Every year I have to think of something to give to my neighbors and co-workers for Christmas. I always look for something that is cheap, easy to make, doesn't take a lot of time, makes a large amount, and tastes good.

This year we are making English Toffee. It meets ALL my criteria.

ENGLISH TOFFEE

Ingredients:

4 cubes butter
2 cups white sugar
1- 1 1/2 bag milk chocolate chips
3-4 handfuls of chopped nuts (I used pecans)

Directions:

In a medium-sized saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Once butter is melted, add two cups sugar. Stir constantly for about 12 minutes over medium to medium high heat (about a 7 out of 10 on the heat setting, if you have something like that) or until mixture turns a medium brown (like a nice caramel color). It should be at a low boil most of the time.

Pour hot mixture into a lightly greased jelly roll pan (12 1/2" x 17 1/2"). Spread evenly. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top of hot mixture and let it sit for a minute or two. Lightly spread the melted chocolate, covering the mixture. Sprinkle with chopped nuts and chill in refrigerator until cool.

Once cool, crack into pieces for serving.

So, I know it's WAAAY past Thanksgiving but I thought I'd post this cute little turkey place setting buddy.

I painted a little wooden peg (meant to be a baby or bee shape), sprayed it with some glossy finish, and added some raffia "feathers" on the back. I thought he was a cute little guy so I thought I'd share.

On Sundays I go to church. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I get to hang out with all the children that are 18 months to 3 years old for two hours while their parents attend other classes. I love being in the nursery with all the kids. 

Sometimes those two hours can feel very long so I came up with some ideas to keep the time flying and to have fun with the best group of kids there are! These are also good preschool or babysitting activities.

1. Toys. Every nursery is pretty well stocked with toys. Sometimes the children get sick of the same old thing. Try to be creative. Have the children sort the toys, count the toys, or have them clean them. (Give the children baby wipes to clean the toys or a clean sponge with a little soapy water. Have other children dry them.)
2. Sing action songs that get the wiggles out.
• Do As I'm Doing
• Popcorn Popping
• Once There Was a Snowman
• Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam
• Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes
• Eensy Weensy Spider
• The Wheels on the Bus
3. Do puzzles. If you don't have puzzles, make some by cutting up some big pictures that have been mounted on card stock. 
4. Look at pictures around the room (or in the Gospel Art book/kit, or in the nursery teaching manual). Ask questions or tell stories that relate to the pictures.
5. Coloring. Color the handout from the lesson, coloring books, or plain paper.
6. Trace hands and/or feet of the kids. They love to see their hands on paper.
7. Read books. One of our very favorite books is Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle. The children LOVE this book. We also love to read HUG by Jez Alborough.
8. Play "Ring-Around-The-Rosie."
9. Play "Duck, Duck, Goose."
10. Play "Motorboat." Have the children hold hands in a circle like you would for Ring-Around-The-Rosie. Say "Motorboat, motorboat, go so slow" while you walk slowly in a circle. Continue saying "Motorboat, motorboat, go so fast" while you walk quicker. Then say, "Motorboat, motorboat, step on the gas!" Everyone falls down.
11. Play "Follow the Leader."
12. Play "Freeze." Have the kids move around and have them stop when you say, "freeze!" They must freeze like statues. You can do it with or without music.
13. Play "What Did I Change About Me?" One leader leaves the room for a second, or have the kids close their eyes. The leader changes something about him/her- takes off shoe, changes hair style, etc.) Leader returns to room (or children open their eyes) and try to guess what is different. We decided to have a bag of props outside the door. Inside the bag I included socks, glasses, gloves, a scarf, different shoes, lipstick, hair bow, and a belt. The children like this game too. 
14. Play "Red Light, Green Light." You can substitute the words "Stop" and "Go" to make it easier for the younger children.
15. Play "Snake in the Grass." Lie a jumprope down on the floor. Take one end of a jumprope and move it back and forth to imitate a moving snake. Have the kids jump over the snake without touching it.
16. Floor shapes. Use masking tape to create large shapes on the floor. Children must walk/balance on the tape shapes.
17. Play-doh. Use a disposable plastic mat (like the ones you put under a high chair). Make sure the play-doh stays on/over the mat.
18. String cereal onto yarn. We use Froot Loops because the holes are bigger and they taste good. Tape one side of the yarn with a little piece of masking tape (kind of like the end of a shoelace) to make it easier to thread the cereal. This is a good activity for your older children.
19. Flashlight stomp. Turn off the lights. Hold a flashlight so it makes a light on the floor. Have the children try to stomp on the light.
20. Flashlight shadows. Turn off the lights and hold a flashlight up to the wall. Show the children how to make shadows on the wall.
21. Sing "Old Mac Donald" with puppets or pictures of different animals. Have the children choose a puppet or picture before you start. They will be excited when you sing "their" verse.
22. Singing with rhythm sticks. Sings songs while the children click their sticks together like "Follow the Prophet" or "Book of Mormon Stories." If you don't have rhythm sticks, you can use wooden dowels (found at any craft store) or PVC pipes, cut to about 10"-12". 
23. Rhythm sticks beat. Pick a beat for the children to follow or drum with the sticks on the floor.
24. Camping with rhythm sticks. Pretend you are camping. Use the sticks to build a "fire." Reserve a few sticks for the children to hold to "roast" pretend marshmallows or hotdogs. Sing a couple of songs around the "campfire."
25. Play "Peek-a-Boo" with scarves. Have the children put the scarves over their heads. Say, "Where's (name)?" The children love to pull it off their heads and reveal their cute little faces.
26. Scarf play. Have the children pretend that the scarves are a hat, apron, cape, and a scarf. You can sing "My hat has 4 corners" or just play. See scarf song at end of post.
27. Butterfly Wings. Have the children pretend they are butterflies. Give each child two scarfs to use as "wings." See butterfly rhyme at end of post.
28. Stickers. Have the children decorate plain paper with stickers. 
29. Bubbles. Blow bubbles for the children. The children will want to blow bubbles themselves. It is a good idea to hold the bubble wand for them so it doesn't drip everywhere. See bubble song at end of post.
30. Bean bag toss. Bring several bean bags and big plastic bowls or sand buckets. Have the children toss the bags into the bowls or buckets.
31. Hot Lava. Set out several carpet squares, pieces of fabric or beach towels on the floor. Pretend the floor is "hot lava." Have the children jump from one square/fabric piece/towel to the next without touching the floor.
32. Cars, Sleds and Magic Carpets. With your carpet squares or towels, have the children pretend they are riding in a car, sled or on a magic carpet. "Ride" to different places (church, school, Grandma's house, grocery store, etc.)
33. Music! Sing songs with the children. Bring some kid-friendly instruments or have them clap along. You can make your own instruments with recycled containers and cardboard tubes. Make a drum with a big yogurt container or oatmeal can. Make a shaker by taking a toilet paper tube and fill it 1/3 full with dried beans. Staple or duct tape the ends shut. Make rhythm sticks with PVC pipe or wooden dowels.
34. Blanket (or parachute) Toss. Bring a blanket (or a child's play parachute, if you've got one). Have the children hold onto a corner/side of the blanket. Put a soft ball or stuffed animal in the middle and lift the blanket together. See how high you can toss the ball/stuffed animal.
35. Play a big game of memory. Prepare memory cards and place them on the floor. Let the kids take turns flipping the cards over to get a match. If you want to get fancy, take pictures of the kids and create memory cards with the pictures. Remember to print 2 sets of pictures. Mount the pictures onto some cute card stock and laminate the pictures. The kids love to see themselves.
36. Dress up. Clean out your closet or bring in some old costumes. Let the kids dress up. Make sure the clothes are modest, and clean. No masks.
37. Play "Choo Choo Train." Have the children form a line and hold onto the person in front of them, either on their shoulders or waist. Pretend you are a train. Stop at various "stations." 
38. Punch balloons/balls. Bring in some punch balloons/balls. Let the children play. These are nice because they don't pop very easily.
39. Balloons or beach balls. Blow up a balloon or beach ball and let the children pop them up.
40. Pop! Have the children hold hands in a circle. Bring the children in very close together so the circle is very small. Have the children blow at the same time like they are blowing up an imaginary balloon. Every time they blow, take a step backward to make the circle bigger and bigger. When the circle is at it's biggest without letting go of hands, say "Pop!" Everyone falls to the floor.
41. Musical Carpet Squares. Arrange carpet squares into a circle. Designate a special square as the "winning square." We have one bright red carpet square that we designate as the winning square. Have the children walk in a circle on the square while music is playing. When the music stops, the children stop. The child who lands on the "winning square" wins that round. Carpet squares are NOT removed after each round and no child "loses." 
42. Do a Trick. Older children like to show off what they can do. Have the older children sit in a circle and take turns showing everyone what they can do.
43. Do some rhymes with actions. See ideas at end of post.
44. Play with ribbon dancers. Order a few online or create your own. Click HERE to see how to make your own.
45. Shadow. Create movements with your body and have the children follow what you do. (Stand on one foot, touch the floor, stand up, turn around, clasp hands together and touch the sky, etc.)
46. Play "I Spy." This is a good game with the older children. Sit the children down on the floor or at the table. Pick an obvious object in the room without saying what it is and say, "I spy something (color)." Name the color of the object. The children must guess what the object is that you are thinking of. Have the children take turns "spying" something. You might need to help them a little until they get the hang of it.
47. Do an Age-Appropriate Craft. (paper bag puppets, spoon puppets, handprint/thumbprint art, etc.)
48. Easy Hand Sewing. Click HERE for instructions.
49. Have an Indoor Snowball Fight. Click HERE for instructions.
50. Senses Activities. Create guessing games using the senses.
• For smells, use extracts, perfumes or spices. Soak up some extract or perfume with a cotton ball and place each one in a separate, clean baby food jar. Or, bring in some different spice bottles and let the children smell the jars/bottles. See if they like what they smell or not. Can they guess some of the smells?
• For touch, place different objects in a bag. Make sure the bag isn't see-through. Have them pick out an object that is rough, smooth, sticky, scratchy, soft, hard, etc. Or, place one item in the bag at a time without the children seeing it. Have them take turns putting their hand in the bag. See if they can describe how it feels or guess the item.
• For listening, fill 3-6 similar containers with different objects. Make sure they cannot see inside the container. You can use empty Play-doh jars, or plastic Easter eggs, etc. You can do this two ways:
•  Fill 3 containers, each with a different object inside. Display a duplicate of the objects on the floor or table. Have the children shake the container and listen. Have them guess which object is in which container according to the choices given on the floor/table.
• Fill 3 containers with different objects (rice, beans, pennies, cereal, nuts and bolts, golf tees, paper clips, marbles, etc.) Fill 3 more with the same objects as the first 3 so there are 3 pairs of containers. For example, fill 2 containers with rice, 2 containers with golf tees, and two containers with pennies. Have the children shake the containers and try to match the sounds. Try to make it trickier by using similar materials.
• For sight, have the children sort different objects by color, shape, size, etc.

Flapping your wings, as you go.

Flapping your wings, up high, then low.

Butterflies, butterflies, flapping around.

Visiting flowers, not making a sound.

                                                 

*Pin two scarves to the middle of each child’s back.

Have them hold onto an outer corner to create wings.

Recite the poem, as your children fly around the room.

BUBBLES (to the tune of "Where Is Thumbkin")

Hello bubbles, hello bubbles,

Come and land, come and land

Right in the middle, right in the middle

Of my hand, of my hand.

Good-bye bubbles, good-bye bubbles

Time to go, time to go,

I will help you, I will help you,

With a blow, with a blow.

I’M TOAST IN THE TOASTER

I’m toast in the toaster (squat down)

I’m getting very hot

Tick tock, tick tock (sway side to side)

Up I pop! (jump up)

MY FUZZY CATERPILLAR 

My fuzzy caterpillar, 

(wiggle finger along opposite arm)

Made his cocoon one day.

(cup hands together)

He turned into a butterfly,

(link thumbs together)

And quickly flew away! 

(wave fingers and move hands upward as though flying away)

TOMMY THUMBS

Tommy Thumbs up!

(bounce thumbs up)

And Tommy Thumbs down!

(bounce thumbs down)

Tommy Thumbs dancing

(bounce thumbs back and forth)

All around the town!

Dance them on your shoulders!

(bounce thumbs on shoulders)

Dance them on your head!

(bounce thumbs on head)

Dance them on your knees!

(bounce thumbs on knees)

Then tuck them into bed!

(tuck thumbs under arms)

Please share your nursery ideas!

The new school year is approaching quickly, or has already begun for some. Make this school year a great one by supporting your child/student. There is nothing more important than giving your child(ren) time. Here are some ways that you can support your student(s) this year.

*Make sure your child eats breakfast. If you have to, wake him/her up early enough to grab a healthy bite to eat before school. Stock the kitchen with healthy options. Here are some ideas:

• Stop by and introduce yourself (and your child) at the beginning of the school year. Take time to talk to your teacher. Ask him/her questions. Let your child talk about him/herself.
• Offer to help your teacher. It can be anything from grading papers, to assisting with a class project, to helping with field trips, etc. Students can offer to help as well (filing, cleaning, organizing, etc.).
• Email or call your teacher and let him/her know if your child is struggling in his/her class or if there are other personal issues your teacher might want to know about (death in the family, health issues, struggles with other classes, lack of sleep, etc.). This takes a lot of the guess work out for the teacher as to why your child might be performing or behaving differently in class. Your teacher will be more aware of the situation and able to help your child better in and out of the classroom.
• Be kind to your teacher. Please realize that teachers are some of the most busy people and they are expected to care for 30-120+ students (depending on grade level) daily. Their work day doesn't end when the bell rings. It often ends late at night, sometimes at home, after grading and lesson planning has been completed for the next day. If you notice your child's grades are slipping, please talk to your teacher ASAP. Teachers don't have a lot of time to call everyone's parents or talk to each student about their progress. Be willing to help your student at home. The teacher can't tutor your child all the time. 

WHY?

• Your teacher is a great resource for letters of recommendation. Your teacher can more accurately write a sincere letter if he/she knows you, your interests, your abilities, etc. 
• Your teacher is more willing to help you if he/she knows what's going on in your life.
• If your student is lucky, he/she could get the same teacher the following year! 

One of my favorite summertime treats is homemade ice cream! I love the way it tastes, the texture, the way it melts, and the memories. As a kid we would have gatherings with my extended family once a month at my great aunt's house behind a grove of orange trees in California. I loved being with family while smelling the sweet orange blossoms, and hearing the motors of the ice cream makers with their constant buzz in the background, ready to surprise us with a treat at any moment. As a kid it seemed like it took forever for the ice cream to be done but it was worth it when the adults would finally give us a paper cup filled with mint, lemon, or fresh banana ice cream. It was heaven! 

Now that I am older and we live far away from California and any extended family, I get to create new memories with my own family. This year I made FRESH HOMEMADE STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM and it was delicious! I just might make it again for Date Night. 

July is the time to think about Christmas gifts IF you are planning on making them. This year I am!


I decided to make some cute wooden peg people for my siblings and their cute families. I may just turn them into ornaments to hang on the tree, or display them on a wooden plaque with the family name. We'll see. 


Grab some tiny paint brushes and some acrylic paints and transform these unfinished wood pieces into masterpieces! They do take a while to paint but they are WAY cute.


A friend of mine is a pro crafter. She taught me a few tips.


TIPS:


*Paint the head FIRST! Paint the whole head the skin color you want. Let it dry. You will be holding onto the head while you paint the body so do this part first. Don't add any features quite yet.




*Paint the body. These are really cute when you can add detail. Take your time, and go slowly. 


*Paint the arms. Make little sausage-like shapes for the arms. Try to move your arms a little closer together than on complete opposite sides of the peg. If you move the arms a little closer, you don't have to turn the peg to see both arms. It won't look funny, I promise.


*Paint the hair and face. Once the body is dry, paint the hair first. Add the eyes, and mouth last.


*Spray with a finishing gloss. This will prevent the paint from chipping or scratching and will add a nice professional-looking shine. 


WOOD SOURCE:


Casey's Wood Products has the cheapest wooden peg people I have seen. They have a great selection and are extremely helpful and nice. They ship on the same day for most orders.