Gender Reveal

 Well as you all now I am expecting baby number two who is due April 17.On  a Friday in october we had our ultra sound. which I didn't want to  now the gender right away, so it was a surprise to me and my boyfriend. we all find out the same day as the kids find out. for this reveal I had the ultrasound technician write the gender on a piece of paper and put it in a sealed envelope  so I could drop it off to a family friend who is made  the cake for our reveal dinner and setting up the box of balloons for the kids to open so that we could include the 3 siblings of the new baby coming in our reveal. For this reveal I decided to see what all my friends and family thought it was so we decided to do a poll for family to see what everyone guesses. I also tagged up with Maxwell Designs to do a give away on instagram. For my followers so I posted a picture and had them guess and share what they thought the gender is. So the ones who guessed the right gender were put into a draw to win a reusable snack bag . Here is a picture of the new baby ultra sound

                           The amount of people that thought I am having a boy is 45         .

                                    The amount of people that guessed girl is 26  .

        here are pictures from the reveal party with the family the kids had fun opening the box to see if they were getting a baby brother or sister. the cake even had a hidden clue on it we never noticed.

                                                    It's A Boy!!!

hand and foot turkey paintings

I love to decorate for every holiday! What better to use as decorations then things made by my babies.  Here is one of my favorite ones to make. I have made the single hand turkey two years in a row with Eloise. Each year I will have different size turkey to decorate with around the home. Since Kyler is to little to keep his hand open to paint each finger. We did the hand and foot turkey with him to give out to everyone for thanks giving from him for his first one. This is a cute and super easy fall craft.

What you will need:
 paint (green,red,yellow,orange,brown,white)
canvas or paper 
paint brushes
water
baby wipes(not needed) just I find it easier and quicker to use between colours rather then washing hands.





Directions for single hand turkey:

1) paint thumb and palm of hand with brown 

2) paint a finger yellow                                              

3) paint another finger red

4)then another finger green

5)then paint last finger orange

6) place hand on canvas let dry 

7) next add in beak feet and gobbler 

8) paint eyes one and your done let dry

Directions to make hand and foot turkey:

1) paint child's full hand red 

2) place hand on canvas to make hand print twice on each side of canvas

3) next paint hand green do same  

4) when placing hand make it a little bit above to make a arch

5) paint hand yellow and make two more hand prints 

6) now paint hand orange and make the arch a full half circle 

7)  paint foot and place with toes on bottom of canvas and heal in middle of arch

8) let dry  

9)when dry paint on beak legs and eye and a gobbler

Valentines Day Sensory Bin

Eloise loves her sensory bins. With Valentines day coming up I decided to make one  this year that is  valentines day theme. There are many ways to use the sensory bin.. your child can sort each item and count them or play I spy. Eloise had so much fun with just the fake rose petals in this bin. She was throwing them up pretending it was snowing which made for cute pictures and lots of fun. It can be a huge mess if she does throw the petals every time.

What you will need:

Fake rose petals 3 packages (red, light pink , pink or white)
bin with a cover
package of foam hearts
package of rhinestone hearts
package of crystal hearts
package of acrylic hearts
one stuff teddy small
package of diamond shaped crystals

how to make your bin:

open the bin and mix in all the bags of rose petals 

next open all the other packages and mix in with the rose petals 

next add the bear on top 

 your bin is ready to be played with when done put lid on and put away 

salt dough hand Santa ornament

What you will need:                                                            

1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup plain flour
1/4 cup water(give or take)
knife
paint red ,white, beige
glitter (if wanted )
modge podge 
ribbon
paint brush
black marker


Instructions:

1) mix salt, flour and water

2) knead till it forms a dough

3)  make impression of hand then use the knife to cut out the hand print leaving a boarder 

4) poke a hole in the top for hanging

5)  bake at 100/200 f for 3 hours

6) when cooled paint the hand print to look like Santa add glitter to it while paint wet if you want its sparkly 

7) when paint is dry use marker to outline the beard and hat also make his eyes 


8) write on back year child's name then seal with the modge podge let dry

9) string with ribbon and then hang it on your tree or where ever you like 


We had a great time making these for Eloise's first Christmas to give to family members. She is going to be 3 and these ornaments are still as nice as they were 2 years ago. We had a great time making these. Makes a great Christmas gift for family and great keepsake. It is a perfect gift for a child's first christmas.

Winter Sensory Bin

Eloise loves to play with her many different sensory bins. While at the dollar store recently in the Christmas aisle I noticed a few things that would work great for a winter sensory bin. I picked up the few things this bin cost me about $10 and is well worth it. This bin will last for hours of play as long as everything does not get emptied out .

what you will need:

1 bag shredded snow
1 package of mixed mini Christmas ornaments 
package of bells
fake candy canes
red glitter wicker balls
 plastic snow flakes
plastic container


instructions:

to make this winter bin place the bag of  shredded snow into the bin. Then add the plastic snow flakes in with the shredded snow and mix it up. Next add in the wicker balls some candy canes  and a few ornaments and bells to fill the bin. Don't over flow the bin with stuff or it will make a huge mess when kids try to play with the sensory bin.

Eloise had so much fun  with this winter bin she separated  all the different things in the bin. then counted each one. we also pretend played by using the snow flakes as eyes. or had a candy cane for a pretend treat. another way she used the candy canes was to dig through the fake snow for berried snowflakes.

rainy day indoor fun (summer)

 Well summer where we live is full of fog and rain in New Brunswick.So I came up with a great idea to entertain eloise on these rainy days. When she was bored of crafts movies and baking. Eloise loves to swim during the year we go weekly to tot swim at a local pool. During the summer tot swim ends. When it came to our summer season when it could be 4-6 days of rain straight. I thought of a great idea to set up her blow up kids pool in my living room. I first laid out two hospital blankets I have to cover the floor and then filled it half way with water. then before she got into the pool I explained that if she pours water or  gets to much on the blankets id have to put it away. Eloise did great she would spend about two hours playing in her pool. She brought dolls in and her bath toys. This was a great mom win of the summer that ended up happening about 3 times this summer and I plan to do it again I enjoyed making these memory's with her and it was not a disaster.

Helping mommy empty her pool after she was done playing 

banana cake with peanut butter icing

What you will need:                                                                     

cake                                                                            

2/3 cup shorting
2 1/4 cup flour
 1 2/3 sugar
 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup mashed bananas
1/3 cup butter milk
 2 eggs
1/3 cup buttermilk

peanut butter icing

 1 cup peanut butter
 1 teaspoon vanilla 
 2 cups icing sugar
milk









Instructions:


1) in a large bowl beat together shorting flour sugar baking powder baking soda salt bananas and buttermilk beat for 2 minutes

2) next add in eggs and next 1/3 buttermilk and beat for another 2 minutes


3)  pour into 2  9" round pans that are greased and floured


4)  put in oven and bake at 350 for 40 minutes


5) let cool then frost 


6) to make frosting in a smaller bowl add in  peanut butter vanilla mix in icing sugar and some milk to get it to the consistency you want I don't have a actual recipe I just make the amount I want each time 

                                                         

7) frost cake and then serve and enjoy

8) I keep my cake in the fridge to keep it moist