{Free} Play: 25 4x6 Prints

It's a freebie people!

Walgreens is offering 25 free 4x6 prints to anyone. All you have to do it go to the Walgreens site, upload your pictures there, select 25 to be printed in the 4x6 size, use the code PRINTNOW, and select to pick up in your neighborhood store, and you've got some free pictures. 

I have done a similar deal like this one several times, and it is so satisfying to walk out of Walgreens with free pictures in hand not having paid a dime. 

Grow: New Ways for 2012

If you aim at nothing, you will hit it everytime. ~Zig Ziglar

As we approach 2012, many of us are thinking about New Years resolutions. Most of us know ourselves well enough to realize that our resolutions will probably not last very long before we give up and go back to doing the same 'ol thing that we've always done. Habits are hard to break. Lifestyles are hard to change.

Some resolutions are predictable and somewhat evasive: I want to lose weight. I want to be a better person (or a better parent). I want to help others more. I want to eat more fruits and vegetables. I want to deepen my walk with God.

Despite the fact that New Years resolutions are almost made to be broken, I love creating them because I always want to be changing and growing for the better.

Each year I sit down and write out yearly goals (I don't like calling them "resolutions", "goals" works better for me). I try and choose 3-5 goals for each of the following areas:

Eat and Play: Custom Fortune Cookies

With the new year almost upon us, it's time for some new year fun activities! And what could be more fun than filling fortune cookies! I actually stumbled upon this idea while browsing Foodgawker, and I thought it was such a neat idea. I have made homemade fortune cookies before, and they are hard to do. It requires a lot of perfect timing, burning fingers, and (in my case) unsatisfactory results since they were both partially burned and uncooked. So this method, found here, was a welcome change and really so easy to do.

First you start off with a bag of store bought fortune cookies.

Play: Paper SnowBall Fight!!

SNOWBALL FIGHT!

Perhaps you are like us and have yet to have any substantial snowfall. Where are you, snow?!

Our kids have been talking about, thinking about, and reading about snow lately, so we decided to treat them to a family snowball fight....inside.

Merry Christmas!

From our families to yours, from our homes to yours, we wish you a very merry Christmas full of love and joy. We hope that the wonderment of God becoming Man will not be soon forgotten in your households. At the risk of being cliche, we never want to forget that Christ is the reason for this Christmas season. Enjoy Him, Emmanuel, today!

Grow: Great with Child

photo taken from jembling.com

She was young. She had never had a baby before, and was nervous about all of the unknown. Sure, she'd been there when other women delivered their babies...but it's different being on the opposite end. She had been feeling some contractions, off and on. Some of them had been pretty painful. She hoped she would make it through gracefully.

Any day now, she thought to herself. She shivered from the cold and drew the blanket around herself. Her thoughts again began to wander. It was so hard to fall asleep and stay asleep these past few nights. She would often wake up, having to go to the bathroom. Her back hurt from the weight of lugging around a baby while doing all of her daily chores.

What will he look like? she thought to herself. Dark skin, dark hair, of course. Will he look like me? Or will he look like.....she stopped. God? Will he look like you?

Especially at night when her mind was racing, she couldn't make sense of it all, even after having a whole nine months to get used to it. Why me? Why did God chose me? And what does this all even mean? And how will we raise the Son of God? What if we mess him up?

I don't know if I can handle this.

Eat: Banana Split Coffeecake

It's Christmastime, and I am busy. Are you?

Well, I had meant for this post to be about a Christmas tradition that we do it our family, which is having homemade Swedish meatballs on Christmas Eve, but I failed to remember that I had never made them before. And it turns out, they need more finessing than I have patience for. That's not really saying much, since I am severely lacking the patience department. Just ask anyone. It's painfully clear.

But never fear, I have a tantalizing treat courtesy of my time in Libya. Jacob and I spent about a year there, and while I was there, I did not have a child, so I had lots of time to bake and take pictures. I actually had (have...but I haven't updated it since the middle of my pregnancy) a food blog that I would post all of my pictures and recipes. It's called  13 Bakery, if you're interested. There were some good things on there, just nothing recent. But this is not a plug for that, but I am grateful for it now, since it got me out of a bind. :)

And so I share Banana Split Coffeecake!

{Free} Play: 25 Christmas Songs

I know that it is less than a week until Christmas, but I wanted to share this great deal if you are still in need of some Christmas spirit, or if you just can't pass on a good deal like me. (Hey, I'll be more prepared for next year this way.)

So on Amazon, they are doing a 25 Days of Free Holiday Music, which mean that each day through December to now, they are revealing a new song you can download for free. And if you are only just now learning about it, no worries, you can still download all the ones from the previous days. Just check it out here. I found out about this through one of my sites I follow, so thanks Mama Cheaps!

Play: Fun Wrapping Ideas

It's nearly Christmas so that means we all have a lot of Christmas presents to wrap. And I love it! I'm not one of those people that begrudgingly wraps presents or that settles for gift bags (gasp! although in desperate times, I understand), I love the art of a good looking package. And I also love the art of keeping my family guessing as to what I have gotten them. And so let me share my number one way I love to wrap ordinary things, plus some tips on sprucing up packages in an easy way.

Learn how to do this below

Grow: St. Nick and the Value of Generosity

The real St. Nicholas (not to be confused with modern day Santa Claus) was known for his generous heart. He lived in the third century in what is now modern day Turkey. Nicholas' parents died when he was young, and he gave all of his inheritance to those who were poor or were suffering. He had a compassionate heart that loved God and loved others deeply.

Some people (both Protestant and Catholic) put out stockings on December 6th to celebrate St. Nick's Day. They do this because of the following story, taken from St. Nicholas Center:

Eat: Lace Sandwich Cookies

Christmas and cookies go hand-in-hand. But maybe you're tired of making the same cookies every year. I kinda wish I had a tradition like that, where people expect me to make the same yummy cookie every year, but I'm too dabbly for that. I'm always on the prowl for new recipes to try.

And so I stumbled onto these cookies.

These cookies reminded me a lot of the ones that you find in the cookie tins, crispy and light but with yummy chocolate sandwiched in between the two layers.

Play and Eat: Gingerbread House Decorating Party!

Gingerbread House Decorating Party! Say that five times fast. But no matter whether you stumble over saying it or not, this spells fun. How do I know, you ask? 'Cause I had it and did it, and it was awesome. Allow me to share.

My completed gingerbread house

You may not know, but in my pre-mommy days, I was a high school math teacher. I taught 9th grade Algebra I. Oh yes I did. So, I think that pretty much sums up that I have a technical mind and I'm a glutton for punishment. So of course I decided to throw a gingerbread house decorating party for four of my friends and I (along with our children, all of whom are 14 months and younger), with me providing the gingerbread pieces and icing and they providing the assorted goodies for decorating.

Now, I'm not going to lie, there was some work involved in this endeavor, but it's the kind of work that I like. I enjoyed designing the house pieces, making sure that the dimensions would make a workable house. I liked making a flavorful dough that would not only be sturdy but taste good, too. (You can find the recipe here.) And I liked inviting everyone to come be creative with me. There's nothing better than being creative besides being creative with others.

The template, taped together for reference

So if you are like me, a technically-minded masochist then this is right up your alley. And if you think this just sounds like fun and you want to push yourself, do it. You won't be sorry. We all had a blast, and the kids even behaved and had fun, too. It was truly a great day.

Now, I did check to make sure my friends didn't mind their creations showing up on the blog but I didn't check about their names, so I'll just call them by their first initial. I had S, A, T, and L over at my house, but before they arrived, I snapped this picture of my set up.

Ready to build

I sorted the pieces and labeled them for ease of building. I also made a few extra of each piece so that if one broke or if the pieces just weren't lining up, they could always grab for another one.

When they arrived, we chatted a bit and then got down to building. We built our houses on scrap pieces of cardboard. If you have the time and the icing, the board will get covered, so it doesn't have to be fancy. And if you don't have the time or the icing, you can always just trim the board to a smaller size so you see less of the cardboard.

So first you start with the walls. You want to "glue" (with the icing) the walls down to the board as well as to each other. During this first step, you may need some structural support, so we used glass tumblers to help brace the walls while they dried. I suggest letting the walls dry at least ten minutes before attaching the roof, to preserve the structural integrity.

A reinforces an edge. See the tumbler as support?

T attaches the front of her house

But while it's drying, you can start decorating your walls or your roof. Need some inspiration, check out what we did!

L used Smarties as a cobblestone path

S used foil to make a pond

T used sprinkles to mimic snow and dot candy to mimic lights

A used slivered almonds as shingles on her roof and made a bow for her wreath out of Twizzlers

I made a snowman out of icing covered Cracker Jack

I made a sled (or tried to) out of pretzels and peppermints

I stole L's idea and used Smarties as a sidewalk and made a fence out of pretzels

I made shingles out of Wheat Chex and strands of lights out of Twizzlers

The great thing about doing this in a group was that we were able to steal each other's good ideas and incorporate them into our own houses. This way, you don't have to be super creative all on your own, you can use your friends' creative minds, too! It was also fun to see what candy each person brought because there were some that I would have never thought of but which turned out to be great additions to our houses.

I'd love to hear your ideas for decorating, so please share your favorite ways to adorn gingerbread. I need to get started thinking about next year! And for those of you that did this event (either with me or on your own) I'd love to hear your experiences.

Play and Grow: Christmas I Spy Toy

I literally slapped this together in 20 minutes. So give yourself 30 (if you want to allow for a more professional job) and you can have a fun, new, teachable toy.

Now most people are probably familiar with the "I spy with my little eye..." game, well, this is a one-person version of this. Basically, there are hidden things in an object, and you try to find all of those hidden things, either by shaking it or squishing it.

For this project, I used an old fleece scarf that I had (I choose fleece so that I wouldn't have to worry about finishing the edges) and the packaging off of a tablecloth (or a sheet or blanket set, the stuff with like a zipper but is clear flexible plastic). I did purchase the things that go inside from my local craft store in the section where they have all the miniature things for doll houses and such. They were relatively cheap, and I have supplies to make 3 to 4 I Spy toys.

If you are into sewing, then feel free to follow my tutorial below. But if sewing in not your thing, or you don't have access to a sewing machine, you could easily do this in an old water bottle, one of those clear plastic paint cans, or (since it is Christmastime) in one of those fillable ornaments.

Christmas I Spy Toy

Materials:
Scrap Paper
Fleece
Clear plastic
Scissors
Thread
Marker
4-6 objects to put inside
Vase filler (or rice)

Using a piece of scrap paper, cut out what shape you want the toy to be. I choose a tree. Also, cut out an oval shape that will fit within the borders of your toy shape.

Using the marker, trace the shape of the toy on the fleece. Cut two. Similarly, trace and cut the oval out of the vinyl, but only cut one.

Take one fleece shape, and trace the oval on it with the marker. Then, freehand an oval a little smaller than the one you traced. Cut the smaller oval out.

Place the vinyl oval over the opening of the fleece shape. Pin in place and sew. (Go slowly if you want it to look nice)

Then, with the vinyl edges on the inside, pin the two fleece pieces together. Sew around leaving a 1 inch gap.

Place the items inside the toy and fill with the vase filler.

Pin the toy closed and then sew it shut.

Find the objects!

I found the candy cane!

You can put whatever your heart desires in this, but let me explain why I chose the ones I did. My hope is that as Sebastian gets older, he can not only have fun looking for the items but also remembering the significance behind them and the story that inspired them.

The candy cane: Besides being a classic symbol of Christmas, I chose it because it has more significance than candy. The shape is bent to resemble the shepherds crook, thus referring to the shepherds to whom the angels appeared. The white color represents the fact that Jesus washed away our sins, and the red was for His blood having to be split in order for that to happen. While this part is later than the Christmas story, none of it could have happened if Jesus hadn't have come to Earth in the first place.

The star: This was chosen to represent the star of Bethlehem, which guided the wise men to Jesus.

The present: While Christmas is a big gift-giving occasion, I included this for two reasons: to stand in as the gifts the wise men brought Jesus, and to show that Jesus was God's gift to us that night.

The angel: Angels appeared to the shepherds that night to proclaim the birth of Jesus. And angels appeared to both Mary and Joseph to tell them that Mary was going to be carrying God's Son.

The Christmas tree: I love Christmas trees, but beyond that, for a more spiritual reason, the evergreen tree is supposed to symbolize God's everlasting love for us, the way that the tree is everlastingly green.

The twine: This is supposed to represent the straw and hay that was in the stable where Jesus was born, to remind us of the humble circumstances that Jesus allowed Himself to be born into. He is truly the most amazing example of humility.

I had fun putting this together and coming up with the objects that would go inside, so I hope that you have fun doing it too. And if you make one, or are thinking of making one, what would you put inside? And why? I'd love to hear from you!

Until next time....

{Guest Post} Grow: Praying for Christmas Cards

This post comes courtesy of Christina's mother-in-law, Tina. She is sharing about a Christmas tradition she has done in her house ever since her kids were little.

As parents of three small children, my husband and I were always looking for ways to teach them disciplines that would help them learn to put their trust in God.  There were ideas that we tried that either didn't work for our family, or just didn't 'stick'.  In those early days we had received a book from some friends that was written by Gloria Gaither and Shirley Dobson called "Let's Make A Memory".  Skimming through that book one day I came across an idea that I thought would be worth trying for our family.  The idea was to save all of the Christmas cards that are received during December of that year.  Gloria or Shirley...I can't remember which one of them specifically wrote of this idea....said that her family then would draw out a card each day and pray for that person or family.

Photo courtesy of A Soft Place to Land

It was our desire to help our children learn that God hears and answers our prayers on behalf of others.  We adapted the idea of the Christmas Prayer Basket by drawing out one card each week instead of each day.  Our kids took turns from week to week, drawing out a random card.  During meal time each day we would pray for that family or person.  I also made it a point to send a card or note to that family each week letting them know that we were praying for them.

I have long lost count of the number of people who stopped us in the hall way at church, called us on the phone or sent us a note in return telling us that our prayers came for them at 'just the right time'.  I made sure to share those communications with the kids as well.  This really helped them see that God was a work as a result of their prayers!

In the years since, as email became a form of sending Christmas cards, and postage rates increased, we have several people tell us that even though they have cut way back on the number of Christmas cards they send in the mail, they ALWAYS send us one because they know that we will be praying for them at some point in the year.  That is very humbling to know.  We don't take the responsibility of praying for our friends and family lightly, for we have confidence in the One who hears our prayers.

The children are all young adults now, yet we continue to save each year's Christmas cards.  When we started this 'tradition' so many years ago, I never dreamed that we would still be doing it even after the kids were grown!  I look forward to sending a card to each family throughout the year.  There were many times when the kids were little that I would fall behind in the note writing 'department'.  Sometimes I would call that person, or tell them when I next saw them.  For the most part though, each family we prayed for found out about it one way or another!

We don't believe in circumstances or chance, we believe instead in God's perfect timing.  As an example, just two weeks ago my sister called me to ask for prayer for her son, my nephew.  That was on a Saturday night.  Our typical day to draw out a prayer card is Sunday...the start of a new week.  That following day, on Sunday, I reached in to draw out a random card.  As you may have already guessed, it was her family's card!  So often we have prayed not knowing of a specific need; the times that God allows us to pray knowingly are even more precious.

Whatever way you choose to make faith in prayer meaningful for your family, never think that they are too young to understand.  In my experience, the kids get it faster than we adults do!  May you be encouraged to try something in 2012 that stretches your faith and draws you closer to the heart of the Father.



Blessings,

Tina

mother to Jacob

mother-in-law to Christina

and gramma to Sebastian!  :o)

Aren't I blessed to have such a mother-in-law? Ever since I learned of this tradition, when I was still dating Jacob, I thought it was such a neat way to pray for those around you. And to learn about how notes are sent out to those prayed for makes the tradition even more wonderful to me. This year is the first year we will be sending out Christmas cards, and I suspect it will be the first year we will get more than two Christmas cards. So, it looks to be a perfect time to start this tradition in our branch of the family. So friends and family, if you send us a card, be expecting prayer and a card back sometime next year!

{Free} Play: 8x10 Photo Collage

This deal was alerted to me via Mama Cheaps.

If you are on facebook (which most people are) and you go to Kodak's page, you can score a free photo collage and schedule for it to be sent to a choice of three different places, like CVS.

You can enjoy it just as a collage

My free collage...I love my family!

or you can use the print for a project like photo ornaments.

I love that boy's face!

To do these particular ornaments, I simply took my photo collage and cut out the individual photos and mod podged (if you don't know what mod podge is, you can buy it at a craft store or mix up equal parts elmer's glue and water) them to these wooden snowflakes I picked up at my local craft store. I decided to leave them natural looking with a little flourish of white puff paint, but you could very easily paint them and decorate as you wish.

Even if you don't decide to make the ornaments, it never hurts to have a few more pictures around the house...especially if it's free! I love free! But don't dilly-dally; this deal is only available until Sunday, December 11th.

Oh and if you happen to make it over to facebook, don't forget to check out Play Eat Grow's page!

Special Review: Changing Diapers

I just finished the best resource that I have ever seen on cloth diapering.

Ever.

Changing Diapers: A Hip Mom's Guide to Modern Day Cloth Diapering by Kelly Wels, provides an incredibly thorough and interesting look at what a parent needs (or wants) to know about the subculture of cloth diaper-ers. While I am tempted to repeat all of the interesting statistics Wels provides to convince you to cloth diaper if you don't already, I will simply give you my thoughts on the book in general and then encourage you to get the book and read it yourself :).

First, a little about the author. Kelly Wels is a well known name in cloth diapering circles. She was the founder of www.kellyscloset.com and www.diapershops.com, which are two popular cloth diapering online stores. She ended up selling those in order to create more time to be an advocate for cloth diapering. You can find more about her online at www.kellywels.com.

Wels starts out by convincing the reader of why cloth diapering is a good idea. There are several reasons she offers, most of which are fairly predictable and ones that I would also give as a cloth diaper-er myself. One of them I don't agree with wholeheartedly, and that is the one about it being convenient. While it is true that I can technically never run out of cloth diapers (since I just wash them), I have been in a situation (on several occasions, actually), where I had no clean diapers and I had to run to the store to grab a small pack of disposable to hold me over until the other ones were washed. Perhaps that says more about me than the argument of the author, but nonetheless, I expect some of the parents reading may be as forgetful or nonobservant as I.

The next sections of the book are what I wish I had 2 years ago when I started cloth diapering. As any parent who is looking into cloth diapering knows, the information on how to get started can be overwhelming. Wels tries to streamline that process in her book. She explains the differences between all the kinds of cloth diapers, as well as explaining other terminology that one may need to start the cloth diapering journey. I had to learn this kind of information by visiting lots of websites, spending waaaay too many hours trying to figure it all out on my own. Now it's all in one book.

Other parts of the book include what to do about cloth diapering and daycare, as well as how to diaper a child through the years (believe it or not, depending on how old the child is  could change the style of diaper you use). Wels roubleshoots various issues (leaking, detergents, rashes, etc.), and then provides a ton of reliable internet resources to go to for more information on the real life use of diapering.

This is a book that I would suggest all new cloth-diapering parents get. Be sure to keep it in a place where it's easily accessible, especially during the first few months of the diapering. I learned quite a few things that I didn't know (ayayay, like that I was using the wrong kind of detergent!) and I've been doing this for 2 years with 2 kids!

While I'm not as hardcore in my cloth diapering as many (I use disposables for far away travel and overnight, although there are sections about using cloth diapers in those scenarios too), I think this book is friendly to anyone who uses or is thinking about using cloth diapers, even if it is part-time. After reading this book, I have decided to purchase it for one of my good friends, so if that won't convince you of the greatness of this book, I'm not sure what will!

Feel free to leave any comments or questions you may have about this book or about cloth diapering in general and I'd love to answer them! Be sure to check over at www.tiffanymalloy.com for a special cloth diaper giveaway tomorrow, Friday, December 9th.

Eat and Play: Popcorn Ball Snowmen

Let me introduce you to Poppy.

Poppy, the popcorn ball snowman, is a jolly, happy soul with toothpicks inside and a cranberry nose and two eyes made out of chocolate. Okay, okay, he's no regular frosty, but he is tasty, and he was fun to make.

The idea of Poppy literally just popped in my head. Before I made these, I had never had a popcorn ball, let alone make one. But it was really easy to make and tasted pretty good. And I figure that kids could have a lot of fun decorating these after the balls have been made. As a variation, I bet you could make these with rice krispie treats and get good results.

And you can get fun with the decorating of these popcorn snowmen. I used chocolate, cranberries, and for Poppy's punk-rock cousin Leroy, I used sliced almonds. But any candy could be used as decoration. Your imagination is the limit.

Notice his almond mohawk.

The recipe starts with homemade microwave popcorn. Now don't get wary, this is soooo easy. Really so easy. And the best thing is that you can make popcorn with no fat at all. And it's perfectly popped and yummy.

So let the recipes begin! And happy popping!

Microwave Popcorn

adapted from here

Ingredients

1/4 cup popping corn

1 paper bag

Stapler (with staples)

Seasoning as desired

Place the popping corn into the paper bag. Staple shut and put in your microwave. (I was a little bit scared to use staples, but they caused no problem in the microwave.) Use your microwave's popcorn setting to pop the corn. Open the bag carefully, being sure to discard the staples. Season as desired and eat or use in popcorn ball snowmen recipe below.

Popcorn Ball Snowmen

adapted from here

Ingredients

1 bag microwave popcorn

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

Splash of vanilla or almond extract

Toothpicks

Decorations as desired

Place popcorn in a bowl being sure to discard unpopped kernels. Set aside.

In a saucepan, combine the sugar and the corn syrup. Boil until the mixture has reached 225 on a candy thermometer or just before it begins to turn light brown in color.

Right before it starts turning light brown

Add the butter and the extract. Stir until combined. Pour over popcorn and stir quickly to coat.

Carefully as the mixture is hot, form balls of varying sizes for the building of the snowmen.

Build snowmen by sticking three balls together using toothpicks in between.

Decorate the snowmen as you desire.

I used a toothpick dipped in chocolate to decorate my men.

Yield: about 3-5 snowmen depending on the size you make them.