Monster Munch nom nom nom

So Morgan is in KG this year which brings lots of exciting new things, like snack time!  There are 27 kids in her class (poor teacher) and they rotate who gets to bring in snack each day. Morgan got to take a snack first day of school so we got on Pinterest and she selected some complicated snack where you build a robot using a juice box and applesauce and a few other things. We drew and taped and stacked the robots in a box and they basically all fell apart by the next day and Morgan didn't even get to enjoy the snack because she sprained her ankle and I had to pick her up early. Sigh. 

Well this past week it was Morgan's snack day again and since it's close to Halloween, we researched some themed snacks that mommy could master and settled on a modified version of 'monster munch' that kept popping up on Pinterest. 

My version of Monster Munch:

2 bags of pretzels (twisty or straight or both)

1 box honey nut Cheerios type cereal

1 box honey Chex cereal 

1 box Cheezits

1 can mixed nuts or peanuts (obviously check for allergies or you'll be crucified)

2 bags mini marshmallows

2 bags candy corn

1 bag candy pumpkins

In a big bowl mix it all together. Done. 

You could also add raisins, craisins, chocolate chips, whatever you think might make a good munch. 

Then we divided it all into 27 baggies that we had decorated to look like monsters by cutting out teeth and eyes to decorate and glue on. 

Voila:

They were decorated by a 5 year old who had a blast. And lots of eyes and teeth fell off by the next morning because I need to find something other than a glue stick for these projects. 

Morgan says it was a big hit other than the fact that I forgot to send napkins. 

Hey, I'm not perfect. 

Lazy couch cleaning

When we bought our first home 4 years ago we were all excited to upgrade our furniture. Our living room set we had in our townhouse apartment consisted of a couch my husband bought off a college professor that had no legs and a broken arm held in place with a 1980s side table wedged up against it, matching 1980s coffee table, and recliner that I swear was found on the side of the road even though Michael insists it came from a yard sale. 

Fancy stuff, if you live in a frat house. 

So when we bought our house and decided to purchase grownup furniture we found a nice sectional, coffee table, and corner tv stand. We trained the cats to stay off of it and swore never to eat on the couch. 

Then one kid turned into two kids and life got crazy and the next thing I knew my nice new couch started getting covered in snot trails, crusted pizza sauce, dried bananas, and some very questionable substances, not to mention the smells that rub off stinky kids and husband who woller all over it. 

I always worry about using cleaners because they can sometimes leave spots and are full of chemicals that make my kids itchy. Plus I don't have time to spray, scrub, and dry. 

I figured out a simple easy cheap way to clean my microfiber couch. 

Fabreeze

Baby wipes

That's it. 

First remove all trains, princess dresses, and bottles of vodka. 

Next lightly spray your entire couch and pillows with Fabreeze. Don't soak it because your family is standing in line waiting to jump back on there.  

Then use simple cheap baby wipes to wipe it all down. We use member's mark wipes from Sam's Club. Be sure to scrub hard on those crusty spots. I promise they will come right out! 

Then you're done. 

Couch smells fresh and looks new-ish again. 

If you let your kids run around with Sharpies and scissors then I don't have any advice on how to fix those couch problems. Just drink more vodka. 

Organize those toys (be crazy like me)

I love organizing things. Some would say I'm a little obsessed. Back in my teaching days my sick drawer was organized by color...and socks were folded. Before you roll your eyes, just think about all those times you were running late and digging through your drawers looking for a pair of black socks and then you ended up wearing navy. Imagine pulling out a drawer filled with perfectly organized socks; where navy and black were on opposite ends to avoid confusion. Still rolling your eyes?  Yeah you probably are and that's okay. 

Having kids has brought challenges into my weird world of organization. At first it was okay because baby toys and gear is big and takes up half your house so you really don't have to do much other than avoid tripping over it and clean slobbers off it (ironically I just cleaned slobbers off my leg after typing the world 'slobbers'). 

Then the toys get smaller. And gather in large quantities. And heaven forbid all those small pieces get mixed together; how could anybody play with mixed up toys?!

My kids have way too many toys, I admit it. But they honestly play with everything. My daughter is 5 and is at the age where toys get small and come with even smaller pieces, and my son is 2 and likes to see how many pieces he can fit in his mouth before he gets caught. 

So here's some of my organizing strategies:

1. Plastic containers with lids. I use Sterlite brand that I purchase from Family Dollar. 

2. Canvas style storage bins. 

3.  Pretty, but durable, baskets. 

I use the plastic containers with lids for all of Morgan's small collections: Polly Pocket, Barbie shoes, Lalaloopsy minis, Disney Magic Clip dolls, Disney Palace Pets, and so forth. They are mostly stacked up in her room in random places and aren't adding anything pretty to the decor but it's better than tiny pieces all over the floor (have you ever stepped on a Barbie shoe?!) and better than throwing it all mixed together in whatever container. 

I also have larger plastic storage bins that fit under her bed that contain American Girl accessories, Barbies, and Barbie accessories. 

Canvas style storage bins can be used for larger toys collections: My Little Pony, medical kits, dress up items (crowns, purses, wigs). 

Shelves placed inside closets are great for more storage bins, boxes with puzzles, containers with collections that aren't used often (like the nature collection my mom insists my kids have...dead animals mostly). 

Crayons, markers, glue sticks, scissors, and all other art supplies are always on the table ready for my daughter to use and safe away from the toddler hands of my son. 

And since most of my son's toys are still bigger, I use storage baskets all over the place to throw his stuff in while he's not playing with it. 

And yes, my kids actually play with this stuff pretty much on a daily basis. And I am usually sorting and cleaning several times a day.  I do make them help me as much as they can but I noticed if I am constantly on my daughter about cleaning up her toys, she just won't play with them to avoid having to clean them up later.  She plays so creatively with all of her collections, I don't want her to avoid playing out of fear of having to cleanup. After all, they are only little for a short while. Someday I will miss all these little messes. 

Kid Par-tays

You remember birthdays when we were kids?  Cake, usually made by our moms, Kool Aid, maybe some chips, sometimes some balloons, basic plates and napkins.  We ate cake, opened gifts, and played outside until everybody went home.

Simple and fun.

WHAT THE #$&% HAPPENED?!

Have you been to a kid's birthday party lately?  Bounce houses, camel rides, buffets of sugary delights.  And don't forget the THEME.  The theme is extremely important.  It dictates your entire color scheme, activity scheme, and sometimes even food scheme. 

Go on Pinterest and search for any birthday party theme and your jaw will drop at the examples. 

Who are these moms?!  How do they have the time and money to pull off these parties?

After you get over the shock, you give yourself a new goal in life...

become THAT mom.

Why?  Well, because your overly spoiled child who has enough toys to stack to the moon and back will OBVIOUSLY appreciate a special birthday party right?  Let's get this straight; it's not for your kid.  It's for you.  It's a personal challenge to see if you can DO it.  Can you pull this off.  Obviously other moms can do it.  The proof is on Pinterest and Facebook.  Can YOU do it?

I have been to some amazing birthday parties and have been wowed every single time. 

Soooo you wanna see what I can do?  Huh huh huh??

For Jack's first birthday we went with a Superman theme.  He's our Superbaby after everything he went through in the NICU.  I wanted ORIGINAL Superman, not the 'man of steel' stuff that came out with the current movie.  His birthday is the first big one we've had at our house.  We usually do birthdays with friends and family in my hometown.  But we've lived here long enough that we have enough good friends to celebrate with now.  AND Jack has a summer birthday.  YAY! 

So I couldn't find any original Superman party supplies...I had to make them.  I bought red, yellow, and blue plates and napkins and such.  I made the decorations using cardboard and yarn.  I made his party hat.  My husband made red, yellow, and blue cupcakes.  I made the cupcake holder.  I made a tutu and hair bow for Morgan. We rented a bounce house.  Honestly, it was a blast planning and preparing and decorating.  Here are some pictures:

It was a lot of fun!  We had about 40 people over for a cookout.

Then it was Morgan's birthday and I decided to try to have a party for her at our house.  Out of all of the themes she could pick from (Frozen, Rapunzel, pink princess) she decided on Sheriff Callie's Wild West, a brand new show on Disney Jr.  Sigh.  I had to get creative.  I went with a brown/pink theme and obviously cowgirl.  I shopped around at party stores and online and pieced together a Sheriff Callie party for her.  Here are some pictures:

AAAAANNNND we had an ice cream sundae bar:

Go me right?!  I am absolutely addicted to making those flag streamers out of scrapbook paper by the way.

Jack turns 2 in 2 days.  I had big plans to do a Wreck It Ralph theme birthday for him....and then I realized I'm tired.  It's been a crazy couple of months around here.  We have no party, no presents, nothing planned for the kid.  

Fail.

But ya know what?  He's 2.  He won't remember right?!  We will do something special for him, and we are planning a family party sometime in the next month 'back home' but I was really excited to decorate for a Wreck It Ralph party....

Dollhouse remodel

When I was in 3rd grade I got a wooden dollhouse for Christmas. I loved it. I remember sitting in the floor watching my mom install wallpaper in several of the rooms. The wallpaper came from leftovers from my grandma's kitchen and bathroom, my parent's bathroom, and a friend of the family's kitchen and dining room. It took several years to collect furniture to fill up each room and I remember where each piece came from. There was a store in a nearby city that sold only dollhouse items and my mom used to take me and I would drool over all of the miniature items. Whenever I visited my aunt and uncle in Washington, D.C., my aunt would take me to a dollhouse museum. I spent a good part of my childhood arranging furniture and dolls in that little house. Then I became a teenager and lost interest in my toys, so the dollhouse went into storage for many years. 

When my daughter turned 5 my mom got my dollhouse out of storage. There was a little wear and age to it but otherwise it was just as sturdy as ever. It needed a good remodel though. I sadly tore out the old wallpaper because it was damaged. I sanded down the walls and floors. My husband fixed some lose areas where nails were missing. 

I did some research online about dollhouse remodels and created a plan. 

I took Morgan to Lowe's and let her pick out several colors of small containers of sample paints. Then we went to Joann Fabric and picked up some scrap booking paper and mod podge. 

The house had never been painted. My mom and I never got around to it. It remained wood for all those years. 

I totally forgot to take before pictures but I found one:

I had a hard time getting all of the wallpaper out, so I used scrap booking paper to cover it. I cut it to fit and used mod podge to glue to the wall and painted over it with mod podge using a paint brush. I also used scrap book paper on the kitchen floor since there was glue leftover from a piece of linoleum. 

It was a huge job getting all of this done. 

After:

Pardon the mess; the dollhouse gets played with daily!

For her 5th birthday we purchased some furniture to get her started on her collection. She also used random things from other toy collections (Calico Crotters, Little People, etc). 

I love standing in the hall listening to the elaborate stories she creates when she plays with the dollhouse. In 1987 when I woke up Christmas morning and found the dollhouse I never imagined I would still have it all these years later for my own daughter. 

Sometimes Mommyland is sentimental 😊

End of the World Generation

I was having 'mommy margaritas' with my dear friend one evening to celebrate her upcoming 30th birthday and half a pitcher in she was like 'turning 30 sucks' and I was like 'you suck because I'm 35 and I want to be 30' and we both giggled and poured another glass.  Then we got all serious about getting older.  She was like 'I never thought about turning 30...it's like it would never actually happen' and in my margarita enhanced mental state a light bulb burned brightly over my head.  I responded 'it's because ever since we were born we have been taught the end of the world is near.'

Whoa.

Think about it.  We are the 'end of the world generation.'

In the 1990's all we heard about was Y2K and how it would be the end of the world.  That came and went, yet here we are.  Then it was that darn Mayan calendar.  I was convinced aliens were planning an invasion and I was horrified at the idea of my babies not growing up.  That came and went, yet here we are.  But Jesus is coming back.  He's been coming back for YEARS.  ALL of the signs say so. 

So I have always had this idea of never growing old...

But it's happening, and I think it's a bit of a shocker to a lot of people in my generation.  I mean c'mon, the world has been ending for as long as we can remember.  It's no big deal to rake up some debt, eat whatever we want, our life is short. 

All of these doomsday prep shows certainly don't help.  I watch them sometimes; these people are intense.  Does it make me want to stock up on Doritos and beer and buy a slingshot?  Nah.  It does make me realize that I don't want to live past whatever catastrophe is obviously coming soon.  A world with no iPhones, air conditioning, where people stab each other over a can of sardines?  No thanks.  I will be out in my yard with a big bulls-eye waiting for that alien bomb or slathered up with chocolate syrup running down the street waiting for the zombie apocalypse. 

I'm going to be turning 40 this decade.  My kids are growing up fast.  I will see them graduate high school...then college...get married...

But then again, Jesus is coming back soooo....I'm gonna go shop on Etsy.

Easy gluten free peanut butter cookies

I haven't made these in a while but I've been weaning myself from gluten (extremely slowly...boy do I love me some gluten) and my husband was like 'hey what about those peanut butter cookies you used to make?' and a chorus of angels followed. 

3 ingredients. Seriously. That's it. 

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl, spoon out onto a cookie sheet, smash and make pretty with fork, cook at 325 for 20 minutes. Done. Delicious. 

You can also add yummies to these. I added chocolate chips and butterscotch chips to this batch. 

1 cup sugar, 1 cup peanut butter, 1 egg

I added mini chocolate chips and butterscotch chips. 

All mixed up. 

If you don't have one of these, buy one. Totally worth the money. And feel free to admire my 1970s countertops. 

Spooned out. I'm not great with cookie spacing. Don't judge me. 

Smash with fork one way. 

Smash with fork across other way. 

Forked up cookie *snicker*

Fresh out of the oven! 

They may not be pretty but who cares? They are tasty! Enjoy!