Pumpkin's Donut Birthday Party

By Tammy of Musing of a Working Mom

Pumpkin, my oldest, turned 5 this summer and the kid is obsessed with birthday parties. She comes up with so many party themes that she’s got her birthday celebrations planned out for at least the next five years. (If you’re curious, future events may involve Star Wars or roller skating.)

This year, we decided to have her party at the i.d.e.a. Museum, a local children’s museum where we are members. The party includes the room, some decorations and an art project for the kids,  plus admission to the museum all day. It’s pretty low maintenance, but we wanted to put our own spin on it nonetheless, so Pumpkin and I settled on a donut theme. She loves donuts! (But who doesn’t?)

She helped me pick out the plates, napkins, straws and candle from our favorite local party store, Petite Party Studio, and the canisters for the donut holes from Michael’s.  We ordered invitations and a banner from Etsy.

I wanted to include her in the planning because she definitely has her own ideas about how things should be, but I wanted to have a few surprises, too.

Donut Shirt

Pumpkin didn’t know until the day before the party (her actual birthday when she opened gifts at home) that I ordered her a special shirt to wear. Funny story – remember earlier when I told you she loves birthdays? Well, on her birthday, she woke up at 1:30 in the morning ready to start the day. Luckily, my husband was able to get her back to sleep. Then on the day of the party she woke up and got dressed in her new shirt before ever coming out of her room. She still needed a shower before the party so I had her change pack into pajamas, but we were cracking up because this is something we ask her to do every day before school but she has only ever done it once or twice before – she was just so excited for her party!  

Cake
She knew I would be picking up donuts and donut holes for the party, and serving flavored milks for the kids and cold brew for the grown-ups. She didn’t know that I also ordered chocolate cake (her favorite!) shaped like a donut. It was a hit!

Donut Seed Favor Bags
I will confess that I’m not a huge fan of party favors because our kids have so much stuff already. (In fact, we usually ask our guests not to bring gifts, although this year Pumpkin requested donations instead.) When we’ve done parties before, the gifts have been edible, and they were this year as well! She picked her favorite patterns of Bumkins’ small snack bags as favors (which I love because they are reusable and machine washable, and she loves because they have her favorite characters). The surprise for Pumpkin was what I put inside – donut seeds! These were simply strawberry and chocolate Cheerios mixed together. We rarely get chocolate cereal (this was actually probably a first in our house since we’ve had kids) so the girls were pretty excited.

Pumpkin had a great time at the party painting and playing with her sister and their friends at the museum – and of course, all the sugar involved! If you can’t splurge a little on your birthday, when can you?

Painting Fireworks for the 4th!

By Carly of Carly G. Media

With everyone in the patriotic spirit, Independence Day is a perfect time to craft with kids. Save your empty toilet paper rolls and grab some red, white, and blue paints to make fireworks the whole family can enjoy.

What you will need:

• Red, white, and blue paints 
• 3 toilet paper rolls
• 3 paper bowls
• Scissors 
• Tape 
• Paper

Direction: 

• Start by cutting strips into one end of the toilet paper rolls. The deeper the cuts, the bigger the firework blast.
• Pour red, white, and blue paint into separate paper bowls.
• Have kids dip the fanned out end of the toilet paper roll into the paint.
• Stamp the toilet paper roll onto a piece of paper.
• Repeat with each color.
• Tada! Fun and easy firework art for the holiday.

Breakfast: An Edible Ode to Dad on Father's Day

By Jessica a Registered Dietitian-Nutritionist

Everyone told us when our first child was born that the time would fly by. They were right. Our three sons are now in fifth grade, first grade, and preschool. The last decade has brought my husband and me more mess, more noise, more laughter, more driving, more potty jokes, more sweetness, more struggle, more laundry, and more love than we ever imagined possible.

We’re finally down to one five-point harness car-seat and one booster. No more cribs, diapers, highchairs, or strollers. Kid-induced sleep deprivation is no longer an issue. We used to spend many hours arguing over how to sleep-train: Ferber vs. Sears vs. Happiest Baby on the Block vs. Babywise…thankfully, we survived that stage (twice, with our first two kids…the third one loved to sleep, thankfully). My babydaddy and I still wake up too early and stay up too late, but now we can blame Netflix, HBO, and work.

Every day I am grateful that I picked a great dad for my kids. On our first date, sixteen years ago, he charmed me with stories about his siblings and grandparents. So I knew right from the beginning that he was a family-oriented person.

Since then, his actions have demonstrated his values. He prioritizes our family’s needs. He’s loving, honest, responsible, kind, a good sport, and very well-organized. He dresses better than me, and almost always knows pop culture references before I do. He’s super goofy, which people don’t really expect at first because he has very good manners. He’s good at explaining things, and making small talk. He’s good at being a friend and teaching our kids how to be a good friend to others. Our kids know that their dad is the expert on camping and hiking. He shows them how to fix things around the house. They know he’s the one to ask about art, architecture, how to organize their desk and what’s going on with just about every sport and playoff situation going on. He explains personal finance concepts, how to run a business, and stuff that’s related to our iPhones and computers. And “he doesn’t make us eat too many vegetables, like you,” said our six-year-old when I asked him to tell me his favorite thing about his dad.

So this Father’s Day, the kids and I will be showing this very special guy how much we appreciate him with our usual festive traditions. We’ll make breakfast at home, which is very likely to include pancakes with berries and chocolate chips - a recent family favorite. There will definitely be bacon, since my husband loves bacon. Coffee and a green smoothie will also be on the menu (for us, not the kids). There will also be goofy cards and crafty homemade gifts. We always plan the day around doing a family activity, like a hike or a swim. For rainy or too-hot days, we’ve been known to visit to an art museum or an indoor rock climbing gym. Then we always head back home for some down time to relax.

Here are some Father’s Day breakfasting tips to make the morning fun and energize everyone for a fun day of celebrating Dad: 

1. Choose one of dad’s favorite recipes; keep it simple to assemble or prepare.

2. Shop for ingredients the day before to make the morning go smoothly.

3. Kids can help out too, by arranging fruit on a plate, pressing buttons on the blender for a smoothie, or setting the table. Playing “restaurant” and drawing a menu is fun for preschoolers.

Recipe ideas: -

Avocado toast: Toast whole grain bread and spread sliced ripe avocado on it. You can also mix mashed avocado with a squirt of lemon juice and spread it. Add a sprinkle of salt and a dash of pepper. Top with a scrambled, soft-boiled, or fried egg.

Eggs, hash browns & fruit: My kids love the task of cracking eggs into a bowl and beat them. Use frozen hash browns, or grate your own potatoes. Rinsing fruit is a fun task for toddlers.

Crepes with Nutella and sliced bananas – Mix up the crepe batter and let it rest in the refrigerator overnight. Or buy crepes, ready-made, at the grocery store.

Veggie and cheese omelette: Chop veggies the night before and let everyone pick which ones they want to include. Bagel with lox and cream cheese: Shop for these ingredients in advance. Add sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and capers. Arrange on a plate – voila!

Breakfast sandwich – a scrambled egg and a slice of melted cheese on an English muffin is always a home run.

Celebrating Nova's 6 Month Half Birthday

By Alicia of Lollygag Learning

Reaching Nova's 6 month "birthday" felt like a big milestone in our family. She has learned so much in the past few weeks- sitting unsupported, pulling herself to stand in her crib, first words and signs, and she is working really hard on crawling. As parents we have survived half a year of parenting two little ones. We decided to celebrate Nova's half birthday and the start of a new phase of her life. I made a cupcake out of pure avocado by filling a silicone cupcake liner with sliced and mashed avocado.

Avocado Cupcake

Ingredients:

1 ripe avocado

1 silicone cupcake liner

1 candle

1 Bumkins Superbib

Paper towels

Directions:

1. Cut avocado in half. Slice one half and cut a couple slices into small segments to fit in the silicone cupcake liner. These slices will hold the candle in place. Reserve the other slices for your baby to explore.
2. Scoop the flesh of the other half of avocado into a bowl and mash as desired. You can add a bit of water, breastmilk, or formula if you want to make it more creamy.
3. Fill a Ziploc bag with the mashed avocado and snip the bottom corner off with scissors. Pipe the mashed avocado into the cupcake liner to create a frosted look.
4. Serve immediately to enjoy the pretty, fresh color! This recipe will work with a variety of first foods such as banana, sweet potato, or butternut squash.

Be ready for a huge mess! We took the celebration out to our back porch and used our Bumbo Seat with the tray that way it could all be washed down after her meal. Our Bumkins Superbib saved a lot of cleaning and stains. The thing I love about Superbibs is they can be washed a few different ways. If it’s not a major mess I wipe it down with a damp cloth. I also toss them in a sink of warm soapy water, rinse, and hang to dry. A few times per week I toss the Superbibs in the laundry with my kitchen towels and washcloths then hang to dry.

Big sister Josie was very excited to be a part of the celebration and eagerly ran to Nova with a spoonful of avocado before we were ready! It was a lot of fun to watch Nova taste her cupcake and explore the texture. I did offer her a few bites of mashed avocado on a spoon but she was most interested in feeding herself the large slices I had set aside.

Keep in mind that your baby’s first meal will probably only be a few bites. The prep for our celebration lasted longer than the time she spent eating but it was a lot of fun to share the experience as a family. I am glad we have memories and photos to show the girls from Nova’s half birthday! Once Nova started showing she was done we hosed everything down... baby included!

Disclosure: I received Bumkins product in exchange for this post. All opinions are mine.

Egg Dyeing Using Natural Ingredients

By Carly of Carly G. Media

With Easter just a hop, skip and a jump away, we wanted to bring you a green option for enjoying the fun of coloring eggs!  Our contributor, Carly, offered up the following recipes for primary color dyes made with natural ingredients that you can find in your own kitchen.

For red dye: Take 2 beets and roughly chop. Combine with 1 quart water, 1 tablespoon vinegar, and 1 tablespoon salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain, reserving the liquid for dyeing.

For yellow dye: Heat 1 quart water, 1 tablespoon vinegar, and 1 tablespoon salt in a saucepan. Add 6 tablespoons ground turmeric and stir well. Simmer for a few minutes until the turmeric dissolves.

For blue dye: Take 1 large red cabbage and shred it. Combine in a saucepan with 1 quart water, 1 tablespoon vinegar, and 1 tablespoon salt. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer 30 minutes. Strain, reserving the liquid for dyeing.

Get Ready to Celebrate Dr. Seuss!

By Tammy of Musings of a Working Mom

As one of our longest standing partnerships, Dr. Seuss is near and dear to us here at Bumkins. So, of course, we are all about celebrating the good doctor’s birthday on March 2!

Tammy at Musings of a Working Mom shares in our admiration for all things Seuss and put together an amazing post showcasing the “Seuss-a-bration” she threw for her adorable little Thing 1 and Thing 2 and their friends

We absolutely loved all of her ideas and were so happy to have helped contribute to the festivities with products from our Dr. Seuss by Bumkins collection.

Boogie Down with NCPG!

We are so happy to have been a sponsor of the North Central Parenting Group’s 31st Anniversary Fundraising Gala! The theme was Boogie Nights and, by the looks of these photos, the attendees had a great time partying the night away! We hope all of the attendees had a fun night without the kiddos and that the lucky winner enjoys all of her prizes!

Since 1985, North Central Parenting Group has been educating Phoenix and Scottsdale area parents of infant to kindergarten age children with the aid of qualified teachers who explore effective parenting skills through bi-weekly classes. As a non-profit, non-denominational organization, our goal is to offer quality parenting classes while providing a forum for parents to share ideas, building stronger families and thus a stronger community for our children.