Page 14

Finding Christmas

December 8, 2014December 8, 2014 chantelledoll

A few days ago I posted my Kids Holiday Book Favorites list that included the book Finding Christmas by Robert Munsch. Last night it happened to be the advent book the kids chose to unwrap, so at bedtime we enjoyed the tale of the young girl desperately searching for her Christmas presents.

Well, today I discovered my 4 year old has been doing a little Christmas finding of his own. I have been tucking most of their gifts up on the shelves of our closet where there is no way they can reach them. I thought I had done a good job keeping them hidden and out of reach, but this morning I found out otherwise.

Our conversation this morning went something like this:

“Can I see that Minion toy up in your closet?”

“Which Minion toy? Why would I have Minion’s in my closet.”

“Yes you do! That one behind the Olaf bag.”

Well, yes there is. I hid it behind the bag where there was no way you could possibly see or know about it.

“What do you mean? I don’t see anything behind the bag.”

“Yeah there is. Just come look over here. There is a Minion toy! I can see it says Minion’s right there!”

Sure enough, in the farthest corner of my closet, there it was. The kid can’t read yet but he sure can recognize logo’s. Luckily he can’t see what the actual toy is so it will still be a bit of a surprise, but it seems I need to work on my hiding skills.

His guess is that it is a Minion spaceship. For those who are curious, I have gone against my better judgement and the actual purchased gift in question is this:

I guess it is time to get busy wrapping!

Celebrations, Everyday Life, Two Legged Fun

12 Kids Holiday Book Favorites

December 6, 2014December 8, 2014 chantelledoll

We have begun our 2nd annual Christmas Book Countdown to Christmas and I wanted to share some of my favourites for those looking to build your own Christmas book collection.

When I decided to do the book countdown last year I had very few Christmas books. I bought a handful at Costco, picked a few special ones at the bookstore and then rounded things out with Christmas books I picked up at the Dollar Store. I will keep adding a couple each year as the kids outgrow the baby board books and I come across new books I know they might enjoy.

For our countdown, my children will open one new book a night and then we will usually pick from the other previously unwrapped Christmas books as their second bedtime story. Most of those on my list got re-read several times last Holiday season and I look forward to reading them all again over the next few weeks.

1. ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas by Clement Moore and Illustrated by Jon Goodell

This is such a holiday classic that I think it should be a staple in any Christmas book collection. I absolutely love this version because it has fun holographic images throughout the book for the kids. It is beautifully illustrated and Clement Moore’s classic rhymes flow easily off the tongue.

2. How The Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Suess

Another holiday classic, Dr. Suess’ Grinch has been delighting children for decades. We have both the animated and live action movie versions, but there is something to be said for cuddling up and reading the book together.

3. Santa is Coming to Edmonton written by Steve Smallman & illustrated by Robert Dunn and Juan Calle

I wrote a post specifically about how much I liked this book when I purchased it last year. I love that they have several different city specific versions with illustrations of recognizable landmarks in each city so the kids can relate to it.

4. Dear Santa Claus written by Alan Durant & illustrated by Vanessa Cabban

I lucked out when I found this neat little book at the Dollar Store. It shows the correspondence between a young girl and Santa through envelopes filled with little letters on each page. I love that this book is so interactive and kids love discovering what is in the envelopes on each page.

5. Llama Llama Holiday Drama by Anna Dewdney

We have just recently discovered the Llama Llama series and it is easy to see why it is so popular with kids. In this holiday version, poor Llama Llama is overwhelmed with the holiday season and the anticipation of waiting for Christmas to finally arrive. It is a cute story and a good reminder to us parents to slow down and try to actually enjoy things with our kids amongst all the shopping, baking, wrapping and activities.

6. Berenstain Bears Trim the Tree by Jan & Mike Berenstain

I grew up with Berenstein Bears so I was happy to add this to our collection. There are a few different Christmas themed Berenstein Bear tales available, but I liked this one for its interactivity. My littlest still loves lift the flap books but she is starting to outgrow some of her baby board books. This book allows her to still lift flaps, but has a story that is geared towards an older audience and will allow us to enjoy the book for many Christmases to come.

7. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

For those who know me, it should come as no surprise that this made my list. The movie is my favorite at this time of year and the book about the recognizable misfits is equally charming.

8. Pete the Cat Saves Christmas by James Dean & Eric Litwin

Another fun series for kids, Pete the Cat is sure to delight in this cute holiday tale. Learn how Pete the Cat helps Santa save Christmas and sing along to the free downloadable song version of the book.

9. How Do Dinosaurs Say Merry Christmas? by Jane Yolen & Mark Teague

This fun little tale is new to our collection this year and I chose it specifically for my 4 year old son. It is a fun read and the illustrations are quite comical. It is a good reminder of proper behaviour at this time of year without the kids even knowing what they are learning about.

10. If You Take A Mouse to the Movies by Laura Numeroff & illustrated by Felicia Bond

The “If You Give A…” book series is another popular bedtime read in our house. This book begins with Mouse wanting to string up his movie popcorn for the Christmas tree and takes him through various Christmas activities before winding him full circle back at the movies.

11. Merry Christmas Little Critter! By Mercer Mayer

I loved Little Critter when I was younger and I love them even more as a mom because they are short and easy to read when dealing with requests of “Just one more book, please?”. I introduced my son to Critter this past year so I know he’ll be happy to unwrap one of his favorites character for our nightly Christmas story. Like Berenstain Bears, there are several Christmas themed Critter books available and any one of them would be a good addition to your Christmas book collection. In this one we get to see how the Critter family prepares for and spends Christmas day.

12. Finding Christmas written by Robert Munsch & illustrated by Michael Martchenko

I don’t think you can ever go wrong with Robert Munsch. His quirky humour and the accompanying illustrations captivate the kids in this fun little tale about a girl trying to find where her parents have hidden her Christmas presents.

BONUS HOLIDAY READING

This book is not wrapped up as part of our countdown, but over the past month we have really enjoyed making our way through all the stories in the Disney Christmas Storybook Collection. We got our copy at Costco, but I have seen it in Chapters, Walmart and even our local grocery store. My Frozen obsessed little one was excited it had Anna and Elsa in it, and I love that it helped introduce my kids to many different Disney and Pixar characters in preparation for our Disneyland trip in February. Each story is also quite touching with a special message about being with your loved ones and the true meaning of the holiday season.

With 18 different stories in this one book it easily covers the majority of bedtimes in December!

I hope you have enjoyed seeing what is in our book collection. I am always looking to add new books, so please comment if you have a good suggestion!

Celebrations, Parties

Party Inspiration: Rudolph Treats

December 5, 2014 chantelledoll

This Holiday Season the classic Christmas tale of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer is celebrating it’s 5oth anniversary. It is my all time favorite Christmas special and the anniversary this year just gives one more reason to whip up some holiday treats and enjoy the movie with family and friends! Here are some of my favorite food ideas inspired by the Red Nosed Reindeer and his misfit friends.

1. These Reindeer Paws and Noses Christmas Treats from Oriental Trading are an absolute must. They would be so simple to make and are adorable displayed out on a platter.

2. Speaking of Reindeer noses, one memorable scene from the movie is when Donner tries to cover up Rudolph’s shiny red nose with mud. I love chocolate covered cherries this time of year and think they would make the perfect mud covered Rudolph noses!

3. How cute are these Laughing Cow cheese reindeer from Project Denneler? It is always nice to have some savory options amongst all the sweets at this time of year and these couldn’t be easier thanks to a couple pretzels and some olives.

4. Another fun idea with cheese, these Santa Belt Babybel over on Cute Food For Kids would be something you could make up well ahead of time. Babybel’s always seem to be a hit with kids and adults alike.

5. What better to serve with cheese then some festive crackers? I love these Ritz Holiday Crackers and Snowflake’s from Christie and have a few boxes tucked away in my pantry for upcoming holiday gatherings.

6. Dips are always a hit on a party table, so why not try this festive Cream Cheese Cranberry Dip from Julie’s Eats & Treats.

7. This Mexican inspired Triple Layer Guacamole Creamy Cotija and Confetti Salsa Party Dip from SoupAddict looks as tasty as it is beautiful with its bright holiday colors.

8. Looking to get your veggies in? This Christmas Wreath Vegetable Platter from Divine Health couldn’t be any cuter!

9. The wreath idea could also be used with fruit, or you could try an easy Tree Shaped Platter as seen on Little Wonders’ Days.

10. Pinwheels make for the perfect party food. This towering stack of Southwestern Pinwheels from TiramiSusie’s reminds me of the scene near the end of the movie where the Abominable places the star atop the large Christmas tree in Santa’s workshop.

11. Yukon Cornelius spends the movie searching for silver and gold, so why not put out a selection of silver and gold wrapped chocolates? This idea was inspired by the platter of gold and silver chocolate Sweet Cheeks Tasty Treats had at their Goonies Party.

12. Sweet Cheeks Tasty Treats also has these amazing Bumble Cake Pops on their site. I really wish I had the time and patience to create amazing cake pops!

13. With my basic cake decorating skills, I think I could pull off a Snowglobe Cake like this fabulous one on Taste of Home. With a few Rudolph figurines and a small round glass bowl, it should be simple enough to pull off. My adorable new Rudolph ornament from Target might work perfect.

14. We also can’t forget Hermey. These Santa Hat Meringues on Frugal Coupon Living could be made as is, or you could layer red and blue to recreate Hermey’s iconic elf hat from the movie.

15. What is a Christmas get together without candy canes or peppermint? These Mini Peppermint Cream White Chocolate Cheesecake Tarts from Lauren’s Latest just looked far too delicious to NOT include on my list. They are sweet and dainty like the girl elves on the movie.

16. As an ode to the misfit Water Pistol who shoots grape jelly, you could make these Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer Sandwiches as seen at made from pinterest.

17. One other Misfit inspired idea might be to label Chicken wings as Ostrich wings in honour of the Ostrich riding cowboy on the Island of Misfit Toys.

18. And there’s always room for J-E-L-L-O! The Pioneer Women’s red and green layered Christmas Finger Jello looks so festive and fun.

19. For drinks, an ice cream based white punch would fit the bill. The punch bowl could even be given a mustached face reminiscent of Sam the narrating snowman following this easy tutorial The Style Sisters have provide for their Olaf punch bowl.

20. A hot cocoa bar is also a good choice at this time of year. How cute is this one from Amy’s Party Ideas with the Rudolph shaped marshmallow Peeps?!

21. And, finally, the adult guests might appreciate these Rein-beer as seen on The CreativiDee Workshop.

22. Or, perhaps, one of these Reindeer Games Martini from Bar Products.

I hope you have enjoyed my roundup and I have been able to give you some inspiration for hosting your own Rudolph or Christmas themed party. As always, you can see more great ideas compiled on my pinterest board.

Celebrations, Crafts, Little Hands, Our Forever Home

How We Are Putting the Happy in our Holidays

November 29, 2014 chantelledoll

The Holiday season is upon us and I want to try and make the most of it with the kids. There are many things we did last year that the kids enjoyed and I want to attempt again, plus a few new things (weather permitting!).

We started things off yesterday with a little “Gingerbread” House decorating. My two year old was drawn to these little wooden piggy bank houses at Dollarama and as I was fighting her to put it back on the shelf, I realized they would make adorable little gingerbread houses for the kids to paint and decorate. After a coat of brown paint, the kids went to town with the glitter glue, foam shapes and pom poms.

They look great and my 4 year old loves the little lock and keys the house came with so he can lock any small treasures inside! Perhaps Santa needs to sneak something inside on Christmas Eve…

Today was bitterly cold so we decided to stay in and decorate the Christmas tree. It is our first time putting up an artificial tree instead of a real one so having it up this early still feels a little strange to me. It is also our first Christmas in this house so there was a bit of debate over where the tree should go. In the end I am happy with it up in our second floor bonus room.

Our Christmas Countdown activity list:

Countdown the Nights Before Christmas by unwrapping a new bedtime story each night in December
Write a Letter to Santa (See my great printable template)
~~Decorate the Christmas Tree~~
Visit and take photos with Santa
Take our annual Holiday Photo of the kids
Decorate the kids bedroom doors like snowmen
Go to the Zoo’s Festival of Lights
~~Decorate a Gingerbread House~~
Do some Christmas baking
Host a Rudolph themed holiday party
Spend a night watching Christmas movies and have a sleepover in the Bonus Room
Spend an evening looking at Christmas lights
Go for a Sleigh Ride

Hopefully this is enough to help keep us busy for the next little while. I will try to post a full photo tour of all our decorations once they are all up. I have some popsicle stick snowflakes up on my living room walls I can’t wait to share!

What is on your Christmas countdown activity list?

Gift Ideas, Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday: Thank You Cookie Trays for the Office

November 13, 2014 chantelledoll

While baking up a large batch of cookies last night, I was reminded of the cookie trays I made up for all my co-workers shortly after my son was born.

Camden came 2 weeks early and I ended up missing my last week of work and the baby shower that was planned for me. I ended up going in a couple days after his birth to clean up a few items, and I was given a beautiful gift basket and a Babies’R’Us gift card that helped buy us some of the larger baby items we needed.

Since my co-workers were so incredibly generous with my baby gift I wanted to find a nice way to try and thank everyone that contributed. I never got to say a proper goodbye to most of them and I felt a bit guilty that they also had to miss out on yummy baby shower treats. When thinking of what I could do for a thank you, I remembered that we sometimes got boxes of Cookies by George to the office at Christmas and they were always very well received. Unfortunately I had just gone on maternity leave and ordering cookies wasn’t something in the budget, so I decided to DIY and bake up my own variety of cookies.

Cookie flavors I included were:

Oatmeal Raisin
Gingersnaps – get my recipe here.
White chocolate and Macadamia nut
Rolo Filled Chocolate Cookies
Mini M&M chip cookies

I worked for a large company, with staff among four different office buildings, so I ended up making a tray to drop off to each of the lunch rooms. The cookie baking was time consuming, but I stuck with basic recipes and it went faster then I expected. It also helped that I had an easy newborn that liked to nap!

The large plastic trays came from the Dollar Store and I simply lined them with a bit of parchment paper before neatly stacking the cookies on them. For the cost of the trays and a few baking supplies, I think my thank you gifts turned out great. I will admit the cookies weren’t quite as good as Cookies By George, but they were all still pretty tasty. And on my visit I am not sure what my co-workers were more excited to see – me, the new baby, or the giant platters of fresh baked cookies!

Gift Ideas

Olaf Snowman Building Kit with FREE Printable

November 11, 2014 chantelledoll

It’s no secret that I like to shop at the Dollar Store, especially around this time of year when I am looking for inexpensive and easy Christmas gifts. The Dollar Store is my go-to for most of the kids stocking stuffers, gift basket fillers, and when I am looking for a little something extra to finish off a gift.

When I came across this Snowman Accessories Kit in the Christmas section at Dollarama, I knew immediately that it would make the perfect friend or neighbour gift. I had bought a similar kit for $10 last year, so I was excited to see these were only $2 each.

I’ve been subjected to a lot of Frozen watching lately, so the first thought that came to my head when I saw the kit was “Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?”. I decided to repackage the kits and personalize with my own topper featuring everyone’s favorite talking snowman.

To tie in my Olaf concept, I dressed my graphic of him up in some of the included accessories from the kit. Once happy with the design, I simply sent the toppers to print at Staples, then cut them out and stapled them on. I even decided to keep the kits in the clear plastic bags the kits were already in and just switched out the cardboard topper.

With the Dollar Store packaging removed, I am excited to give them out as gifts and am willing to bet most people would never even guess how little my finished kits cost. They are great little gift to make and have on hand for the Christmas season, and I love that it makes for a fun family activity that will work for a wide range of ages.

These would also make great favors if you are having a Frozen themed or Christmas party. If you are looking to DIY there are some great tutorials on Pinterest to show how to make your own snowman building kit, but I don’t think I would be able to make them for less then the $2 I paid per kit.

FREE PRINTABLE: To make your own toppers, simply click the artwork below to save and send to print. I have sized the artwork to 7.75″ wide to fit perfectly over the Dollarama kits.

Uncategorized

We’re Going to Disneyland!!!

November 4, 2014 chantelledoll

Looky what just arrived in my mail last week…

I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am to tell you we are going to Disneyland this February! The plane tickets are bought and the planning has begun.

I love Disney! My husband and I’s first Disney trip together was to Walt Disney World for our wedding. Neither of us had ever been to WDW, but we figured not much could go wrong getting married in the Happiest Place on Earth. We were right – we had a truly magical wedding and came back of lots of amazing memories from that trip.

There is just something about stepping into those parks that makes you instantly happy. Within the first day at Disney World, we were even discussing plans to come back for a 10 year vow renewal in 2017. It seemed like a bit of crazy talk at the time, but the time has flown and it no longer seems all that distant. For now, I am so happy we are able to manage to fit in a trip to Disneyland in early 2015 to give me my Disney fix.

This will be our first big trip as a family of four and everyone’s first time in Disneyland. The crazy part is that I went to Tokyo Disney on a class trip in 2000, got married in Disney World in 2007 and visited Disneyland Paris in 2009, but it has taken me this long to get to the Disney Park in closest proximity to me! I am both excited and terrified to navigate the parks with young kids in tow. It will be a much different trip, but I am guessing it will be totally worth it to experience the Disney magic through them.

Our original plan was to be in the parks for our sons 5th birthday on February 23, but plane ticket prices and holidays have dictated our trip be a couple weeks sooner. I will still try to plan some special birthday surprises while we are there because I think it is close enough to his birthday to count.

I am also starting to work on a plan to tell the kids the exciting news and can’t wait to share it with you. Hopefully I can keep it a secret from the kids until February!

Everyday Life, Two Legged Fun

It’s-a Halloween, Mario!

November 1, 2014 chantelledoll

I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!

As you can guess from the title and pictures, our Halloween had a bit of a Super Mario twist. My 4 year old has been really into Mario lately and spends his iPad time watching all kinds of silly youtube video game reviews. When he decided in early September that he wanted to go as Mario for Halloween, I was a bit worried it might be a phase and he might change his mind. Lucky for me, the Mario love is still going strong and my little guy was more then happy to dress up as his favorite video game character.

For my little girl, I had picked up an adorable owl costume on clearance from Old Navy last year, but she was none too fond of it and big brother insisted she should be Princess Peach. There is only so long he is going to want to coordinate with his little sister, so I had a hard time saying no to the request. I do love themed costumes and it ended up working well with the princess obsession Keira has developed over the past month.

I wasn’t going to buy the dogs new costumes, but them ended up being 75% off when we went to the petstore so I let Camden pick one out for each of them. He chose a bat for Rumbull and a bumble bee for Nova since there are bats and bees in some of the Mario lands. The dogs and kids were not as coordinated as I have done in the past, but it worked!

I wanted to do some special treats for my Mario to hand out at his preschool Halloween party so I ended up coming up with these cute candy filled mushrooms. They were a bit time consuming, but it was an easy craft and all the kids seemed pretty excited to receive them. I will try to get a tutorial up for them in the next couple weeks for anyone planning a Mario party.

And, of course, we had to have a Mario themed pumpkin! Using a big round pumpkin with a nice long stem, and 3 mini pumpkins I was able to put together this cute bomb pumpkin.

It did require a bit of time for spray painting and assembly, but this is one of the easy pumpkins I have ever carved – just two oval eyes! After I was finished, Camden made a point to tell me I did a really good job, so that’s all the validation I needed.

On Halloween we ended up going to the mall again for a little bit. At the mall, Keira was excited to see the animals and bounce in the bouncy castles, while Camden was very excited to have the balloon guy make him a hammer! He has been insisting all week that his Mario costume needed a hammer but I never got around to getting him one. This couldn’t have worked out more perfect and he proudly carried it the whole evening out trick-or-treating.

The bouncy castle at the mall even fit our Mario theme with it’s big toadstool, bouncing turtle and giant plants!

After a quick dinner, we met with some of the neighbours and went out trick-or-treating for a bit. The weather was fairly decent for this time of year and my little Princess did really well for her first time out. The kids all had a lot of fun and it was so nice for Camden to actual have other kids to go out with this year instead of just boring old me!

I just love seeing all the little guys in costume!

Big Hands, Crafts

Ninja Turtle Pumpkin – Foam Edition

October 29, 2014 chantelledoll

Last Halloween my son was heavily into Ninja Turtles so he wore a Michelangelo costume and I spray painted and carved our pumpkin to match. My husband’s co-worker saw the pumpkin and thought it was pretty great so he asked me to re-create one for him this year.

I decided to go with a foam pumpkin instead of a real pumpkin just to allow me more carving time before the pumpkin started to go bad, and to give him something he could reuse in future Halloween’s. This posed a slight challenge because I no longer had the layers of pumpkin to shave down like I did in Michelangelo’s mask last Halloween but I managed to find a way to make it all work.

After a few coats of green paint and some finishing details in black and white, I think the final result looks pretty good. Hopefully he is happy with his pumpkin!

And the best part? He can change up his turtle just by changing the color of glowstick in his pumpkin.

And I can’t wait to show you what I have planned for our own pumpkin this year.

Hint: It is Super Mario themed!

Everyday Life, Throwback Thursday, Two Legged Fun, Uncategorized

Throwback Thursday: My Little Pumpkin’s

October 23, 2014 chantelledoll

Happy Thursday! With Halloween fast approaching I thought it would be fun to share some throwback photo’s from Camden and Keira’s first Halloween’s.

I am a sucker for holiday themed clothing and got Camden this cute “Mommy’s little pumpkin” onesie.

His costume was an adorable little monkey I found at Old Navy.

To co-ordinate with Camden, I also found banana costumes for each of the dogs.

Keira was a little younger and smaller for her first Halloween so I decided to attempt the baby-in-the-pumpkin photo. This is better suited to warmer climates, but we managed okay and I was able to get a few cute shots before a complete meltdown outside.

Her first Halloween costume was an elephant. She didn’t co-ordinate with her Spiderman brother and the dogs in their Hulk and Captain America costumes, but she still looked darn cute.

This Halloween we will celebrate a couple more first’s. It will be our first Halloween in our new house and Keira’s is now big enough to go Trick-or-Treating for the first time! It is hard to believe that she had just barely begun walking at this point last year. She did do some Trick-or-Treating at the mall, but this will be the first time I will actually take her out around the neighbourhood.