LuCk Date {Earth Day}

Karen and I planned this fun recycled craft LuCk Date with the ladies of Fairfield County Moms Blog and The Best Time Ever to celebrate Earth Day!  Our Earth Day Playdate had all the makings of a great morning for moms and children -meaning the kids can keep themselves entertained so the moms could have a chance to make a new friend, or catch up with an old one.

In celebration of Earth Day, we decided to focus this LuCk Date on recyclables. Recycled crafts allow for endless exploration and experimentation.  We picked several projects we could make out of these commonly disposed of materials, spent a couple of weeks collecting recyclables (egg cartons, paper rolls, newspaper, corks, etc),and then got creative!

Recycled Stamp Market Tote
At the LuCk Date everyone got involved in stamping their market totes.  Each table had a sampling of recycled materials to paint their totes with.  It was so fun to watch what materials and colors each child chose to use.

Toilet Paper Roll Castle 
It was really fun building castes out of cardboard tubes!  We had all kinds of materials on hand to decorate these recycled kingdoms.

Since this was a mixed-age LuCk date with a variety of interests and attention spans, we had several sensory bins available for the kids to explore as they finished their projects.  One of the bins was filled with blue colored rice and a bunch of rocks and shells that we've collected during our walks on the beach.  We threw a couple of shovels in, and let the kids jump right in.

Because well-fed kids are happy kids, we made a butterfly snack pack for everyone to enjoy!  These were super easy to make, and a big hit.  One of our older participants even re-used the clothespin to make newspaper butterflies to take home!

After snack, we opened up another sensory bin filled with birdseed and plastic bugs.  The great thing about sensory bins is that they naturally lend themselves to independent play. The kids started using the cardboard tubes and other materials to explore the sensory bins. Watching the moms take a moment to chat with a friend or watch their child explore is what this LuCk Date was all about!

Project Guides 

When we first started thinking about LuCk, we knew we wanted to "bring moms together, one playdate at a time"(it's our tagline for a reason!)  One of the most unexpected  things I have discovered about motherhood,is how isolating it can be.  True story: when I was pregnant, I used to watch Karen walk by my house pushing a very tiny Lucas in his stroller.  I remember thinking "oh, there's a mom in my neighborhood!"  By the time Chuck was 9 weeks old, I was so desperate for human interaction that I basically shoved my daughter into her stroller and walked around the neighborhood looking for Karen. When I finally found her, I was 99% sure that I came on a little too strong and was 100% sure I was never going to hear from her again.  One day, she left a note in my mailbox with her number on it "We keep seeming to miss each other.  Give me a call!"  Most of our conversations would revolve around mommy-hood and what things we were doing with our kids.

A year later, we decided to start documenting and blogging about our adventures with Lucas & Chuck. Sure, it gives us a reason to take way too many pictures of our kids, and a great way to show friends and family what we're up to.  But,  it was always our hope to create a real-life mommy-hive to share ideas with.  At one point during our LuCk Date, I looked around and saw a sea of mommies bent over their kids, helping them assemble cardboard tube castles.  They were laughing, chatting, playing, and smiling.  I looked at Karen and thought, "we did it!" Thank you The Best Time Ever for letting us take over your awesome space!  And, thank you Fairfield County Moms for helping us "bring moms together, one playdate at a time!"

{Two Sweet}

As if we didn't have enough to celebrate this past month, last weekend we celebrated Chuck's 2nd birthday at my house with four close friends, pizza, and a lot of cupcakes!

Last year, I invited the world to celebrate Chuck's Winter Wonderland birthday celebration. This year, I decided to keep it a bit more simple and do something that I knew the kids would enjoy- decorate cupcakes!  Chuck loves cupcakes!  We don't eat them all that often, but when we do it is absolutely adorable!  

I found this cupcake garland online, and I was completely inspired!  Visions of pom pom cupcake garlands, polkadots, tiny bakers, candy, and tea trays stacked with copious amounts of cupcakes, filled my imagination.  Chuck is way too bright of a personality for soft pastels, so I knew I needed I bright color palette for this party.  The pom pom cupcakes were so easy to make, I may have gone a bit overboard.  

I had some play dough cupcakes and coloring  set up for our mini guests when they arrived, since I knew once they saw the real thing they would dig right in. This short-lived distraction was the perfect thing to keep little hands (and the occasional mouth) entertained while waiting for their cupcakes.

As soon as our guests were seated, the decorating began! Everyone was handed the blank canvas of a vanilla cupcake to work with.  Each child had their own palette of candy cups filled with cupcake decorating materials: sprinkles, sugar stars and eyeballs, and an assortment of small candies.   We don't indulge in candy often in my house (mainly because Chuck's mama can't be trusted with bags of sweets in the house), so watching each kid dig into their own candy buffet was absolute magic.

It was a sweet way to end a season filled with celebrations and start a new year! 

Cupcakes: Delicate Designs 
Decor: Candy Cups, Table Cloth, Cupcake Liners, Cake Stand Shop Sweet Lulu
Chuck's Dress: Winter Water Factory

{Happy Noon Years!}

As a mom of a toddler that doesn’t sleep, the thought of staying up until midnight to ring in the new year sounds like torture. Yet, for fear of being lame I had to do something, thus Noon Years Eve was born.

Now that Lucas and Chuck are old enough to enjoy their mom’s crazy ideas, we decided to put together a little party for them. It ended up being a really small party (thank you flu season!) but it ended up being the perfect size for them. The kids all had a great time, and that’s really all that matters.

The anatomy of a Noon Years Eve party doesn’t really take much. There were a few simple activities planned, a few decorations, some simple yet amazing food and we partied on!

The Decor

I bought a $3.99 roll of black glittery wrapping paper from the craft store, cut out a “Happy Noon Year” sign and used the excess as the backdrop to a big “2014” cut out of kraft paper. Note to moms: Extra Strength glue sticks do not stick to glitter wrapping paper so make sure you use wet glue or a glue gun before you tape the wrapping paper to the wall. Lesson learned.

Luckily, Ally has an unending supply of Kraft paper which I papered a section of the wall and floor for the kids to decorate with dot art, chalk and stickers. It wasn’t a big hit, it provided about 10 minutes of fun but made for a cute backdrop.

The NYE Bling

Thank you Walmart for selling cheesy paper 2014 glasses, 3 for $2.44. How could I resist?

We also have an unending supply of mardi gras beads that they loved putting on! At one point I think Chuck was wearing them all, she even managed to get them around her waist and legs-it was adorable!

The Crafts

What would NYE be without party hats and noisemakers? The kids werent interested in decorating the paper crowns I had cut out, but they loved the noisemakers and they were so simple to make! I cut up some mardi gras beads into short strands and Lucas and Chuck had a great time putting them into tennis ball tubes. The wide mouths of the tubes were the perfect size for little hands to put in (and take out) the colorful beads. I had also bought some sparkle star stickers to decorate the outside, but you really didn’t need them, the beads were so pretty by themselves. Some stars ended up inside the tubes as well and it made for a great effect!

Tasty Treats

Delicious food is a must for any NYE party and just because we were partying at noon didn’t hold us back! I wanted to do something simple, yet amazingly delicious so we had a mac and cheese bar! It was perfect for the kids and adults and as the hostess I loved it because it didn’t take me away from the party. Before the party I put together mac and cheese in the crock pot and prepped all the toppings. Since it was a small party, we only had 4 toppings but the possibilities are endless! Our choices were: chicken, bacon, peas and gouda (for those sophisticated palates). To make it fun, and easy to identify the toppings, I borrowed the chalkboard from Lucas’s room to use as a serving board to easily label each bowl. Unfortunately I did not get a pic of everything all set up- we were all very hungry! For desert, everyone got a midnight kiss!

The Big Countdown!

Supplies needed: plastic drop cloth, painters tape, balloons, balloons, balloons!

For the countdown to noon, I wanted to make it big and exciting with minimal mess. A balloon drop was perfect! For the countdown I made a quick slideshow on iPhoto. Luckily iPhoto makes everything simple, even computer challenged people like myself can figure it out (for clarification, I am Karen. Ally rocks at computers). 

After the countdown we pulled the painters tape off the ceiling and the kids ran around with the balloons for at least 20 minutes. They had the best time! Of course, after his friends left Lucas asked to “put them back up there?” It didn't happen, but the balloons kept him occupied for that evening and part of New years day!

We all had a great time and I am hoping to make this part of our New Years Eve tradition for years to come!