Mommy Lessons 101

Valentine Classroom Party Game: Twister!

2017-02-12T08:29:00.000-07:00

This game was so popular and fun at our party! We played it like the typical twister - where I had cards for the colors and cards for left hand, left foot, right hand and right foot. We pulled one color card and one hand/foot card out per turn and the kids had to follow the instructions. For example, if I pulled out a green card and the right hand, they put their right hand on the green

Cute Valentine Box Idea #20 - Monster!

2017-02-12T08:23:00.000-07:00

My friend posted this to die for and EASY Valentine box {Top} and said I could share it. Then my sweet cousin posted the one on the bottom that is another cute and sassy monster. I think Monster boxes are all the talk this year! The older my kids get, the more I crave cute, but SIMPLE. Nothing more than some wrapping paper, pipe cleaners, googly eyes, construction paper and foam

Thrift Store Treasures: Homemade Halloween Costumes! Smartie Pants, Anne of Green Gables, Gypsy, Ghostly Girl and Mad Hatter

2016-10-04T13:42:00.000-06:00

In recent years, with 5 kids, we have moved towards trying to come up with cheap, creative homemade costumes. Because Halloween can add up! Here are a couple fun ones we did in recent years. Most everything was purchased from a thrift store OR found in our own house! Smarty Pants: We bought glasses from the thrift store and popped the lenses out. The suspenders and red generic

Edible Icecream Bowls Made with Balloons!

2016-02-14T16:42:00.002-07:00

My daughter made these the other night and I loved how simple, but cute they were! A perfect treat for Valentine's Day, Birthday Parties, After School Snack or Summer fun! 1. In a bowl mix 1/2 bag chocolate chips with 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil and melt in the microwave 30 seconds at a time. Then stir chocolate and put in microwave another 30 seconds until fully melted. 2. Blow up

Cute Valentine Box Idea #19 - Vending Machine!

2016-02-08T10:10:00.001-07:00

This Vending Machine was a huge hit - I had better pictures but lost them when my phone crashed! Supplies: Large box Light Red cardstock paper or wrapping paper. Dark Red Cardstock to cut child's name letters out of and for hearts. Saran Wrap Tape 9 small boxes of candy Glue Knife or Scissors. How to make: 1. Cut a large square out of the front of the box. 2. Cut a

Valentine I "Chews" You Craft!

2016-02-03T11:16:00.001-07:00

This is so SIMPLE, and so cute. You can do it to hand out as Valentines or as a craft in class or at the party. Students cut out their heart out of red cardstock or red posterboard. Then used zig-zag scissors to cut the heart in half. Glue the top half to the top of the clothespin and the bottom half to the bottom of the clothespin. Then glue two eyes on top and

Creative Valentine's Box #16 -#18 French Fries, Hot Air Balloon and Rubix Cube

2016-02-01T16:27:00.000-07:00

These are too cute to not share! My friend, Ivey, made these with her kids last year and I fell in love with them. Such cute boxes to add to my collection of favorites! A McDonalds French Fry Valentine Box, A Hot Air Balloon Valentine 'Basket' and a Rubix Cube Valentines Box... Pretty sure we will be doing at least one of these this year! Happy Valentine Box Making! Check out all of

Creative Valentine's Box #15 - Batmobile

2016-02-01T16:17:00.002-07:00

Here's a cute Batmobile box my sister did with her son! Supplies needed: Shoe Box Cardboard Black Spray Paint Yellow Spray Paint Yellow Vinyl shapes or yellow paper Yellow and Red Tissue Paper Toilet Paper or Paper Towel empty tube Optional: Batman Ducktape Scissors Hot Glue Gun/Glue Directions: 1. Cut cardboard to desired shapes to make top of the car, wings

Beauty and the Beast Birthday Party

2015-04-01T20:53:00.000-06:00

My daughter turned four on New Year's Day while we were visiting family for the holidays and so we decided to throw her a birthday party with her cousins. She loves princesses, and her favorite is Belle. She asked for a Belle Princess Dress from Santa for Christmas, and she was thrilled to wear her new dress and celebrate with family on her special day. Here is a glimpse at her birthday

Dinosaur Birthday Party

2015-03-16T07:42:00.000-06:00

Recently my oldest son turned seven years old. He is passionate about dinosaurs and was so excited to have a "dinosaur expedition" in celebration of his seventh birthday. Below is a look at some of what we did to make this a fun day for him and a few of his friends. Invitations, Decorations, and Favors The invitations had a picture of my son in his paleontologist costume along

Teacher Appreciation Week - Door Decorating Ideas!

2015-03-10T08:29:00.001-06:00

Teacher appreciation week is coming up for our school, so I thought I'd post some darling door ideas that I have seen in the past. Enjoy! Thank goodness for amazing teachers! (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

Lego Leprechaun Traps

2015-03-09T09:59:00.000-06:00

St. Patrick's Day is just around the corner, and we have shared many fun traditions for this holiday on this blog. Last year, I was busy homeschooling while having recently had my fourth baby, and I wasn't quite sure if I was up for all of the St. Patrick's excitement we had had in previous years. So we kept things fairly simple while still keeping traditions alive. We had fun reading aloud the

Creative Valentine's Box #14 - Star Wars Yoda Box

2015-02-08T11:13:00.004-07:00

Star Wars Valentine's Box For all your little and big Star Wars Fans brought to you by my talented sister at Wishful Thinking Photography! Supplies: Shoebox or Cereal Box Green Paint Scissors Green Construction Paper Jedi Costume Printed Yoda Head Tape or Glue 1. Paint a show box or empty cereal box green (make sure you cut out an insert for Valentines first!). 2. Print a Yoda Head

Changing Your View of Valentine's Day -Filling the World with Love!

2015-02-01T09:40:00.000-07:00

My dear friend wrote this as her Facebook status and I asked if I could share it here. I thought she said it so well, so here's her post on making the most of Valentine's Day! Written by Leslie Kawaii COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS TO VALENTINES DAY! HOW ARE YOU GOING TO CELEBRATE?? 12 years ago this month my then-husband unexpectedly deployed to Iraq. Within five days from when we got the

Creative Valentine Box #13 - Valentine's Wii!

2015-01-24T08:18:00.000-07:00

My 4th grade daughter made this Wii Valentine's Box all herself and I thought it was a fun idea! This is about as easy and simple as it gets and I loved that she was able to do it 100% herself... Supplies Needed: Smaller Sized Cereal Box Scissors White Butcher Paper/Wrapping Paper (Regular Paper can work as well) Tape White or Red String 2 Rectangular wooden blocks (or empty boxes)

Cute Homemade Valentines for School Kids

2015-01-20T08:55:00.000-07:00

Last year I realized we had moved to a very creative area when my son received 4 homemade Valentines that were adorable and fairly easy {Although not nearly as easy as those Dollar Store Valentine Boxes!}. Had to share with you all! "I Chews You!" with a bag of gumballs "You are one in a Minion" with a Minion Twinkie (Some of the cutest, but way more intricate, Minion

Ice Cream Christmas Tree

2014-12-15T07:39:00.002-07:00

This is so cute and quite easy for you to serve at your family, work, church or school parties. Simply use a cookie sheet and cover it with tinfoil. Then scoop large balls of mint chocolate chip ice cream to create a christmas tree. The top row will have 1 ball, the second row will have 2 balls. The third row will have 3 balls, and so on. After you have rows of 5 or 6

Easy Volcano and Paleontologist Costumes

2014-10-30T12:24:00.000-06:00

Halloween is tomorrow, so most people probably have their costumes all in place, but I wanted to share my boys' costumes this year in case you are looking for a creative, last-minute costume idea. We threw these costumes together in just a couple of hours. Volcano My five-year-old decided he wanted to be a volcano this year (Last year he was a crayon--he definitely likes to have unique

Halloween Balloon Pumpkin Faces

2014-10-24T14:32:00.000-06:00

Last year for my son's Halloween party, we made these little gems! The kids loved them and they were incredibly simple! Supplies needed: Orange Balloon Black Sharpie Green Sharpie Green felt cut in the shape of leaves Scissors Instructions: 1. Have children blow up the balloons to preferable size. 2. Decorate balloon to look like a Jack-o-Lantern with balloon tie on

Sticky Rice and Mangoes Recipe

2014-10-16T11:45:00.005-06:00

Thailand is special to our family because my husband spent time as a missionary over there. While there, he picked up a few good recipes. On our very first date, he made me this simple and delicious dessert. It is a favorite of ours! He has graciously helped put together this tutorial. Sticky Rice and Mangoes Ingredients 3-4 cups sticky (glutinous) rice 1 15 oz. can of coconut milk 1 c.

Strawberry Shortcake Birthday Party

2014-08-01T07:46:00.000-06:00

This year my little girl requested a "Strawberry Shortcake" birthday party. It was a lot of fun coming up with cute ways to decorate and celebrate at her party. The decorations were simple ~ lots of pink and green and strawberries! We served cupcakes and strawberry lemonade. I found this shirt at Old Navy with vintage Strawberry Shortcake, which I thought was so perfect:

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs or Science-themed Birthday Party

2014-07-14T19:45:00.000-06:00

My second child recently turned five, and he loves Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs --both the book and the movie. So for his birthday, we based his party off of themes from both the picture book and the movie. Invitations I took a picture of my son in a labcoat and then pasted that picture over an image of the cheeseburger scene from the movie to make my child look like he was Flint

25+ Audiobooks for Kids

2014-07-07T08:00:00.000-06:00

There is no doubt that taking four young kids on a road trip is daunting. Just packing the car is quite the puzzle. You have to fit all the pieces in just the right way. The portable crib for the baby, strollers, diapers, sleeping bags, pillows, clothes, food... The picture of my kids packed into the car above was when we were just going on a short camping trip! Last summer, we traveled over

Summer Reading Programs--Earn Free Books!

2014-07-05T19:44:00.000-06:00

Hello again, and apologies for our long absence. Even though I have finished my first year of officially homeschooling, things still don't ever really settle down when you have four young children! (Or in the case of my sister who writes this blog with me--5 children!). We haven't forgotten this blog, but we probably won't be updating as much as we have in the past. Still, I wanted to pop in

Cinco de Mayo Mexican Celebration Cookies and Picture Book

2014-05-01T08:00:00.000-06:00

I can't believe May is already here! Today is May Day, and we've shared some fun May Day ideas in the past that you might like to check out here. But for today's blog post, I wanted to share some ideas for Cinco de Mayo which is just around the corner. Many of the Mexican-Americans around us use this day to celebrate their heritage, and we also like to get in on a little of the fun. We decided