Mummy on the Move Halloween Tradition

Happy Fall! How was your first day of fall? I kicked it off by making some soup, yum! I can’t wait to make even more! 

Well I’m back today with this cute craft. My sweet neighbor told me about this a few years ago and ever since I’ve been wanting to do it. So you’ve heard of or seen those mischievous elves at Christmas time. Well this is the Halloween equivalent. My husband and I are really trying to keep the focus of Christmas on Christ because that is what the holiday is about to us. So we didn’t fell like Santa and elves fit into the picture very well and haven’t really had them apart of our kid’s Christmas. 

So this guy’s name is ‘Mummy on the Move’ and he will be playing trick or leaving treats for the kids leading up to Halloween. I haven’t ironed out all the details about the back story or anything like that, but I feel really comfortable with this new tradition because it’s fun, memorable, and since Halloween isn’t a big holiday in our house, it fits.

Here is how I made the little guy. All you’ll need is wire and muslin ripped into 1” strips

Start by shaping his legs

Make the torso by wrapping wire around some fabric that is bundled into the torso shape. Then attach the legs and wrap them in the muslin. Tie knots as the bottom layer to give it some shape, then just simply wrap over top. 

For the arms, wrap around the torso and extend out, overlapping the wire.

Wrap the arms

Then create a head by making a sphere.

Attach the head and wrap with muslin.

You can then draw a face or not, that’s up to you.

I hope to be back with some fun ideas and crazy thing this little guy does. 

What kind of Halloween traditions do you have?

DIY Baby Food: Summer Squash and Quinoa

Well, I didn’t mean to take a month off from blogging. It just kind of happened.

I had a crazy week getting ready for a vendor event for my Shaklee business. My friend and mentor Claire came to town to help me and we had a blast! Lots of business planning, lots of girl talk, and tons of fun!! We have some really amazing specials this month, so if you’re interested in getting healthier and starting an at-home business, shoot me an email (alexharalson08 (at) gmail (dot) com )and we’ll see if this is right for you!


The week after my vendor event, I spent catching up on everything and getting ready for our vacation to California! We went to the San Diego Zoo, the Mormon Battalion Historic Site, the beach, and we went fishing and strawberry picking.


It was a good vacation, but very difficult for the kids to recover from the lack of schedule and good sleep. So last week I spent focusing on them and trying to get them back into the routine of things. That’s what I love about my Shaklee business and blogging – anytime my family needs more attention I can pause those and focus on them!

So now I’m back, mostly recovered, and doing a bit of blogging and creative work. Today I’m bringing you a baby food recipe. Little girl loves to eat and I’m trying some new foods out on her.
I made this squash quinoa food to change things up a bit for her regular puree – it was super easy!



Summer Squash and Quinoa Baby Food
-2 TBSP olive oil
-2 small summer squash (or zucchini), coarsely grated
- 1/2 Cup quinoa
-1/2 tsp cumin
-1 1/2 Cup water

Add the quinoa to a saucepan and coat with 1 TBSP oil. Add water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.

While the quinoa is cooking, add 1 TBSP oil to a pan and add the squash. Cook over medium heat until the squash is tender, about 3-5 minutes.Stir in Cumin.

Remove quinoa from heat and mix squash in with it.

To Store: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

For younger babies, process for a bit in a food processor. I've also mixed it with other veggie purees to make it smooth like my baby is used to.

Enjoy!

Clean and Disinfect Kid’s Toys (without toxic bleach)

So I’ve totally been on a spring cleaning kick lately. The end of last week I spent shampooing my carpets (I’m in heaven!) and I’ve had the hankering to do all the odds and edds. Like clean the crumbs out of my kitchen drawers, cleaning behind the fridge, and cleaning window tracks!
Well I wanted to clean all the kids toys and wanted to do it pretty quickly. Bleach/lysol are not allowed in my house anymore. They are just too toxic…

So here’s what I did. I started running the bathtub and poured in some Basic G, probably a couple teaspoons.

Then I dumped in all the water safe toys. You know the plastic Duplos, kitchen play toys, matchbox cars, and even the wood stuff. But they only went in and out quickly. Don’t put anything in there with batteries or holes that water can get in and possibly never get back out again.

Then just pulled them out and dry them off. Andrew was a good helper with the drying.

The rest of the toys got sprayed and wiped down. This was also a great chance to go through the toys, I threw away anything broken or cheap, pulled out things to donate, and returned the rest to their proper place.
It felt so good to have clean toys and a clean toy room. And then this happened a couple days ago…

Oh well, at least the toys and carpets are clean.
I’ve got a bunch more organizing and cleaning I want to do so stay tuned!Interested in learning more about my non-toxic cleaners...check out my website HERE , email me if you have any questions!
What’s on your spring cleaning list?

5 Fantastic Learning Tools For Preschoolers

Disclosure:This post contains affiliate links, all opinions are 100% my own.


Little minds are like sponges, soaking up everything they see and hear. It’s really important to give your child learning tools that are also fun. You don’t want your child to hate learning, but you also want to take advantage of these years when their minds are so impressionable.

I’m amazed all the time the things I hear and see my boys pick up. They are just so cool! I get asked all the time if I have been homeschooling my oldest or what I’ve done to help him advance so much so I’m writing up this post with a few of the things we’ve used and loved for them.

LeapFrog: Letter Factory

I love LeapFrog! I love all the DVDs they have put out and we own a bunch of them. We started with Letter Factory and grew our collection from there. Letter Factory is a fun story of Leap learning his letters and letter sounds. It’s really basic, but the tunes/songs they use are really catchy and I have found myself singing the letter sounds while washing dishes or something else. haha.

Andrew caught on really quick and within a couple weeks he knew all his letters and letter sounds. He didn’t watch it all day everyday, just a couple times a week starting when he was about 18 months or so. Ben isn’t as clear of a talker as Andrew was at that age, but he knows all his letters and most of their sounds and sometimes will spot them on a sign or in a book and will make the sound. It’s very cool how they’ve caught on.

We also own: Sing and Learn With Us!, Math Adventure to the Moon, The Amazing Alphabet Amusement Park, Math Circus, Numbers Ahoy, Phonics Farm, Word Caper, Storybook Factory, and Talking Words Factory. Like I said, we love LeapFrog and pick up a new one when we see them in the store or see a new one pop up on Amazon.

Brain Quest

These are fun books. They have a variety of questions to help kids learn relationships, shapes, colors, word skills, and more. These are really good for times you need to be quiet, like in church or other meetings. There are several different levels and even workbooks from this brand. Andrew really likes them and got so good at them we had to create our own questions to change things up.

ABCmouse.com   

We love ABCMouse.com! It is awesome. Andrew has learned soooo much since starting. He was playing with his toys a few days ago and started telling me about Jupiter and how it’s the biggest planet…seriously! He has learned how to use a computer mouse and can play/learn independently. I usually have something he needs to do before he gets to play, like clean up toys or put away laundry and he’s happy to do it. Then I’ll just set a timer and let him decide what he would like to do. I ask him to do at least one lesson during that time and he does. The best part is you can have up to 3 kids on one account so Ben gets to enjoy it too.
There are games, coloring, songs, lessons, and lots of other fun activities to encourage learning, creativity, and curiosity. We just discovered ABCmouse.com earlier this year and have been loving it since day 1 !  Be sure to check it out…
ABCmouse.com - Over 3,000 Educational Activities - First Month Free - Click here!

Bob Books

We actually don’t own these, but grandma brings them with her when she comes to visit and they are great. Andrew was reading them to grandma this most recent visit. They are simple and fun. It’s a really great place to start for not only reading but also comprehension. They definitely get kids started on reading and loving it! There are several different sets depending on your child’s level.

Puzzles

We have sooo many puzzles. You really can’t go wrong…well, I suppose you could if you got something too hard and it was frustrating. We started with simple ones like Melissa & Doug First Shapes Jumbo and worked up from there. We have really enjoyed the Melissa & Doug puzzles because they are sturdy wood and well made. Both boys really enjoy this Construction Puzzle Set …

Andrew would do them over and over and over again when we first got it and Ben is starting to as well. We have a United States puzzle that has been really helpful in explaining to the boys where grandparents live, where daddy is going on a trip, or where we are going on vacation. Puzzles really help children develop fine motor skills, coordination, and problem solving. Plus they help to keep a child’s attention and keep them focused on one task, a skill that will help when they get to school.

So there you go, those are my favorite learning tools that I’ve been using for my kids. The boys love learning and I credit these tools for making it fun for all of us.

What are some of your favorite learning tools?