Toddler Tuesday: Easter Edition!

Easter is coming up! To be honest, I only celebrate because of the cuteness. We are not a religious family, so we won't be going to church.
**If you are religious, please message me if you have questions on why we are not. I don't want this post to be offense or looked down upon because of our personal beliefs.

So...what are we doing for Easter!? I have an Easter basket for Nate, did a couple crafts, and have snack ideas. My husband's work has an Easter Egg hunt the day before so we will go to that for Nate.

Here is Nate's Easter basket.

 What's inside?
*Annie's bunnies. White cheddar and snickerdoodle. They were 2/$4 at Target and bunnies.
*1 M&M egg.
*On the Farm book. It has little felt animals to put on the book. Dollar section at Target.
*Sesame Street bath coloring pieces. Dollar section at Target.
*The Goodnight Gecko book. This is sort of an inside joke. Nate had a gecko in his room one day and now he thinks he is living in there. This book was just so fitting and hilarious not to get. Plus, it will be a Hawaii keepsake. $13
*Bug catcher toy. Dollar section at Target.
*Basket was $3 at Target
Total spent: $23. More than I was going to spend, but I splurged on the gecko book.

Easter painting crafts/art: Easter Egg painting

What you need:

1. Easter egg printable. I printed out 4 so he could do a few of them.

2. Paint.. I gave him 6 colors, but you can choose how many you want or have on hand.

3. Clothes pins. I had 6 for the 6 colors.

4. Cotton balls or puffs. I did 3 cotton balls because they were bigger then the tiny puffs I had on hand. 3 puffs, just have a different size. 

5. Scissors to cut the egg out after.

6. Painters tape (see below for second painting idea)

7. Paint brushes (optional)

 The next one I used painters tape to make lines on the egg. I did one with straight lines and one with lines in different places, somewhat abstract looking. I let Nate choose if he wanted to use paint brushes or the cotton ball/puffs.

After he was done, I let them dry. The dotted ones, I cut the egg out. The painters tape ones I peeled the tape off then cut out the egg. 

Another craft I did but didn't take a picture of the process was footprint carrots. All you do is paint their foot orange, put the footprint on white paper. Let it dry then add a stem using a green pen, crayon, or marker. Super easy. 

Now what!? What do you do with all the art? You can make cards and send them to family. You can make magnets(laminate them if you have one), frame them, etc. I made an Easter banner using all 3 of the crafts. I punched a hole in them and used yarn to hold it up. 

Easter snack:

Bunnies eat carrots. Do kids? Most kids, my son included, don't eat as much veggies as they really need. We went to Costco to get little travel hummus packs for him to dip carrots in. I had some baby carrots I cut into thinner pieces for him and made some "ready-to-serve" carrot bowls. I only did 3 bowls because I ran out of carrots and I'm not even sure then hummus idea will work. 1 pack of hummus in his little toddler bowl and carrots. 

Phew. That was a long post. I hope you got a few ideas for Easter. Let me know what you have planned or anything other ideas! 

Happy Easter!

HAPPY FEBRUARY!

February 1st, Superbowl Sunday, and a gorgeous day!! It's only 2 weeks away until Valentine's Day, and I'm already planning what to do. I LOVE all the cutesy, hearts, pinks, blah blah, and I love sweets. I actually try not to put a lot of thought into this holiday because I don't like the way it is overrated and the high expectations it gives to everyone. Everyday should be a day to celebrate love!

I still put effort into it though, I just can't help it. I am a sucker for cute things, especially since becoming a mom. There are so many ways to show love to the people you care for. I can't spill the beans of what I have in store for the hubster because he reads my blog (trust me, it's nothing big). But I can share what I am doing with my toddler.

First, his gift. I struggled with this because there really is no point. He is so spoiled as it is and doesn't need anything else. I had decided I wasn't going to get him anything until I was browsing Wal-Mart and the sippy cup he uses was on sale and there was a tiny toddler baseball mitt! I couldn't resist. And it wasn't candy so I felt like that alone justified it more...? I spent a total of $5.

Second, his treat. Yes, he will get some sugar. Mom fail. Nate loves to watch me cook and do anything in the kitchen so we are going to make heart shaped cupcakes. We are just going to bake the cake in a 9X13, use a heart shaped cookie cutter, then frost. Easy peasy. He will be able to help me stir and frost the cupcakes then he will get ONE. My pregnant self will most likely eat the rest by myself. Don't judge me.

Third, his food throughout the day. I did a trial run for a lunch option and it turned out pretty cute! Grilled cheese, banana, plum, and craisens. I used the cookie cutter for the heart shaped sandwich and then just free-hand cut the fruit. It wasn't a ton of work, but I definitely could have used a mini cookie cutter to help speed up the process of cutting fruit hearts.

Some other toddler food options I was thinking about...
BREAKFAST: use a heart cookie cutter or cut by hand.
1. pancakes
2. french toast
3. sausage patties
4. fruit
5. baked oatmeal
5. muffins
LUNCH: heart shaped
1. pb&j
2. grilled cheese
3. cheese slices and deli meat
4. pizza hearts or pizza with heart pepperoni
5. pasta
TREATS/SNACKS:
1. jello
2. fruit
3. strawberry mini wheats
4. raisins or craisens
5. tomatoes

There are so many options! If you don't have a heart cookie cutter or think you can't hand cut, you can also get a muffin tin, put Valentine's day themed cupcake holders and fill up each one with a different food. It would be like a little Valentine's Day buffet!

Hope everyone has a wonderful first day of February and a great Superbowl Sunday!