FunFamilyTips.com

Supplies:

• 1 paper plate
• pink construction paper
• red construction paper
• glue
• metallic silver Sharpie marker
• scissors

Cut the center out of the paper plate as shown in the photo above.

Using the template (hearts_template_fft.pdf), cut 6 large red hearts, 6 large pink hearts, 5 small red hearts, and 10 small pink heart.

Using the silver sharpie, draw a line along the edges of 1 large pink heart and all of the small pink hearts.

Glue the small red hearts to the centers of the large pink hearts.

Using the finished picture above as a guide and the following instructions, begin to glue the hearts along the edges of your paper plate:

1) Place 2 of the large red hearts side by side on the top of the plate. 2) Glue the silver-lined large pink heart in the center of the two red hearts. 3) Alternate the large pink and large red hearts around the edge of the plate, overlapping one another slightly.  4) Glue the small pink hearts between the tops of each large pink and red heart.

Hang and enjoy!

Unfortunately, this deal isn’t available in our area, but hopefully some of my readers can take advantage of it.  Download and print Valentine’s Day cards with a free game of bowling at Brunswick Centers.  To see if you have a center near you, click here.

Little Man, like lots of kids his age, is not a fan of trying new foods.  I really wanted him to try (and love like his mama) avocados.  This little avocada frog is what I came up with to peak his interest.  The frog itself is just a simple carving of the fruit, the eyes are olive slices.

Little Man and I stayed in tonight for the Super Bowl.  Bedtime is 8 p.m. and we’ve got an early morning tomorrow–but we didn’t think that was reason enough to skip a chance for a party! So we watched the game ’till half-time and chowed down on this yumminess (yes, I made too much food).  I was extremely proud of Little Man for filling his plate with carrot and apple slices–he piled on even more fruits and veggies than the other goodies!

My new favorite guacamole recipe?

1 avocado, mashed

2 TBSP Pace picante sauce, medium

3/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp salt

Mash together and enjoy!

I wanted to share this sweet little Valentine’s Day wreath that Little Man and I made today.  I’ll post the full instructions and templates tomorrow!

Last night I took Little Man to see Monster trucks and motorcross at the Monster Nation show. To be honest, I had very little interest in going and a great deal of anxiety about what he was going to see there, but I was convinced to go by friends who have a child the same age.

You can click on the collage pictures above to see a bit of the event–sorry they’re a little blurry! The cars were moving FAST! I didn’t even get a single good picture of the motorcross–some of them it just looked like a ghost was floating through the air because they were going so fast!

Much to my surprise, I am now giving this show my stamp of approval (and realizing that I can’t force my child to live in a bubble to protect him from everything). It was an amazing show and I would definitely recommend it the experience to parents of any child who loves cars and trucks. The show was pretty late (8 p.m.! Little Man’s bedtime!) but I planned a late nap for him and it worked out great. Plus, to see Little Man’s face–so excited–and to hear him happily chatter away in the backseat on the way home–totally worth it! His eyes were GLUED to the arena during the entire show!

A couple of words of caution:
1)  I noticed that a lot of parents didn’t bring earplugs.  This is a LOUD show (read as: HEARING DAMAGING).  There is no way that I would have let Little Man watch the Monster Trucks without them.

2) If you are taking kids (or if you value your lungs), buy the cheaper seats and sit higher up.  The seats towards the bottom are subject to strong exhaust fumes.  Plus, you’ll save a few bucks!

Here’s another great idea for Valentine’s Day.  Print these Chuck e Cheese valentines to give to your child’s friends.  They can take their valentine to Chuck e Cheese and get 5 free tokens with any food purchase.  Fun!

Remember the Alice.com deals on shampoo and conditioner that I told you about a few days ago? Well my order got here last night! I haven’t ordered shampoos and conditioner from them before so I was curious about how they would package it–turned out perfectly.  Each bottle was individually sealed and then they were sealed in zip-top plastic bags.  Nice! BTW - notice the cute boxes that they always ship in? Love ‘em!

We now have 8 bottles of shampoo and 8 bottles of conditioner so we should be stocked up for a while.  They even tucked a free sample into my boxes–a Nature Valley granola bar.

I hope you were able to take advantage of this deal too!  If you haven’t checked out Alice.com, I highly recommend it.  You can sign up through this link to get $10 back when you spend $50.

Get a free $17 Coupon booklet from ConAgra foods here. I just got mine in the mail yesterday, so I thought I’d share what was inside (in addition to lots of recipes):

• $1 off 2 Fleischmann’s Original Soft Spread Exp:5/30/10
• $1 off 1 Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers Exp: 5/30/10
• $1 off 2 Healthy Choice All Natural Entrees
• $1 off 2 Healthy Choice Select Entrees
• $1 off 2 Healthy Choice Complete Meals
• $1 off 2 Healthy Choice Microwavable Soup
• $1 off 1 Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers
• $1 off 1 Orville Redenbacher’s Smart Pop! Gormet Popping Corn
• $1 off 3 Ro*tel
• $1 off 5 Hunt’s Tomato Sauce
• $1 off 4 Hunt’s Diced Tomatoes
• $1 off 2 Peter Pan Peanut Butter
• $1 off 2 Kid Cuisine
• $1 off 1 Wesson Canola Oil
• $1 off 1 Egg Beaters
• $1 off 4 Van Camp’s Pork and Beans
• $1 off 2 Manwich

Sign up here for the Box Tops for Education newsletter and receive a $10 coupon book by mail.