A Mom’s Year – Page 47 – Creating a comfortable life one moment at a time

July 31, 2012

Road Trip Travel Packs from Polkadot Prints

I am seriously bummed for two reasons: 1. Our wonderful friends are on their way home to Atlanta after a fun-filled week and we’re going to miss them. 2. I really wanted to send them on their way with these little Road Trip Travel Packs from Polkadot Prints (via Design Mom). But I just couldn’t pull them together in time.

Next time, though, I’ll be ready.

To make the Road Trip Travel Packs all you need is some white card stock, the free printable, cellophane bags, twist ties, and small treats to put inside the bags (goldfish crackers, small toys, gum, tiny games, candy, etc.). And then you hand out the treat bags whenever the conditions on the tags are met: “When we count 6 RVs” or “Listened to 2 CDs” or “Took a 30-minute nap.”

July 31, 2012

Olympic Fever / My Favorite QUICK Workout

Do you have Olympic Fever at your house? We definitely do. I’m seeing Olympic rings everywhere, even in the craft tape Lily got for her birthday!

When you watch the athletes perform their amazing feats are you inspired to get moving, to push yourself harder?

The thing is, most of us don’t have hours to spend working out even if we wanted to. But I’ve learned that you can get a great workout in a short amount of time if you get a little organized about it.

July 30, 2012

Country of the Week: England / Toad in the Hole

We’re on to England! Which means a week of watching the Olympics for glimpses of castles and cathedrals between events; chuckling over the names of traditional foods like bubble and squeak, jam roly-poly, spotted dick, and bangers and mash; and reading some of our favorite English stories. And I’m sure we’ll fit in at least one Harry Potter movie.

When I was younger I dreamed of living in England. I’m sure all of the books I read by the Brontës and James Herriot and Beatrix Potter and Jane Austen had something to do with it. But I also loved the country’s history, architecture, and traditions. I’m pretty sure that my dreams included marrying an English lord and driving around the countryside wearing Wellies in a battered Land Rover, labrador by my side.

July 30, 2012

Country of the Week: China / Trip to the Market

Have you ever traveled to a place that really got under your skin? So much so that when you got home you found yourself looking for somewhere close by that would help you recapture the experience?

That was definitely the case for me when we returned from China. We’d spent three weeks there when we went to bring Lily home and we all fell in love with our newest family member’s home country. When we got home, I was surprised by how much I missed the people and the sights and the wonderfully calm atmosphere. Not to mention our favorite treat, Pocky, and the little rice cakes that Lily nibbled on constantly.

July 26, 2012

Country of the Week: China / Panda Cupcakes

I’m so excited because today we get to spend the afternoon with two of my oldest and dearest friends and their families. One of them I see quite often because she lives just an hour away in Northfield, but the other one I only get to see every couple of years because she lives in Atlanta.

We’re having our happy reunion at the Minnesota Zoo, and since it’s China Week and we’re celebrating three of the girls’ birthdays this week I decided to make panda cupcakes.

As usual, we had only a small window of opportunity to make the panda cupcakes so I had to use whatever we had on hand or could find at our local grocery store. If our panda seems a little bug-eyed, I think it’s because I bought the candy eyes at Target right before Halloween. Personally, I think they make him look interested.

I’ve seen very elaborate panda cupcakes in magazines, but if you want to make something simple like ours all you need are cupcakes in whatever number and flavor you’d like, white frosting, mini Oreos split open for the ears, Junior Mints and candy eyes (with a little frosting to make them stick) for the eyes, and a tube of black gel icing for the nose and mouth.

If you’re like us and can’t get enough of pandas, you’ll enjoy China: The Panda Adventure. The film, which tells the true story of Ruth Harkness, a socialite who brought the first panda to America and launched a new era of wildlife conservancy in the process, has gorgeous scenes of China and the cutest baby pandas you’ve ever seen.