Whining Has Consequences ...

Lately I'm hearing A LOT of whining when Kelty wants something ... whether it's water, juice, milk, a snack, a toy he can't reach, etc. There is no build-up to the whine ... his request simply starts with a whine and it gets louder and louder and louder ... when he wants something he wants it immediately.

For a while I was catching myself yelling back, "hold on!", and then it hit me ... I grabbed the timer from the kitchen and had a little chat with Kelty. I explained if he needed something then he needs to ask nicely and sometimes he may have to wait a few minutes until I can get it for him ... if he whines I will set the timer to 3 minutes and I will not get his juice/water/snack/toy/etc. until the 3 minutes is over and the timer rings. I'm hoping this will teach him a little patience ... and that whining has consequences.

Felt Tot Wallet!

Kelty has been holding interest in wallets, purses man bags, ID's, and $ for a while now. In fact, every time we drive to the base Kelty must present his IKEA Card ID Card to the guard and promptly salute. It was painfully apparent ... it was time for Kelty to have his own wallet.

So ... I set out to create my own tot wallet, because that's what I do! I couldn't get the vision of a little "peek-a-boo" monster out of my head so the little Money Monster made his debut. The wallet is a really simple design and I think I'll tweak it a bit here and there if I make more, but for a "1st try" I'm pretty happy with it ... and most importantly, so is Kelty!

Open at your own risk!

This seriously makes me laugh. It's as if this little googly-eyed monster is saying,
"Ahh, take it all ... take all you want!"

There is one long pocket for the "bills" and two pockets for cards/ID's. I considered a coin pocket but opted not to include it as I don't feel comfortable with Kelty and coins.

Who could be afraid of a cute face like this? Poor little monster can't even see straight.

If you want a tutorial just let me know .... it's even easier than the Felt Travel Mat! Promise!

I'm linking this to ...


Brown Paper Packages (Friday Favorites)
Someday Crafts ( Whatever Goes Wednesday)
Keeping It Simple (Motivate Me Monday)
Sumo's Sweet Stuff (Market Yourself Monday)
Lucky Star Lane (Lucky Linky Tuesday)

Handmade Tavel Toys!

I absolutely love creating, sewing, and crafting toys and clothes for Kelty ... and all kiddo's actually! My most recent project for Kelty was a set of travel toys to use during our trip back to the states (8 hour flight + 17 hour drive) ... then repeated on the trip home! These projects were really easy and really quick ... each one was sewn during Kelty's naptime ... no patterns, just winging it! I'm not a fan of patterns ... unless it's clothes ... or aprons!

Handmade Travel Toys

Travel Felt Mat and Doodle Wallet

Wrapped up and ready to go .. both of these are compact enough to fit nicely into a diaper bag. The Doodle Wallet also fits well in a purse!

I hand-cut a few felt scenes ... Kelty's favorite is the Itsy Bitsy Spider (I'm a little proud of the spider!). I sewed 2 pockets along one edge for easy storage and easy access for little hands.

A tree with movable apples ... oranges were "stored" in the pocket.

Every little boy needs a tractor, bus, and cars! All of the vehicle parts are glued on. Maybe the tractor is Kelty's favorite come to think of it!

The Doodle Wallet has a set of pockets for crayons, a center pocket to hold a notepad, and another for stickers. Kelty loves stickers ... so this 3rd pocket was a must! I used a little notepad we had in our office and simply glued a strip of fabric to top strip so it all coordinated (after all ... it must ALL coordinate, right?)

So ... if you want me to post a little tutorial just let me know ... I'd love to share! If you can sew a pillowcase, you can make these ... really!

Peanut Butter Balls

Because we struggle to get Kelty to eat meat and eggs, I am always looking for ways to supplement his protein intake. I stumbled across a recipe for "Energy Balls" at WholesomeToddlerFood.com. I tweaked the recipe a bit; changing some of the proportions and ingredients to come up with this "Kelty Approved" version.

Peanut Butter Balls
Crunchy, bite-sized snack packed with protein and vitamins


Ingredients for Peanut Butter Balls

1 Tablespoon Peanut Butter
1 Tablespoon Chopped Raisins
1 Tablespoon Finely Shredded Carrots
1 Tablespoon Granola (I use Cascadian Farms Granola Cereal)
Honey (just a tiny squirt)
Ground Flax-seed Meal (a little sprinkle)

Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix with a spoon. Scoop out a tiny portion and roll between your palms to form a little ball ... I make mine a little smaller than a grape. If it's too "wet and sticky" try adding a little more granola, carrot, or flax-seed ... they should roll easily into ball. This recipe will make about 8-10 little Peanut Butter Balls.

These snacks are best served shortly after making (within an hour) or the granola looses its crunch. Don't worry ... these aren't messy treats! We've yet to have a mess with these ... they go right from the plate to the mouth!

Don't forget to lick the spoon!

Bananies!

So this wouldn't be the first time I thought I invented something new; forget the "Ketchup Dippers" (fast-food to-go ketchup cups packaged like a BBQ sauce cup, apparently Whataburger beat me to it), I've moved on ...

My son is a picky eater and I felt we were in a snack rut. While eating a banana and simultaneously preparing a little dish of graham crackers and peanut butter for my kiddo ... I had a "vision" ...

Bananies
Peanut Butter sandwiched between 2 slices of Banana
and rolled in crushed Graham Crackers

Ingredients for Bananies

Banana
Peanut Butter
Graham Crackers

Slice the Banana

Put just a little dollop of Peanut Butter in between two slices of Banana

Crush your Graham Crackers very FINE ... almost powdery. Coat all sides of your "sandwich" with the Graham Cracker powder

Enjoy! These are nice little nibblers for adults too!

If you want to add some additional goodness ... add Nutella!

" Nutella Bananie"

Add a little drop of Nutella when you add your Peanut Butter!

Bananies are best eaten immediately or soon-after preparing them ... after about an hour the graham cracker looses its crunch from the moisture of the banana. Still good, but ... not as good!

Bento Inspired Tot Lunch

I was "blog hopping" and came across a wonderful post about "bento" lunches; I was immediately addicted! The concept isn't too far off from how I prepare Kelty's lunches and now that I have to pack a lunch for him 2-days a week, I was really excited! It makes the prep for his "daycare days" a little less heart wrenching somehow. Kelty is also a picky eater, my hope is that opening up his box and seeing a cute little portioned lunch will make him more excited to eat!

I dare you to spend 5 minutes and Google "bento; you'll come across some amazing and adorable bento's! Cute little rice and egg molds, condiment cups, condiment bottle, food picks, boxes, etc. I have already started a wish list of "bento" supplies so I can start making some really cute lunches for stinker.

Here is my first attempt at a bento lunch for Kelty ...

Mini peanut butter sandwhiches (cut into circles with a cookie cutter), grapes and raspberries, pickles, and graham goldfish.

If you want to see some super cute bento's , read about other bento adventures and get some ideas for your own bento's ... here are a few blogs that I think are great!

bentolunch.blogspot.com
lunchinabox.net
happylittlebento.blogspot.com

Show me your bento! So I think I may have a few readers (out of all 7 of you - LOL) that may "bento" with me! So I challenge you to make a bento for yourself or for your kiddos or your hubby ... blog about it ... and then come back and share your link in a comment.

Time for Homemade Play-doh!

In an attempt to encourage "quiet" play time, I decided to make homemade play-doh for Kelty. If you consider the end result of driving the play-doh around in the trunk of toy car and rolling balls of play-doh across the floor "quiet" play time, then it was a success. In Kelty's defense, he did sit at his table and play with it for about 5-minutes before finding other uses for this wonderful little substance.

I decided to make Kool-Aid Play-Doh, based off the recommendation of another mom I came across in the store. Let me tell you of this encounter .... Cream of Tarter (don't cheat and peak at the picture below), I have NEVER used Cream of Tarter for anything and to be honest I had NO clue where it was in the grocery store ... was it a liquid, a powder, in a bottle? I decided to scour the condiment (surely it's not Tartar Sauce, right?) and baking isles ... no luck. Apparently the look on my face caught the face of another mom and she said "it can't be that difficult" ... I responded with "cream of tarter, what the heck is it" ... she laughed and showed me where it was in the SPICE section (sure, whatever!). She immediately said "you're making play-doh aren't you" ... I responded with a proud "yes".

It will take you longer to read this post than it will to make the play-doh, seriously ... it's that quick and easy! It took me about 5 minutes from start to finish ... including digging the ingredients out of the cupboard.

Ingredients for Kool-Aid Playdoh

1 cup Flour
1 package Kool-Aid
1/4 cup Salt
2 tablespoon Cream of Tarter

1 cup Water
1 tablespoon Veg. Oil

Mix dry ingredients in saucepan, add liquid ingredients and mix well. Stir continuously over medium heat until ball forms, remove from pan and kneed until smooth. Store in air-tight container. Voila! (and it smells good too!)

Tip: I used a stiff silicon spatula to stir, continuously scraping from the bottom and folding the mixture into itself ... I was left with no mess or residue in my stainless steel saucepan.

The ingredients and the final product ... my first batch was blue.

Cookie Cutters and Play-Doh