Homemade Moon Sand Maddess

Yesterday afternoon,
I quickly pulled together a batch of
homemade Moon Sand,
all under the watchful eye of several kiddos.

As soon as I put it down on the driveway...

...the kiddos began playing with it

like a duck takes to water!

Moon Sand can be purchased at your local 

mega stores,

but I think the homemade kind is just as fun-

and definitely cheaper.

There are several kinds of recipes 

for Moon Sand floating around Pinterest,

but the one I chose to use was 

EASY and EDIBLE,

which is important when dealing with several 

wee ones.

8 cups of flour

1 cup of vegetable oil

I doubled recipe,

and very easily mixed it up in a

big plastic container

with my hands.

Now this can be a bit messy to play with,

so I recommend using it outside...

It works a lot like sand,

without the grainy feel.

Even Pretty Princess Pants

wanted to get in on the fun,

and since this recipe is edible,

I felt like I could let her...

Good clean messy fun

which lasted quite a while-

score!

Happy National Watermelon Day!

Today is National Watermelon Day...

...so a special breakfast is a must!

I whipped up a batch of...

...Watermelon Pancakes for the kiddos and their friends-
YUM!

You can find the tutorial HERE that I based
my pancakes off of.
Jenni Price's mini-cakes are much cuter than mine,
but...

...the kiddos were still pleased with our final results! ;0)

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Oh, and a little side note:

Make certain the lids on your
Condiment Squirt Bottles are on nice and tight...

...or you will end up with some lovely
"abstract" pancake art...

Quadro-dog Birthday Dinner

Jungle Girl got to choose what she wanted
for her birthday dinner,
so she chose a fav of all the kiddos
in The Fantastic Five...

...The Quadro-Dog Dinner.

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For this simple and fun recipe,
all ya need is the following:

Hot dogs
Macaroni or small shell pasta
Frozen or leftover mixed veggies
Alfredo sauce
Goldfish crackers

First, prepare your hot dogs
by cutting them in half,
about an inch down from the top.

Then cut those halves in half.

(You can cut the four sections in half again,
if you want your hot dogs to have eight legs.
But I find that often one or two of the legs will be
a bit to thin, so we just stick with
Quadro-dogs instead of Octo-dogs.)

Put the hot dogs into a sauce pot and cover it with water.
Bring the water to a boil, take the pot off the burners,
and set the pot to the side.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the box's directions.
During the last three minutes of the cooking time,
add the frozen vegetables.
(Add leftover vegetable with two minutes left
on the cooking time.)

Drain the pasta mix and return it to the cooking pot.

Add your favorite Alfredo sauce to the pasta mixture...

...and stir on low heat until heated threw.

Scoop some of the pasta mix onto a plate,
set up one of the Quadro-dogs onto the pasta,
and sprinkle a few Goldfish crackers onto the pasta.

Then dig in!There's not a better dinner at the end the day
for THIS birthday girl...

In Love with Letters- Rr

Letter Art for the Big "R"
"R" is for Rabbit
(Baby Girl's version)

(Idea from Curious George Learns the Alphabet
by H. A. Rey)

(Little Wild Man's version-
apparently, his big rabbit was being
mobbed by all the little rabbits...)

Letter Art for Little "r"

"r" is for rainbow
(Baby Girl's version)

(Idea from No Time for Flashcards)

(Little Wild Man's version)

Laundry LOVE...

I hate doing the laundry.

Well, perhaps "hate" is too strong of a word...

But it IS my least favorite chore.

So, when I put together a batch of
Home Made Laundry Detergent
(this is a GREAT tutorial from Homestead Blogger)
a couple days ago,
I must say....

I feel the need to pat myself on the back.

(I really like the look and smell of
Fels Naptha Soap...I am so strange...)

I went to Goodwill to purchase a pot
I could make my detergent and other cleaners in...

I hope the good people of
Erin Presbyterian Church
know that I have put it to good use...

Final results of my efforts...

5 full bottles of laundry detergent!!!

YAHOO!!!

P.S. I know some people have problems finding the correct supplies to make
the laundry detergent,
but I really had no problem.
All of the supplies were at our local Kroger.

However, if you can't get them in your area,
here are some websites you can purchase them from:

Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
20 Mule-team Borax
Fels Natha Soap

Green Eggs and Ham for Grown-Ups

For dinner on Dr. Seuss' birthday,
I decided to fix Green Eggs and Ham,
adult style.

I used a recipe my aunt gave me for
"Ham and Cheese Pies"
and colored it green to honor the Doc.

The ingredients you will need for this recipe are as follows:

2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
1-1/3 cup diced, cooked ham (a great way to use up leftovers!)
8 eggs
3-1/2 cups milk
3/4 teaspoon tarragon
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
green food coloring (if you're making it honor of the doc!)
4 cups unseasoned croutons

Slightly beat all the eggs in a bowl.

Add all the other ingredients,
except the croutons, and mix together.

Add a few drops of green food coloring and mix again.

Divide the egg mixture into two pie pans, 10 " x 1-1/2".

At this point, you may cover and refrigerate the pies
for up to 24 hours.

(This note is for all of you who plan ahead,
unlike me,
who decided to make this the afternoon before dinner!)

When you're ready to bake the pies,
top them each with 2 cups of croutons.

Bake them, uncovered, at 350 degrees,
for about 45-50 minutes.
When a knife is inserted 1" from the edge and it comes out clean,
the pies are ready to come out.

Let them stand 10 minutes before serving.

Side note:
You can make your own croutons by slicing bread into 1/2" cubes,
and baking them at 200 degrees on a Pam-sprayed pizza pan.
Do this for about an hour, stirring the bread every 15 minutes or so.

This is a great way to use the heels of the loaves of loaves
or bread that is on the verge of becoming too stale to eat.

While the kiddos tried the dish,
I read to them
Dr. Seuss'
"Green Eggs and Ham,"
of course!

The critics responded to the recipe in the following manner:

Thumbs down from Jungle Girl...

Thumbs down from Little Wild Man...

...but two thumbs up from Baby Girl and Wonder Mom!