Gingerbread Scented Playdough: An Invitation to Play!

I knew I was fighting an oncoming cold and going outside was going to be out of the question when my Littles had friends over yesterday. After going through some ideas, I had just the right one in mind. I pulled out some goodies to make Playdough!! I pre-poured all of the ingredients so that all the Littles had to do was mix it all together.

MichellesCharmWorld Super Awesome Gingerbread Scented Playdough!

3 cups flour 

1.5 cups salt 

6 tsp. cream of tartar

3 tbsp. oil 

3 cups water 

3 tsp. Cinnamon

2 tsp. Pumpkin Spice

1 tsp. ground nutmeg

Pour all ingredients into a large pot. Stir constantly over medium heat until a dough ball forms by pulling away from the sides. Knead dough until the texture matches play dough (1-2 minutes). Store in plastic container.

I took over the HOT stuff on the stove while they took off to play and then made sure to set it all up in an inviting way. I set them up at the art table all with their own trays and in the middle of the table sat our bins of  dough tools, cookie cutters and plastic knives. This recipe smells AWESOME!!! When my husband came home from work he asked me what I had baked?! Then when the parents began to pick up, they too were asking what smelled so good! It really had the house smelling wonderful all day long. 

After it was all played with and worked into a nice, soft texture, I popped some into jars as take home gifts for the Littles that came to play with us. We had so much fun today and it was great watching them open up to fun!

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Let the Games Begin!

We had a party to celebrate the New Year! We made it a party that we would like to go to. One for both adults and children. Complete with Photo backdrop for everyone to take their photos. The party was an absolute blast, so much so that we missed the midnight ball drop!!! LOL!!! We offered space for many to spend the night and turned it into a slumber party for all the kids that stayed, with a full plate of events for the next day.

A continental breakfast was offered in the early morning for those that just needed to eat and run. This included Cereal, Oatmeal, Cookies, Granola, Fruit, Yogurt, Jello-O, Applesauce and boiled eggs.

When the masses awoke, plate after plate of pancakes and sausage were added to the buffet along with a variety of syrups. For drinks I had a coffee, milk and juice bar, Hot Chocolate bar & a Tea Bar as well!

Our Tea Bar was a favorite of the adults of course!

Let the GAMES BEGIN! We started with the traditional and so fun LIMBOOOOOOOoooooOOOOooooo!

The games began at 1 p.m. with a variety of games for all skills and ages. The idea was to just have fun, we even had small prizes to offer the winners. Knock down the cans proved to be more difficult than it looked, when we switched the ball to small bouncy balls instead of a large baseball! LOL!! We loved setting up the games and the kids all cheered about how easy they were and then we threw them for a loop!

Next up was Ring Toss, with the rings getting progressively smaller as they tossed!!

A simple game of get the ball in the bucket was made even more fun and challenging with a variety of shaped balls and different sizes of balls too.  

As my husband took over as the games maser, I laid out a snack bar for everyone to re-energize during game play. Granola Bars, goldfish, animal crackers, ritz crackers, chips & pretzels. Sparkling Lemonade topped the evening off with plastic champagne glasses!! The dinner bar looked very similar with the addition of baked Chicken Nuggets, Parmesan & Olive Olive Oil Potato Wedges along with a variety of dipping sauces and ketchup. We kept it simple and kid friendly. 

We ended the games with what remains the favorite and most exciting game. CHALLENGE: Snowman! The challenge was to wrap up your 'snowman' in toilet paper foot to neck and then tape on buttons, add gloves,hat & scarf and be the first team to finish! The kids had so much fun and much laughter was heard!

How did you ring in the new year?

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Happy Kids!

Today I had quite a few children over (10!) and I found that setting out a hot chocolate station made it so easy for the kids to help themselves create a wonderful treat that kept them so happy and smiling all day long. They would change up their recipes and compare their drinks all day long. It was fun for all involved!

Happy New Year Readers!!! I thank you for hanging in there with me when my posts became few and far between as I juggled a move to a new home, working full time and 3 children all in school with homework and sports and friends. It has been a roller coaster ride for sure, but it's been fun and I look forward to many more years together!!!

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The LOVE GAME

The LOVE game!

This tiny little pillow has a way of making someone's ENTIRE day. Bringing a smile to my face or even a chuckle. This LOVE pillow was from a long ago Valentine's Day gift and ever since became the source of fun for us as a couple. We would hide it someone where the other would find it. Not necessarily would they find it the next day, but it would happen eventually. We didn't look for it, it just POPPED up. After recently finding it one morning, I knew the kids were all old enough to be let in on our little game. The first night was last night and this morning my Princess found it already and she cheered, smiled and showed her brothers. It's amazing what the little things can do!

She took off with it and it is already hidden somewhere in her brothers room! She said, I can't wait until he finds it and knows that I LOVE him!! Do you do something similar in your home?


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Happy Birthday!

On the 28th my Seriously AMAZING, loving, sweet, fantastic, smart and oh so special boy, Gabriel had his 7th birthday. We celebrated, we shopped, he got an award in soccer and best of all we Thanked the Lord for giving us this amazing little guy. Gabriel, may all your wishes and dreams come true for you as they have for us when we were given you.

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Enjoy...

Enjoy Your Sunday My Friends!

Merry Christmas!!!!

I truly hope that you all had a Magical, Peaceful and Wonderful Christmas! We started a new tradition at our home and absolutely fell in love all over again with Christmas and the real reason for the Season! Did you know that McDonald's is open on Christmas?? We headed over there with a handful of games after dinner and had dessert and so much fun. We purchased meals for anyone that came in alone and enjoyed the company of strangers that quickly became friends.

Their smile say it all! It didn't matter WHERE we were, it mattered that we were relaxed, together and bringing joy to others!

I was hoping to share the photos of what my children cherished most from all their gifts this year and well...here they are! Yup, they played more (and are STILL playing with the boxes more than the toys!!). Isn't it amazing how a box and a plate can become a plane and a steering wheel?!

A race car for racing Lightning McQueen while watching the movie.

3 Days later it's a train with covered caboose as he sits and watches his brother open birthday presents.

Day turned to night and the fun kept on going. Here they are waiting at the train station for the 3rd train to hook up! Big sister is coming with the other box train.

A school bus for his new friends!

This plane is going to be a boat!

A paper towel tube is just what is needed to make the steam engine complete on the train!

I am always AMAZED by what the minds of children will create!

My dear friends, let us all remember to enjoy every minute with our children!

Trickling On...

1. Field trip day with Mommy! 2. Fairy Tales do Come True necklace 3. Made my NYE headpiece! 4. At the Christmas Tree farm!

Is it Friday yet? Honestly, I don't know how some moments the days, weeks and months can absolutely sail by in a blur and then days like today can drag on so long that you begin to wonder if somehow time has stopped and you are no longer moving forward. I am having one of those moments right now as I blog from work. I should be doing things, working on stuff and making phone calls but instead I took a break to wonder if in fact time has stopped. It has been a busy week but a fun one at that. Looking back at my photos from the week I know that we made memories but I hardly remember the week as a whole! This week? Oh boy, I could recite every single minute since Monday. How odd is that? Has your week trickled or flown by?

Wordless...

Simplicity...

Hello Readers! This post has been a long time coming but I just never had the time to sit down and write it. How sad is that? Sometimes I think we let our lives get far too busy and forget to just sit and BE. Why is that so difficult for us? That in itself is another blog post.

Today's post is going to be about living simply. Sometimes we forget about the important things in life and just hurry, hurry, hurry into more, more more. We need to work more to make more to have more. When you stop and think about it, you realize that somewhere along the way, you lost sight of what was important and just wanted STUFF. 

Grab a cuppa, sit back as I explain how we started living a life of simplicity and learned to stay away from societal pressures to buy more...more...more...

From the get-go we have been all about living a simple life in service of our Lord. My wedding rings are nothing flashy at all, in fact they are quite simple and after seeing all of the rocks on Pinterest, mine would certainly pale in comparison. For me it wasn't the rock, it was the story. My then boyfriend and I were antiquing one weekend and I pointed out an Estate Ring that looked just like one my grandmother used to own. I looked at it several times and even tried it on. It was pretty but not something I wanted to drop money on at the time. It held memories that made me smile when I slipped it on. 1 year later I was engaged to that boyfriend and when he proposed I was crying from seeing THAT ring in the box. Yes, I was overwhelmed by the proposal but the simple fact that he remembered something that was just a fleeting moment was enough to make me lose control of all emotion. When life improved for us as my husband climbed up the corporate ladder, talk of him replacing my ring would come up. He said I deserved something bigger, something better...but you know what? This is the best thing ever. I won't lie and say that I didn't consider some of those rocks out there but then I realized WHY? The bigger the diamond, the bigger the love? The pricier the bauble the more value our relationship? Simple and with meaning. This was to become our motto. One that we would lose sight of quickly and often.

We were married in Disney World. Not inexpensive by any means, especially when you tag in 75 of our most loved family members. It was a dream wedding that didn't put us in any financial trouble, because we paid cash for it all. I will say though that it was a lot of money to spend on one day. I don't regret anything when it comes to that magical moment in our life but I wore 2 dresses, had 2 ceremonies, 2 receptions and was gone for almost 1 month staying in hotels, going on a Disney Cruise and so much more that I think we began to lose sight of what we were truly there for. It's not about the Wedding but about the Marriage. We came back from that wedding and knew it was time to buckle down and think straight about where we wanted to go in life.

When talk came of us buying a home, we were all over the map. We had 3 kids and knew it was time to upgrade our current living situation where we were so comfortable and settled and happy. The kids needed a bigger yard, larger playroom. It was out of control. We were looking at 5 bedroom homes with mortgages that would put us at the edge of our rope monthly. We already knew the children would be in private school, so that money was set aside at least. Looking at beautiful homes was fun and we even made offers on many of them. We just kept getting out bid and always realized that it wasn't meant to be. In the end we stopped and realized what kind of a life would we be leading just to have the largest home? The prettiest home? Does that make it the Happiest Home? What would be the point if we had to work to make Money instead of Memories? We counted our pennies and realized that it was time to live on our own terms and make something our own. We bought a home that could even be considered a cottage. There is room for everyone to have their own room and a playroom but you know what? We spend most of our time playing games in front of the fireplace or snuggled on ONE couch watching movies. We have the happiest home and to us, it is the largest and most beautiful. We put our own marking on each and every room in the house and still have more to go but we are having fun with it. Hot chocolate on the screen porch is where we discuss our days, our tiny kitchen is where the entire family crams in to discuss our plans for the morning. Yes, memories are being made and I am so happy that we decided to reign it all in for something that was 'just right'.

How are you living a life of simplicity?

December to Remember

Family Fun in December! I put together a tray and jar with some sparkly bells at the center of our dining room table last night for dinner. I handed everyone a marker, 5 notecards and instructions to write 5 activities they would like to do in December. I told them it could be anything the would like to do in Winter. With 5 in our family, this gave us 25 activities to do in December (1 each day). I explained that at times some activities would not happen as they were written but we would get creative with them if we had to. For example: Someone wrote Build a Snowman. If there is no snow, we will make some out of paper!

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