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I have shared activities I've done with my grandchildren with you on past posts. I love to try to make memories with them. For example, this post was from last year when my grandchildren who now live in Wyoming were here. (sigh)
At this time in my life, I am watching my 15 month old granddaughter 4 days a week. She is at the age where she is curious about many things, strives to be independent, needs to be constantly supervised, is a little too young for art projects and loves to be outside. I know that this stage is going to fly by quickly and I am trying to enjoy it with her as much as I can. It is so cute to hear her learning language and to see her experience new things. I am so blessed to be a part of her growth. Now that the weather is nice, she loves to go outside as much as possible, I thought I would share with you some of the fun that we have together during these beautiful Spring days.
After we eat breakfast, we put on sunscreen (a must all year round in Phoenix), and then we go outside to water the garden. She "talks" to me all about it as we water. This watering can is heavy for her. I get it started pouring and she holds it for me. I am ordering this cute child sized watering can from Amazon for her to use. It is a Melissa and Doug Brand, which I have always been happy with. Compared with all of the kid sized watering cans I've seen, this one is a very good price! Look how cute it is! She will love it, as will my other grandchildren when they come to visit. I had some small metal cans for my older grandchildren, but they have seen better days. If you would prefer metal, this is a reasonably priced one.
While we were in the garden today, we found a great surprise! Look!
After the excitement of finding the tomatoes, Emily started picking up rocks to carry around. If she doesn't have a rock in her hand, she likes to have a piece of sidewalk chalk. She loves to use the back block fence as her canvas to use the chalk on and likes me to draw with her. If you don't like getting your hands all chalky, my daughter-in-law purchased some chalk holders for my grandson that help with that. They are awesome because they provide good grip for little fingers. These are by Melissa and Doug. The others are Peppa Pig themed. My grandson would love those. Chalk with chalk holders would be a welcome Easter Basket gift!
Today, as Emily picked up rocks, I thought about the rock painting craze that seems to have happened lately. She is too young for paints, but I found some rocks that we could draw on and she really got into that!
One thing that we are thankful to have in our backyard is a wagon! Emily has to have a ride in it everyday. When her cousin Spencer comes to visit, our wagon is a two seater and they can both have a ride together. Our wagon is a hand-me-down, but here is a similar one. The kids have all loved to either ride in it or pull each other around. I love pulling her around the yard not only because she gets a kick out of it, it also gives me some exercise! 4 laps around my yard gave me 200 steps this morning. Then we did 2 more laps in the afternoon! The added weight of pulling the wagon with the toddler in it has to burn more calories, right? Ha ha
When we come in from our time in the backyard in the morning, she is about ready for a morning nap, so we wash our hands and read a book and then listen to some songs on the Echo Dot, more commonly known as Alexa. Emily loves to dance to the songs, but if I play some quiet ones, she will often fall right to sleep on my shoulder. (Sometimes, if we're lucky.) Later in the afternoon, we will go out and do our backyard routine all over again.
A little sun for vitamin D, a little exercise, a bit of gardening, some exploring and creativity. What could be better than that?
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Hey, Alicia back again with another What to Read Wednesdays post for you. I was basically on vacation for the last month or sick so my mom stepped in for me. (Thanks Mom!)
This month I have a book that we featured on our podcast awhile back but I want to recommend again: Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan. What to Read Wednesdays: Crazy Rich Asians
This novel is a fun and exciting look into the lives of people with so much money they could probably use it as toilet paper (they don't).
It takes place in Singapore and follows a few rich families and Rachel Chu an ABC (American Born Chinese) as the book puts it, who is dating Nick Young, son in one of the richest families in Singapore. Rachel is thrust into Nick's world when he decides to bring her home for the wedding of his best friend, but doesn't warn Rachel beforehand about the amount of wealth his family has. Hilarity and drama ensue as the gossip around Rachel spreads and Nick's mom, Eleanor tries to convince Nick he can't marry someone so below his station. While Rachel and Nick are the main focus of the story, one thing I really like about the book is that the story is told from different character's perspectives. In addition to Nick and Rachel, we also see things from Eleanor, Astrid (Nick's cousin), and Eddie (Nick's other cousin). It's interesting to see how the wealth plays into each of their lives and affects their choices. While some are trying to keep up appearances, others try to hide their privilege. The character development in the story is excellent our main characters are pretty well fleshed out and suck you into the story. Another thing I love is the language and slang thrown into the story, and translated in footnotes. It's only translated once so you've got to remember what the words mean. They are from various languages including Malay, Hokkien, & Cantonese.
Crazy Rich Asians is one of those books that when you finish it you immediately want more. As soon as I finished, I went on Amazon and bought the other two books in the series. And with a sequel to the movie in the works, you might want to do the same. The books are a fun look into a different world and culture. They're also a fast read perfect for an airplane ride or reading before bed.
Kevin Kwan is actually from Singapore and many of the scenes and characters are based on people he knew growing up. The idea for the novel came when he was reminiscing with his father about their days in Singapore (they moved to the states when he was about 11). He says his intention was to "introduce a contemporary Asia to a North American audience." <via> It's a brilliant novel that you've probably heard about, maybe even seen the movie, but now I'm telling you to go read it. Crazy Rich Asians is fantastic. So have you read it? Or will you be reading it soon? Let us know in the comments below!
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UPDATED:
Hey guys, I had to come back and update this post because of a few things that happened recently. 1st, Strawberries are on sale again, so it is obviously time to start eating strawberry shortcake! Which made me think about this recipe and you! 2nd, since last year, we have become a gluten free house. PH noticed (after I pointed it out to him) that gluten gives him trouble. So he's decided to cut out the gluten in his life. 3rd, a few weeks ago we had a family dinner at my parent's house. My mom tried to find a recipe for a gluten free (for PH) and vegan (for Maddy) strawberry shortcake. The results were... well. One time Maddy bought a vegan pizza and Alicia said it tasted like despair. It can really be so hard to find a good gluten free recipe. Well, this past weekend was General Conference weekend for our Church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) and we invited the missionaries in our ward (congregation) to come watch a session and have dinner with us. I had a fridge full of strawberries. So I decided to test out this recipe with some changes to make it gluten free. (It just so happens they're vegan too!) The Results? My husband said, "these do not taste like despair!" Interpretation: success! See my notes below for how to make this recipe vegan and gluten free. The weather is warming up (it is here at least) and warm weather means it is strawberry season! I love strawberries and every time they're on sale I have to buy them! Well, as you may recall, the last time strawberries were on sale I stocked up and my mom and I showed youhow to can your own strawberry jam. Well, this time around I was in the mood for a sweet treat, so I made strawberry shortcake! Strawberry shortcake has got to be one of the easiest, lightest, and freshest desserts out there! The great thing about this recipe is that if you take the first four ingredients I list for the cake you can make your own homemade Bisquick mix and make a huge batch! Then you can make strawberry shortcake all the time. If you use a batch of the mix, use two cups to make this strawberry shortcake. Since it is a Bisquick type mix, the shortcake itself is more of a sweet biscuit. It's light and sweet, and lets you focus on the flavor of the sweet strawberries and cream! This is a quick and easy strawberry shortcake recipe, and its the perfect ending to any summer meal! To make this recipe gluten free just swap out the flour for Bob's Red Mill All purpose Gluten free flour. the Xanthan gum is included, and it is a 1:1 ratio switch. I made these gluten free for a friend once, and they turned out a little drier than normal, like most gluten free things do. She told me that she has since started swapping out butter in her recipes for applesauce and it takes care of that problem. Well, I tried it, and it worked! Swap out the 3 TBSP melted butter for 3 TBSP applesauce. This helps the biscuit stay moist! Finally, for a Vegan option, after you swap the butter, just use almond milk instead of regular milk. I do this all the time in recipes and you can't tell the difference! Just as a quick and final side note, as you may recall, we have partnered with Uber! You can click on our links to start the process of becoming a driver partner with Uber. It's a great way to make some extra cash on the side. Well, as a woman, you may have some apprehensions about driving with Uber but a girl's gotta hustle too! Uber's safety features are designed to help you feel more secure in your decision to drive. Here are a few highlights that should help give you added peace of mind while you're doing that weekend hustling. Share Your Trip In case you're ever feeling unsafe or if you just want to let your friends know where you are, you can activate the "Share My Trip" feature within the Uber Driver-Partner app. Just go to your settings and with a tap of a button, invite people from your contacts list to see where you are on the road. They won't see any details about the rider on your trip but they can keep an eye on where you are. Turn this on when you're about to finish your last trip of the day and head over to a girls' date! This is a doubly good feature since your gals will know you're on your way and can confirm when you get there. Riders Must Share Details Before a user starts taking rides with Uber, they must create an account using their phone number, name and electronic payment. Riders are not anonymous and Uber keeps records in the case you need to report anything related to the rider. Obviously these details are not shared between riders and you but there's an added layer of protection if you do need to get in touch with a rider. Also, Uber anonymizes phone numbers so that riders won't have your personal number and vice versa. Round the Clock Support Uber has response teams on call 24/7 for any incidents that need support. Whether a rider forgot their wallet in the back of your car or left a bit of a mess, you can contact Uber support for help with next steps to get it resolved. You will always have access to help when you need it from their support team! Please keep in mind there are a few requirements to be eligible to drive with Uber! Driver requirements include, but are not limited to: - Be at least 21 years of age - Have at least one year of licensed driving experience in the U.S. (Three years if you are under 23 years old) - Have a valid U.S. driver's license - Use an eligible 4-door vehicle - You can get started HERE on the sign up process!
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Recently, I told you about a new tool/toy that my husband picked up for me! It is a heat gun! My husband purchased my heat gun at Harbor Freight, but there are many choices of brands and styles on Amazon. This one is similar to mine. I needed one to do some chemical wood burning with the Scorch Pen. I've had so much fun with that, that I have been scouring Pinterest for more things that I can use my heat gun for. I haven't tried them all yet, but I thought for Friday Faves #97, I would give you a little heads up about some of the things I am thinking of trying! If you have any craft ideas that I can use my heat gun for, let me know!
That red bowl is plastic melamine from Dollar Tree! The embossing worked great and the bowl didn't melt. (It helps that my heat gun has a variable temperature and I can set it a little lower.) I think that these will be perfect for our Disney trip for my little grandchildren to eat out of. No breakage!
My search for heat gun projects doesn't stop there! Like I mentioned at the beginning of the post, I would love to hear your ideas of crafts to try! And, if you try any of these, let me know how they come out for you! Thanks! Below I am listing some supplies you may need to get started.
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Creators of Hot Cocoa Bombs! (copyrighted)
Author
Helen Reynolds: Mother of six children , grandmother to eleven! I love to cook, craft and create things and I especially love doing that with my family, So, when my lawyer daughter, Lindsey, my artist daughter, Madalynn, and I came up with the idea of Hot Cocoa Bombs, this blog was born. Then, one more daughter, with her technical and science skills, plus creativity has joined in to round us out! Read more about us here! Archives
April 2024
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