Family

DIY Christmas Gift | Chocolate Dipped Pretzel Bags

During the holidays, I like to give a little something nice to my coworkers and the kids’ teachers. The trick is finding something that fits in my budget and also falls under a “one size fits all” category to save on shopping time. This was the DIY Christmas gift I gave out last year. It was so easy and inexpensive to make!

DIY Christmas Gift Idea: Pretzel Treat Bags

To make the chocolate dipped pretzels, you need a really fat pretzel. Either the twisty kind or the straight kind will do.

Materials:

Pretzel twists or sticks

White and brown milk chocolate chips

2 microwave-safe bowls

Candy sprinkles

Wax paper

Holiday treat bags

Ribbon

Gift tags

Put one color of chocolate chips in each bowl. Working with one color at a time, microwave for 30 seconds and stir. Repeat until the chips are melted and soft.

Dip a pretzel in melted chocolate and top with a light coating of candy sprinkles.

Lay the sprinkled, chocolate-covered pretzels on a sheet of wax paper and allow them to dry completely.

Once they are dry, put some candy-covered pretzels into a treat bag. Tie it with ribbon and add a gift tag with the recipient’s name.

This time of year I always find myself caught up in the holiday spirit. I want to give something nice to everyone I know, but of course that’s not reasonable. I want my fellow coworkers and Logan’s teachers to know that I appreciate them, but I don’t have a lot of extra time or money. This was such an easy and inexpensive DIY Christmas gift to put together. I plan to make another batch of these treat bags this year, and I know the twins would love to help me dip the pretzels in chocolate!

What’s your go-to gift for coworkers ? Let’s discuss holiday gift-giving in the comments sections below!

Day Trip to Palm Springs with Kids

This post is sponsored by Palm Springs but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

Last weekend we were feeling adventurous so we hopped in the car and drove out to visit beautiful the beautiful desert oasis, Palm Springs. For us it is only 90 miles away, which is closer than L.A. and there was no traffic. Hooray for that! We had so much fun on our one day getaway that I just had to share with you our day trip to Palm Springs with kids.

First Stop on the Right

As you pull in to Palm Springs, the very first building you will see is the tourist center. I highly recommend you stop in! The folks here have maps and all the info you need to make the most of your trip. They will probably suggest you take the aerial tram up the mountain. The views are breathtaking and, if you go during the winter, there is often snow up there! Since we’ve already been up the tram for a spring break jaunt a few years back, we headed for downtown Palm Springs. But I can’t stress enough how awesome the tram experience is, and if you’re new to Palm Springs you absolutely must add this to your to-do list!

Checking Out Downtown Palm Springs

Once you’re downtown, it’s a good idea to drive down the main strip and get an idea of what you want to see and do. Or better yet, park in one of the free parking lots, get out, and walk! That’s what we did, because we wanted to get the full downtown experience. Downtown Palm Springs boasts a wide range of unique shops, breweries, and restaurants. There are over 100 dining options including sweet shoppes, ice cream, and gelato. The hard part isn’t finding a nice place to eat, it’s getting everyone to agree one of the many delicious restaurants!

Great restaurants AND a local brewery!

We stopped for lunch at Blue Coyote Grill, which serves traditional Mexican dishes, but they also have mac ‘n cheese on their kids menu. That’s a win-win for us! The staff were very friendly and treated the twins as if they were little princesses. We dined on the patio because Palm Springs weather is pretty mild mid-day in the winter.

Other Must-See Points of Interest

The backdrop of Palm Springs is the majestic San Bernadino mountains. A stunning contrast of desert palms against the tall, dark mountains gives Palm Springs a tropical feel to it. We all pulled over at one point just to look at the breathtaking scenery. My photos don’t do it justice, so you’ll have to go see for yourself!

As you drive around Palm Springs, also pay special attention to the architecture. This building designs are unlike most busy cities. Even the KFC has a distinct structure, almost resembling a scene from the Jetsons! The homes in some neighborhoods are also pretty interesting if you have the chance to drive through.

Gotta love that front door decor!

Be sure and stop by the Moorten Botanical Gardens. The cacti and other flora are incredible. The kids had so many questions about the plants in the “cactarium” We met some doves and a large African tortoise named Tank!

Inside the world’s only “Cactarium”

If you come from March through October you can also take advantage of the Wet ‘n’ Wild Palm Springs waterpark. The many slippery rides and attractions will provide fun for the whole family.

With all the unique family experiences Palm Springs has to offer, it just makes sense to head out there on a day trip with the kids! No matter the time of year, you are sure to find great dining experiences and opportunities to make family memories.

To My Baby on His 4th Birthday

Today you are 4, and what a fun age this is! Just like your older brother, you are an easygoing kid. But you also are super high-energy, a characteristic that causes you to stand out from your siblings.

There is a lot of responsibility to being 4. You can’t crawl into Mommy’s and Daddy’s bed in the middle of the night. Well… Maybe just one more time, ok?

Big 4-year-old boys wear shoes with laces because they have big important things to do. Like running and sliding on their knees on the kitchen floor. Just please be careful not to knock your front teeth out like your big sister did!

When it comes to independence, you are far from the “baby of the family”. Your best bud is our 6-year-old neighbor, and you get along great with older kids. But you are still kind and gentle when littler kids are around. You refer to anyone younger than you as a ‘baby’, haha! But you’re still my baby, although I know I need to stop calling you that.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Nikki Stevens (@simply_sweet_days) on Nov 30, 2018 at 3:14pm PST

For all your running and energy, you love to snuggle up with Mommy and listen to a story. You like dinosaurs, sharks, puppies, teddy bears, and playing with your sisters. At the end of the day, you love to be tucked into your little bed with your ‘small blankie’ that you’ve had since you were born. Once that small blankie is in your hand, you push your fingers through the holes in the crocheted patterns and instantly fall asleep.

You recently started preschool. It makes your Mommy so proud to hear your teacher say that you get along with the other children and participate in the activities. You came home from the first day of preschool with green paint all over your hands, face, and shirt. That’s when I knew this was a great place for you to be. Happiness abounds in a place where you can get your favorite color all over you while you play and create.

You already know a few letters, numbers, shapes, and colors. Especially green, your favorite color (because it’s the color of Gekko from PJ masks). But I’m not pushing you to learn more than you’re ready for. This is your last year to play all day, and next year you’ll be in school.

Enjoy being 4, Johnny. I pray this next year brings you new adventures and new opportunities to learn independence. But don’t grow up too fast. I love you to bits and pieces. My little bear, my little tornado.

Love, Mommy

Breakfast with Santa 2018 and the Christmas Parade

We had a busy Saturday. To start it off, the kids got up much earlier than they usually do. This ended up being fine because we had big plans for the morning: Our Breakfast with Santa! This is an event that our church puts on every year. There are crafts for the kids, carols, silly games, a fantastic hot cocoa bar, a hot pancake breakfast, all topped off by a visit from the big guy himself. It’s such a treat for our little guys!

Breakfast with Santa 2018

The crafts this year were really cute. Johnny made a “baby Jesus” swaddled in a blanket while Madeline and Emily worked at another table making fruit loop necklaces. The strings were licorice ropes, so the whole thing was edible. Those did not last long! By the end, one more girl had made a baby Jesus and all 3 decorated pinecones with glitter and other crafty add-ons.

We thought the pancake breakfast was a hit. The centerpieces included photo booth-style props that kept the girls entertained. I took half a dozen photos of them holding up various holiday props. The group game was to dress someone at your table as a Christmas tree, and somehow Madeline was nominated to be the tree. I bet if you stood her next to the tree in our living room you wouldn’t know which is the fir and which is the girl, right? 😉

After all that food and fun we were so excited to see the jolly old elf. After all, he is the most important part of the whole breakfast with Santa event. It all went by so quickly, I didn’t get a chance to hear if the kids confessed to being naughty or nice. I’ll vouch for them though, they’ve been nice almost all year long. Related: Last Year’s Breakfast with Santa, titled “We Only Behave for Santa”

Personally, the busy morning wiped me out. I’ve been fighting a bug anyway, so the rest of the afternoon was spent lazily working on decorating our tree and watching Christmas movies. There’s no rest for the weary though, because soon it was time to head to the Christmas parade!

I loaded up kids, hats, and gloves into our wagon that I take everywhere, and rolled everyone the half-mile to main street. It was so much fun watching the parade that I didn’t get many pictures, so here’s a short video!

As I write this, the first day of December is coming to a close. I am so looking forward to the next 24 days of the holiday season and all the fun we’re going to have! Happy holidays, friends!

Our Girl Power Trip Across California

Every other year, our little tribe spends Thanksgiving with John’s family. My family is all pretty much local, but John’s family… They’re a bit more spread out. It’s hard to catch everyone in the same place at the same time, so our best bet is to meet at Grandpa’s house for turkey dinner. This year was also a big milestone birthday for Grandpa, so it was an extra special thing to go see him.

Processed with VSCO with a6 preset

It’s been a few years since we visited the family, so the kids couldn’t wait to see everyone. Because of scheduling issues, John and Johnny went up a day ahead of us by plane, and just the girls went on a road trip.

To get to Modoc county from San Diego takes about 12 hours, depending on traffic and bathroom breaks. Not long ago the girls were asking for another road trip, and boy did they get one! They kept referring to it as our “girl power trip”. I guess when you put 3 ladies together in the car for a few days, the energy turns into girl power. Something like that.

Aunt Jana is a world-class French braider!

We got to see some beautiful California landscapes. I chose to hit the road at 2 a.m. so the girls could sleep through some of the drive. That meant that we were pulling into sight of those big, craggy Alabama hills from the old cowboy movies just as the sun was rising. Boy, was it beautiful. I wish I had a picture to show you, but the best thing would be to visit Lone Pine and see it for yourself.

Somewhere up in the mountains of the 395 before you get to the Nevada state line, I started to feel restless. As we weaved through the mountains, this little creek seemed to be following us. I pointed it out to the girls, and do you know what they said? “What’s a creek, Mommy?”

My kids don’t know what a creek is?! Time to pull over.

The girls and I took a pit stop on our girl power trip to go explore the sights and sounds of a creek. Much to their disappointment, I wasn’t about to let them swim in it. The weather was a brisk low 50’s, so really I was doing them a favor. 😉

After a long drive, we made it to see Daddy and Johnny and the rest of the family in Modoc county, a place that my brother in law jokingly refers to as “the part of California that nobody visits”. Haha. There wasn’t any snow where we were staying, but some did fall off the undercarriage of a truck parked at the lodge. That counts, right?

Confession: This is not our truck. The kids just pulled snow out from under some random guy’s truck!

The girl power trip was a great bonding experience for me and my girls. They entertained themselves in the car with imaginary play, singing, and lots of coloring.

We are expert road-trippers by now. The drive was long and pretty boring at times, but making an effort to go see family is totally worth it, don’t you think?

Boredom-Buster Games and Activities for Kids

Our house always seems to draw a crowd. I don’t know if it’s because my kids are just that entertaining or if I make the best snacks around, but I like to think it’s the snacks. 😉 Even on those days when it feels like we’ve hit our max capacity on neighborhood visitors, the kids can become bored of each other’s company. That’s when even the nicest kids can get cranky and start to bicker. I keep some games and activities on hand for just such a time. No cranky kids can resist my boredom busters! They’re great for rainy days or super hot summer days.

These are some of our favorite indoor activities. Some you can plan spontaneously and others you will have to have on hand for rainy days! Be sure and check out my Amazon list of rainy day must-haves to find these ideas and more boredom-buster inspiration!

Painting “Sun Catchers”

My kids love making these! I got extra paints and they’ve lasted such a long time. With a stash of suction cup hooks on the kitchen slider, we switch out the kids art so there’s always something on display! Our top picks for sun catcher supplies are definitely on the rainy day must-haves list.

Building a blanket fort

This activity is great for when they have a friend over too. It keeps them busy and their conversations are pretty adorable to listen in on.

Making fuse bead art

This is a great activity because it keeps kids busy for a loooooooooong time. My kids needed help the first time they made things with fuse beads, but once they got the hang of it they were off and running! The neighbors love joining us for a fuse bead craft session.

Play-Doh

Oh my gosh, have you seen the POOP Play-Doh?? Too funny! We keep a big tub of Play-Doh and accessories on a shelf just outside the playroom. When we bring out the Play-Doh, the kids know the fun is about to begin!

Special “Rainy Day” craft supplies

Our house is full of various crayons and coloring books. But for exceptionally boring days we break out the super duper special art stuff, like a big cylinder of gel pens, color-with-water books, and puffy stickers. The kids love adding pizzazz to their art with a big fuzzy flower!

Lights Out!

On dark and glooomy afternoons, my kids love to turn out the lights and turn on the flashlights. I found some cute bug-shaped lights on Amazon that we’ve had for almost a year!

Puzzles

Maybe I’m just a nerd, but I love puzzles on a lazy day. Whether it’s too wet or too hot to go outside, a puzzle offers entertainment AND not a lot of mess! Gotta love that. 😉

Make paper airplanes

It’s definitely a challenge to make the perfect paper airplane. I use a tutorial (like the book found here) and help my kids fold the plane. But then they get to color and decorate the plane once it is “built”!

Building and Learning Activities
These activity boxes are far more creative than anything I could come up with. Our favorites are:

KiwiCo Crates. I love that each activity incorporates STEAM principles too! (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math).

Mrs. Wordsmith. Great vocabulary building learning opportunities! Johnny loves doing his “homework”, haha.

Zonk’dBox. This science experiment-themed box gets my teacher mojo going. Plus it comes with snacks to enjoy while you create!

Most of the activities mentioned in this post can be found on our Amazon rainy day must-haves list, so be sure and check it out. And please share any expert boredom-busters that you’ve found to be helpful, I’d love to add them to our list!

Happiness is a House Full of Kids

Many of the kids in the neighborhood have been flocking to our house the last few weeks. I’m not sure what’s attracting everyone, but I’m glad they’re here! I enjoy the noisy games and kids racing through the halls. It’s also nice to know where my kids are, who they’re playing with and what they’re doing.

We don’t have a very big outdoor area. Our patio has a barbecue, a small concrete space, and a playhouse. The kids don’t go in the playhouse very often because they’re afraid it has spiders and I don’t blame them! They prefer to sit on the roof and play imaginary games, like being on a boat in the middle of a lava explosion. They also like to play thunderstorm, but they haven’t quite connected with the fact that you don’t climb on the roof in a storm.

We get all ages of kids over here, and I feed as many of them as I can. Maybe that’s why they keep coming over? It can get expensive providing snacks for the neighborhood, so I’ve found some cheap ways to keep their little bellies full: popcorn, pretzels, and pink lemonade made from a tub of powder. The oldest kid who comes over is about 13, and he has autism. He’s high-functioning and loves playing pretend with the kids. He’s a gentle boy and being around the little ones makes him feel important, like he’s helping us out. The youngest neighbor is his 2-year-old brother, who often tags along. I don’t mind the little guy being there, but I do make sure to keep a close eye on him. Sorry, buddy. No popcorn or roof-climbing for you!

It rained a little bit, and the dirt made thick mud that was perfect for making pies. The girls realized that you could make colorful pies by adding ground-up sidewalk chalk, and they spent a good part of the afternoon baking things for all the boys. It’s funny to hear them mimic things they hear their parents say, like, “you better eat all your chicken or you won’t get any dessert!”

In the midst of busy schedules and juggling a stressful work load, it helps to be around kids who are fully entertained by mud and playhouses. I love listening to their stories spin out and their innocent chatter as I’m elbow-deep in dishwater. I get caught up in their excitement, and forget about my worries. When all the kids are here, my mind doesn’t have to think about any of the big, grown-up problems that so often hold my thoughts hostage. For a while, I get to live with them in the carefree land of imagination. It’s a mental and emotional state that I think we all need to find ourselves in more often, don’t you?

How Not to be a Stressed Out Mom

This post was sponsored by Neutrogena as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

As a working mom with 3 small children, I know how important it is to take some time for yourself! But, like many moms, I don’t always do what I know I should. Today I want to give you some tips to slow down, relax, and focus some attention on yourself.

How not to be a stressed out mom

Limit Screen Time

One of the biggest things you can do to lower feelings of anxiety and tension is to put down the phone down. Have you ever tracked how much screen time you use on a daily basis? Some smart phone apps can monitor your screen time, and you’d be surprised at how many hours a day are spent on the phone! Focusing on your phone causes your muscles to tense and your heart to race. Help your body relax by taking a break from the phone and focusing on something more soothing.

Get Moving!

Exercise is known to boost endorphins, lower stress, and increase energy levels. If making it to the gym is too time consuming, find a 15-minute activity you can do like walking in the neighborhood. I look forward to the walks I take and with my kids. They help me see the beautiful things around us, like these flowers! I think they are gardenias? Johnny and I stopped to smell these dewy buds early in the morning, and he said they made his nose wet. Isn’t nature funny like that?

Soak the Stress Away

I know, everyone says you should take a bath to lower stress. But it’s so true! I’ve noticed that my kids are so much calmer when they have a bath before bed instead of a shower. The same goes for us moms. A dip in warm suds is just the thing to soothe those tense muscles. Turn a bath into a spa-like experience with Neutrogena Rainbath! It makes my skin feel clean and conditioned without leaving behind a filmy residue. This bath and shower gel comes in 5 lovely scents: Renewing Pear & Green Tea, Rejuvenating Pomegranate, Replenishing Ocean Mist, and Restoring Fresh Plum.

Breathe in Calm, Breathe Out Stress

I love how a nice smell can totally change how I feel inside. I use this Neutrogena Rainbath both in the shower as a shower gel and in the bath. Some days it seems like a shower is my only time alone. These are the times when I need to be pampering myself with some Neutrogena Rainbath on my loofah. My favorite scent is the plum. When I use it, I think of fresh ripe fruit and strolls through the orchard. And even though it’s winter, the weather here in San Diego is still in the upper 80’s. Which means wearing shorts. Which also means shaving legs. Thankfully, my Neutrogena Rainbath can also be used as shaving gel! So I only have to buy one product for plenty of skin-smoothing bathing. Neutrogena Rainbath Restoring Fresh Plum

Grab your Neutrogena Rainbath at Walgreens or walgreens.com. Between now and November 4th, enter to win one of ten Neutrogena Rainbath bundles, which include one of each of the 5 Neutrogena Rainbath scents.

Neutrogena Rainbath Sweepstakes

I-C will randomly select winners from all program entries and RPR will facilitate fulfillment of the winning prizes of 10 winners.

Halloween Pencil Treats

These Halloween pencil treats are candy-free, so they make a cute little gift for your child’s class. They are so easy to make that even your small children can help you! Ever since I had a type-1 diabetic student in my class, I try to be more conscious of the sweet treats I send to school. If possible, I try and come up with a candy-free goodie for the kids to share with friends. We made enough to pass out to the girls’ classmates, and had a few extras to add to our Halloween candy dish for the big night!

When I first came up with the idea for this post I was planning on making cute little printable cutouts. But it turned out to be a lot of work both to create the printables and to cut out 30 little Halloween shapes! I found these cute cutouts online, and they work much better for what I need to do. I love that they’re not too spooky for my little cuties!

Halloween Pencil Treats

Materials:
Halloween-shaped mini cutouts
Single hole punch
Fancy pencils

Simply punch a hole in the top and bottom of each shape. Depending on how strong your hole punch is, you may be able to punch through several cutouts at one time. Weave a pencil through the two holes. The hole punch may make holes that are too small to get the unsharpened pencils through, so we used a sharp pencil to widen the holes a bit. It’s up to you if you want to sharpen the treat pencils before handing them out. We sharpened the ones we gave to the friends at school. I didn’t want the poor teacher to be bombarded by 24 kids, all wanting their pencil sharpened at once. From experience, I much prefer my class to receive sharpened pencils as gifts for just that reason!

I’ll be honest, we definitely have plenty of candy in the house at this time of year. But it doesn’t hurt to have a fun activity like this that the kids can make and that doesn’t include any sugar! We are out trick or treating as a family on Halloween, so we don’t usually need a lot of candy on hand for passing out to the other kids in the neighborhood. I plan on adding in some of these cutouts with the candy in our candy bowl and seeing which one the kids prefer: candy or pencil. I’ll let you know how it goes! These cute little Halloween Pencil Treats are a great candy-free option you can pass out on the big night or take to school. Your kids will love helping you make this fun craft!

Happy Birthday Kiwi Co.!

One of my favorite creative kids activities is having a birthday! Kiwi Co. is celebrating their birthday by offering a super deal to new subscribers.

Why Kiwi Co.?

We’ve been receiving Koala and Kiwi crates for a while now and the kids just LOVE them. The projects are awesome, and the time we spend together making the projects is priceless.

Via Kiwico.com

Via Kiwico.com

We have gotten some really amazing activities in our KiwiCo boxes. One time the girls got detective kits complete with “invisible ink” pens and paper and a special detective suitcase to hold all their super secret notes. Johnny got a Koala box all about rainbows, where he made an adorable fluffy cloud pillow and a tie-die looking rainbow print tote bag. The activities always come with an activity booklet, full of kid-friendly science information and puzzles. So the fun continues after building the craft in the kit!

The girls paint baleen whales that came in Emily’s crate while Johnny makes a “campfire”

We made Johnny’s camping kit shortly before our family’s summer camping trip. His pretend hot dog and marshmallows roasted over a little foam campfire. He was already a s’mores-making professional by the time we got to our campsite! And how cute is this little bear backpack? He wore it everywhere he went!

We first started getting KiwiCo boxes as a gift from the kids’ grandma. It is such a thoughtful way to give quality time and learning experiences to a family. John and I get to work one-on-one making the craft with a child. That individual attention our children receive as we create together is so special to them. We’re not only building a project, we’re building memories.

KiwiCo’s Birthday Promo

For just a few days only, KiwiCo is offering 3 free months when you sign up for a 12-month subscription. Just enter the code BDAY at checkout to access the special savings!

Use the link below to get your 3 free months. This is the best deal they have offered all year, so you’re going to want to jump on it!

Happy Birthday KiwiCo! with Promo Code BDAY

« Previous Page