A couple days ago I decided to make myself a treat; Vanilla Iced Coffee. A was totally delicious and I know a few of you were wanting the recipe so here ya go! I kept the pitcher in my fridge and whenever I felt like an afternoon tasty treat, there was one waiting for me 
(as usual, my recipes are not exact, I apoligize. I tend to just add and taste until it’s about right)
Vanilla Simple Syrup:
- approx. 1.5 cups water
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 3 capful’s Vanilla Extract
Combine ingredients in a small saucepan. Stir constantly until boiling. Boil a few minutes, coninuing to stir, until the liquid becomes thickened. Set aside.
Coffee:
I made a 12 cup pot of coffee, which turned out to be 7 measuring Cups and poured it into a large pitcher. I immediately added the Vanilla Syrup to the coffee, stirring slightly to mix. Next I added 2 cups of ice to the pitcher to cool the coffee (I didn’t want to add more since it would’ve diluted it) and then put the pitcher into the refrigerator to finish cooling.
Serve over ice, adding milk or cream if you’d like.
“… today there are more than 1.2 million military children, and since 2001 approximately 2 million children have experienced deployment of a parent…” ~The National Child Traumatic Stress Network
There is one important thing to be noted of a Military child; they did not choose this lifestyle, they were born into it. An Active Duty servicemember makes a choice to enlist and those of us who are Military Spouses made the choice to marry our servicemembers. But our children had that choice made for them, they were born into military families and because of it are some of the most proud and resilient children I know! They go through all the trials of learning and growing with added stressors of moving, saying goodbye to friends, and spending months apart from their servicemember parent.
They are truly special children and we Celebrate them, our littlest Heroes!
“Established by Caspar Weinberger, the Month of the Military Child recognizes the important role military children play in our communities.” ~DoDlive.mil
***765,000 of our military children have Active duty parents, and approximately 225,000 have a parent who is currently deployed***
We, as a nation, take this month to recognize our military children and thank them for their unknown service to their country. Here are some great resources for those military families:
Please join me in thanking a Military Child today!
This weekend we celebrated Peyton and Preston’s 6th and 4th Birthdays. I had big plans for a fun outdoor party at the park~just what my P’s had asked for~ but late Friday night, a huge storm came through (complete with wind, rain, thunder and lightning~something very rare here in Southern California). Down to the last minute we were preparing to hold the party in our house, but thankfully the storm passed early enough and we were able to host the party at the park as planned. The kids had a blast and we are so lucky to have such great family and friends come to celebrate with us.
This year they were all about Super Heroes and Princesses~ so we came up with the theme “Capes and Castles”. This gave me SO many fun ideas for activities, snacks, games, and favors…
The invitations were made by Jazzy Caps . Her custom images are really affordable and her turnaround time is phenominal! They were exactly what I was looking for.
I’m generally not a fan of the typical loot bags and instead try to do something that goes with the theme and acts as part of the party itself. For this year’s Capes and Castles theme we passed out Super Hero Inital Capes for the Boys and Wands and Tiaras for the girls. I was able to order the capes and tiaras online and used yellow, red, and blue felt to make the badges for the back of them (I have to give a shout out to my husband who cut out all the yellow diamond shapes for me!). I also made the wands using plastic wand sticks, small flowers, and satin ribbon.
Refresments were simple; Pizza, Fruit, and Veggies. Per Peyton’s request we served Princess Punch (Pink Lemonade) and Super Hero Fuel (Fruit Punch), along with bottled water as our beverages.
A craft table was available for the kids to complete their ensembles. Beads for the Princess’ to make necklaces and foam masks for the Super Hero’s to decorate.
Our party game was “Pin the Tiara on Princess Peyton” and “Pin the Badge on Wunderkid”. I used poster board to trace the outline of the P’s. The Tiara was a stamp I found at Michael’s and the Badge was yellow card stock. The kids had a great time playing this classic party game with a twist!
A tree at the edge of the park was the perfect setting for our “Royal Ball”. We hung some pink paper flowers in the tree and set up a tub full of large colorful balls to play with.
The obstacle course ended up being less of a ‘course’ and more of a free for all. They all had a great time stacking our large “Bricks” (red and blue wrapped boxes) to break through the ‘wall’, scooting through the tunnel, and dancing through the hula hoops.
Thank you to ALL of our family and friends that were able to come celebrate with us. You really made this day special for my P’s!
***Looking for more Party ideas? Check out our Football/Cheerleader theme, Earthday Garden Party, and Easter Birthday Bash***
I am officially a ‘Soccer Mom’…this season both of the older P’s wanted to play soccer. Preston has been waiting and waiting until he was old enough to play on a sports team since he could walk and talk and Peyton loves anything that involves being physically active so we signed them up! Our season started a week ago and they are having a blast! And mommy is getting some very well worn out kids 3 days a week
Somehow I ended up Co-team mom for Bubba’s team (thanks a lot Cyndi! LOL) so the first week ended up being a lot more work than I had bargained for but oh well, what’s a mama for if not to be a team mom?! In about 4 days we had to set up a snack schedule, get the kids’ names put on their jersey’s, and make a banner…I’m new to this whole soccer thing and nobody warned me about the banner! It all worked out, our 4 year olds looked adorable and our 6 yr olds are superstars!
Miss P ready for her first game
My Bubba, getting so big
Peyton, the teeny tiny goalie
little dude in action
Our 4 yr old team banner…this thing took me 6 hrs to make!
Gotta have a Game Day hair bow!
What kind of Soccer Mom would I be without an obnoxious shirt to wear to my kids games?!
One of my favorite places to shop is Ross Dress for Less, so when I was contacted by their company to check out their Shoe Event I jumped at the chance!
The Ross Dress for Less Shoe event is going on NOW (March 23-April 30) and they have some great spring looks, everything from flip flops to dresswear. At Ross you will find great BRAND NAMES for great prices. Here is what I purchased for UNDER $25:
Of course I can’t just go to ROSS for one thing so I checked out the kid’s stuff too. I found this Batman shirt for $3.99 (perfect for P2′s Birthday Party) and this cute bathing suit for $6.99 (we’re doing pool themed Easter baskets this year)
So what would you purchase with a $25 gift card?! The great people at ROSS are giving ONE of my lucky readers a $25 gift card!
Here’s how to enter:
‘LIKE’ ROSS Dress for Less on Facebook and leave a comment here saying that you have done so
(and pay attention, they are launching a Spring Shoe Sweepstakes on facebook soon!)
*additional entry* leave a second comment with what you’d use your giftcard to purchase
*CONTEST ENDS: Wednesday, April 11, 2012 @ 8pm PST*
***Disclaimer****I was sent a $25 gift card for purposes of this article. All opinions expressed are my own.
Thank you all for participating. This contest is now closed and I have selected a winner using random.org.
True Random Number GeneratorMin:
Max: Result:39Powered by RANDOM.ORGCongratulations to Alyssa Valenzuela with comment #39 “I liked Ross on FB”!
A few weeks ago we Dyed Pasta to make our own beaded necklaces for Mardi Gras. Here is a tutuorial on how to dye rice for crafts using the sam method.
What you need:
- White Rice
- Food coloring
- Rubbin Alcohol
- Zip lock bags
- baking sheets
Directions:
Separate the rice into ziplock bags. How many colors you make will determine how many bags you need. Place 3 cups of rice into each bag. Add 1/2 tsp. food coloring and 2 tbsp. rubbing alcohol to the rice. Seal bags and shake until rice is evenly coated.
Line baking sheets with foil and spread colored rice out onto the sheets. Air Dry for about 4 hours.
Tip: the smell of alcohol is very strong and I placed my baking sheets outside.
We are going to use our Dyed rice to make “I Spy” games…I’ll update you when they’re finished
For the thrid year in a row we have set an excellent trap but those Sneaky Leprechauns seem to have evaded us once again! Peyton was disappointed but has decided next year our trap should be bigger
The Trap was set
And when they woke up….
We found green footprints, Chocolate Coins, Shamrock Confetti, and Green Rock Candy…but NO Leprechauns! We have underestimated them again!
Pixi following the trail
She was very concerned about the footprints
But thought the Green milk was lots of fun!
P2 didn’t want to check the trap…He made me do it!
Enjoying her Pot of Gold at the end of the Rainbow
Rainbow Breakfast~Fruit and Marshmallows
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
As a fun activity we decided to make some homemade playdough. Why the homemade kind with a few cookie cutters always holds their attention longer than the storebought sets I will never know, but the P’s loved this “Leprechaun” Playdough that sparkles!
We used this Playdough Recipe found on The Artful Parent. I must warn, though, that this makes a HUGE batch. We probably could’ve done with half the amount but most of Preston’s ended up on the floor so I was glad we had the extra
I made the whole batch Yellow and then while kneeding it I added the Green to half of it. Once it’s kneeded out and cooled off a bit, add in the glitter. We used silver and gold. Throw a few cookie cutters, cups, and utensils out to use with it and you have a fun St. Patrick’s Day activity for the kids!
One of our St. Patrick’s Day Traditons is to make a Leprechaun Trap. We started this a few years ago and the kids LOVE it! We’ve never actually caught one, but every year Those Sneaky Leprechauns dance around our kitchen leaving little green footprints behind and a little bit of ‘gold’ for our troubles.
Last year I was a little behind and not my usual prepared self. I forgot all about the trap until just a few days before. This left little for us to make a trap out of. What we ended up with was just as cute but easy enough for a 2 and 4 year old to make almost all on their own!
What you will need:
- small shoebox
- Green Duct Tape (we found ours at Michaels)
- Rainbow printable
- plain paper
- glue
- scissors
- cotton balls
Instructions:
- cover the box with the green duct tape.
- Cut a star shaped slot in the lid of the box
- color the rainbow printable
- cut our two cloud shapes from the plain paper
- glue cotton balls onto the clouds
- tape finished rainbow to the side of the lid
DONE! To see our more elaborate Leprechaun trap click HERE.
These are the things that we teach our children, when was the last time you read these books for you?
“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go…”
Oh, the Places You’ll Go!
“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”
Happy Birthday to You!
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!
“A person’s a person, no matter how small.”
Horton Hears a Who!
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
The Lorax
“You’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting,
So… get on your way!”
Oh, the Places You’ll Go!
“You’ll miss the best things if you keep your eyes shut.”
I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!
“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow,
stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
“You’ll get mixed up, of course, as you already know. You’ll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go. So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left.”
Oh, the Places You’ll Go!
Yertle the Turtle and Gertrude McFuzz
