My husband graciously offered me a “Mommycation” and I took him up on the offer. I am visiting some of my family down in Aruba and doing a lot of relaxing. The way I am choosing to spend my mommycation is on the beach with a good book…..I am half way through this one and I feel like I MUST recommend it. 
I can’t put it down, I just love it! If you are a reader, I highly recommend “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett
When I started the process of preschool shopping for my oldest last year I stumbled upon a school in Edina called The Berry Patch. The Berry Patch began in 1983 in the home of the founder, Berrie Lounsberry. The reason behind its founding 25 years ago remains the same today – to give children a love of learning in a fun, loving, faith-based environment. Today the school has two Edina locations and next year will be opening a Savage location. I didn’t choose to send the boys to The Berry Patch because both of the Edina locations were too far from our home and my school. Being a working mom, I needed something much more convenient for the boys, but loved Berrie and her school! The Berry Patch has made quite a name for itself in the Edina and West Metro Area. It is exciting to have such a well known name expanding South of the River! If you are interested in finding out more about The Berry Patch, please check out their website at http://www.berrypatchschool.com/ You can also take a tour of one of their Edina locations so you get a feel for the warm and inviting environment they offer for our youngest students. The new school will be held in the Glendale Church Building located at 13550 Glendale Road. They are offering half off tuition to the first five families that register at the new Savage school, so if you are looking for a preschool South of the River I suggest you check out The Berry Patch!
Many of you probably make this dessert or someone has made it for you in the past… It is a layer of Nilla Waffers, a layer of Vanilla pudding, a layer of bananas and a layer of whip cream… You then repeat the process… My great friend Jen had a monkey birthday party for her three year old and made THE CUTEST cupcakes ever. I “borrowed” her idea and altered it to fit my dessert and the supplies I had at home and made a little monkey for the top. Jen’s cupcakes were made with chocolate frosting so the monkey had a brown face. She used black gel frosting for the eyes and nose and red gel frosting for the mouth. My monkey obviously has a yellow pudding face, mini M&M eyes, pudding nose and a licorice mouth… Super easy and the boys just loved it!
OK so my husband has been asking me for years to learn how to make his mom’s (Nona to the boys) secret recipe “chocolate mousse cake”. I’m not sure what you know about my mother in law, but lets just say she is a bit of a fancy pants when it comes to cooking.. First off, the woman has her own catering business… If that is not enough, the first time I went to visit her home, while Ben and I were dating, I was greeted with homemade Easter candy and cookies… Every time we go to visit we are lavished with fancy meals that are never served without garnish, and to top it all off she makes the best sweet rolls this side of the Mississippi. Needless to say I really had no desire to make Ben’s favorite dessert, but for him I thought I’d try! We were going to some good friends for dinner last night and I thought it’s always good to try a new recipe on those that won’t care if you flop… It took me about half the day to make this dessert (maybe longer) and I was pretty proud of myself upon completion (mostly because it came out of the spring form pan with ease). Ben helped me out by making the chocolate curls (because I figured I’d better shower before I went to dinner)… Since Ben’s mom is such a “pro” when it comes to cooking, I had to make some alterations to her recipe… You see her suggestion was to pipe rosettes of whipping cream around the top prior to adding the chocolate curls. I did try that (at least what I thought a rosette was), and it looked less than presentable so I went with the “smear” the cream version I am more accustomed to! I served the dessert to 6 adults and they all LOVED it, including Ben. I am my own critic, however, and although I cleaned my plate, it was just not the same as Nona’s. I am not going to share this recipe because I would never want to put you through it, but I will make it for you sometime (or beg Nona to do so)! For now, here are the photos!
This is one of our favorites… I often hear my youngest quoting lines from poor Miss Ruthie… It is a great book for ages 3+. I have read this book to third and fourth grade students who love it just as much as my three year old!
Speaking of reading and of books, don’t forget that your local library and Barnes & Noble both have free story times. Check online for the times! My boys just L-O-V-E going to story time and it’s a great way to expose them to multiple forms of literacy!
I know that the East Coast, Mid West and even some places towards the South are being walloped with snow… I went to the garage and found some of our favorite sand toys and sent the boys out “digging” this week… These toys were just as much fun in the snow as they are in the sand! So go ahead, dig out your summer toys and have at that big pile of snow in your yard!
We also love to put a little food coloring in water bottles (that squirt) and let them “paint the snow”
OH and if you fear your friends may have lost their sand gear, why not give them some for Valentines Day… Target sells sand toys in their dollar section as I’m sure many other stores do too… Buy a couple sets for your friends and write “I Dig You” on the shovel and the friends name on the bucket… Tie them together with a fun ribbon and you have yourself a useful, non candy, valentines day gift!
I realized today that it has been a long time since I’ve made play dough… That means it’s been a long time since we have played with it either! SO, I figured this is a great way to spend a snowy day indoors… Of course we had to make “red” play dough because everything around our house is Valentiney! My oldest moved the peg on the calendar from 4 to 14 today just because he’s excited about the big V-Day… So here is our Valentine Play Dough… My thought for the day is that I could make a couple batches of play dough and we could divide it up for our friends and neighbors for a special gift… Maybe go to the dollar store and buy some heart shaped cookie cutters, put the play dough in a ziplock and attach the cookie cutter with a cute bow! Just an idea… For now we will just play with ours, YEAH!
2.5 cups flour
1 cup salt
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups boiling water
1 package strawberry kool-aid (just the 0.13oz package, not the mix with sugar)
Ah Valentines Day… When I was single my friend Telicia and I used to call it S.A.D (Singles Awareness Day)… We would sit around all sad that we didn’t have a special “Valentine” to spend the day with… WE DID, HOWEVER… We had each other and our other friends, we were just too focussed on the idea of a romantic relationship (aren’t all 20 somethings?)… What I wish we would have done is taken our single, no responsibility selves out and LOVED on those less fortunate… I can’t go back in time, but I can instill this value in my boys and that is what I hope the Love Jar does… It’s a new tradition for our family, but I hope to continue it for years to come changing the jobs to fit the stages of life we are in… OK so here is the idea: I thought of 14 LOVE JOBS. I tried to think of jobs that were appropriate, yet meaningful for a 3 and 4 year old. There are so many Love Jobs I would have liked to do like serving at a soup kitchen or passing out granola bars to the homeless, but I am going to save those jobs for when the boys are a tiny bit older. So I thought of 14 jobs, one for days 1-14 in February. I typed up each of the jobs and cut them in little strips. I put them in our “LOVE JAR” and each day we are going to choose one “LOVE JOB” out of the jar and complete it. I really hope that it is one more step towards teaching my boys to have giving hearts!
* Call someone you care about and tell them why they are special!
* Fill a grocery bag with food items from our pantry and deliver it to a food shelf!
* Make a list of three people you will pray for each night this week!
* Make a picture for Michele (our World Vision kid) and mail it to him!
* Find one toy of your own that you would like to give to a child who may not have many of their own.
* Choose one book from your collection that you would like to give away to a child who may not have many of their own.
* Bring an apple to your teacher and tell her you appreciate her.
* Make cookies or cupcakes for a neighbor!
* Help make a meal for some friends. Invite them over to enjoy it with us or help deliver it to their house!
* Draw a picture for a friend or family member, deliver it or mail it to them!
* Take some money from your piggy bank and give to the children’s offering at church.
* Pick up trash that is on the ground in our neighborhood.
* Fill a bag with new school supplies and drop them off at a local elementary school for students who may have run out and don’t have money to buy new supplies.
* Spend time together as a family discussing our many blessings.
So today was Day 1 of Project Valentine (see below for details) and we did a pretty good job. Being that we have about 30 Valentines total to make (and that is just for their preschool and ECFE classes) and about 10 days to do it, I feel we’re well on our way… I’d also like them to make Valentines for their Sunday School Teachers and their neighborhood friends, so I might need to up my game just a little… Today I decided to let the boys paint with water paints… I cut hearts out of white paper, had them write their names (the best they can for preschoolers), and let them paint away… I did notice the more hearts we made the more sloppy they got with both writing and with painting so I stopped while I was ahead…I think they each completed 5 so we have about 20+ more to go!!! WE CAN DO IT!
Hi, My name is Shannon Dodds! I am the wife of Ben, mommy of the S brothers and legal guardian of Wrigley. I have taught elementary school for 12 years, have a hard time keeping my house clean, love warm weather, gardens, and a good book! Join us on our adventure!
mommyapolis 