4 Teacher Appreciation Gift Ideas

1260.  That is the number of hours your child's teacher spends with your little one in a school year.  Each of these hours is filled with patience, knowledge and love.  Even if your kid is driving them up a wall, a good teacher still loves and cares for the kiddo as if he/she is her own.  Let one of the most important people in your child's life this year know how much you appreciate everything they do to make your little one successful.

Teacher appreciation gifts can fit ANY budget.  One of the best gifts a teacher can get is a heartfelt note from the parents of one of their kiddos.

Here's what we did for Chloe's teachers this year.

On Monday, Chloe took a bouquet of flowers for her teachers to enjoy throughout the week.

Hy-Vee bouquet of Lillies: $4.99

Vase from the collection under the sink: FREE
Thank you card from the junk drawer: FREE

*Tip for Fresh Flowers:  For fresher flowers longer, fill the vase 1/2 with water.  Add 1 capful of Hydrogen Peroxide to kill any bacteria in the water.  Add 1 teaspoon of sugar to "feed" the flower.

On Tuesday, we set a goodie bag for each teacher.
A large container of Hand Sanitizer: $1.00
Fingernail polish removed: $1.00
Fun summer color of finger nail polish: $1.00
Cute nail file: $.50
Traced and cut out preschooler hand with "You deserve a hand for all you do!": FREE

On Thursday, some chocolate bars and mixed candy for a sweet treat for each teacher. 

A glass candle holder: $1.00

Mixed candy: $2.00

On Friday, an Easy Mug Cake mix to enjoy for each teacher.

A tupperwear container with a tight lid: $.50

1 box of Angel Food cake mix: $1.50

1 box of Chocolate cake mix: $1.00

A note with instructions: FREE

*Add 3 tablespoons of cake mix and 2 tablespoons of water to a microwave safe mug/bowl for 1 minute.  Top with icing, powered sugar or whipped cream. 

*To make this totally adorable bow: How About Orange 

Total spent for a week of spoiling: $9.75 per teacher.  A measly price to pay for the gratitude we feel toward both of her preschool teachers. 

How do you show your little one's teachers how much they mean to your family?

XO! 

She Believed She Could, So She Did Art DIY

I saw this quote on Pinterest and found in love.  Can you think of any stronger message to send to your daughters? 

I immediately went to work creating something with this saying on it for Chloe's room.  

Pick out a font that you think fits the message best and print it out on regular typing paper. 

I don't know why it's sideways but you get the point. 

Grab some wax paper and rip off enough to cover the words.  You will be tracing the letters so you need to have plenty of space on the wax paper. 

Using puffy paint in the color of your choice, trace carefully over the words.  (If you mess up, move the wax paper and try again - FOOL PROOF!)

 

Continue until all of the words are covered.  Let dry.  

Once all of the letters are dry, line them up onto your canvas however you would like them to be arranged.  Play around with it until your happy!  

Use Mod Podge and carefully glue each letter into place.  I picked up 1 letter at a time, and replaced it before picking up the next letter.  This helps to keep the words aligned.  (You could also use a ruler as a straight edge if needed).

I choose white puffy paint on white canvas intentionally.  My original idea was to spray paint the whole canvas the same color pink that I used on Chloe's bookcase, but I ended up really liking it white and haven't pulled the trigger on painting just yet.  (My white puffy paint is iridescent, which helps it to "pop" off the canvas. 

Ta Da!   The possibilities are endless with this project!  Different colors, different sayings, adding a design... make it your own! 

XO!

I Pinned This - Colored Noodles

We eat a lot of different foods in our house but the one thing I have to fight everyone else to eat is spaghetti. The hubby doesn't like it, Chloe claims to not like it, Aria can't have it yet. But I love spaghetti and it makes me so sad. 

I started making Spaghetti Pie a few months ago (easiest recipe EVER below) and the hubby actually enjoys it.  1 down, 1 to go.  I know Chloe likes it, but enjoys pretending (this isn't the only food she does this with) that she hates it and it will kill her to eat it.  So when I saw this on Pinterest, I knew the score would be Mom 3, everyone else 0 - if it worked. 

Here's what Pinterest promises:
Cook spaghetti then fill ziplock 1/4 with water & add food coloring. Add spaghetti... coolest idea ever for kids!! (The link from Pinterest takes you to a photography website of rainbow food, nothing more.)

Here's what I did:
Slightly doubtful about it working as well as the picture I started off by cooking the noodles.  I used linguine noodles so the would be more noodle for the color to stick to.

The best way to get the different colors is to split the noodles up into baggies.  I added enough water to cover the noodles then dropped in 3-4 drops of food coloring.  (I only did some of the noodles in case something weird happened with the food coloring, we'd still have something to eat.)

 I let the noodles sit in the colored water for 2-3 minutes, dumped out the water and put them into a bowl to check the results.

The colors aren't as bright as the Pinterest picture, but they were much brighter than I expected! The yellow was the only one that looks drab, but what do you expect when you're dying beige noodles yellow? 

I threw the colored back in with the regular noodles and finished making dinner.  Once the sauce and cheese were mixed in, they didn't stand out as much, but it was enough to trick our 4 year old into thinking "This is the best dinner EVER!"

Do you have any foods you have to trick your kids into eating? 

XO!

A fun thing to do with the colored noodles other than eat - let your little ones "draw" on the table using the noodles.  Practice making shapes or letters!

* Spaghetti Pie (easiest recipe EVER!)

• cooked noodles (as little or as much as you want)
• sauce (as little or as much as you want)
• cheese (as little or as much as you want)
• Mix the noodles and the sauce together and put into an oven safe pan.  Sprinkle cheese on top (I like to cover the noodles with cheese).  Bake at 400 until cheese is melted and starts to turn golden brown. ENJOY! 

It's an Instagram Kind of Day

I take a lot of pictures on my iPhone.  Usually ones that need deleted right away because they're blurry or someone has a weird face, or whatever.  And then every once in awhile it's a good camera day.  Today is one of those... 

Do you ever have days where the pictures just come out? 

XO!

I Pinned This - Splinter Removal

If I could change one thing about our house, it would be the flooring.  New carpet has been on our list to replace for the last 4 tax returns, and needless to say, we still have the same old carpet in the living room and dining room.  All of the bedrooms have hardwood floors that are original to the 107 year old(ish) house. They haven't been resealed, ever probably, so there are times when the wood will snag your sock, or worse... your skin.  

Yesterday, while Aria was visiting Nana for some cuddle time, Chloe and I were enjoying the house to ourselves by playing a game of tag throughout the rooms.  The game was abruptly ended when Chloe ripped of her sock exclaiming that she'd hurt herself and needed help.  You guessed it... a big old chunk of wood, right in her big toe.  I grabbed the tweezers and tried to help but she freaked and wouldn't let me do anything close to her foot. 

Here's what Pinterest promises:

Need to remember this for KIDS...Remove a splinter easily by applying a paste of baking soda and water, then waiting several minutes for the splinter to pop out of the skin. Gotta remember this!

Here's what I did: 

Skeptical, but needing to try something, I added a little bit of water to baking soda to create a thick paste . 

We let it sit and dry on her foot for maybe 3 minutes and carefully pulled off the big blog of paste. It looked like the splinter had worked it's way out a teeny tiny bit so I thought I didn't wait long enough.  On went the paste again, along with a bandaid.  8-10 minutes later, still nothing. 

We resorted back to the old fashioned tweezers method, added 2 more adult hands and out came the log. 

If you've been successful with this method, let me know!

XO! 

I Pinned This - French Toast Muffins

Preschool is from 8:30-11:15 in the morning and as a former teacher (and a mom), I have a hard time sending cupcakes to school for birthday treats so early in the morning.  I scoured Pinterest for a healthier breakfast treat to send that the kids would love.  When I saw French Toast Breakfast Muffins, I was excited!

Here's what Pinterest promises: 

French Toast Breakfast Muffins. These are amazing!! Taste exactly like French toast!!! Made with skim milk and light butter was only 121 calories a muffin if you make 12!

Following the link, here is the recipie: 

1/3 c. butter, melted
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg (preferably room temperature)
1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 c. milk

Topping (option: cut topping in half*)
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter, melted
1 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a medium-large bowl, sift together all dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and stir just until combined, but still a bit lumpy. Do NOT overmix; overmixing will ruin the texture of the finished muffins. Also? Don't overmix the batter. Finally, don't overmix. Scoop batter into muffin tins that have sprayed with cooking spray. Using a large ice cream scoop, I got 8 medium-large muffins out of this batter; I think you could get 10-12 muffins by distributing the batter a little less generously. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until they just start to turn a bit golden at the edges.

For the topping, mix sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Place melted butter in another small bowl. Dip the warm muffins in melted butter (you can dip just the top, but it's even tastier to dip the whole muffin!), then dip/roll the muffin in cinnamon sugar. *May have left-over topping; the extra topping can be used for dipping, while eating the muffins (oh my). Another option is to cut the topping ingredients in half. CONSUME, ENJOY, GO CRAZY! (velvetlava.blogspot.com)

Here's what I did: 

I followed the recipe as directed. I was surprised how thick the batter was while mixing, but I guess french toast muffins should have the consistency of bread. 

When they were baked up and coated in cinnamon & sugar, they looked amazing! 

Of course I couldn't wait to try one so before I even put the next batch in the oven (or the pan for that matter), I popped one into my mouth.  They were... ok.  Not sweet, but ok.  I knew 3-4 year olds would not be as impressed as I had hoped.  

Before throwing in the next batch, I mixed about 1/4 cup of brown sugar into the batter and baked according to the directions.  The brown sugar caramelized inside the muffins and added just the sweetness the original was lacking. I was still worried about how the kiddos would like them so I made cinnamon rolls instead, but the brown sugar muffins were a hit with the hubby and me!  (I didn't coat the second batch in cinnamon & sugar).  

Especially after the addition of the brown sugar! 

XO! 

A Birthday via Instagram

 Happy 4th Birthday to my crazy, lovable, ball of energy! 

Cradle Cap Confession

Our first babe was a baldy. Well, that's not entirely true... she had a severe old man thing happening where she only had hair around the bottom 1" of her head, but it was blonde so nearly invisible. 

Our second babe was born with as much hair as Chloe acquired over the first 9 months of her life.  What a surprise when she made her entrance! (I was already in shock throughout labor because of the intensity and speed of everything, but when the doctor pulled her out, my initial thought was "Whose baby is that?" because of how different she looked that Chloe)

I used to think about how sweet it would be to have a baby with hair who could wear hair clips, or a little pigtail.  I used to!

Some things that never crossed my mind until having to deal with newborn hair

• Tangles.  Yes, at less than 1 month old, she had tangles in the back of her hair.  And when I tried to oh so gently comb them out, it pulled out her hair and I about died.
• The bald spot.  All babies get them, its just what happens.  But with a head full of dark hair, this is what stands out: 

• Cradle cap.  I'm fairly sure that almost all babies experience this as well.  Chloe had it when she was a few months old, and now Aria does. 

Dealing with cradle cap is fairly easy.  It doesn't hurt the baby at all, it's dry skin (although it looks FAR worse and makes any new mom lose their ----).  A nurse friend of my suggested rubbing a small amount of baby oil onto Chloe's head before her bath and, low and behold, it was gone after 2-3 treatments.  So when I noticed Aria's (which wasn't as obvious through her hair), I gave myself a mental thumbs-up and went to grab the baby oil and comb. 

It was not a happy ending though! It was so much worse than I could have expected.  It did it's job of loosening the dead skin, which then began to "float" around her hair for days and days, even after multiple shampooings.  Luckily her 4 month appointment was a short week away and after a quick conversation with her pediatrician I learned: Do not use baby oil and try to comb out on a baby with hair.  Her sad story ended with her own daughter losing all of her hair from being pulled out with the comb.  I was experiencing this the first day when I was attempting to pull out the dead skin with the comb - the comb with pull the flake, and with it would come the hair! I left her little head alone after hearing her personal experience but it still bothered me looking at it (I know it doesn't hurt her, but it looks like it should).  

A few days ago, we tried something different.  Head&Shoulders shampoo.  It works with flakes on adults, maybe on babies too? Totally did!  After living with huge flakes laying throughout her hair for nearly a month, no more flakes! 

Underneath, she still has cradle cap, but it makes me feel better not having the urge to pick out pieces and risk pulling out her hair.  Now I just have to force myself to be patient - it will clear up itself. 

*When using anything other than baby shampoo, be extra cautious of shampoo getting into eyes. 4 hands comes in handy when dealing with a wiggly baby and a stingy shampoo. 

How did/do you deal with cradle cap?

XO!

I Pinned This - Letter to Disney Princess

We have a big princess fanatic in our house. Sometimes I stop to question how this happened and the only answer is: it must be an inherent princess trait. Chloe was born loving princesses and had many of the old Disney classics memorized after 1-2 times watching (which made me look like that mom that lets her kids watch hours of TV but she really just absorbed and remembered every word!)

When I saw this pin, I knew it was something we HAD to try! (And I was very much expecting it to be a myth and wait for months for no response.

Here's what Pinterest promises:
if you write a letter to a character at disney (walt disney world communications p.o. box 10040 lake buena vista, fl 32830-0040), they will send you an autographed photo back! Could be a fun project for teaching how to write a letter! gonna do this with my kids :) (couponingtodisney.com)

Here's what I did:
Without much promise for a response, I made a fun game out of writing a letter to a Princess. She picked Repunzal and away we wrote about our love of Tangled and Eugene. (It goes so far that one of us is Eugene or Repunzal at any given time of the day and we recently had a huge meltdown before our last hair appointment because her hair would turn brown.)
Anywho.. And then we waited.

Guess what showed up in the mail about 3 weeks later!!

XO!

DIY Cleaning Schedule

I've been "working" as a stay-at-home-mom for 8 months now (WOW!) I still don't have it all figured out, it's not as easy as I thought it would be, and our house is still a disaster almost all the time. I know I've talked about this before, but it's something that does really bugs me and I'm trying hard to correct.

To help feel less overwhelmed each day, I created a schedule, of sorts, to help manage what needs to be done each day and what can be left to another day in the week.

Some things are done everyday:
Some things are conquered once a week, or as needed (which sometimes is 5 times a week)

(Bonus Tip: With this being on the front of the fridge, it's not only my eyes who see it.  Meaning... the hubby might notice that I haven't gotten to wiping the counters for the evening and lend a hand)

I made some kid friendly ones as well for my little helper who is always wanting to do what I'm doing, whether it's more helpful for me or not.  I love it because it keeps her on track of what needs done in the morning before leaving for school, too, and I find myself trying to hurry her onto the next task as often - hallelujah!

These are her everyday "chores" - Brush hair, make bed, etc.

These are her extra "contributions" - sweep, change sheets, etc.  She does 1 of these a day.

Do they enforce things getting done on a daily basis?  No.  Do they help keep on track and feel less bombarded with chores? Yes.  I'll take what I can get.  Maybe when spring comes and I can open the windows for some fresh air, I'll be more apt to keep up with chores (ha). 

*The circles aren't cut perfectly, the colors are matched up well... it was a quick job.  I will probably re-make them until I'm satisfied with how they look then laminate them for longer durability from little hands that like to move them 30 times a day. 

Do you have a cleaning schedule you stick to? And how do you hold yourself accountable? 

Until next time... XO! 

The creation of Mommy Time

As you may recall, it drives me NUTS when Chloe doesn't nap.  Over the summer, I had fantasies about how life would be after preschool started and Aria was born, with marvelous naps after lunch for both girls and a little bit of quiet alone time for me. (Dream on!)

Reality, for the first several weeks after Aria was born, I spent countless hours a week angry.  Angry because I could not control nap time as I had envisioned mainly (and really tired from all the colicky crying too).  I would fight with Chloe every single day about staying in bed.  I told her "I don't care if you sleep, but you have to stay in bed and stay quiet" and to no avail... she would win every single day and I would end up drained, completely. I couldn't do it anymore, I was losing my mind between the fighting and the crying. Thus the creation of Mommy Time.

I sat down with Chloe one afternoon, after I lost it yet again during one of our battles, and we worked out the details. You no longer have to stay in bed or your room but...

• You cannot follow Mommy around while I do things
• You must play quietly where ever you choose
• You cannot help Mommy with any chores I'm working on
• Mommy Time is not for talking or asking questions

Sounds a little rough on paper.. but it has been a life saver.  The fights stopped, I feel thousands of times less stressed during "nap time", Chloe is happy as a lark, and Aria sleeps better.  Typically Mommy Time involves Chloe cuddled on the couch with a movie of her choosing (Alvin and the Chipmucks everyday for 10 days... OMG) and me doing whatever I need or want.

*Bonus - if she's had a rough morning and hasn't been a good listener or kind, she knows that I can revoke Mommy Time and turn it back into Rest Time as I see fit - (much like today as she yells as me from her bed while I type this post).

What do you do during rest time to ensure some sanity?

Until next time... XO!

It tastes so bittersweet... preschool today.

Today was the big day!  Chloe's first day of 3 year old preschool.  Something I've been preparing myself for since she was born... something I completely changed my mind about last night and wanted to keep her home forever.

Chloe has also been through a range of emotions over the last few weeks about going to school, but woke up READY TO GO! 

Working on seat work

Chloe and her teacher

Social circle time

And when it came time for goodbye... my brave little girl... cried and screamed :-(   Worst mom award as I walked out and left her there!

P.S.... Now that the first day of preschool has come and gone, let's get this baby outta here!