Easter Food Ideas

Last year, I shared with you these fish cracker carrots. They were so popular among the students in Peanut's class, I cannot tell you how many mom's sent me emails, asking how I made them!

Since our shamrock pizza was such a hit, we decided to make a bunny pizza as well. I loved how it turned out. So festive, and simple!

Before:

After:

Another one of our family favorites are jello eggs. I have a mold for these, Jello made them a few years ago. I tried to find them this year, but wasn't able to do. I decided in addition to making jello eggs, I would create my own molds. I bought the little plastic eggs that you use for Easter eggs hunts.

I cut holes in the bottom and then placed them in an egg container. They worked just as well as the mold!

To make the eggs, take oil of any kind and rub into the molds. Make jello as you normally would and fill the molds. Refrigerate for four hours.

Use a butter knife and gently pry open the molds and this is what they will look like.

All finished



Brought To By Wine.com, Purveyors of Fine Wine and Champagne


Growing up in an Italian family, wine has always been a vital part of our meals, and culture in general. I have always known that wine has an interesting past but I had no clue about Champagne. I spent over an hour reading this interesting poster and even went to Wine.com to learn more, then I had to share it with you. It is amazing to me how many things we use on a daily basis or even every once in awhile that have an amazing and interesting history and we have no clue about them! Next time, you use something in your house, a corkscrew, a camera, a computer, try and imagine the history behind the item. I know that I am now addicted to doing it!

How I ogranize the car for the kiddos

I hate when my car is messy, it drives me crazy. If you have known me for years, you would realize how funny that is to hear me say. I used to not care at all, actually my car was a traveling storage bin. Now that my kiddos are getting older, I just hate it being a mess. I started trying to figure out ways to organize the car and the toys/activities that I was going to allow them to have in the car as well.

I started with their chalkboards on cookie sheets. You can read my original post on those here.  

I modified them a bit by taking the pillow off of the bottom, this way, I could easily store the pillows in another part of the car and their chalkboards could go into the seat pockets.

I then found these back of the seat organizers on Etsy, adore them, I worked closely with Colibricrafts to make custom seat organizers for my kiddos. Peanut got a construction themed one and Pumpkin a dinosaur themed one. I couldn't be happier with how these turned out and how they have been a lifesaver!

Peanut's Seat organizer

Pumpkin's Seat Organizer

I then had crayon rolls made for the kiddos, in the same theme fabric and this way they will have their crayons organized and not floating all over the car. I also had one made for their chalk as well! They are just awesome!

Then came time to add their car books, yes I have specific books that stay only in the car. I started this for two reason, one the books get a little beat up in the car and two I wanted to make sure the books stayed where they were. I place a car sticker on the front of the cover, this way we all can easily identify that it is a car book.

For Road trips, we decided to include a deck of cards and some card games, for the kiddos to play in the back seat and also when stop or camp. The card games are stored in plastic soap cases from the travel section, this way they can stay nice and neat. They are also great for storing in the house as well!

Finally using this idea, I found on Pinterest, we created a garbage can out of an old cereal container to help contain the mess. The bottle in front is an old method wipes container and we stuffed it using old plastic bags.

My car has never been so organized and neat!

Shoes?

I love that my little lady is wanted to be independent and do different things on her own. Her newest test, she insists on putting her shoes on by herself. She for the most part, can do it all the time. The problem that we have run into is that she puts them on the wrong feet. With Peanut, I told him to make his shoes kiss and it worked, Pumpkin on the other hand, literally tried to make her shoes kiss; yup, epic fail. I am still shocked after all these years how different each child can interpret things.

I tried singing her Left and Right song and she is able to identify her left and right hands and feet but is not able to generalize it to her shoes.

We made two teaching tools for her and they are working perfectly. The first is to use at home, we created a little door mat for her with an outline of her basic shoes shape. Similar to what you might see when trying to buy new shoes for your kiddos.  She can easily line her shoes up and put them on. 

inspiration idea for show mat

Now, since I am not walking around with a mat all day long or while shopping; I had to come up with a way for her to identify which shoe to put on when we were out and about. As soon as her butt hits her car seat, her shoes come off.

I took a sticker and cut it in half, placing each half in the correct shoe. Now, I just tell her to match up her sticker and she can easily slip her shoes on and off! Have to love a cheap and wonderful solution.

Epilepsy World Awareness Day: Wear Purple

Last year, I shared with you a friend of mine has a dear little boy who has epilepsy.  Over the last few years, I have worked with families and campers whom have had and struggled with Epilepsy and many other disabilities; since December 2009, I have seen the struggles first hand with Denise and her family. You can read my original posts here, here and here. In Honor of World Epilepsy Day in addition to wearing purple, I have asked Denise to share a little bit about her family's, struggles, triumphs, concerns and joys. For more information on Epilepsy, please check out the Epilepsy Foundation's website by clicking here.

Evan's Story: (as told by his Mom, Denise):

Evan was born a healthy baby weighing in at 9 lbs 1 oz..He hit all his developmental milestones within the "normal range"..at about 18 months I was sort of concerned with his speech from comparing him to other kids his age..Everyone said "don't worry..he is a boy..don't compare..etc.. By his second birthday, I was really concerned with his language..I mean he said a lot of words and could label things, but really wasn't using functional speech..I knew in my heart something was off..Then our nightmare really began..

In November of 2009, my husband kept telling me that Evan is making these odd jerking movements with his arms..kind of like a startle reflex..I kept brushing my husbands concerns off because I am the one home all day with our son and I had never witnessed it..Then, I happened to be home one night when one of these incidents occurred..He was running around playing and all of a sudden he stopped, ran to me, and then this " startle reflex" movement started ...First thought was..OK first thing Monday morning I am taking him to doctor..then all night into the next morning these movement kept occurring..I then just picked up the phone and called the E.R triage nurse and explained to her what we were seeing..she said "bring him in sounds like seizures" In my head, I was thinking..seizures..these aren't seizures..but took him in of course..we get there and are asked a ton of questions.."does he ever just fall..does he turn blue from not breathing..how is his development (at which I did say all on target except I worry about his speech)..then he had an "episode" in front of the doctor ..and they said "yes, these are seizures" so from there we were admitted..He had a CT scan right the you and there,  but we had to wait until the next day for the EEG.. CT scan came back normal..so no lesions from injury or stroke..

Then the next morning they took us the the Epilepsy monitoring unit for a routine EEG..a 45 minute test where leads are attached with glue to multiple areas of the head to read his brain waves..they left the leads on his head and sent us back to his room..The neurologist walked in and said..we want more info so were are gonna send him back down to the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit overnight for a Video EEG..they started him on medicine ..I asked why..and as she was walking out if the room turned around and said.." because he has Epilepsy" then left..At first I thought.."hmm..well no big deal ..medicine will fix this and he isn't having gran mals so he will be ok..Well fast forward a month..after more tests..MRI..spinal tap..genetic testing...no found reason for the seizures but also the medicine was not helping..Evan was diagnosed with multi-focal complex partial secondarily generalized seizures

Fast forward to April of 2010..at this time he is on 5 seizure meds and still having multiple seizures a day..and through out these few months I am reading all the horrible things seizures can do..ALL SEIZURES are BAD..every seizure causes brain damage and this is why my son now has developmental delays ( remember how I was worried about the speech??) Yup because of seizures he is delayed in speech..fine motor and gross motor abilities..I also have to worry about SUDEP which is unexplained death in Epilepsy..So since the seizures were still occurring even with all the meds we tried the Ketogeni. Diet..which is a high fat  low carb and low protein diet..we tried it for 10 months and that also failed him..nothing has worked to control his seizures..

Through out our journey the last 2 years I have come to realize what a beast Epilepsy is..more people die each year from epilepsy than breast cancer yet it is the least funded and least talked about..In the past year I have watched online friends which I refer to as my family lose their children due to seizures..and it is heartbreaking and gut wrenching to see my friends lose their children..And it is something g that I worry about everyday..I don't sleep well because I am constantly checking to see if my child is breathing as he has many seizures in his sleep..

I will say Evan is a fighter..always a smile on his face and he lights up a room. When he enters..He never goes unnoticed anywhere!! He is the biggest joy..The doctors do say how impressive he is..as his EEG is so messy that he should be severely delayed..He is 4 now and has been battling seizures for two years..He does tons of therapy for his speech and has really progressed recently..He knows his ABC's he can count to 10 and knows his shapes..His biggest hurdle is his attention span..as he does have some sensory issues which cause him to sensory seek..and he still puts everything I have in his mouth..we have to watch him like a hawk because he is very impulsive and really doesn't have the best sense of danger..But he is progressing..but with tons and tons of work from me and all his therapists..but because of the daily seizure he still is at high risk of regressing..

There is no cure for Epilepsy and Evan will more than likely deal with seizures the rest of his life..My hope is that one day Epilepsy will get more funding and the attention it deserves and that a cure will be had..because it is a very serious disability and people have lost lives..babies have lost lives..

Are you wearing purple today to help find a cure?

Inspirational Sunday

Teach At Home Thursday: Musical Painting

I adore any kind of activity where you can use art supplies, music, and movement. About 12 years ago (OK, this made me feel really old, it feels like only yesterday I was there!), when I was working at summer camp, I started what we called the dance PlayStation and the campers would come and we would create a dance for them to learn and then perform! I loved these moments, the campers had such a blast and it was amazing to see them come together and perform.


One session during the summer, I had campers who were in wheelchairs sign up for my group. I had worked with campers in wheelchairs before and never had any worries, but now I had to find a way to incorporate them into a dance routine. This wasn't a problem, more like a complication how to have them part of the routine without feeling left out. I remembered something my dance teacher, Miss Patti, (you can read my original post on the studio here.) had said about dance so many years before. Dance is how you feel the music and how it moves you, not necessarily the steps! Then it hit me, combine an activity where all of the campers can move to the music and no matter how they move, it will be awesome!


The first time we played a mixed bunch of music, everything from classical to rap and the campers had to make their movements match the music but tell a story at the same time. It was amazing to watch. I wish I could share them with you but I do not have permission from all of the parents :( The next time we did it, we taped paper to the ground and the campers stepped, or rolled in paint and used the paint to record their movements and create beautiful artwork! It was and still is amazing.


I recently did this activity with Peanut and Pumpkin and they absolutely loved it. The best part is we were learning to move our bodies to the music and have our movements match the music.

We started by taping an old sheet to the floor.

old sheet taped to the floor with painters tape

Then I painted their feet, when I do this with a big group of students, we pour the paint into tray and they step in themselves. Since, I was doing this activity with younger kiddos, I decided to control the mess and paint their feet.

blue feet!

We used a bowl of water and an old towel to clean their feet in between each color change.

who had time for a foot soak?

The kiddos enjoyed the music and the painting and I decided to have a "teachable" moment and we reviewed color mixing. We started by placing two piles of paint and then mixing them together with a paint brush.

red and yellow or as pumpkin called it ketchup and mustard!

making orange

Our finished product:

Here is a video of the kiddos making their musical painting:

Inspirational Sunday

source:peekofperfection.com

Happy St. Patrick's Day

May your thoughts be as glad as the shamrocks
May your heart be as light as a song
May each day bring you bright
Happy hours that stay with you all the year long.
~Irish Blessing

Toddler Learning Bags

You have probably heard the expression, toddler busy bags. Little activities that you give your toddler to occupy themselves while you get things done around the house. Well, let me tell you that I HATE that phrase; to me it sounds like you are just trying to do something to keep them busy, when during this time in their life everything and anything can be a learning experience.

Pumpkin has a bin in their playroom, that is filled with little activities, that she can do by herself, that usually focus on one or two skills that she needs to learn. Not only is she learning but she is having fun while doing so.

Her favorite one is the clothes line, she can hang the line on the wall (I have hooks ready for her) and then hangs the clothes on the line using clothes pins. The clothes pins help with her pincher grasp, making her fingers strong. These are important skills for writing.

This particular bag cost me about 50 cents to make. I used scrap felt pieces, that I had at home. Same with the clothes pins, the only thing that I bought was the ribbon.

Teach At Home Thursday: The Very Hungry Caterpillar Part 2

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about our activities that we do to celebrate the Very Hungry Caterpillar, you can read that post here. Peanut and Pumpkin kept asking to do caterpillar again! I didn't want to repeat the entire day, as that would get boring and I wanted to challenge myself to create another Caterpillar day without repeating the entire day! Talk about a challenge, not only did it have to be fun, but educational as well.

We started our day off with rereading the story, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. This time we focused on what an Author is and what an illustrator is. We made our own pictures and took turns writing a story together. Then the kiddos illustrated the book.
Peanut has been learning money and we made money caterpillars and butterflies for him to practice finding the total and making change. He loved counting the change.

Pumpkin was working on her color identification, so I created a caterpillar that she had to match the pieces with. Using paint, we then created her own caterpillar matching colors and using her fingerprints.

We touched very briefly on symmetry and Peanut told me he wanted to try something and next thing I know, he created a butterfly out of our palette of paint.

Lastly, we created lunch and the kiddos had banana caterpillars, celery butterflies, and butterfly snacks.. I love the way it turned out and before nap and siesta time, they wanted to act like butterflies and caterpillars again. I love that my kiddos enjoy acting crazy and having fun with Mama!

butterfly caterpillar meal

butterflies made with peanut butter, celery and pretzel (a modern ants on a log), you could use yogurt or cottage cheese

butterfly snack bag

banana caterpillar

close up

I adore this quote and I think it is perfect for the Very Hungry Caterpillar.