As a child, when I would ask, “What’s for dinner mom?” and I would receive the answer, “stuffed peppers,” I was a happy girl. Stuffed bell peppers were considered a “comfort food” in my household. (Although mom referred to bell peppers used any other way as mangos…did anyone else’s parents call them mangos?? I think it is a definite Midwest thing.) My mom made them quite regularly following the traditional recipe with ground beef and tomatoes.
However, in our household now, Pappy usually prepares the meat on the grill while I cook side dishes to complement. Wow, these veggie filled stuffed peppers are an amazing complement to chicken, beef or pork!
This past weekend, I wanted to create something new. Something different. Something fun! This is what I came up with and they were delicious!
Veggie Filled Stuffed Peppers~
Dice all of your vegetables. You are going to want to dice them pretty small.
Sautee your vegetables in olive oil. Season with garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Add your chopped spinach in and cook until wilted.
Meanwhile, cook rice according to package directions.
While both of these are cooking, slice your bell peppers in half and remove the seeds
.
Place the bell pepper halves on a foil lined cooking sheet (I did not line my cooking sheet with foil and regretted it). Add one slice of monterey jack cheese to the bottom of each pepper.
Add cooked veggies and rice together in mixing bowl. Add shredded parmesan cheese and mix well.
Fill each pepper with the vegetable and cheese mixture. Top with shaved parmesan.
Cook at 400 degrees for 40 minutes or until browned.
Definitely a different twist on the traditional bell peppers, however, still a “comfort” food! Enjoy!
This was a huge success! As I continue to search for the best indoor activities that are fun, yet inexpensive, for the grandkids, I occasionally hit upon a winner~Quiet Boxes! The best part is that everything pictured here, including the box, came from the Dollar Store.
Seriously, have you been to the Dollar Store recently? I took my time and perused the aisles looking for specific items that I knew each child would be interested in. With the ages of our two, I tried to keep the items pretty similar to keep jealousy at bay, yet still catering to their specific current “likes.”
These are the items I chose for each box:
Coloring book and box of crayons
Small pads of paper
Stickers
Puzzles
Spinning tops
Character cut out sets to color
Candy
Colorforms
Army men
Unicorn figurines
I explained to the kids that these boxes were “only” for quiet time. When we want to play with these boxes, we must put all other toys away. Likewise, when we are done playing, we must put everything back into the box to be ready for the next time that we want time to ourselves. The kids quickly dug in, pulled EVERYTHING out, and forgot about everything else around them while they enjoyed their own “special” box. What’s even better, is that when we were ready for dinner, they put everything back. They are anxious to keep their box together.
I would like to point out that when I purchased the Colorforms I was super excited!!! Do you remember these? I saw these in the store and immediately traveled back to my childhood. I have memories of being so excited every time my mom would purchase a new set for me to play with. I told my husband about them and he looked at me like I was a crazy woman. I guess not everyone played with these when they were young. 🤷♀️ So of course, I did what every Mimi of the 21st century does and I jumped on to Amazon to see if I could find more. My goodness, there are so many:
These are a few of our favorites above. They cost a little more than the Dollar Store sets, but they are bigger sets, so still worth the price.
You can also build off of this idea and make “Busy Bags” for the children. This would be a great idea for times you take the kids somewhere that you know there may not be other toys or children for them to play with. Once again, when a child knows they have some special bag or box that is only theirs, you will be amazed how much they look forward to it.
Whether you are a parent or a grandparent, I think you will find this to be a very worthwhile project. Let me know if you try it out!
Looking for a fun activity to do with your children? This one takes a little planning, but is well worth the time spent. Of course, there are many variations to creating a scavenger hunt, but dressing the kids up as pirates and making some props in advance is definitely the ultimate piratescavenger hunt that your young children will love!
Preparations for the Pirate Scavenger Hunt~
Ok, my daughter loves a good dress up activity, so she went above and beyond for the outfits. (they are pretty cute, huh?) Let your imagination flow with getting their pirate clothing together. The bandanas are a must of course! You may have some stuff to pull from a dress up box or put some clothing items together from everyone’s closet. If things are too big, belt it up! If you put your imagination to work you will be surprised with what you come up with.
Then get to work on your pirate map. This one was made from an envelope. You can also use colored paper or even a piece of cardboard. (I know you all have more boxes than normal right now due to online shopping….right?) Use stickers or cut out images from online to create your map.
You will also need treasure boxes. You can purchase these online or at your local craft store. The treasure box can be painted or left natural. Then decorate with stamps, paint, and/or markers. This would be a fun activity for the kids to decorate, but to create the full scavenger hunt experience you will want to have the box prepared ahead.
I have been wanting to try leaf print stamp art with my grandchildren for a while. I have looked through so many pictures and ideas of how to do it. Let’s just say that when Addi, Max and I did this fun craft together yesterday, our artwork did NOT turn out like the images I had in my mind. BUT….that’s ok! In fact, it is MORE than ok! If there is one thing I have discovered in life with kids…nothing ever really turns out the way you plan. It’s the fun and laughter along the way that makes it all worthwhile!
STEPS AND TIPS TO LEAF PRINT STAMP ART WITH KIDS~
Set up your craft area with markers and paper. If your children are smaller, I believe white copy paper will be best. I considered colored construction paper, but the leaves are a bit hard to color on without ripping, thus making it more difficult to get a dark enough image for colored paper. ***You can use paint as well, but I need to up my art supply game first…including art aprons!
Be sure to have butcher block paper or kids placemats to put under their artwork to save your craft area from looking like a rainbow.
Collect leaves. I recommend that you do NOT do this ahead of time. I know many of us like to be prepared for crafts with littles, but I guarantee you that it will be more fun if you let them pick out their own leaves. Never underestimate a good little walk in nature with children!
Have each child collect at least 5-10 leaves. It is great to get several different types of leaves, however, the number collected is equally important as you will quickly learn.
Using a small leaf, do a VERY QUICK tutorial for the kids. Color a small leaf, instruct them to watch as you then turn the leaf over and stamp onto the paper. I say very quick because they will be anxious to get started!
Make sure you explain that they need to color gently so they do not rip their leaves. This takes us back to #4 and why you need several leaves. .
It is fun to color with different colors, but I recommend you color with one color first until they get the hang of it. It takes children quite a bit of time to choose colors and also get the lids on and off. This results in the leaf colors drying before they ever get to stamp.
Once they have colored their leaf, help them turn the leaf over by the stem and press down on paper.
Of course, praise them for their wonderful artwork!
THIS is Larry…and he is one of our new favorite characters. Have you met Larry? If you haven’t, you need to follow this link now and add at least one of these books to your bookshelf. Don’t Touch This Book-Meet Larry Now!
DON’T TOUCH THIS BOOK! ~
Addi and Max absolutely laugh with delight when we read these books. The author is great at getting the kids engaged with each story. Of course, the title alone, Don’t Touch This Book! makes kids want to do what???? You guessed it, they WANT to touch the book. As I read it to them, I move the book all over during the first couple of pages, and they laugh hysterically while trying to touch the book.
As you venture through the story, Larry gives the kids permission to touch the book with one finger, then all of their fingers and then gets them to spin, wiggle and walk and talk like robots.
DON’T PUSH THE BUTTON! ~
The next book we chose by Bill Cotter is Don’t Push the Button! Larry is at it again with all of his shenanigans. As he allows the kids to push the button once, twice, then a bunch of times, multiple Larrys appear in the book…each one a different color. You must then start shaking the book and rub his belly to make them all disappear. The laughter this incites is music to my ears. Larry in Don’t Push the Button!
OTHER BILL COTTER BOOKS ~
There are other books in the Don’t Push the Button series including Christmas, Easter & Halloween versions. There is also a Christmas book titled Don’t Shake the Present. These books don’t yet grace our book shelves, but by the time each of these holidays roll around, you can bet they will be! Our family loves Larry and I am sure yours will too!
Being apart from your grandchildren is HARD! Brad and I are so very lucky to have ours close to us, but they do love to travel. When they leave, I get major FOMO (fear of missing out!). When these occasions strike, I dig deeper to understand how grandparents that live apart from their littles keep their bonds strong. Technology definitely makes staying in touch much easier. However, I think you still need to make it fun!!!
MAKE THEM LAUGH~SHARE JOKES AND RIDDLES
One thing I added to my “Mimi Bag of Fun” just recently is telling jokes. They have been vacationing, and I wanted to keep in touch with them daily without being overbearing. I started texting a joke to them each day that our daughter could read to them whenever they had down time. This allowed them time to discuss answers together. It got to the point that if I didn’t send it in time, they were wanting to know where their daily joke was.
I have always enjoyed making children laugh. Their laughter just fills your soul. I used to send a joke a day in my kid’s lunchboxes. I kept a joke book handy (but out of sight from the kids) in the kitchen. I would mark off jokes as I used them to ensure not sending the joke more than once. I did not include the answer on their lunch note. This made for fun discussion when they got home from school. The kids started discovering that their friends were waiting to hear the answer the next day at lunch.
Now I keep jokes and riddles organized on my Pinterest page. You can look at my Pinterest board that includes jokes here: Shelly’s Pinterest Board with Jokes
In fact, my sister is caring for her kids this week. While talking on the phone, I shared one of my recent jokes with them. They quickly retaliated with riddles that they love. That interaction is what makes you the “fun” grandma! They tend to remember those silly simple times.
FACETIME~
Isn’t this a great way to see your grandkids more often? It is definitely a tech-savvy way to have great conversations with the children while seeing their faces. While catching up on their latest favorites, you should also use this time to spice up the interaction. Have you tried reading a book to them over the phone yet? It’s a little harder to navigate while holding both the phone and the book, so I suggest you either set up a station where your phone/ipad is docked for hands free talking before facetiming or have someone help you.
I also plan to incorporate MadLibs in the future. My kids always loved MadLibs. If you do this while using facetime, you can get their answers from them, and then read the story back to them. It will definitely make for lots of laughter.
I recently found a very fun website which includes a ton of fun kid activities. They have a lot of free printables, including some mad libs. I certainly plan on utilizing their sources more often. You should check it out too: Fun Free Printables
SNAIL MAIL~
If you are a grandparent that lives farther away from your grandchildren, I certainly hope you use this method quite often. In fact, I believe that even those grandparents that live close should use snail mail as well. I am not very good at this but plan to get better. Do you remember when you would go to the mailbox and something was addressed to YOU? I still remember that happy feeling. Even though we have technology, kids are still the same. They still love opening that mailbox and getting something addressed to them!
KEEP A CALENDAR~
I’m not just talking about recording birthdays. Do you record special occasions they have coming up? Are they invited to a birthday party? Do they have a school event? Do they play soccer/football/basketball/etc. every weekend? Put those dates and times on your calendars. If you can go to their events, GREAT! If you can’t, GREAT! You can still give them a call and ask them all about it! This is fun for you, the grandchild, and your child (because your child will get a bit of a break!).
Keeping in touch can be difficult….but it is well worth the effort!
Yes, yes…and YES! In fact, don’t stop at one! Drop everything you are doing…seriously….go out a get a pet! You already have one? Go get another one….add a new type of pet to your family. Have you ever considered something other than a dog or cat? Whenever I hear someone ask, “Should I get a pet?,” there is no hesitation in my answer. The benefits of having family pets are truly amazing!
Many of us already know some of the top benefits of growing up with pets. Seriously, look at this picture. PURE JOY AND HAPPINESS! Studies show that growing up with pets creates:
HIGHER SELF ESTEEM…
PATIENCE…
(for both the child and the pet 😉)
LEARNING TO SHARE…
EMPATHY & COMPASSION…
RESPONSIBILITY…
THE MANY BENEFITS OF PETS~
However, there are so many other benefits as well. I constantly am reading about “screen time” rules. There are many learning opportunities with technology today, but kids also need to get outside. Time spent playing outside increases exponentially when they have the opportunity to play with their furry friends.
Which then leads to very interesting, yet fun bath times….
ADDITIONAL BENEFITS OF HAVING A PET~
Owning a furry friend also provides many life lessons. Lessons of birth, sickness and unfortunately death. These are not subjects we choose to talk about, however, they are a fact of life, and we must all teach our children how to deal with each one. They watch and learn from us when dealing with each of these situations.
Along with these lessons are ones more in the way of biology. What is the purpose of whiskers? How does a snake digest it’s food? If my pet is very small, like a goldfish, does it still have a heart? Why doesn’t a dog have to blow it’s nose? Does a cat really have 9 lives? How do birds sleep? How do you know if your hamster is a boy or a girl? So many learning opportunities here!!!
I urge you to consider letting your child raise different types of pets. Many people do not think of any companions besides a dog or cat. This is a great read on the types and benefits of other options available to us: https://www.healthline.com/health/best-pets-for-kids#brine-shrimp . Of course, all pets have different types of care you need to consider. Not all of these animals/reptiles are cuddly yet they can still be good companions.
Have you considered any of these options? Fish, hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs, birds, turtles, lizards, frogs, geckos, rats…yes rats! Explore your options!
SO…SHOULD I GET A PET?
Once again, YES! More than anything, pets help teach a child about unconditional love. A love that every child should receive and give!
I am sharing with you our family recipe for Pineapple Upside Down Cake. It’s not much different than many recipes I have seen over the years. However, there are a couple of different ingredients that make this cake FANTASTIC! Seriously, loved by everyone who eats it! My own son always states, “How is it that I don’t really care for pineapple, yet I LOVE this cake?!”
Step by Step Instructions~With pictures:
The directions in recipe format are included below, but I wanted to share step by step pictures. I think making a pineapple upside down cake for the first time (or if you don’t make it very often) can be a very intimidating recipe. It actually is much easier than most people think!
Start out preheating your oven to 350 degrees. Put a stick of butter in your 9 X 13 pan. Put in oven (you can do this while preheating) to melt.
While the butter is melting, I open the can of pineapple slices and strain over a bowl to reserve the juice for later. Let that sit while you are completing the next steps so it has time to drain sufficiently.
When the butter is completely melted, remove it from the oven.
Next, pour the brown sugar evenly over the melted butter. The recipe calls for about 1 1/2 cups of brown sugar. I play with this a little. I tend to use a bit more to make a thicker topping.
Now you will add the pineapple slices on top of the brown sugar mixture. If you want the cake to look more uniform, I would suggest using six pineapple slices. When making it just for my family I go ahead and cut the other slices in half to add them to the cake as well (this just doesn’t look as pretty if you do this, but gives your more pineapple.)
After placing the pineapple rings on the mixture, open the can of crushed pineapples and strain them over the same bowl. Once again, you are reserving this juice for later in the recipe.
While the crushed pineapple is draining, you will want to place cherries in the middle of the rings. ***Remember to place the cherries upside down so that when you turn the cake over it will look prettier to see the tops of the cherries.
Now it is time to add the crushed pineapple in all of the areas that are still exposed with the brown sugar and butter mixture.
Next you will blend the cake mix. (you can start this step earlier if you wish to have it blending while you are working on the topping. This will just depend on what method you use for mixing.) When I first started making this recipe (which was handed down by mom–which was handed down by her mom….you get the picture), I did not have a mixer. Thus, when I first began I followed the recipe directions in this order.
I use a yellow cake mix. You can make it from scratch, but seriously, you do not need to. If you follow these next steps, you will have a very moist cake that tastes delicious!
Follow the instructions on the back of the cake box ***EXCEPT***, substitute the reserved pineapple juice in place of the water. I laugh at this point, because my first time making pineapple upside down cake was a disaster. My mother told me to substitute the pineapple juice … so I did. However, I substituted it for the oil….not a good turnout! You still need oil!!!
After blending according to the directions on the box, you will layer the cake mix over the topping mixture.
Once you have poured all of the cake batter over the topping, you will bake at 350 degrees for 35-50 minutes. I understand that this is a very large amount of a time gap for baking. I initially set the timer for 35 minutes. This cake always takes longer than a simple cake mix. I then check it at 35 minutes (with the toothpick test) and then reset the timer at 5 minute intervals. PLEASE DON’T FORGET TO SET YOUR TIME EACH TIME YOU RESET! You have put a lot of work into this cake, so be careful to continue setting the timer.
Once the cake is done baking, remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes. While it is cooling, you need to get a long cake plate, cookie sheet or large tray in which to invert the cake on. In my example today, I covered mine in foil, as I was traveling with it and wanted to be able to secure it well for travel. I prefer to not use a foil liner as it is not as pretty.
When you are ready to turn the cake over, place your large tray over the top of the cake.
Carefully turn the cake over, while holding on to the tray underneath to flip.
Next, you will carefully lift the cake dish from the top of the cake You may need to let it sit for a minute for all of the topping to drop from the cake pan to the serving dish. I then use a butter knife to place gently under one edge of the cake pan to help lift the cake pan up and away from the cake.
And there you have it!!! A wonderful cake that has been a family favorite for years. It even makes it onto the birthday list many times!
Once you have tried this recipe, let me know how yours turns out!
IMPORTANT GROUND RULES FOR GRANDPARENTS ~ MAKE SURE YOU READ TO THE END!!!
This says it all, right? When the grandchildren are at Grandma and Grandpa’s house, there are no rules for Grandparents. I believe in earlier decades this was the case. Maybe it’s because families tended to live closer to each other, and the generations were more inclined to raise the kids the way they themselves had been raised. I’m going to put it out there….I miss those days. They just seemed simple and there weren’t so many rules.
Brad and I are very lucky. Our daughter and son-in-law are raising their children much like we raised her. We had rules–but they weren’t stringent. We have always had the belief if you teach your kids to have respect, they will stay within the boundaries you set more often than if you try to raise them with an iron fist. RESPECT – for elders, for your parents, for siblings, for those less fortunate, for those more fortunate, for animals.
That being said, when Lauren does express an opinion on something she would like us to do while we have the kids, we try our hardest to follow those rules. I’m not even going to say we do a perfect job of it, but we respect her as a mother enough that we usually succeed. A prime example is when she asks us to serve them more water than juices. I do a fairly good job of it. But have you seen these faces?
They melt my heart every…single…time! I know every grandparent feels this way about their grandkids as well. So darnit, sometimes it’s just hard to not say yes to everything! So here are rules we certainly try to abide by.
RULES TO FOLLOW:
2. Have Essentials Stocked ~ Load that fridge up with all of their favorites!
3. Make Life Easier on Your Own Children When They Visit ~ Look for fun ways to help get the grandkids to eat their veggies or have the grandchildren help clean up. This will help ease stress on your children so they can relax and enjoy the visit too.
4. Have Lots of Books & Games ~ It doesn’t matter if they are old games you have saved or new ones you purchased…just have them handy. But don’t just HAVE them….play them!
5. Keep Toiletries and Personal Items Stocked ~ Keep a toothbrush for each child, baby soap and shampoo, fun bath towels, swimming suits if there is an opportunity for swimming, detangler spray (a must for my baby girl), vitamins, baby medicines like Tylenol or cough syrup, extra diapers and wipes and pajamas.
6. DVD’s & VHS Tapes ~ Yes, I actually said VHS. Did your kids have a lot of favorite movies on tape? You can be sure your grandchildren will LOVE watching what their parents used to enjoy!
7. Stock Up on Fun Kitchen Ware ~ They all love to eat and drink from a fun plate with their favorite characters. Not to mention, sippy cups that don’t leak which will save a lot of stress from spills. We also really love these fun drinks. I personally think they are a tad expensive to buy new ones all of the time so we get a few favorites and then wash them out and reuse them a while. (These make it more fun to drink that water mom demands 😉) :
Aren’t these so fun? And these are just a few examples of the options available. You can pretty much get whatever their favorite character is at the moment. Most stores carry them, but there are usually more options on Amazon. You can use the link below to have them shipped to you:
It’s the eve of July 4th. If you are a planner, then you have your menu and activities laid out for the family celebration. However, if you are more of an impromptu person like myself, you are frantically searching through Pinterest and other websites for new and exciting ideas. I always feel like I have to find the latest and greatest ideas that surface each year. It’s great to add new and exciting ideas to family events. But as I get older, I many times ask myself, “What is wrong with some of the simpler foods and activities that we have always had through the years?”
Don’t we all love a good barbecue with hamburgers, hot dogs, corn on the cob and watermelon? Does anyone ever play bocce ball and frisbee anymore? Remember when we ran through sprinklers after eating big slices of watermelon and having seed spitting contests? We giggled and laughed, and our parents loved it because because our sticky faces and bodies got cleaned up a bit during the process. Good memories indeed!
Then everyone puts on the bug spray, grabs their blankets and sits down for the fireworks show!
Unfortunately, many of the fireworks have been cancelled this year due to Coronavirus. However, this does not have to keep you from celebrating this very special day. Great memories are made with or without fireworks!
READ THE FOLLOWING AND REMEMBER ABOUT KEEPING IT SIMPLE~
This poem, which was written by Patrick Hall, went around the internet in a frenzy when the Coronavirus first entered our lives. Whether you have read it already or not, take a minute to read and absorb:
My wish for everyone is while we are all going about creating new 4th of July traditions, take some time to enjoy the simple fun of the old family fun. Take some frisbees to your family gathering. Teach the little ones to play jacks. Have a coloring contest. Throw up a net and play badminton. Have a water balloon fight! Play ring toss. Play Patriotic bingo~who doesn’t love a good game of Bingo?
FREE 4th of JULY COLORING PAGE LINK~
There are many wonderful links on Pinterest for free coloring pages. Here is an example from chrissiegrace.blogspot.com:
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I used to send a joke a day in my kid’s lunchboxes. I kept a joke book handy (but out of sight from the kids) in the kitchen. I would mark off jokes as I used them to ensure not sending the joke more than once. I did not include the answer on their lunch note. This made for fun discussion when they got home from school. The kids started discovering that their friends were waiting to hear the answer the next day at lunch.
(for both the child and the pet 😉)
