LEGO Minifigures Scavenger Hunt download

Caroline wanted a lego party for her 6 year old party so I decided to make this LEGO Minifigure Scavenger Hunt. She sat with me and chose all of the figured she wanted on the board.

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page 2 of the download is shown below along with the directions.

MINIFIGURES*Download this LEGO Minifigures cavenger hunt here*

Hope your kids enjoy this game!

*Check out the Bad Guys scavenger hunt here

*Check out the Sesame Street scavenger hunt here*

And remember you can always print out 2 copies of the board and use them as cards for a memory game.

2015 Free Dowloadable Calendar

Well, it’s been awhile.

Between the kids activities, working, and my vow to get off the electronics to spend time with my husband at night, it doesn’t leave a lot of time for this space.

But I am going to try to post more often.

Over the holidays I searched for a 2015 calendar but couldn’t find anything I liked – simple, but with color – so I made my own.

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I think it’s kind of fun.

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I’ve hung ours on a clip board in the kitchen and have already started filling it up.

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In the bottom section (the part that says 2015) we are going to write down something special that someone in the family wants to do. For example, my 9 year old wanted everyone to participate in a darts tournament (at our house) so that will be our special event for the month. Next month, someone else gets to choose something fun. Now I need to go write that on the calendar so I don’t forget.

You can click here to download the calendar for your personal use.

I’ll be back soon to share with you our family words for 2015.

Hopefully it will be before 2016.

42 Pains in the Arse

I’ve mentioned a few times about a project my husband and I were working on, one that nearly drove us over the edge.

This was the sneak peak.

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Now here’s the story.

My daughter’s preschool had a school auction to raise money for an outdoor cover on the playground so I decided to donate a gift certificate to my etsy shop.

I tried to think of a way to make an eye catching display and settled on a picture frame with chicken wire.

I found a large detailed frame, spray painted it black, and had my  husband add chicken wire to the back. I then spray painted some clothespins and hung up information about my  shop.

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It looked something like this (I, of course, forgot to take pictures of the actual frame):

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I also had a book of products with the frame:

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After dropping off my donation, which I valued at just under $7,000 (or slightly less), I received an email from the school director asking if I could make 40 of the chicken wire frames for her staff for their end of the year gift.

“Jackpot!”

“Yippe!”

“Who needs Powerball?!”

We do, that’s who.

My husband and I jumped at the opportunity to make a little cash. Boy were we fools.

After saying “yes,” to the job, I scowered area Goodwill, thrift store, resale shop, and garage sale for about 3 weeks. I’m fairly sure there are no more 8 x 10 inch frames left in the DFW area.

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After sanding down and spray painting about 9 of the frames, we decided to add the chicken wire. That’s where we ran into TROUBLE.

Out of the 9 frames, only 2 didn’t break.

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At this point, we were a week out from the delivery date and freaking out a bit.

We were using a hand stapler and it just was not working.

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Thankfully, it worked (most of the time) and we were back on track.

Each frame also had glued on ribbon on the back so that the chicken wire scratch anyone.

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Texas received quite a bit of rain during this time which under different circumstances would have been wonderful, though when you are trying to spray paint 40 frames, it really is awful.

Mix that with room mom meetings, field days at two schools, and a soccer tournament weekend and we were sprinting to get the frames completed.

A lot of the spray painting occurred in our garage (with the door up) but we are fairly sure we were high for two thirds of this project. Complex math was not our friend at this time.

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In the end we finished on time (even providing an extra 2 frames, hence the 42 pains in the arse title), although I was drying clothespins with a hair dryer 30 minutes before the drop off.

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Turned in, done!

A little money was made and a lot of learning too.

You would think I’m done with renovating frames but I’ve actually got some bigger frames just waiting in my garage. I’m going to start spray painting those soon.

Maybe next week.

On second thought, maybe next month.

Super Hero / Bad Guys Scavenger Hunt

At Caroline’s super hero training birthday party, the kids were required to complete 4 missions.

Each mission had one or two components. For example, there was an “Accuracy Mission,” since all super heroes need to have good accuracy when fighting the bad guys. A bean bag toss and a ping pong bounce game were played in order to test our little super hero trainees. Since they passed that mission, they received super hero cuffs – more on those another day.

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The 2nd mission, the “Eye Test,” consisted of two activities – Super Hero Bingo and Bad Guy Scavenger Hunt. Super heroes need to have good eyesight to spot the bad guys so these activities tested that.

The Bad Guy Scavenger Hunt was definitely a 4 year old favorite.

Each trainee was given a marker and a sheet containing 16, “Bad Guys.” I used characters they might know of instead of typical comic book villains.

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Click here for the Bad Guys Scavenger Hunt

The trainees were then asked to walk around our first floor to find the bad guys. They particularly enjoyed being able to mark off each character once they found a bad guy.

Before the party I had printed out large versions of the same characters on their scavenger hunt sheet and taped them around the house.

Mother Goethel from Tangled

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Can you spot Captain Hook?

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Syndrome from the Incredibles

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Once the trainees completed their eyesight mission –  bingo game and the scavenger hunt – they received a chest letter (piece of felt with a safety pin (with a flat back) glued onto the back.

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Man, four year olds are so much fun!

All 11 of the girls loved dressing up and were totally game for each mission.

Scavenger hunt for 4 year olds, mark that one down as a keeper!

 

Valentine Round Up

Here’s a quick sampling of FREE PRINTABLE Valentines I found:

Zebra Valentines from Bunny Cakes

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Angry Birds Valentines from Big D & Me!

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Star Wars Valentines by MeckMom

Star Wars Valentines Collection

Pop Rock Valentines from Onesie Twosie

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Playdough Valentines from g*rated

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Color Me Valentines by With Envy Studios

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Fun(tache) Tic Valentines by plum adorable

Mustache-Valentine-Cards

I “Wheelie” Like You by Yvonne Byatt’s Family Fun

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and finally…here are some LUNCHBOX Valentine printables from Over the Big Moon

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Enjoy!

Printable Halloween Dinner Conversation Cards – New to Etsy!

So I’ve spent the last few months thinking about Halloween.

Believe it or not, I started putting together these cards in June and am so excited to finally say they are done!

The Halloween Dinner Conversation Set includes: 31 cards with conversation starters and 5 blank cards (this allows you to add topics unique to your family)

Our family has enjoyed discussing these prompts and laughing together as we brainstorm and reminisce about Halloween.

These cards are wonderful for a table of two or tenyoung and old!

Hurry and order your set of the Printable Halloween Conversation Cards and let the fun at the dinner table start!

Halloween Estimation – Printable

This weekend we pulled out our Halloween stuff and started decorating the house. I found the following printable which we used at our Halloween party last year.

Just find an empty jar, count candy corns as you fill up the jar, write down the total somewhere you will remember, and let the party goers guess away.

Click here to download the Estimation_Candy_Corns Page

Enjoy!

Printable Baby Shower Prints – New on Etsy!

If you are hosting a baby shower anytime soon, these baby shower prints in my shop would be perfect!

These prints are each 8.5 in x 11 in and could really add a special touch to your dessert area.

Wouldn’t a little humor at the shower be fun?

I will customize your prints by using the colors of your shower.

And yes, I kid about the terrified new dad.

Here’s one that might more accurately reflect your dad-to-be.

Each purchase of these prints comes with 4 PDF files for you to print:

1  Mom-to Be print

1 Baby Love print

1 Dad-to-Be print – terrified

1 Dad-to-Be print – excited

I’d love for you to head over and check out the Printable Baby Shower Prints!

Baby Shower Prediction Cards – New on Etsy!

What’s new to Big D & Me Etsy?

Why it’s Baby Shower Prediction Cards!

These 5 in x 7 in cards are completely customizable so they will coordinate with your baby shower decor.

Is there a special verse or phrase you would like to include on the card?

Gender neutral cards are available –  Boy or Girl? What’s your guess?

Each purchase includes an 8.5 x 11 in Mom-to-Be and Dad-to-Be Measurement Card.

These measurements are the height, weight, and due dates of the soon to be parents when they were babies.

Here is an example of a possible set up for the cards at a baby shower.

Completed cards are placed into a container and may be shared during the shower.

This is a fun keepsake from your baby shower for the mom-to-be and one she will cherish for a long time.

For a limited time (one week!), these cards will be on sale for $3.05 –

So go ahead and order your Baby Shower Prediction Cards now!

***Update – The power to my parents house was back on as of Thursday at 3 pm. Their house did not have any damage so we are thankful for that. Others in Louisiana were not so lucky so please keep them in your thoughts.***

20 Seconds of Courage

Our family loves the movie, “We Bought a Zoo,” with Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson & Thomas Haden Church.

Parent alert: There is a scene in the movie where Damon is arguing with his son in the hallway and he yells, “I still have one who believes in Santa Claus.” I manage to fast forward that part every time.

The film is an uplifting story in which a dad and his two children buy a run down wildlife park and try to help the staff keep the park operating . (Of course, the mom has died in the story – why do Moms always die in these stories?)

One of the things I’ve always said to my kids is, “Anything can happen. You might think you don’t have a shot at winning or completing a goal but anything can happen. When I was younger I was up against a swimmer I had never beaten. Never ever. When the meet official started us, she had a poor start and basically fell into the water. I won the race because she fell into the water. And from that one swim I had the confidence to beat her again.I knew I could do it.  Anything can happen.

While the movie is full of beautiful music, amazing music actually, the main message of the movie is what has really stuck with me.

In the movie Matt Damon is speaking with his son about a situation with a girl but it speaks to so much more than that…. he says,

“Sometimes all you need is 20 seconds of insane courage, just literally 20 seconds of embarrassing bravery, and I promise you, something great will come of it.”

click here for printable

Most often I find the task I’m dreading or procrastinating the most to be manageable once I finally decide to do it. And amazingly, whatever I dreaded wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.

I’ll let you in on a little secret.

I am a huge procrastinator when it comes to putting things up for sale on etsy. I have this extreme doubt that no one will think it has any value. No one will think it is any good.

But you know, the moment I summon the courage to put something out there, I feel better.

No, everything doesn’t always sell but I always feel such a sense of accomplishment.

I’ve tried and for me, it’s a much better outcome than wondering what might be if I never try.

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Have you always wanted to take a class but were too embarrassed?

Have you always dreamed about accomplishing something but are too scared to take the first step?

Are you worried what someone will say if you tell them something?

All you need is 20 seconds of insane courage

…and something great may come of it…

…because anything can happen.

*Remember to enter the Clever Containers giveaway by 10 pm tonight!