Beaded Safety Bracelet

I was out shopping the other day and was shocked at how busy the stores are already! The aisles were packed and all the checkout lines were never ending, it took me forever to run a couple errands (I think I should of started Christmas shopping in June!) With my son starting to be as independent as possible and him thinking its fun to run away from mommy to do his own thing I decided to make him an I.D. bracelet. It was easy and cheap to make and he thinks its fun to wear. I keep it in my purse and put it on him when we go anywhere where there are crowds e.g. the mall, the park, the store, the airport. Luckily my son has never gone missing, knock on wood, but its nice to know that if he does whoever finds him will know his name and know how to get a hold of me.

I used some small beads, a big bead in the shape of something my son loves (the elephant) and some elastic cord that I bought from Michaels. I engraved a dog tag with my sons name and my cell phone number on it at PetSmart. I just looped the cord through the holes in the dog tag then beaded each side of the cord. I put the elephant bead on one side of the cord, knotted the cord together, cut off the excess and slipped the elephant bead over the knot. 

Fighting Germs While Flying

It seems like every time we fly my son catches some kind of illness and ends up sick as a dog at the end of our vacation, this isn't that big of a surprise since airplanes are teeming with bacteria and viruses. I was desperate for him to stay healthy this trip so I did my research and used what I learned on both our flights and the steps I took actually seemed to work. This was the first time that my son did not end up sick after flying so I thought I would share the steps I took to keep my family and myself healthy while flying.

Precautions Before We Left:

1. We all got our flu shots from our doctors.

2. I made sure that we all took our multivitamins daily.

3. I bought my son Mott's For Tots Immune Support Fruit Punch and had him drink a glass or two a day.

Precautions On The Plane:

1. With the Clorox travel cleaning wipes I brought in my carry on bag I wiped down all our arm rests and tray tables. Since my son was sitting in the window seat and felt the need to put his face against the glass to look outside and found it very amusing to open and close the shade I wiped them off as well.

2. They say that the airplanes ventilation system recirculates the air in the plane so when the person in the seat across the aisle from you coughs their germs fly right onto you....gross! So I just turned off mine and my sons vents. Since my husband was hot and needed the air to cool down I had him point his vent so the air was blowing onto the middle of his chest. 

3. I made sure that we kept our hands clean throughout the whole flight. My husband and I used an alcohol based hand sanitizer and I wiped my sons hands using Wet Ones antibacterial hand wipes.

4. I bought a couple bottles of water after we got through security and made sure to keep my sons cup full. The cabin pressure inside the plane dries out your mucous membranes making them more susceptible to germs so staying hydrated will help the membranes stay moisturized. 

5. I tried my hardest to keep my son from touching his mouth, nose and eyes since the oral and nasal route are the main ways a virus gets into your system.

6. I absolutely did not use the seat back pocket and made sure none of us touched the magazines they keep in there, this is one of the germiest places on a plane.
"We've seen passengers shove used tissues, dirty diapers, banana peels, sunflower-seed shells, and general trash into the seat pockets on a plane. And that black hole of grossness definitely isn't deep-cleaned between flights. We recommend that you don't put anything in that pocket—it's like storing your stuff inside a public trashcan for the duration of your flight." www.smartertravel.com

7. Another one of the germiest places on a plane is the bathroom so after using it I washed my hands really really well and used a paper towel to open the door. Then when I got back to my seat I slapped on a glob of hand sanitizer.

My germ fighting weapons!

"The greatest wealth is health."  
-Virgil

Traveling With A Toddler

My family and I just got back from vacation where we flew to my home town and back. Flying with a toddler isn't always the easiest and if you are anything like me you are stressed to the max right before you board the plane because you don't want to be those people with the crying, screaming kid. But my son and I have flown so many times in the past 2 years that I have learned how to keep him calm, quiet and happy on a two plus hour flight. Since the holidays are fast approaching and travel seems inevitable I thought I would share what I pack in my sons carry on backpack:

1. Head phones that go over my sons ears so he could listen to his shows without disturbing the other passengers.

2. My iPad which I downloaded a bunch of his favorite Disney Junior shows on. I made sure that they were new episodes that he hadn't seen yet so they would keep his attention. I bought them from iTunes where I also rented Madagascar 3 for him to watch. If you don't have an iPad I would recommended a portable DVD player, I bought a brand new one from a Pawn Shop a year and a half ago for $30 and it went everywhere with us. I have also seen them for sale at 2nd hand stores.

3. A new toy that I kept hidden until we were on the plane. I bought him a Hot Wheels Race And Play Car for the iPad. 

4. As you can probably tell my son is obsessed with cars right now so I packed some of his favorites for him to play with.

5. I packed one of his cups for him to drink out of during take off and landing to help prevent ear pain from the change in altitude. I also packed a Mio so I could give the water I bought after we went through security a little flavor so he would actually drink it.

6. I brought his favorite blanket to make him feel more secure and of course keep him warm.

7. I also brought his favorite stuffed animal which could double as a pillow if he fell asleep.

8. I made sure to pack some of his favorite snacks

9. I packed a small coloring book with some of his favorite characters in it and some crayons in a zip lock bag, I only brought a few colors that way I wouldn't be searching the floor for a whole box of crayons after we landed.

10. I packed a few new books that I bought from The Dollar Tree, again I hid them until we were on the plane. 

11. This is the outfit that I dressed my son in for the plane ride, I tried to make him as comfortable as possible. I also packed an extra pair of comfortable clothes in his backpack just in case.

12. My son wears Pull Up Training Pants but I put him in a night time diaper for the plane ride since they are extra absorbent and he isn't fully potty trained. And of course I packed extra night diapers in his backpack.

I hope this helps if you are planning on traveling with a toddler, whether it be on an airplane or on a road trip.  

Good Luck!

Skull Shirt

Since Halloween in 5 days away I wanted to make a skull shirt that I saw a picture of on Pinterest to wear out.

I used a shirt I bought from Goodwill, scissors and a thin black Sharpie.

I folded the shirt in half then drew my skulls eye, half his nose and some teeth.

I then pinched the fabric in the middle of the eye and his nose and cut a small hole so I could get my scissors in to cut out the eye and the nose.

For the teeth I just pinched the fabric then cut off the pinched part, this made small circle shapes.

I then folded the shirt in half again but just the front of the shirt. I then traced my cut out eye and nose onto the inside of the shirt. I turned the shirt inside out and cut out the areas I had marked. I did the same pinch and cut process for the teeth that I did on the other side.

My happy skull.

Yummy Mummy

As you can tell from most of the "recipes" I have posted my son loves hot dogs, its pretty much all he wants for dinner every night. Since Halloween is next week I wanted to make him a fun Halloween themed dinner, using hot dogs of course, and when I saw a picture of these mummy wrapped hot dogs on Pinterest I knew he would love them. I was totally right!

Supplies Needed: crescent rolls (8 count), 8 hot dogs, ketchup and mustard

Fold each piece of dough in half

Roll each piece of dough on your counter top to make them long and skinny

Wrap the dough around each hot dog leaving a bit of space to dot some eyes then place them on a baking pan and bake them until they are golden brown.

Squeeze some ketchup and mustard in separate bowls then using a wooden skewer dot some eyes on the hot dog

Some very yummy mummies

Guys Closet Costumes

My husband does not like to dress up for Halloween so he only dresses up when he has to, like when we are invited to a party. Since he doesn't like dressing up he never has an idea of what he wants to dress up as so I head to his closet to come up with some costumes for him to pick from using his own clothes. Here are 5 Halloween costumes I came up with using only stuff my husband already owns.

50's Greaser (slick your hair back and put a comb in your back pocket)

Truck Driver (would also look good with a sleeveless flannel shirt and a wife beater)

Basketball Player (wear sweat bands if you have them)

Jersey Shore (spike your hair and say "G.T.L!" all night)

High School Jock

Cheeky Grilled Cheese

My son and I decided to take a stroll to the neighborhood park the other night before it got dark and by the time we got home he was worn out and pretty ready for bed. The only problem was we still hadn't had dinner so I needed to whip up something yummy, warm and fast. Being inspired by all the fun we just had in the brisk fall weather here is what I came up with.....

I made open faced grilled cheese sandwiches: 3 slices of bread, 3 slices of American cheese and butter. I served broccoli rice on the side. 

To make the meal fun I cut jack-o'-lantern style faces into the cheese.

Then I placed a piece of bread butter side down in a pan and placed a piece of cheese onto the un-buttered side of the bread.

To make the cheese melt before the bottom of the bread burned I placed a pot lid over the bread.

"Yum yum yummy" is what my son had to say about this meal while he rubbed his tummy!