McMomald's- Healthy Fast Food

Do your kids LOVE to eat out?  Do you love the quickness and ease of fast food, but don't go very often because of how unhealthy it is?  Do you skip the drive-thru because you and your family are vegetarians?
My answers are YES, YES, and YES!

I used to LOVE hearing my boys get so excited after telling them we were going out to eat. They would all load up in the car with their smiling faces and then fill their little bellies with greasy, delicious, processed, who-knows-what-is-in-there kind of food.  Then to top off the wonderful, "Let's not worry about our health night," they would all bring home every germ from the play area that you could think of.  Not only did we get to buy over-priced junk food with very little nutritional value, but we also got a trip to the doctor's office!  YAY!

Now that we are much more conscious of what we are eating, those days don't happen very often.  After hearing many "Can we please go out to eat mom?" from three boys (whom I have a hard time saying no to), I came up with a new idea......

How awesome is McMOMALD'S?!?!?

My boys asked, "What's for dinner?"  I replied, "McMomald's!"  They all looked at me like I was the weirdest mom in the world.  I just smiled because I knew they were going to LOVE my new fast food restaurant.

To make it fun, I took their dinner order ahead of time.

Do you want a 4 or 6 piece nugget meal?
I used meatless and soy- free Quorn nuggets.  They are made from fungi and oh so delicious!  Definitely the BEST vegetarian nuggets we have had.

What sauce would you like? 
I went to McDonald's and bought dipping sauce for the nuggets for $.25 each.  The first ingredient in the sweet and sour sauce is HFCS, so you might want to make your own.  If you have time, you could try making this recipe: topsecretrecipes.com

Do you want fries with that?
Organic, oven cooked, no salt, GMO free, yummy fries.

You don't have to choose between fries and apples at McMomald's! Organic, fresh, bag-free apples are mandatory with every meal.

Would you like milk, water, juice, or ginger ale? 
I found the cutest mini Hansen's Ginger Ale cans at Whole Foods!  I think the boys' favorite part of going out to eat is always the drinks!  These were very fun and the boys LOVED them. You can buy them online HERE for less than $.50 each! 

For here or to go? 
You could pack it in a bag with the McMomald's logo on the front, or serve it on a tray.  I don't remember where we got our trays, but I found some great ones on Amazon: Silver Tray, Green Tray, 6 Pack, 6 Compartment Tray

There are no cheap plastic toys at McMomald's, but every meal comes with a pack of Glee Gum!  My boys can NEVER get enough gum! Glee Gum has no artificial colors, flavors, preservatives, or sweeteners.  You can find it here online. 

They loved putting in their order and I LOVED how fun and easy dinner was!

When I was all done filling up the trays (no one wanted their meal "to go"), my middle son yelled out, "Can we have McMomald's EVERY night?"  We wont be having fast food every night, but I think this will be a fun weekly tradition for our family!

We also had a showing of Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs at McMomald's tonight!
These are the little things the kids will remember forever. :)
xoxoxoxoxoxxoox
-Polliwog

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Christmas Tree Picture Ornaments

Christmas 2011
 

Are you tired of packing and storing all your Christmas ornaments?

Christmas 2012

When I was younger we had a fire at our house and ALL our ornaments were burned.  In a matter of seconds the Christmas tree we once knew would never be the same.  Did it change our Christmas the next year? NO.  It was a little sad when it was time to decorate, but we still had all the memories and best of all we still had each other.  

I don't know if it was the fire or just the fact that I have never been a fan of having "extra" stuff, but a few years ago I was in need of ANOTHER plastic tub to hold all of our ornaments and I decided the madness had to stop.

I always felt weird buying big plastic tubs to store all our ornaments in for 11 months of the year, but that didn't stop me from buying all the "cute" ornaments I saw. 

If we didn't buy ornaments then what would we use to decorate our tree?

How about................PICTURES!!!!

We filled our tree up with special pictures from throughout the year!  

My husband put a title on each picture before we printed them out.

6 Sparkly Polliwog Kids

  

(You could also use white address labels and write a title on each one before sticking it to the picture) 

The kids LOVED looking at all the fun things we did that year and I loved not having to buy another plastic tub.

On New Years Day I took down all the pictures and put them in a photo book.  I also included all the Christmas cards with pictures that were sent to us and any important papers from the year.  

It's fun, cheap, and a great way to celebrate all the special days throughout the year.  It's also a great way to keep pictures and papers organized.  If the kids really like a picture they bring home from school I just have them hold it up and I take a picture of them holding it. 

No more plastic tubs for me!!! 

**We back up all our pictures on an external hard drive, just in case something happens to the photo album.

Here is how I did it:

1. Pick out all the pictures you would like to have on your tree.  This year we did about 75.  

2.  Put a title on each picture using Photoshop.......or fill out the white address labels and print pictures.

3.  Start making bows.  I used red ribbon this year, but last year I just used paper clips.

I used a water bottle to tie my bow.  After you make one use that as a guide and cut all your ribbon the same size....... then start tying! 

Make enough for each picture you want to put up

4.  Punch holes in each picture.

5.  Put ribbon thru the hole with the bow in the front.

6.  Put bow thru the back of the ribbon.

7.  Pull tight and now your picture ornament is ready!!!

My kids wanted to put a few of our old ornaments on the tree this year with the pictures

 Can you see our elf "Bongos" hiding in the tree? 

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A Stress-Free Christmas

video by Heather

Christmas

I have always enjoyed the rush of black Friday and getting as many gifts as possible for a bargain. Waiting for the ads to come out and circling all the things that I wanted to buy and wrap for my family. Waking up at 5am and racing to get that “perfect gift”.

I think it might have stemmed from not having much as a kid. I remember calling my friends to see what Santa brought them, only to find that there list was way longer then mine. Did that mean I was bad that year???

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The Thankful Tree

 -Our Thankful Tree 2012-

video by Heather

Thankful for You

Heather has created a way for her family to express what they are thankful for leading up to Thanksgiving.  Its a great way to come together as a family and share insight at the dinner table on a nightly basis.

Supplies for Thankful Tree

(use recycled materials)

        -large brown paper grocery bags

        -fall colored paper for leaves

        -sissors

        -tape

        -bowl or basket to hold leaves

        -pen

A common dinner onThanksgiving consists of a turkey, cranberry sauce, family and football. Everyone gathers around the big bird and shares what they are thankful for may it be for new births or health throughout the family.  Last year my family started a new tradition.

Why not tell each person why you are thankful for them?!

My sister in law and I create a paper for each family member that we passed around and everyone wrote on it what they are thankful for that person. At dinner we sat and we read them outloud to one another. Its a way of expressing why we are thankful for each person and make each person feel special. The kids really enjoy hearing the nice things that the family has said about them , there were lots of laughs, smiles :) , and a few members had even got tiery eyed.

Some were funny, some were heart felt, and those that couldn't write, drew a picture. Here are some that were written by my turkey eating ,silly and loving family:

"you are the cutest little sister to have around and your so wild"

                                                                                          "he is a great cousin"

      "he is a great an example to his brothers"

                                                                     "a great father, husband and friend"

                  "he invited me here"

                                                                                     "makes a mean bird"

"she is a good wrestler"

Its a fun way to come together as a family and to let eachother know that we appreciate one another .

Supplies for Thankful For You Papers:

        -a piece of cardstock or sturdy piece of paper

        -printed on top: I am thankful for Insert name because.......

        -pens

*Now just pass out papers as guest arrive and everyone writes something on each persons paper. Dont be shy and express to your family why you are thankful for each other.

You could even laminate them as a nice keepsake or put in a book and have a nice collecion of the families thankfulness over the years or perhaps a placemat for the following year?! Be fun to see how the kids change and express themselves as they get older.

Trust me, your family members will really enjoy hearing what everyone wrote about them! Happy Thanksgiving!

Brandi

**Update**

**Heres tree at the end of the month**

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