A stroke of brilliance…

Sometimes its the littlest things that I do as a mother that make my kids the happiest and my life the easiest.  This is one of those things.  It was a huge breakthrough.  Wait for it….

I created a snack box in the fridge.

I know.  You are just blown away by this.  I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of this before.  Probably every mother that reads this blog already has one.  But I didn’t and my little girl likes her snacks.  Boy, does she ever.  And I could spend my entire day giving her snack options and making and serving them.

But no longer!  Since Clara has figured out how to open the refrigerator herself, I made a tupperware full of snack options and put it in the bottom of the fridge where she can get to it, look inside and choose for herself.  Momma doesn’t have to be a part of the decision at all!  Its brilliant!

I do try to have a variety of choices available for her each day (fruit, veggie, and healthy whole grain carbs).  If she eats all the carbs, then she has to move on to the veggies or fruit, so I don’t really even have to monitor all that much, just restock at the end of the day.

Here are our favorite snacking options:

Fruit/Veggies

• Yellow or red bell pepper slices
• Carrot sticks
• Cucumber sticks
• Edamame
• Grape tomatoes (or even better, tomatoes from the garden)
• Raspberries
• Blue berries
• Apple slices
• Whole peach
• Whole pear

Carbs

• Mini muffins (We like these blueberries ones a ton!)
• Homemade granola bars (I like these ones with dried blueberries and pecans for the nuts)
• Trisuits (they’re whole wheat!)
• Leftover homemade pizza slices
• Alphabet cookies (I like the Trader Joes ones that have no high fructose corn syrup)
• Rice cakes
• Popcorn (I know, its a choking hazard)
• String cheese (okay, this isn’t a carb, but I didn’t feel like creating a new category)

I’m sure that you all can add a ton of good snacking ideas that I have neglected to mention, but these are our ultimate favorites!

Recycled Binoculars

Thanks to my little sis and Drew’s old preschool for this one.  All you need for this are toilet paper rolls, paint (if you want), and some packing tape.

First, put out some paint and brushes and have your kids paint the toilet paper rolls.  If you are Drew you will carefully paint with the brush for about thirty minutes, barely covering the rolls.  If you are Clara, you will dip your hands in the paint and cover both rolls completely in about two minutes, then run off to the bathroom and cover the sink, towels, and soap dispenser in the paint while “washing” your hands.

Let the rolls dry, then tape them together side by side and look through them as you would with binoculars. Then look at your little sister sliding down the side of the couch. Then take them to the palyground and play “I Spy” at the top of the slide! Fun!

Another collage…

Well, August, the month of outdoor time posts is over, and while I will still be trying to go outdoors for at least an hour daily, I will only be posting outdoor activities on the blog every once in a while, when they are really good ones.  In the meantime, back to our regularly scheduled blog… with another collage.  But this one is completely different because it is on tin foil!  Well, maybe not so much different, but at least it’s pretty!
Materials:

• Tin foil
• Watered down glue
• Paint brush
• Bits of tissue paper
• Sequins and/or glitter

1)  Using a paint brush, spread watered down glue all over the tin foil.

2) Stick on the bits of tissue paper and spread more glue on top.

3) Add the sequins or glitter or both (if you’re really brave) and press them down a bit to make them stick more. Add more glue if necessary.

4) Allow to dry.

We used ours to put into thank you cards (which I am still working on–summer has been kicking my butt as far as getting little chores like this done). Oh, and I got this idea from this blog! Thank you! We always love a good collage!