A few things for President's Day

I made a few quick things you can use for President's Day if you're in the mood.  Nothing spectacular, but I thought I'd share anyway.

Songs/Activities

U.S. Presidents Cards

Here are two of links if you're looking to make some presidential head wear:

Lincoln

Washington

Love Quote Love Notes

Sweetheart's Week starts tomorrow!

As you know, I'm doing a game theme.

Here's my easy plan for my sweetheart, Brigham.

*A handwritten love note 

with favorite quotes about love that I found.

*A "game type" treat.

*A game to play together each night

...I'm just using games we already have.

You can use my Love Quote Love Note papers if you want. They aren't spectacular, but they work.

*I printed mine 2 per page so they aren't so big.

Guess Whooo Loves You?

I am excited to play this game. 

To make it even more fun, you need to go make one of these.

Here is mine:

Isn't he cute?

And here is the game. The descriptions are personal for my family, 

so I've included some blank cards if you want to personalize them.

Guess Whooo Loves You?

You Were "Mint" to Be My Valentine

I haven't finished the girls Valentine's yet, but I wanted to show you the first step anyway.

Materials:

candy canes

An Oven at 235 F

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 235 F.

Place two candy canes into an overlapping heart shape on a cookie sheet/jellyroll pan.

Bake for 8 minutes. Keep an eye on them. Any more would have made mine bubble and change in appearance.

Take them out of the oven and pinch the tops of the candy canes together. Push the overlapping candy cane into the bottom one.

Let cool and remove from pan.

Place in a bag. 

Attach cute saying....Maybe "We should be Sweethearts" or anything with a cheesy "Mint" line.

Valentine's I-Spy

Time for more of my Sweethearts Games.

This one is for my oldest. She loves I-Spy games

so I took a few pictures of stuff around the house and used some photos we already had...

....the girls love pictures of themselves.

Then I made them into a photo book

because it was my lucky day

and there was a code for a FREE book!

But if there hadn't been, I would have just ordered 5x7 prints and laminated them. 

I wish I would have time to make more custom I-Spy pictures

but I think they'll like it anyway.

Here are my photos if you're interested in using them. They aren't that great but you're welcome to use them anyway.

Candy:

 Hearts:

 Pink and Red:

Sweethearts Week 2011: The Game of Love

"Love is a game that two  (or 5 in our family) can play and both win".

Sweethearts Week is one of my favorite family traditions. 

I stole it from my best friend, Stephanie, and I love it. 

You can see what I did in 2009 and 2010.

This year my theme will be based on games.

I will be giving the girls a game we can play together each day of the week leading up to Valentine's day.

Here are a few printable games that I have come up with so far so you can enjoy them, too.

Mending Broken Hearts

Valentine Scavenger Hunt

Cupid Cruisers

Snowman Preschool Lesson

I'm back...this week anyway. 

Here's what we'll be doing next week:

Lesson Plan

Songs and Finger Plays

Snowman Face Literacy Game

Marshmallow Math Mat

Shape Snowman

Faux Snow Science

Snow Dough

Snowman in a Bottle

Enjoy!

*Graphics from LetteringDelights.com

My Homemade Christmas Gifts

This year I didn't have many plans for making Christmas gifts, but I really wanted to do something. Thanks to a suggestion from my friend, Stephanie. I bought the book, Wee Wonderfuls, and LOVED it. 

I picked out three projects - one that I thought would fit each of my girls - and got sewing. 

I was happy to find that they weren't too much work. I finished in about 4 days and I was just sewing at naps and night time. I varied the patterns a little bit to my own liking and I think they turned out great for my first doll making projects.

CK's ribbon haired doll:

 L's topsy turvey doll (she was the most time intensive because of a lot of hand sewing):

 And C's Ellie bag (I added a ribbon bow to the back):

By far my favorite gifts to give the girls....and they actually like them.

Oh! and the best part, I just used extra fabric/supplies I already had so they were priced just right.

Gingerbread Cookies (delicious!)

I made gingerbread cookies today with the girls. They were so good that I had to post a link to the recipe. I followed it exactly except I omitted the black pepper. That just didn't sound like something I would want in a cookie. 

Try it. It was so easy. 

GINGERBREAD COOKIES

While the dough chilled, we read a couple of great gingerbread stories:

Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett 

and

The Bakers Dozen: A Saint Nicholas Tale retold by Aaron Shepard

Christmas Advent: Couples Style

This is SO last minute, and I haven't taken pictures of my completed advent, but I thought I'd share it anyway in case anyone is looking for advent ideas to do with your spouse. I tried to make most "kid less" activities that are easy and fun and should help strengthen your marriage. I am excited to have something to do with my sweetheart and count down to Christmas as well.

Here are my activity ideas, if you're interested.