Kid Songs all the time.....

When I was younger and childless my friends and I would break into song when certain phrases were said.  It was often Hip Hop or songs from my childhood (Hair Bands).   The other day however I was teasing my sister in law and began singing a song.  She thought maybe it was a boy band...  I let her know it was actually from Doc McStuffins because I pretty much have every single one of the songs from the show memorized....  She told me to get a life...  Lol.   Disney JR. is my life now.  I still listen to grown people music but my head is generally in toddler land.

One of the songs that I enjoy listening to is by Lisa Loeb called Fais dodo.  A cute little french lullaby. 

Check it out Here

Fais dodo, Colas mon p'tit frère

Fais dodo, t'auras du lolo

Maman est en haut

Qui fait des gâteaux

Papa est en bas

Qui fait du chocolat

Fait dodo Colas mon p'tit frère

Fait dodo, t'auras du lolo.

Go to sleep, Colas my little brother
Go to sleep, you will have your milk
Mommy is upstairs
Making some cakes
Daddy is downstairs
Making hot cocoa
Go to sleep, Colas my little brother
Go to sleep, you will have your milk.

Here is a printable for a nursery with the last line.  

Fait Dodo, t'auras du lolo.

PRINT HERE

New Adventures in New and Old Places

I am constantly shocked when I have lived in a city for years and just learn about the history of the town or I drive down a street and see historical sites or businesses I never knew existed.  I'm also surprised in the same way when we visit other cities on a regular basis and I've obviously had my head in a paper bag driving through. (or i was napping....  Apparently I'm still a baby because cars put me to sleep)

We enjoy weekend road trips.  We are blessed to live in Northern California and have so many great destinations within 2 or 3 hours from us.  There are several places that we visit frequently such as; Napa/Sonoma, Lake Tahoe and San Jose/Santa Cruz.  We also visit my hometown in the Bay Area to see family. 

On one trip to my hometown we began discussing a street name and then realized how many parks, streets, schools and buildings named after a particular person: Anthony Chabot.  I had lived from birth until age 16 there and never once had I studied, discussed or really heard about this person other than his namesakes..  but there he was everywhere around me.  We began discussing this and finally decided on using our smartphones for something actually smart.. Sorry Social Media ...

So we started with Wikipedia.  I know that Wikipedia is not always the most accurate but we started there and investigated further historical websites and encyclopedias. 

What did we find?  

That all of these places I went to as a kid were named after a man that set up major water infrastructures, damned creeks to make reservoirs, donated to shelters, create veterans housing, created large businesses and even cultivated cranberries.  He did so much and we NEVER learned about him in school. 

So now as we travel we try to learn about cities and sites along the way. 

Here are some of the things we look up:

Which Native Groups lived here?

Who settled this area for the state?  Who originally owned it and how did they gain the land?  What/Who are the surrounding cites or county named for? What are those people known for?

What sites can be visited?  What missions are nearby? 

How has the town changed over the years?  Where is the original downtown?  What were the older buildings originally used for?

There is so much more you can look into.

So here is a cheat sheet to start with your family. It gives them some questions to work through and ideas for places to explore when they are done.  It can be used on road trips to entertain the kids or to check out your town and keep them entertained for free.  

 

CLICK HERE TO PRINT

I believe in Constantly Learning and most importantly learning from our history.  I hope you enjoy.

All of this learning can be exhausting... : P

Mommy Printables

As all of you beautiful mommies are sending your little ones to school ..  Here is a reminder that their real learning comes from YOU! You are doing God's work everyday.

Here is a printable for you.   Formatted for an 8 x 10 print

A great quote from President Gordon B. Hinckley

August 22, 2013

Doggie Birthday Bash

My Son turned 1 a few months ago and while trying to decide a theme for the party we thought we should listen to him...  Since he called everything a GOGGIE!!!  we figured a puppy party would be the most fun.

My SIL was awesome and helped make some of the great treats and decorations

Hey..  It's a puppy party : ) no cats!

Saw this idea on pinterest.  Just cut out ears from scrapbooking paper and drew the face with a Sharpie.

My SIL made this out of 2 thick poster boards.  How adorable is this!!

Our party favors.   Puppy Chow and Dog Biscuits.  My SIL made bone shaped sugar cookies as dog biscuits.  I mixed cocoa puffs with Scooby Doo bone cereal as puppy chow. Some guests thought we were really eating dog food.

I made Dirt and grass cupcakes and a doggie cake..   We could not find the cake topper that we wanted so we did some closet crashing and found and old McDonald's toy.  lol

And we served chips and salsa from dog bowls.

Happy Birthday Happy Kid!!

Bridal Showers and Love Banners

A While back I had the oppourtunity to plan an office bridal shower for a co worker.  

My theme for the party was purple and burlap.

This was my attempt to cover the ceiling fan : )

 I got some super cute Mickey mouse sugar cookies from the bakery that made the cake and put them in organza bags for the party favors along with bath bombs made by a co workers daughter.

We had quite the spread.  Artichoke Parmesan tartlets, finger sandwiches, spinach salad, fresh fruit, procuttio wrapped goat cheese stuffed dates, asparagus bread sticks and delicious sweet pasta salads in jars.  Super quick flower arrangement using silk flowers, square vase, glass beads and floral foam.

Wasn't this a cute Cake?

So I wanted something to match the theme and colors so I made my own banner.  It is a quick project but I think it brought the whole look together.

I bought my supplies at my local hobby lobby.  just glitter, mod podge and pre cut burlap pennents.  I mixed 2 colors of glitter to get the shade I wanted.

I then painted the letter on the burlap with the mod podge 

cover with glitter and then shake around to cover.

I glued each piece to some ribbon and strung it up.  

Like I said   Super quick!

Jesus loves you ... and peanut butter balls.

I had a friend when I was little that invited me to Vacation Bible School.  I had only really ever gone to my own church activities so this was fun to visit another church.  I don't remember a ton..  Just tracing my body to make a lifesize cutout..  It had something to do with Jesus..   and then singing about Jesus... and some other things about Jesus.    Which is similar to my church...  but then we made these delicious Honey Peanut Butter balls..  which also somehow related to Jesus..  don't remember how...... but for years I remembered these treats but had lost the reciepe.

Thankfully with the invention of recipe sites I as an adult was able to look it up and make them at my house : )

Here is a link to the recipe:

• 2 cups dry powdered milk (adjust based on the amount of honey
• 1 cup Peanut Butter
• 1/2-1 cup Honey

---

• Mix all ingredients well until stiff enough to shape.
• Form in balls about the size of a walnut.
• Chill well for 2 - 4 hours.

They are super simple..  Delicious.. and now I think about Jesus everytime I eat them..  Well played VBC.. Well played...

Ducked Out House Party

I've shared our previous experience with HOUSEPARTY.COM     HERE.  If you haven't had the chance to check it out you should. It gives you the opportunity to host a group of your friends in your home and share a product with them.  You share info about your party on their website as well as your social media. In return you get a party pack of items to host your party and try out.

The party that we had the opportunity to host last week was for one of our favorite shows Duck Dynasty.  If you haven't checked it out it is on A&E Wednesday nights.

Invites were sent out through the house party website.  We sent our guests invites with the instructions to BYOB (bring your own beard) and favorite redneck snack.

Our guests really got into it. Some of them had never seen the show but quickly got into it and how funny it is!

We decorated a little on the outside..  and to keep it really legit.. we didn't mow our lawn for a long while. LOL.

Our Duck Blind

Like I said.  Our guests really got into it and Camo'd and Bearded themselves appropriately. 

Jason was the only one to have a real beard.

 Sadly we didn't get any family shots!  But Here are a few separates.

 Me with my camo

 My Sister in Law

 The Hubs (He looks more like Sergio Romo than a redneck.. but HEY)

 The baby even joined in and wore camo!  He enjoyed the cut out of Jase.


Our party pack included Trivia Cards, Recipes, Cut out masks of the main characters, a bandana, t shirt, cups and coasters.  We gave out candy for correctly answering the trivia questions and the t shirt for guessing how many times the family said HEY in one episode.  (you have to watch to understand)
We also gave away a "duck call"  I think she liked it!

Our food spread was Tator Tot Casserole, Pigs in a blanket, pizza, jalapeno poppers, lil smokie/potato skewer, clam dip, hand pies and donuts.  We were all very very very stuffed after the ridiculous amount we ate!

Go to House Party and sign up if you haven't.  It is loads of fun : )   And watch Duck Dynasty on A&E.