Recipe for Happy Eaters

Everyone loves finding a great new recipe, right? Question is...what do you do with them once you find them? Here's an idea that works for us. I subscribe to all kinds of magazines, and they all seem to have recipes I want to try. I went to the store and purchased a 2 inch binder, page protectors, and star stickers. When I find a recipe I like, I rip it out, put it in a page protector, and then in the binder. When I make the recipe, I have the family rate it with stars (4 stars being the best) However many stars they rate, I stick the stickers on the page, so I can keep track of how well the recipe was liked. Under two stars...I pretty much throw it away! My binder is filled with wonderful recipes that we've tried through the years, and I am constantly filling it with new ones. Try it, and let me know how it works for you!

Calendar Countdown

Ok, do you know when you are all excited, and planning a vacation for the family? Every day the kids as how many days til we leave? Here’s my idea to help them countdown, without driving you crazy every five minutes asking…”how long until we leave”. I use a standard calendar template from MS publisher, and download all kinds of free clip art to decorate the calendar. Each girl gets their own personalized calendar to use. Then I go to Staples and laminate them. We use them as placemats, and they check off the date every morning when they wake up. I’ve been doing this for them since they were three, and they are 11 and 12 now. I asked them this year if they wanted calendars for our yearly Florida trip, and they said yes, of course. I don’t think our trip would be the same without them. I save them in our scrapbooks every year when I scrapbook the pictures.

Make Vacation Car Rides Fab!

Going on a vacation via car? You will need lots of things to keep the kiddos busy. Believe it or not, they will probably get sick of the handheld games at some point. I bought a 1 in binder, crayons, colored pencils, pencil holder that attaches in the binder, and stickers. Then I googled car games, and found a ton of things to print out. From tic tac toe templates and license plate games, to scavenger hunts that you can do on the road. Personalized mad libs, word searches, and easy crossword puzzles are some other things I added. At the time we were headed to Disney, so I also printed a bunch of Disney coloring pages, and included a map of the park. I three hole punched everything and didn’t show the kids the binder until we were on the road. They loved it!! It kept them busy and playing for hours…no electronics needed!!

You will need:

1 or 1 ½ in binder
crayons, markers, colored pencils
stickers
printed out coloring pages
printed out games, check out: http://travelwithkids.about.com/cs/printgames/a/gamesprint.htm
anything else that has to do with where you are visiting (flyers, pamphlets..etc)

My Fabulous Idea for Kids' Chores

Tired of trying to keep up with your kids' chores? Did they do them, didn’t they?? Here’s something we do at our house to keep chores in check. Using Microsoft word, I made a chore list by inserting a table. I set up the page as landscape. Along the top, I inserted the days of the week, and down the left side, I inserted the chore. I went and purchased an 8.5x11 document frame ($5.00), and a dry erase marker from Walmart. I put the chore list in the frame, and used string and attached the dry erase marker to the frame, so it hangs down. I hung the frame by each of the kids doors to remind them what they need to do in the morning (brush teeth, for example), and in the afternoon. The fact that my kids need a reminder to brush their teeth in the morning is disturbing enough, but the chore list just saves me from asking them “Did you brush your teeth this morning?” a thousand and one times. Each time they do the chore, they X it off on the frame. It’s handy because you can tailor the chore list to fit each of your children’s needs, and the frame makes it so you don’t have to print out a new list every week. Just erase, and start over.

Items needed: 8.5x11 document frame, string, tape (to tape the string to the marker, and back of the frame), dry erase marker