Snow Castle!

With another snow storm this week our snow banks are getting huge! We decided to do something fun and turn one really big one that Pat super sized with the loader one day into a really fun snow castle complete with tunnels, stairs, a lookout tower, and an escape route for the sled over the back! I didn't get a good pic of the whole thing but here are a few:

Here is our front wall (the boys are hiding)!

Here is Ethan, Emmy and James at the top of the "snow castle" ready to come down the run we built for the sled.

We have two tunnels here is Ethan in one and Emmy in the other!

Here is a video I shot of the kids coming down the hill:

Hope our friends in CA enjoy this! We wish we could send some your way or even better that you were here to enjoy it with us!

Maine Yukon Day

Pat and the boys took a fun trip to Maine this weekend for the Maine Yukon Day events hosted by the Northern New England District of the Royal Rangers. James and Ethan are Ranger Kids and are not able to participate in all the activities but they had a fun time seeing what they will be doing in years to come!

Take a look at some of the pics:

The mascot this year was a penguin here is a carved one at the entrance to the main building.

Ethan and James poising at the main building.

A real dog sled team was there to do some demonstrations for the kids, the boys loved the dogs!

A big part of the weekend for the older boys was for your outpost to build a dogsled and then pull it through a course. All the supplies they needed had to be packed onto the sled and there was also a rider.

The boys actually pulled the sled (not dogs)!

This was one stop on the course that the boys had to get their sled up the wall and then the rest of the team had to follow.

Check out more on the Royal Rangers here!

Peanut Butter Play Dough and Easy Peanut Butter Presses

I was trying to think of a way to keep Emmy happy while I did her hair and decided to make peanut butter play dough. This is a fun edible dough that is great for the little ones who love to eat the real stuff! We have made this several times in the past but have switched to natural peanut butter and that is what we used, it did not come out the same! It was very dry and crumbly. I tried adding liquid and more peanut butter but nothing seemed to work. The only thing I can think of is that it is the peanut butter. Anyway here is the recipe:

2 1/2 cups peanut butter (not natural)

2 cups dry milk

2 T. honey of molasses

Mix all ingredients until an soft dough is formed.

Have FUN!

Here are some pics of the kids:

Mollie was really wanting some, sorry babe not until your bigger!

You can see here how crumbly it was!
In the end we had a ton leftover and decided to make Easy Peanut Butter Presses from the Pampered Chef cookbook. They didn't come out quite the same but was better than throwing it all away!

Here is the recipe:

1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
Combine until you have a soft dough and then fill your cookie press (or just place balls of dough on the cookie sheet and then flatten). Bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes.


I just figured out how much crumbly dough I had in place of the peanut butter in the recipe. After baking we drizzled them with chocolate. The kids all really liked them!

Check out the Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap for more recipes!

Please leave a comment, I love to see who is dropping by!

Homemade Baby Wipes: a review and "how to"

In the wake of needing to cut back on spending I decided to give homemade wipes a try. I have been using them on and off for about 4 months and really like them and I often wonder why I haven't been using these all along. I guess with the fourth baby you don't care so much about what you are wiping their bottom with! Here is my method, I know everyone does it different but this is what I have found works for us and is easy to make. Let me know what you think!

We are big fans of Bounty so naturally this is what I use. I did try cheap-o paper towels the last time I made wipes but they were awful! We have also tried the "select-a-size" towels and thought they were too small. You need one roll to make two containers of wipes. I spent $5.99 on 8 rolls which is about .75 per roll.

These are the containers I use, mostly because this is the brand of coffee we drink and I had a couple of these in the recycle bin when I was looking for a container. They just happen to be the perfect size! (Let me know if you want any.)

First you cut a roll of paper towels in half. This is the part I hate!! I read on another website to use a bread knife but I cannot stand the feeling of sawing through the towels, it's almost as bad a pulling a cotton ball apart. I usually make Pat do this but I was desperate for wipes and had to do it myself. If you know of an easier way let me know!

After cutting be sure to remove the cardboard tube in the center and pull up the first towel that was stuck to it in the middle. This will be your first "wipe".

Here are the two halves in each of the coffee containers.

For the wipe solution I use 2 1/2 to 3 cups of water 1T. of baby wash and 1T. of lotion. I just use what ever I have on hand and have not bought anything special for this but I know some recipes call for baby oil or other scented essential oils.

Pour half of the mixture into each container and let it sit for a few minutes to soak in and they are ready to use! Don't forget to keep them covered or they will dry out just like regular wipes. If you think they are too wet just leave the cover off for a few hours and let some of the liquid evaporate, or try and squeeze some out. I have found that a little less than 3 cups if perfect for this type of paper towels and this container. You may have to experiment if you are using something else.

The total price for one container of 56 wipes is only .38! I think that's great considering that a package of Huggies wipes is on sale 2 for $5 at CVS and it says the count in the box is 42-72.

Here are some other recipes for household wipes:

General Surface Cleaning:
1 1/2 cups white vinegar 1 1/2 cups water

Disinfectant Cleaning:
1/4 to 1/2 cup pine cleaning solution such as Pine-Sol brand 2 1/2 to 2 3/4 cup water

Window and Glass Cleaning:
1/2 cup rubbing alcohol 2 1/2 cups water1 tablespoon white vinegar

Just had to snap a pic of Emmy who was "washing dishes" ( or making bubbles as she calls it)while I made these.

Valentine Fun at the Kelley's

Valentine Math

The best math is the math you can eat: Necco conversation hearts!

Valentine Red Velvet Cupcakes

I saw this recipe in a new magazine called All You, I really enjoyed the articles, recipes and crafts inside and as a bonus it has tons of coupons ($33 dollars worth I think!). Here is a link to the magazine web site and the recipe for the cupcakes:

"All YOU"

We made these yummy cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for our annual Homeschool Family Sledding Day that just happened to fall on Valentines this year.

Valentine Hair

Inspired by the Everitt girls super cute hair, we just had to get in on the fun! Here are Emmy's "wipmy hearts" as they call them on this web site where we found the directions for little girls who have fine or thin hair.

And finally:

Valentine Sledding

Here are a couple pics (only a couple because our camera battery died), the first one is a good view of the hill we sled on at Bill and Sherri's (Pat's Mom and Dad or Nana and Bumpa as the kids call them). The second one is of Pat and Dan doing something to the snowmachine which we use to transport all the sleds and kids back up the hill for maximum sledding fun!

Mollie is on the Move!

Mollie is now crawling! She seems too little to be crawling because she is a petite 16lbs. at nine months (the smallest of our kids so far)! I think she looks like the little pink pig you always see walking around KB Toys!! James, Ethan, Emmy (and Lucy) just had to get in the video too.