• Easy Snowflake Marshmallows

    The girls loved having these marshmallows in their hot chocolate!

    Yes, I know you can make fabulous homemade marshmallows, but if you are limited on time and resources this is a quick, easy, and fun food craft you can do with your kids.  You only need 2 items to do  these cute snowflake marshmallows (and you probably have these items in your kitchen already).  The kids will LOVE these marshmallows in their next cup of hot chocolate!

    Easy Snowflake Marshmallows

    • 1 bag Large White Marshmallows
    • 1 pair clean Kitchen Scissors
    • Optional – Small Cookie Cutters

    Take one large marshmallow and flatten it with a rolling pin (it doesn’t need to be completely flat just enough so you can cut it easily).  Use your scissors to cut snowflake or other shape for your marshmallow.  If you have small cookie cutters you can use those to cut out the shapes.  You can do as many or few marshmallows as you like.  Place the marshmallows on a serving platter and enjoy with your next cup of hot chocolate.

    I did a mix of scissor and cookie cutter snowflakes.  You can do snowflakes, stars, trees, or whatever shapes you want.  The girls wanted to help, they did more of the cookie cutter ones but enjoyed experimenting with cutting the snowflakes with scissors.  These are cute for a fun evening with the family or a get together with a larger group.

    One of the super easy cookie cutter marshmallow treats the girls made!  They ended up eating some of the snowflake outlines and the rest they used in their hot chocolates.

    Snowflake melting in a mug of hot chocolate

    Another cool “experiment” the kids can do with their snowflakes…..have them check out how much the snowflakes grow (expand) while in the hot chocolate!  Take a tooth pick and carefully pull the marshmallow out of the hot chocolate after it has been in only 30 seconds or so (depending on temperature of your hot chocolate) and see how plump your snowflake looks now.  The kids will LOVE it! 🙂

  • Travel & Vacation: Little Gifts of Love (part 2)

    A package of candy buttons for each girl hanging up on the towel rack

    Two Cabbage Patch Kids Books

    I left two Cabbage Patch books standing up on our dresser for the kids to find.  The note says:

    Be good! 

    Have Fun!

    Obey Grandma!

    I love you so very much!

    Love,

    Mom

    Writing books for the kids

    On the computer desk I left two writing books so the girls could take the time to practice writing their letters neater.  The note read:

    Brina (or Karlie) – Work on your letters! Love you, Mommy

    Two surprise books waiting for the girls in the storage room

    In the storage room I left two books for the girls to read:

    Note reads:   Brina and Karlie, These books are to remind you that your Dad & I love you very much.  We look forward to seeing you soon. Love, Mom

    Heart and flower shaped marshmallows

    I left the girls a package of pink and white hearts and flower marshmallows.  They loved eating these delicious treats.

    A couple new books for the kids

    Note reads:  Brina Bee!  have fun and enjoy your time with Grandma! Look out for Karlie, Skipper, Shipwreck and OverBoard! – Mom  (Karlie had one as well but it fell off the book.)

    I Wonder Why Books little gifts for the girls

    Note reads:  Karlie & Brina, I saw these books and thought of you.  Hope you learn lots and do well in school!  Hugs and Kisses coming your way.  – Mom

    Left these books for the girls.  They love them and enjoy learning about various facts.  Books are one of the girls favorite goodies!

     

  • Living on a Budget: Groceries $40 for 4

    The week went by quickly.  I have been fighting off a cold so I didn’t do as well bargain shopping throughout the entire week.  Thankfully I was able to find some amazing deals early in the week and was able to stock up on some candy to share with others (including the girls school) during some upcoming events and parties.  I was running low on shredded cheeses (a big no-no in our house) so I was able to stock up on it and other items this week.  Here is my weekly update on our Groceries $40 for 4.

    Groceries from Ingles

    Ingles Groceries:

    • $29.28 at Ingles for 1 bag Laura Lynn Bread, 2 blocks Laura Lynn Sharp Cheddar Cheese, 5 bags Laura Lynn Shredded Cheese, 1 box Margarine, 1 bag Ham Lunch Meat, 1 whole Chicken, 1 box Pillsbury Yellow Cake Mix, 1 box Pillsbury Brownie Mix, 1 bag Laura Lynn Miniature Marshmallows, 1 container Fresh Lemons, 1 Sweet Yellow Onion, 1 bag Regular White Pitas, 1 bag Onion Pitas, 2 bags Deli Egg Roll Wraps, and 1 container Spinach Bites.  (Everything I bought this week at Ingles was on sale, marked down, or on clearance including the meat, diary, and produce!)
    Groceries from CVS

    CVS Groceries:

    • $0.70 at CVS for 4 bags Oreo Mini Snack Packs, 2 bags Wonka Nerds, 2 bags Milky Way Simply Caramel, 2 bags Hershey’s Cookies N Cream, 1 bag Twizzlers Strawberry Twists Snack Pack, 2 bags Butterfinger Fun Size, 1 bag 100 Grand Fun Size, 2 bags Nestle Crunch Fun Size, 2 bags Whoppers Snack Size, and 2 jars Skippy Peanut Butter.  (My family will not be eating all this candy and sugar, but I was thrilled to get it since I have several upcoming parties and celebrations where I need to bring goody bags.  All the items were on clearance after the Halloween Holiday or on sale and will come in handy for upcoming events.  It was a great price on clearance items and none of the items expire until late 2012.  The Extra Care Bucks were a huge savings help.  To see more details about this shopping trip go to my CVS: Spent $0.70 and Got $3 ECB’s)

    This week I spent $29.98 on groceries.  Even though I only a little under on my budgeted amount for the week I was able to stock up on several items.  The Halloween Clearance at CVS was pretty amazing and the items I picked up on will be beneficial for several different upcoming events so it was worth to stock up the pantry at those prices.  I hope that next week is better week and we can come under budget!

    It is my goal to give you regular updates on this budget section so you can celebrate the good weeks with me and thump me on the bad weeks!  As always you are welcomed to join the journey with me.  I would love to hear your story and how you are doing too.  The purpose of our family doing this it to watch our grocery spending while allowing us to feed our family, enjoy life, share with others, and yet stay on track with our budget.

    Living on a Budget is a series of ways our family uses a budget to help keep us accountable with our finances.  Life doesn’t always go as planned.  We have used some of the ideas I will be sharing for years while others are ones we are just starting to implement as we continue finding ways to be creative and have fun with what we have been given.  Having a plan in place allows us the freedom to be smart with what we have been given, get more creative when it is a tight (week, month, year or a season) and when necessary live a much more simplified life.  A budget helps us stay on track so we have more opportunities to enjoy the many blessings we have been given as well as share what we have with others.  There is so much more to life than having all the stuff.  We may not have the newest or greatest items in our house, we drive used cars, and wear hand-me-down clothing…..however, if our family is taken care of and have love for each other and others we have more than all the riches in the world.