Toddler Summer School: Dinosaur Week

I have to be honest.  I slacked off the first few weeks of "summer-stay-at-home-mommy".  Don't get me wrong, I played with Aidan, read him every book he wanted, as many time as he wanted, cuddled and giggled.  I has just to tired to be purposeful.  Running around after 18 kindergarteners, as well as your own toddler for 9 months can really drain your battery.  Also, living in an apartment with limited activity options poses its own set of challenges.

But, I'm happy to announce - I'M BACK!!!

So, since Aidan is all boy, through and through, (everything has a sound effect - usually a loud one), and with the new Jurassic World movie coming out (not that Aidan is going to see it for a very long time), I thought Dinosaurs would be a fun 1st theme.

Firstly, we went to the MOSH, here in Jacksonville.  And I can tell you, I'm in love!  There were so many hands-on activities, buttons to push, and sounds to listen to.  Right now, they have an awesome Dinosaur exhibit.  I thought maybe Aidan would be scared of them - but not my little daredevil!  When one of the mechanic dinosaurs roared at him, he promptly roared right back.

Next: books.

If you've even perused my blog, you know that words can't describe  how much I love books.  Especially children's books.

Whenever my school has a book fair, Dan buys my class a book or two.  Since we knew we were having a little boy, Dan has picked one up for him too.

When we were pregnant, he got him, Rawr by Todd H. Doodler.  It's an adorable book about how "rawr" really just means "hello" in dinosaur, and people really shouldn't be scared of them.

                           

This year, we got him My Dinosaurs!: A Read and Play Book.  It is such a cute book!  On each page, it talks about a dinosaur, and then they have to match the puzzle piece to the page.  I would love to see more books like this - with shapes, and colors... 

   

Aidan and I took a walk to our Target, and found this little gem in the $1 aisle!

 

Now, on to crafts and activities.

I saw an idea on pinterest, of making a dinosaur out of the letter "D".  So I cut out all the pieces, glued on the "D", and then let Aidan glue on the other pieces.  Honestly, it was really hard for me to let him do it on his own, and I may have guided his hand, but I really tried to let him glue the pieces where he wanted to.

 

 

For another activity, I borrowed an idea from when we visited the MOSH.  I used Crayola Air Dry Clay, and made bones.  

 

Once they dried, I placed them on a platter, and poured some sand on them (that I had left over from when I made a sand bowl), I gave Aidan an old tooth brush, and let him "excavate" them.

 

I was a little worried it would be too difficult for him, or he'd put everything in his mouth (we're still in that phase), but he LOVED it!  Which made it all totally worth it!

Lastly, media.

In this day an age, there are so many resources available!  Of course, it can't be the only element, and I do try to limit Aidan's screen time.  But there are many educational options out there.

For example, I found an app called "Archeologist".  It's really fun, and kids as young as Aidan (with a little help) can enjoy it!  There are four free levels.  In each level, you dig up the bones of a dinosaur by tapping on the dirt.  Once you find all the bones, you assemble the bones to create the dinosaur.

If you have Netflix, there's also the kids' show Dinosaur Train, which is a little old for Aidan, but he doesn't mind it.

So, that has been our DINO-riffic first week of Toddler Summer School!  We had lots of fun, had "T-rex" piggy-back-rides, roared at each other and chomped down on chicken nuggets, like a bunch of carnivores.

Do you have any fun dino ideas?  Any dinosaur books you love?

A Very Hungry Caterpillar 1st Birthday Party

I like parties.  I love birthday parties.  I ADORE themed parties.

So, when Aidan's first birthday rolled around, there was no question in my mind - we were having a Very Hungry Caterpillar party!!!

I'm going to let you in on all the secrets.

Thankfully, the Very Hungry Caterpillar is a very colorful book.

The primary colors in it though are red and green.  So, that's what we went with.

Invitation:

Decor/Serveware:

- Fiesta wear dishes

- Little red and green tongs at Hobby Lobby

- A Very Hungry Caterpillar twist toy for the cake topper from amazon.com

- Very Hungry Caterpillar Napkins from carlemuseum.org

- Very Hungry Caterpillar book

- Food labels

- Water labels

- Juice boxes

- Red and green paper plates

- Red and green plastic utensils

- Lollipops

- Cupcake liners

- Paper grass

- Number "1" birthday candle

Food/Cake:

- Tie-dye cake mixes, white frosting (for the smash cake)

- Vanilla and chocolate cake mixes

- White frosting

- Red food coloring

- Green food coloring

- Apples

- Watermelons

- Strawberries

- Meat and cheese

- Butterfly shaped crackers

Favors:

- Dollar store bug catchers

- Gummy worms

- Bubbles

- Caterpillar party hats (made out of construction paper)

I made Aidan's tie-dye smash cake.  It looked so cool!  I layered them, and frosted the cake white.  Not my greatest work, but not too bad.

For everyone else, I made chocolate and vanilla cupcakes.

I dyed the frosting, and frosted the cupcakes.  Later on, I set them up to resemble the caterpillar.

On the way to the party space, the frosting on the cupcakes didn't hold up too well, but you'll see how it all turned out...

We had Aidan's party at one of my favorite spots here in Jacksonville.  It's an indoor play space called Bay n Bee.  It's so kid-friendly, and they are super helpful!  Everyone loved it, and it was great not having to worry about tear-down/clean up.  I would recommend them to anyone looking for a safe, fun and exciting place for a birthday party.

When the kids started arriving, they each got a Caterpillar party hat.  For the Caterpillar party hats, I took one piece of red construction paper, cut it in half long-ways, and stapled them together.  I cut out eyes and antennas, and glued them on.

For the favors, we bought dollar store bug catchers, put paper grass in the bottom, put in a few gummy worms, a little bottle of bubbles...

The table was set up adorably!

We also had the food table looking adorable.

We ended up having an amazing time, and even though he will never remember it, Aidan had a great time too!

Disney Villain Costume DIY Tutorial - Cruella de Vil and Dalmatian

In my last post, I showed you the costumes I made/helped make for our youth group's Disney villain night.

I decided to go as Cruella de Vil, because - let's be honest - she has AMAZING style!  And the girl knows how to rock black and white, which is my favorite look!

I'm pleased to say, that I had all the items for my Cruella and Dalmatian costume.  Now, I understand not all of you have two tubs of G-rated costumes under your bed, but let me give you the details!

Cruella de Vil:

- 1 fabulous black and white dress (mine is a Liz Claiborne dress from a couple years ago.)

- Slinky black necklace

- Black and white wig (I actually combined two wigs - an Effie Trinkett and a Cleopatra one.)

- Black (or more traditionally red) leather gloves

- Red belt

- Black pumps

- Some kind of fur coat/shrug (I found mine at a thrift store.)

- Cruella makeup

Dalmatian:

There are many ways you could make a dalmatian costume.  A White sweatsuit set, a sleeper, you could enhance it with face paint.. but here's what I did.

- I took Aidan's Max costume, from our Where The Wild Things Are escapades.  I cut off the crown, painted on some spots, sewed on some felt dog ears, and voila!

With my sweet puppy!

With my bestie, Yzma

Captain Hook, Cruella and the sweetest puppy!

I love our Summer Camps, and I LOVE dressing up!

What a fun summer!

Disney Villain Costume DIY Tutorial - Yzma and Kronk

Every summer our youth group has what we call "Riptide Summer Camp".  Every week has a theme, for which the students are encouraged to dress up.  This year we're finishing the summer off with a super-fun Color War!

What this means for me though, is the opportunity for SO MANY COSTUMES!!!

The first night's theme was Disney villain.  Our best friends here in Jacksonville are also some of our youth sponsors.  We brain-stormed a little, and then came up with the PERFECT costume idea for them... Yzma and Kronk, from The Emperor's New Groove (Which is one of my favorites, and I could quote the whole thing to you!).

Incase you're unfamiliar with the movie, here's who they are:

So, my friend Amy and I went to Michael's and Hobby Lobby, and got all the supplies we would need.

Kronk's Costume:

1 plain blue T-Shirt

3 sheets of large yellow foam paper

1 yellow foam construction hat

Yellow pipe cleaners

1 roll of light purple duct tape

Yellow cord

2 yards of dark purple fabric

Yzma's Costume:

Strappy little black dress

Purple boa(s)

Purple feathery hair pieces/decorations

Wide, wired purple ribbon

Teal foam paper

Earrings (ones you preferably don't care about)

Black stretchy hair band

Lots of purple make up (falsies optional)

First, we started on Kronk's costume.

1. Take the blue shirt, and cut off the sleeves.

2. Take one of the large yellow foam papers, in the top middle, cut a semi circle for the neck.  Cut two rectangles out of the two bottom corners.

3. I laid a wrap-around skirt I had on the purple fabric, and cut along that.  Basically, you're cutting the fabric into a semi-circle, but don't forget to leave a thin piece at the top to tie it with.

4. Cut one piece of the yellow foam paper in half, creating two smaller rectangles.  Cut the bottom of each one into a curve.  Using a hole punch, punch holes along the edges, every two inches.  Lace the yellow rope through, like shoe laces.  These are the leg cuffs.

5. Repeat with slightly smaller rectangles for arm cuffs.

6. Cut the rim off the yellow foam hat.  Push a pipe cleaner through the top.  Using duct tape, secure it on the inside.  Using left-over yellow foam paper, cut out two small semi-circle-type shapes for the top of his hat.  Using hot glue, glue them to the top of the pipe cleaner (one on either side).

 7. Make a belt out of the light purple duct tape, by adhering strips of it to itself.

8. Assemble! (Pair with sandals or flip flops.)

Yzma's Costume

1. Find a scrappy black dress.

2. Cut two large ovals out of he teal foam paper.  Glue them to earrings (that you don't particularly care about).

3. Purple boas.  We used two, to add a new dimension.

4. Pull hair into high pony tail.

5. Put on black hair band.

6. Cut long piece of ribbon (12 inches).  Curl around your hand.  Take off hand, and uncurl gently, and adjust to your liking.  Tuck bottom of curl into the hair band, near the nape of your neck.  Use bobby pins to secure at the top of your head.  Add feathery hair piece.

7. Assemble! (Pair with black shoes.)

The moment you've all been waiting for...

Don't they look just perfect!!!

I love her!

Guess who that is next to her... Tutorial coming soon!

Hungarian Cheese Pogacsa Recipe

I may be a little rusty, 6 months is rather a long time to be absent, but here goes.

Our church has this wonderful annual event called the "International Food and Culture Fest".  People sign up for a table, and bring food from their home country.  We have Indian, Italian, Mexican, German, Filipino, and of course, Hungarian.  :) This year we also invited Panamanian, Chilean and Indian dancers, which was really fun!

This year, Dan and I decided to make Hungarian biscuits called "pogacsa".  There are many different types; fruit-filled ones, meat-filled ones, but the most common ones are the cheese ones.

My Hungarian grandma's are the best.  Of course everyone thinks their grandma/mom make the best, but mine really does.

Unfortunately, I didn't have her recipe, but I found a really good one at relish.com.

Ingredients

Dough

1/2cup whole milk, heated to 110F to 115F 

1package active dry yeast (about 2 teaspoons)

1/2teaspoon sugar

4 cups all-purpose flour

5ounces finely shredded Gruyère cheese (we used smoked - it added a great dimension)

1tablespoon salt

2 eggs

14 tablespoons (1 3/4) sticks softened unsalted butter

1/2cup sour cream

Topping

1 egg yolk

2ounces finely grated Gruyère cheese or other cheese

Instructions

1. Combine milk, yeast and sugar and let stand until yeast is softened, about 10 minutes.
2. Combine flour, cheese, salt, eggs, butter, yeast mixture and sour cream in a large bowl. Mix on low speed until dough comes together. Beat on medium speed 1 to 2 minutes. The dough should be smooth and not sticky. 
3. Roll dough 1⁄2-inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Make a shallow cross-hatched pattern with the point of a sharp knife over the top of the dough and brush with egg yolk.
   
   Sprinkle cheese on top, and cut out rounds with a 1- to 1 1⁄2-inch cutter.
   
4. Arrange circles in rows on a parchment-lined baking sheet, about 1⁄4-inch apart. Put pan in a cold oven and set temperature to 400F. Bake about 25 minutes, until pogácsa are nicely browned on their tops and bottoms. Let cool completely and store airtight. Pogácsa may also be frozen up to 1 month. Thaw and reheat at 225F for 20 minutes.

Now, my pogacsas turned out a little denser than I would've liked them, but they tasted great, none the less.  

The yummy pogacsa on my beautiful Zsolnay Hungarian porcelain.

Dan bought some salami to go with it, and voila!

Szalami/Salami.

Apro pogacsa/Mini pogacsa.

Representing Hungary! (Only a real man can pull off a pink apron.)

Some Hungarian cook books, pictures, and of course yummy food.

My favorite view, the Budapest skyline.
That print was a wedding gift from my great uncle.

And so, for another year, we showed our Hungarian side!

As a bonus for making it through my post...

I may or may not have also done a Hungarian folk dance.
You're welcome.

What would you like to see me make next year?  Join the conversation!