November 2015 – Our Beautifully Messy House

Acorn Donut Holes

November 24, 2015November 24, 2015 Porter Leave a comment

Another adorable, little treat that I like to make around Thanksgiving, along with our No-Bake Acorn Cookies, is our Acorn Donut Holes! They are perfect for breakfast snacking, leading up to the main event. I make some with toasted coconut and some without to add some variation to the plate and to please all the little picky eaters in our world.

Ingredients:

plain donut holes
bakers chocolate or chocolate chips
coconut
pretzels

To make the toasted coconut, spread a couple handfuls of coconut on a baking sheet. Bake in the oven on 350 degrees, for 5-10 minutes. Keep a close eye on the coconut…you want it to be lightly browned, but not completely dark brown and burnt!

While the coconut is toasting, melt your chocolate in a double-broiler on the stove top. (Or in the microwave if you have one!)

Break up a few pretzels to use as the “stems” of your acorn tops.

Depending on how big your donut holes are, you can choose to cut off the tops or not. Sometimes I like cutting them in half to make little acorns for little hands, other times I leave them whole and they look just as sweet!

Next, dip the top of a donut hole into the melted chocolate.

Have your little helpers sprinkle the toasted coconut on top of the chocolate.

And lastly, stick a little pretzel piece into the donut to look like a stem! Too easy!

And sooo yummy!!! Enjoy!!!

Road Trip Survival Kit: 10+ Activities for On-the-Go

November 21, 2015November 21, 2015 Porter Leave a comment

Every Summer my family likes to take a 7-hour trip to the beach…well, the 7 hours isn’t exactly the part we like, but we do it and we make the best of it! I’m not a fan of giving my kids a screen to look at for the entire trip, because I feel there’s so much that they will be missing out on. Remember when we were kids, going through the entire stash of cassette tapes? Staring out the window watching the terrain change and landmarks pass as we got closer and closer to our destinations, the excitement building? All those silly word games or family air guitar shenanigans? See…I don’t want my kids to miss out on that! I want us to talk. I want them to play, to be entertained, but to experience the trip with us, rather than plugged in and tuned out.

We started with this ROAD TRIP SURVIVAL KIT when L was just 2. As the kids grow, some things will change, but many will continue to entertain at any age!

Pipe Cleaners, Shoelaces, and Beads

If you have any of those snack cups with the slits on top, they’re the perfect thing to hold beads and prevent spilling! Just tie a shoelace to the handle and you’re good to go!

Slinky

Who doesn’t love a slinky? You can buy 2 for a dollar at most dollar stores…definitely worth that dollar! We don’t usually play with ours at home, rather we save them for long trips!

“I Spy” Books

These books are fun for kids age 2 to 100 to look at, no reading required!

Musical Instruments

When the kids get whiny, bored, tired, put on some jams, some sunglasses and start a family band! Sometimes we even bring out the cow bell – yikes! The kids love it though!

Paper and Coloring

Go ahead and buy some fun, new crayons for your big trip, as well as a blank composition book, new coloring books, or even post-it notes!

Figurines and Cars

Even if these things are “old” and have been played with a million times at home, when pulled out one-by-one as a surprise on the 4th hour of your trip, your kids will be delighted…I promise!

Fairy Folk

L loves her “fairy folk” and will play pretend with them for nearly an hour at home. I scooped up a few of them and their accessories for our last trip. Get the DIY here: DIY Fairy Folk.

Lacing Boards

If you don’t have lacing boards at home, they’re simple to make. Just cut out a shape from an old cereal box and punch some holes around the edge. Tie a shoelace and and you’re good to go!

Magna Doodles

These come in all shapes and sizes…and all of them are perfect for the road!

Kaleidoscopes and View Masters

I always throw one of these in the bag!

Re-usable Sticker Books

“Melissa & Doug” brand sticker books and Water Wow! books are great for the road. Virtually no mess and they can be used over and over and over and over!

“I Spy” Bottles

We made this game years ago, and the kids love it! It’s something that can be played with one person or many! Get the DIY here: I Spy Bottle and Games.

The Tray

We found this traveling tray at Hobby Lobby a few Summers ago. I’m sure you can find one online too! They’re perfect for coloring and containing all those little toys and food.

It’s hard to believe, but all of this stuff plus more will fit in one medium-sized bag! We usually put the bag off to the side, when we get home, ready to grab-and-go for the next road trip!

Happy traveling!!! What are some of your favorite activities for on the road?

Thankful Trees and Variations

November 16, 2015December 3, 2015 Porter Leave a comment

What a fun way to teach kids about thankfulness! All you need to do to make your own family “Thankful Tree” is to write down things you and your kids are thankful for on “leaves” and put them together in the shape of a tree! Every year now I look forward to making our “Thankful Tree” as Thanksgiving approaches, and every year we do it a little bit differently! In the past, L and I made a simple tree on a single piece of construction paper, the leaves different colors, but all the same size.

This year we made our “Thankful Tree” when my niece and nephew came over…and we made a big, fun, mixed-media tree!

We put the tree up on a door in our dining room and everyone had a job to do! L cut strips of brown paper for the tree’s trunk and branches; my 9-year-old niece helped cut leaves of various sizes and shapes; and my 6-year-old nephew did a little of both!

After everything was cut, we went outside and collected sticks, twigs, and real leaves. My niece helped write all the things we were thankful for on the leaves, while we all took turns shouting out ideas! Meanwhile, I started to tape the tree trunk and branches up on the door.

Once all the leaves were full of things we were thankful for, the kids filled the branches with the leaves! I love how it turned out!

Other ideas:

Trace your hands and cut them out, for your tree’s leaves.
Add a new leaf every day of November leading up to Thanksgiving.
Make a “Thankful Tree” on Thanksgiving with the entire family.
Instead of a tree, put your leaves together in the shape of a wreath.

The above photo was shared by one of my dear friends from childhood, Sarah. Her family is adding a hand-shaped leaf every day this November! Too cute! Comment below and share some of your “Thankful Trees” with us! I can’t wait to see all your wonderful creations!!!

4-Ingredient, Peanut Butter & Jelly Thumbprint Cookies (GF)

November 9, 2015November 9, 2015 Porter Leave a comment

These 4-Ingredient, Peanut Butter & Jelly Thumbprint Cookies may just be the quickest, easiest, and sweetest cookies to make! They’re naturally gluten-free as well. These cookies are great for kids just learning to cook, because they can do most of the steps all by themselves! And that little thumbprint, it gets me every time…

Ingredients:

1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
strawberry jam

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the peanut butter, sugar and egg together.

Roll the dough into little balls and place onto your cookie sheet, spacing them a couple inches apart. (We always use parchment paper underneath too!)

Next, have your little one push their thumb into the middle of each cookie.

Using a measuring spoon, drop about 1/2 tsp of strawberry jelly into each thumbprint.

Bake in the oven for 7-10 min. Watch your cookies carefully…you want them to be fully cooked, but not too brown or burnt underneath. After a few minutes out of the oven, move the cookies to a rack and let them cool completely. Enjoy!!!