Last minute New Years Eve Ideas to do with Kiddos.

Just a few hours until the ball drops in Times Square, New York city, to ring in 2015.  Times Square isn't how most people will be spending New Years Eve, unless watching it on TV counts.

I don't have any idea yet what I will be doing.......I am recently single and without plans for New Years. I will either be in bed early and skip the whole thing, or head to a friends house who lives about 8 minutes away. I am good with either plan!

Growing up we usually had a family celebration with a dance contest (It was a sad dance contest considering NONE of us could dance! Think "Elaine" from Seinfeld, only worse........) Mom would make fun celebratory foods & we would scratch off lottery tickets. Then we would do something similar to this.......

Looking back at 2014 & Looking ahead to 2015

At the time I did not enjoy having to sit with family and fill out forms and "dance".  It sure is fun to read them now that I am an adult and don't have the constant changes of my childhood years. 


These are a few other ideas I found on Pinterest that make me want to have a New Years Eve party at my house! Maybe next year......

Milk & Cookies

Balloon count-down with activities inside - you have to pop 

them to find out what you're doing next! 

Balloon drop! 

You don't have to do this at midnight where you are, you can pick a country (or state) and celebrate with their new year.  We did an Australian New Years one year.  All our foods were Australian favorites, we decorated with Australian themed items and celebrated with their New Years. 

Twelve Grapes at Midnight.

This is a favorite of mine......It's a Spanish tradition to eat twelve grapes at midnight.  Brings good luck for the coming year - one for each month. This is what I bring to New Years Eve parties and if it is an adult party I serve them in a glass of Champagne at Midnight.

 New Years Shakers 

These are always great fun and easy to make.

You can check out my complete New Years Eve board on Pinterest for more ideas.


Wishing you a very Happy New Years Eve - have a wonderfully safe time ringing in 2015!! See you next year.

Happy Holidays!

My sister just sent this to me.... Love this!!

I SOON want one of these vacuums but I can guarantee you my dog would NOT agree to this! 

Happy Holidays!!!

TWO days until Christmas.

This is the last day with kiddos this week, since it is the day before Christmas Eve we started the day out with some special activities.  Breakfast in front of the TV (Never happens here!) while watching a Christmas show. 

Elsa coloring poster from the $1 section at Target. Easy peasey. 

Next on the list is this adorable project from Crafty Morning.

I'll post pictures of our completed project later today.  This is an adorable and simple project that Middle can do with some help. 

Depending on how the rest of the morning goes we may, or may not, bake and decorate some cookies. We shall see how it goes.

I hope you are enjoying your Christmas week! 

Snow Play! San Diego Style.

Day one of Christmas / Winter break.  I have two littles today while their parents are out doing last minute Christmas shopping. We needed something fun & festive to keep us busy this morning.

This is today's project - SNOW! San Diego style.

Ingredients: Easy & Inexpensive

1) Can of shaving cream - this one is from the Dollar store.
2) Baking Soda. I had these small 8oz boxes and used one per child.

Starting with a cookie sheet that has edges, I sprayed about about half (?) the can of shaving cream one each tray. I used just shy of one can for the two kiddos. 

Next I added the baking soda, in small amounts until the mixture was the perfect consistency. It ended up being the whole 8oz box to a half can of shaving cream.

 

I mixed together with a fork, only because I didn't want to get my fingers dirty, ha!

  

Once it reaches a nice powdery consistency, that is still sticky, but not wet, it is time to have some fun and play with!

This is the "sit and stare" stage apparently.  They both just sat and stared and then looked at each other for a good three minutes before they decided to dig in.

This provided over an hour of play time - once they both decided it was ok to get their fingers dirty!  We built "snowmen", and made snow balls.  They also used a spoon to stir, and build "mountains". 

This was such an easy, and fun project for a warm day. We can pretend that we played with snow even though it is in the low 70's today.

I hope you enjoy day one of Christmas break - only three days until Christmas!!

Go follow 'The Baby Guy' on facebook!

If you have littles in the house or have friends with littles you should follow Jamie "The Baby Guy NYC" on facebook.

Jamie is the leading expert on baby gear, and your go-to-expert for car seat and stroller reviews/recommendations. He just started a newsletter and they did a really nice gift guide for the Holidays...........Well he is  now doing a HUGE giveaway and giving away all 60 items in the gift guide. 60 items & 60 winners!

He is also just a RAD human.......below is a picture of him "Simba'ing" my nephew at an event in Boston this summer.

1.  Go follow Jamie at https://www.facebook.com/TheBabyGuyNYC?fref=nf
2.  Enter the giveaway - follow directions.....if you want, that is.
3.  Be ready to be entertained and educated on all things baby!

Your welcome.

SIX days until Christmas, time for a comedy break.

Whoo hoo, it's Friday!!

It's also only SIX days until Christmas. I have much to do before Christmas morning, and Saturday - when my family will celebrate Christmas all together. I have two more people to shop for and then a lot baking and wrapping to do. Instead of being productive this morning before the kiddos arrived I got distracted by funny videos.....I thought I would share them with you incase you need a mental break from the stress of it only being SIX days until Christmas (if you celebrate that is.)

Life with children is never boring and mostly funny.  Sometimes I forget I am out with adults, sans children, and have found myself saying things like "Look a train!", or "I need to go potty".  Even better I find myself swaying back and forth like I am rocking a baby......happens ALL the time. It;s bad and probably not the best way to find Mr. Right :-)  Thank goodness we outgrow *some* of these behaviors as we mature (although I am pretty sure I know a few adults who revert to four year old behavior fairly regularly.)

If you have never seen the videos by 'Convos with my 2 year old' on YouTube you are missing out.  They are highly entertaining....and slightly disturbing.

This however is one of my favorites - because I have lived this one many, many times!! Anyone else love and loathe the potty training process??

Oldest is in the middle of potty training which means that this will become our new normal once she is finished with diapers.  Oh. the joys of potty training & small bladders!!

Ok, off to make "snow" with Oldest and Middle and hopefully be productive during nap time!

5 Tips for Making a Gingerbread Village!

 GINGERBREAD VILLAGE FUN!

My friend left us with three gingerbread village kits to work on while they were out of town this past weekend.  I "glued" all the pieces together with the provided royal icing and the kids went to town decorating with the 20 different kinds of candy.  There was plenty of tasting along the way.  

Here is what I learned:

1) Cover, and secure a plastic tablecloth to the table - this gets messy! 

2) "Glue" the houses together prior to decorating so the frosting has time to set.  This takes long enough that patience will run out before the frosting sets. 

3) Small bowls for each kind of candy helps keep everything organized.

4) The promise of eating candy when we finished decorating made them move fast!

5) Cardboard cake "trays" worked wonderfully for using as a base for the village. (I am sure there is a name for these, but I am not sure what they are!)

(no, the kiddos were not using this knife....I was to cut the Totsie Rolls into slices for the roof shingles on Santas House.)

 Making progress!

" Santa's House"

 Youngest wanted to make an entrance to the village.

 These peppermint trees were on clearance last year at the Crate & Barrel outlet store for 80% off their $25.00 original price tag.  They are perfect for our village!

 Ta Da!! Finished Christmas Magical Gingerbread Village.

I am staying with my friend's kids this weekend while they're at an event out of town. Two of the four kiddos had sleepovers last night, so it's just Oldest and Youngest this morning. They've been awake since 5:25am. It's still dark at 5:25am. Everyone should be sleeping when it's dark on a Sunday.

I was hanging out with Youngest in the living room when I had a feeling I should go check on Oldest. I walk by the kids bathroom and heard her say through the closed door,  "You're scared to death aren't you little one."

I open the door to investigate just exactly WHOM was "scared to death". I find her attempting to bathe the nine month old kitten - who was just spayed this week mind you!

She was correct with her assessment. The cat was definitely scared to death, and who could blame her, haha! There are four towels on the floor and at least 10 pumps of hand soap on the cats back. She had gotten away from Oldest and was hiding, shaking and generally looking annoyed!

Oldest: She was dirty so she needed a bath.
Me: What happened that she got dirty enough to "need" a bath?
Oldest: She layed down in her litter box.
Me: Oh.

Umm, if we had to bathe the cat every time she layed down in her litter box we'd be doing this multiple times a day! This is not a good reason to bathe a kitten in my opinion.

I scoop up the cat & one of the four towels and head to the kitchen where the sink is big enough to actually bathe the cat. This is an old house, so I wait what seems forever for warm water. Apparently the plumbing is reversed and "hot" means cold, and "cold" means hot. So I switch to "cold" and after a long thirty seconds I get warm water.

I rinse the now angry cat and remove the 10 pumps of hand soap from her fur. Then wrap her in a warm towel and dry her.  A cat bath was NOT on my agenda for 8:00 am today.

Ok, now I need a shower, and some anti-biotic ointment for all the kitty scratches I now have.

On to the next adventure today...........

This is a fairly typical Friday at my house.  People wonder why I am so tired by the time Friday nights roll around.......Here is why.

7:00am - Middle (21 months) arrives.  Breakfast is served.
7:15am - Baby (8mo) arrives. Baby is soaking wet because he puked in the car on
               the way over so a change of clothes is in order.  Baby also pee'd all
               over his parents bed this morning so his Mom (my sister) brought the
               sheets for me to wash as their washing machine died/broke last night.

7:30am - Middle is finished with breakfast.
               Baby is changed and playing.
               Sheets are washing.
               Dog is barking and  begging to be let back inside, so to her room she
               goes!
               Cat is screaming to be let out of his room, so out he comes.
               (My office doubles as the animal room and where my dog spends her
               days as she isn't the biggest fan of having lots of kiddos underfoot.)

8:00am - I eat cold left over pizza for breakfast.
               I start to get everything ready so we can leave the house at 8:45am to
               take Baby to nurse.  I don't feel like condensing so each child has a bag
               with their clothes, diapers, wipes, and snacks. Then I get my purse.        
               FOUR bags, this is ridiculous! Haha

8:30am - Oldest arrives.  We have to immediately find a baby for her, since
               Middle is playing with "her" baby.
             
8:40am - I need to go to the bathroom before we leave.  This is what a bathroom
               trip looks like in my house:
             
               Baby: Sleeping in sling
               Middle: Needs her nose wiped, but there is only a small amount of toilet
               paper left so I can only use a square of t.p
               Oldest: Laying on the floor crying because she can't sit on my lap.
               Cat: Trying his best to get some attention. Seriously Cat?  I just need 30
               seconds to pee children!

8:45am - Still wearing Baby in the sling I grab the FOUR bags and ask the girls to
               walk to my car and "Glue your hands to Aunties car".  They do really
               well with this command. Except for today.

               I close and lock the house, and head to the car.  NO car key.  Get all
               three kiddos back to the house, go inside, still can't find the car key.  Oh,
               look it was in my purse after all. Gesh!

               To the car, again......This time I realize that Baby's car seat is still in the
               house. Ok, toddlers, back inside we go AGAIN!

               Attempt to install Baby's UppaBaby Vista car seat (LOVE this seat btw.)
               Failed twice. By now I am sweating and HOT!
               FINALLY got Baby's seat installed correctly.  Now to buckle everyone
               in.  This is exhausting, and I need a wider car.

               Phew!! Finally.  I am now in the front seat and definitely need a
               Starbucks!
             
9:14am - That took THIRTY minutes. Oh good golly!!


9:30am - Arrive at school.  Get all three kiddos out of the car, there are parking                    spots open everywhere but a parents decides to park right next to me
               while I am trying to unload three from car seats.  Really?  It seemed like
               a smart idea to choose THIS parking spot? Ey, ey, ey!
               I do P.E with the Kinders and my two while baby nurses.

9:45am - Baby is finished nursing, but we hang out with Grandma (the first grade
               teacher) and kill some time before we head to the park to wear the
               kiddos out!

12:20pm - Back home! Baby is sleeping, Middle is sleeping, and COVERED with
                 her green bean puree that she had eaten on the ride home.  Oldest is
                 complaining about not wanting to take a nap. FOUR bags back inside
                 the house, three children and the rest of my Starbucks drink.


Middle: Down for a nap
Oldest:  Refused to nap, so I told her it is quiet time.  She goes for this, and is
              SOUND asleep in under 5 minutes.
Baby:    Woke up, but thankfully went back to sleep quickly.

ME: Eating a quick lunch, switching the laundry & painting my nails while writing
        this blog post, AND a bathroom trip all by myself!


Oldest is going home first at 3:00pm, so as soon as my nails are dry enough to organize I will get her bag ready to go.

Middle will go home around 3:45pm, and since she didn't eat she will eat her lunch when she wakes up. So that is all set up and ready to go.

Baby will go home sometime between the two girls and will want to eat when he wakes up so his milk is defrosting, and the bottle is ready for when he wakes.

Once everyone leaves it will be time to clean the playroom and vacuum the areas used today.  Take care of the dog and cat, then freshen up my hair, make-up and clothes since I have a party to attend to this evening. Oh! I also have to wrap the white elephant gift for the party tonight.

5:00pm - Volunteering at school to help with their Christmas Vespers program tonight.

7:00pm - Christmas party & White Elephant gift exchange.

11:00pm - BED!!

Thanksgiving party ideas for Kids

In two days I will have 30 adults and 12 children in my home for a Thanksgiving Party.  My home is not really large enough for 42 extra people.  Not at all.

We will be cozy and that's ok! This is my 6th annual Thanksgiving "Friendsgiving" Party.  My sister and I came up with the idea when we decided we wanted a fun, drama free Thanksgiving dinner with all our favorite people. 

Unlike family dinners where there can be uhh, issues, and you have to go along with things you may not want to do this would be an evening of laid back fun.

This year, in addition to the 30 adults, we have 12 children coming.  The kiddos are aged 7 months to 12 years, with most of the kids in the 1st grade to 3th grade range. My sister and I came up with several ideas to keep the kids happy and busy.  

Here are a few of the ideas we came up with. 

1) Butterscotch popcorn in small bags - ready for them when they arrive! Well fed children are happy children (I realize butterscotch popcorn is not healthy, but hey, this is a party!)

2) Trader Joe's Pumpkin Bread mix in cupcake holders to decorate as cupcakes.

3) Craft projects (I took advantage of the local craft store's 25% off everything coupon including sale items.  All the thanksgiving items were 40% off and then the additional 25% off.  I got some killer deals!) 

4) Movie playing for older kids in the playroom. 

5) Kid friendly entrees and side dishes. We will have kid friendly Mac 'N' Cheese, roasted carrots, turkey shaped peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, and their cupcakes for dessert. 

6) I happen to have a huge playroom right off the kitchen so the tv will at one end and tables with crafts will be on the other end. I will have seating for all 12 of them.  While the rest of the adults will be eating off of real plates I have "real" looking plastic plates for the kiddos.

7) Hot cocoa bar - yumm!

I can't wait to see how much fun the kiddos like all our fun ideas......I will post pictures of the party after it happens this Saturday! 

What tips do you have for keeping kids happy at family gatherings or holiday parties?  I'd love to hear about them.

Dance Party

The girls LOVE having dance parties and we turn on music and dance at least twice a day.  This week youngest arrived dancing to this song as she had been listening to it in the car on the way over.

I showed this to the girls and they found it hysterical! I dare you to not laugh while watching.

News Anchor & Taylor Swift's Shake it off!

Nanny Win, day two!

The play dough was such a hit that both older girls asked for "more play dough" as soon as they got here today.

I surprised the girls with a box of play dough toys that was given to me.  We used the sealife stamps today.  I have a feeling this is going to keep them occupied for at least an hour!

The doll is getting a "Dress" complements of the 2.5 year old.

The finished product, the doll got a hat, eye patches(?) and a bikini top(?)

Oldest keeps me laughing with her antics!

Pumpkin Spice Glitter Playdough

My moms first grade class needed some play dough for a pumpkin project they were doing this week.  I volunteered to make it for them so I could make a bit extra for us to play with.

My very favorite recipe is easy to make, and makes much less of a mess then other brands or recipes......

Add food coloring to the water, I also added about 2 Tablespoons of Pumpkin Pie Spice (mine was from Trader Joes but you can use what ever you have on hand.)
I added a couple drops of Clove essential oil for added scent, but this is optional.

We added large silver glitter to the pan today for some extra fun play dough!

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan and stir over medium heat until a ball forms.  Remove from pan and allow to cool.  I usually knead it a bit, but again this is optional.

Once you have finished playing with the play dough you can store in a zip lock bag in the fridge to use again.  I find it lasts nicely for a few days.

It smells yummy!

Scared a little old lady today

I took the girls for a walk at the beach this morning.  The two year old in the stroller the 1 yr old in my Becco Gemini carrier on my back.  She LOVES being worn on my back and regularly asks to be worn even if we are just hanging out around the house.

We, umm actually I, walked three miles while the girls giggled and waved "hi" to everyone we passed. At the end of the walk I did some very modified push-ups on the railing. An older couple was walking past as I was doing my push-ups. The woman came up and scolded me saying "Thats SO dangerous!! Be careful!"

Really?  I have a one year old strapped into a carrier, I am basically upright and she isn't going anywhere.  Apparently it didn't look safe, even though I know Middle wasn't going anywhere AT ALL.

I almost always get interesting comments when out and about with the girls but this was the first time I've heard a "dangerous" comment! Haha, it takes all kinds!


Rachelle

"I am actually the nanny."   This is a sentence I utter at least once a day, and have for the last 20 years.

My charges and I like to get out and about during the day.  We go to parks, the Zoo, Legoland, Sea World, shopping, out to lunch and playdates.  I frequently wear my charges and interact with them more like a mother would then just a babysitter.  As a result I get all kinds of comments about the kiddos from people assuming I am the mother.  I joke that I need a button to wear that says "I am the Nanny." but people probably wouldn't read it anyways.

Presently I am nannying my nieces and nephew so most days I have a 2.5 year old, a 1.5 year old & a 1 year old.  My nephew who is 7 months comes a few days a month.  My days are full of laughter, changing diapers, encouraging the girls to not fight over the same toys (especially since there are multiples of most every toy!)

With three, sometimes four, kiddos under three years old, there is never a dull moment or a quiet moment around here!

Here I will share our day to day adventures and see just how often I give the answer "I am actually the nanny."