Mocktails--Fun Summer Drinks!

Summers are filled with picnics and BBQs, pool parties and lazy days at the beach, weekends at the cabin and camping trips.  We love any excuse to get together with friends and family.  Often, the coolers are packed with delicious food and lots of ice cold beverages.  If you happen to be pregnant or planning on becoming pregnant, are the sober cab for your fun get togethers, or want special drinks for the kids to enjoy, the Minnesota Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (MOFAS) has some refreshing ‘summer sippers’ that we think you’ll enjoy.  With help from supporters, they have compiled a whole recipe book full of great non-alcohol drinks worth checking out, whether you are a mommy-to-be or not!  

049

These mocktails/summer sippers are super yummy and are not only good for pregnant ladies, they make perfect drinks for kids, and some are a great substitute for calorie filled alcoholic beverages if you are on a weight loss challenge like Jamie is this summer!

Nightlock

We wish this recipe book existed when we were pregnant a few summers ago!  You can bet, however, that these recipes will be on the list for Nutty's birthday party at the end of July!

Go ahead, we dare you to try these MOFAS Mocktails.  You won't be disappointed!

ToysInTheDryer and MOFAS would like to remind you that no amount of alcohol is safe to drink while pregnant.  Help us spread the message - 049 –zero alcohol for nine months.  For more information on MOFAS click on the logo above.

This post is part of a cross-promotional campaign between MOFAS and ToysInTheDryer.  We were not compensated in any way.  Opinions are 100% our own and we believe in MOFAS mission.

Paper Ring Count Down to Kindergarten

My oldest starts Kindergarten this year and I can assure you he will not let anyone forget it. He has been asking me "when do I get to start Kindergarten?" for at least a year now. Now that we're in the home stretch for the first day of school I thought it would be fun to make a "visual" for him so he could really understand how much longer until that big day. (Well, OK to be completely honest- my mom gave me the idea!)

I made an old fashion paper ring counter for him. I found a cute school bus photo online and printed it out. Then I counted off the days until the first day of school and made a paper ring for each day. Starting last night he gets to tear off one ring before bed and when he gets to the school bus he knows it's school time! What fun! My mom even had a great idea to add to the "good ol' fashion paper ring"....mark off special dates along the way with big events so he has even more to look forward to. I added a special ring for "the state fair starts," "back to school shopping," "VBS," and "papa tractors house" (he calls my father-in-law papa tractor cause he lives on a farm.

Mommy Blogger, What I Really Do...

Inspired by all the "What People Think I Do" photos floating around the internet, I decided to make my own about being a Mommy Blogger.

You will need to click on the photo to make it bigger!

Rainy Day Activities

#10- Make your own treasure hunt

#9- Corn starch and water

#8- Indoor obstacle course

#7- Popsicle stick puzzles

#6- Scratch drawings

#5- Make cleaning fun

#4- Make your own playdough

#3- Shaving cream and glue

#2- Coloring with your kids

#1- Tissue paper flowers

Hammered Flower Art

Hammered flower art can be both fun and beautiful.  I've seen some gorgeous prints in person and online so I decided to try it out with my girls.

Here's what you'll need if you want to try it with your kids:

• variety of flowers and/or leaves
• paper (plain paper will work but not as well as construction, watercolor, or other more absorbent paper)
• hammer 
• hard surface to work on such as a cutting board or piece of wood (you are going to be hammering on it)
• paper towels
• scissors
• tape (optional)

Avocado Corn Dip

Doesn't this look tasty? My kids LOVE it and it goes great with tortilla chips. A perfect summer dip.

Here's the recipe:
1 can black beans(drained)
1-16oz frozen corn
1 can sliced black olives
1 onion
4 small tomatoes
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/3 cup olive oil
1 lemon
3 T oregano
1/2 tsp. salt/pepper
3 T vinegar
4 ripe avocados


Mix and enjoy!  Leave the avocado pits in the salad to keep the avocados from discoloring.

Fun With Self-Portraits

Most of us moms do not like getting our pictures taken.  Even if we don't mind being in front of the camera, we're usually the ones behind it.  Very few of us have photos with our kids.

I realized one day when Nutty was 18 months old that I wanted her to remember me should anything happen.  I wanted her to have photos of us together, not just photos of mommy.  Thus began my self-portrait taking with my girls.

 My first self-portrait with Nutty. I propped the camera on the dresser.

The Importance of One-On-One Time With Your Child

On Monday, Lindsi did a post titled 9 Ideas for One-On-One Time With Your Child.  Today, I'm going to emphasize why it's so important to do ideas like these, and spend one-on-one time with each of your children.

As you may know, I recently reviewed the book, "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff for Moms."  In my review post I said that the chapter "Make Special Mommy and Me Time" really struck a cord with me.  You see, I spend a lot of one-on-one time with Tottie.  She is my youngest, isn't in school yet, and hasn't made many friends who's houses she can go to on her own.  I feel very connected to Tottie because of the amount of time I spend with her.  On the contrary, I spend little to no alone time with Nutty, my oldest.  She just finished Kindergarten, has many friends, and always has to deal with her little sister being around when she is home.  I feel like I do not have a strong bond with Nutty.

9 ideas for one on one time with your child

Source

With 4 kids it is difficult to find time every day to devote to one on one time with each one of my kids. It doesn't happen each day but I make sure they each get special time frequently. We call it "special time" because it usually involves something extra special.

1. Bowling- when was the last time you went bowling? My 5 year old, er um 5 1/2 year old, loves this special time. Sadly, he often beats me. The bumpers in the gutters deflate when it is my turn to bowl and I often end up right there!

2. Arts and Crafts- many stores have great arts and craft ideas in their dollar section. My kids don't really know it costs only a dollar so they don't care but, my daughter especially loves when she and I have crafty time together.

Hand Print Sunflowers

Ready for a super easy, super cute, super fun craft? Hand Print Sunflowers! 

Here is what you will need:
a small paper plate
yellow construction paper
green construction paper
brown construction paper (or a brown marker)
sunflower seeds
glue
scissors

Dump Cake

Don't let the name of this tasty treat fool you! It is SUPER good! My mom introduced our family to this recipe a few weeks ago and it has been a frequent request since then.

To make this Dump Cake you'll need:

• 21-24 oz Cinnamon Spice apple pie filling (or plain apple pie filling and 2 tbsp cinnamon)
• 1 box Duncan Hines yellow cake mix (must be Duncan Hines without pudding in the mix)
• 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
• 1/2 cup coconut (optional)
• 2 sticks of unsalted butter

Thank you to our sponsors!

We just wanted to take today and give a shout out to some of our wonderful sponsors. We are grateful for them and appreciate them so very much.

 

Kristy from Hear My Hands is a masters level certified Signing Time instructor in South Jersey. She has been a member of the Sign2Me Presenters Network since 2006. She created Hear My Hands after completing a research study using sign language and hearing infants. Kristy has a wonderful online store available on her site that offers a range of tools and books to help you learn sign language and teach your kids as well. You can view Kristy's post HERE. We hope you will take a moment and visit Kristy at Hear My Hands and let her know you are visiting from Toys In The Dryer.

 

Rebecca and Carol are the owners of Make Home Cents.  Their blog features a variety of ecofriendly and safer products for the house, home and body. They feature Melaluca products and you can view our review HERE. Melaluca is a company that has been been offering wellness products for over 25 years. They pride themselves on constantly seeking out the safest products for your home and body. We hope you will stop by Rebecca and Carols site at Make Home Cents and let them know you are visiting from Toys In The Dryer.