Last year for Mother's Day I got the Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker machine... I was SO excited...my jeans were not (8 pounds later!!!!). If you have an ice cream maker in your home then you know how amazing home-made ice cream tastes. It is almost worth the calories. OK, I'll be honest, it IS worth the calories! There are tons of recipes out there for ice cream flavors but today I am going to share with you a little family tradition we have in our home. Every year my husbands fathers family gets together to celebrate Christmas and my husbands uncle is always in charge of bringing the ice cream. The man makes GALLONS of it! I couldn't put my finger on it the first year I celebrated with them but something was different about this ice cream. After I was "inducted" into the family by way of marriage I was told that the secret is Almond extract NOT Vanilla. Oh my stars it is heaven in a bowl! So today I'm sharing this recipe with you too! Almond Ice Cream 1-1/2 cups 2% milk 1-1/8 cups … [Read more...]
Memorial Day Popsicles
If you are in the United States you know that Memorial Day is next week and I thought this might be a good time to whip out my favorite Zoku Quick Pop Maker. Now, you don't NEED one, you can make these the old-fashioned way, but I will admit making 6 Popsicles in under 10 minutes TOTAL was a bonus! I used lemonade for all three colors because lemonade Popsicles are a favorite in our house. I just added a drop of red and blue food coloring to the lemonade. I sliced an apple really thin and used the star shaped cutter that came with my Zoku, but you can find these at your local craft supply store. I added the stars to the Quick Pop maker to add a little more of a festive look. I simply added blue to one of the pops and striped the red and plain lemonade to make the stripes. I love how the stars and strips pops turned out, and so did my kids! You can even get a little more creative and add more layers... good ol' Red, White, and Blue! Just remember to have fun and enjoy … [Read more...]
Fingerprint Art
I had a ton of fun making spring photos with my fingers the other day...and in all honesty the kids didn't participate. I know this is something they'd love to do, however, we were "blessed" by 12 inches of snow this past week so they were more inclined to go sledding than finger art! LOL Bumblebee- simply use the thumb for the body and the pointer finger for the head. When the ink is dry add the details using a black marker Frog- my personal favorite! He's cuuuuuute! The thumb is what you use to make the body. Add the black details when it's dry and then use a green marker to add little triangles for the webbed feet. Butterfly- use your pointer finger and print two next to each other to create the wings of the butterfly. When the ink is dry use a black marker to fill in the details. Flower- your thumb will get a work out when making this flower. Dip your thumb in yellow ink and make the flower shape. Clean your thumb off then add two green prints for the leaves and … [Read more...]
Snugg iPad4 Case
We were recently contacted by the company The Snugg to review their Snugg iPad4 Case. Since Jamie doesn't own an iPad and we do I had the pleasure of receiving one. I immediately jumped at the opportunity to review this because we were actually in the market for a new case for our iPad. The main person that uses the iPad in our house is our eldest son, lil' King. He uses the iPad to work on Spanish Immersion classes, reading, and math homework for school. The case that came with our iPad worked fine (and when I say fine, I mean, it was very basic and served a very basic purpose). Our … [Read more...]
Mom Tips to Help Make Every Day Extraordinary
Samantha Harris, celebrity mom of two and television personality, shares her favorite mom tips to help make your everyday extraordinary. Tip #1: Schedule your mom activities like an appointment! I like to pencil in workouts, carpool duty and grocery shopping right into my calendar so I can keep my to-do list organized. Seeing it all written down is a surefire way to get it all done and allow you to rearrange as needed. Tip #2: Make "date night" a priority! As moms, we are constantly juggling many hats and it can be easy to forget to focus some time for our relationships. Ask your relatives or a friend to babysit for a night (and offer to return the favor), then hit the town. Or have a "date in", by setting up a sleepover for the kids (or putting them to bed early), and rent a movie, make some popcorn and curl up on the couch! Tip #3: Enlist the kids to help! Chores don't need to solely fall on mom—I like to get my kids involved by making a chore wheel and set up a completion … [Read more...]
Kids Car Wash
Some of you may remember my post a while back about Making Cleaning Fun. Well the spring has been sloooooooow to arrive in the frozen tundra and today it finally arrived! The sun is shining and their Cozy Coupe cars from Little Tykes were in desperate need of a cleaning. We lined them up for the car washing of their lives! I ran in the house and grabbed a bucket of warm soapy water and a few wash cloths. My daughter decided that the cars needed a little vacuuming before they were spiffed up for spring. After lots of bubbles and giggles we ended up with three VERY clean cars. Have you ever held a car wash at your house? … [Read more...]
