Lollipops and Lemons

The sweet and sour of life with littles

Throw a Halloween Party

~ Food, Kids, Lifestyle

Every year I throw a Halloween party where we invite our friends and their kiddos to join us for food and pumpkin carving. Over the years, this party has grown, but it’s so much fun! I’ve gone from owning almost no Halloween decorations to owning quite a lot! I recently decorated the house in preparation for our party, so I thought I’d share a peek and my tips for a great party!

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For the mantle, I wanted an elegant display with a little bit of “spook” to it.  I went with a black and white theme to keep it clean and simple. It all started with the black and white leaves. I found those at Michael’s and the rest of the design evolved from there! To add something special to the vase and candles that I already had, I just cut pieces of black lace and used double sided tape to secure them.

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For the dining room table, I used trees from Target’s dollar bin as my centerpiece. I added a black lace spider web table runner under the wooden box that is my centerpiece mainstay. To bring some of the same elements into my tablescape, I draped pieces of black lace over the plates. I then cut 2 pieces off of a spider web banner and used those with a little ghost in order to make the two end place settings a little different.

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In terms of the actual party, here are a few tips to make it go off without a hitch!

First, plan and prep ahead! My party isn’t for two more weeks, but I’ve already got the decorations up. By using decorations that are elegant and simple, I don’t mind having them up for a while to enjoy before Halloween! I’ve got the menu planned out as well. It’s the same every year and I can make it ahead! Here’s the menu that I typically serve. Everything gets made the day before and all I have to do on the day of the party is reheat the soup in crockpots!

Pumpkin Fluff
Chili
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Cornbread (this is my favorite recipe!)
Meat, cheese, cracker tray (with everything cut up small enough for toddlers)
Fruit (again, cut up ahead of time to be small enough for toddlers)
Cupcakes

Second, plan entertainment for the kids so that the adults can enjoy each other (or at least try)! This year, I found some masks at Michael’s that the kids can color. I plan to set out the masks with washable crayons, construction paper with Halloween stickers, and my favorite books!

Third, offer pumpkin carving!  What would a party with kids be without a good mess?!  If the weather is nice, we’ll do this outside on kid tables.  If not, I’ve got plastic tablecloths that I can put down on the floor.  Our party is always BYOP – Bring Your Own Pumpkin!  I provide stickers for the kids to decorate their pumpkins with (hello Target dollar bin) as well as carving tools.  In the past, the kids have loved putting stickers all over their pumpkins and it keeps them busy!

Fine Motor Play using Straws

~ Kids

This fine motor play activity using straws has been a favorite of Noah’s for over a year now.  It is so simple to put together.  You probably already have everything you need!

Fine motor play

Here’s what you need for this activity:

  • Parmesan cheese container (washed out, label removed)
  • straws (cut to fit)
  • craft pom poms
  • pipe cleaners (cut to fit)

This activity gives him great practice with fine motor skills, as he can push the straws and pipe cleaners through the holes in the lid of the container.  He can also open the bigger side of the container to push the pom poms through.  When we first started out with this activity, he was much younger, so we originally used only the straws.  As he’s gotten older, the pom poms and pipe cleaners have been a fun addition!  He’s now learned to unscrew the lid himself too!

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And just so you know this is real life….  🙂

“No camera, momma!”

Fine motor play

How to Make Nature Blocks

~ Kids

We recently had a big storm come through our area and it knocked a pretty good sized tree branch down from our walnut tree in the front yard.  I decided this was the perfect opportunity to make nature blocks out of a branch that would otherwise be discarded!

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This is such a simple project and Noah absolutely loves playing with these blocks! We have blocks of varying thicknesses and widths from using most of the branch.

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It’s so much fun to watch Noah play with these.  He has a great imagination and we make everything from train tracks to construction sites out of them!  He loves to use his diggers and dump trucks to carry the “logs.” He also drives his trains over them. There are so many creative ways to use these!

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Here’s how you can make a set of your own.  First, find a branch (or even multiple branches from different types of trees would be great). Next, use a circular saw to cut different lengths.  Lightly sand any rough edges.  Then just spread out the blocks so that they have a chance to dry out.  Final step:  play! Really couldn’t be any easier!

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A few of ours did crack as they dried, so it may have been better to let the branch dry for a few weeks before we cut it, but I was too impatient for that.  🙂

We’ve had tons of fun with these blocks and perhaps the best part is that they were FREE!

Sweet and Sour: Sleep or Lack Thereof

~ Kids, Sweet and Sour

I’ve been sleep deprived for several months now and there are times that I don’t think I’ll ever sleep again.  There are of course nights that Noah is up several times during the night.  And then there are nights that even though he’s sleeping peacefully, I’ve found yet another thing to worry about.  (Is the swaddle blanket too loose so he will push it up around his face?  Is the swaddle blanket too tight so it’s forcing his arms and shoulders into an unnatural position that will harm his development?  Is he too hot?  Too cold?  Is he propped up enough that he can’t choke?  Is there any possible way a pacifier could suffocate him?)  You get the idea – irrational fears of a sleep deprived new mom that run through my mind as my baby boy is sleeping peacefully.

The past few nights, as sleep deprived as I am, I’ve taken a moment after Noah’s middle-of-the-night feeding to just snuggle and watch him.  He sleeps in my arms and these sweet little smiles spread across his face.  As I’ve seen a lot less of my little guy with him in daycare, these have become some of my favorite moments of the day – In the middle of the night, when I’m beyond tired myself.  I know that he won’t always fit so snuggly in my arms.  I know that he won’t always need to eat and cuddle in the middle of the night, when the whole house is quiet and it’s just me and him.  I know he may not always smile these big, open mouth smiles in his sleep.  I also know that even though it’s hard to be up during the night, and many days I feel like I just can’t do it anymore, when I see this sweet, smiling, sleeping baby, it melts my heart and makes my day.

I hope you find time to watch your sweet little ones smile today.  🙂

Xoxo

Documenting Baby’s Milestones

~ Kids

Noah does at least one thing every day that I think is the cutest or smartest thing any baby in the entire world has ever done.  Proud momma here!  When I was pregnant with him, I bought a really cute baby book and started filling out the information about his parents, grandparents, puppy, etc.  And that’s as far as I got.  It sounded like such a great idea until I had a baby that constantly needed my attention.  Who knew I wouldn’t have time on maternity leave to spend drinking coffee and documenting baby’s milestones in a baby book!  Hmmm. (I’m sure all you non-first-time-mommas are laughing right now).

My mom gave me a baby calendar that has been such an easy way for me to quickly document what he’s doing each day!  I just leave it in the playroom (we spend a lot of time in there and it’s in a central area of the house) with a pen nearby.  As I walk past, I can quickly jot down something cute he did or a new skill that he mastered that day.  I’ve already had so much fun flipping back through the calendar reading about his many achievements thus far.  I know I will cherish this calendar forever!

baby calendar

 

Here are some of the things I typically jot down to get you started thinking about your own baby calendar!

  • Weight/height at doctor’s appointments
  • Family and friends that came to visit
  • Firsts (first smile, first laugh, first time rolling over, etc)
  • Toys Noah likes to play with
  • Objects Noah has become fascinated with (currently his hands and toes)
  • Noah’s likes and dislikes (he loves looking outside and he hates getting out of the bath)!
  • Things that made us laugh that day

What ideas do you have to share about how you keep track of the things you want to remember about your kids?

Montessori Inspired Discovery Baskets- Cooking Utensils

~ Kids

When we decided that I would leave the corporate world to stay home with Noah, I started researching ways that I can provide Noah with new experiences to help him grow.  I really love the idea of Montessori inspired discovery baskets.  These are so easy to put together and you can use items that you already have around your home to provide a new sensory experience for your little ones!

This week, I’ve decided to focus on cooking with Noah!  Okay, so maybe he’s a bit young to get in the kitchen with me, but he can certainly learn a lot from kitchen utensils that I already have at home.

Montessori Inspired Discovery Baskets Infant Toddler Play

Our Montessori inspired discovery basket contains the following items:

  • Wooden spoon
  • Metal cookie cutter
  • Small strainer
  • My grocery list for the week (he loves to feel paper crinkle!)
  • Metal whisk
  • Metal spoon

This basket gives him the opportunity to experience items of different weights, textures, and materials!

I recently found two blogs that give me great inspiration for new activities to do with Noah!  They have tons of great Discovery Basket ideas that I love!  Just pick a theme and substitute whatever items you already have at home.  Cheap and educational!

Living Montessori Now

How We Montessori

What are your favorite Discovery Basket items?

List Organization

~ Kids, Lifestyle

List organization is essential for me in keeping my family organized!  My favorite way to keep my lists organized these days is with Google Keep.  In my constant state of sleep deprivation due to having a 4 month old, I don’t have an attention span beyond 5 minutes to learn a new app, so Google Keep is perfect for me!  I can create separate notes for my to-do list, set reminders for myself, keep track of things I like, and jot down cute or funny things Noah did that day.  I can add and check things off of my to-do list throughout the day since I can access Google Keep from anywhere.

Keeping track of my lists by category gives me a sense of accomplishment as I tackle items on it.  I love crossing things off of lists.  So much so that I quite frequently add things to my to-do list that I’ve already done.  Just so I can cross them off.  Who else does that?  I know there’s got to be more list cheaters than just me out there!

Lists help me visualize what I need to do and let me see what I’ve accomplished at the end of the day rather than sitting down for the first time at 10:00 at night thinking, “Where did the day go?  Did I even do anything today?”  Making a list throughout the day stops me from lying in bed at night running over the list in my head.  I’ve written it down, I can see that I’ve made progress on it, and so I can sleep peacefully (well, at least until the baby cries and wakes me up a couple hours after I’ve fallen asleep).  You get the point – I like to keep things organized amongst the craziness of life as a new mom.  It helps me sleep at night.

Here’s what my Google Keep list board looks like.

To Do List Organization Google Keep

What’s your favorite way to keep track of your to-do list?

Need some ideas for how to start organizing your own lists?  Start with these topics:

  • To Schedule:  Appointments that need to be scheduled (car maintenance, hair appointments, doctor appointments)
  • Around the House:  Things that need to get taken care of to keep your household running (laundry, grocery shopping, meal planning
  • Kid To-Dos: Playdates, activities you want to remember
  • Books: Books you would like to read
  • Party Planning To-Do List:  Ordering invitations, planning menu, planning games/activities
  • Reminders:  Things you want Google keep to remind you to do (I use this for things that I find myself forgetting time and time again, like to transfer pictures and video from the cameras to my computer).
  • Moments to Remember:  document moments that you want to remember, but don’t have the time to formally enter into a baby book, etc.
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