New Years Noise Makers Project

I was all set to make New Years Eve noise makers with the kids (ear plugs in hand) but realized I was out of wax paper. Of all things to be out of. Oh well. I guess it will be tomorrow's rainy day project. The noise makers are made out of toilet paper roll and other parts. I'll post a pic when we get some done.

Nap Time At Last!!

It's been a crazy few days here. Yesterday was hectic. Everyone was still on Christmas present overload and upset they didn't have their favorite new toy here to play with. We played with play-doh for over an hour so that calmed everyone down for a bit. Today is much more calm. Lunch is over and we're watching a show before quiet time. I'm hoping to get a few things done around the house while everyone is sleeping. We'll see I guess if that happens or not..

I Love the Tag Reading System!!

Santa brought more Tag books for Christmas so I thought I would tell you how much I love this system. We have 4 pens and probably 20+ books. Probably more than a normal family, but with all the daycare kids fighting to use them it was necessary. If you haven't seen these they can be purchased at Toys R Us, Target, Walmart and Leapfrog.com. The books are normally $10-$14 depending on which store you shop at, but I picked all of them up for less than $3 each. I always use coupons, for everything!!!! You can get so much for free or much cheaper than regular price if you do. I will try to post the great deals that I find. The books make reading fun and help with rhyming, word recognition and there are lots of educational games in the books. My 4 year old absolutely loves to read his books by himself.

Christmas Breakfast Casserole Recipe

We started making this for breakfast on Christmas a few years ago. It is delicious and I wanted to share it with you.

Christmas Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground pork sausage
• 1 teaspoon mustard powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups milk
• 6 slices white bread, toasted and cut into cubes
• 8 ounces mild Cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions

1. Crumble sausage into a medium skillet. Cook over medium heat until evenly brown; drain.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together mustard powder, salt, eggs and milk. Add the sausage, bread cubes, and cheese, and stir to coat evenly. Pour into a greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Cover, and chill in the refrigerator for 8 hours, or overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
4. Cover, and bake 45 to 60 minutes. Uncover, and reduce temperature to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Bake for an additional 30 minutes, or until set.

Christmas is Over

I hate to say it but I'm glad Christmas is finally over. I started so early with the Christmas crafts and projects with the kids, that it was getting a little bit long. Trying to come up with a New Years project or 2 and then we will really start the ABC workbooks and handwriting practice. I still have to make 8 binders with all the pages so I'm going to need a week or 2 to get them ready anyway. I think tomorrow is going to involve a lot of house cleaning and toy sorting. Santa of course over did it with 20 hot wheels and a lot of trains and Cars toys. I think there are a few under the couch already :) I wish I had the time to have taken out the unused toys before Christmas, but my schedule is just way to hectic for extra stuff. I'm happy to just get the basic cleaning done most days!  

Sledding Fun

I have too many leftovers and I didn't even cook, I was sent home with it. At least I wont have to cook tomorrow either :) I need to find a recipe to use the ham up. Maybe a potato soup we can eat for lunch this week. Since we did the diner and gifts last night after the boys played with some of the toys from Santas visit this morning we decided to go sledding. I mean what else do you do with 10 inches of fresh snow??? WOW that was a workout. I am out of shape I guess. But the boys had alot of fun and that's what Christmas is all about. Believe me, we were ready for hot cocoa and some naps when we were done. Maybe we will make sledding a Christmas tradition :)

Merry Christmas!!!!

Well, I survived Christmas and hope you did too. I do love Christmas but it leaves behind so much stuff. My 2 little boys were of course spoiled rotten and now have way too many toys. Santa nearly had to skip our house due to "naughty" behavior Christmas Eve from my 4 year old, but it all turned out well and we left our cookies and milk for Santa and carrots and apple juice for the reindeer. Apple Juice you ask??? When we were pouring the milk for santa my 4 year old said we needed to give the reindeer a drink too!!! He asked what they drank, and looked and me like I was nuts when I said water. The only other option was apple juice we had in the fridge. I better remember for next year, I'm sure he will :)

OK, It Can REALLY STOP SNOWING Already!!!

Ok, I live in Iowa it snows, I know that. I also love to have a white Christmas, but really!!!! The snow on the grill and squirrel feeder house is new snow that started last night. No clue how much. We have 3 local news stations, all with different totals. All I know is that it is now packed on my driveway from parents dropping off and picking up kids, so even the snow blower is gonna get a workout. And yes someone forgot to put the grill cover back on, oops. Now it's frozen to the deck! It's not like I was busy with anything else??? :)

How Much Fun it REALLY is to Take 8 Toddlers Outside to Play in the Snow

Really, I do love my job most of the time, but getting 8 kids dressed for Iowa winters really sucks! Picture 8 boys (yes all boys, I have 1 baby girl) trying to be the first one with all of their gear on. It's either a machine that really needs oiled, or just a circus plain and simple. If you do the math, that is 8 pairs of snow pants, 8 coats, 8 hats, 16 mittens, 16 boots and a whole lotta patience. We have gotten a pretty good system down, but seriously it takes 20 plus minutes to get it done. And some parents seem to wonder why we don't go out everyday. Well first of all, sometimes it's just to cold in my opinion. And second of all, sometimes I just don't want to deal with it. We always go out with fresh snow, but otherwise it's hit and miss. Then once we're out we do have fun, until the first kids start wanting to go in. I will try to take a picture of the mess that I have after they all get undressed from their snow stuff and all of the snow they bring in with them. My poor shower curtain can barely hold all the wet coats, snow pants and gloves and hats. I usually give them hot cocoa and snack just so I can hang it all up and wipe up the wet puddle inside the door.. I will say for as much of a chore it is to go out, they definitely need the fresh air and exercise. I'm just not sure I do :)

Merry Christmas!!!!

It is Christmas Eve, I have none of my gifts wrapped (Santa hasn't started either I hear), we have gotten 6 inches of snow since last night and it's still snowing and I'm working. I can not wait for the last kid to leave! They can take their gifts with them and unwrap them at home. I need some time off! Then I get to wrap my mom's gift and we're going to run over there for dinner and the explosion of gifts (grandma SPOILS her grandsons). We literally live 5 houses away which is great, but with the weather and lugging home of gifts we will actually need to drive there. My husband will surely make some comment about being lazy, but he hasn't seen the pile of gifts and with his recent back surgery HE wouldn't be carrying them home, so I guess I'll just laugh it off. We all played out in the snow today, unfortunately it wasn't snowman making snow, just fluff, but we were out there for an hour so they obviously didn't mind too much. I will post about how much fun it REALLY is to take 8 toddlers out in the snow :) I am already dreaming of going to bed, but after dinner/gifts and getting the boys to bed I'm sure it will be pushing 10 o'clock. Well as I mentioned I don't have any gifts wrapped, so that's another 2 hours, less if hubby helps...lets hope there's no football on :) I'm really hoping the boys sleep in tomorrow, but with Santa coming and this being the first year where they actually "get it", I have a feeling it's gonna be early. Heck they're up at 6 on a normal day...I want the kids that sleep till 8am!!!