Harry Potter Escape Room

This birthday party took a lot of planning and turned out great! It ended up being a mix of ideas I made up along with a few I found online. One thing I did for his last birthday that made a huge difference was schedule our church building to have the party at. It has a gym, bathrooms, a kitchen, and plenty of room. Plus, I don't have to clean it before and figure out how to keep his younger siblings busy and out of the way. It worked out great for David's Nerf party and I decided to go ahead and schedule the church building for the escape room as well. 

The party began in one of the larger classrooms. I had a long table set up where they could go through a Harry Potter Magic Eye 3D book or play the Bean Boozled game. (Just as a side note, I got all of the Harry Potter books I used from the library which worked out great!)

After about 15 minutes, we got started. I read a letter addressed to them from Professor Dumbledore saying that he needed their help finding 5 horcruxes and what room to start their search in. Once they found the room, the fun began!

Room 1: Prepping for Hogwarts

The first room was set up with pre-Hogwarts things. We brought in a cart from the kitchen to look like the treat cart from the Hogwarts Express. For treats, I included lemon drops, acid pops (Great value Sour suckers), and fizzing whizzbees that we made the week before. I know it's a small thing, but the sour suckers came in a swirled design with a clear wrapper so they worked perfectly!

The goal of this room was to solve an equation using the word "Alohomora." There were clues and papers hidden around the room that let the kids know what number each letter represented.

Here's where I hid the papers:

A: On an Acceptance letter. The letter (A) and number (4) where written in red on one envelope.

L: L5 was written in toothpaste under Hedwig in the birdcage.

O: On the Marauder's Map. They had a clue that told them where to look.

H: Written on a paper and hidden in the lemondrops.

M: In a puzzle box. This one took a while, but they figured it out.

R: On a sudoku puzzle. I wrote the letter R in a square and the kids had to solve it enough to find out what number goes in that square.

It went a little slow until I told them to try opening the suitcases. One had the lock on it, but the other was open. Inside, they found the puzzle box, a school supplies list, a Harry Potter robe snuggie we found at the thrift store, and the letter/numbers equation page.

Once they found all the numbers and solved the equation, they had the 3 digit code to open the locked suitcase. Inside it they found school textbooks (with a few DIY potion recipes inside), a wand (to turn on the hanging candles in the next room), and a letter from Professor McGonagall telling them to collect their school supplies and bring them to the Great Hall in Room 12. Once they read the letter, it was a mad dash for everyone to find the next room. 

Room 2: The Great Hall

This room already had a large wooden table in it which worked perfectly. I hung candles from the ceiling and borrowed my mother in law's gold chargers. For snacks, I used some ideas I saw online and we had Gryffindor Grapes, Slytherin Snakes (gummy worms), Huffle Puffs (cheese puffs), Raven Claws (bugles), and Deviled Dragon Eggs that I made the day before. I also had a goblet of fire/triwizard cup I made with a vase from the thrift store. I ended up putting an extra lamp in the corner which helped with the lighting in the room.

In this room, there were two horcruxes they needed to find.

For the first one, I put little stickers on the bottom of chess pieces. Once placed in order, it spelled out "Room 12." They had to find this room the find the horcrux.

The second one took a little longer I had strips of paper on the small table by the Goblet of Fire. Some of them had the names of the competitors and some had what looked like random lines. There were also two puzzles pages where the kids had to unscramble letters to find two words that completed a sentence. The sentence told them to hold the papers over the light. If they held the random lines papers on top of each other over the light, it had the code for a lock. (Not gonna lie. That part needed a few extra hints!) Also, important to note... the light from the Triwizard Cup wasn't quite strong enough to see the code very clearly. Thankfully at the last minute I brought in an extra lamp since the room wasn't bright enough and that worked fine.

Once they had the lock combination, I passed out wands that I had made that had little magnets glued to the end. Inside the box there were phoenix ashes (iron shavings) that they had to wave their wands over to move. I saw this idea online and it honestly didn't go like I thought it would. I don't think I explained this part very well before they got the box open and the kids were so excited and fast that they just ended up using their wands to physically push the stuff out of the way. They missed the "magic" and then wondered why then end of their wands got stuff stuck to it. Haha! Oh well. 

Under the phoenix ashes, was a room number for a room that had another horcrux in it.

Once they found both horcruxes, I announced that it was time for their first potions class and that all the students were to report to the kitchen. I could have labeled it something different, but it still worked.

Room 3: Potion's Class

In this room, we had a "make your own potion" corner with sodas we put our own labels on and pop rocks we labeled as crushed dragon scales.

In this room, they had the potion recipe pages that were tucked inside the textbooks from room one. There was also a note on the table saying that they'll "need a lot of luck to find the last two horcruxes" which led them make the liquid luck potion.

I saw the idea to do this online with a bath bomb, but I thought it would be even better if they could drink the potion after making it! To make it edible, instead of a bath bomb, I made my own giant sugar cubes. To do this, I mixed 1 cup of water with 1 cup of sugar. Once it was combined well enough, I pressed it into two medium sized, plastic Easter eggs. In order for this to work, I placed it in a bowl with one half off the egg so it could dry out. Then the next morning, I flipped it over and took the other half off for that side to dry out. 

Also, I put a taped (so it would be waterproof) piece of paper with a 3 digit code on it in the middle of one of the sugar cubes before it dried out. The code opened a lock on one of the kitchen cupboards which had a horcrux and a golden snitch necklace inside. Once the kids figured out how to open the snitch, they found another 3 digit code that opened a second cupboard. This cupboard had the last horcrux and a letter from Dumbledore congratulating them and sending them back to the room they started in to be sorted into their houses. 

Now that the escape room was officially solved, we all sang Happy Birthday to David and then everyone got a sorting hat cupcake.

With about 30 minutes left, we were able to play quidditch in the gym until parents arrived. just another reason for doing the party at the church! 

For brooms, my sister Julia had the genius idea of using 1/2 inch pipe insulation from Home Depot! It was way cheaper and easier than using pool noodles.

The kids had a blast and everything worked out great!

I will say, looking back on it, there were a few things that ended up being great and a few that just weren't as cool as I expected...

Better than expected:

1. Snacks!

Having snacks in every room was perfect. With a larger group, not everyone was interested in solving the escape room or had something to do towards the end. Having snacks gave them all something to do and just made the experience a little better.

2. Drinkable Liquid Luck

Making the potion at the end something they could actually drink was really fun for the kids and they all had fun getting a cup of it at the end. Plus, this one took more planning so I'm just pumped that it all worked out!

3. Music

My sister Tami was the DJ of the party and it made it so much better! She used a light up lantern Bluetooth speaker my parents gave us and played music from the Harry Potter movies the whole time. It added so much to the atmosphere of the party and made it feel more immersive and fun!

Less Impressive:

1. The iron shavings wand trick

This one had the potential to be much cooler, but I don't think I explained it well. The kids were so excited that when I told them to use their wands to move the phoenix ashes out of the way, they just scraped the iron shaving with the tips of their wands and then were confused about why it was sticking to the ends. Haha! It still worked but wasn't as cool as I thought it would be...

Now that the party's done, I don't think I could ever plan a more fun party! With David's last Nerf birthday party, there was a lot to live up to, and in my opinion, it did! 

Thankfully, we only do birthday parties every other year for our kids so I'll have a good break before the next one. And with how much I had to gather up for this party, we now have a box labeled "Harry Potter" in our garage! Haha! We'll see how long before the next kiddo wants it all pulled out for their party! With it already planned out, all I have to say is "Bring it On!"

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Pregnancy Dresses

It took me until my 5th pregnancy to finally find some great options for dressing while pregnant! 

Don't get me wrong. This doesn't mean I look great my entire pregnancy. In fact, most of my outfit choices are pretty simple. I don't accessorize much... And sometimes you really just want to wear a giant comfortable t-shirt even if that particular one looks horrid on your baby bump.

The one day a week I can't chill in a t-shirt though? The day we wear our "Sunday best".

For a long time, I've tried to find a way to look alright in a skirt while pregnant. Some people can pull it off, but I usually feel funny pulling the skirt over my stomach, it looks bad under my stomach, and it doesn't fit comfortably around the middle of my stomach... In the end, I've finally realized that dresses are the way to go. 

And the way I've made this affordable and easy? Not wearing pregnancy dresses. 

(This dress isn't very stretchy but because of where the waist hits, I was able to wear it up until I was about 6 or 7 months pregnant.)

It is sooo hard to find pregnancy clothes at my local thrift store. Most of the time, they don't sort them out and after finding a few pregnancy items in the normal racks, a lot of the dresses don't quite fit right or don't look great. 

So, this time around, I just looked for normal dresses with a waist line that would hit above my stomach. This would be a high waist, empire waist, or even no waist at all if the fabric is stretchy and more form fitting (although I steer clear of tent dresses unless you use a belt or sash). Make sure the dress fits well up top and is a little longer than you'd feel comfortable wearing it. Your growing tummy will need the extra fabric!

(Here I am with 3 weeks left! This one is a size large with very stretchy fabric. It has a tie just above my stomach.)

(3 more days! Here's another example of one that is stretchy with a higher up waist band. I had another dress I wore to a wedding that had no waist band and a sash I made, but I didn't take any pictures, sadly.)

Of course I have one or two pregnancy dresses I bought from the thrift store. (One looks like a pink jedi robe without a hood to me and I'm not sure if I'll ever wear it again...) but when pregnancy dresses aren't an option, I'm glad I found a great alternative that makes clothing shopping so much easier and with a lot more options right now!

Happy Thrifting!

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4 History Book Recommendations

For some reason, while compiling a list of great books I've been reading lately, I realized that most of them fell in some sort of history or historical fiction category... Not sure how that happened! Either way, I would still definitely recommend each of these books as a good, clean read. (With the only small exception on "clean" being a few small things in the book "Code Name: Lise"... read that description below to learn why.) 

"A Single Shard" by Linda Sue Park

Children's Historical Fiction

This book is an easier, quicker read that's definitely worth checking out. The story follows the life of a young orphan named Tree-Ear and his determination to learn to make a pot from the master potter, Min. This story is a wonderful tale of bravery and integrity in the face of hardship.

"The Boys in the Boat" by Daniel James Brown

Young Adult History

It wasn't until I was half way through this book that I realized I was reading the version for young readers and it was only half the length of the original... Oops! That being said, it was still a great book! And it gave me the chance to review it for the "Children's Book and Media Review" website put out through Brigham Young University. 

This book would definitely be described as inspirational as most of it follows a main character that has had a string of hardships in his life. Despite all the trials of the times (it takes place during the Great Depression), the boys on the rowing team make it to the Olympics! In the end, for many of these boys it was the hard work and trials that gave them a strong will and the ability to row the boat to victory.

"Code Name: Lise" by Larry Loftis

Adult History

Fair warning: This book is the true story about a WW2 spy who got captured. As such, it had about 6 bad words in it and got a little intense at a few parts (like WW2 violent/torture intense) but it didn't seem overly graphic in telling what happened. 

That being said, it was still a really well written and good book. It held my attention the entire time and would definitely be considered a "page turner." Although it would be in the "history" genre, it isn't written like a textbook and is easy to read and follow. 

While reading this book, I had such a strong love and admiration for those people in the world that are willing and able to do incredibly hard things for the cause of good. It's brave people like Odette (the main character in the book), that help many of us in the world enjoy the freedoms and happy lives we have.

"Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc" by Marc Twain

Adult Historical Fiction

Important Note: This book is listed as historical fiction because of the way Twain chose to narrate it. He did, however base this work on his 12 years of research and preparation in Joan of Arc's history.

Although most people know Marc Twain from his more popular books (staring Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn), this book is actually the one he was most proud of. And after reading it for myself, I can see why. Once again, like many of the books I've listed in this post, the author did a wonderful job of teaching you the history of a person or place without it feeling like a boring history textbook you had to push through. 

This book was a great read and really made me see Joan of Arc in a different light. Although she is often portrayed as a tough military leader, she was actually a much more soft tempered and quiet person. I was impressed by her determination and strength to do something that was incredibly difficult even though she didn't actually want to do it. She yearned for a simple life, but knew that leading the army was something she had to do. She was an amazing, courageous person and this book was definitely my favorite one on this list. 

And with all of these books read, I currently have too many books checked out from the library to finish on time again... I may need to just keep a "to read" list instead of checking them out when I see them! But for now, you know what I'll be doing if I have any free time!

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Funny Kid Quotes 2021

Although this is such a long post, it's always John's favorite! And actually the only one he ever reads. Haha! Here's to looking back at the funny (and a few of the sweet) phrases our kids have said this year. 

 Aaron’s first knock knock joke:

Aaron: “knock, knock”

Deb: “who’s there?”

Aaron: “car.”

Deb: “car who?”

At this point, Aaron would laugh assuming that was the end of the joke. He told this joke at least once a day for a few weeks.

1-20-21

 

Brooke: “I’m happy today because I have a family that loves me and I don’t live in a junky house where everything’s broken.”

2-3-21

 

Deb: “Aaron, why did you just dump all those animal crackers on the ground? Are you going to eat them now?”

Aaron started jumping on the sofa: “Mmhmm.”

Deb: “Are you going to be like a little tiger and eat all the animal crackers up?”

Aaron: “Mmhmm.”

Brooke: “No, he’s not. He’s just a little baby.”

Aaron stopped jumping, put his hands on his chest and said: “I, baby.”

He in fact, did not eat the animal crackers but went on jumping.

2-4-21

*August 2021* That is not our cat... Haha!

 

Brooke looked at me and smiled and gave me a thumbs up. I smiled back and gave her a thumbs up as well. We did this a few times before she told me she didn’t want me to copy her. She didn’t even want me to smile since she was smiling. She literally just wanted to give me a smile and a thumbs up and have me stare at her with a straight face. Kind of the weirdest/hardest thing I did this week. Haha!

2-8-21

 

David: “Brooke we have to get an engine for our ship. We’re going to go to Tatooine.”

Brooke: “I just want to go to the beach.”

David: “Tatooine is basically just a giant beach.”

Brooke: “ok!”

David: “but there’s no water.”

Deb: “that’s just a desert, David.”

2-12-21

 

Deb reading the Valentine’s card David hand wrote her: “‘your feet are pink and they do not stink.’ Thanks David! What did you write on daddy’s?

John reading his card: “I love you.”

2-14-21

A Disney movie came on and was showing the castle with fireworks that is at the start of every movie. 2 year old Aaron gave an excited gasp and said in a high voice, “Happy day!”

2-23-21

David: “Would you rather have daddy’s job but harder, or be a farmer that has groundhogs and bunnies all over his farm.”

David’s choice: “Daddy’s job and try to get fired because I’m pretty sure you can’t get fired if you’re a farmer.”

3-1-21

Brooke sat down by Debbie and the baby in Deb’s tummy started kicking her.

Deb: “Brookie, your baby brother’s kicking you!”

Immediately, Aaron dropped the toys he was holding, ran over, and started kicking Debbie’s legs.

Deb: “Wrong baby brother, buddy.”

3-8-21

David: “When are we going to get home? I am so thirsty!”

Deb: “Just a few minutes. Want to know a secret? The water from the sink in mommy and daddy’s bathroom gets the coldest in the house.”

David: “...can I tell you a secret? Bathroom sink water is the yuckiest.”

3-13-21

Brooke saying her bedtime prayers after getting in trouble and losing her menu item (extra activity of her choice) for the night:

“Dear Heavenly Father, thank you that we had a good day, and bless that I will get my menu item back tonight...”

After about 5 seconds of silence, Debbie peeked over at her to see why she had stopped. Brooke was sitting there glaring at her.

Debbie told her to just keep going and Brooke finished her prayer before going to brush her teeth.

3-25-21

John was about to leave for work and it had lightly snowed the night before. Aaron ran over to daddy saying “No day, no day, glub, glub!!” (Snow day, snow day, glove glove!). He gave John the glove. John said thanks and when Aaron turned around, John put it back on the table. About an hour later, Aaron saw the glove he had given John and ran over to me with it. He kept saying “Daddy glub!!” And was trying to look out the window to see if John had left yet. He was sad about it so we called John and as soon as he picked up, Aaron was saying “glub, glub!” again. He was so worried daddy would be cold and wanted to make sure he was ok.

3-27-21

David had been so cranky and whiney all morning and wouldn’t stop teasing Brooke. Deb was finally fed up with it and sent him to his room for 15 minutes for him to try to restart his day. After about 5 minutes he was asking if he could come out every few minutes. Brooke was tired of it and finally went into his room and told him he could come out.

David: “Mommy is that true? Can I come out of time out?”

Deb: “No, you still have 6 more minutes.”

David: “But Brooke said I could come out!”

Deb: “If you want to do everything your sister says for the rest of the day, then sure. You can come out.”

David decided he would do everything Brooke told him to do so he could come off time out early. She tried to tell him to help her rebuild her sofa cushion fort. It only lasted for 3 minutes before David said: “Never mind. I’ll go back to my room for 6 more minutes.”

4-2-21

Brooke and David wanted to keep a bug as a pet so they found a plastic jar and had Deb poke holes in the lid. They found a worm while Deb was weeding the garden and put it in the jar with dirt. They named it Wormy and gave it a leaf and a stick for toys. They also found a few rolly polly’s they put in for a few days. They would let the worm out to play for a bit in the backyard before returning it to the jar. After about a week and a half, they let it go.

4-7-21

Julia came up to spend the night and when the kids woke up in the morning she told David, Brookie and Aaron, "I had a dream last night that Grandma Grimes signed me up for a Disney Art class with all the contestants from American Idol."

Brookie: "I had a dream that there was a dancing sock in my room that got sucked up by the heater."

David: "I had a dream that we all had pumpkin heads and then all the pumpkins got smashed by a helicopter."

4-17-21

David’s school friend Jackson got hit with a rock on accident and was scared because it was bleeding. David wanted to help him feel better and told him that your head has the most blood in it of your whole body so he didn’t need to worry about losing some.

5-6-21

Deb had to feed baby Zachary and accidentally left the candy bucket out when the kids were choosing one as a prize for something. Deb realized about 10 minutes later but Brooke and Aaron had already eaten many more than the one they were supposed to have.

A little while later Brooke said: “Mommy, I have some candies under my pillow that are mine so don’t take them!”

Deb: “How many do you have?”

Brooke: “One, two... three!”

Turns out she had also taken some of David’s candy from his drawer and hidden it under her pillow as well.

5-12-21

David: “Can leopards eat you?”

Deb: “yeah. All the animals here (at the zoo) are wild animals so if you saw them in the wild you’d need to leave them alone. Even some of the ones that don’t seem dangerous could be.”

David: “like bunnies.”

Deb was about to say no but immediately thought of the Monty Python bunny... “kinda...”

5-15-21

Aaron pointing at a baby gorilla at the zoo: “baby monkey zacky!”

5-15-21 

Aaron (age 2) was still hungry after bed time and went into the kitchen to find a snack. He found some hamburger buns and butter on the table. He buttered the inside of the hamburger bun, put the halves back together, and ate the whole thing like a hamburger.

5-18-21

 

Brooke: “I’m bored. Mommy, do you want to go outside or stay in the house and be bored forever?”

5-20-21

 

David: “I can’t wait until daddy retires so he can play Minecraft with me.”

5-21-21

 

Brooke wanted to wear her princess dress to the store when Deb had to get groceries. Brooke kept telling people that she is “a real princess”. On our way back to the car, she saw an older grandpa aged man walking in and she stopped to tell him that she’s a Princess. She didn’t stop talking however and was telling him random things about being a princess when a car drove by. Immediately, the man said, “Oh! Wave at the car! Princesses wave!” She turned around to wave at the car while the man rushed into the store saying, “princesses wave!”

5-24-21

David while watching a Memorial Day tribute song by the tabernacle choir about the battle of Normandy.

“Wow! We should go there!!... to try to find an old tire!”

5-30-21

 

Aaron woke up and came into mommy’s room singing “Happy to you!” (his way of singing “happy birthday”)

Deb: “Are you singing happy birthday?”

Aaron: “Oh. Yes.”

Deb: “Who’s birthday is it?”

Aaron: “Um, cupcakes.”

Deb: “Oh, you just want cupcakes?”

Aaron: “Yes.”

6-17-21

 

Brooke while we were driving home from camping: "When are we going to get home so I can take a tub because camping makes me a dirty gill (girl)!"

7-17-21

 

Brooke while praying: "Heavenly father do you want to hear a joke? Knock knock...

(Long pause) so... Do you want to hear a joke? Knock knock... Spaghetti volcano. Spaghetti volcano who? Oh no! It erupted! Now we have to eat it!"

After that Brooke laughed and then ended her prayer.

7-23-21

 

Deb was making dinner but stopped for a minute to check on the kids. They were all in the front yard together and she found Aaron like this…

8-25-21

 

Deb was shopping at market square with Brooke, Aaron, and Zack. Brooke was super sad because she lost a feather she was holding. The feather was so small Deb didn't even know she was holding one. They looked for a minute but had to move on. Deb told Brooke that maybe they could come back to check again after they finished shopping. Then, about 20 minutes later, Brooke lost a tiny rock she had been holding. Once again, it was a speck of a rock that Deb didn't even know she had. She was even more sad after this and threw a bit of a fit while Deb was trying to check out at the grocery store. The only way for Deb to calm Brooke down was to tell her they could go to a worker at customer service and ask him to call us if he sees the feather or rock. The man at the desk looked to be in his late forties. He walked around the store for a minute to look for the feather and rock before coming back and giving Brooke and Aaron each a candy bar to help them feel better. On the way to the car, Brooke opened the chocolate bar and started eating it with tears still streaming down her face. Aaron opened his and finished more than half of it before getting out of the parking lot.

8-25-21

Deb: "I just checked and your school is giving free lunch to everyone for the school year."

David: "Really?! For the whole year?! We must've done really good with our laps for lions."

Laps for lions is the school fundraiser David's school does every year.

8-30-21

 

David got home a little later than normal from school and Deb had been worried.

Deb: "why are you late today buddy? I was worried about you."

David: "I was walking with my friends and you know how sometimes we like to chit chat."

9-1-21

 

David: "Mom do you remember when I was first getting nightmares?"

Deb: "yeah?..."

David: "It was at grandma and grandpa's and minnie and daisy started haunting my dreams..."

9-3-21

 

David: "Dad? Who is Joe Mama? All the kids at school keep talking about Joe Mama."

9-3-21

Brooke drew this picture at church on the back of a receipt. It is "Mommy holding baby Zacky". She even added Deb's earrings and bun and Zack's binkie.

September 2021

David just asked Deb if he and Julia would be watching tackle football or flag football at the next byu game. Deb told him tackle and he said, "I like watching tackle" and whispered, "but I don't like playing it."

9-14-21

 

We had dinner with Grandma Cail on her birthday and Brooke said, "This is so fancy it's like we're going to a ball!"

We were eating on Aunt Shirley's real plates (not plastic) that had pretty flower designs on them.

Later, when we were leaving, Brooke ran back into the house to tell Grandma and Aunt Shirley one more thing. She said, "Next time we come we're going to have to just sit and talk because this time we didn't sit and talk enough and I have a lot more I want to tell you!"

9-15-21

Brooke: "Mom, I have to tell you. Do you know where poop goes? It goes to a sad, lonely place where no one will ever see it again."

It turns out John had told her this the night before when she was asking him questions instead of going to sleep.

9-30-21

 

Brooke while playing never have I ever with Deb: "I have never said this: I want nothing!"

10-2-21

 

When Debbie was done talking with Great Grandma Grimes on the phone, Grandma said, "I love you honey, bye!"

Two year old Aaron turned to Debbie and said, "Haha! She called you honey."

The rest of the day he and Debbie would say to each other, "I love you honey!" And Aaron would giggle.

10-4-21

Julia found a picture of Brooke and David when Brooke was 1.

Julia: "Look! This is a picture of you and David when you were little!"

Brooke: *long pause* "I was a boy?!"

Brooke thought she was a boy because her hair was so short.

10-18-21

Brooke: "Henley, everyone has magic. It's just in your heart."

10-25-21

 

Deb: "Who put all the pencils and crayons and a Barbie in the chocolate milk jug?"

Two year old Aaron: "Oh. Sorry mom, I didn't mean to..." *pauses for a few seconds while Deb’s still looking at him* "I love you."

Aaron then walked over and gave Debbie a hug.

11-6-21

 

David: "I ate a healthier toast today mom!"

Deb: "oh. What kind of toast?"

David: butter toast."

Deb: "...ok."

Technically not wrong....

11-10-21

 

One morning Zack was playing on the floor and Debbie bent over to give him a toy. Aaron ran up behind her and spanked her and then ran laughing down the hallway yelling, "your bum hurt!"

11-17-21

 

Brooke: “I don't think I'm going to play soccer again. It's just not my game.”

Julia: “What is your game then?”

Brooke: “Wrestling. I've always been really good at that.”

12-6-21

 

Aaron: “Mom, can we make pie soup? I've never tried it.”

12-11-21

 

Deb made microwave nachos for lunch. The kids had just eaten the cheese off the chips the last time so Deb only made them a half plate each.

Brooke: “Mom some day I want to grow up to be a mommy like you so I can eat a lot of food! Like look at your plate. You can eat as much as you want and whatever you want, whenever you want!”

Deb: “Well, if you finish that, we can always get you more.”

12-13-21

Brooke: “Mom, I made a present for you in school but it’s a surprise. No peeking or else you’re grounded for all of Christmas!”

12-17-21

 

Brooke while standing in line with John and Julia for the Slinky Dog roller coaster in Disney World: “I’m glad we took this holiday. I needed this vacation just so I can sit and chill.”

12-21-21

 

Brooke: “Yeah, I’m a roller coaster gill.” (her way of saying girl)

12-23-21

 

Ever since Zack was about six months old, whenever he would get frustrated or really wanted something, he would clench his fists very tightly and grit his teeth (gums) together.

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Emperor's New Groove party

A lot of people tend to have favorite Disney movies when they're growing up. For Brooke, it's Cinderella. David loved Finding Nemo and Cars, and now it's safe to say that Aaron's favorite is also Cars. Well, one that has continued to be one of my sister, Julia's favorite is Emperor's New Groove. Watching it as a kid was fun, but just like many Disney and Pixar movies, there are enough jokes for adults that it continues to be a family favorite for my family.

Recently one of my siblings sent Julia a recipe she found for Kronk's spinach puffs! And with that, we had to have an Emperor's New Groove party!

With it being Julia's idea, she planned most of it. A lot of the food came from what Kronk had to cook at the restaurant in the movie. We had easy pigs in a blanket (just cut up corn dogs), sushi, sweet potato fries, pink cranberry juice (to be extract of llama), deviled eggs, and of course, Kronk's Spinach Puffs! And for dessert, how could we not have Yzma's birthday cake?!

To make the cake, I just used a simple strawberry box cake. We did a vanilla buttercream crumb coat and topped it with a white chocolate drip as well as a bunch of candles! 

And of course, how could you not have an Emperor's New Groove party without watching the movie! Now we're ready for Disney World in December! As Kuzco would say..."bring it on."

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Book Recomendations 2020

I've read a lot of books since I wrote my Book Recommendations of 2018 list. Some great! Some, not so great. In the end, I found some I would definitely recommend which I'm sharing here. Plus, who doesn't love a good "clean read" book recommendation?

Picture Book

The Glassmaker's Daughter by Dianne Hofmeyr and Jane Ray

This book takes place in Venice with a glassmaker and his gloomy daughter. He offers a glass palace as a reward to the first person that can make his daughter smile. People come from all around to try to win the palace, but in the end, it is a young boy that has the answer to happiness she has been looking for.

This book has beautiful illustrations and a sweet story that I immediately loved! I pulled it randomly from the shelf at the library and ended up buying it to add to our home library a little while later.

Children's Book

The Book with no Pictures by B.J. Novak

This book is in the basic size and format of a picture book, but it just didn't feel right calling it a "picture book". Probably because it's "The Book with no Pictures"! Haha!

This book was fun to read to our kids and was a great way to introduce them to the idea that not every book has to have pictures to be entertaining.

I thought this book was very creative and my kiddos loved reading it together. Especially when they could get Grandma or Grandpa to read it to them. They thought it was a funny trick to get them to say silly words!

Autobiography

Unsinkable by Jessica Long

I actually read this book a few years ago and found it to be a quick, uplifting read. It's about Jessica Long and says on the cover, "From Russian orphan to Paralympic swimming world champion." Jessica is open about her faith in God and the struggles she has overcome to be where she is today. 

Brooke likes to look through this book sometimes and asked me once if she could read "the book about the princess with no feet." Brooke is all about princesses, and I'm glad she was able to identify a "princess" in a girl who's life is more than just pretty dresses and fancy balls. (Not that there's anything wrong with dressing up sometimes. Haha!)

Mystery

English Trifle by Josi Kilpak

This was the first time I had ever read a murder mystery (other than the children's book "The Westing Game"). For some reason, I've always thought I would hate that specific genre. Well, I was pleasantly surprised with this book! 

While searching for a new book to read this year, my mind went back to a series I had seen a lot at the bookstore a few years ago. After noticing that my great aunt has the entire series in her house, I decided to give it a try. I picked one that didn't sound too intense and ended up loving it! It had just enough suspense and mystery without so much of the creepiness or gore that I always expected this type of book to have in it. It was definitely a "cozy" murder mystery - one I could read at night without going to bed a little freaked out.

As a side note, this was the second book in the series and not reading the first one did not affect the understanding of the plot and characters for me. I ended up reading the first book in the series afterwards and actually liked the second book a lot more...

Classic

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin

Okay. So this one is totally obvious and most people have probably read it. I hadn't until this past year. 

Now that I'm a little older and can get through the language and style easier, I see why people like Jane Austin books! Not only are they clean, but there were so many parts in the novel where the author made statements that were so hysterically true to how many of us feel at times. Just look at any page of quotes from the book and there will definitely be at least a few you can connect with. It's funny that something written so long ago can still be relevant in our time and I think it is the characters' personalities and the plot line that comes through (more than their way of living in that era) that really connects the reader to the story.

I know most people have read this book, but if you haven't, it is worth the read. There's a reason people continue to enjoy and connect to it and it has earned the genre of "classic".

Fantasy

The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott

This is the book that got John and I through all of the road trips we took towards the end of this year. Although we were expecting this book to have a little more of a "Harry Potter magic" feel, it doesn't. It feels more like they took Nicholas Flamel's name from the Wizarding World and put him in a completely different world. 

That being said, we weren't too disappointed... just surprised. It's definitely not a book I would read at bedtime to my little kids (it can get a little intense - not inappropriate, just scary for younger children) but it is a book John and I have been able to enjoy together and book 2 in the series has been even better so far!

As a side note, I had no idea this was a six book series when I picked it up from the library. We'll have to see how many road trips it will last!

With a new year, it's time for new books! Haha! To be honest, it felt like I didn't read as many books this last year as I have in the past that I'd actually recommend, but that doesn't mean I didn't find some great ones this time around! And now I can look forward to the great reads to come!

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MBA Mom Survival Guide

Back in December, John finished his MBA!

And honestly, there should be some sort of degree or reward moms get for their husbands finishing too! Although, I'd only want to do it if there were no actual grades... Maybe just a pass/fail would be fine! Lol.

Well, with John doing his MBA through night classes, it could be rough sometimes.

Add on being pregnant during the first year and having a baby at the start of the second year, and it was exhausting during much of it. Not to mention developing allergies that gave me a headache 2-3 times a week... Yeah, not fun.

But we got through it! 

And thinking back on it all, I realized there were a few things I did that helped me make it to the end (thank goodness there is an end!).

So, here are a few tips and tricks for being an MBA Mom.

1. Have a weekly movie night.

For us, we did this every Monday. The catch was that the kids had to be in pajamas and ready for bed before we could start the movie. This motivated them to get ready faster and also helped in case one of them fell asleep during the movie.

2. Easy. Meals.

As an MBA Mom, leftovers are your new best friend. Easy microwave/oven meals are your 2nd best friend.

3.Keep your kids' bedtime the same.

 

This helps with consistency. 

Another option is to move their bedtime a little earlier since it will take longer to get them to bed on your own. 

Once they're in bed, spend some time for yourself. Almost all of my "me time" is after 9 pm. And my husband wonders why I go to bed so late. Lol.

4. Have kids earn their TV time.

In our house, the kids have to do their "4 things" every day if they want to have screen time.

These 4 things are: get dressed, eat breakfast, help clean a room (or do some sort of chore), and do a learning activity (during the school year, it's usually homework, but we find other good learning activities to do during the summer).

One reason I love using the "4 things" strategy is because if my kids ask me if they can watch TV, but aren't motivated enough to do their chores, they usually go play outside or with their toys, which is usually way better in my opinion.

Eventually they'll finish their 4 things some time during the day, and that's when they earn their 2 hours of screen time. They can break it up however they want, but they know that 2 hours a day is the max. 

It's also helpful to remind them after a half an hour or so in case they wanted to save some time for later but zoned out and didn't realize how much time passed.

5. Use Grocery Pickup. 

When I found out that Walmart Grocery Pickup was free, it was a game changer! It saved me so much time and was especially useful when I was pregnant and had a newborn. Every once in a while, I prefer to go into the store to peruse the clearance racks, but in all honesty, I probably save money every time I don't go in. I'm definitely the shopper that runs in for two things and ends up with a cart full. Haha!

6. Have one meal as a family each day.

I know this one isn't always possible, but a lot of the time, we would try to do this. 

John would leave for work before any of us were up, come home for an hour after work to eat dinner and be off again for class. On the days he didn't have class, He would keep a similar schedule but usually ended up at the library or shut in a room to do homework. Sunday was literally the only day he took a break from school and we had him to ourselves.

Even though this meant eating dinner at 3:30 pm sometimes or driving to his work to eat lunch with him during the summer, it was nice to have a little bonus time with him each day.

 7. Have Family Fun Nights (and Date Nights).

This one's another tricky one and it definitely didn't happen every week. 

We did our best though to try to still have time together and usually included the kids as well. As much as I didn't like having John gone a lot, the kids missed him too and really liked when had "Family Fun Nights".

8. Take advantage of breaks. 

The first thought with a break from school was to get a house project done. 

However, I would suggest not doing this for every break. 

There were a few 2 week breaks in between semesters where we went somewhere farther to forget how busy life was (like our trips to Tahoe and Dana Point). Even if we didn't go far during some of the breaks, it was still nice to use the break as a break and not as a week to do more work. I know John especially appreciated that.

For now, those are my main tips for being an MBA Mom. Good luck to all the mom's helping their husbands get through it! It's a long ride, but at least there's an end in sight!

And now, a few more pics...

Even though there was no actual graduation ceremony, John's mom wanted to have a small family party for John and his sister Jenny (who just got her Bachelor's Degree). 

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Gift in a Cup - Winter

This week I'm finally getting to the final seasonal "gift in a cup" idea... I know it should've been done a while ago, but I was pretty busy having and caring for a baby a year ago this time!

Sooo, now that I have all this free time... *eyeroll* Haha! (No, I'm not spending all my free time putting things in cups. Unless you count getting snacks for my kids. Which sometimes feels like it does take a lot of my free time. Lol.)

This winter gift just happens to be something we are giving John's grandparent's this year, so it worked out well with the timing.

To put it together, I just found two cute cups that weren't too Christmas-y, but still had a winter-time feel. (Hence the snowflakes...)

I ended up just putting hot cocoa, candy canes, and some chocolates in them, but you can also put in things like scarves, gloves, or a small winter hat (like in the picture). Other ideas of things that would fit are apple cider mix (instead of cocoa), a gift card, a nice winter scented lotion (my hands always get so dry this time of year!), a homemade treat (like these candy cane cookie truffles), or even a small new ornament if it is for Christmas.

Whatever ends up going inside of them, I think the cups are super cute and make the cold winter days a little more bearable. Because let's be honest, we're all just counting the days until Spring at this point. Haha!

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6 Book Recommendations from 2018

Fun fact about me... I could actually be considered quite a bookworm... Also fun fact, my husband John didn't actually know that I liked to read until about a year after we were married. Lol. That's because while I was in school, I purposefully did not check out books to read from the library because I knew they would distract me from all the class readings I had to do. So, it wasn't until I had a break between semesters while transferring colleges that I had a chance to read whatever I wanted to again. One trip to the library and I had enough books to occupy me for the next month! Or at least week...

Well, 6 years later and I still love to read. And the best part is, I'm done with school so reading what I want is no longer just a summer activity! That being said, I've read quite a bit this past few years, and definitely have had some books I've loved and some I wasn't too impressed with.

Also, like I've mentioned in the past about being a recipe sharer, I'm also usually down for a good book recommendation. So, without further ado, here are 6 great books I've read recently and would recommend!

Classic

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Pip is a poor orphan who lives with his sister and brother-in-law. One day, a lawyer comes to tell him that he has been chosen to inherit someone's fortune. The benefactor, however has chosen to remain anonymous. The story continues as Pip moves into the city to start life as a true gentleman.

Surprisingly, I didn't have to read this book in high school. I actually only gave it a shot this past year because it was a free kindle book at one point. In the end, I loved it! It was very different than what I expected. It had a great mix of adventure, mystery, romance, and an underdog, rags to riches feel with the main character. I wish my high school teachers had us read this book instead of some of the other "classics" they made us read!

Mystery

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

A supposed cursed diamond is set to be inherited by Rachel Verinder. However, it goes missing on the night she is supposed to receive it. Franklin Blake, Lady Verinder's nephew, is determined to find the thief and return the moonstone to Rachel.

Just like "Great Expectations", I got this book for free on my kindle and like Peter and the Starcatchers, John and I actually read this book together and both liked it a lot. It's pretty clean (like all of the books on this list) and actually had a little bit of a surprise ending.

Romance

Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson

This story begins with Marianne Daventry who is living with her grandma after her mother's death. On her way to visit her sister at the home of one of her mother's friends, some bad fortune befalls Marianne. In a happy turn of events, this misfortune turns good when it leads to Marianne meeting Philip.

This book was not too mushy and very clean. Of course, like most novels with romance in them, you know exactly who will be together in the end. However, it's the story of how it all works out that is fun to read. This book actually has a little bit of an adventure aspect as well which is fun.

Children's literature

Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson

Ok, so this 5 book series I actually read a few years ago with John, but I still stand by it as a great book to read! The authors' took the well known story of Peter Pan and gave an entire new story by telling how Peter and Neverland came to be. John and I had fun reading this together and can't wait to start reading this series to our kids at bedtime!

Nonfiction

Love the Home you Have by Melissa Michaels

I picked this book up to help me learn a little more about home decorating. What I didn't expect was that this book would teach me a bit about life as well. This book was definitely inspirational as well as informative. I also liked all of the daily challenges along the way to help you stay focused and motivated on the goals you have for your home.

Picture Book

The Princess and the Giant by Caryl Hart

In this book, the reader follows Princess Sophie as she tries to help the giant up the beanstalk fall asleep so everyone else can finally rest as well!

I randomly pulled this book off the shelf one day at our city library and I'm glad I did! It's a fun book to read to my kids and being the little princess she is, Brooke likes it a lot. The pictures are cute and match the style of the story well.


Although these aren't all the books I read last year, they are definitely my recent top picks from the last few years for the sections I listed.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I have a book I need to finish. Haha! ;)

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Who Knows Mom Best?

As I mentioned last week, we were in California for the morning of mother's day and our anniversary, so yet again, I spent the holiday in the lap of luxury... Hahaha! Just kidding. 

I actually spent it in the front seat of our SUV driving for 11 hours. But, hey, that car has seat heaters... so we can pretend that's luxury for today. 

Since we were going to be driving for most of mother's day, we decided to do a mother's day activity with my mom the day before. All of my siblings and in-laws that weren't at my mom's house called in and we played a mother's day version of the newlywed game! 

Basically, we asked mom a question and before she answered, we each had to guess what we thought her answer would be. Whoever got it right got a point and we moved on to the next question. The winner would get to be mom's favorite for the year! 

Also, since I know my mom has a hard time deciding things, I gave her the questions ahead of time so she was ready to go with her answers when we played the game. In the end, it was a lot harder than I thought it would be! Angie, Tami, and Julia tied for first and only got 3 out of 15 right! Props to them along with bragging privileges until we have a rematch! Haha! 

 

(To download as a PDF click here.)

Cell phone reception on the way home was pretty spotty so John texted his brother the questions and had them play it with his mom without us. John's dad won (surprise, surprise) and is the favorite for the year. Lol. 

For now, we'll let them enjoy their victories and start getting pumped to play this again for father's day! If we can't be our moms' favorites, maybe we can at least be our dads'! Haha!

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