Cutting Skills & Lunch Time

This is lunch.

This is also cutting practice.

As we work on preschool skills with Monkey and Crackers, cutting seems important.  Not only is it important, it is something they enjoy doing.  Mama likes to give them fun ways to practice.

For today's lunch, Monkey practiced cutting with scissors by turning his turkey into bite sized pieces.  He is getting to be great at using scissors!

Both of the boys had the opportunity to cut food and spread dip using a butter knife.  It's still pretty tricky for them, and Crackers needed some help figuring out that we don't use knives like spoons.  

Simple, free, tasty education for my boys!

Chritsmas Costumes: Review

This is one happy penguin!  

His mama's happy too.  I found this fantastic costume at Costume SuperCenter and thought it would be a lot of fun for Christmas pictures.  I admit, I was disappointed at first that the snowman I fell in love with was out of stock - look at how cute he is!

The disappointment completely went away when Monkey's eyes grew wide and he gasped and exclaimed, "Now I can waddle like a penguin!"  And he did - he has waddled that costume all over the house and even at church.  It is a great quality and I'm sure we will use it in our house for several years as each boy grows into it.

I would love to have this one at the zoo next summer!

Costume SuperCenter has a host of over adorable animal costumes for kids.  It is so hard to settle on just one!  

Make sure to check out Costume SuperCenter for their great costumes at fantastic prices!  

This is a sponsored post.  I received a product or products for the purpose of review.  All opinions are my own.

Tropical Traditions Barley: Review & Giveaway

Yum.

Barley is one of Monkey's new favorite foods.  I can get him to eat just about anything if I serve it with barley.  I love it that we are able to serve organic whole grain barley to our boys.  

With our recent change in diet, barley is a fantastic addition to our dry goods.  We really enjoy experimenting with it and will need to buy more as soon as our current supply runs low.  We trust Tropical Traditions to bring us healthy products that will help our family to improve ur quaqlity of life and health.  

BUY IT: Tropical Traditions organic hulled barley is currently on sale!  A 5 pound bag is $8.15 and a 10 pound bag is only 15.49!  What a great bargain for organic whole grains.

WIN IT: One of my readers will win a bag of barley for their own use!  Fill out the Rafflecopter form to enter.

Vegan Stir Fried Barley

Stir Fried Barley

Ingredients

Barley

Brussels Sprouts

Green Peppers

Carrots

Celery

Onion

Spinach

Broccoli

Other leftover vegetables as desired

Garlic

Ginger

Olive Oil

Soy Sauce

Instructions

Cook barley, in sauce pan, until soft.

Remove from burner and drain excess water.

While barley is cooking, chop vegetables into separate bowl.

When barley has been removed from the sauce pan, toss garlic, ginger, and olive oil into the bottom of the pan.  

Heat until starting to bubble.

Toss vegetables into the oil mixture on medium-high.

Stir about 5 minutes, until vegetables reach desired tenderness.

Add in barley.

Add soy sauce to desired taste.

Continue to stir until hot - 5-7 minutes.

Serve hot.

Pink Eye

Monkey has pink eye.  I've never had it and never had to deal with it before.  Does anyone have great wisdom to share about treatment or cleaning?

Free Fun Education Adventure

We love adventure, especially when it is educational... and free.  Mama Crum likes to look for fun educational adventures.  Here is one from a couple weeks ago.

We went downtown for a walk and discovered a manhole.  Discoveries this amazing always lead to a lot of questions and up close exploration.  The boys are very interested in learning what things are and how they work.

 Mr. Crum had fun showing the boys antique fire trucks through the window of the Fire Station Museum.  Now every time we drive by, Monkey yells to me about seeing fire trucks.  We look forward to taking them IN the museum one of these days.

Mr. Crum wanted to explore the Maker Station.  We got a private tour and learned about all the neat machines that the "makers" use to create things.  I wish I had some great shots inside the trailer to share.

The final stop on our adventure was The Grand Wayne Convention Center.  We NEEDED to go there, because.. why not?  Mr. Crum and I had never been inside and wanted to know what it looked like.  The boys loved these giant penguins in the entryway.

Exploring a small portion of downtown is fantastic fun, free family education and adventure!  The best part is that it takes very little planning.

Bracelet Mate: Review & Giveaway

Why is it so hard to shop for teenage girls?

There are a couple of teenage girls in my life and on my Christmas list and honestly, it is really hard to come up with an idea of something they will like other than money!  Maybe it's because I don't have an incredible sense of style - or maybe because my style is very different from theirs, but I'm baffled regarding gifts!

It took a lot of searching to find great, unique ideas to fill those voids on my list.  One of the wonderful products is the Bracelet Mate.  This stylish set of bracelets neatly conceals a small purse on the underside of your wrist!  The leather bag conforms to your wrist so it is comfortable to wear!  Bracelet Mate can fit debit cards, lip stick, money, and more for your shopping convenience!

Right now Bracelet Mate is running a holiday special - 2 for $25 on select styles.  That's a GREAT deal!

You can WIN a randomly selected Bracelet Mate right here!