Fun Easter Egg Tutorial

Mama's Felt Cafe has just released a new felt Easter egg tutorial on her blog. She has instructions on creating two different large Easter eggs out of felt. Click here to be directed to her blog and the instructions. If you are not into creating your own eggs she also sells them on her etsy site.

Tru Kid Giveaway Ends Soon!

TruKid giveaway ends on Thursday, April 7th. Click here to enter.

Allergy Friendly Easter Basket Ideas

The first Easter after my oldest son was diagnosed with food allergies I struggled with what to use to fill his Easter basket. Growing up we mostly recieved candy (and a few trinkets in our baskets) and I wanted his Easter basket to be like what we had growing up. I was unaware that there were actually quite a few different types of candies that he could have. Here is a list of candy (and some other fun ideas) that you could use to fill a basket. Please always check labels if your child has food allergies since ingredients, suppliers and manufacturing processes can change.

Candy and Sweets:

Peeps- we love Peeps and who wouldn't they are made a coated with sugar!!

Skittles

Starburst

Gimballs Jelly Beans

Divvies- they sell candy as well as cookies, cupcakes and carmel corn

DumDum Lollipops

Smarties

Other fun ideas:

Baby Ideas- I think babies are the hardest to shop for. Some ideas for babies are sensory blankets, onesies and other soft toys or books. Cuddles and Love sells great sensory blankets and onesies at her etsy shop.

Craft supplies

DVDs- My kids love movies (especially now since we got rid of our satellite tv!).

Eco-Friendly Crayons- Many Etsy shops sell eco-friendly crayons in different shapes and colors. For Christmas I bought my children Lego crayons and they were a huge hit! You could also make your own, ebay sells molds or you purchase molds from various stores.

Felt Play Toys/Food- If you are interesteed in felt food Mama's Felt Cafe is an etsy shop that specializes in adroable felt food. Her blog also contains tutorials so you can make your own felt foods.

Homemade Items- I was actually planning on making my son a set of stuffed Angry Birds for Easter, but I am quickly running out of time so they are going to be a birthday gift (I am hoping to get them done by June) my son loves homemade gifts I think he realizes the time that I have put into homemade gifts.

Stuffed Animals

Sidewalk Chalk

Sign Language DVDs- We like Sign-A-Lot. They are great for preschool and elementary children. My kids love these DVDs (and they don't realize they are learning!)

Wooden Toys- I love wooden toys- they are durable which is important with little ones. I love the shop Apple n Amos she has a great selection.

All opinions in this post are my own. I was not compenstated by any of the companies mentioned in this post, however some of them have sent me a product to review or hosted a giveaway on this site. I do not mention a company unless I like their product. If you are interested in items I have previous reviewed please visit my Reviews/Giveaways tab.

Strawberry Shortcake (free of six of eight top allergens)

I love strawberry shortcake, especially with fresh in-season strawberries. Our stores ran strawberries for $1.00 a package for a couple weeks so I had to make strawberry shortcake! This recipe is free of milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish and shellfish).

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

3 tsp baking powder

3 tbsp sugar

6 tbsp shortening

Egg substitute equivalent to one egg

3/4 cup soy milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine dry ingredients then cut shortening into mixture with a pastry cutter or two knives. Stir in wet ingredients until everything is combined. Form into buscuits and bake for 20 minutes. Serve with fresh strawberries. The picture for this post has whipped topping, but I have not been able to find a whipped topping without milk.

My Garden Status

I started seeds indoors a few weeks ago (I won't be planting outside until May since the frost warning for our area is until mid-May). I planted yellow squash, brussel sprouts, broccoli, purple tomatillos, rosemary and basil. The first set of seeds that I started emerged after only a few days and were doing great, for about a week and a half when we had nicer weather and I decided to put them outside and I forgot them overnight and we had a really cold night. Now they are looking really sad:

After I nearly killed all the plants I decided to start over and planted more broccoli, brussel sprouts, and yellow squash. I also added cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and jalapenos. Most of the seeds have come up and are doing great, and I am not going to take them outside until I know that I will not kill them!

My kids will be planting their own seeds in the next couple weeks and have already started enjoying our garden themed sensory box.

This post is part of a four part link-up with the Homeschool Village's Garden Challenge. To visit the link-up click here. You will find other garden link-ups as well as fun activities to do with your kids. I will be posting more fun garden activities to do with kids through the month of April.

April Sensory Box

I am so excited about our April sensory box. The theme this month is the garden! I am planning on doing a bunch of garden related activities with my two older children, including allowing them to plant some of their own seeds. I struggled with what to use to fill the bottom of the box and settled on little rocks purchased at Hobby Lobby. The rocks are in the section with marbles and come in three pound bags and I used two bags to fill the bottom of my container.



Here is what is in the box:
Six pounds of small stones (Hobby Lobby)
Pinwheel flower (Hobby Lobby)
Shovel and Rake (Hobby Lobby)
Pink flower (Jo-Ann Fabrics)
Bird House (Target Dollar Spot)
Butterfly Magnifying Glass (Target Dollar Spot)
Squishy Bugs (Target Dollar Spot)
Two Frogs (I can't remember where they came from I just found them in the toy box!)

We Have Cancelled our Satelite TV!

After months of my husband asking me if we could get rid of our satelite television (he really wanted to cut that expense because it is over $1200 a year- and we have one of the most basic packages that they offer). I finally realized that since I am homeschooling it would probably be the best thing for my children to cancel the television and the ability to allow them to watch whenever they are bored (or whevever I need a babysitter- which I hate to admit). We will still have our television and can watch basic television and DVDs and VHS tapes. I do not watch much, if any tv during the day and if I do I listen to shows on the internet, while I do other things. I do watch tv at night after the kids go to bed and about 80 percent are docu-reality cable shows. If anyone has any ideas for getting the kids off tv I would love to hear them!