Delicious Pudding Bar

Hello again! I don’t know if I have invented something new or if this idea has been out there and I just never saw it, but here goes! You know how you can have an ice cream or a frozen yogurt bar where you put your ice cream or frozen yogurt in a cup and then add all the toppings you like? Well, let’s do that but use pudding! We made a pudding bar yesterday and it was lots of fun. First select your flavors of pudding and make the pudding. I chose vanilla, chocolate and butterscotch and I used instant pudding because it’s so quick and easy to make. The kids will have fun just making the pudding and helping to set up the pudding bar!

For this brand of instant pudding, you pour 2 cups of milk into a bowl, add the pudding powder from the box and stir for 2 minutes. This pudding is soft set in 5 minutes, but I made ours on Saturday evening, put them in the refrigerator overnight and served them for lunch on Sunday.

Pudding is ready to go!

Now gather up all the things you would like to use for the toppings.

Put them into small containers so they are easy for people to serve themselves from. Here’s what we used: miniature marshmallows

Whipped cream

Banana slices

Chocolate chips…I used milk chocolate

Peanut butter chips

Miniature Oreo cookies

Small animal cookies

And sprinkles…sprinkles are very important. 😉

Assemble the toppings together and bring out the pudding!

Use small bowls for serving the pudding in. Let each person put the type and amount of pudding in their bowl and then add their own toppings. You can serve it like a cafeteria line with each person serving themselves. Here are some interesting combinations we saw at our house: Butterscotch pudding with peanut butter chips and chocolate chips.

Then there was some vanilla and some chocolate pudding topped with sprinkles and 2 animal cookies.

How about vanilla pudding with peanut butter chips and sprinkles?

What do you think of chocolate pudding topped with whipped cream and a mini Oreo cookie?

One bowl had vanilla pudding with banana slices and whipped cream.

And last, but not least, how about some vanilla pudding with a little bit of chocolate pudding swirled in? Oh, and sprinkles…gotta have those sprinkles!

A pudding bar is a simple dessert to serve and so much fun for kids. It’s a fun novelty to serve your dessert up just the way each person likes it and it’s fun to see what combinations others pick. I hope you’ll give this a try and have as much fun as we did! 🙂

Cute New Lego Set

Yep, here we go again with another post about Lego! LOL I can’t seem to help myself, but I found a cute inexpensive little Lego set for 2024 and I just have to share! 🙂 The name of the set is Lego Creator Gift Animals #30666. You can make 3 different animals from this set but I chose to make the dog. The instructions to make the dog are included in the package. Isn’t it so cute?!

Here’s what comes in the package:

And now you can see all the pieces sorted out and ready to be put together. (Yes, I sort my Lego into like pieces before I start building…just seems easier that way.) 😉

The directions might be a little tricky for a young child to do alone as it just shows more pieces added to the dog, not the exact pieces you will need for that step.

There’s the dog all put together! 🙂

It’s so cute I just have to share another view of the dog doing the “puppy bow”!

Oh, look! The puppy is so happy to see you it’s jumping up! LOL Can you tell that I’m having fun posing this dog?! Haha! 😉

If you want to make the other 2 animals, the instructions can be found online.

I found this set at a Barnes & Noble store and the price was $4.99. I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing this little Lego set and maybe you can get one for your own or for your favorite Lego lover! 🙂

Lego Clearance at Walmart – August 2024

Yep, you guessed it! I found some more Lego sets with clearance prices at our local Walmart this week. Everyone loves a Lego sale, right? I don’t know if your store will have any of these but it might be worth a look because most of these prices are 50% off! Here’s what I found:

#1.) Lego Disney King Magnifico’s Castle #43224. Regular price $100.00, sale price $50.00.

#2.) Lego Dreamzzz Crocodile Car #71458. Regular price $60.00, sale price $30.00.

#3.) Lego Minecraft The Crafting Box 4.0, #21249 Regular price $80.00, sale price $40.00.

#4.) Lego Dreamzzz Mrs. Castillo’s Turtle Van #71456. Regular price $47.97, sale price $23.00.

#5.) Lego Marvel Ghost Rider Mech & Bike #76245. Regular price $34.97, sale price $17.00

#6.) Lego Marvel Endgame Final Battle #76266. Regular price $100.00, sale price $50.00.

#7.) Lego Super Mario Diddy Kong’s Mine Cart Ride #71425. Regular price $110.00, sale price $55.00.

#8.) Lego Ninjago Dragons Rising Destiny’s Bounty – race against time #71797. Regular price $160.00, sale price $80.00

Here’s hoping you can find some awesome Lego clearance prices at a store near you! 🙂

New Crayola Crayons!

I spotted a new type of Crayola crayons while shopping the other day! Of course, I had to buy a pack and try them out. They are called Swirl Crayons.

Here’s the description from the back of the box: “Crayola Swirl Crayons contain hidden specks of color swirled in for a surprising stripey, streaky effect!” After coloring a picture, I would agree that that is true. 🙂 But first I want to tell you that each crayon also has a fun name. There are names like Meteor Shower…

Summertime…

And Raindrops, just to mention a few.

I got a page from a coloring book to try out these new crayons.

Can you see the fun streaks of a different color that show up when you color with these swirl crayons?

I hope you can see the special flecks and streaks that show up.

This type of crayon is fun to use and it’s a surprise what flecks or streaks of color might show up to add that extra special something to your picture. 🙂 The colors in the box are not the basic colors needed for school, but the Crayola Swirl Crayons are a great addition to fun art projects at home. 🙂

Time to Tickle Your Funny Bone!

Hello again! Wow, sorry its been so long since I posted, but life has a way of “happening”. This time what happened was my husband got knocked off a ladder while cutting tree branches and he broke his rib. Yeeeeeah….ouch doesn’t begin to cover it! Poor guy! He’s starting to see some improvement now but I’ve had some crazy busy days taking care of him and doing his work and mine. Thankful for those that have come to help and for those who are planning to come soon! Hugs to all! 🙂

So let’s have a little fun with some more jokes and riddles! I’ll hope to share some projects soon but we’re taking it one day at a time right now. Let’s laugh! (Just don’t tell these jokes to my husband because it still hurts him to laugh.)

#1.) Why did the turkey cross the road?

Answer: To prove he wasn’t a chicken!

#2.) Why do bees have sticky hair?

Answer: Because they use honeycombs!

#3.) What is a giraffe’s favorite food?

Answer: Neck-tarines!

#4.) What is a horse’s favorite game?

Answer: Horseshoes!

#5.) What do you feed a llama?

Answer: Llama beans!

#6.) What did the piggy bank say to his child?

Answer: “Do you think I’m made of money?”

#7.) How do cats celebrate their birthday?

Answer: They have a big purr-ty!

#8.) Why did the snake lose the argument?

Answer: Because he didn’t have a leg to stand on!

#9.) What is a good gift to give a turtle?

Answer: A shell phone!

#10.) What is an Italian dog’s favorite food?

Answer: Paws-ta!

I hope these riddles brought a grin to your face and a laugh to your belly! 🙂 Keep smiling!

A Frozen Treat For Hot Days

Are you having some extra warm days? It’s quite warm and toasty here with a “real feel” temperature of 90 degrees. I’m sure other folks are even warmer! These warm days make us all want something cold to eat, right? So today I want to share a yummy suggestion for a frozen snack or dessert…Frozen Banana Bites!

You will need a banana, a cookie sheet or plate, waxed paper or parchment paper, toothpicks and an assortment of chocolate chips or peanut butter chips, sprinkles, crushed cereal, mini M&M’s, chocolate milk powder, etc.

Put a piece of waxed paper or parchment paper onto the cookie sheet. Cut the banana into thick slices.

Put a toothpick through each banana chunk, sideways.

Now it’s time to “decorate” each banana piece. 🙂 Here are some suggestions to try: putting candy sprinkles on both sides.

Crush a few pieces of a favorite cereal and coat the banana chunk with it. I used HoneyNut Cheerios.

Melt a few chocolate or peanut butter chips and stir in a little bit of coconut oil to make it thin enough to coat the banana chunk with it. I just put some on the top and sides of the banana, but you could probably dip the banana in the melted chocolate too.

I dipped this banana piece into Ovaltine which is a powdered chocolate mix for adding to milk,

This one has the melted chocolate and sprinkles on it.

For the last one, I used the melted chocolate and a miniature marshmallow.

Place the cookie sheet with the banana chunks into the freezer for about 1 hour. Then take them out and enjoy! The kids will have fun making them AND eating them! 😉

Stay cool, everyone! 🙂

5 Ways to Reuse Magazines For Some Learning Fun

Do you wonder what to do with your magazines once you’ve read them? If you have children or grandchildren, save them for some learning fun! Or donate them to someone who has young children and share these great ideas with them. All you need for these learning projects is a used magazine that can be cut up, some paper, a few markers or crayons, some glue and scissors.

#1.)There are a few ways you can do these projects, but let’s start with “Animals”. On a blank piece of paper, write the word “Animals” at the top. Then let the kids go through the magazine and cut out any pictures of animals that they find. This is good for recognition of a particular item and great practice for those motor skills!

The cutting part will go better if you tear the entire page out before the kids start cutting. Here are the animals I found in my magazine…

Have the child glue the pictures onto their “Animals” paper. Now is a great time to chat about what animals they found, how many of each animal there is, what color they are, which one is their favorite and even some discussion about the differences between the animals. For instance, the 3 cats in this example all have different colored eyes. Fun fact! 😉

#2.) Following the same idea, you could have the kids do a page about 1 particular color. I chose the color red. Letting them choose what color to look for makes it more fun for them.

#3.) The next idea is to pick one letter and look for things that begin with that letter. And to keep an eye out and cut out the letter itself. I went with the letter “F”…flag, forks, flowers, fruit, food and fence. 🙂

#4.) You can also follow this same idea but use numbers. Have the child find 1 of something, and 2 of something else, and 3 of another thing…you get the idea…1 flag, 2 cats, 3 dogs, etc.

#5.) Now let’s work on letter recognition. Write each letter of the alphabet on a piece of paper and have some markers or crayons handy.

Have your child go through the magazine and find each letter of the alphabet. When they find a letter, let them cross that letter off their piece of paper.

If they would like to color in the letter in the magazine, let them do that. Or circle it…whatever they want to do to mark it.

Now you have 5 fun suggestions of ways to help your child learn while reusing old magazines! And you never know what fun fact or yummy sounding recipe you might come across for yourself. 😉

Fun With Food – Let’s Make Cookie Monster!

Wow, summer seems to be flying past in a big hurry! Are you super busy in the summer? We sure seem to be! Sorry it’s been so long since I posted, but here’s another fun idea to do with the kids! And it’s edible! 🙂 And it’s Cookie Monster! Everybody loves Cookie Monster, right?!

This is what you’ll need: a light colored plate (I used a white Styrofoam one), fresh blueberries, white yogurt (or cottage cheese, fruit dip, whip cream), 2 small cups or dishes, a piece of bread and some small cookies.

Cut a Cookie Monster shaped mouth out of the bread and lay it on the plate. I used raisin bread.

Fill 2 little cups with yogurt. Any kind of fruit dip, cottage cheese or whipped cream will also work. It just needs to be white.

Place 1 large blueberry in each cup of yogurt to make the eyes. Fill the rest of the plate with blueberries. And you have your Cookie Monster! 🙂

To make it a bit more fun, add a few small cookies close to the mouth.

Super simple, but a fun way to have breakfast or a healthy snack! 🙂 I hope you will enjoy making…and eating…yours too!

Amazing Lego Set That’s Educational too!

Hello, everyone! If you have followed my blog for any length of time, you have probably realized that I am a great fan of Lego! (I should maybe say fanatic!) I put a set together the other day and I absolutely loved it, so I just have to tell you about it! 🙂 The set I’m talking about is the Lego Tiny Plants set #10329.

What is so cool about this set? Ooo, I was hoping you’d ask! 😉 You can make 9 tiny plants out of this set, but it’s much more than that. This set TEACHES you about the plants in a fun way that your kids won’t notice that they are learning while building Lego! For example, the plants you make are fashioned after real plants. Let’s look at the first building booklet that’s included:

This set of 3 plants are found in tropical rainforests. Lego has included a few interesting facts about rain forests.

Then you’ll see pictures of what the real plants look like with their botanical names and their every day names. They have included just enough facts to be interesting, but not boring or overwhelming. It adds to the fun of building each Lego plant when the kids will be able to tell others what the plant’s name is.

For instance, let’s look at the first plant you’ll build, the False Shamrock or Oxalis Triangularis. Some kids will love being able to spout off the “fancy” botanical name. 😉

Building each plant is also fun! Look at these cute little pots the plants go in! Yep, you put the pot together too.

Here’s your False Shamrock! Isn’t that pretty?

Wait, did you notice something familiar about the purple flowers on the False Shamrock?? Here’s a closer look at those pieces…what do you see?

Yes, those are butterflies!! 🙂 Good eye! Some of the pieces Lego selected to use for these plants are pieces that have been used in other previous sets. 🙂 Look at what the booklet says about these butterflies…

It adds to the fun of building the tiny plants when you are on the lookout for other pieces that you will recognize as having been also used in other sets! I won’t spoil the fun by telling you about the others, but keep your eyes open as you are building! 😉 The 3 plants made from the tropical rain forest plants look like this…

They are quite realistic, aren’t they? Another fun thing you could add to building these tiny plants is a visit to your local greenhouse and see if you can purchase any of these as a live plant to grow in your home. While I doubt you can find all of them, you might find a Jade plant or a Venus Fly Trap plant. (Venus Fly Trap plants are very cool, by the way!)

This has to be one of the most fun Lego sets I’ve built and I can see where it could be a wonderful project to work through with your kids. 🙂 Oh, you can build the tiny plants in any order that you like. They do not build on each other, but are separate.

I hope you’ll try building this set! What a great rainy day project! Or if it’s as hot where you live as it is here, its a great staying-inside-where-its-cool project. 😉 Have fun!

Simple Patriotic Flag Snack

Here’s a simple but cute idea to whip up a patriotic flag snack in just a few minutes. We’re less than a month away from the 4th of July, so this might be an idea to save for next month too. You will need some blue fruit – like blueberries, some red fruit – like strawberries or raspberries and some white cheese – like white cheddar or baby swiss. Wash and prepare the fruit. I used a white plate so the colors show up well against the background. Begin by lining up some blueberries in the upper left hand corner. I did 4 rows of 4 berries in each row.

Add a row of your red fruit beside the blueberries on the right hand side.

I think this would look the best with small chunks of cheese, but all I have on hand is sliced cheese. If using sliced cheese, cut the cheese into thin strips.

Alternate rows of red fruit with rows of white cheese.

That’s all there is to it! You can vary how many rows you have in your flag according to how much your kids can eat at one time. This would be a great project for the kids to each make their own flag and practice their small motor skills. Then they get to eat a healthy snack too! 😉