Just One Mom Trying: spring

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Friday, May 25, 2012

Sunflower Twinkie Cake

It was my daughter's 4th birthday last weekend. She wanted a flower-themed birthday party. It's a little tricky to decorate outside but at least we had a flower cake. I got a quick picture of it before it disappeared.

This cake was fun and easy to make. The center is a regular 9" round cake frosted with yellow frosting and topped with Hershey kisses. The petals are Twinkies cut in half. I liked how the sunflower turned out.

Next time I think I'll do a daisy- leave the Twinkies long (maybe cutting off just a little on one end to give it a flat edge) and frost them white (or whatever color). I'll probably use candy melts for the center, since they come in all sorts of colors, or just pipe it with frosting.

Friday, May 4, 2012

Tissue Paper Flowers with Balloon Center

Emily 7:50 PM 1 Comments

My daughter's birthday is coming up and she wants a flower-themed party. (I'm sure the boys are going to love it.) Anyway, I tinkered around with making paper flowers and came up with this bloom. I think I like it.

If you like it, you can make it too! Click HERE to find out how to make a simple paper flower.

You're going to do the same thing with the tissue paper flowers but using 6-8 full sheets of tissue paper. I also stapled the middle instead of using a pipe cleaner (of course). I fastened a balloon to the center and then tied on a couple of tissue paper "leaves." Voila!

TIP: Dollar Tree has tissue paper in packs of pink or blue along with multi-color packs. All the tissue paper seen here is from Dollar Tree.

This post was part of The Shady Porch Rock 'N' Share! For more awesome ideas across the blogosphere check out The Shady Porch!

# baby # birthdays

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Let's Go Fly a Kite: Lessons from a Kite

Emily 5:51 AM 0 Comments

It's been great kite weather lately. We finally busted out the kite to do some flying and learn a lesson or two about life.

My 3-year old loves to explore. She loves to try anything and everything. This week she wanted to fly the kite herself. Later, I was thinking back on our day and was thinking about how life was like this kite we had been flying.

We started out holding the string together for a while and then I let go so she could fly the kite herself. She decided to let go too. Quickly the kite took off and soon the tree was flying the kite!

Lesson #1: We need an anchor in our life. Weather they be rules, commandments, faith, etc., we need something to anchor our lives. If we let go and throw all caution to the wind, we could end up somewhere we don't want to be. We often repeat to our 3-year old the reasons why we have certain rules- "because we love you, because we don't want you to get hurt/lost/sick, because we want to keep you safe/healthy," etc. She might see the rules as things that she cannot do, but we see rules as things that will give her freedom with other things in the future if she chooses to obey.

We got the kite out of the tree and the wind died down. The kite didn't fly without the wind. But, the wind picked up again and we got the kite flying again. The kite took dives here and there but recovered gracefully each time we pulled on the string.

Lesson #2: We can be a beautiful kite on the ground but we don't fulfill our purpose if we sit around. A person that has purpose knows that he/she must take on trials to be successful. He/she may be weary to leave the ground and may take dives here and there but will eventually recover and become more experienced, refined, and beautiful. A kite isn't a kite if it doesn't fly.

The kite looked so tiny in the big sky but it looked so cool with the yellow tail dancing. It was incredible that this piece of plastic could do something so marvelous. As we were struggling with the inconsistency of the wind, my daughter started to run to get the kite flying again. As she was running, the string broke! The kite took off again, directionless, and then settled. We tied the strings back together and the kite flew once more, just as before.

Lesson #3: Sometimes we feel like we're insignificant and small. But we must not forget how important we are. We can do great things, no matter how small or simple.

Lesson #4: We can't fly alone. We need others to lift us, to help us, to keep us flying. Don't break those ties!!! If your ties have been broken, mend them! Repent, forgive, say, "I'm sorry."

There are lessons to be found every day if we seek them. What experience has taught you today?

# outdoors # spring

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Eggheads!

Emily 7:24 AM 1 Comments

Spring is basically here for most of the U.S. We are enjoying our high 70s - low 80s here. I love the spring! It makes me happy for life! I get giddy seeing the little buds on the trees and their progression. I love the sun and love how it brings people outdoors. There is energy again!

This year I finally decided to make "eggheads" with my daughter. We got a bag of grass seed and soil, and then carefully cracked our eggs when we cooked, and saved the shells.

We filled the eggs about 3/4 full with soil, added some quick-sprouting grass seeds, and topped it off with more soil. Then we watered them.

In about 3 days it was sprouting.

In 7 days, it looked like this. Not joking.

Today we took our eggheads to the salon (aka kitchen table) and got their hair cut.

My 3-year old was in heaven!!! Scissors!!! Cutting "hair"!!!

They turned out lovely.

We'll keep watering them and she'll be able to cut them again next week!

We're doing another experiment- growing grass seed on a sponge.

It seems to be working so far.

Side view

# gardening # preschool

Friday, September 23, 2011

Birdseed Eggs

Emily 5:46 AM 5 Comments

This post is a little late in the season but I didn't want to forget about it when springtime rolled around again. I think I'm also in denial that summer is over.

I love these birdseed eggs! This summer we took a trip to California and hung some of these up in Grandma's trees. What fun! These particular eggs come from Smith & Hawken. They came 12 in an egg carton.

I wanted to know how one makes these. It is completely made of birdseed. There's nothing in the middle to keep the shape. I did some research and found out that you can make these quite easily.

Here's the recipe from Birds & Blooms:

1/3 cup gelatin
1-1/2 cups water
8 cups birdseed

1. Mix gelatin and water over low heat until the gelatin is melted and clear.

2. Remove from heat and stir in birdseed.

3. Stir until there is no dry seed.

4. Form mixture into egg shapes. Use plastic Easter eggs as a mold to get the egg shape.

5. Refrigerate for two to four hours and dry on baking rack for three days.

# crafts # kid craft

Friday, May 25, 2012

Sunflower Twinkie Cake

Friday, May 4, 2012

Tissue Paper Flowers with Balloon Center

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Let's Go Fly a Kite: Lessons from a Kite

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Eggheads!

Friday, September 23, 2011

Birdseed Eggs

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