Munchkins and Mayhem

COME ON OVER

blogbytonya@gmail.com (* TONYA *) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 04:36:00 +0000

I’m up and running. My archives are not and I still need to re-format and change links in just about every post seeing as I’m combining 3 blogs into 1. So there will be a lot of changes happening each day until I have waded my way through all of my blog posts to ensure they are up to scratch.

You will find 2 new posts up though. A finger puppet bat to make for Halloween and our trip to an organic farm earlier in the week.

Please update your subscriptions to ensure you are receiving my future posts and head on over for a visit, I’d love to see you all. Fingers crossed your subscriptions don’t go a little insane while I’m updating each of my posts into the new format.

www.tonyastaab.com

MOVING ON

blogbytonya@gmail.com (* TONYA *) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 23:51:00 +0000

Big news!

My blog is moving.

The new digs are a work in progress, but will hopefully be up and running early next week. In the meantime I won’t be updating this blog with new posts … well except a post letting you all know where I’ve moved to of course.

I just want to take this opportunity to thank all of those who have followed along and subscribed to my blog. You have all brightened my day with your comments and even though I’ve been really lame at times responding to your questions, I’m hoping that my new streamlined site (which will incorporate all 3 of my blogs) will leave me more time to get to know all of you a little bit better.

So please stay tuned.

Love,

Tonya

LEMON BUNDT CAKES

blogbytonya@gmail.com (* TONYA *) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 22:35:00 +0000

I’ve had a craving for lemons this past week.

No I’m not pregnant.

Yes I’m sure.

First I made lemon scones, then I decided I needed to make lemon bundt cakes too – and I wonder why I can’t lose weight. Honestly {shaking head}. It was an idea that popped into my head in the middle of the night and I literally ran to the grocery store the next morning. I’m a little crazy like that.

You need to put a little more cake mix into the bundt pan than normal so that there is no hole in the base of the bundt cake once it is cooked, then spoon in the yummy goodness that is lemon curd and sprinkle a little icing over the top.

Normally I would make the lemon curd, so if you’d like the recipe, here it is.

PACKING PAPER

blogbytonya@gmail.com (* TONYA *) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 04:47:00 +0000

We have SOOOOO much packing paper from our move. It’s beyond ridiculous how much paper our moving company used, BUT on the plus side, we had no breakages. Instead of calling them to collect it all we’ve be flattening it out to use as gift wrap which the kids are more than happy to oblige with decorating for me.

This isn’t a great shot but you’ll get the idea. Marisol decorated paper for a party gift last weekend. She did a fantastic job.

While we had visitors over today I put the twins to work decorating more paper for me. This time we tried stamps.

Now gift recipients will have a wonderful gift and a piece of the children’s artwork

LETTER-PERFECT WAFFLES

blogbytonya@gmail.com (* TONYA *) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:54:00 +0000

Nothing starts off the day quite like these

This idea was found in the October issue of Parents magazine.

M&M CUPCAKES

blogbytonya@gmail.com (* TONYA *) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 04:01:00 +0000

It doesn’t get easier than this.

Yummo! Although by the time we went out for dinner last night and then swung by the Nestle Cafe, the kids were way too full to enjoy them.

Doesn’t mean the adults didn’t enjoy a few last night though once the little ones were in bed.

SWING CARDS

blogbytonya@gmail.com (* TONYA *) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 03:36:00 +0000

These cards are absolutely gorgeous. So much detail goes into them. It may be hard to tell in the photos that I have taken of them, but they are 3D and the middle section moves/swings. I found a shop where they are sold when I was shopping in Carmel one afternoon … having arrived for dinner with friends 2 hours before I was supposed to. What a shame that was, you know, cause what else is a girl to do but go shopping. Alone. All alone.

I picked up these 2 cards for the twins birthday.

The twins absolutely love them. Marisol swings the girl on her swing and Flynn spins the Ferris wheel around and around.

I won’t pretend that they are cheap though. They are roughly $7 a card, but considering they are not just the ‘average’ card, I was more than happy to pay that.

Check out the other Swing Cards you can purchase.

SCHOOL PARTY

blogbytonya@gmail.com (* TONYA *) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 02:05:00 +0000

Seeing as we have just recently moved to a new town and don’t know too many people, I didn’t organize a big birthday bash for the twins this year.

Yes, those who know me personally are gasping in horror right now.

That doesn’t mean that we won’t be celebrating. After all, we had a little party last week while my parents were visiting from Australia and we will have another one tomorrow on their actual birthday.

Instead I arranged for the kids to have a celebration in their classroom at school.

In keeping with the ‘school’ theme I sent along bags of organic fruit (oranges, apples, pears and peaches) that the teachers cut up after lunch and I made educational gift bags for all of the children in the class to take home.

Each gift bag contained:

A chipboard book – 50 cents each from Michaels
Packet of 24 crayons – 20 cents each from Target
Scrap paper cut-outs – $2.68 for 1 packet of multi-patterned papers from Target

And all of this for a little under $2 per gift bag.

On each chipboard book I hand-stamped “My Book” on the cover and then using the twins play-doh cutters as stencils I cut out assorted characters that the children could glue into their book. Each book kit was put into a lunch bag.

I hope all of the children in their class enjoy the extra art activity that we sent home with them today.

MY WATER BROKE

blogbytonya@gmail.com (* TONYA *) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 01:38:00 +0000

The first baby to break out of the ice-cube wins. $9.99

I came across this on the site Simply Baby Stuff … you know in my never ending quest to find party planning goodies that are a little out of the norm.

Isn’t this game a hoot. I almost want to have another baby just so I can have a baby shower. Or maybe I’ll just convince a girlfriend or two to hurry up and get pregnant so I can throw them a shower.

ALMOST 3

blogbytonya@gmail.com (* TONYA *) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 22:04:00 +0000

My parents visited for 2 weeks.

Of course we had to celebrate the twins upcoming 3rd birthday.

I’m no expert cake baker (or decorator) but the kids thought their cake was magnificent. That’s all that matters.

3 layers, but I added pink and blue food dye to 2 of the layers. They were joined with freshly whipped cream. Smothered with chocolate frosting and topped with rainbow colored chocolate ‘seeds’.

BRANCH DINNERWARE

blogbytonya@gmail.com (* TONYA *) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 23:35:00 +0000

Biodegradable and compostable dinnerware. They are also microwavable and freezer safe.

Dinnerware is made from 100% sugar cane fiber and 2 ply napkins are made from 100% recycled paper.

Branch

WHISTLES

blogbytonya@gmail.com (* TONYA *) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 15:41:00 +0000

Check out these retro whistles from the Hunter Company

Perfect for parties.

Speed Cop, Train Engine and Fire Truck. $2.99 each.

PLANTABLE CARDS

blogbytonya@gmail.com (* TONYA *) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 03:38:00 +0000

Look what I found while browsing and old issue of Wondertime magazine today.

Plantable Greeting Cards by Round Robin Press.

A lot of the cards in their Etsy store are on plantable paper that contain seeds and even those that aren’t are printed on hand-made recycled paper. I love eco-friendly products.

This one contains Basil and Chive seeds.

This one contains Wildflower seeds.

Head on over to check out the other cards in the range. They are GORGEOUS.

JACK CARDS

blogbytonya@gmail.com (* TONYA *) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:03:00 +0000

While sitting at the playground today I was flicking through a copy of the September 09 issue of Parents magazine.

I came across an article about Jack Cards so of course I had to bookmark it.

This is one of those ‘doh why didn’t I think of that’ moments.

So this is how it works:

Become a member of the Jack Cards site (free)
Set up a calendar of important dates
Choose cards for those important dates (not free, but cards start at $2.45)
Before the occasion, the card will arrive at YOUR door stamped and addressed and ready for you to put in your hand written message and pop straight in the mail. How awesome is that.

No more running out at the very last second to find a card or sending belated cards. AND, the cards are nice too. None of those cheesy cards you find at a lot of other places.

Okay and I just have to point out that the 2 girls who founded this company are both Aussies who are living in San Francisco.

MORE PARTY FOOD

blogbytonya@gmail.com (* TONYA *) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 03:09:00 +0000

I think I have a small obsession with food.

Anywho, I made these two dishes today.

Peach and Brie Quesadillas

Stuffed Mushroom Salad: Family Circle Step-By-Step Fabulous Salads(aff)

CROSTINI

blogbytonya@gmail.com (* TONYA *) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 20:08:00 +0000

Delicious and so easy to make.

From left to right

Tuna Nicoise Crostini

Goat Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomatoes Crostini

White-Bean and Caper Crostini (which you may notice I made with Pinto-Beans because my supermarket was out of White-Beans)

All recipes from Martha Stewart

POTTY PARTY

blogbytonya@gmail.com (* TONYA *) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:21:00 +0000

Our twins are officially day trained. It was a long road to get to this point though, which you can read about HERE. In celebration of such a momentous occasion we threw them a Potty Party over the weekend.

Even though it was just the 4 of us, we still made it fun.

I made party supplies and certificates using templates from the Pull-Ups site.

Here is the link to the Pull-Ups Big Kid Party Kit. I printed off a certificate for each of them which their dad and I both signed. Then I printed off 1 sheet of the badges per child. The badges were the perfect size, no adjustments needed for what I wanted to do.

To make the buttons: I purchased regular birthday party buttons from Target and using Mod Podge glued one of the Pull-Ups badges onto the center. I put another layer of Mod Podge over the top so the kids wouldn’t tear it and to give it a shiny finish.

To make the hats: Using a dinner plate I traced a large circle on a piece of white poster board. I put a dot in the center of the circle once it was cut out, and then using scissors, I carefully cut a straight line to the center dot. Then I dragged the edge of the cut section until the circle forms a cone shape. Glue or tape hold it together nicely. I then punched a hole on either side, attached some ribbon and glued a Pull-Ups badge to the front of the hat.

The remainder of the badges were used on the ribbon around each present and then to make the picks to go in the cupcakes (pictured below).

To make the picks: I used 2 Pull-Ups badges and put glue on the blank side of one. I then lay a toothpick over the top, making sure to expose enough to insert into the cake. I then lay the other badge over the top … it makes a double-sided pick.

We gave them a present. A box of new underwear featuring their favorite characters Thomas The Tank and Tinkerbell.

Then it was onto the ‘make your own pizza’ portion of the party.

and what could be better than making your own pizza?

CAKE!

This post was NOT sponsored by Pull-Ups unlike the ones appearing on my main blog.

FACE PAINTING

blogbytonya@gmail.com (* TONYA *) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:41:00 +0000

I’ve always had a fascination with face painting. I would LOVE to be talented enough and have such a steady hand that I could create a masterpiece that makes a little one smile.

At the Monterey County Fair last week Marisol asked to have her face fainted.

Can you believe this was done in 5 minutes.

If you would like to see other photographs from our day at the fair, please visit here and here

I ATE UNICORN BUTT

blogbytonya@gmail.com (* TONYA *) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 15:42:00 +0000

and I liked it.

For the rest of my BlogHer recap (including the fabulous parties I attended) please click here

VEGETABLE CENTERPIECES

blogbytonya@gmail.com (* TONYA *) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 02:15:00 +0000

Ragu was one of the sponsors of BlogHer ‘09.

I was lucky enough to be a part of a lunch called ‘Birds of a Feather’. This lunch enables groups of 10 like-minded people to sit at a table together to hold discussions over lunch. I joined up with the Momfluence table and met some lovely ladies … I am a member of Momfluence.

One of the things that caught my eye during lunch was the centerpiece on each table.

Vegetable flower arrangements. Love it.

MY PRINCESS PARTY TO GO

blogbytonya@gmail.com (* TONYA *) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 22:53:00 +0000

While at the BlogHer conference last week I picked up a little swag. 2 of the items I collected from the Mom Select Swag Suite were these:

These party favors were provided by the wonderful people at My Princess Party To Go. My kids were over the moon when I gave them each their party favor last night.

Check them out for your princess party needs. They seem to carry a lot of really cute princess party items on their site and they are affordable too.

OFF TO BLOGHER

blogbytonya@gmail.com (* TONYA *) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 05:34:00 +0000

I’ll be away for a few days, you can get the details here

I’m hoping to meet Michelle of Everyday Celebrating and the infamous Hostess with the Mostess who is co-hosting a fabulous party I’ll be attending tomorrow evening called SocialLuxe.

Here is the party schedule. It totally rocks. Oh and the best one of all is I was invited to a Nikon Party with Carson Kressley. Eek. I’m so excited.

I’ll be back blogging on Monday, hopefully with lots of photos and ideas.

PARTY FOOD FOR A LUAU

blogbytonya@gmail.com (* TONYA *) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 23:23:00 +0000

Today we attending a Luau picnic. We were asked to take a dessert. With the picnic taking place outdoors I wanted to take something that was ‘finger food’ friendly and required no utensils for serving or eating.

My first thoughts were coconut and pineapple but was a little unhappy with what I saw whilst scouring the internet for ideas.

So what I came up with was these:

The recipe for the coconut balls … or should I say coconut shortbread cookies because that is essentially what they looked and tasted like after baking them … was from Martha Stewart. I still can’t quite work out how hers looked like balls and mine flattened out a little more like cookies, but none-the-less they tasted pretty darn good.

While still warm I put each on onto a small bamboo skewer (from Cost Plus World Market), and then once they had cooled I added a slice of pineapple.

A GIFT FOR YOUR GAMER

blogbytonya@gmail.com (* TONYA *) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 04:21:00 +0000

A little while ago I received an email about Guitar Hero On Tour. My interest peaked. Jay loves Guitar Hero. He has a Guitar Hero for the Nintendo Wii which he’d received for Christmas. I was being given the opportunity to review the Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits for the Nintendo DS system. I jumped at the chance. Literally. Jay was excited.

We left on vacation and that’s when the email arrived. Your Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits for the Nintendo DS system is being sent to you. EEK! was my first response. I knew Jay would be stoked. Then the sweats started. You see, not only were we on vacation but we were moving house. I knew Jay would be disappointed if I had to pull out of the review so I sent off a quick email explaining the situation and they were kind enough to give me an extension on my review and low and behold his Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits was waiting for us when we picked up the keys to our new house. Phew.

Next problem. His Nintendo DS was packed with the rest of our belongings. It took days to wade through boxes before we finally tracked it down. He was ‘supposed’ to bring it on vacation for the car ride so he wouldn’t be bored, but it accidentally got packed into a box.

So finally, we have our act together. Drum roll please ….. here it is, on tour at the playground.

and check out the stylus … it’s a guitar pick, that slots very nicely into the system.

Some of the features are:

28 master tracks from artists such as: Coldplay, Fall Out Boy, The Strokes, Weezer and Tenacious D
Multiplayer modes
Wireless feature that allows song streaming
Jamming to songs in hyperspeed
Fan requests

The cost:

MSRP: $49.99 – includes Game and Guitar Grip

Rating:

ESRB: E 10+ (Everyone 10 and older – Lyrics)

Jay thinks it’s great for playing away from home. Especially in the car when the twins are hogging the DVD player and while he sits at the dog park waiting for the pooch during his play dates. It wouldn’t surprise me if he hides it under his covers to play once his lights are supposed to be off too.

Thank you Mom Central for giving me the opportunity to review this product in connection with Guitar Hero On Tour.

IT’S A JUNGLE OUT THERE

blogbytonya@gmail.com (* TONYA *) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:35:00 +0000

The twins 3rd birthday is on the horizon and although normally I would have had this planned months ago, my mind keeps changing and so I’m starting to look at what is out there to get my creative juices flowing … hopefully before their birthday arrives.

Take a look at these fabulous Safari Party supplies I found on Shindigz.

Leopard Patterned Gossamer. Ranging in price from $19.99 for a 19” x 25 yard roll to $192.99 for a 60” x 100 yard roll. Great for covering walls or tables.

Inflatable Animals. $9.99 each. This zebra stands 29” high.

Jungle Fun Color Your Own Bags. $4.99 per dozen. Great activity for kids. Plus, they can put their party favors and piñata candy in them.

Jungle Animal Cake Toppers. $4.50 set of 4.

Wild Safari Print Balloons. $6.99 / 12 pack.

Jungle Explorer Set. $16.99 for a set of 8. These make fantastic party favors. In fact a friend of mine gave these out to the little guests at a zoo party for her twins earlier in the year and my kids still play with theirs.