Skip to main content

February Festivities



This is the first weekend in a while where we haven’t really had anything going on, so the kids and I went crazy with the crafts and activities!

Valentine Boxes

First, we made the girls’ valentines boxes. Bah wanted a Valentine Monster, and Boo (of course) wanted a pig. I saved her pig from last year for almost the entire year but a little before Christmas she wanted to play with it and Bubs destroyed it. So we made a new one. They turned out pretty cute, and I love that as the girls are getting older they are able to help more.




Valentine Gift -Denim Pouch

After that, we decided to get some sewing in by making pouches as Valentines for our cousins and friends. We cut pieces of old denim and sewed them to create pouches. Then, the kids cut shapes and letters out of felt to personalize them.

This project was much faster than I expected, so we even had time to make bath bombs.



Valentine Gift - Bath Bombs

My kiddos all love bath bombs or bath fizzies, and they were excited to learn how to make their own. The process itself wasn’t too difficult and I, surprisingly, had everything on hand!

Bath Bomb Ingredients

  • 1 cup Baking Soda
  • 4 tablespoons cream of tarter
  • ½ cup Epsom Salt (I used Lavender scented)
  • 1/2 cup Cornstarch
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil
  • 2 teaspoons witch hazel (or water)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 30-40 drops of Essential oils or dried herbs (we used Lavender since bath time usually means bedtime and Lavender is relaxing)

Instructions: How to Make Bath Bombs

  1. Combine the baking soda, Epsom salt, cream of tarter, and cornstarch in a large bowl. Mix until incorporated.
  2. In a small bowl, mix oil, witch hazel, and vanilla extract. Stir well. 
  3. Add essential oils. 
  4. A few drops at a time, add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients. 
  5. With your hands, mix the ingredients. (This was the girls’ favorite part!)
  6. If you are using dried herbs, add them now.
  7. The mixture should stick together when squeezed without crumbling. Add more witch hazel to achieve desired consistency.
  8. While they mixture is still damp, put it into molds or greased muffin tins. Press firmly and let set for 24-48 hours. We used mini muffin tins. 
  9. The bath bombs will harden and may expand some. 
  10. When they are dry, remove them from the molds and store them in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
  11. When ready, plop in the bathtub and enjoy!
The kids are so excited to try these out! After making a batch, I realized adding eucalyptus would have been great for when the kids have stuffy noses and colds. Looks like we will just have to make them again.


Valentine Treat - Red Velvet Puppy Chow

And, of course, a Valentine preparation weekend wouldn’t be complete without TREATS! Bubs has been going to our local library’s monthly Story Hour with my mom, and this month’s treat was a Valentine Puppy Chow mix. He didn’t seem to be a big fan and brought the leftovers home which his sisters devoured. A quick look around Pinterest (honestly what did people do before that and Google???) led me to a delicious Red Velvet Puppy Chow. I made a few adjustments to avoid refrigeration and it turned out super yummy!

Red Velvet Puppy Chow Ingredients

  • 5 cups Rice Chex cereal
  • ¾ cup while chocolate melts or chips
  • ¼ cups chocolate melts or chips
  • 1 cup Red Velvet Cake mix
  • ½ cup powdered sugar
  • Valentine colored candies and sprinkles

Red Velvet Puppy Chow Directions

  1. Put cereal in a large bowl
  2. Combine cake mix and powdered sugar into a large plastic bag
  3. Melt chocolates together in the microwave at 30 second intervals. Stir until smooth.
  4. Pour chocolate over cereal and stir until coated.
  5. Dump cereal into plastic bag. Shake, shake, shake until covered.
  6. Dump onto a cookie sheet and let cool.
  7. Add mix-ins for a sweet Valentine treat.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

First Day of Fall

Happy first day of fall everyone! We are celebrating with some work on the farm. Last night, our high school helpers took apart all of the irrigation pipe, and today we will load it up to put away. On our farm, the majority of the fields are watered with sprinkler irrigation that looks like this: Photo credit: Taylor Shea Goldenstein However, in the corner areas, we use irrigation pipe that runs from a well. The water runs down the rows and must be set to alternate every day. This process is done by hand and is one of our favorite summertime activities as you can see: Setting water on soybean field 2016 Checking the rows in a corn field 2015 Playing in the mud 2014 The weather here was cool and misty - this morning - so I planned on eating potato soup for dinner. By day's end though the weather heated up too much for soup, but I am sure I will get the chance to make it soon. Instead, the kids enjoyed some time playing. 

Pumpkin Spice No Bake Cookies

I don't want to go all pumpkin spice crazy on everyone, but I definitely enjoy myself some pumpkin spice. After seeing a picture of these gooey cookies on Facebook, I figured they would be a perfect fall-themed treat. Yumminess! I snagged the recipe from Once a Month Meals, so you can get the original here . My favorite part about no bake cookies (besides being pumpkin spice flavored) is that the girls can help make them! First, we gathered our ingredients & supplies: 1 1/2 cups white sugar 1/2 cup brown sugar 3/4 cup butter 2/3 cup milk 3 1/3 ounces of instant Pumpkin Spice Pudding Mix 1 tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract 3 1/2 cups Quick Cook Rolled Oats waxed paper medium sauce pan silicone mixing spatula teaspoon wet and dry mixing cups clean silverware teaspoon for scooping Next, we began cooking: 1. In a saucepan, combine sugars, butter, and milk. 2. Bring to a boil and continue boiling for two minutes. 3. Remove from heat and add p...

Beet harvest 2016

Sugar beet harvest is a crazy time on our farm with early mornings and late nights. I am at school or at home with the kids for the majority of harvest, so Boots and our truckers were my official photographers.  Tractor with Digger & Loaded Trailer Sugar beets are a root crop, so they grow underground. The harvesting process begins with the defoliating tractor which rips the leaves off of the root.  Field of beets 1/2 defoliated and 1/2 not yet defoliated Tractor and defoliator Defoliated beet Next, the beet digger uses a two part system to pull the beets up and run them through scrub rollers. These rollers then push the beets back to the elevator chain belt and into the tank. There are also Ferris wheel style diggers that circulate the beets into the tank. Front view of Digger Back view of Digger Ferris wheel style digger When the digger is full, it unloads into a trailer pulled by a semi. We use cage trailers which tip to unload,...