648525/masking-tape-roads

December 2:  The Three Little Pigs, reenacted. 3 plastic pigs, a wolf, a bag of straw, some collected sticks, some lego bricks, and the book. 


http://thismummaslife.com/2013/11/05/three-little-pigs-playdough/

December 3: Book: Corduroy's First Christmas (a fav. from growing up)- Thanks Value Village for the 1$ brand new book!


December 4: Beads and Pipe cleaners: Christmas snowflakes for the tree. I love to have an ornament that the kids have made each year. 



http://kids.baristanet.com/2011/01/ask-holly-beaded-snowflakes/

December 5: DVD from Value Village: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer 



December 6: Glass jars, Modge Podge and food colouring. Candle Holders? Gift Jars?



http://handsonaswegrow.com/how-to-tint-mason-jars/

December 7: Sugar Cookies to decorate




December 8: DIY Farm scene for the train table: Felt roads, pond and green pasture plus dollar store animals. 




http://mommyknows.com/felt-play-mat-tutorial-sort-of/

Decmber 9: Book: Usborne pirate flap book (VV $1- I KNOW, I seriously hit the jackpot!)



December 10: Cotton ball Snowman finger puppets



http://handsonaswegrow.com/winter-craft-snowman-puppets/

December 11: Foam Decorated Gingerbread men




December 12: Train Tracks for the wooden set with embellishments
To give credit, here's the blog, but it's in Spanish! You get the idea from the picture. I also made grass ones. 



http://systraseidur.blogspot.ca/2011/09/innblastur-i-rigningunni.html

December 13: Graham Cracker Gingerbread houses



http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Gingerbread-Houses-Using-Graham-Crackers

December 14: DIY Construction site: A tote full of fish tank rocks, larger rocks, nuts, bolts and other odds and ends, and a set of small construction vehicles from Value Village. 



http://crabandfish.blogspot.ca/2012/09/minidiy-pint-sized-construction-site.html

December 15: Book: Twas the Night Before Christmas (VV)


December 16: Popsicle stick Christmas trees and other shapes



http://thewhoot.com.au/whoot-news/crafty-corner/popsicle-stick-art-ideas

December 17: Mini Marshmallow snowmen



http://happyhomefairy.com/2011/01/12/winter-craft-marshmallow-snowman/

December 18: (I will likely have to swap this for a day when it actually snows). Spray bottles full of coloured water, for snow paint. 

Please tell me that this one doesn't need instructions.

December 19: Salt Dough Ornaments



http://hivingout.blogspot.ca/2010/11/salt-dough-ornaments.html

December 20: Lace and Trace decorate stockings and blowing bubbles



http://rp010.k12.sd.us/Classroom%20Themes/christmas_around_the_world.htm

December 21: Plastic dinos to replace the farm animal scene. Pleistoscene to make props for the play table. 



http://www.creativeplayhouse.mumsinjersey.co.uk/2013/02/dinosaur-small-world.html

** Also, do a dino ice excavation !


If you have seen this one before, this link is worth a look. It explores different ways of extracting the dinos for little hands!!


http://littlebinsforlittlehands.com/icy-dinosaur-excavation-sensory-play/


December 22: Painting and decorating Christmas trees with pompoms


http://www.fantasticfunandlearning.com/pom-pom-painting-christmas-tree-craft-for-toddlers.html

December 23: DIY Fizzy bathtub paints



http://www.growingajeweledrose.com/2012/12/fizzing-bath-paint-recipe.html

December  24:  Supplies to write a special letter to Santa, and The Grinch DVD

http://www.aletter4santa.com/

Many of these sites out there; still have some time to look around and see what might be the best.

Lots of great activities for throughout the year; Hope there are some in there for everyone!

Home Made Chicken Bouillon

One of the perks of having young kids is finding time when you least expect it!

A couple of weeks back, I was super excited to hit a great 50% off sale at Superstore on a lot of their organic items. I picked up a number of boxes of Organic, Non GMO, No MSG chicken stock.

Well. I brought it home and my oldest broke out in his famous MSG rash. As per my routine I checked the box. Of course. Yeast Extract.

A quick little lesson here- MSG, for those of you with sensitivities, comes with about 20 different names. Yeast Extract is probably the most obvious and one that seems to be the worst for my family. Once again, I was angry because although I consider myself to be pretty diligent when it comes to package labels, I got blinded by the marketing and forgot to read the ingredients.

If seemingly the healthiest store bought bouillon had MSG, must be time to make my own!

It's amazingly simple.

Step 1- Save chicken/turkey bones as you get them (I just ziploc them all in the freezer). Better yet, cook a whole chicken and then just boil up the leftovers at the end.

Step 2- Add approx 4L of water, one onion chopped, 2 celery stalks chopped, 2 carrots chopped, fresh thyme, parsley, salt, pepper.

Step 3- Simmer on the stove.

* You can stop here, and use the stock for a soup if you wish... or:

Step 4: Reduce until it is thick and most of the water has evaporated- approx 1-2 hours.

Step 5: You can cool and skim off the fat if you like. Then, line a baking tray with wax paper and pour the liquid into the tray. Let set in the fridge. Mine was still a little loose (probably should've boiled off a bit more water), so I threw it in the freezer for about 15 minutes, cut into squares, threw into a ziploc, and now I have chicken bouillon all ready to use!

I read somewhere that it would store for 6 mos, but I know mine will be gone before that point!

Rainy Day Fun

It is SO easy to turn on the TV on a day like today- misery outside our widows with high winds and pelting rain- oh... and no car today! We usually do in the morning for a little while, when I get organized, but I have to be careful that the morning tube doesn't drag on, and on, and ON!

My best defense on days like this is a plan.

Today's plan was to make new play dough. As I was doing a quick google search for my fav. playdough recipe, I came across another post about reinventing playdough play by assembling some of your kids' favourite items.

So... I quickly made the play dough (if you haven't made your own, here is the super awesome easy recipe I use all the time in my kindergarten class):

http://theimaginationtree.com/2012/04/best-ever-no-cook-play-dough-recipe.html

Here are the things I grabbed. SUCCESS! So much so in fact that he's still singing me Happy Birthday (to me)  and it's been 40 minutes. This doesn't sound like much, but in my house it's a world record by about ... 30 minutes in the play dough realm!

What do your kids love to do with play dough?

What other free/cheap rainy day "go to" activities are your favourites?

The Stuff That Clutters Our Lives- Giving Meaningful and Purposeful Gifts

There is a lot of STUFF in my house, and sometimes, it really bugs me. Especially when the "stuff" is mainly a large pile of toys.

 I am not really about accumulating things, or wealth. I am about relationships and living happily.  Blog... balance... you get the idea.

We celebrated a huge and wonderful birthday here... my oldest boy just turned 4! The excitement in his little body was not able to be contained. He was joyful just to BE four.
When asked what he thought his birthday would be about, he suggested it might include extra kisses from mommy and daddy. Well. Pat ourselves on the back a little ... we are doing something right here! That's a wish I will try and fulfill every day of his little life.

I watched all day as he marveled at the small things. Being a new number. Getting to eat a cupcake for breakfast. Having his little besties coming out to celebrate with him at gymnastics. Several weeks later, it's still in his mind- the best day of his life. To him, at 4, this is what matters! He is a relationship kid, through and through.

He enjoyed opening the presents. He was SO grateful for each one he received. I don't ever want him to lose that gratitude, or have it replaced with entitlement! I was relieved that he LOVED his low budget present from us: A dress up box FULL of recycled clothes/costumes (Thank you Halloween for being just around the corner).

 In fact, he has played in them every day since. Again, patting myself on the back here because I am nurturing in my child a couple of great things.
1) Imaginative play
2) Play with others (although I am a little tired of being Batman)
3) Creativity and versatility.

Enough bragging.
I'm sharing with you a great article (lots out there right now) that I found that talks about gifts you can give that take on more meaning. Some of them are toys...  (yes, there are those toys that are played with again and again and dearly loved) I thought it had some really balanced and realistic ideas, rather than swinging to the extreme!

Gifts and Ideas For Clutter Free Giving  

(Great website and FB page by the way: http://frugalfun4boys.com/ ... although it's ideas definitely do not have to be so gender specific!)... digressing again...

A law that quite applies to toys: The Law of Diminishing Returns. In a nutshell how it applies to happiness:
WHEN YOU HAVE A LOT OF STUFF, OWNING MORE OF STUFF WILL NOT MAKE YOU HAPPIER!

So true. Some toys are great for a day or two when they are new... then often forgotten.

I am seeking ways to apply this more often in our adult lives also. Meaningful, thoughtful gifts, or necessary needs. Looking for ways to value our time and relationship over money and goods. Frankly, I am tired of shopping as a hobby rather than a necessity. Giving *things* often isn't as gratifying as those gifts that have some heart or elbow grease involved. I have other things I would rather fill my time with.

I sometimes feel guilty that my second child rarely gets a new toy, new clothes, new anything. Then I remind myself that that newness, and buying him things does not satisfy him. He is happy with what he has! It's to satisfy some need within me. He does not yet know about all things being equal between brothers. For those reasons I will restrain myself from getting him any *stuff* that he does not truly need. Sorry little man. You are stuck playing with the 1001 toys that big brother already owns, that are so fascinating to you for now. It's a hard life I know!

Well, perhaps the hard part is always being told to leave them alone!

Meal Planning: Linked Recipes For the Next Few Months!

I'm on a bit of a mission.

Returning to work is hanging over my head, and there are some things that I want to have wrapped up neatly before then- one of them was a "plan" for eating. I recall all too well, getting home from work just too tired to come up with some elaborate dinner plan.

I also tried asking my husband "What do you want to eat this week?" to make a meal plan. Have you ever asked your husband that? Here's what I get: "Food".

Anyway, I assembled what might be realistic for us. It looks good on paper, so it is a bit of an experiment to see how it plays out. I imagine I'll be tweaking it each week. Maybe if I think about it, I'll write about how we did at the end of the month.

I do stockpile a bit in my pantry, but my plan is to write out the things needed for each week and have them all in one note (on my phone) so that if something is on sale and coming up in the next couple of weeks, I can grab it when it's on sale.

I've linked almost every meal to my recipes. Turns out pretty much everything I follow in a cookbook also exists online (who knew?).

My plan is to look at the week, if it looks good, grocery shop from the recipes. If not, do some re-arranging to make it work.

A word about my cooking:

I have tried and regularly use 98% of these recipes. I didn't just randomly copy them from the internet. They are all linked, but mostly to the same recipes I use online or in my cook books.
I don't use mixes. I make from scratch.
I don't usually do bought salad dressing or sauces. They are VERY easy to make; I have linked where I thought about it.

 Google Doc of Meal Planning Calendars (November and December). Download and modify as you like!

Here are the two completed calendars:

My plan is to print them for quick reference as well as have them accessible on my phone so I can look quickly if need be.

NOVEMBER:

SUNDAY	MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY	SATURDAY
						1
2 Lettuce WLraps And Fried Rice Make Bread Make German Chocolate Cake	3 Birthday dinner!	4 Chef salad	5 Sweet potato black bean enchiladas	6 Chicken pesto pasta Make and freeze extra pesto	7 Salmon Parmesan risotto	8 Pulled pork shoulder Coleslaw
9 Corn chowder and biscuits Make Bread	10 Hamburgers and salad	11 Summit salad (Whitewater) with Dijon chicken	12 Fajitas (beef) Fajita seasoning	13 Pad Thai (Whitewater)	14 Chicken Pot Pies (Make 6 extra for freezer) pastry	15 Home made Sushi night
16 Thai Coconut curry soup (Whitewater) and gyoza (leftover frozen) Make Bread	17 Marinated salmon Wild rice pilaf	18 Pork Chops in Mushroom sauce Make Cookies for freezer- Cosmic cookies	19 Quinoa Peanut Chicken salad	20 Creamy Bean Burritos	21 Chicken Alfredo Alfredo sauce **sub milk for cream	22 Home Made Pizzas Quick pizza dough
23 Tortilla Soup Make Bread	24 Out for dinner	25 Slow cooker Honey Chicken with rice	26 Steak and potatoes and green salad Chickpea Curry (Whitewater)	27 Smoked salmon Pasta with basil, tomatoes, onions, artichokes and feta	28 Chicken Parmesan	29 Crock Pot Spaghetti Sauce (Spaghetti Dinner)

DECEMBER:

SUNDAY	MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY	SATURDAY
Nov 30 Make Bread Slow cooker Jambalaya	1 Chicken Pot pies ( from freezer)	2 Use Frozen Spaghetti sauce- Pasta dinner	3 Steak, potatoes, greek salad	4 Tex mex Spaghetti squash (home made salsa, feta, cheddar, black beans, bread cru)	5 Chicken wings Asian noodle salad	6 Curry Craft night??
7 Make Bread Roast Beef Dinner	8 Leftover Roast beef stirfry	9 Baked macaroni	10 Chili	11 Quinoa and beans stuffed peppers	12 Salmon Red Curry	13 Roasted veggie Struedel with balsamic reduction (Whitewater)
14 Make Bread Thai Satay pork tenderloin	15 Pad Thai	16 ** Chicken Pot pies (from freezer- see nov. calendar for recipe)	17 ** Hamburgers	18 Thai Chicken noodle salad	19 Breakfast dinner- sausage, hash, pancakes	20 Deep fryer night! Wings, gyoza, fries
21 Make Bread Leftover Chili	22 Chicken Quesadillas	23 Cheesy spaghetti squash	24 Home made pizzas	25 Christmas- Turkey Dinner	26 Leftovers!	27 Holiday Cooking Make Turkey Soup And biscuits
28 Spaghetti	29 Turkey Pot pie	30 Lettuce Wraps and Gyoza	31 Dinner Out