Homemade Edible Peanut Butter Play Doh!

This recipe isn't right for everyone, for instance for children who cannot have honey or peanut butter. This is very easy to make & much cheaper then buying play doh, whice you have to keep a close eye on your kids so they don't eat it.

For this you will need 1 c. of peanut butter, 1/2 c. of honey, and 1 & 1/2 c. of powdered milk. The next steps are very easy, mix all ingredients together and then form into balls. That's it. Now tell me that isn't easy enough for you to do so your child(ren) can have some fun, and you won't have to worry about them eating it.

This also can be used as a great 'candy' when you use peanut butter and powdered sugar.

Enjoy!

Homemade Glitter!

Art supplies don't have to be so expensive. My next few post will be a series of how to save money on art supplies for home by making them yourselves.

To make Homemade Glitter all you need is some liquid food coloring and a 1/2 c of table salt. You will use 5-6 drops of food coloring, you will mix it into the salt. Then you will cook it in the microwave for 1-2 minutes. After it is done in the microwave you will need to spread it out over wax paper and let it air dry. After it is dry put it in an airtight container for storage.

See, very simple and a super easy way to save money for your little artist. Plus this way you can make sure if they end up eating some of it that you will know that it is 100% non-toxic.

Homemade Baby Wipes

Baby wipes can get expensive BUT you can make your own. You can even keep some of these in your car for sticky fingers.

To make homemade wipes you will need a roll of sturdy paper towels, baby oil, baby wash, and a deep Tupperware container. First you will need to cut the roll of paper towels in half. Then fill the Tupperware container half way with the baby oil and baby wash(make sure you don't put to much of either in, half of each should do). Then place the paper towels on top of the mixture and put the lid on the Tupperware container. Lastly, you will turn the Tupperware container over so it is upside-down so the mixture can soak down into the paper towels.

Tada!!! You have homemade paper towels.

Walking Through The Jungle - With Your Toddler!

This is a great activity for you to play with your child. You pretend to walk real low like in a jungle and mime the animal you are giving a hint for. It is very easy for you to come up with additional rhymes for this.

Walking through the jungle,
What did I see?
A big lion roaring
At me, me, me!

Walking through the jungle,
What did I see?
A baby monkey laughing
At me, me, me!

Walking through the jungle,
What did I see?
A slippery snake hissing
At me, me, me!

Activity for your Baby - Shaker Bottle

Alright so we are always looking for something to do with our babies. Well here is an activity that almost all babies love. Make them a Shaker Bottle and make "music" with them.

What you will need:

• For babies, use one of their small juice bottles, you can always use a larger size bottle for larger kids.
• Colored rice or pasta(honestly you can use anything small in your junk drawer that you don't need such as nuts, bolts, etc)
  
• Crazy glue or super glue

Directions:

• Make sure the bottle you are using is clean and dry.
• Place the items you have inside the bottle.
• Glue the cap back onto the bottle.
• Little one's will love the noise when they shake the bottle, plus they will also like to watch what is happening to the stuff inside as they shake it all around.

Now go make a Shaker Bottle for your little one and let the fun begin.

**This is also a good way to distract them when you need to get some things done around the house or make dinner**

Tips To Getting Your Child To Eat Vegetables

We all know that once children hit around toddler age they start to lose interest in their vegetables, here are some tips that might help you out.

• You can use any cooked leftover yellow/white vegetable by mashing it up, mixing it with eggs, and cooking it with something like a pancake or you can bake it in a muffin tin. You can also mix it in with mashed potatoes if your child likes them.
• You (or you can let your child) sprinkle shredded cheese over each spoonful of cooked vegetables.
• Puree steamed vegetables and add them to a simmering broth to make a creamy soup.
• A good early finger food for your picky eater is "spaghetti squash". You cook it whole in the microwave until it is soft. Then you cut it in half, remove the seeds, and use a fork to remove the flesh. It comes out like spaghetti strands. You can serve it with butter, margarine, a little olive oil, or spaghetti sauce.
• Try green noodles. They are made with spinach.
• Add finely chopped vegetables to a cheese omelet.
• Hide moderate amounts of pureed vegetables in meatloaf and spaghetti sauce.
• Hide some pureed vegetables under melted cheese on pizza
• Hide some pureed vegetables in hamburger meat before you cook it.
• Try serving a vegetable desert(pumpkin pie, carrot cake, etc).
• Make sweet potato chips. Place 12 thin, unpeeled sweet potato circle slices on a microwave rack. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and microwave 4-5 minutes until dry. Rotate during cooking. Let cool before eating.

Hopefully this will help you get your little one to eat vegetables.

Exercising as a Family

Exercise Idea's as a Family

Here are some idea's for you to exercise as a family so we can all stay in shape.

• Take a walk before or after dinner.
• Turn on some music and dance in your living room like no one else is watching, it will be good for a laugh and good for the heart.
• Make a game out of cleaning your house. (such as you are going to be attacked by aliens and you have to pick up all the "moon rocks" before they can get to you.)
• Turn TV commercials into workout breaks. (when the show goes to commercial have a competition to see who can do the most push ups or something until the show comes back on.)
• Have a weekly sports night.
• Take the kids to a walk/run for a charity.
• Take the dog (and the kids) for a walk.

Those are just a few things but as you can see it is easy to incorporate workouts into your daily life, as long as they are fun and creative.

Take a "Babymoon"

Alright, so some who read this might be married but are expecting their first child. This one is for you ladies. Before your baby is born take a babymoon. Take one last good vacation together before your baby is born. It will be hard to find special time together for a while after your baby is born and it is important for you as a couple to remember why you love each other. You need to have this special time together to reassure each other that you are there for each other through thick and thin and that you guys are ready for this next step in life as a united front instead of 2 individuals.

Rekindling Romance

Rekindling Romance

We all know that once a baby is born romance can sometimes go right out the window. Once that romance goes you will most likely snap at each other from all the sexual tension because things just aren't good enough. Here are some little tips to get you and your spouse back on the "love wagon":

• Don't let you mind wonder during sex. Once you let your mind wonder you aren't really into it any more and it won't be enjoyable for you.
• Go on a mini-honeymoon. Yes, it is hard to leave the kids sometimes. Yes, you have a lot of things to do at home. But to keep a marriage happy you need to take a break with you spouse. You need to do this at LEAST once a year, even if its just to a hotel a couple towns over(do not go in the same town, it will be to easy to spend time doing things other then trying to have a good time alone with your spouse).
• Start dating again. Remember how much easier things were when you were dating. How you would go out on a weekend and get dinner, maybe see a movie. Start it all over again. Set up a regular day for a couple time. You can go and hang out with friends and everything but make sure you set aside an hour or two of that night to just be by yourselves as a couple, no one else but you and your spouse.
• The power of the touch. Think back to when you and your spouse first got together, you used to hug all the time, get a kiss hello and goodbye whenever you saw them, you held hands. Just these small gestures can help so much with your spouse. It makes them feel a little more appreciated and wanted.

Please take the time to work on your marriage, even if you think you have a good marriage. There is always room for improvement in every aspect of a life, why just sit there and let it be mediocre?

Summer Safety

Summer (outdoor) Safety

So summer has been here for a little bit now but I feel you need to know these safety tips.

Sun Safety -

• Avoid being in the sun from 10 am to 3pm.
• Stay in the shade as much as you can.
• For babies 6 months and older apply SPF 15(at least) sunblock on half an hour before going outside.
• For babies 6 months and under, if there isn't enough shade apply small amounts of sunblock on the exposed skin.
• Reapply sunblock every 2 hours.

How to treat Sunburn -

• Cold compresses.
• over-the-counter pain reliever.
• Aloe.

Keeping your kids cool -

• Spray them with cold water from a spray bottle or from a hose.
• Fan them.
• If you notice overheating, ice packs to the armpits and groin can speed up the cooling process.

Insect protection -

• Dress in lightweight long sleeve shirts and pants when in wooded area's.
• Avoid bright colors and floral patterns as they attract stinging insects.
• If stung, do not pull stinger out with fingers or tweezers, but use a credit card and scrap the stinger out the same direction it came in.
• To relieve a sting, use a paste made of baking soda and water or 0.5% hydrocortizone cream.
• If swelling occurs in the childs face and lips and is pronounced, or you know they have an insect allergy then you should call emergency services.
• Some swelling and itching is normal.
• Use a non-DEET bug repellent.
• For spraying repellent on clothing, do so before putting them on the child so they do not breath in any fumes.
  

Water Safety -

• Keep your pool fenced in, and ask neighbors to do the same.
• Never let child be around any body of water without a responsible adult there to supervise.
• Drowning can occur with less than an inch of water.
• Take a child/infant CPR course.

With these tips you can have a fun, safe time with your child outside this summer

Baby Proofing

Baby proofing. It is very simple and can keep your child out of unneeded danger. First, make sure there are no power cords anywhere in sight of the baby, if the baby can see it it WILL get to it. Second, table corners, you can buy nifty little padded corner cover's that stick on with a sticky tap, they are wonderful. Third, kitchen cabinets, they have several different kind of locks for cabinets, doesn't matter which kind you get as long as you get some, you don't want you baby to go get into your cleaning chemicals or have things fall out on top of them. Fourth, appliances that open and toilets, you can buy some locks for these things to keep your baby from opening them up, but I suggest buying different sticky tape, I have not had success with the tape that came with these locks.

You can also look into straps that keep your book shelves and entertainment center's upright and at the wall instead of falling onto your child when they are just pulling themselves up to stand. You can get these pad things that you put on your door that prevent it from closing all the way which stops it from jamming your babies fingers. They also have door knob covers that prevent your child from opening a door that you don't want them to open.

Look into your child proofing options and please child proof for the sake of your child's safety. I know we can't stop all bumps and bruises but we can stop them from getting hurt when they don't have to.

Preparing for Bad Weather

I figure right now is a great time to post this seeing how a Tornado Watch was just posted not to long ago for my area. Normally they just list my county, oh no...this time they listed my city. As we all know we have to try our best to keep ourselves and our children protected. This includes from dangers of the weather. These are the danger's that we cannot prevent but we can protect ourselves from. For people who live where there are Tornado's it is important to have a basement, if not go to your nearest friend or neighbor that has a basement as soon as the watch comes out. It is not worth it to risk our child's life. Also it is important to have a emergency survival kit. This would include nonperishable food items, water, for babies I would keep a can of formula in it and replace it if it going to go bad, clothes, a package of diapers, a package of wipes, flashlights, a good first aid kit, anything that will sooth your child(ren), etc. I won't go into any more detail because the kit is a little different in different locations due to weather threats, those are just the basics. Please be prepared for weather emergencies.

Stop Talking About "Life"

Being a wife has it's difficult times, especially when you have a child. Getting time to yourselves is important but getting time together is just as important. Remember when you first got together with you husband, before children, before the worries of being able to pay all of your bills. You just talked. You didn't just grunt at each other as you passed by to go to the bathroom. You would talk about everything under the sun. My husband and I have something we do together that is not only entertaining but it sparks conversation. When he is off work(he work's 3rd shift so time together is hard enough as it is without a child) we get together at the computer and cuddle up and watch "Is it a good idea to microwave this?" on Youtube(check it out). We sit there and watch what they decide to stick in there as it melts and on the best occasions blow up, then we sit there after we get done and it just sparks conversation about all sorts of things. We will talk for hours about all sorts of things, not about bills, not about our daughter, not about the normal troubles in life but about completely random things that really don't make a difference in the world or in our lives. It just brings us closer together and lets us bond even more and strengthen our relationship.

Hide Some Diapers

We all know that diapers are expensive and we run out fast. None of us want to be stranded without any diapers. One thing I've learned is storing away diapers. When you start to run low on diapers go out and buy more diapers then take the last 2 or 3 and store them away somewhere. You can store them in your car, in a dresser drawer, in a kitchen cabinet, anywhere. Then when you are strapped for cash for a few days and are in need for diapers you have them stored away all over and you will have a small supply to last you a few days until you can afford to go out and buy some more. Just remember to keep the sizes up to date...you don't want to need a size 6 diaper and only be able to find a stash of size 3's.

Help Remembering Things

So this tip is to help us mommies remember things. We all know pregnancy brain never goes away completely, plus we all have far to much on our minds to remember everything. This tip is to make lists. Make list for everything, what you need to get done today, who you need to call, what did you just run out of in your cupboards, whatever you need to make it for. Then keep these lists in plain sight and check things off as you complete them. I know it seems so simple but it works as long as you keep at it. Don't just make lists for one week then think that all of a sudden you will magically remember everything so you stop. It will not work to your advantage to stop.

Don't Be Afraid To Ask For Help!

This is a VERY important tip. It is probably one of the most difficult tips for some mom's, but it is important. You are on the go from the time your child is born. It is very easy to get overwhelmed. You are not alone, you must never forget it. We have all done things to get through motherhood that we probably think we are the only one(for example: most of the time we cannot shower everyday). It might be difficult but do not be afraid to ask for help. You have so many people who care about you and your child that most are willing to help you. It can be small things, for example a great friend of mine stayed up all night on the phone with me when my daughter was 3 weeks old and would not sleep just to make sure that I would stay awake and to support me because all mothers know how difficult it is to a mother. You can ask a friend or a relative to come over and watch the baby so you can just jump in the shower. You must not be afraid to ask for help, no matter how big, small, or embarrassing it is for you. A great support system will help you through this difficult journey, because we are not perfect and we need help.

Cleaning with Child(ren)

For my second Mommy tip I'm going to help you find ways to get things done while keeping your children happy. For people like me with an (almost) 11 month old it is hard to get around to doing things that need to get done such as house work. Even at that age you can include your child in your cleaning activities. Which in turn will help you when they get older and start to take on the responsibilities of chores. While it does take longer to get your house work done when you have your little one helping you it beats it not getting done at all or your getting frustrated while your child is screaming for you to play but you are cleaning. First, lets say you have dishes to do(not all of us are lucky enough to have a dish washer). You can set your child up in a walker, jumperoo, exersaucer, etc, next to where you will be doing your dishes, you can make games with them by blowing the bubbles from the dish soap at them or while you are cleaning cups(DO NOT DO WITH GLASS) you can bang the cups together(can also be done with plastic bowls, tupperware, etc). Another thing you could do is give them cup of their own and let them just play with it and bang it around on their own. Now lets say you have a living room to pick up. An easy way to do this AND keep your little one happy is to clean with music on and dance around while making goofy faces at your little one. They will enjoy the time together, play, and it will wear them out for either nap time or bed time. Honestly, if you clean to music, no matter what the cleaning, you should be able to keep your child entertained enough that you can do what you need to do, plus it will also make cleaning a little bit more fun for you. Plus you will be satisfied when you get done cleaning because you aren't sitting with a mess or worrying about getting things clean.

I hope this is a helpful tip for you ladies and it helps you keep your baby happy AND help keep you in a happy, clean home.