Fantastic Find

BELIEVE

noreply@blogger.com (Chels) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 23:28:00 +0000

Dedicated to Santa Claus.

• Have you sent your kids a free and cool PNP video message from Santa?

• This year my kids and I loved watching and reading "Yes, Virginia". The original editorial letter is perfect to read each year, especially if you think you're getting too old to believe.

• LDS Church Apostle James E. Faust gave a talk at the annual First Presidency Christmas Devotional in 1998 titled The Man Who Would Be Santa. (via Simply Fresh Designs)

"Perhaps you and I could attain greater happiness if we emulated Santa Claus a little more, for his way is the way of the Infant Jesus also."

Download the full transcript on byub.org.

• My 8-yr.-old daughter inquired last year if Santa was real. She was hearing stuff at school. I honestly can't remember what I told her but she still believes. The Truth About Santa from Martha Brockenbrough on Cozi is a must-read.

• Next year the Christmas lists we send to Santa will be simpler just like the Kid's Christmas Wish Lists from Somewhat Simple (via Pinterest).

Joseph's Lullaby

noreply@blogger.com (Chels) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 13:39:00 +0000

MercyMe's "Joseph's Lullaby" is a beautiful song.

It's one of my favorite spiritual Christmas songs.

Buy it on Amazon.

*post contains an affiliate link

Free Christmas Music: Lonestar and Tim McGraw

noreply@blogger.com (Chels) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 06:07:00 +0000

▬ Lonestar: "O Come All Ye Faithful"

▬ Tim McGraw: "Christmas All Over the World"

Thanks Jeff!

Cookies and Milk for Santa

noreply@blogger.com (Chels) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 01:31:00 +0000

Santa Claus likes chocolate chip cookies with milk when he's dropping off presents at my house! I love to bake but homemade cookies are devoured quickly and there's usually nothing left to leave out for Santa on Christmas Eve. This year I already have the perfect store-bought cookie:

Kroger's The Truly Awesome™ Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Tasty facts: made with real butter, chocolate chips are the #1 ingredient, no added preservatives or artificial colors! That definitely tastes like something mom makes! I'm a BzzAgent and two boxes of these cookies were sent to me to try out and spread the word about! I'm a long-time fan of regular Chips Ahoy dunked in milk. As soon as I took a crunchy (yet moistened with milk) bite of Kroger's The Truly Awesome™ Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies I was converted! Delicious!! You, and Santa, need to try them this holiday season! You can purchase them at Kroger, Fred Meyer and Ralphs stores. Happy Holidays!

Turkey Fun Time!

noreply@blogger.com (Chels) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 13:22:00 +0000

Happy Thanksgiving!

• Have a digital turkey art contest on Tux Paint or art.com! •

• Play Don't Eat Tom! •

printable from Prepared NOT Scared! PDF in folder 4 -- top of right sidebar

• Play Roll-a-Turkey! •

printable from A Lemon Squeezy Home

• Dress up a turkey potato head! •

printable from kiki creates

• Make a TP Roll Turkey! •

Busy Bee Kids Crafts

Turkey Tracks

noreply@blogger.com (Chels) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 23:59:00 +0000

Learn about the famous Thanksgiving bird -- see great pics of turkeys and their tracks plus hear a turkey gobble on Beartrackers Wild Turkeys page!

* flickr photo *

Free Holiday Music from Jim Brickman

noreply@blogger.com (Chels) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 18:24:00 +0000

Sign up for Jim Brickman's email newsletter and receive 4 beautiful holiday downloads: Carol of the Bells, A Winter's Night, Winter Wonderland, Midnight Lullaby.

PBS KIDS: Curious George Holiday Spectacular

noreply@blogger.com (Chels) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Watch PBS KIDS Curious George Holiday Spectacular this Wednesday, Nov. 23rd!

See all the holiday season programming on PBS!

Free Holiday Card Templates

noreply@blogger.com (Chels) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 20:53:00 +0000

Time's ticking too fast to the December craziness!! Want to check something off the holiday to-do list before Thanksgiving? Of course ~~you~~ I do! I'm thankful for Becky Higgins' kindness -- she's sharing 11 FREE Holiday Photo Card Templates! Fa la la la la, la la la la!!!!!!!

Do you need help with the how and the what? Easy to follow instructions are below the card download options. I create cards with the free version of Microsoft Digital Image.

*This isn't my holiday card, just an example of one of the free templates in action!

Sweet (and free) Paper Dolls

noreply@blogger.com (Chels) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 05:48:00 +0000

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

• Tricia-Rennea: Thanksgiving and Halloween paper dolls

• Terri Pettit (scanned): Strawberry Shortcake paper dolls

• Terri Pettit (scanned): more Strawberry Shortcake paper dolls

• Terri Pettit (scanned): Friends Around the World

• Cory Jensen: Disney Princess paper dolls

• Activity Village.co.uk: Princess paper dolls

• Education.com: Vintage Girl paper doll

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Historical Paper Dolls on Education.com

noreply@blogger.com (Chels) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 15:44:00 +0000

There are 20+ free printable Historical Paper Dolls on Education.com! A little snippet about the era is on each worksheet. You have to sign up to be a free member before you can download.

* Check out all my paper doll finds! *

Career Paper Dolls on Education.com

noreply@blogger.com (Chels) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 15:41:00 +0000

There are 15+ free, printable, black-and-white Career Paper Dolls on Education.com! There's a boy and girl to dress up with the outfits. You have to sign up to be a free member before you can download.

Happy Halloween Weekend!

noreply@blogger.com (Chels) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 15:14:00 +0000

Nothing too frightening has been happening at my house. Sickness has rudely been visiting for too long and the fall weather stirred up a baking bug that I welcome! My 6 month old occupies almost any spare time I have so I stay up late doing things like sewing parts to Halloween costumes (baker's hat and bat wings) and catching up on a little blog reading and pinterest! My sister suggested we make this Halloween Spook Banner from Organize Your Stuff Now. My daughter really enjoyed making this banner and she came up with 2 original spooks-- the spider and mummy.

Have a great Halloween weekend!

Drawing and Doodling

noreply@blogger.com (Chels) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 16:07:00 +0000

My daughter really enjoys art in any way, shape or form! We already think Ed Emberley's drawing books are wonderful but I came across two Joy Sikorski drawing books that she loves! My daughter didn't get her art interest from me, I'm not even good at doodling (it was fun to do in a boring school class though)!

Printable art fun:

Free online art lessons:

Digital art fun:

PBS KIDS: New Halloween Episodes

noreply@blogger.com (Chels) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 14:59:00 +0000

This past Monday PBS KIDS started premiering new Halloween-themed episodes! On Sid the Science Kid they had a class party and Sid was a bat. My five year old had a great time watching and it helped him decide what he's going to dress up as! Tomorrow on The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! they make scary masks and visit the forest of Spookywoowoo! The fun episodes continue through next week and you can find exact dates and information on the Press Release. Past Halloween episodes are showing from shows like Super WHY! and Word World!

Also on PBS KIDS it's "Predator Week" on Wild Kratts. Today and tomorrow watch episodes about wolves and raptors!

Printables for Children's Books

noreply@blogger.com (Chels) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 13:30:00 +0000

Find lots of printables for popular children's books on HarperCollins-- Amelia Bedelia maze, Diary of a Fly word game, Fancy Nancy paper doll, If You Give a Cat a Cupcake coloring sheet, Little Critter matching game, My Heart is Like a Zoo cutting activity, Splat the Cat rhyming activity, and more!

Kid Minute to Win It

noreply@blogger.com (Chels) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 21:39:00 +0000

Do you watch Minute to Win It on NBC? The first week of school we were still holding tight to summer so one evening we had fun outside playing a couple Minute to Win It games! We picked two of the simpler games and changed their blueprints a little. My kids wanted to win a million bucks but they settled for a fruit roll-up and a later bedtime!

• some ping-pong ball games: Ping Tac Toe, Puddle Jumper, Blow Ball •

• pedometer games: Temper Tantrum, Nervous Nelly, Bobble Head •

I cut the top off an old sock for the pedometer to stay on the foot. You can find pedometers at Dollar Tree.

• • More Minute to Win It games that would be fun for kids: A Bit Dicey, Baby Blockin', Breakfast Scramble, Caddy Stack, Cyclone, Floatacious, Keep It Up, Nose Dive, Pop Top • •

Snapfish Digital Prints Deal over

noreply@blogger.com (Chels) — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 16:16:00 +0000

My little sis forwarded a Snapfish email to me this morning with a great digital print deal-- use code PENNY094U through 9/10/11 to get up to 500 prints for a penny each + s&h/sales tax! I already had 100 pics in my account waiting to be ordered so I did a mock order and my total for 500 prints would be $26.20, that's less than 6 cents each picture! Code can be used up to five times per customer. Go HERE to read all the conditions of the Penny Prints offer.

SAVE EVEN MORE $$ by going through a cash back site like ShopAtHome (be sure to sign up first to become a free member if you haven't already)!

* For more digital print deals check out She Saved and Money Saving Mom!

*post contains referral link

Is Technology Taking Over Your Family?

noreply@blogger.com (Chels) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 19:30:00 +0000

In the September 2011 Parenting magazine there's a great article by Shawn Bean on page 115, DIGI-DO'S & DIGI-DON'TS. Read it online: 8 Rules for Family Screen Time. I especially like the last paragraph:

"We are right smack in the middle of The Transition, our collective shift from analog to digital. But there is a fundamental difference between the two. It's the difference between thinking and thoughtful. We are hugs, not likes. We are conversations, not status updates. We require growing up, not software updates. Let's make sure to strike the right balance, and take the best parts of the analog world with us."

Free Owly Comics Downloads

noreply@blogger.com (Chels) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 17:06:00 +0000

Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) is in May when artists like Andy Runton, author of Owly graphic novels, have free comic booklets at comic book stores. This year I planned to have my kids and husband head to the comic book store down the street so we could add more Owly goodness to our collection! Unfortunately we all forgot since we were preoccupied with a newborn. Thank goodness Andy is kind enough to share free PDF downloads of Owly FCBD fun! You can also order FCBD Owly booklets from past years for only 1 cent each plus shipping (US Media Mail $4.95) from Top Shelf (scroll all the way down)!

Not sure what graphic novels are and if they're right for your kids? Read Using Graphic Novels with Children and Teens on Scholastic's website. It says "graphic novels have emerged as a growing segment of book publishing, and have become accepted by librarians and educators as mainstream literature for children and young adults—literature that powerfully motivates kids to read."

Mom, What's for Dinner?

noreply@blogger.com (Chels) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 12:00:00 +0000

These two main dishes are yummy and were eaten at my dinner table without complaints!

Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Grilled Pizza Pockets from Real Mom Kitchen

Free Veggie Tales and Sesame Street Music Downloads over

noreply@blogger.com (Chels) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 00:11:00 +0000

Download 5 Veggie Tales songs and 5 Sesame Street songs for free on Amazon!

8/22-- Don't Miss Dinosaur Big City on PBS! over

noreply@blogger.com (Chels) — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 18:29:00 +0000

PBS KIDS Dinosaur Train is debuting a one-hour movie, Dinosaur Big City, on August 22nd! It marks the start of season two which "will focus on exploring the outdoors and natural phenomena, and will feature “Big Dinosaur Week” and a special based on the fan favorite “Dinosaurs A to Z” song." Find out when it will be on in your area and read the full Dinosaur Big City press release! We're huge Dinosaur Train fans and my son is in afternoon kindergarten so we'll be watching!

Cool Cootie Catchers

noreply@blogger.com (Chels) — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 15:09:00 +0000

Have your kids ever made a cootie catcher?

Get them outside today with a fun cootie catcher nature game from 5 Orange Potatoes!

Friday night sleepover? Print a spooky truth or dare cootie catcher from Family Fun!

End of summer road trip? Print a cootie catcher with fortunes from MomsMinivan!

Klutz has The Cootie Catcher Book with 25 preprinted punch-out-and-fold catchers!

Meteor Showers and the Moon

noreply@blogger.com (Chels) — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 06:41:00 +0000

All summer my kids and I have been anticipating the Perseids Meteor Shower. It's been active since mid-July but the peak time is today, Aug. 12th. Disappointingly we have learned that "the Moon's brilliant light will overpower most of the meteors". That won't stop us from trying though, especially since it means a late night or early morning adventure that will be remembered for many years to come!

Next time we hope to see some "shooting stars" I'll check a Moon Phase Calendar first.

**Learn about the phases of the moon with a Moon Flip Book (via Teach Mama) you can print on the Lunar and Planetary Institute website.**