Just One Mom Trying

Friday, July 8, 2011

Date Night...at Home: Teach Me Poker

I have no idea how to play a real game of poker. My husband does. He's not a gambler but we love playing card games. Tonight, he's going to teach me how to play poker. We don't have any poker chips but we're going to improvise. Maybe those leftover fruity marshmallows will do. I would prefer the chocolate poker chips but I don't know where to find them without ordering them online. Maybe a party store?

I have a feeling that this chart might help me.

I'm also going to suggest that the person who ends up with the most "money" at the end of the night wins a 15 minute back massage from the "loser." That's way better than chocolate...unless I lose.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Family Dinners

Emily 6:05 AM 0 Comments

This week's ideas for successful family dinners:

DELIGHTFUL DINING: Centerpieces!

Let your child choose a center piece for family dinner. It can be a flower, candles, or other object. If you'd like, take turns letting each member of the family choose a different centerpiece for each night of the week.

TABLE TOPICS: Get the conversation rolling with one or all of these questions!

If you could be any animal, what would you be and why? What noise does your animal make?
What is your favorite weather? Why? How does it make you feel?
What is the nicest thing someone has done for you? How did it make you feel?

ON THE MENU: What should I make this week? Just some ideas.

Sunday: Crock Pot Roast and Veggies served with a green salad

Monday: Warm Roasted Vegetable Salad with Baked Potato Wedges

Tuesday: Orange chicken served over rice, and stir-fry vegetables

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Bowtie pasta topped with vegetable cream sauce, served with garlic bread

Friday: BBQ Kabobs and corn on the cob served with fruit salad

**If you'd like any of these easy and yummy recipes, send me a comment. I'd be happy to share!

# delightful dining # family dinners

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Preschool Manipulatives (And They're Cheap!)

Emily 5:21 AM 0 Comments

Does anyone else LOVE Target's dollar bins? I love to find little treasures. On my last trip to Target, I found these 3 packages. Yes, $1.00 each.

First we opened the Bolts and Nuts. We decorated our laundry basket. My next plan is to get some cardboard pieces and put holes in it so we can actually build something. I like how each bolt is a different shape and the nut matches in color and shape.

These are our circus people. They are very good at balancing.

We haven't opened up the lacing beads yet. We've been having too much fun with the other two. Maybe we'll have a chance today.

These are great manipulatives for preschoolers. MJ loved counting and sorting the people too. I bet you could create all sorts of great games with these.

# games # playtime

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Flower Shop

Emily 5:17 AM 0 Comments

What did we do with all those paper flowers we made? We "sold," "arranged," and "watered," and "picked" them in our new flower shop. We covered a moving box (for the most part) with wrapping paper, put our flowers in vases, and MJ rang me up at the cash register. We had a great time playing together.

# crafts # games

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Date Night...at Home: CHEEZ-IT SCRABBLE

Emily 6:34 PM 0 Comments

Here's this week's dating at home idea:

CHEEZ-IT SCRABBLE!

Play a game of Scrabble with your spouse tonight! You can take out all the Z's, Q's, and X's and other letters that drive you crazy. Better yet, eat them!

When was the last time you had Cheez-It crackers? I forgot how good these were. YUM!

These are also good for practicing the ABC's, or sight words with your younger children. Set out a bunch of letters and see if your younger children can find a certain letter from the group. Play a game of Scrabble with your older children and work on spelling. Play a game of Hangman and use the crackers to fill in the blanks. Play a word scramble game.

The possibilities are endless!

# games # indoor dating

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Super Suppers

Emily 1:57 PM 0 Comments

ON THE MENU

Sunday: Polynesian BBQ chicken served with watermelon, rice, and a green salad

Monday: 4th OF JULY!

Tuesday: Taco Salad

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Ooey Gooey Crock pot chicken served over rice with a side of fresh summer fruit

Friday: Picnic in the park (KFC or pizza)

Remember to comment if you'd like any of these recipes. I'd be happy to post them. :)

DELIGHTFUL DINING: Superhero Supper

Get the costume box out or some old clothes and dress up as superheroes. Make up a new superhero name for yourself. Explain your super powers and how you help people.

TABLE TOPICS:

What makes you happy?
If you could be a superhero, who would you be and why?
Who is the funniest person you know?

Why I do dinner planning: Click HERE.

# delightful dining # family dinners

Tissue Paper Flowers

Emily 5:17 AM 0 Comments

MJ and I made some paper flowers today. We wanted some silk flowers for our playtime but we decided to make some tissue paper flowers instead.

Here's how you make these super easy paper flowers.

Supplies needed:

Tissue paper (whichever colors you want)

Pipe cleaners (green for traditional flowers or multi-colored for whimsical flowers)

1. Take 3-4 sheets of tissue paper and layer them one on top of the other. (I cut my sheets down quite a bit. Maybe into fourths?) Then fold them back and forth like a paper fan.

2. Gather your fan together so it looks like this:

3. Cut the edges of your tissue paper for the shape of your petals. I rounded the edges on this particular flower.

4. Wrap a pipe cleaner around the middle of your folded paper and then fan out the petals.

5. Starting with the top tissue paper, gently pull the paper up and separate the sheets.

6. After you have pulled up and separated the tissue paper, your flower should look pretty awesome.

Here's a different shape of petal. I was going for a hydrangea-like flower.

Here's the final product.

The previous flowers were all made with 3 sheets of tissue paper. Here's a four-sheeter.

This one started out cute and wish I kept it this way. I pulled up the first sheet and liked keeping the other sheets how they were. It looked like a cute little daisy.