ACTIVITY: Valentine´s Cat Mailbox

You will need:

Red posterboard

Scissors

Black Marker

Shoe Box

Pink or white wrapping paper

Glue or scotch tape

Wrap shoe box in wrapping paper. Cut, from the red posterboard, two large hearts, six medium hearts and six tiny hearts. Arrange to form a cat as shown in the image: the large hearts are head and body; the medium hearts form the ears, hands and feet; the tiny hearts are all lined up to form the tail. Use the black marker to add eyes and nose in the shape of a heart too. With the scissors or with a paper cutter, cut a rectangular slit for the mouth making sure you go all the way through the shoe box. This is the opening for the valentines to go in. When ready, open the shoe box and hand out the valentines!

DAILY RECIPE: Salmon Pasta

1 small pkg smoked salmon, cut into bite size pieces
1 500 gr pkg of pasta
1/2 stick butter
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp finely chopped onion
2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
2 cups heavy cream
garlic salt

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large pot, melt butter over low heat. Add olive oil, onion and parsley and cook well. Season with garlic salt. Add smoked salmon and cook 5 minutes more. Add heavy cream and check for seasoning. Add cooked pasta and toss well.

TIP OF THE DAY

Place a metal spoon in the fridge. Quickly tap under your eyes to get rid of those "I was up all night with the baby" eyes.

ARTICLE: Super Bowl Party with Kids!

The Super Bowl is this next Sunday and probably, your husband, family, friends, children or even you : are super excited about the upcoming party! However, have you planned on what to do with you younger children when they figure out that, no, they can´t stay sitting down for a full quarter? Here are some ideas and tips:

• Plan on snacks that children can also enjoy, set a plate aside for them, so they don´t re-dip their Tostitos in the dip bowl!
• Stock up on coloring books, crayons, and recycled paper. Ask them to draw a football, or their team´s mascot or symbol, the stadium, the players or even the weather. This way they feel they are still part of the Super Bowl Party!
• If you have a yard where you can keep an eye on them from the tv, and the weather allows it, set a few outdoor balls, hula hoops, or toys that they can play with before dark.
• Keep a few books on hand, they can quietly sit to read or look at pictures at least until the next first down!
• Have them release their energy with a good scream after a good play. Tell them that when everyone jumps up, shouts or says "All right!" they too can join in the fun!

DAILY RECIPE: Super Bowl Ultimate Chicken Wings

2 lb chicken wings

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup honey

3 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp white vinegar

2 tbsp teriyaki sauce

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

salt, black pepper, cayenne peppper

Pre-heat oven to 325°F. Place chicken wings in a pot with boiling water and cook for 15 minutes. Heat olive oil in an oven proof pan. Mix honey, soy sauce, white vinegar, teriyaki sauce and garlic. Place chicken wings in hot oil and cover with mixture. Season with salt and peppers. Place in oven for 20 minutes, turn over, and cook 20 minutes more or until done. Enjoy with the first touchdown!

TIP OF THE DAY

Bad diaper rash? Coat inside of diaper with the same rash cream you use on your baby. The cream will stay on your baby´s skin longer.

ACTIVITY: Valentine Relay Race

Play this fun game at your child´s Valentine´s Day celebration at school or simply with friends or neighbors!

You will need:

Black marker

Scissors

Red posterboard

Cut out hearts from the red posterboard (12 hearts). Divide into two piles. Write different actions on each heart, for example: run, skip, hop, walk, walk backwards, crawl. Set each pile, facedown, at the end of a room, clear of large objects, or out in the yard. Make two teams, or two children, and have each stand about 12 feet from each pile of hearts. At your command, each child or team member will race to his pile of hearts, pick one up, and return to his place doing what the heart is commanding. For example, if they pick up the heart that says "skip", they should return to their place skipping. The team or child who finishes first, wins! If your children are too young to read, change words for stick figures performing the action, just make sure to explain beforehand what each of them mean.

DAILY RECIPE: Spinach Ham Soufflé

1 pkg prepared pastry dough
2 tbsp butter
1/2 stick butter
1 bag frozen spinach, thawed
1 cup heavy cream
garlic salt, pepper
1 cup ham, thinly sliced, in strips

Divide dough in two. Spread glass pan with butter. Place rolled dough covering bottom of pan. In a saucepan, over low heat, melt 1/2 stick butter, add spinach, cream, ham and season with garlic salt and pepper. Spread over dough. Roll remaining dough and cover, pressing firmly on sides. Make slanted cuts on top of soufflé to let heat out while cooking. Dot with butter. Bake in 350°F oven until dough is cooked and golden. Serve warm.

TIP OF THE DAY

When cleaning kitchen countertops, spray your favorite degreaser and let stand for 5 minutes. It´s much easier to clean afterwards!

ARTICLE: Learning to Wait - Mom can help!

It´s hard to make children wait these days. Thanks to modern day technology and the fast paced life we live everything has become "instant". From food to information everything is just a few seconds away. Remember when you used to want popcorn as a child. Your mother had to heat the oil, add the corn kernels and stir and stir, and wait and wait until they popped. Then you had to add salt and butter, and then you could enjoy them. Today: 3 minutes in the microwave and you´re done! Remember having a school assignment that you had to research. You had to visit the library, find the volume of the encyclopedia you needed, look up your topic, copy your notes to your notebook and then do your assignment. Today: google it and you´re basically done! Think of simpler things like thirst. If you, as a child, were thirsty in the car you had to wait until you got home for a glass of water. Today: just stop at a mini mart at ANY corner and buy a small bottle of water! The thing is, although all these things make our life much easier, children still need to be patient. What happens when the doctor is not ready to see you and you have to wait for an hour, or more? What happens when they have to wait until they´re old enough to attend a sleepover, or go to the movies alone or drive? How can we help? With the little things. One great idea: reading chapter books. You read one chapter every night and they have to wait until tomorrow to see what happens to Harry Potter or where the wardrobe took Lucy, Susan, Edmund and Peter to. Another great idea: baking. They can help you mix the dough but they will have to wait for the cookies to come out of the oven and then a little bit more until they´re cool enough to eat. I´m sure you´ll find other great opportunities to help your children be patient. Just keep this in mind: Good things come to those who wait.