Filling Easter eggs and baskets

It's soon Easter time and I have heard numerous parents/grandparents/teachers say, "I don't know what to put in _____ Easter eggs/basket!" With the rise against not wanting your child to inhale a ton of candy it can make occasions like Easter and Halloween difficult a time to get more creative. Some are even asking, "Do I want to do an Easter basket?"

That is the question I found myself asking last year after Christopher was born. He was almost 3 months old around Easter time so I knew that he would have no recollection of what we did/didn't do. We decided to buy him a jumperoo and deem that his Easter present since it was an item we were already going to buy for him, why not knock out two things at once? This year was no different, Easter was coming and I again contemplated Easter basket or no Easter basket...

My main reasoning for questioning this tradition is that I struggle with overshadowing the real reason for our family celebrating Easter. I don't want Easter (or Christmas) to become about getting gifts, taking pictures with the Easter bunny/Santa or for us to get caught up in all the other fun traditions. These holidays are a chance to get to celebrate the amazing gift of life that we were given through our Savior being born into human form and then paying the ultimate sacrifice for our sins.

Don't get me wrong I LOVE HOLIDAYS and everything that goes with them!!!!! It's a great time to get together with family and friends, decorate the house, do crafts, etc. and since these are some of my favorite things to do, I enjoy every moment. (Tim may even say I go a bit overboard!) This is why we decided that there is definitely room, at least for our family, to do both things. It is our job in the joys of the traditions, games, candy and family time to incorporate the story of our Savior and make it the biggest part of either holiday.

For this year I decided brainstorm, and use the wonderful resource of the internet, to compile a list of what could be used to fill your Easter eggs and baskets. I know it is a little late this year as most probably already have both of these things done, but just in case, here's a little help!

* Easter egg ideas:

1. Stickers
2. Small stuffed animals 
3. Coins, or dollar bills if you are feeling extra generous :)
4. Cars (Hot Wheels/Wheelies/Thomas the Train, etc.)
5. Character Band-Aids
6. Treats (Teddy Grahams, Fruit Snacks, Goldfish, Raisins, Animal Crackers, Cheerios, Puffs, Mini M&M's, Nuts, etc.)
7. Temporary Tattoos
8. Chapstick/Lip gloss
9. Party size Play-Dough
10. Mini cookie cutters to use with Play-Dough
11. Puzzle pieces (after finding all the eggs, put the puzzle together!)
12. Mini Erasers
13. Coupon for new book, bowling, movie, date night with Dad/Mom, etc.
14. Finger Puppets
15. Hair Barrette/Bows
16. Jewelry
17. Mini Animals (You can usually find a set or two of these on clearance at Michaels)
18. Barbie Outfits
19. Silly Putty
20. Legos
21. Socks (I always find the cutest character socks in the dollar bin at Target)
22. Water capsules...stick them in water and watch them grow
23. Coloring page/maze, folded up
24. Magnets (Have cheap packs of letter/number magnets at Wal-Mart)
25. Cool Shoelaces
26. Dice
27. Fisher Price Little People
28. Balloons/Punching balloons, not blown up of course
29. Mini bottle of bubbles
30. Stampers
31. Mini Paints
32. Squirt Toys for bath tub
33. Bath tablets that change the water color
34. Packet of seeds that you will plant/water together
35. Inflatable ball
36. Mini slinky (looking for minis is a great idea, or just look in the party favor section for some smaller items)
37. Put a piece of paper with number on it that goes to corresponding prize - great way to include bigger prizes that don't fit in eggs
38.  Bouncy Balls
39. Mini Water balls to play with in summer

* Easter basket ideas:

1.  Book (#1, #2, #3, #4, #5)
2. Toothbrush/Toothpaste
3. Kite
4. CD
5. DVD
6. Toy
7. Sidewalk Chalk
8. Bubbles
9. Bucket/Shovel
10. Playdough (Make your own!)
11. Gardening Tools
12. Jump Rope
13. Crayons/Coloring Book
14. Puzzles
15. Pinwheel
16. Lacing Beads
17. Art/Crafts Supplies
18. Puppets
19. Game
20. Lunchbox
21. Small Backpack
22. Chalkboard Mats
23. Bathtub Toys
24. Outfit/T-Shirt
25. Foam Stickers/Shapes
26. Bubble Bath
27. Summer Shoes (Keens or Crocs)
28. Mini Pillow Pets
29. Small Instruments (Tambourine, Maraca, Egg Shaker)
30. Disposable Camera
31. Swimsuit/ Beach Towel
32. Sunglasses
33. Brain Quest
34. Small Cars
35. Water Bottle
36. Stuffed Peeps (These are adorable, wished we lived closer to a BRU!)

* Easter egg hunt ideas:

•  Have each child find a different color egg (ensures that each child gets the same amount of eggs and easy to put age appropriate items in if you have children with a large age difference).
• Fill eggs with "Bunny Bucks" or "Bunny Money" and have an Easter store. The children can spend the money they got in the egg hunt at the store.
• Do an Easter egg scavenger hunt (hide clues in the eggs to lead to each child's Easter basket). Can put a clue only in the eggs or a clue and a treat.
• Do an Easter egg hunt at night with flashlights (inside or outside).

Some of my favorite Easter memories as a child were going to this huge Easter egg hunt that took place on our Legion field. There were TONS of eggs (and people) and of course lots of candy and prizes. Each year you would hope to find an egg that had a number in so you could take it to the stand and see what big prize your number matched. I also loved getting to prance around in the beautiful Easter dress that my Aunt Reesie had made for me, sue me I was/am a girly girl at times :)

Another great memory was the Easter cantata at our church. I loved feeling like I was at a play and watching to see if there would be any live animals there (one year the man playing Jesus got to ride in on a donkey!). It was so different from any other church service and revealed the story of Jesus's death and resurrection in such a real way. Let me end by saying I understand, and respect, that everyone's beliefs/ways of celebrating are different so I'm hoping you find fun things to do with your family in a style you are comfortable with and enjoy!!

A few days early but have a Happy Easter everyone :)

Project Simplify, Week 4: Choose Your Own Adventure

Before I was even through reading the phrase "Choose your own adventure" I knew what area of the house I was going to focus on. Are you ready...

THE BASEMENT!!

When we first started looking for houses a finished basement was on our "must have" list. I wanted a place that our children could hang out with their friends, have sleepovers and a sports haven for Tim.  Most of the houses we looked at though did not have finished basements, or were above our price range.  Our "runner up" house had a beautifully finished basement with a game room, office, gas fireplace and much more. I fell in love, but the house didn't compare to the house we ended up buying, so we sacrificed the basement.

Looking back an unfinished basement is perfect for our family right now. We can store all bigger "baby" items in between infants, we have plenty of place in the basement for all of our summer items (grill, lawnmower, Christopher's outside toys, etc.) until we get a shed and it isn't another huge area to clean which I am thankful for since moving from a small townhouse to our house has already quadrupled our cleaning list :)

Upon moving into our house back in April the basement definitely got to be the "dump" for boxes we weren't sure what to do with, all of the things we needed to go through and all of our things that were going to be stored down there. Having a three month old did not give us much time to go down and clean/organize so it stayed messier than I would have liked for a little while. SLOWLY, but surely, I got most of our things semi organized and all the boxes had been sorted through.

As Christopher outgrew things and we settled into our house more items ended up in the basement without the time to properly store them and although most others wouldn't have called it a mess I knew I wanted to weed through some more of the boxes and organize some more!

Sadly, I forgot to take "before" pictures and by the time I remembered I was in the middle of organizing and moving things around so there were things everywhere. I honestly didn't think that I would get this project done in a week, especially when I didn't feel motivated and I felt like I was just making a bigger mess, but I DID IT and it definitely feels rewarding. I just took it one step at a time and anytime I saw something that needed to be done I did it! So, it's definitely not a beauty but here is our basement...

Tim's office area for when he teleworks, which is rare.

Our "yardsale" corner, plus a friend's recliner. Whatever doesn't sell by the end of May is going to Goodwill.

Outdoor and baby items

When our basement is finished this back nook will stay a storage area for our camping gear, seasonal decorations, etc.

I hate storing things in Cardboard boxes, so you will only see 1 or 2 of them :)

Thankful for Sterilite containers and laminated note cards to label!

Craft/teaching supplies

Cat Corner :)

Overall March went incredibly fast and I was excited to complete Project Simplify. It gave me enough motivation and accountability to finish projects I wanted to do around the house. Next thing on my list, finishing Christopher's one year scrapbook :)

Project Simplify, Week 3: Closets and Countertops and Drawers, Oh My!

This past week's project was a collaboration of places that gave me a lot of choices and in the end I chose our game closet, coat closet, jewelry/make-up cabinet, the master closet and all of my clothing drawers. Sounds like a lot but Christopher and I had it tackled by Wednesday and I was very happy with the amount of items that were going to be leaving our house!

First up was the game closet. Before I show you the before and after pictures you must realize that Tim and I are both avid game players. We enjoy a variety of games from the classics, to strategic and of course the good old card games! Needless to say we both brought a lot of games into the marriage (we even had a lot on our wedding registry) and are always asking for more at Christmas, birthday's, etc. In fact I think at this moment I have about 5 on my wish list... we just can't get enough! We are also lucky enough to have families and friends that enjoy playing games so they still get a lot of use even with a 14 month only boy running around :)

Before

After, doesn't look too different. Just wanted to go through everything and reorganize a bit. I am hoping to get a small basket to put all the decks of cards and small games up top into and we did get rid of one game.

Next in line was my jewelry/make-up cabinet in our bathroom. Again, not too messy, but I did have jewelry in there that I've had since middle/high school that I never wear! Definitely time to weed through and get rid of any plastic rainbow star bracelets :)

Before

After, definitely a much cleaner/organized look!

Things that need to go! Already sold all of the earrings I got rid of and the most of the headbands, it was great to get organized and make some extra money :)

Christopher decided after those two areas were completely that he needed a nap and he definitely deserved one after playing with a few games, putting together puzzles, army crawling under the spare bed, organizing nail polish, sorting headbands, making some phone calls and ripping up reading Mommy's magazines all while I was going through things. This left me to tackle the master closet and dresser drawers by myself...

We have an amazing walk-in closet,which, after having limited closet space in our townhouse is amazing! When we first moved in Tim told me if it didn't fit in there it had to go. I still had to get rid of three trash bags full of clothes, whoops!

My side of the closet is still entirely too full, I just have a hard time getting rid of clothes and used to buy way too many of them.

I didn't take before/after pictures of the closet and my drawers because it doesn't look any different, besides a few less articles of clothes.

Pile of clothes/shoes I'm getting rid of.

And last, but not least... The coat closet/coat rack.

Before

After. As I was moving all of our winter coats upstairs I realized that they were the only winter item we got out. We didn't ever need to get out thermals, boots, etc.

Before

After, didn't want it to be completely empty!

This week's project is to pick your own adventure and I'm hoping to have it done this week. I'm keeping it a surprise and hoping that all of my hard work shows in the before and after pictures!!

Tax Return Fun

The only fun I ever associated with doing my tax return was seeing how much money I would get back. In high school, after I filed, the money would go into my bank account and right into savings for college or help pay for car insurance. Then, when in college, it went towards tuition and books. Right after college ended I got married and our tax return went towards paying off my school loans (notice tax returns=money for college), our car loan and saving for a house. As you can see each year the money was gratefully received and used in a productive way. I'm sure along the years I used a small portion to buy a new movie or book that I had wanted, or perhaps splurged on something like 2 movies.

This year was no different, after buying a house and having a baby I was sure that our money would go towards the mortgage, into savings (as the two things listed above can be quite costly) and into the college fund we started after Christopher was born. This didn't bother me though seeing as I had never looked at it as a big payday before and this is what would be best for our family.

I almost fell over when we originally talked about where the money would be best used and Tim said that we were fine on our mortgage and in savings and that we should both make a list of where we wanted this money to go.  Needless to say I wasted no time in day dreaming about what I could spend this money on and almost every idea I had was for Christopher (play kitchen, outdoor toys, etc.)... oh how times change when you are a mother! I find it so easy to spend money on him, but almost impossible to spend anything on myself.

One requirement that I had was to make sure that everyone got something that they would enjoy. I didn't want to be selfish and get myself, or Christopher, something bigger and have Tim sacrifice. So when making my list I made sure to include things that we would all enjoy. After Tim and I made our initial lists, and the money was in our bank account, we sat down and compared lists. We reasoned through everything and decided what could wait, wasn't needed, etc. To be honest I thought this might be a bit of a tug of war, but we agreed on everything and came up with a final list.

This is where my FUN comes in :) I have always LOVED to take pictures and can get quite aggravated when my little point and shoot doesn't keep up. Since having Christopher, who is my primary subject in shooting these days, I had been eying up DSLR cameras but knew there was no way I could justify spending that kind of money.  This was the perfect opportunity and we both agreed it would be great to have while our kids are growing up. After doing research (about two years worth) and talking with several professional photographers I decided on the Canon Rebel t2i.

Isn't it beautiful? 

We got the camera, with an 18-55mm lens kit, a camera bag and a 50 mm/1.8 lens for portrait/close-ups. I was glad we had the little bit of extra money to get another lens and already have a wish list of items that I would eventually like to add on (speedlite, extra battery possibly and a 55-250mm lens for when the kids start playing sports). Of course we'll be keeping our point and shoot as well so we aren't always lugging this around and it really has done a great job for me, for the most part. Hopefully now I won't have to be running around turning on every light in the house just to get a good picture :)

Speaking of pictures, no I haven't taken any with this bad boy yet. We just got it in the mail today and the most I've done is charge the battery and organize everything in the bag. I want to take some time to read through the manual (please nap well tomorrow, Christopher) before I play around with it, but trust me I'm itching to give it a go!

Christopher has already tested out what we got him and the stick vacuum we bought to help us for quick pick ups in the kitchen...

We had this trampoline on his Christmas list just didn't make the cut. Our little bouncer/dancer has already put in a lot of time on this!

Helping Mommy test out the stick vacuum. I was so tired of lugging out our amazing, but HEAVY, vacuum for every little mess so we got this for quick pick ups which are needed a lot with a toddler and three cats!

Tim and I are also getting ourselves bikes which have been on our "wish-lists" since we got married. The first anniversary we were going to buy them I found out I was pregnant (Dr. advised not to start since I hadn't been biking before pregnancy and since I'm a klutz, I followed that advice!). Then our second anniversary Christopher was too little to ride on a bike so we held off again. This summer is perfect though! One of Tim's co-workers gave us a bike trailer (Garbo's, you rock!!!) and Christopher loves to go for walks/be outside so I'm sure he will love it!

Of course we still saved a bunch (have to send the kid's to college somehow) but it really was refreshing to spend money on ourselves and not feel bad about it or for once not being extremely responsible and sticking it all into savings.  Hoping you all enjoy/enjoyed your tax return money!

Project Simplify, Week 2: Pantry

When I saw the list of hot spots for this year I have to admit, I was most excited about the pantry.  This is one area in our house that can easily turn into something that looks like it has been hit by a tornado, or two.  It ends up in this post tornado state when groceries are put away wherever they fit or when our little ball of energy decides to make a mess help reorganize.

So when preparing for this week I went to pinterest and typed in pantry to get ideas of how I wanted my pantry to look and easy/cheap ways to organize. What I found was not only some great ideas, but pantries that made my mouth drool!  Who knew that a walk in pantry could be so amazing! I'll save that for our dream house though because after living in a townhouse for two years, with no pantry and barely any cabinet space, I am just thankful to have a pantry :)

I found though that most of these "perfect" pantries just didn't seem practical, they had rows of matching condiments, cereals, pasta, etc.  As that looked very nice and magazine worthy it just didn't look like a pantry in a "I cook everyday and use tons of different items" household.  So here I am, with my pantry that has about 150 different items and all sorts of boxes...What to do?

Here is our pantry before:

And here is our pantry after:

Tried to group items that are alike. I know this won't last though because some weeks we have 1-2 canned items and other weeks we have 5-6 so they just go where they fit and are still an easy find.

The project I was most EXCITED about, bought 3 packs of letter stickers (99 cents a piece) and labeled the baking supplies!

Got a little carried away and labeled the cereal containers as well :)

Added three baskets for the smaller items that were always getting shuffled around

Basically I just went through everything in the pantry, reorganized and added some labels. Nothing fancy, but much needed! Here's to hoping that everything can stay in its place, at least until our next grocery trip :)