Our Playdough of the Month for December is Gingerbread Playdough.  The Littlest Apple was super excited to play with this.  I love that he actually enjoys playing with playdough now (though I still don’t enjoy the mess he makes with it.).  This recipe is a little different from the one I normally use, and it has lots of spices thrown in for that festive, holiday scent.  The spices alone give it a light brown color, but we added brown Wilton Icing Color to make ours a little darker.  Add a rolling pin, some Christmas cookie cutters and your little one will have hours of fun with this!

Gingerbread Playdough

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup salt (use table salt, not kosher salt)
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 tablespoon cream of tartar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup water
• brown food coloring (optional)

Combine all dry ingredients in a pot.  Add water, oil and food coloring (if using) and stir continuously over low heat until mixture takes on a dough-like consistency.  Dough should pull away from the bottom and sides and form a ball, and it shouldn’t be sticky any more.  Remove from pot and let cool for just a minute.  Then knead until dough is smooth.

I’m sharing this post with Link & Learn at No Time For Flashcards.

I just barely finished our Activity Advent Calendar in time for December 1.  I’ve been reading blog posts about Advent Calendars and seeing Advent Calendars all over Pinterest since September, so I know many of you are way ahead of me.  I’m just proud to have this project completed.  We still have to hang it on the wall, but let’s go ahead and call this project “done”, okay?

Here’s my version:

I was originally going to use some scrap plywood we’ve got in our garage, but that stuff is HEAVY!  So I went with a canvas (24″x36″?) instead.  Canvases are frequently on sale for 50% off at Hobby Lobby and Michael’s.  I covered the canvas with burlap.  Then I hot glued the red envelopes to the  board.  (The envelopes got trimmed to 4 1/2″ x 4 1/2″- it was a happy accident that they wound up perfectly square!).  I dipped in to my stash of Christmas scrapbook paper and fun scissors to decorate the envelopes.  The numbers are glittery chipboard stickers.  I would have preferred another color besides white, but they were the best I could find.  I purchased lots of embellishments to use, but once I got started, I didn’t really like the way they looked.  I may jazz up my board further for next year (add some trim, words, other embellishments), but I’m pleased with it for now.

So what’s in each pocket?  Well, there is a little slip of cardstock with a Christmas activity printed on it.  Each slip has a green ribbon to make it easy to pull out of the envelope.  The ribbons in the picture look a little wonky to me…I might need to trim those.

Here is a list of the activities I’ve included for this year with our 4 year old (and I haven’t discussed them yet with my husband, so he may be raising his eyebrows at a few of these!)  I tried to include a nice balance of crafts, baking, doing things for others, fun traditions, movies, Santa, and celebrating the birth of Jesus.  Easier said than done, if you ask me!

Our Advent Activities: (not in order!)

• Make cinnamon applesauce ornaments
• North Pole breakfast
• Build a gingerbread house
• Make hot cocoa and watch The Polar Express
• Visit Santa
• Write a letter to Santa
• Pop popcorn and watch Elf
• Watch Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
• Make cookies for Santa and reindeer food
• Make gifts for teachers
• Make gifts for grandparents
• Shop for Giving Tree gifts
• Make “stained glass” ornament to hang on the window
• Thumbprint Christmas tree out of salt dough
• Bake a birthday cake for Baby Jesus
• Make candy cane playdough to give to friends
• Go look at Christmas lights
• Button and nail Christmas tree craft
• Birdseed ornament or wreath for the birds
• Kidz XD Christmas Eve Eve Celebration
• Donations to Ronald McDonald House at Texas Children’s Hospital
• Shop for and wrap gift for Dad
• Decorate Sugar Cone Christmas trees
• Sleep under the Christmas tree
• Christmas scavenger hunt

The Littlest Apple is very excited to start this tomorrow!  We’ll also be starting our Christmas Book Countdown….now I’m off to wrap some books!

What fun holiday traditions do you have?

Chicken Parmesan.  One of my favorite Italian dishes, and something I’ve tried to recreate at home many times.  Making it can be labor intensive, since you have to fry the chicken first, then cover it with sauce.  This recipe for Chicken Parmesan Bake has been popping up all over Pinterest, so I gave it a try.  The neat thing about this recipe is that the chicken is baked, not fried and garlicky croutons are used for the “crust”.  I love the Food Wishes Video Recipes blog.  I think seeing a video of a recipe being made is especially useful for those of you who need to SEE each step of the recipe and not just read it.  This tasted great!  The top of the croutons get crunchy and crispy and the bottom of the croutons soak up the marinara, cheese, and chicken juice and taste amazing!  (This does taste best the day it is made…the croutons don’t hold up well for leftovers the next day.)

Chicken Parmesan Bake

recipe from Food Wishes Video Recipes via Pinterest

I’ve written out the recipe steps below, but you can also just watch the video

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• hot red pepper flakes, to taste
• 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I used 3)
• 2 cups marinara sauce
• 1/4 cup chopped basil
• 8 ounces mozzarella, shredded
• 4 ounces parmesan, shredded
• 1 (5 ounce) package of garlic croutons

In a 9×13″ casserole dish, mix your olive oil, crushed garlic and red pepper flakes.  Spread this mixture out over the bottom of the dish.  Then put your chicken breasts down in the dish.  (Picky Apple Note: I pounded the chicken breasts out so that they were fairly thin…they cook faster this way too!)  Pour 2 cups of marinara sauce over the chicken breasts and spread to cover evenly.  Sprinkle the chopped basil over the sauce.  Then sprinkle 4 ounces of shredded mozzarella and 2 ounces of the shredded parmesan (half of the cheese) over the top.  Next sprinkle the 5 ounces of garlic croutons over the cheese.  Spread them out evenly.  (Picky Apple Note: I smashed mine up very slightly first).  Now sprinkle the rest of the cheese over the croutons (4 more ounces of mozzarella and 2 more ounces of parmesan).  Bake at 350 degrees F for 35 minutes or until chicken is cooked through  (if you don’t pound out the chicken breasts or if they are particularly thick, it could take up to an hour.)

We’re getting down to the wire here!  I should know the date of my c-section and Baby Slingshot’s arrival after my doctor’s appointment later this week, but we’re basically down to 5-ish weeks.  I feel like there is SO much left to do!  And that’s not even factoring in the holidays, which can be overwhelming enough.

The Walls

In the past, I’ve been the primary painter-of-walls around here, but The Picky Apple has been a tremendous help in getting the nursery ready.

The plan: a darker blue paint on the top half of the walls and a board and batten treatment for the lower walls, painted white.

Here’s an inspiration photo:

from Simply Smithwick via Pinterest

Here’s what our nursery looks like now…

We’ve got to apply one more coat of white paint to the bottom, and then it’s on to the board and batten treatment.  There will be a thick chair rail/molding right where the blue and white paint join up, so there was no need to paint a perfectly straight line there.

Still not sure about this board and batten thing I mentioned?  The Casabella Project, Decor Chick, and The Handmade Home all have great board and batten tutorials that we’re using for guidance.  The trim we picked wound up being the exact same as what was used in the Decor Chick tutorial, so that’s probably closest to how ours will look.

The Furniture and Bedding

Once the board and batten is done (which will be no small task—lots of cuts, painting of wood, nailing/gluing, caulking), we’ll set up the crib, changing table, and rocker (all white) formerly used in The Littlest Apple’s nursery.  We’re re-using the same striped crib bedding, which I still love.

The Rug

I still need to decide on a rug for this room.  With the lower half of the room and all of the furniture white, it’ll be important to bring some color to the floor.  Here are a couple of rugs I’m considering…

Boys’ Rugby Stripe Rug from Pottery Barn Kids

Here’s the same rug with red.  I kind of like the idea of bringing some red into the room, but I don’t want it to be too patriotic looking…

This is another one that caught my eye….definitely a bolder choice, but it could be super cute, especially if we get these star crib sheets in red (we have these sheets in The Littlest Apple’s room and LOVE them).

Super Star Rug from Pottery Barn Kids

The Curtains

Curtains are a whole ‘nother issue.  This west-facing room has a giant window with an arch above it that lets in LOTS of light.  So we need curtains that are not only decorative but that also block out that light as much as possible when it’s time for Slingshot to sleep.

I’m really drawing a blank on curtains though.  We don’t want white or navy or red.  Burlap or dropcloth curtains could look neat (or a tan twill).  I LOVE the dropcloth curtains in our Master Bedroom.  I’d have to add blackout panels which could be a pain.

Dropcloth curtains in our Master Bedroom

Would patterned curtains be too much or compete with the bedding?  I don’t really have a clear vision for the curtains yet…

Wall Art and Decorative Touches

The plan is to bring in some white frames and colorful prints and accents to offset all the blue and white.  We haven’t really decided on anything, but here are a few things I thought might look neat.

I like these vintage transportation signs…

Wall Art from The Land of Nod

I contemplated painting a dump truck or firetruck for The Littlest Apple’s big boy room.  Something like this might look cute in Slingshot’s nursery as well…

Fire Truck Triptych from Pottery Barn Kids

I’d love to incorporate some prints and quotes.  These prints are available in lots of different colors and with lots of different word-themes:

Inspiration Series by Wallfry @ Etsy

Bright alphabet prints.  I’d put them in white frames, and I’d either do a series, or maybe Slingshot’s initial.  Or the A for Apple print.  I’d love to incorporate an Apple reference somewhere!

Sweet Alphabet Prints from Etsy

And I’d love to make a fabric or felt pennant like this in bright colors….

Pennant Chase Felt Garland from Land of Nod

Any opinions on the rugs?  Thoughts or suggestions on curtains?  I’d love to hear from you!

The Littlest Apple’s preschool was closed the entire week of Thanksgiving, and since this was an extra busy week for me, I had to pull out some new activities to keep The Littlest Apple occupied while I was busy in the kitchen.  Although he still detests coloring and writing, I have been sneaking in a few fine motor activities when I can.   Enter the handy printables!  There are so many great resources on line for FREE printable activities for preschoolers.  I’ve always seen and admired them, bookmarked them, pinned them, but never actually used any of them…until now.  These are great to have on hand when you need something that doesn’t require too much supervision and won’t require much cleanup or prep work for mommy.  Although The Littlest Apple still prefers more active learning, I think printables like this definitely have their uses (particularly in the areas of pre-handwriting and cutting practice), and I’m so glad I tried some of them!

The Littlest Apple LOVED these Letter Paths from Tons of Fun.  There are paths for every letter A-Z (upper case and lower case) as well as Number Paths for 1-20.  We used F (The Littlest Apple’s initial).  He used his Do-A-Dot Markers for this- one color to mark all of the capital F’s and a different color to mark all of the lower case F’s.

We also made good use of the Thanksgiving Preschool Pack, from 1+1+1=1.  The Littlest Apple loved the pictures (most were images from the Little People Thanksgiving set, something he’s seen at preschool).  He completed several of the activities and would have done more if we had more time before Thanksgiving Day!  I don’t have more photos of him in action because I was busy cooking, but here’s a sample of one of the activities:

I’m definitely going to print out and prep some other printables to keep on hand for times when I just need a few minutes to get something done.

Here are some sites/blogs that have great free printables:

1+1+1=1– Loads of different units for Tots and Preschoolers.  I’ve got my eye on this Gingerbread Baby Pack as well as the Knights Preschool Pack (pictured below).  There are excellent options for boys AND girls!

Over the Big Moon– a recent find for me, via Pinterest.  She has a handful of seasonal themes, including the Nativity Pre-K Pack (pictured below) and Winter Wonderland

Confessions of a Homeschooler-tons of free printables, including a Christmas Preschool Pack (one activity pictured below).  She also has a Letter of the Week Curriculum that includes 26 weeks worth of activities for just $10

Musings of Me-lots of great free themed units like the Superhero Unit (pictured below), and the Christmas ABC Coloring book.

Lawteedah– printables for letters, colors, shapes, themed units, holidays.  I’ve got my eye on the Alphabet Tracing Pages (pictured below).

What are your favorite websites for tot/preschool printables?  Do you use printables regularly?

I brought several new dishes to Thanksgiving this year, including this fabulous salad.  I got the idea for this salad from Healthy Food For Living, and I’ve included my own modifications (and specific measurements) below.  My parents and I loved this salad!  It made a perfect side dish for Thanksgiving since it’s full of fall flavors-butternut squash, apples, cranberries!  It’s fresh and light, and makes a great companion to all of those other heavy Thanksgiving dishes.

Sorry I don’t have a better photo of this…I’m notoriously bad at forgetting to take pics of my Thanksgiving food!

Fall Salad with Butternut Squash and Apples

inspired by Healthy Food for Living

Ingredients:

• 1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and chopped into 1 inch cubes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• salt
• pepper
• 4-5 cups baby spinach
• 1 chopped apple (I used Pink Lady)
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 2 ounces crumbled goat cheese
• 1/3 cup toasted pecans
• Apple Butter Vinaigrette, recipe below

Toss butternut squash with olive oil, maple syrup, salt and pepper.  Bake at 400 degrees F for 25 minutes.  Allow squash to cool slightly, then toss in a large bowl with spinach, apple, cranberries, goat cheese, pecans and Apple Butter Vinaigrette.

Apple Butter Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons apple butter (This would also be delicious with pumpkin butter)
• kosher salt and pepper, to taste

Whisk together all ingredients.

I went to Hobby Lobby this morning armed with ideas and a supply list for several last minute Thanksgiving crafts (and a cranky 4 year old in tow-I don’t recommend that).  Let’s face it, two days before Thanksgiving…most crafters have moved on to Christmas.  But I couldn’t let Thanksgiving pass by without completing at least one craft!

Behold, my Thankful Banner!

Completed during nap time this afternoon.  And I am so thankful that today was a nap day.  Naps are mostly a thing of the past here, but it was a good day indeed.

This was a super easy, super satisfying project.

Here are the supplies I used:

• 4″ chipboard/cardboard letters-I haven’t jumped on the Cricut/Silhouette bandwagon yet, and this was so much easier than stenciling them all by hand!
• Acrylic paint for painting the chipboard letters- I used Americana Brand in Burnt Orange
• Burlap- I wound up using about 1/2 a yard.  As I mentioned on Facebook, burlap was in short supply today at Hobby Lobby.  I wound up with the last yard of Oyster burlap (an offwhite color) instead of the natural color I intended, but I think I love my banner even more with the Oyster burlap!
• 3 yards of 1 1/2 inch brown wired ribbon
• 2 packages of orange flower embellishments-I found these beauties by the scrapbook/card supplies, but you could easily make your own out of fabric or felt.  If you know how to do that sort of thing.  Which I don’t….yet.
• Hot glue gun-no sewing involved here!!

How I made the banner:

1. First I painted the chipboard letters with my burnt orange paint.

2.  I created a template out of cardstock for the triangle size I wanted for the banner.  Note: be sure to use your widest letter for this (mine was “k”) so you have enough room!

3.  Trace your template on the burlap (I used a fine tip sharpie) and cut out the triangle.  Repeat 8 times.  Cutting burlap is messy business, by the way.  I’m still covered in it.

4.  Once your chipboard letters are dry (and mine were dry by the time I finished cutting the burlap), hot glue the letters to the triangles.  I used an index card (so precise, I know!) to make sure all my letters were the same distance from the bottom point of the triangles.

5.  Then I glued the ribbon across the top.  (I laid it all out first to make sure I had enough ribbon on both ends).

6.  Last of all, I glued on the orange flower embellishments.  I may add some additional embellishments next year, but for this year, I’m happy with the beautiful simplicity of my banner!

One teensy problem.  I had envisioned this banner being hung across my mantle, but it is a bit too long for that.  So I’m still playing around with where I want to display it…

The stairs?

The dining room with the red walls?

The kitchen cabinets?

I love my Thankful banner no matter where I decide to place it!  (And you’ll note that I’m no banner-hanging-expert…I used Scotch tape for these pics until I can get my handy husband to hang it up properly)

Hoping I have time to squeeze in one more kiddie Thanksgiving craft tomorrow….

I’ve only got 6 weeks left in my pregnancy, so I didn’t think it would be a good idea to host Thanksgiving this year.  This year I’m extra thankful that I get to make yummy food and that I don’t have to worry about cleaning my house and playing hostess.  I’m bringing Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes, Green Bean Casserole and Tall and Creamy Cheesecake for Thanksgiving with my husband’s family on Thursday, and for dinner with my parents on Wednesday I’m making Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Apples, Cranberries, Pecans and Goat Cheese and a Deep Dish Apple Cranberry Pie with Oatmeal Pecan Crumb Topping.

Can’t wait to enjoy the big meal(s)!

With only a few days to go until Turkey Day 2011, you’ve probably got your menu all planned out.  However, if you’re still looking for some recipes, here are some tried and true favorites from my archives.

Appetizers

Bacon Wrapped Figs

Brie Kisses

Sides

Green Beans With Prosciutto

Melissa’s Brussels Sprouts

Savory Squash Gratin

Cranberry Orange Relish

Desserts

Pumpkin Crunch Cake

Black Bottom Pecan Cheesecake Pie

Cheesecake Filled Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream

All in One Holiday Bundt Cake

Good evening, everyone!  I had the most entries ever for my Biggest Giveaway Ever.  Thanks so much for participating!  And now it’s time to announce the winner.

The randomly selected winner IS….

Nanook166: Our son is in Afghanistan for the next year. Every day I am thankful that he is safe.

Congrats!  I’ll be contacting you vial email shortly!

I’ve so enjoyed reading all of the entries to My Biggest Giveaway Ever over the last few days.  We all have so much to be thankful for, don’t we?  I thought it might be time to repost one of my favorite posts on Thankfulness and Developing an Attitude of Gratitude.  The giveaway winner will be announced TOMORROW, so if you haven’t entered the giveaway yet, today’s the last day!

As we celebrate Thanksgiving, many of you will be reflecting on all you have to be thankful for.  I’ll be doing that too.  But I’d encourage you to keep up with those reflections all year round!  Not just on this one special day, or only in the month of November, but the whole year ’round!  In case you read my posts in RSS feed or are new to my blog (and there are a lot of you lately!), I have a Gratitude Journal in my sidebar that I update frequently with things I’m thankful for.  I also keep a Gratitude Journal on my nightstand that I write in each (okay, most) nights.

My Gratitude Journal is just one of the ways I celebrate Thankfulness throughout the year.  It’s easy to Give Thanks and Be Grateful when surrounded by family and friends and when everything is going right in your life.  But remembering to be thankful even when life hits some speed bumps can be a little more challenging and that’s what this post is all about……

(the following post, Developing An Attitude of Gratitude was originally published on May 27, 2010)

Developing An Attitude of Gratitude

I’m a pessimist.  A worrier.  A whiner.  I tend to see the glass as half empty.  And lately, it seems like a big black cloud has been hovering over my head.   Sometimes I feel like life’s just not FAIR. (That’s me pouting and stomping my foot like a 2 year old, having a little pity party, in case you couldn’t tell).

But things could be much worse, and I need to work on my attitude.  “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond to it.”  Attitude is (almost) everything, apparently.  And my attitude needs some serious improving.  It’s so easy to get caught up in every little daily irritation, every loss, every complication, every event that doesn’t turn out as expected or planned.  I don’t want to dwell on the negative anymore.  I don’t want to become  that person (or have I already?) that always has a list of complaints to share with you whenever you ask how they are doing.

When you get caught up in all that is wrong, you fail to see all of the things that are right and good about life.  I’m making an effort now to have an attitude of gratitude.  But how exactly do you develop an attitude of gratitude? (This is just a little guide and some reminders for myself as much as everyone else.)

Count your blessings. I don’t necessarily mean counting them literally, although I suppose keeping a numbered running list of things to be grateful for could be helpful.  I mean that you need to somehow document all of your blessings.  I choose to do this via a Gratitude Journal where I record 3-5 things to be thankful for each day.  For a peek at mine, check out this Gratitude Journal post.  You could also draw them or create a collage.  On the good days, this will be an amazingly easy task.  On the bad days, coming up with 3-5 things to be grateful for might be a little trickier.  Perhaps your list will include things like: “I didn’t yell today.  I got dinner on the table for my family.  So thankful to have a car to run errands!”  Sometimes we take some of the basics (food, shelter, clothing) for granted.  If you’re looking for inspiration for your gratitude journal, check out 14,000 Things to be Happy About, by Barbara Ann Kipfer.  I’ve had this book for about 15 years (now there’s even an updated version with 14,000 new things), and I can always find something here to be thankful for!

Give thanks. When was the last time you let your family and friends know just how much they mean to you?  It is so easy to take them for granted.  I’m definitely guilty of this.  Maybe it’s time to send them a note, an email, or give them a phone call.  Or let them know in person.  Isn’t it odd how we are more likely to say thank you to a stranger at the grocery store than we are to our own family members?  It’s time to make sure those closest to you know just how much you appreciate all that they do.

Help others. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve volunteered my time (unless you count being a room mom), but I used to volunteer several times a month at both Dress for Success and the Houston SPCA.  Those afternoons of helping women pick out a suit that would make them feel confident for that much-needed job interview and  those mornings spent caring for and loving on those dogs and cats waiting for their forever homes were some of the most fulfilling moments before I became a mother.  I know I don’t have that kind of time to commit in this season of my life, but I need to do something to help others.  I’ve really enjoyed sharing my passion for art with the kids and mommies in our Art Playgroup, perhaps I could run with that somehow.  I’ve also been thinking about volunteering as a patient advocate after our less-than-pleasant experience.  Think about what you can do to help others and take the first step to make it happen.

Keep things in perspective. It’s so easy to forget the big picture and to get wrapped up in the little irritations of day-to-day living.  Cranky because you had to wait for an hour at the dentist’s office?  Be thankful that we have such wonderful dental and health care available, the advances in medical technology, and that you have health insurance.  Frustrated because the summer camp you really wanted to send your child to is already full?  Be thankful for your wonderful neighborhood parks and pools, local libraries and other free and inexpensive forms of entertainment nearby.  I read somewhere that if your family income is $10,000 a year, you are wealthier than 84% of the world.  If your family income is $50,000 or more a year, you make more than 99% of the world. Wow!  That makes me feel so fortunate for the opportunities available to me and mine.  Time to stop complaining about what I don’t have.

Be aware when you compare. I’m tempted to say “Don’t make comparisons at all“, but I think remembering the statistic above and realizing how much better off you have it than many people (a roof over your head?  clean water?) can be helpful in developing your attitude of gratitude.  It can also be useful to seek inspiration in the lives of others, particularly those who have similar values to your own.  But there will always be someone who has a bigger house, more money, a nicer car, a better body, or a “perfect” marriage that you long for.  Those types of comparisons can lead to stress, envy, and feelings of inferiority and insecurity (For more on insecurity, check out Beth Moore’s new book, So Long Insecurity).

Create a Pessimism Prevention Plan to refer to in case of “emotional emergency.” When something goes wrong, whether it is big or little, you need to have an emotional plan of action in place.  This is your Pessimism Prevention Plan.  For the bigger things, like the loss of a loved one or divorce, it’s natural to be upset.  It’s okay to grieve.  But when little things go wrong (even if those little things don’t seem little), this is when those of us who are natural pessimists or worriers need to have a strategy in place to prevent a downward spiral of negative thinking.  A Pessimism Prevention Plan, if you will.  This might include referring back to previous entries in your gratitude journal (or maybe carrying around some of your favorite blessings in your wallet),  re-reading this blog post, signing up for some additional hours at the animal shelter, or a phone call or coffee with a particularly optimistic  and uplifting family member or friend.

Live in the present. It’s hard to enjoy all of the blessings of today if you’re reliving the past or worrying about the future.  Try to focus on right now.

printable from Craftily Ever After

Do you have any additional tips for developing an attitude of gratitude?  How do you stay positive?