DIY Ball Wall Obstacle Course

I picked up a piece of perforated Masonite (peg board) off the side of the road about a month ago. I had different things running in my head for what to do with it, but I decided today that I needed to make the kids a ball wall obstacle course/track.

It was pretty easy to construct, and I just used things we had around the house. To start, I found a big ol' drill bit, drilled some holes in some old buckets and a water bottle we lost the lid to, then created the tracks/gutters with an old wrapping paper tube split down the middle. I am intending to purchase some guttering or something else more substantial next time I get to the hardware store.

So, back to the process. Once you drill holes in the objects, run bolts through them, through the holes in the Masonite, then fasten a nut on the back of the board. You really just want one hole in each object so it can teeter-totter and be positioned as needed. I suppose you could do this same project with a solid piece of wood that you drill holes in wherever you want them for the same effect. I think it'd also be cool to paint the board with chalkboard paint and have the kids draw the path of the ball and make engineering type marks on it.  So as you can tell, I will be adding more and making it look a little nicer, but for a 30 minute project, it is still pretty fun.

What was even more fun is to watch my son jump up and down and get super excited when he made the ball go where he wanted it to by changing the angle of the ramps. He also thought of adding the Kinex rods to make the ball do even more crazy things.

Not-So-Standard Potty Training Tips

Our victory trophy for potty training 3 kids is in sight, although we're still in the phase of occasional accidents with our two years old twins. F(male) and G(female) are just a few weeks past their 2nd birthday and they are pretty much trained. Their older brother (E) was fully trained by 2.5 (or 26.5 months if you want to get all technical).

So.. I don't have any tips for actual potty training here, because I think that is something left to books and experts. I am an "early" training fan and followed advice from Diaper-Free Before 3 by Dr. Jill Lekovic and Potty Train in 3 Days by Lois Kleint. But, what I will offer is some kind of off-the-wall, out-of-norm tips that I realized I was doing that others didn't think to do, hence the reason to share!

Oh, and I won't take credit for thinking of all of this. Some ideas I picked up, or arrived at while chatting with others. 

Our couch ready for another accident.

#1 - Cover your bottom couch cushions with a twin waterproof mattress cover, tucking excess in the back or underneath. Then cover with a twin sheet that matches your decor. This is easy to remove when there are accidents and you won't be as psychotic about the kids messing up your couch. My husband wants to take some (or all of) credit on this one.

#2 - Purchase multiple seats for those little tooshies, including a folding seat for public restrooms, a travel potty for your car, a cool convertible seat for your big toilet at home (<---pictured), and definitely a potty chair (or two if you have multiple kids). If you don't think that gear will help, it will. There's nothing worse than trying to get your little (apprehensive) boy to balance over a huge toilet, clinging to you and then his wee-wee goes astray because you can't help hold it down and he pees down your leg. Kids are scared of big potties, and gear can help make it safer and less scary for them until they are big enough to stand or balance on their own. Ok, this one's not too unusual I suppose, unless you didn't know about the convertible seat for the big toilet, credit to my cousins Shannon and Abe!

#3 Travel potty liners are a parent's best friend.  I don't use the Kalencom Potette but I LOVE the liners with the little absorbent pad at the bottom complete with cute printed turtles with umbrellas. Basically this is a modified plastic grocery bag, but is great for disposing of waste quickly and for keeping your potty seat clean. 

#4 Build a kit separate from your normal diaper bag. You'll need to grab it fast when your little one announces they have to go. Mine is pictured above and includes the folding seat, extra training pants, extra clothes, the Potette liners, extra underwear, and the last most important thing, the incentive treat, Tic Tacs. (more about that on #5). I am ashamed I don't have my Kushies waterproof training pants or my Bummis pull-on covers pictured, but they were all being laundered, but are usually in the kit. We only use the pull-ups for super emergencies and when we will be in the car for extended time or when we know the kids might fall asleep.

#5 Incentives on the go. If you are in to incentives for potty success, you need to keep prize giving while out, especially when out with all of the distractions. This is the precise reason why I didn't use sticker charts as it would be hard to provide instant praise when away from home. We use "happy chocolates" (m&ms) at home, but I didn't want to carry around melty chocolate, even if it is encased in hard candy shell. Insert, Tic Tacs... they are smaller, lighter and extra special when out and about.

Festive, Fun, FREE Fonts

Still working on your Christmas Cards?  Check out this collection of Festive, Fun, FREE Fonts curated by moia!

1. Lullaby
2. Blessed Day
3. Absinthe
4. Happy New One
5. Hominis
6. Fortunaschwein
7. Senandung Melam
8. Summertime
9. Outstanding
10. Marketing Script
11. Birmingham
12. Bergamot Ornaments

Ghost Lanterns

Valerie, a friend of mine, requested people save milk jugs for her. When I asked what for, she said for Ghost Luminaries (similar ones pinned here).

Since my kids ares still young explorers and pick up and dump everything sitting on the ground, I knew that those luminaries would just cause me headaches, so I wanted to come up with something that would hang HIGH so that we could love and enjoy them without getting involved in conflict every time we were out in front of the house.

 I came up with Ghost Lanterns! These are made with 10 milk cartons and a short strand of white Christmas lights. I am hoping to find some different lights with larger bulbs and more spacing between each light, but christmas decorations aren't out yet, so I had to use what we have on hand.

Directions:

Step 1: Cut off top and draw some silly faces with permanent
marker. My 3yo son drew the 2 on the left.

Step 2: Draw arms on sides and slit to secure
light strand in to. I used heavy blue marker
for illustrative purposes, a finer line would be
better and not show as much.

Step 3: Guide lights through each ghost.

Step 4: Secure the lights in the slits.

Step 4: Hang the lights/lanterns and adjust as needed.

Lanterns by day!

Lanterns by night.

Easiest. Paint. Ever.

Seriously, this is the easiest thing I have done for creative play with my kids in a while. Well, maybe aside from dumping the sweaters out of my under the bed bin, whisking it outside, then throwing some toys and water in... result: free/cheap water table.

I found several recipes for this paint which called for a saucepan to be filled with water and cornstarch, then carefully stirred and whisked to get it right.

I found that simply using cornstarch, adding a bit of cold water to make a thick slurry, then adding boiling water from an instant kettle yielded a great paint that you can thicken or thin depending on what you want it for. Thicker for toddlers wanting to just mush around in it. Thinner for using a brush and painting.

Easiest. Paint. Ever. 

Gather a medium bowl.
Add two tablespoons of cornstarch and 2 tablespoons of cold tap water.
Whisk until smooth.
Add boiling water a little bit at a time while whisking to get the viscosity that you desire.
Divide amongst  smaller containers that you don't mind staining from food coloring.
Add a few drops of food coloring to get the desired hue.  (I didn't add too much food coloring as I knew my toddlers would get it all over their faces, hands, etc and didn't want it to stain.)

Set this activity up outside on the ground or low table. Put toddlers in an old shirt and maybe just diaper. Let them paint objects, plastic ride-on toys, or paper, with brushes or not. They can eat it, since it's just cornstarch!

The biggest tip: 
DO NOT let this paint dry in hair, on skin, or on any surfaces.

BUT - Make it even more fun by getting out a hose and spaying everything and everyone off.

Garden Beauties!

Here are a few of our gems from our garden and how I have been using them for delightful creations.

Easy Pickled Beets(Chioggia)

Chioggia, or Candy Striped Beets

Quick and Easy Pickled Beets

Remove greens and root with a knife, peel beets with a vegetable peeler.

Slice uniformly and place in a zipper steam bag (Like Ziploc Zip n' Steam). Steam for about 3 minutes depending on the thickness of slices and quantity in the bag.

Place in a bowl and add the following ingredients:

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp dry mustard
salt and pepper to taste
Marinate for at least an hour at room temperature or several hours in the fridge.

Bean and Zucchini Salad

B to Z Salad (Bean Zucchini Salad) 

Ingredients:
2 cans of beans of your choice, drained and rinsed
1 small zucchini cubed
1 small onion sliced very thin
3/4 cup of sugar
2/3 cup white vinegar
1/3 cup oil (I used part olive and part canola)
1/2 tsp celery seed
salt and pepper to taste

Mix together and allow flavors to meld for at least 2 hours in the fridge.

Sweet 100 - Cherry Tomatoes

Really Quick and Easy Pizza for Lunch

I couldn't wait to post this product I just found at Trader Joe's. Isn't TJ's the most fun grocery store for the fact there are always new products (that they often let you try) but unlike other grocery stores, are not super processed and usually aren't being promoted by a super giant food company.

Anyway, to the product. I was worried about buying this package of Spicy Spinach Pizza crusts because of that "bad" word, spicy! I don't like spicy. But, I thought... hmm... I have been able to bump from mild to hot sauce at Taco Bell upon becoming an adult, so let's give it a try.  Just to make sure, I asked the worker prepping food and she told me that no, they were not that spicy, and that if I felt that they were, not to worry because I could bring them back for a full refund. Wow! She told me I could bring anything back for a full refund if I didn't like it or felt it was misrepresented somehow.

Ok, so I got these babies home and made some quick toaster oven pizzas for lunch. I included some white cheese, pre-cooked chicken breast pieces from near the lunch meat section, and from another grocery store (another of my new favorite finds) roasted mild green chili peppers with lime juice and cilantro. --->


Oh, and are the pizza crusts spicy? NOT AT ALL! In fact, I think TJ's should consider changing the packaging because it is misleading and I am guessing that people who avoid spicy food, will avoid them for no reason, and people who love spicy food will buy them and be disappointed. I hope this product hangs around because I love them!

Doesn't it look delish? And it only took about 3 minutes to prep and about 5 minutes to bake in the toaster oven. I finished it for a minute or two on the broil setting, but stayed near the toaster oven to watch the browning on the crust. Don't you love that retro Corelle plate too, courtesy of my mom!

I don't know the total calorie count or anything, but each Spicy Spinach Pizza has 140 calories, 5 g protein, only 2g fat, 3g sugar, 380 mg sodium, and no transfat. The Simply Sliced Roast Chicken Breast has 110 calories per 3 slices (plenty for one pizza) and 2.5 g of fat. The green chili peppers only contain sodium (no fat), and the cheese really depends on what kind you use. All in all, I think it's a pretty good low-fat lunch.