Apple Chips

I am always looking for healthy, easy and affordable snacks for my boys. One of my new favorites is apple chips. I grabbed some apples at the Farmer's Market and used our dehydrator we purchased fairly inexpensively at Walmart to make these. This apple was a Granny Smith, but any type would work fine.

I used my peeler to core and my mandolin to slice the apple. I sliced them on the thinnest option.

I then layered the chips in the dehydrator. We got it to use for beef or deer jerky, but it has proved to be awesome for making dried other things as well.

I let these chips dehydrate overnight. It took around 14 hours for them to be completely crunchy.

 

The kiddos really enjoyed munching on these with sandwiches instead of greasy chips. I let them dip them in caramel and it made them extra yummy. I also served some the next day sprinkled with cinnamon and brown sugar and they were great as well. This method also works great for peaches and bananas.

How I am a Stay at Home Mom: Cheap Summer Fun

I see moms and kids all the time talking about being bored in the summer and I cannot understand why. We have a very small entertainment budget and are still able to go on weekly summer adventures. Here are some ideas for keeping your summer fun:

1. Utilize local resources. We live in a small East Tennessee town and there are tons of things available, even to us! A neighboring town has a park called the Splash Pad that is free to attend. My boys are happier to spend the day there than at any expensive park.

 

We also have a local pool that only costs $3 per adult and kids are free with a paying adult.

 

Local parks and rec websites are great ways to find out what is available in your area.

The library is also a great way to find fun, and generally free, activities. Our library has a summer reading program that my boys love, offering a special guest one day a week and an awesome closing program with fun and games.

They also recently hosted a Touch-a-Truck event with all kinds of trucks for the kids to check out.









Our library also sponsored a Kiddie Car Show which my preschooler loved! He also won the "Best Super Hero Car" award, so that was pretty much the highlight of his life.

 

On Wednesdays, our area offers a local farmer's market. It is a fun way to get some healthy snacks and check out some homemade and home-grown items.

 

2. Create your own fun! On a rainy day, I decided to pirate-theme the day. My preschooler had so much fun and it cost me no money and very minimal effort. You can read more about it here.

We also use our water hose to create lots of fun. We bought a very inexpensive Slip N Slide, though any piece of plastic would be fine (think $2 plastic painting cover). These kiddos would literally spend hours every day playing on this piece of wet plastic. They also add dish soap for extra slippery fun.






For one of the girls' birthdays, we did an at home spa day. They loved soaking their feet in the tub and painting each others' nails and I used stuff we already had at home.




3. Be responsible when you do plan costly adventures. Look for Groupons or similar deals. My husband and I recently purchased a local coupon deal for a dinner theatre for the two of us for $25. It was something fun and different to do and we could not have purchased dinner and a show for that price otherwise. I also got a Groupon for Yo Gabba Gabba Live! We would not have been able to afford this show regularly, but the Groupon cut the price to less than half, so it made it affordable.

Also, if you are planning a trip to an amusement park or similar place, check out their calendar before you go. We took a trip to Tweetsie Railroad while they were hosting "A Day Out With Thomas." For the price of admission, we also got extra Thomas events and a ride on Thomas the train.

Our local race track hosted an event that was both rally cross and monster trucks, so for $20, we got four hours of nonstop car action. It was a fun way to take the boys to the race without spending $100 per ticket.

4. Explore nature! We are blessed to be surrounded by some amazing nature where we live. My preschooler went fishing for the first time this summer. We are lucky enough to have friends who own a house boat, but you can find a fishing spot anywhere! Laws vary in different states, but in Tennessee, fishing is free until age 15. This was a great way to spend a day and only cost a can of corn.

 

 

Camping is another fun and inexpensive way to spend a summer day. Since we have a nine month old, we decided to venture into the backyard and do a little camping at home. The boys made a fire and smore's and it was a memorable and inexpensive adventure.

 

I have posted before about gardening, but it is a great way to learn about the food we eat and spend time outside together. The girls love to pick the peaches from the tree in the backyard and then be creative with ways to cook them.

 

 

 

5. Look for local businesses hosting events. Chick-fil-a always has awesome events for families. You can find a calendar of events on their website. This summer we attended their Mother-Son Date Knight and for the price of dinner at Chick-fil-a, we got to do family activities and pictures tableside and the boys got to joust in their free inflatable. They also hosted a Super Hero event, where kids got free kids meals for dressing like a Super Hero. Earth Fare and several other local restaurants have weekly kids events, so checking them out can be an inexpensive way to feed those hungry babies after a long day.

 

I hope my ideas help you create new adventures for your family this summer!

Adventures in Preschool: Arrrgh! It's Pirate Day!

We have been so busy this summer, I haven't posted any of our fun-ness lately, but I couldn't resist sharing our pirate morning adventure! I knew today was going to be a rainy, boring day, so I thought I would create a little pirate magic. 

When he first woke up, I had a pirate ship and a pirate cup sitting beside the potty, along with his pirate clothes.

 

We had a pirate sword and hat in the dress up box, but no telescope, so we made one! I just let him color a piece of construction paper (he chose to draw a pirate ship), rolled it up and wrapped it with tape. I know this is so simple, but he seriously has carried this thing around all day looking at stuff.

 

 

He was then greeted in the dining room by pirate books. This was a great opportunity to read and learn, not only about pirates, but also about the ocean they sailed. We talked about what pirates did and what they ate- which was a great segway to pirate lunch!

 

This happy little cutie loved his skull and crossbones and pirate hat sandwich. I used cookie cutters purchased for a pirate birthday party a couple years ago and he thought it was awesome.

We ended our pirate morning with a treasure hunt. Since we are working on letters, I just had him find all the things he could that started with C. 

 

 This was such a fun morning, doing thing we normally do, but with a pirate twist. And did I mention that it didn't cost anything? Arrgh! Now, that's a good adventure, mateys.

That kid needs a spanking! Or does he?

This is not a post to preach about why you should or should not use spanking as a punishment technique. This post is just to explain our reasoning in choosing not to spank our kids.

First off, let me say, we started off really terrible at discipline. I have been blessed with an amazing little boy who very rarely- I'm talking twice a month- does something genuinely punishable. What that means is, when he actually does something that deserves discipline, his father and I are scrambling, looking at each other, like what the heck are we supposed to do?

So, I started doing some research about discipline and I found that many, many times, parents just spank because they don't know what else to do. Either that, or they are embarrassed of the behavior and they think spanking makes them look like they have control.

Here's why it doesn't work for us:

We were at a children's event where my then two year old and I witnessed a father repeatedly spanking his little girl. She was obviously tired and hot and needed a nap and a cuddle more than a spanking. But, she was screaming and crying and he was embarrassed, so it went like this "Stop crying or I'm going to spank you again." Child is fearful and cries more. Dad spanks her. She cries louder. "Stop crying or I'm going to spank you again." Over. And Over. And Over. This man was pleading with this toddler to stop crying so he wouldn't have to spank her again, but spanking her just made her cry more. And by the end they both were just tired and needed to cuddle.

My toddler's reaction to this was stunning to me. He said, "Why does that man keep hitting that little girl?"

Just stop for a second and think about that. Why does that man keep hitting that little girl?

At that moment, I knew I would never hit my children again. Because that is what it is. A big person is hitting a little person and that just doesn't feel right to my heart.

The second reason we don't spank is because I did spank. One time. When my child was around 18 months old and I was that parent I just talked about. Tired, frustrated, busy, didn't know what to do. I told my child to do something and he ran away. I found him and swatted his cute little cloth diaper butt. No big deal. Except that he told me that entire scenario and how scared he was of me on that day yesterday. Yea, he's three now. And he remembered the entire thing. And that's why I am writing this post today. Just hoping that somebody else might be at the point of spanking, or spanking often, and not realize the impact they might be having.

The third reason we don't spank is because I don't want my children to be afraid of me. As a child and even a teenager, I was threatened with spanking. I was 15 years old and my mom would say, "You're not too old to spank. Your Granddad still spanked me when I was dating your dad." That, my friends, is ridiculous. And I know that now and I know that my mom was that parent I just talked about that didn't know what else to do. But, at a time when my mom should have wanted me to talk to her the most, she put fear into me and it made me back even farther away from her. I want to talk to my boys so they will listen and listen so they will talk. I should be their biggest comfort in this world, not what they are most afraid of. I can find other methods of discipline that turn them into fine young men of God without them being afraid of me.

So, do what you want with your children. It really is up to you. Maybe in that moment that you want to hit, put yourself and your child in time out and take the time to decide if spanking is the right punishment for the crime.

But as for my house, we will not hit each other. And the joy I get from hearing my toddler say that and be confident in it is worth more to me than the instant satisfaction of giving a spanking could ever give me.

Cloth diaper tips

When I decided to cloth diaper, I only knew one other person who did CD. There are also no stores in my area that carry cloth diapers, so I couldn't just go ask someone or look at what I was buying. Needless to say, I was a little overwhelmed. Here are a few tips I wish someone had told me before I started CD.

1. Many diaper creams are not safe to use on  your diapers. Coconut oil is a great alternative.

2. Just like I tell people about breastfeeding, you have to be confident in what you're doing or you may get discouraged. I would encourage you to find some CD friends or join groups online, so you have someone in common when you feel overwhelmed or frustrated.

3. I really wanted somebody to tell me that I needed X amount of diapers and I have really had to figure out for myself what I needed. I had five covers and that was not enough for me. Now, I have 18 and half of them never get used. If you don't mind to throw a load of laundry in every day, you won't need as many as someone who wants to wash once a week. You really just have to see what works for you.

4. Cheaper is not always better. I was so excited because I found diapers from China for $2 or so each on eBay. About half of those are now swim diapers because the lining separated. Though I still cringe when I see mamas spending $50+ on one, yes one, diaper, I do think that you might want to consider buying some quality products. I know it seems like a lot up front, but your little is going to be wearing these for his whole infant life so I promise you will get your money's worth.

5. If I have stains, I hang my diapers in the sun and it generally takes care of it.

6. Packing your diaper bag doesn't have to be stressful. As a general rule, I like to keep an extra cover and one prefold or insert for every hour we will be gone plus one. I keep a travel pack of wipes in my bag. Many cloth mamas have great success with cloth wipes in a travel wipe box, but I just stick to disposable wipes when we're out.

I will add tips to this list as I think of them! :)

Adventures in Preschool: Earth Day

I love to use Earth Day as an opportunity to teach my little ones about the world around us and ways we can take care of it. We actually made a week of Earth Day and did Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Repurpose projects.

Reduce: We are committed to reducing our environmental impact by growing some of our own food. I will have more gardening posts throughout the summer, but we got gardening season started by planting some seeds. This planter from the Lowe's Build and Grow clinic came at a perfect time.

Reuse: We reused pine cones from our yard to make bird feeders. This was a fun project and was age-appropriate for my three year old with a little help. I gave them plastic knives and a plastic cup of peanut butter and I attached a string to the top of the pine cones for hanging. They used the knife to spread the peanut butter on the pine cone. I then poured birdseed onto newspaper and they rolled their pinecones in it.

 

Recycle: I save our newspapers and cardboard to take to our local recycling center and my preschooler loves to help me. He really enjoys tossing our items into the appropriate bins and he understands that we take our used items there so people can make them into something new.

Repurpose: I save lids from Coca-Cola products for My Coke Rewards to get fun prizes for my boys and me, but those lids sometimes seem to take over my house! I am always trying to think of something to do with them and for our Earth Day (week) celebration, I thought it would be fun to use them to make caterpillars. I had my husband drill a hole in each of the lids. I then let the little ones decorate them with paint and string them together. If we did this again, I would probably use markers and glitter glue instead of the paint, but it made a fun little project and saved a few of those lids from going into a landfill.

Always remember, "We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children."  -Native American Proverb

Happy Earth Day!

Adventures in Preschool: Shaving Cream!

I read this article not too long ago and it made me really want to try and work more sensory play into our days. You can read about our first experiment here.

Our sensory experiment today was playing in shaving cream. I used his little picnic table and just squirted the cream directly on it. After we were done, he loved spraying himself and the table off with the water hose, so this was a completely mom-free experiment. I have oodles of shaving cream in my coupon stash, so this was like a 25 cent project and he played with it for over an hour. I got to mop my floor, people! For 25 cents! Anyway, he really loved it and it was tons of fun to hear him giggling while I mopped.

Toddler lunches- what will these little humans eat?

I have been blessed to always have babies that are really good eaters. However, within the last several months, I have begun watching a couple kids in my home while their mommies live busy lives and these kids are not quite as willing to try different foods. So, I have found myself getting creative to keep these babies eating well and I wanted to share some ideas with you.

My first tip for getting your little one to try new things is to get them involved. My little one loves to pick fresh veggies from the garden and snack on them right there in the yard. He loves watching the plants grow and is delighted to pick the fruits of our labor. Secondly, let them cook with you. In this picture, my toddler is simply sprinkling cheese on top of baked whole wheat spaghetti, but he couldn't wait to tell his dad that he helped with dinner and was also happy to eat two servings!

 

 

The next suggestion I have for you is to play with their food! If it looks fun, they are more likely to eat it! Even simple things like using fun plates makes my little one want to eat to get to the picture at the bottom.

 

 

I would also encourage you to change up your venue. My little ones love to eat snacks on the porch or on a picnic blanket at the park. Packing a lunch and taking it somewhere fun gives me kids willing to eat.

 

 

 

Lastly, I would encourage you to take foods and make them kid-friendly. My toddler will not eat a whole sweet potato or a slice of ham, but when I cut them into bite-size pieces, he can use his toddler-size fork and will devour an entire plate. I love foods like this, too, because I can use my food mill to make them into puree or "baby-led weaning size" pieces for my littlest one.

 



 

What are your suggestions for getting toddlers to eat healthy foods?

 

Adventures in Preschool: Conversation Heart Alphabet

I found these conversation hearts on clearance after Valentine's Day for .25.

 

After letting my little one color some, I wrote a letter on each one. I then let him sort them, put them in order and try spelling words. It was such an inexpensive and easy learning adventure!

Adventures in Preschool: Sensory birdseed experiment

I have decided to do some at-home preschool with my three year old. I am so excited to try new things with him and watch him learn and grow through adventures together! This is the first post about our new adventure and  I promise many many more!

Today I used a bucket of birdseed and threw in some dollar store lizards. These babies loved using slotted spoons to search for the lizards! It was a great sensory experience. It was also a great learning tool as I asked questions along the way (Where is the blue lizard?, How many lizards did you find?, etc.). They had so much fun and it took two minutes to prep!