Blog Vacation

Can you believe that Christmas is right around the corner?  This year has flown by literally.  My oldest is going to be free from the ties that bind him (school) for the next 2 weeks.  So I am going to take a blog vacation till 2015.

Thank you everyone for your encouragement and support.  I am so excited for what the future has in store for this blog.  Looking forward to sharing the journey with you all.  

Merry Christmas and hope you have a fantastic holiday season.

Cookie Exchange Recipe #1

I thought I would share with you some of our family secret recipes that are hits at Cookie Exchanges and with kids.  These are cake consistency cookies.

Cinnamon Jumbles
1/2 cup soft butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour (I use cake flour on my most recent batch nice and fluffy)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Topping
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

1.  Mix butter, sugar and egg throughly
2.  Stir in milk and vanilla
3.  Sift flour, baking soda, and salt together.
4.  Add dry ingredients to your wet.
5.  Place by spoonfuls on cookie on lightly greased cookie sheet
6.  Sprinkle your topping on your cookies
7. Place in the oven at 400 degrees at 8-10 minutes.

Enjoy!!!

Our Last Giveaway Winner for 2014

Thank you to everyone that entered and supported the blog.  We are still a baby blog but growing quickly and it is all because of you.  I am looking forward to the future of the blog and excited to continue with giveaways and hopefully some blog subjects that bring something to your life.

Congratulations to our randomly selected winner for the December Amazon Gift Code Giveaway


The winner is....


Lila H.




Please contact me and I will email your code to you.

Gingerbread House Party

I run a playgroup and for our Christmas Party (we do one every year), I decided to do a Gingerbread House Making Party.  This party does take some planning but if you do it right it is lots of fun.

Items Needed
-A strong piece of cardboard or stiff poster board (for the base)
-A small gable box (I was able to purchase these from Target for .97 a piece)
-Graham Crackers (A package per child)
-Candy- Get creative I got M&Ms, Licorice, Hershey Kisses, Gumdrops
-Marshmallows (I got the mini kind)
-I found gingerbread iced cookies in a package

-Icing (easy to make)
 3 large egg whites
 4 3/4 cups powdered sugar
 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1. Put egg whites and cream of tartar in bowl and mix on medium speed
2. Add Powdered sugar in small amounts on high
3. Then beat for 4-5 minutes until thick
4. Refrigerate covered till ready to use

Use the gable box as a base and use your graham crackers and icing to build your house around the box.  Then get creative with your candy.  With some patience and creativity your house will look great.


If you are having a party make your life easier and portion everything out.  This avoids fighting over items and you can make sure every child has enough.  I placed everything needed in ziplock bags for each child.  I also portioned the icing so every child had their own icing.  ****Warning**** This party or project is very messy but very fun!!!  We did our playdate at a park which avoided some of the cleanup from a home playdate.

Christmas Stocking #3 Winner

We have a winner for the final stocking giveaway.  Thank you everyone for participating and supporting the blog.  

The winner randomly chosen by rafflecopter is 

Jill R.

Congratulations!!! Email me with your address to send out your prize.

Don't forget to enter to win the December Amazon Gift Code our final giveaway for 2014.  

http://learningtopeewiththedooropen.blogspot.com/2014/12/december-amazon-gift-code.html

Only 2 days left.

Guilty Pleasures

As a mom I think we all at one point and for some moms more often than others experience guilt over something.  Guilt can be to a mom's demise.  But there is a guilt that can make you happy, a guilty pleasure. A guilty pleasure is something you enjoy but feel guilt about for some reason.  I think everyone has a guilty pleasure, whether it is a tv show,  food, music, or even a fetish.  I have a few guilty pleasures of my own.  Lately, my guilty pleasure has been binge watching Downton Abbey and  The Real Housewives of New Jersey or Atlanta.  I think the amazing thing about guilty pleasures is even though we feel guilty about doing the thing that we do at least we are getting some form of enjoyment doing them.  As moms I think we all need to have a guilty pleasure but it would be nice if we could have the pleasure minus the guilt.

I think as moms we are so hard on ourselves.  Many times we are trying to live up to an impossible standard.  We are only human, so mistakes are okay now if we could just believe that- I think our lives would be a lot easier.

Like Mother Like Son

When I was a little girl, you could often find me with my tape recorder (my decades cd player) "performing" into it.  I would sing songs, some I knew and many that I made up, read books, and just talk and talk and talk.  I even have a cassette with a recording of my 6 year old exuberance.  It has such hits as Daddy Dada which I thought was the best song ever written.  I'll give you a little sample:  Daddy Dada Rockin it all night Mama Mama keeping it up right Daddy Dada Mama Mama Mama Daddy Dada Mama Mama Mama Ohhhhhhh..... Platinum worthy recording of course.  

Last night my oldest who is 6 on a trip to Chick Fila decided he was going to perform the entire trip to Chick Fila and he made up some hilarious songs about 10 in all.  My boy loves to sing just like mom.  There was even a little diddy about Chick Fila, his love for it and why are they closed on Sundays cause he wants to go that day too :)

Sometimes his personality and the things I do surprise me.  He is really is my mini me.  Isn't it amazing how the personality just forms and every child is so different?  My 2 year old is so much different more like my husband.  Do you have a little mini me at home?

2 Winners Today

We had 2 giveaways come to end yesterday.  Thank you everyone for your participation and support.  

For Christmas Stocking Giveaway #2 (Girls Stocking) the Winner is....

Katie S.   

For the Beauty Box Giveaway the Winner is...

Sherry W.

Congratulations to you Both!!!

We also have 2 current giveaways going on.  

Christmas Stocking Giveaway #3 http://learningtopeewiththedooropen.blogspot.com/2014/12/christmas-stocking-giveaway-3.html

December Amazon Gift Code

http://learningtopeewiththedooropen.blogspot.com/2014/12/december-amazon-gift-code.html

Christmas Stocking Giveaway #3

This giveaway for a boy aged 3 and up.  This is a Rudolph stocking that has sound; the theme song,  with Angry Birds figure, Angry Birds Stamps,  a small lego kit, a Rudolph game and more.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

***This giveaway is not sponsored by any of the items in the giveaway.  Winner will be chosen randomly by Rafflecopter.   Winners entries will be verified. Winner has one week to claim the prize.  Open to US residents only.

5 Reasons Buying Christmas Gifts for My Kids Drives Me Crazy

1.  My kids Christmas List includes everything they see on TV even things for characters he has never heard of 

2.  Going out and buying something you think your kids will love and getting an underwhelming response when it is opened.

3.  Pleading to get a particular present for months and then playing with it once or twice.  Then it sits in the bottom of the toy box rarely to be played with again.

4.  Messy presents mainly Easy Bake Ovens,  Sno Cone Makers, Crayola Crayon melting sets.  Guess who cleans up?

5.  Buying a present that never works the way it is supposed to.  Prime example: Ice Cream Magic it leaks and doesn't make ice cream.  Not only is it disappointing to my kid but to me too.  I don't enjoy wasting money.  

I love Christmas it is one of my favorite times of the year.  As moms I know we try really hard to make the holidays special for them.  If I can get one present that they are head over heels crazy about I am a happy mama.  

Christmas Stocking #1 Winner

We have a winner for our Christmas Stocking Giveaway #1. Congratulations to Sue H.

Our current giveaway is for Christmas Stocking Giveaway #2 http://learningtopeewiththedooropen.blogspot.com/2014/11/christmas-stocking-giveaway-2.html

Today we are also starting an Amazon Gift Code Giveaway 

http://learningtopeewiththedooropen.blogspot.com/2014/12/december-amazon-gift-code.html

Lots of opportunities for something extra to help out this Christmas!!!!

December Amazon Gift Code

Enter now to win an Amazon Gift Code.  Great for a last minute Christmas present.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


****This post is not sponsored by Amazon in any way.  Winner has one week to claim their prize with confirmation of a valid email address.  Winner's entries will be verified.