Turtles, Ducklings, and Scooters...Oh My!!!

 

We have been having some awesome weather here in S.J. so last week the kiddos and I decided to head to our town park. You wouldn't know it but we have a pretty beautiful park complete with a lake and all the creatures that go with it!

 

My little foodies!

So it's been a while since I have entered the blogging world...4 months to be exact. It was a crazy end of the school year and a crazier summer! But we are not slowing down for a minute.

 

From our family trip to Williamsburg (pics to follow) to residing our house to all the daily activities that come with a 4 and 6 (almost 7 yikes) year olds. It's been a little stressful in the Holland household, but we are having fun too! And, I do have so much to share!!

One of the activities that my kids requested to do was to make our very own banana ice cream. It looked super easy when we saw it on Disney Jr so we thought we would take a chance at it.

Step 1. Cut up the bananas

Isn't she the cutest little helper???

 

Step 2. Put all the cut up bananas in baggies and throw them in the freezer for a while

 

 

The longer you keep them in the freezer the better.

Our first attempt was only for a few hours and they just weren't ready.

 

Step 3. Put the frozen banana slices in a food processor and let it do the job!

 

 

 

 

Step 4. Enjoy!!

 

 

 

This was a super yummy treat on a very hot July afternoon!!! The kids added some strawberries and loved it! It melts fast so eat immediately!

You can find the link to Disney Jr and their awesome kid friendly recipes from That's Fresh HERE

Chores Challenge

 

Recently it has come to my attention that my kids think that money grows on trees....don't I sound old! Remember your parents talking like that...wow, I never thought it would happen to me but there you go! With birthdays and Christmas followed by a trip to the happiest place on Earth {to me that Disney World} my hubby and I had a heart to heart about our budget and how to start teaching the kiddos about responsibility. It was a 17 hour drive to Orlando! Lots of time to talk.

We also have quite a few projects going on around our house. Remember the post about the porch?? Well that has lead to thoughts of other things that our little, but old, house needs. We are buckling down and getting serious about budgeting. And I am sure like any other kid, ours are always asking to buy this or that whenever we are at a store. So in an effort to show our kids that money does not grow on trees...sounding old again I know...we decided to start working weekly chores into our routine and give each of them an allowance.

I do believe they think that clothes magically appear in their drawers and that the dishes are washed by a lovely dish washing fairy....wouldn't that be nice!!! So I went to Pinterest...of course...to get the wheels moving on this. I found lots of printable chore charts and examples of age appropriate chores. I liked this one the best from I Should Be Mopping the Floor...the one on the left for Lizzy and the one on the right for Jake.

I have also been reading this wonderful book...Cleaning House: A Mom's Twelve-Month Experiment to Rid Her Home of Youth Entitlement by Kay Willis Wyma. So far a fabulous read and you can check her blog out here. I think the book planted a seed of this challenge in my head.

So I am challenging myself, and my hubby by extension, to commit to a chore chart and holding the kids accountable to their chores...which may be the most difficult part of this in whole thing! It is also going to be my challenge to post some updates about how this all goes!

Above and beyond this challenge I hope this is one step in making my children good people when they go out into the world.

We hope to help them learn a few things through this:

1. How to manage money and save for something they really want! And to come to an understanding that it takes time to save.

2. Work as part of a family {this house doesn't run on me alone...haha}

3. The responsibility to take care of their things.

So I will do my best to update our progress. Share any stories you have had with getting your kids to do chores. I love hearing how this works for other moms!

 

Sewing Capes!

I was asked to be apart of a holiday open house. I love making homemade gifts, if you haven't noticed, so I was totally excited!!!
One of my favorite projects over the last few years were the capes I made for Jake's 5th birthday. They were just too expensive to buy for all of his friends so I took on the task of making all of them myself...and I adored how they turned out.

I tried my hand at getting a bunch of littles to do a photo shoot...some loved it, some didn't. I wasn't surprised by how my kids transformed into mini super heroes as soon as they put on their capes! You can check out all the pictures here.
So when I was asked to be apart of the Holiday Open house I thought these would be perfect. I already have a number of pre-orders...I am giddy with excitement!!! I will also be selling homemade hooded towels and burp clothes.
By the way, all the vendors are donating 10% of all our sales to the Daisy Eye Cancer Fund!! This makes me even more excited about getting these projects underway!

Pinterest Friday...Homemade Art

I love love love a good diy project...
Even more when it is something for the kids.
This was so easy that I just couldn't pass it up

My inspiration...

Amy Lou over at Southern Belle Soul, Mountain Bride Heart has such an amazing story that goes along with her adorable heart art. I love the shabby chic look...and of course it's DIY!!!

Here's how I did it!!

Tools...
Paint and brushes
Canvas
Mod Podge
Scrap booking paper
Vinyl letters from target
A favorite saying or verse

Step 1:
Mod Podge your scrap booking paper on to the canvas (next time I will just paint the canvas...the paper was a bit more  noticeable than I wanted). And, let dry.

 

Step 2:
Once you have picked out your verse cut out the vinyl letters and take some time to plan out how you want the saying to look.

And, once you have it the way you like...peel and stick!

Step 3:
Now here is where you can let your creativity fly...paint over the letters!

Step 4:
Let it dry...we have had some great weather here in South Jersey for the last few weeks. Window opening, breeze coming in, sun warming up...so great weather for drying painting!!!!
When the drying is done peel the stickers off....

And the final product...

Our favorite thing to say to each other...from one of my favorite books "Guess How Much I Love You"...something we say everyday to each other.

I am not only in love with the final product...I love the letters that we peeled off...

Don't they look great!!!! I just think it will be great to mod podge them onto a smaller canvas...hmmm

Happy Friday!!!

Firsts...

I feel like so much of September has been filled with firsts...and I think this momma is a bit overwhelmed!
Jake started first grade which means the first time he is gone all day...ALL DAY!!!!

He loves it...I feel a little bit of me is missing. Jake is the ring leader around here. Lizzy has adapted well to being an only child from 8am to 2:30. But momma is still feeling like something is missing.
This also came with another first for Jake, staying for lunch and recess everyday. And the chance to buy lunch...it still cracks me up that this is something so special to  him. I think it makes him feel like a big kid!

Lizzy started pre-school...

 

this may be the biggest change for me. For the past 6 years I have not been without a child. I have always had someone to get out of the car when running errands or going to the food store. Now I have two mornings alone :-(
I am learning to be :-) about this
I was expecting that I would be a mess the morning of Lizzy's first day...but surprisingly I was kept it together through the morning and drop off. I even went to the parent meeting our preschool hosts and kept it together. It wasn't until I pulled up to Target, Lizzy's favorite store, I finally lost it. I sat for a solid 10 minutes in the Jeep, sunglasses on, music up, tears flowing....i missed my girl. To be honest, I am having a heard time just typing this...stupid I know, but there you have it. A softy, that's me!

On the lighter side, both Lizzy and Jake have taken up some more outside activities...Jake has taken to gymnastics like nothing else he has done. So he is now attending twice a week. He will also start participating in a chess club this month at his school.
Lizzy is also continuing gymnastics and she is two weeks into her first ballet class.

I have never seen her face light up like it has when talking about ballet, watching ballet, going to ballet class. She has such joy in everything she does!
So this has been a lot for this momma...my babies are getting bigger. They are becoming the people God is molding them to be. I am so thankful for who they are and who they are becoming, but it's still hard to see them grow so fast!

Playing in the Park!

I love nothing more than discovering new places with my kids and our friends. While Smith Memorial Playground isn't new, it was new to me.

Smith house, nestled in the eastern side of Fairmount Park, was built in the last 1800's for the youth of Philadelphia. The idea was for all the children of the city to have somewhere to go and play and be kids! What a beautiful concept and a wonderful donation from the Smith family. Oh and did I say it's free??? Yep, it is!

And boy is it fun even 113 years later!

 And the best part in my opinion...the giant wooden slide!

 

 

As I was attempting to take pictures as the kids came down the slide, sorry about the blur, there was a beautiful grandmother watching her daughter and grandchildren. Me, being me, somehow started a conversation with her. When I told her this was our first time there and that I had never done the slide before she was insistant that I "take my first trip down the slide". Now how could I go against a grandmothers wishes...especially after she told me how she did this as a child on the very same slide.

We didn't get a chance to head inside but I hear it is great too! Honestly, this was a great day. I love Philly but this didn't feel like we were in the city at all. We brought our lunch and made a picnic out of it. Simply a great time!

 Check out all you need to know about Smith here