Kid Friendly Playlist

Music, everybody listens to it & we love it. My kids love all kinds of music but some songs are just not so kid friendly. Our go to play list is a mix of songs from movies & other songs that just have a good beat with out talking about anything inappropriate.

Kid Friendly Playlist:

Part of your world- (Little Mermaid)

Problem- Becky G (from Hotel Transylvania)

Vacation- (Chipmunks)

Born this way/Ain't no stoppin' us now/Firework- (Chipmunks)

Pompeii- Bastille (Mr. Peabody & Sherman) 

I like to move it - (Madagascar)

Let it go - (Frozen)

Do You Want To Build A Snowman - (Frozen)

Despicable Me- (Despicable Me)

Everything Is Awesome - Mark Mothersbaugh (Lego)

Like Me - (Teen Beach Movie)

Surf Crazy - (Teen Beach Movie)

Cruisin' For A Bruisin' - (Teen Beach Movie)

Life Is A Highway - Randy Newman (Cars)

Fearless - Olivia Holt (Girl Vs. Monster)

Fly To Your Heart -(Tinkerbell)

The sound of sunshine - Michael Franti & Spearhead

Love you like a love song - Selena Gomez

Come & get it - Selena Gomez

Slow down - Selena Gomez

Neon Lights - Demi Lovato

Give your heart a break- Demi Lovato

Here we go again-Demi Lovato

Burn - Eli Goulding

Anything could happen-Eli Goulding

I need your love - Eli Goulding

Closer - Tegan & Sara

I love it - Icona Pop (edited version)

Animals - Hardwell

The Fox - Ylvis

La La La - Naughty Boy

I hope out of these 31 songs you & your little one can find something that will fit your taste so you can jam out together. Leave a comment below to let me know if your child's favorite song is on our play list or not.



DIY Ol' King Cole Costume

Yes, I know I get a little TOO excited when one of my kids has a project to do. When I got a note home saying that my son was having Nursery Rhyme day at school I knew I would have fun making his costume. He wanted to be Humpty Dumpty, but you can only imagen how many other kids thought of that too. I wanted him to be a little more outside the box. So I went through ALL of his nursery rhyme books (all 2 of them) & I decided Ol' King Cole was the best fit. When he found out he was going to be a KING he didn't have any complaints. I don't have a sewing machine so every project I do doesn't require much sewing (I only sew by hand & use fabric glue for the rest).

I went to Hobby Lobby to get the materials:

Red Velvety Fabric

Fur like Fabric

Liquid Stich (or fabric glue) 

Jewels

Gold Foam Paper

White Ribbon

Things I used from home:

Rain Boots

Old Belt

Pole

Foam Ball

Starting with the cape, I used a rectangle shaped piece of the red fabric & on the bottom I trimmed it out with the fur. At the top of the cape I stitched on the white ribbon so I could tie it to hold the cape in place while he wore it. That looked a little plain for my taste so I made a piece that draped in front & put a design on it to cover the white ribbon where it connected.  

The boots were easy, I just covered his rain boots with the red fabric & trimmed the top with the fur. To add a little extra bling (because he was a king) I used the gold foam paper to make buckles on the boots.

For his crown, I just used the gold foam paper & cut out a design I thought looked "crown" like. I trimmed the bottom of the crown in the fur & I glued jewels on it for more bling. Once I glued the jewel on the top of the crown (on the cross part in the front) it became a little too top heavy & it was flopping down. So I just glued a random popsicle stick to the back to hold it up straight & it was fine after that. I used the same gold paper to make his arm cuffs & used ribbon to secure them in the back.

The sector came together quite fast, I used a pole & a foam ball I had lying around. Luckily the pole was already black so it didn't need any attention of it's own. I just covered the ball with the red fabric & used the gold foam paper & fur to add little accents. 

He always wears a belt, so I covered his belt in the fabric & used the gold foam paper to cover the metal buckles.  

All Done. I was pleased with how it all came together & it only took me about a day & 1/2 to get done (I take a lot of breaks). The only thing I can suggest is beware when working with that fur fabric. The fur gets EVERYWHERE & after your done it looks like someone murdered a cat in the house. So have your vacuum handy.

Leave a comment below & let me know if you like to make your own costumes.

April Fools Day

It's April 1st . . . I love pranks but April Fools just snuck up on me this year, time is flying by way too fast for me. I realized the date in the middle of the night last night so I didn't have time to run to town to get anything so I just used what I had on hand. Since I usually lay Landen's clothes out for him in the morning I decided to hide a rubber snake in them. The plan was for him to grab his shirt & it would fall out (& given the fact that he just woke up it will definitely catch him off guard), & it worked. He went to put on his shirt & the snake fell out & he jumped back so quick, of course I was right there laughing, he just looked up at me & I told him "APRIL FOOLS". He thought it was hilarious.

For the next little prank I just filled his shoes with cotton balls so when he went to put them on his foot wouldn't fit in.

Now Landen was in mood to pull pranks at school & the first person on his list was his teacher, so I let him take a container to school & told him to give it to his teacher & say it was brownies but really they were brown e's.

He tried to get me back twice when he came home from school, first he drew a red line on his leg & said he got cut, & then he said he didn't have any homework . . . Yeah, I didn't fall for that one.

Hope everyone had a great prank day & Happy April Fools Day (I don't know if people really say that or not), leave a comment to let me how you pranked your loved ones.

Catching The "NICE" Bug

Let's be real . . . siblings are not always the nicest to each other. I know they love each one another but I also know they can get on each others nerves faster than anything. Since they fight like Tom & Jerry I figured the house could use some quiet (what mother doesn't enjoy that). The most effective way to get them to do anything I want without them knowing is to make it a game. Our newest game is "Catching the Bug", the ultimate goal of this game is to help your kids say & do nicer things to others. So we made bugs out of clothes pins, so they would be able to pin them on their shirts when we were done.

Materials I used:

2 clothes pins

4 googly eyes

5 pom pom balls

4 heart stickers

4 pieces of felt

For Aubrey we made a butterfly. We layered the hearts on top of each other, then glued them to the clothes pin, added the googly eyes & felt (for antennas) & were done.

For Landen we made a caterpillar. We glued the pom pom balls to the clothes pin, then the googly eyes & felt (antennas), & we were finished. They came together super quick & we didn't need many materials (I had everything laying around the house).

Now the object of the game is when someone says or does something "NICE" to someone else I give them the bug & they were it until someone else comes along & does something nice & then they pass the bug on. For example: If Aubrey cleaned up Landen's toys out of the living room (just because), I would give her the bug. Then later on if Landen told her something nice or helped her out with something she passes the bug to him . . .  Hence the name "Catching The Nice Bug".

I'll admit I did have to take the bugs away a few times because they weren't being so sweet to each other, but I'm happy to say they did earn them back.

Hope this helps you if you were looking to keep the peace between your little ones, leave a comment below to let me know how it works out for you.

Menu Book

If your anything like me, every time you go to a new restaurant you take a to-go menu. For what? I don't really know, but I do it all the time. So when I get home I add it to the stack of menus that are  just sitting in a drawer in my kitchen. After a while this ritual began to drive me insane because all those unorganized menus were making a "mess" in my drawer.

The easiest solution would be to organize it . . . DUH.

Materials I used:

3 ring Binder /  3 ring Folder

Clear Binder Pockets

Dividers

Permanent Marker

MENUS

First I put each menu in a clear binder pocket of it's own & them I separated them into piles depending on the type of restaurant it was. I only had 5 dividers so I marked them in categories such as Mexican, Asian, BBQ & Wings, Burgers & Sandwiches, & Others. After that I just assembled the folder, putting everything in was probably the longest part of the whole thing.

The front of my folder was looking a little sad with nothing on it so I decided to give it a little face lift. I didn't put too much thought into what should be written on the front so I just stated the obvious & labeled it the "Menu Book" (I know, clever, right?) 

Now that those menus look like they actually have a purpose I use them quite often. When I don't feel like cooking (which seems to happen all the time) I just grab my menu book & order some take out. It comes in handy now, I can breeze through it looking for what I want to eat & I feel like I have access to all the information at my finger tips. Yes, I am aware that I could just easily look up menus to restaurants online but I guess I'm just a little old fashion.

Hopefully I'm not the only one hoarding menus in my kitchen & this post helps you. Leave a comment below to let me know if you have a "Menu Book" of your own or if you just use Google instead.

Routines For Children

When a parent thinks about giving their children a routine it can freak them out because they automatically think they have to follow a strict schedule. But a routine is different, your not bound by a timed schedule, a daily routine just needs to flow in the same order everyday for it to work.

If everyday tasks are a struggle you as a parent end up settling & giving into your child's tantrums, like skipping brushing teeth, nap time, bedtime, the list can go on. A good routine will give your child structure & a sense of stabilities, which will lead to establishing good habits & better behavior. A good routine will give you as a parent more control & a lot less stress.

The most common excuse for a parent not having a routine set for their kids is fear that pushing a schedule is too much "structure" & it will dull your child's sense of creativity. But I feel you can still set a routine to guide your day & it will work as long as you use sensitivity.

Don't forget to remain flexible all your doing is setting a well-ordered & predictable environment for you child so be responsive to the individual needs of your children & yourself.

OUR DAILY GRIND

Mornings : Wake up, eat breakfast, brush teeth, & then get dressed.

Play time : Set activities for your child to do & join in

Caring for pets : We have a family pet & it is our children's responsibility to feed him daily.

Chores : Sort laundry, wipe down counters, & take out trash.

Nap time : This is for the smaller ones, my kids have moved past the daily naps. (man do I miss the silence that nap time use to bring)

Homework : After school my son gets a snack & he knows he has to do his homework or 20 minutes of reading.

Meal time : Have dinner as a family & everyone takes part in clearing the table afterwards. 

Bedtime : Take baths, tidy up the rooms, story time, say your prayers, they get tucked in & lights out.

 Of course time does play a roll in our day, the kids have to be up at 6am & in bed by 8pm. But everything else just seems to flow naturally for us. Before our routine was set mornings were chaotic, no one seemed to know what was expected of themselves to get up & out the door, now it runs smoothly. Our meal time used to be hectic, everyone was moody & hungry, just wanting to get in & out of the kitchen. Now we all sit down together & enjoy our dinner as a family, plus clean up is easier on mom because everyone knows to help out. Bedtime use to be the most dreaded part of the day, the kids would throw fits to stay awake, but now with our routine in place once they take their baths they automatically start winding down. Bed time is the most important one for me because if the order of our routine is changed the kids feel rushed & they will keep getting up & bothering because they can't sleep.

 

I hope this helps you parents who are trying to set a simple routine for your kids to follow. Leave a comment below to let me know about your daily routines.

DIY Centerpiece

DIY Centerpiece - Movie Theme

My baby sister is graduating high school . . . man, DO I FEEL OLD. For her senior serve she wanted to do a Movie Theme & she needed centerpieces for her table.. Of course I was there to offer my help. When you think of movies you think of  projectors, movie reels, tickets, & clapperboards. So now that I had her wish list in mind . . . I got to work.

My number one rule for crafting is ALWAYS sketch it out before you start anything permanent (I use construction paper).

I used foam boards to make the projector, movie reels, & clapperboard. Trace your sketches onto the foam boards & cut them out with an exact-o-knife. I made 2 projectors, I wanted to double them up to make them sturdy & also I wanted to put little streamers sticking out of the top. I spray painted them all black I using a metallic paint. When they dried I arranged the streamers & then glued the 2 projectors together. I also glued the year (2014) on the front & back with glitter paper to make it more decorative.

Next the reels, I made 4 because I wanted it to look 3 dimensional. I glued 2 reels together using toilet paper rolls (the cardboard tubes) after gluing them I spray painted them with the same metallic paint. Once that was dry I painted the edges silver with sparkles to add more dimension.

 Onto the clapperboard, after cutting it out of the foam board I covered it in glitter paper & used stickers for lettering.

Now it was time to make the "stand" I used a piece of wood. I cut it into two 1 inch pieces & doubled up the boards to make it more sturdy. I nailed it together from the top & bottom. After I put them together I drilled a hole big enough for the pole to sit in.

I also cut a slit in the top of the pole to sit the projector in.

I spray painted the base the same metallic color & I covered the pole in star garland. Then put everything together.

I also made tickets out of gold metallic paper & stickers to lay around the table for extra décor.

I hope this helps you if you needed to make something similar or inspires you to get crafty. Leave a comment below & let me know if this was helpful or inspiring for you . . .