2019 {General Conference} Apostle Cards

It's General Conference Weekend again and my kids are excited for breakfast and watching church in their pajamas! I'm thinking that this year I will serve up some cinnamon rolls and Puffy Eggs with Butter Syrup. What's on your weekend breakfast menu? Does your family have a special weekend breakfast? Special General Conference weekend traditions?

If you're like me and you've got young children that you need to keep engaged in meaningful activities so that you can enjoy watching General Conference, I've got something for you!

Prophets and Apostle Cards!!!

The Apostle Cards are 4x6 in size and you can use them for a variety of activities. Some uses I came up with:

Flashcards
Print one copy of each, laminate, stick on a ring and let the kids become familiar with the faces.

Memory
Print two copies of each, laminate, and make a Memory matching game the kids can play alone or together.

Go Prophet
Print 4 copies of each, laminate, and make play a GO Fish style game.

I hope you enjoy and can find use for them with your own kids. Enjoy General Conference and let me know if you have any other tips for keeping your young ones engaged during Conference.

Fine Print:
Please feel free to use this printable for your personal use. Please be kind and give credit where credit is due. Any questions or comments please do not hesitate to contact me.

Summer Adventures with Cubcoats + #GIVEAWAY

The minute that I saw Cubcoats I knew that Grace would love them! Adorable stuffed animal friends with names like Papo the Panda, Kali the Kitty, and Tomo the Tiger - what's not to love?  The amazing thing about Cubcoats is that they aren't just stuffed animals! Cubcoats are a 2-in-1 stuffed animals that transform into a soft hoodie! So, everywhere your favorite little person takes her Cubcoat, she'll always have a hoodie ready to keep her comfy and cozy!



Your chosen Cubcoat friend will arrive a cute little box. Grace was so excited to come home and find two pretty blue boxes waiting for her to open them. She was even more delighted when she opened the boxes to find her new best friends - Tomo the Tiger and Bene the Bunny! I was pleasantly surprised with the softness of the the Soft Touch fleece. Grace was thrilled with how cuddly the Cubcoats are and she took to squeezing them immediately.





We decided to take our Cubcoats friends on their first excursion to the movie theater because it was the perfect summer day. It was starting to warm up outside, but I knew that the theater would be chilly and that within 20 minutes of the movie starting Grace would be complaining that she was cold. But because it's summer and 80 degrees outside I don't carry a jacket or hoodie around with me for her "just in case" like I do in the winter.

I was right - within 15 minutes of being in the the theater she was asking me to unroll Tomo the Tiger and make him into a jacket to keep her warm. The best part about having Bene the Bunny along for the adventure too is that she still had a friend to snuggle during the show. 

It is SUPER easy to change your Cubcoat friend into a hoodie and back again. If I can do it in the dark of the movie theater, then you can do it anywhere!!

Our Cubcoats were totally perfect for our excursion to the movies. I was happy, Grace was happy, and we both enjoyed the movie together! When we got back outside - it was WARM! Grace loved the hoodie so much that she wore it to the car even though she didn't need it.



I mean, come on, look at the cute retractable ears on the hoodie! The hoodie is fully lined and made from premium materials. All of the hoodies are a classic heather grey so they can be worn and enjoyed by all the little people that think certain colors are for one or the other :)

Once we were back in the car, she decided she was warm enough and wanted her friend Bene the Bunny back. So I quickly folded the hoodie back up, tucked in back in and her stuffed animal friend was back and ready for the ride home. She has slept with them every night and wants to take them wherever we go. They are the perfect travel companion and I'm so excited we have them for all of our summer travel plans.

 

All of the Cubcoats are priced at $39.95 and are available at www.cubcoats.com. They come in sizes 2T to 6/7. The 6/7 will fit a child up to 64 pounds and 49 inches tall. We picked the size 5 so that Grace has some room to grow with her Cubcoats.

{GIVEAWAY}

I'm so excited to be giving away a Cubcoat of your choice to one of my readers. Enter using the Rafflecopter widget below and good luck! If you're ready to buy one for your favorite little person, then head over to www.cubcoats.com and find her new best stuffed animal friend!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Family that Games Together, Stays Together #SuperLuckysTale

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Playful Corp. All opinions are my own.

One thing over the years that has allowed my family to spend time with one another is gaming. I grew up in a house of brothers that lived for their "screen time" so that they could beat the next bad guy and hang out with one another - cheering one another along as they took turns playing. I remember visiting my Nana as a child and thought she was super cool because she had the latest gaming system and when I was there on a solo visit I had the games all to myself.

Fast forward years later when I am a newlywed and my new husband wants to get a new gaming system and I am like - "YES! Let's get one!" I think I totally shocked him because I wanted one and I wanted to play video games with him. Fast forward even more years later when I'm the mom of a boy and I'm looking for ways to connect with him and spend time with him as he gets older. One way I can do that is by sitting down and playing some video games with him. Seriously, it is so much fun to hang out with one another, joke, talk, and play some video games.

Super Lucky's Tale

I even love it when my kids want to play video games together. We're so busy with so many outside activities these days, so I enjoy when we can sit down as a family and enjoy some video games together. It not only brings us together to work and solve problems, but gaming can inspire creativity and alleviate stress.

One of our newest finds on our Xbox One is Super Lucky's Tale by Playful Corp. The cool thing about Super Lucky's Tale is that supports Xbox Play Anywhere, so you can pick up where you left off on any Xbox device or Windows 10 PC. You bring all your saves, game add-ons, and achievements with you! So cool!

Lucky is the ever-optimistic, energetic and lovable hero who is on a quest to find his inner strength and help his sister rescue the Book of Ages from Jinx. Jinx is the scheming villain trying to reshape the world, but for what reason?

You will test your skills with puzzles and obstacle courses. Plus, there are surprise levels and hidden "foxholes" showing up where you least expect them which will challenge Lucky to use all his skills. You'll explore the hidden secrets of new worlds using Lucky's signature burrow move. Or you can try the devilish side scrolling challenge levels to unlock additional rewards.

Super Lucky's Tale is an adventure that players of all ages and skill levels can enjoy. It is a throw back to the era of classic platformers and we all enjoy playing and following Lucky along on his challenges as he meets friends and allies along the way.

Super Lucky's Tale is rated E for Everyone and can be purchased for Xbox One or Windows 10 PC for $29.99. Be sure to check out the game preview below!

The Best Peanut Butter Cookies || Baking with Kids

Isabella is always after me to bake with her. She loves being a big help in the 

kitchen. I'd be lying if I didn't say that baking with kids gives me anxiety. I've 

never been very good at it, even though I know there are so many lessons to 

learn over so many genres of learning when you bake. So every once in awhile 

I get brave and let her create with me in the kitchen. She's almost 9-years-old 

now, so it's not quite as nerve racking as it was when she was 5 and 6-years-old.

Do you like baking with your kids or does it give  you anxiety?

My good friend Niki was always telling me how her older girls were baking or

that she need something made for one thing or the other and she would ask them

to make it for her. I decided that if I want Isabella to be able to do that when she

is twelve/thirteen/fourteen, that I need to help her learn the skills now by 

working with me in the kitchen.

So when Eclipse 2017 rolled around and we decided we wanted to make

some Eclipse Cookies, Isabella was thrilled when I asked her if she wanted to

help me make them! We decided that our favorite peanut butter cookies would

make the perfect moon shapes and if we dipped them in semi-sweet chocolate 

they would be perfect. It was fun to let her gather the ingredients and all the 

tools we would need to make the cookies. Then she called me in when she was 

ready to get to baking!

Our favorite (and THE BEST) peanut butter cookie recipe is delicious! The

cookies are soft and chewy and bake to perfection in 10-12 minutes. You most

likely have the ingredients on hand and you don't have to press them with a fork.

You just roll in balls and drop them onto the cookie sheet.

I like to cover my cookie sheet with parchment paper to keep the pan fairly

clean and to avoid using the cooking sprays that aren't supposed to be so great

for you anymore.

THE BEST PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES (ever!)

{INGREDIENTS}

1 cup butter, softened

2 2/3 cup brown sugar

2 cups peanut butter

2 large eggs (whisked and beaten)

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/3 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

{INSTRUCTIONS}

1. Cream the butter, peanut butter, and sugar together.

2. Add the eggs and vanilla. Mix well.

3. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the butter mixture and mix until just incorporated. 

4. Cover dough and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

4. Use a large cookie scoop to scoop onto parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool for 5-10 minutes before you try to transfer them to a cooling rack or they will fall apart!

Makes 3 dozen - depending on the size of your cookie scoop :D

If you want to dip in chocolate like we did, then melt the chocolate according to package directions, but add 1 T. of shortening. Then dip away!

S'mores {Pudding} In a Jar: Baking with Kids

I really do love s'mores. I have a whole Pinterest board dedicated
to my love of the graham cracker, chocolate, marshmallow combination.
I am always fascinated by the fun out-of-the-box ideas people come up
with for putting a new spin on the tried and true idea of s'mores. I have even
made my own s'mores creation and they are loved by the entire family!
So, when my daughter and I saw a kit at the grocery store for making s'more
pudding cups she said, "Mom, we could make those and we could make them
so much cuter!"

I had to agree. We couldn't make ours in clear plastic cups or random
juice glasses that have survived 16 years living with the Armstrongs.
We had to go BIG {or rather small} or go home and use adorable mini
jelly jars to make these layered s'mores creations. So, we grabbed some
mini Ball jars, graham crackers, mallow bits, 
mini chocolate chips, and chocolate pudding
and got to work!

My Isabella is all about the graham cracker and the chocolate part of s'mores
and not so much about the marshmallow. However, she loves these little mallow
bits because they are more crunchy than squishy. That made them the perfect
marshmallow component to our yummy s'more pudding cup {jars}.



FIRST, we whipped up some chocolate pudding and crushed our
graham crackers in a Ziploc bag.
SECOND, we melted some of the chocolate chips and dipped graham cracker
pieces and added some mallow bits. We refrigerated them to speed up the
setting process.



THIRD, it was time to get our layers on! I used a small cookie scoop to put
about two scoops of pudding in the bottom of the jars.
FOURTH, we sprinkled in about 2 tablespoons of graham crackers on top
of the pudding layer.
FIFTH, spoon about two small scoops of chocolate pudding on top of
your graham cracker layer.

Now it's time to make it pretty! We stuck in our chocolate covered graham 

cracker pieces, and sprinkled graham crackers, mini chocolate chips, 

and mallow bits on top. Isabella was very particular that they have just the 

right ratio of mallow bits to chocolate chips in each jar. I think she did a great job! 

Isabella loves to help in the kitchen. She says she been baking for like 5 years, so

she has a lot of experience. It was so much fun to create something together and

to have her put her little touches on the s'mores in a jar - like adding the mallow

bits to the chocolate dipped graham cracker.

I think only second to creating yummy food in the kitchen is her love of getting

to serve her delicious creations to her family. It really matters to her that

everyone love what she's created because she puts so much of herself and love

into everything she creates. She was thrilled that her brother and sister gobbled

up every last bit the S'mores {Pudding} In a Jar!

DO YOU LOVE S'MORES? 

IS THIS SOMETHING YOU WOULD MAKE

WITH YOUR KIDS? 

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE RECIPE TO MAKE AS A FAMILY?

LINK ME UP IN THE COMMENTS TO YOUR FAVORITE S'MORES RECIPES!

DIY Father's Day Book {My Dad}

Back in my former life as a 2nd grade teacher, one of my favorite things I made
with my students was adorable Father's Day gifts. They were also so excited
to make a special present for their dads. So I made sure they made something
special that the dads would cherish and not hang in the closet to be forgotten
until it was time for Goodwill donations. So, we made a sweet and easy
"My Dad" Book that includes writing prompts and their original artwork.

I created a printable version of the "My Dad" Book with fun fonts and frames
that you can make with your kids. It's a great project for  kids of any age
because those that are too young to write can dictate to you and draw their
pictures and your older kids can show off their writing and artistic talent.

There are 6 double pages in the book - for a total of 12 pages.

They have writing prompts like "My dad and I have the most fun" or

"My dad makes the best" and lets the kids finish the sentence with their answers.

You will fold all the pages with blank/wrong sides together, so that you see the
writing prompts on both sides of the page.

Have the kids write and illustrate their pages BEFORE you put the book
together. It is easier and keeps the binding of the book looking nice. Grab
colored pencils and a free afternoon, when dad isn't around, and have the kids
work on their pages.

I printed the inside pages on regular copy paper, but I printed the cover on
heavyweight cardstock. I also have the kids illustrate the cover of the
Father's Day book before I put it together.

It's easier to maneuver and if someone makes a page they aren't happy with

(which never happens with my Type A perfectionist kids),

you can easily toss it and replace it and not have to take the whole book apart. 

When your child has finished all of their pages, it's time to put it together.

You will insert all the pages with the open side into the inside spine of the cover.

If you've assembled it correctly, yours should look like mine below.

The open/flappy part of the pages will be on the inside, and the folded edge

of the pages will be on the outside edge of the book.

It's an easy DIY project that you can finish in 2-3 free afternoons.

My super detail orientated little artist could spend a day on each page trying

to perfect the illustrations. So, if this is the case at your house too, then you 

might want to allow for a week to get it finished without stressing anyone out.

When you're all done, assemble as instructed above, and staple 2-3 times down the
spine of the book, being careful not to staple too far in so that it makes the pages
hard to turn or covers up your child's beautiful pictures and writing.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FATHER'S DAY BOOK