To see or not to see!

Isn't it amazing how cute your kids are in the morning? I'm pretty sure that's God's way of making you forget all the bad things that come with parenthood and to focus on the great things....that or it's that you've had a solid 3 hours alone :) My guys love starting off their mornings with secret message toast and we hope you will too!

Supplies:
Piece of bread
Splash of milk
Q-tip
Toaster

Directions:
1.) Gather supplies and put milk in a tiny container.

2.) Wet the end of the Q-tip in milk and draw a hidden message on the bread. (It may take a few times of dipping it in milk to complete the message...also dotting it works great, but don't dint the bread)

3.) Toast it to golden brown and viola!

Before

4.) Serve with love

Happily Ever After

Wipe Out Wipe-outs

Here is a super easy and fun way to protect your little munchkin from wiping out while running around in socks or tights this winter. Create these non-slip socks with a few drips of puff paint.

Supplies:
Socks/tights
Puff paint
Small shoe or newspaper (for foot form)

Directions:
1.)Stuff newspaper or a small shoe into the sock.

2.)Flip the stuffed sock over so the sole is facing up. 
3.)Add little dots or decorations of puff paint to the sole

4.)Let Dry
5.)Try them out by letting your kids sprint around the hardwoods in their socks

Sparkle Their Creativity

Spark their imagination and creativity with this recipe for
 homemade sparkle puffed paint. The best part about this recipe is easy clean-up. OH and let's not forget the time it frees up for you to enjoy a cup of tea in peace!

Gage's Rainbow Fish

Gavin's Puddle

Recipe:

1/3 c. Flour
1/3 c. Salt
1/3 c. Water
Food Coloring

Directions:
Place everything BUT WATER into a small ziplock bag. Seal the bag and shake until mixed. Add water and reseal the bag. Kneed the bag until paste inside resembles yogurt (add water if needed). Repeat this step for all colors until you have several colored bags of paint. Lastly, snip a small corner off each bag. Option #1: use the bag as is like a pastry bag to sqeeze the paint onto stiff paper (I like to use cut up grocery bags or cereal boxes) and allow to dry. Option #2: Squeeze the bag into empty glue bottles and recap.Use these make-shift bottles to paint. Allow picture to dry.

Serve a Cup of Memories

How we wake up to our favorite people each day!

Okay, so I stole this idea from my amazing sister in law, Maya. She made us the best gift ever! It's a photo travel mug. We liked it so much that our boys wanted one of their own for road trips. Maya came to my rescue again with personalized mugs for both boys. I have made several of these for my friends and family. Some of the occasions have been wedding, baby, father's day, grandparents day, and BFF just to name a few.

Supplies:
Create a photo mug (link below)
a ton of photos (smaller the better :)
adhesive (double sided tape works best)
Pretty paper (optional)
Stickers etc.

Directions: 
1.) Remove the insert from the mug and trace it onto the pretty paper.
2.) Plan your layout but remember that the outside edge will be overlapped by about 1/4"
3.) Glue or tape down photos.
4.) Curl template and delicately slide it back into the mug.
5.) Screw the bottom of the mug on TIGHT!!!! You don't want all of your hard work to go down the drain ;)

**She had to buy the boys tumblers from Micheal's because Starbuck's stopped carrying them in store. Here's the link in case you can't find one at your local coffee shop or craft store**

Starbucks  Tumbler link:
http://www.starbucksstore.com/products/shprodde.asp?SKU=271241

tape...Tape...TAPE!!!

I love tape! It has so many useful purposes, but none of them compare to the endless hours of enjoyment it provides my boys on rainy days. Grab the cheapest roll of duct tape or masking tape you can find and let the games begin! Here are two of the ways we use it...I'm sure you can come up with more :)

Tightrope/Balance Beam:
Stick a 4' piece of tape (or larger) to the floor in a straight line. Challenge them to walk it forward, backward, heel-toe, with their eyes closed or even try to jump/skip/run/crawl it. **For older children (or if they get bored) try adding different lengths of tape at different angles so that it zigzags around the room. 

They're racing around the "world" (they named it not me)

So proud of himself

Don't Cross the Line:
This is our version of tug-of-war. Instead of one piece of tape. Stick two pieces of 3' tape about 5' apart and tape a small "x" in between both lines. Tie a small stuffed animal to the middle of the rope. Start it on the "x" and then let them proceed to pull until it crosses the line.


Siamese Twins:
For some odd reason my guys are memorized with twins right now. While watching a National Geographic on India they saw twin boys joined at the torso. They had tons of questions about what they saw, a vast majority of their questions stayed with a theme "how do they?" I was beginning to get frustrated with repeating my answer so I asked them if they wanted to find out. They did :) So we dressed them in PJs and loosely wrapped a circle of tape around their ankles (three legged race style). They tried to walk, crawl, play soccer etc. They tired of this and wanted to have their torso tapped...Ok so I didn't think it was the greatest idea, but I figured that they might learn an important life lesson on either acceptance or team work so we gave it a whirl. Gavin grew tired of Gage's antics and decided if they were stuck together he would carry him because "he's in the way and messing me up!"

My amusing Muses

Let's face it...I love to bake but my blog was making me fat and took too much time away from my kiddos. So I started to re-evaluate my day. Somewhere between meals, preschool, working out, cleaning, chasing, cleaning, and bedtime battles I had completely lost touch with my childish side. I am blessed enough to have three gorgeous children who were my muses for my Mommy Muse blog. They are always amusing me and have called me out on my lack of ability to play lately. Now I getting back to my roots and sharing little things that make my life a little more special. So if you have been less than playful lately, let me help you serve a big dose of silliness. Hopefully, I can be your muse and inspire you to bring forth your inner child (or child wrangler). After all, a happy child is a happy mommy!