Valentines is coming

 There are no more kids in school in the house to make 'teacher appreciation' Valentines for so will have to rely vicariously through custom orders from clients! 

If I had a video recorder and stand I would totally make my own video on how I made mine to share but I don't so thank you google for finding me this awesome paper crafter who shared her's for anyone who'd like to case the idea themselves!

If you are not a papercrafter and love these hope on over to Totallyawake4-stampin and make a custom order for the teachers in your life! . 

 

Have an amazing day!


Margaret
Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much
Be Totallyawake4-life

Elf on the Shelf Pancake Portraits

These are an awesome treat for either breakfast or lunch or a balanced snack leading up to the holiday or for Christmas morning ~ a gift left behind by your Elf before heading back to the North Pole ... we make them using our Grain Free pancakes ~ recipe can be found here. 

Elf Pancake Plate

What You Need

•  Pancakes
• Breakfast sausages or bacon would work too
• Raspberries or Strawberries
• Cucumber slices

What You Do

• Cook sausage until well cooked through and set on paper towel to drain excess grease
• Prepare your pancakes
• Slice cucumbers and cut in half
• Arrange food on the plate to resemble an elf and present to children!

Have an amazing day!

Margaret

Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much

Be Totallyawake4-life

Handprint Christmas Tree ornaments

 

Ian the Elf brought the crew everything we need to make our annual hand print keepsake ornaments ~ this year we voted for a Tree theme! 

 

What You Need

• Large clear ornaments ~ we get ours at Michael's
• Acrylic paints ~ green and various colors for the 'lights'
• Plastic disposable cups - to hold ornaments while you work
• Metallic Marker
• Hairspray
• Glitter
• Funnel
• Soapy Warm Water and washcloth you do not care about 
• Rubbing Alcohol

What You Do

•  Wipe glass or plastic with rubbing alcohol to remove any oily residue
• Paint childs hand and place firmly on the ornament ~ you can orient it either fingers up and closed or down and spread open for the branches we opted for up so they would fit on the ornament.
• Place paint side up into a plastic cup to dry.
• Once dry you can revisit and decoarte your tree adding lights with toothpicks or fine paint brush dots and tinsel or stars and whatever the child wants. Let dry again.
• If using clear ornaments you can carefully remove the hanging top as they are fairly fragile and glitter them up by spraying the inside of ornament with hairspray make sure to direct spray to cover entire inside and than use the funnel to carefully pour in glitter.
• Cover top with your thumb or return the top and shake to distribute glitter. Repeat as required to get full coverage. 
• Add a ribbon to your hanger hook!
• Wrap and put under the tree for the big day!

Hand print ornaments are always a hit with loved ones ~ something extra special about capturing their little hands for prosperity! If you missed our other post on the 10 keepsake hand print and photo ornament ideas you can view it here

 

 

Have an amazing day!

 

Margaret

Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much

Be Totallyawake4-life 

Elf on the Shelf - Community Candy Canes

This year the program is closed this week but thought I would share a couple of Ian the Elf ideas from years past ... this one is a particularly fun one for the crew cause they LOVE riding the city bus as a treat. Sometimes we do not even have to GO anywhere afterward they are happy to just ride the route and watch out the big windows at all there is to see in the community and come back home! 

So this challenge is particularly fun for them because we do just that sitting at the front of the bus and passing out a Candy Cane to the riders as they walk past us after getting on the bus and signing some Christmas Carols while we travel around the route. Sometimes we get off at the grocery store or the mall and do our choosing of either the Food Bank challenge or Angel tree during this particular multi tasking challenge and than we head back home! 

Have an amazing day!

Margaret

Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much

Be Totallyawake4-life 

 

10 Kids Christmas Keepsakes

 

10+ Christmas Keepsake Ideas

It is that time of year when we start to think about what to make with the kiddies as 'offerings' to their loved ones for the holiday season ... here in the daycare because of their young age we have the tradition of making hand-print or foot-print related keepsakes and than they can carry on and explore the process of 'finger-painting' once after I have captured a 'keepsake' hand-print because in the early years creating is more about the process than capturing a keepsake ... unlike traditional 'creative art' these are totally all for the joy of later 'giving' a gift that is both from the adult helping to make them and the child and something that will be hopefully be treasured for years to come as it captures their little hand or footprint during the festive season! 

Here are some of our past treasures we've made to share

Ornament ideas of the Tree 

Shaker Glittler Globe with a photo

This ornmanet was made using now retired treat cups from Stampin' Up! You can check out a tutorial on how to do t hem here this one is definitely a craft idea that is more 'adult' made!

Photo Cube ornament

 The Photo Cube ornament was made using the Stampin' Up Box maker ~ the kids than sponged and stamped their box and helped to punch out photos to adore the sides. We hid some bells inside so it makes noise when it moves on the tree.

Handprint Santa's on a Glass Ornament ~ using acrylic paints

Foot Print or Hand-print penquin 

Depending on the age of your crew a 'foot' might not fit on the ornament ~ to make a handprint paint the hand and place with fingers CLOSED and pointing down to make penguin fit on the Ornament, This ornament was painted white inside with glitter added to the paint ~ here is link to a quick tutorial on how to paint the inside of ornaments

Snowman 'finger print' face with glitter in a glass ornament

This one the kids and I spray the inside of the ornament with hairspray and than added glitter mica flakes with a funnel into the ornament and shook it around ~ it sticks to the hairspray but leaves the ornament translucent to catch the lights off the glitter. Use finger prints to make the snowman's face!

Reindeer Hand-print Ornament

Similar glittering of the ornament inside as done above we than followed by painting with a hand fingers wide open when placing on the globe to make a neck out of the thumb and 4 legs from the fingers and then with some adult help the addition of glitter antlers and a red finger print nose and google eyes glued on for a Rudolph inspired ornament!

Hand-print Snowman Family on a glass ornament

This is another one I think would look great with the 'mica glitter' added to the inside of the ornament for a nice little POP! Depending on the age of your crew they can either paint their own 'snowman faces' using toothpicks and fine brushes or this is the part where the adult can 'help' transform the hand into the keepsake snowman!

Home Decor Keepsakes

Cookies for Santa plates 

We just used acrylic paints to make our plates and both of these ideas can be done on a 'ornament' as well if the plate is too cumbersome a keepsake. 

If you use acrylic paints on the cookie plates please just make sure that the receiver of these gifts realizes they are 'keepsakes' and should not really be 'eaten off of'. The paint is not food grade as is not really dishwasher safe. The plate should really not get dirty enough to need more than a light 'dusting' with a damp cloth each season! These treasures can last for years and years but the paint will chip off if not cared for gently. 

Christmas Angel Footprint Plate decor

You can also buy special paint that can be baked in the oven and sealed to allow it to have more staying power and be used in the dishwasher ~ however I tried this one year and our plates cracked in the oven which was disappointing so we returned to the 'fragile keepsake' that you do not really EAT off of and just keep as a home decor piece! 

 

Mistletoes

These  can be painted on either a canva or a plate and than hung on the wall or stand free with the aid of a plate holder stand ... if your crew has the attention span they can also be adorned with a row of 'Christmas lights' around the edge of the canvas using different coloured 'finger prints' that are then joined together with a black marker to form 'lights' or just a fancy border of dots or what not or add glitter, ribbon bow, bells and more to make then fun!

So these are just a few of our favorites  ~ what is YOUR favorite Christmas keepsake you've done with your family?

Have an amazing day

Margaret
Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much
Totallyawake4-life

Yummy Mummies with a warm bowl of Blood Soup

The older boys have finally started to notice 'Halloween' out in the community so we've been getting in the Halloween spirit the last few days with arts and games and well including having some fun with Halloween inspired FOOD! 

Today's lunch was a huge hit ~ it got a resounding 10 thumbs up around the table with everyone having seconds and one little muncher had fourths!

Mummies to Munch

What You Need

• Pizza Dough ... you can use Pillsbury if you're ok with the processed as that is where I got the initial idea from was using their dough or you can make your own homemade from scratch. This time I compromised between the two because I still have a few left in the cupboard from before I went 'grain free' so I used the Glutino Pizza Crust mix 
• Hot Dogs ... again your choice I sourced a All Natural Gluten Free option

What You Do

• Prepare your dough as per instructions and roll out thin and slice in strips
• Get the children to help you 'wrap' their mummies with the dough strips
• Some samples online show using black olives slipped in for the 'eyes' but we just put a dollop of ketchup on ours cause we do not eat black olives normally so did not have any on hand.
• Place on a parchment paper or greased cookie sheet and bake in a 375F oven for 15-20 minutes until your mummies are golden brown and the wieners are sizzling.
• We served with the Blood Soup below ... aka Roasted Red Pepper and Butternut Squash

Roasted Red Pepper and Butternut Squash

What You Need

• 2 cups of Roasted Red Peppers ~ approximately 3 red peppers. 
• 5 roasted cloves of garlic 
• 1 cup of leftover roasted butternut squash
• 1/2 cup of diced sweet onions
• 2 cups of stock ... vegetable or chicken your choice, homemade or store bought, we make our own.
• Fresh Ground Pepper to taste typically about 1 tsp
• Pinch of Crushed Red Chili ~ specially if serving to children I add more to my own to taste afterward.

What You Do

• For the roasted red peppers. We cut our peppers into 4 large pieces and roast ours on the BBQ rubbed with some coconut oil and pepper sear them on both sides and than move them off the direct heat and let the roast in the BBQ until soft but you could also use 'store bought' roasted red peppers in a pinch just be warned that it will add sodium and sugar to your recipe count.
• Roast your garlic when you are doing the peppers ~ we just put them in a oil sprayed tinfoil on the BBQ or you could use a garlic roaster. 
• In a large pot saute your onions in 1 tsp of coconut oil until caramelized
• Put all the ingredients into your blender and hit the 'soup' button or puree button OR if you have a hand held immersion blender you could put them directly into your pot on the stove with the onions. Puree until smooth.
• If using a blender ttransfer puree to a pot
• Heat soup over medium heat until starts boiling and remove from heat.
• Serve ~ I opted for a bit of shredded mozzarella on top of mine cause unlike the kids I was not having a 'mummy' to munch with mine so wanted some added protein.

Roasted Red Pepper & Butternut Squash Soup

 And for those who like a 'break down' of what this means nutritionally this is without the 'cheese' topping ... I think it was a BANG ON cause it was nice and filling but low calories and packed high with vitamins! They say it is high in 'sugar' but there is no ADDED sugar that is because with the low calorie compared to the naturally occurring sugar in the squash and peppers! 

 Have an amazing day!

Margaret
Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much
Totallyawake4-life

Halloween Party Prep

Only a few more sleeps until Halloween ~ my other half is getting stoked and the older kids in the daycare have started to show some interest in 'pumpkins and ghosts' so we've started to play some games in the program and I have added a few 'costumes' for them to explore with including the Witches hat.

Here are two of our favorites DIY Halloween games we love to play

Witches Ring Toss 

What You Need

• Witches hat ~ we got ours at the Dollar Store
• Florist Wire
• Washi Tape

What You Do

•  Make 'circles' with the florist wire and twist the ends together to close into your ring.
• To protect little fingers wrap Washi Tape (or duct tape) around the twisted ends to keep them covered while playing.
• We used my 'yoga' mat for the play surface ... children at one end of the mat and the hat at the other end and they 'tossed' the rings trying to get them onto the point of the hat. 
• So as my crew is all under 4 at the moment so they do not need to keep score in a game ~ the game is practicing taking turns and cheering others on!However with older children you could 'score' your ring toss like you would Horseshoes based on how close their ring gets to being 'on' the witches hat.

 

 Pumpkin Toss

What You Need

•  Jack O Lantern or a Cauldron or other equally fun 'Halloween Themed' bucket
• Styrofoam Pumpkins (good ole Dollar Store) you could also use 'orange socks' or soft balls or pom poms or something else to decorate as a pumpkin

What You Do

•  Again we used our trusty yoga mat as our game surface and we tossed the pumpkins into the bucket ~ my crew is all under 4 at the moment so they do not need to keep score in a game ~ the game is practicing taking turns and cheering others on! 

 Other Ideas for Party Fun with things around the house

• Witches Limbo ~ use a broom to play Limbo game to some fun Halloween Music
• Pin the Tail on the Cat ~ make a big black cat silhouette for the wall and some 'tails'... no black paper? No worries use a washable marker on a patio door to draw your cat! When you are done wash it off! 

Have an amazing day!

Margaret
Life Well, Laugh Often, Love Much
Totallyawake4-life

Has Halloween gotten too much?

This article below from Today's Parent has really gotten me thinking ~ it is something I have struggled with my entire career working with young children .... the fun of carrying on Halloween traditions in the program verses what is developmentally age appropriate for children specially as I have moved to embracing more of a 'child led' program because the reality is that Halloween rarely comes up in play or inquiry from the child it is typically the ADULT who initiates it. They have no concept of time to know October 31st is approaching, they have not true understanding of WHY we celebrate it and so forth and aside from being pleased about the idea of 'getting candy' they have no real interest in 'inquiry' about the WHY behind the customs.  

So just WHO are we actively celebrating Halloween FOR in a childcare setting? Is it meeting the children's needs, my needs or my perceived needs of what is expected of me from clients, fellow providers or society in general? 

I know as a result of this struggle over the years I have cut back a LOT on planning the cute little Halloween crafts and so forth leading UP to Halloween with the kiddies but admit that I am just not sure I am ready to totally 'give up' the tradition of getting dressed up and doing some trick or treating on the last day of program before Halloween occurs ... getting dressed up is so much FUN even if they do not understand the why behind it or care to inquire about it past that day ... so for me when it comes to Halloween rather than being a month worth of exploration like it was in my 'childcare theme days' it is now just a DAY celebration and than we move on and let it go!

When it comes to the 'decorations' I know with operating a home childcare my spouse and I have had to come to terms with what can be placed out 'ahead of Halloween' for decorations out of respect for those parents like Lauren in the article below who feel that Halloween has gotten just too far out of control on the creepy gore factor. So I request that he please stick to a few pleasant pumpkins and black cats and maybe a ghost or two in the tree out front leading up to Halloween verses what he has to wait until the day of Halloween to put out so that my charges are not petrified walking up to the house leading up to Halloween. 

On Halloween night though fair warning that we cater to the David's of the world. So if the weather is nice, the front yard transforms into a total Walking Dead meets Freddie Kruger set ... with the full out zombie graveyard with the fog and bones and fake blood ... with the trick or treating on the actual Halloween day I figure that is totally up to parental choice if they want to bring their child out to walk through the foggy front lawn of moaning and groaning graveyard creeps in order to knock on our door that has blood dripping zombie guts around it in order to ask for a trick or treat ... cause my spouse is totally like David and loves the 'fear factor' that Halloween promote. If you want the 'treat' bad enough you need to be willing to conquer your fears in order to get it and if not that's cool too just pass our house by for the one next door that has no decor to get passed. 

Is Halloween’s blood and gore appropriate for kids?

"Two parents debate whether or not Halloween should be a celebration of blood, fear and death.

“Yes” David Eddie, dad of three

For years, our Halloween decorations included a dummy with a pillowcase for a face wearing clothes stuffed with rags, sitting on a chair on our front porch. But the neighbourhood kids all got used to it, so one year my wife inserted herself into the clothes, tucked rags at her ankles and cuffs, and sat stock-still in the chair. When kids approached the door, the “dummy” came to life—and the poor trick-or-treaters almost jumped out of their skins in fear.

Ours is not the most elaborate Halloween display in the neighbourhood, but we do try to max out the creepy factor. We’ve had live rats crawling around the porch, severed hands, witches hanging from nooses and spooky sound effects. We’ve also supported our kids when they decided to dress up as serial killers, axe murderers and, one time, a doctor whose surgery had gone terribly wrong.

Bad parenting? Bad neighbouring? Bad karma? I can see how some might say so. But here’s my feeling: In a couple of months, kids will be celebrating a holiday that’s all about family, warmth and coziness, presided over by an apple-cheeked figure who snacks on milk and cookies. Halloween is the antidote to that. It’s about the other side, the dark side, the side of life we as parents would like to pretend doesn’t exist—but it does. It’s about going out into the night and confronting your fears, a little more each year. And what’s better than facing your fears and finding out they’re not as scary as you imagined? It’s like going on a roller coaster. First time: terrifying. Subsequent times: totally fun.

I also like the honesty of Halloween. Christmas teaches kids they’ll be given stuff they want as long as they’re “nice.” Halloween teaches them to go toward the things they fear and demand what they want. Of course there might be danger or obstacles in the path—and someone they had dismissed as a dummy might suddenly jump out of a chair to terrorize them.

But I ask you: Which is the better metaphor for life?

“No”
Lauren Ferranti-Ballem, mom of two

I hate Halloween. Always have.

I was the kid who nervously hung back while my friends made their fifth tear through the neighbourhood haunted house. Who preferred to observe from my well-lit foyer instead of running the streets with kids drunk on sugar and the power that darkness and a later curfew gave them.

I’ve grown into the parent who hustles her kids across the street and away from the moaning, strobe-lit, fog-shrouded spectacle, partly because it still freaks me out. To me, Halloween feels chaotic and out of control. Why would anyone seek that out? Why would we put children through it?

My kids, ages three and six, like knocking on doors for candy, so we do a polite tour of the side streets. I want them to feel safe in our neighbourhood, but I don’t see that in the way they tentatively creep up porch steps and shrink away from over-the-top displays.

I appreciate the creativity Halloween inspires—kids love to dress up, and they have hilarious ideas. I enjoy crunching through the leaves and sharing cups of mulled wine with other parents, and I feel nostalgic for the sound of jingling change in the UNICEF boxes we wore around our necks. Can’t we bring those back? Swap them for the rattling chains, rotting corpses and wailing soundtracks?

It’s not my imagination: It’s gotten worse. Halloween has mutated from the innocent white-sheet ghosts of my childhood to something gorier and more graphic. We’ve lost loved ones recently, so I’ve talked to my kids about death. But it doesn’t in any way resemble the cobwebbed tombstones and bloodied stumps that clutter front yards on our walk to school. I resent those stumps and the chumps who dig careful graves for them. I’m the one who has to wake up to my kids’ nightmares and offer weary reassurance that no, neither their dad nor I will suffer the same fate.

Life is scary enough. We don’t need a parade of pale and bloated severed limbs to remind us.

A version of this article appeared in our October 2015 issue with the headline “Is Halloween’s blood and gore appropriate for kids?” p. 112. "

So what's your thoughts? Are you with David and my spouse that Halloween has valuable lessons about conquering your fears in order to get what you want or are you with Lauren and feel that Halloween has gotten to be a little too much and we need to push society to 'scale it back' to being more developmentally appropriate for younger children? Or are you like some of the commenters on the original article and do you feel we should just rethink celebrating it at all? 

For me I have always had a love hate relationship with being 'scared' but Halloween has always been a holiday with fun memories in the long run  .... my spouse loves to watch scary movies that make me scream and cuddle closer at night. So no brainier that Halloween is totally his favorite holiday we have more Halloween home decor than we have Christmas if that is any indication to how much he loves this season! 

Have an amazing day!

Margaret
Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much
Totallyawake4-life.com

Grain Free Turkey and Trimmings

Happy Thanksgiving Monday all ~ we enjoyed our feast last evening and as my first totally 'grain free' Thanksgiving I was totally pleased with how everything turned out! Lots of flavor, very filling and I did not even miss the traditional 'stuffing' and sweet potato casserole we have had in years past that likely adding 1000's of calories to my meal and contributed to the 'turkey coma' I would experience afterward. 

So as promised yesterday here are the recipes I was too full to upload last night!

Grain Free Turkey

What You Need:

• Turkey - you need approximately 2 pounds per person with a small bird with a big bird 1.5 pounds per person should do.
• 1 Granny Smith Apple
• 1 small onion
• 2 stalks celery
• 1 carrot 
• 1 handful of fresh rosemary
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil 
• Poultry seasoning ~ as desired as always Epicure has an amazing blend or you can DIY below

What You Do

• Rinse your bird and remove the giblets and neck. We do not eat these personally so no point in cooking them but if they are a family favorite at your house by all means.
• Chop the apple, onion, celery and carrot into large chunks and stuff into the bird cavity along with the Rosemary - this will help to add flavor, keep moisture in the bird and make a nice rich stock for your gravy later.
• Gentle rub the entire bird surface with coconut oil and massage in the poultry seasoning.
• Place into a roasting pan breast side up.
• Bake in the oven at 300 F .... it will take approximately 30-40 minutes per every 2.2 pounds of turkey. So an 11 pound turkey will take approximately 3 - 3.5 hours to cook. You want an internal temperature of at least 165 F 
• We like a juicy turkey with crispy skin so we baste the bird every hour or so.
• Once cooked remove to a cutting board and allow to 'sit' for 20 minutes or so and remove the 'veggies' from cavity before carving.

DIY Poultry seasoning

 As mentioned I prefer the 'ready made' Epicure cause no guess work but if you do not have access to an amazing Epicure representative like I do the following DIY works too ...

What You Need:

•  2 teaspoon ground sage
• 1.5 teaspoons ground thyme
• 3/4 teaspoon ground rosemary
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon finely ground pepper

What You Do"

• Mix all ingredients together in a bowl ~ store any leftover in an air tight container! 
  

Grain Free Gravy

What You Need:

•  Drippings from roasted turkey ~ amount is going to vary per turkey I got about 2 cups out of ours. If your drippings are low simply add a bit of water to the pan.
• Xanthan gum - again amount is going to vary depending on how thick you like start with 1 tablespoon for every cup of broth and add more as required.
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream, optional. This just helps to create that visual look of traditional 'floured' gravy and is not necessary for taste factor just to fool the eyes.

 What You Do

• Transfer drippings into a pan on a medium heat and bring to a boil and allow to 'reduce' for a bit to give a stronger flavor.
• Slowly add the 1 tablespoon xanthum gum while briskly whisking to prevent clumping 
•  Continue whisking as it thickens to your desired consistency. 
• Transfer to your gravy boat ~ you can 'strain' if desired
• Serve over your turkey and trimmings as desired

 Herb and Garlic Mashed Cauliflower

What You Need

• 1 small head of cauliflower (about 3 cups of florets once chopped)
  
• 1 tablespoon Epicure Herb and Garlic seasoning
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 1/4 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese (ideally the REAL stuff not the dehydrated stuff)
• 1/4 cup of broth or drippings from the turkey in this case

What You Do

• Steam the cauliflower until tender.
• With either an immersion blender directly in your pot or transfer cauliflower to your Vitamix or Blendtec or other type of blender and blend together cauliflower and remaining ingredients until a 'mashed potato' consistency add more broth or drippings as needed. 

 Roasted Maple Acorn Squash

What You Need

• Medium size acorn squash
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 teaspooon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspooon cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons Maple Syrup

What You Do

•  Cut acorn squash in half and remove all the seeds. 
• Poke the flesh with a fork to help flavor seep in as it cooks
• Rub the coconut oil across the flesh part and into the 'well' left by the seeds. Leave any excess oil in the well to melt into the poked holes.
• Place with the 'well' side up on a baking tray.
• Sprinkle with the cinnamon and cayenne pepper.
• Roast in oven at 300 F with the turkey for the last hour until the flesh of the acorn is tender to fork. 
• During last 10 minutes, after you've taken the turkey out to 'sit' add the maple syrup and turn the heat up to 500 F and allow the maple syrup to caramelize a bit in the well. 

Citrus Carrot Coins

What You Need:

• 4 Carrots 
• 1/2 cup of orange juice

What You Do:

•  Peel and coin the carrots
• Cook over medium heat in a pot with the 1/2 cup of orange juice to 'steam and flavor' the carrots ... adds a lovely tender flavor to the carrots!

And that was what we had this year for our tasty Turkey dinner ... I was pleased to see when I recorded my meal into the My Fitness Pal that my entire dinner plate shown had lass than 600 calories including being able to have tasty gravy! So even while celebrating with family and friends and enjoying some tasty treats I was able to stay on plan and goal and am not worried about weighing in and seeing the scale go up on me! 

Also was a good girl and while we did not go to the gym yesterday I did press play on one of my yoga videos after supper while the boys cleaned up the kitchen for me!

Have an amazing day!

Margaret

Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much

Totallyawake4-life