Christmas Gift Reviews!!

Now that the Christmas gifts have been opened and we've had some time to enjoy them, I thought I'd write some reviews from the kids on the things I made.

My prediction was that the Harry Potter Wands would be their very favorites and the heating packs would be what they were least excited about.  In actuality, switch that and reverse it.  Shows how much I know!

They liked everything I made but, far and away, their favorite has been the heating packs!  The 6 year old even put it in his top 3 gifts of Christmas.  They've used them every single day.  They heat them up each night before bed to cuddle with as they fall asleep and have used them when they come in from playing outside to warm up.

Their second favorite (or maybe tied for first but since I didn't make them, I'm going to go ahead and say they're second) is the swords their dad made them.  I didn't blog about these, as it wasn't my project, but I did find the tutorial and pin it.  After making the initial template, each sword took about an hour to make using a dowel, foam, glue, and duct tape.  You can find the instructions here but the guy writing them isn't in the US so we had to switch some things around a bit. These get played with every day too.  My dad even said he wants one of his own so we'll be making more in another month or so for his birthday.

They all say they can't pick which they like better, the Harry Potter wands or the peg dolls.  When they first opened the wands, the 20 year old was the most excited about them and she thought they were awesome.  The boys tried to figure out who's wands they were (I'm one of the few people alive who has not read any of the books or seen any of the movies so I was not aware that they should look a certain way) but the 20 year old saved me and told them that they were personalized just for them and now they had their own wands like Harry.  They pretty much sat unused for a few days but lately they've been playing with them more often and having spell battles.

The 3 year old plays with his peg dolls almost every day.  The 9 year old wanted his set up on a shelf in our family room so that he could see them each day and the 6 year old wanted his by his bed so he could see them when he went to sleep.  They all liked the characters I chose for them and they want to make more with my leftover peg people.

All in all, each gift was successful and well worth the effort to make.  It was actually quite nice to spend time crafting these things for them and both the kids and parents agree that we should do more homemade gifts every year.

Life Size Body Map

Now that the holidays are officially over (sniff, sniff, sob) it's time for us to switch focus from crafts, baking and gifts to school projects and home projects.

Today the boys and I did these Life Sized Body Maps for school.  The 9 year old really enjoyed this activity and, after initially saying he only wanted to draw on his organs and keep it simple, he got into being creative and was really interested in the different organs and how they functioned and why they were important.  The 6 year old was only semi-interested.  He, of course, thought the function of the large intestine was hilarious and he was also quite intrigued by the bladder.  I helped him find where his own bladder was by pushing gently in the area to give him the sensation of having to go to the bathroom and he had a major bout of giggling when I told him how he and his brothers used to use mine as a punching bag when they were in my tummy.  Boys! ; )

The 3 year old wanted his body traced and then drew all of his "organs" on his own...look Mama, my belly button!

I helped the 6 year old with the arm and leg bones, and we talked about what they were called, and also helped him with the bones in the hand and a bit with the large and small intestine but he took care of the heart, liver, stomach and bladder.  He's excited to show his dad and said, "I bet Daddy will be really impressed by this!"

The 3 year old was being helpful and telling him, "There's your stomach and your heart and your liver!"  We'll work  on it more with him. ; )

The 9 year old did everything himself, with a little help on the bones from me while he was gluing his finger bones (otherwise known as carpals, metacarpals, and phalanges!).  He also was very particular about using a sparkly crayon for his brain.  When one of the packing bag thingies we used for the lungs had a hole in it, we talked about punctured lungs and how our ribs protect our lungs.

This was a fun, hands on way to learn a bit more about where our organs are located in our body and how they work and what their functions are.  It inspired more creativity in the kids as well.  After we were done with the insides of our body, they wanted to be traced again and drew the outsides, complete with costumes!

New Year's Eve Countdown Balloons

Each year on New Year's Eve, we have a little party with our family at home.  There's no way I'd rather bring in the New Year than with my very favorite people in the whole world and we have fun planning some yummy food, activities to do, and seeing which kids will make it up until midnight.  On one of my daily scrolls through Pinterest, I found this idea for New Year's Countdown Balloons and thought the kids would really get a kick out of it.

I used a couple of the ideas from the blog post, but then came up with some of our own as well.  Here's our list of what we did;

1. Play a card game.
2. Put on a Glee CD and have a dance party!
3. Pick out a piece of candy.
4. Have a sword fight with Daddy.
5. Pick up main level...THEN...buy Fruit Ninja for Kinnect!
6. Have a thumb war.
7. Have a Popsicle AFTER you finish dinner.
8. Read a book in front of the fireplace.
9. Get in your coziest jammies.
10. Share some of your favorite memories from 2011.
11. Share some goals for 2012.
12. Toast with Kid Wine, then run outside with your noisemakers and yell "Happy New Year!"

I had the kids pick up their bedroom the morning of New Year's Eve and, while they were doing that, I blew up the balloons and hung them.

They noticed them immediately when they came down and were excited about seeing what kind of activity was in each one.  For the rest of the day, it was a constant countdown to the next hour.  The 3 year old asked every 5 minutes if it was time for another balloon yet.

Most of the activities were a hit!  Surprisingly, the 6 year old (not going to lie, I did type 5 at first, so not used to him being 6 yet!) was not happy with #8 but, after a couple of minutes of pouting on his own, decided to join us.

Surprisingly again, they were all excited about #9.  May have been because just before that they noticed it was FINALLY snowing and, with their dad, all went out for an impromptu snowball fight and came back in wet and freezing.  Cozy pj's probably sounded pretty darn good right about then.

~Happy New Year 2012~

The 9 year old said that he think this should do this every year and make it a tradition and the 6 year old has decided he wants me to do the same thing on his birthday next year too.  It was a great, fun, easy, cheap activity to do and everyone enjoyed it.  It will become an annual tradition at our house.

French Toast Souffle

Along with the Crock Pot Breakfast Casserole, I also found this French Toast Souffle to make.  It was an assemble-the-night-before dish, so again, perfect for not having to spend all morning in the kitchen cooking.  And when I saw cream cheese and french toast, well, I was sold.  Cream cheese just makes the world a better place.

My husband assembled this one while I was working on the egg bake and finishing up wrapping the presents.  I can't personally say how easy it was, but he did it with no questions and no complaining so I'm willing to bet it was pretty simple.

Popped this baby in the oven the next morning for about an hour and we were ready to enjoy!  This was a huge hit, everyone loved it!  It's rich and sweet with the maple syrup (we used 100% pure) and powdered sugar.  We'll be making this one in the future as well.  It's great for holidays, other special occasions, or guests.  Between the Crock Pot Breakfast Casserole and the French Toast Souffle, you have the perfect breakfast with very little time spent in the kitchen in the morning.  It's really just a matter of putting the souffle in the oven and then you can enjoy your time with your family.  Doesn't get any better than that!

I apologize again for the picture, we were already stuffing our faces with it before I remembered to take one.

Crock Pot Breakfast Casserole

Our family usually has the tradition of celebrating Christmas together on Christmas Eve.  We (my immediate family, dad, and brother) all get together and have fondue for dinner and then open our presents.  Since my brother got married a couple of years ago, this has had to evolve and change so that they can also incorporate their plans with her family.

This year, we did a Christmas Eve brunch for the first time.  Those of us who know us, know that we are not early risers in our family.  We're a late to sleep, late to rise kind of crew.  I wanted something to make that wouldn't involve me having to get up a few hours early to be in the kitchen so when I went through my Food board and saw this Crock Pot Breakfast Casserole pin, I knew it was just the thing!

We assembled it around midnight on Christmas Eve Eve (the kids got such a kick this year at wishing everyone a Merry Christmas Eve Eve Eve, then Eve Eve, and finally! Eve) and it was quick and easy.  We skipped the onions and peppers because of personal preference. We also used seasoned salt instead of dill because I didn't have any dill. The most time consuming part was cooking the bacon, the rest was pretty much tossing things into the crock pot.

The house smelled SO good when we woke up the next morning!  The casserole was really yummy and we'll be making it again, next time maybe as a Breakfast for Dinner dish.  This would be easily adaptable as well, adding different veggies, or other kinds of cheese or sausage instead of bacon....

Pardon my picture.  I had forgotten to take any until we already started digging in!

Christmas Crack

I know this recipe is nothing new but I've never made it myself, and actually, I've rarely been at gatherings where people have had it.  When I saw this Christmas Crack recipe circling Pinterest, I figured I'd try it with my Enjoy Life chocolate chips.

This was quick and easy to make and it is awesome!  I gave the 5 year old a taste while I was breaking up the pieces and he turned into a vulture, hovering over me, waiting for small broken pieces that he could snatch up.  He has declared it his new favorite Christmas treat!

Heating Packs

I have a rice heating pack that I bought for .10 at a garage sale about 10 years ago.  It has been the best .10 I've ever spent.  I use it almost every day for everything from headaches, to stomach aches, to sore muscles.  My kids have been wanting to use mine a lot lately, sometimes I think they just like snuggling up to something warm, so I added that to my list of homemade gifts for them this year.  I didn't have this pinned already so I just searched "rice heating pack" on Pinterest and this is one of the many tutorials I found.

I didn't follow the tutorial exactly, more to just get a general idea.  I picked out a special fabric for each boy; dragons for the 9 year old, pirates for the 5 year old, and sharks for the 3 year old. I used my current heating pack as a template, cut out the fabric, and since I don't know how to use my sewing machine I hand sewed them.  It didn't take too long at all, about an hour each one.

I had read in the comments (boy, you can really learn a lot reading the comments in tutorials, very helpful for hints before you start!) to rinse your rice first so your heating pack doesn't smell like a rice bowl the first few times you use it.  I then added about 15 drops of peppermint essential oil and about 15 drops of cinnamon essential oil to the rice and stirred it up, added it to the bags and stitched them close.  They smell SO yummy!  Like Christmas in a bag!

While this won't be a gifts the boys are jumping up and down over, I think they will end up being used a ton.  I'm going to make another one for myself since my trusty 10 year old friend has seen better days by now.  These are easy to make, even more so if you have sewing machine skills, and the tutorial linked above has a sweet little poem you can include with your heating pack, making it great for gift giving!